sharing

In the evening I was going to meet my friends at the beach, far to the north of my little town. The trip required a bus transfer once I reached town but at this time of night, the chances of catching a bus were slim to none.
A random Korean man about my age watched me talk to a bus driver (which means exchange very few Korean words) and not embark. The driver was not sure if I would be able to make a connection for the last leg of the trip once we arrived in the city. The Korean witness to this offered to drive me into town and help me find a bus for the 1.5 hr ride to Ilsan Beach to meet my friends. Along the way, I learned Mr. Young was a sewage waste management Engineer and he had a girlfriend outside of the city. It was my understanding they were meeting because he missed her.
Later, I realized that he was just driving into town because he did not live in the town where he worked. Communication was not impossible due to his weak English, as oppose to none, but, we were struggling. Finally, he offered to drive me the whole way and informed me he wasn’t going to visit his girlfriend at all… His home was only “8 minutes from my job” so he was going far out of his way to help me. I was exceptionally grateful and I’m not sure who’s smile was larger when we parted and he said “have a good day” at 10:40pm. I gave him my business card, asked for his only he was without and hope he e-mails me so I can properly thank him.
A seriously good time at the beach ensued.
After said seriously good time, we fell asleep to the merriment of some high school students who helped me a little with Korean grammar because I couldn't fall asleep right away. When they left some ajashi, Korean men, wanted leftover beer, only, they hadn't left any. Now quiet, I was able to let go and fall asleep, although a light sleep. I felt I was being watched but a man who apparently shared Matt's love for Mo Thai fighting.
The sun came up and I was startled by the distinct sound of forced urine, steps away from us on the sand. This was a truly special way to start the day. I can tolerate urinating in public to a point but at my feet is a different experience entirely. I sat up and at first could only see the perpetrators face. It was the same young portly man who tried to sell us warm chestnuts the night before. He was the classic cross between a fully made up clown and a cross dresser without class or style. This young plump lad was still in the busily colourful skirt and tube top he wore when we first met on the street. The bring sun behind him made it difficult to see if he was still adorned with crude makeup. These characters are common on Ilsan beach and perhaps an integral part of beach culture at Ilsan beach. I glared at him and he looked over his shoulder as to indicate he was sure I was unhappy with someone else. He was not discrete about his exposed organ and I felt insulted. It was then I remembered that he had been squealing like a young school girl being tickled by a close friend before we all settled down on the raised platforms away from the water’s edge.
A female high school student with whom we’d talked earlier that morning began asking him many questions about his temporary dwelling, about what he needed and so on. It was not clear if she was doing this to give him some company or simply patronize his seemingly homeless condition. He was sprawled out in front of an elaborate mosquito netted shelter during his interrogation, belly spilling out like the glistening Daegu fish blubber I have noticed in fish markets. This same young girl, moments earlier had introduced herself to our group. With her was her boyfriend, a couple and a fifth single boy she introduced as “gay”. I immediately said that being gay was fine and she shouldn’t joke about it if that was not true. Did she balance herself out by talking kindly to the large exposed belied homeless boy? Was her friend really gay? Will she throw up again next weekend in public on the clean sand?
No closure here.
What is clear, however, is that Koreans, although accused as being shy, do like to share. Our hosts like to share their food, stories, time, cars and opinions. You might wonder if I’m still thankful that Mr. Young drove me to the beach. Absolutely, thank you Mr. Young.

taekwondo

I've been studying for approximately ten months and had a surprise today. After I was done stretching, 사부 김, Master Kim awarded me my new brown belt. I have only two lessons left before I must say goodbye, due to my holidays and the dojan holidays. I'm up to five full patterns (also called forms, pumsae 품새, teul 틀, hyeong 형) but have never executed them perfectly in sequence. For the longest time, the first pumsae would not hold in my memory. I remember studying Seikido back in London, this was also a problem. I have the first nailed now, the last two similarly without problem. The middle couple still give me problems. My training has helped me remember that a language barrier makes learning difficult for the student and keeps me in a state of constant humility. I'm going to miss time with Master Kim and hope he is aware of how thankful I am for his instruction.

typhoon

20 July 2007 Typhoon affected area.

While making my last international bank transfer in Ulsan, a pleasant and informative Korean bank attendant asked me very calmly if I knew about the impending typhoon to hit on Sunday night or Monday morning. I did not know about this as was a little surprised. I wonder how many foreigners were spending the night at a beach oblivious to what might ensue. Alright, so at first I was thinking sweet : lets go swimming and have some fun and obnoxiously large waves. As I got back to my good friend Devin's apartment to crash after a long night of Korean language immersion, we met some like minded Korean men.

They were on their way to go surfing at Jinha beach. I was excited about their adventured, grabbed a photo and due to Lee's high level of English, we swapped phone numbers and he offered me a chance to go surfing with him. Sweet. If this actually happens, I will name my first son Dorothy. In my experience, this custom of a lose promise is 97% habit, and 3% of the time is realized. Some reasons why being excited about the typhoon may be foolish:

click on these links:
BBC news link September 2 2002
BBC news link August 19 2004
Aljazeera news link September 17 2007
esa Earth Observation July 20 2007
Reuters video report

I'll be alright with my MEC Triple-ply Gortex shell, no worries!?

one month to go

Busan National University School Song

On August 25th 2008, I will begin my new position as a University professor at Busan National University of Education. My friend Devin Strome will join me and I'm thrilled that I was able to get him a job there. The campus although small, has a team of PhD Korean instructors who will be my colleagues. BNUE has a faculty of music so I will be getting my fingers in there also; with luck creating some performing opportunities with established musicians. The Education Philosophy is built on love, wisdom and service; appropriate for a school designed for the training of future teachers. I am excited to be able to give back to students and make a difference in the lives of younger generations. Originally created for the training of elementary school teachers in 1946, the school established itself as a recognised university in 1993. Job perks include teaching only 14hrs a week and 14 weeks paid vacation time. As a result of this hard work during a long application and acceptance procedure, I am feeling extremely lucky for my future. I will be assisted by a helpful secretary or professional assistant and will have 5 other native English speaking colleagues. Busan is my favourite city in Korea, famous for having beautiful beaches, hiking trails and less pollution that Seoul.

I am happy to report that I only have one month to go in the private hagwon in the little town I disliked at first and have now grown to enjoy... a little. I have many kind and thoughtful students who regularly present me with their desserts from a lunch that they likely purchased with money mom gave them. There are students who make a point of coming to say hello to me every day in the teacher's office. When I walk between buildings after classes, I am begged for high fives and a quick round of rock scissors paper. At last, all classes have stabilized in terms of behaviour and only now and then do we have big problems and I feel like screaming. My adult class knows that I will be leaving as of the 14th and some have indicated that when I go, they will also leave. This makes me feel good but also badly that their studies won’t continue, the same way. I’ve introduced some of them to group chats on skype, a surprisingly easy way to pick up beginner English speaking friends. My Taekwondo studies lagged a little but I’m back in my dojan with Master Kim and have my blue belt, working towards brown before I leave. He has treated me to lunch several times now after training and I’m going to surprise him with a token from Japan before I leave… Having said that, I know many Korean’s are still angry with Japan years after invasions. Currently, there is a dispute over who an island belongs to which lies between South Korea and Japan. Regardless of the gift origin, I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.

It has been a long time since anything photographic was posted here and hope you enjoy these. most of the photos feature my trip to Tokyo to catch Matt's Japanese music concert. He and his girlfriend Yumiko were great hosts.

Click on the small images for a larger, more detailed view!

This is Matt Rollo and I, he is the reason I went to Tokyo.




This Flower shop glowed as a gentle mist of rain fell upon us.













The tokyo subway system was fast, reasonably priced and brilliant for people watching.


The Japan War Memorial housed many tangible artifacts and illegible artifacts seeing as my Japanese is not at all. The existing English information was at times shockingly biased and at times approached deliberate fabrication of fantasy.

Beautiful lanterns above shops lined the narrow street leading to the temple. People filled the streets and I was bumped many times while trying to keep my camera steady to take this slow shutter photo. I did not have my tripod yet which was purchased for the Japanese music concert so this shot was difficult.

Just before we left, the evening lights turned on, changing the feeling of the temple entirely.

We looked for a specific restaurant Matt had in mind and I held things up as usual to capture just "one more" photo.