Chris and Paul in Korea

Where'd we go?

2007-03-21T04:25:00.000+09:00

Hey, haven't posted in over 3 months...please visit my facebook.com blog/homepage instead, for all kinds of interesting stuff.

My Facebook Page

Be back someday,

P

K-Food Part 2

2006-11-20T00:33:00.000+09:00

I have yet to try this, but I found a little video on Korean dog meat soup (Boshintang). This is a culturally acceptable, albeit unpopular dish in South Korea. The recipe is simple: dog + red pepper paste (kochujang) + vegetables = Boshintang. I hear it's good for stamina. Check it out:

Please note: though it is often thought of as a Korean phenomenon, the eating of canines has been a part of food culture in many areas of asia for quite some time.

Oh, I almost forgot. I ate this stuff, raw baby obtopus, freshly chopped and still moving. The little buggers fight your chopstick and go crazy when you dip 'em in wasabi. The taste was bland, and they were suprisingly easy to eat (made sure I chewed 'em dead before swallowing of course.) Here's a video from youtube:

A video on Kimchi:

Red pepper paste is the star of the show, though Kimchi can be made with many different herbs and spices. It is essentially vegetables quickly fermented at low temperatues (most common is radish and cabbage kimchi.) The spicy red cabbage stuff is served with nearly every Korean meal. For the foreigners I've met during my stay here, you either love it or hate it....Chris and I enjoy the stuff, it's addictive :-P

That's right, a kimchi refrigerator for quick preparation. Advertised with a snippent of a Tammy Wynette song. West meets Faaaar east, eh?

Cheers,

P

Blog update - I need to do this more

2006-11-19T18:07:00.000+09:00

So, my last 3 posts were talking about how I need to update the blog more... I've heard some people (thanks dad) call me lazy, and say I don't write here enough, so let's get started...

Trip to Gangchun
It turns out that 4wheeling is one of the most fun things on the planet, and we took a trip, to go an 4wheel in some mountains smack dab in the middle of korea. Our tour guide was hilarious, because #1. He spoke no English.... #2, assumed that we were all pros #3 took us on some dangerous-ass terrain up and down mountains, some so steep that you think you're going to flip over the handle bars (of which our friend Sylvaine actually did). Of course it was his own fault, because he was pulling lots of stunts. However, my stunts were much cooler, and I didn't get thrown 3 metres off of my bike. BEST TRIP EVER - i totally want to get one when i get back. 40$ for 3 hours, best money i ever spent.

We met random Korean people and played a game called ring-around-the-soju. You put the soju in the middle of the ground, and run around it, so the person who is most drunk falls over (koreans can't retain their balance while drunk, much like the irish) and coincidentally it was always the same person falling over every time.

Also, Sokcho for Chusok which was WWWAAAAYY back in the second of october. I was supposed to write about this, and then once again... my usual self, slacked. So we went to Soraksan, on the East coast, went swimming in the Sea of Japan, at 4am drunk as hell. This would be fun, and it was, but the waves were 7 feet tall, the undertow was dragging us out toward japan, and there was a woman crying on the shore, because we thought we were going to die. Which is kinda cool i guess. Then we had a big audience watching us, with the phone camera's out, all thinking to themselves "wow, weigooks (foreigners) are pretty stupid arent they?"

We went to a buddhist temple, and chilled with Buddha for a bit, (here they call him Buulgyo, and we drove around on minibikes (as seen in the picture) and i kinda messed mine up real bad by taking it down stairs maybe 8 or 9 times. Apparently minibikes arent designed to travel down stairs. It was a hheeell of a lot of fun.

Gotta go to HaMing, and get some ChaJengMyun, (restraunt for noodles) PEACE
-Chris

Itaewono'ween

2006-11-03T02:29:00.000+09:00

So we spent the saturday before Halloween in Itaewon, let me fill in those who don't know on what it's all aboot:

It is essentially a 1-street area of the city designated as a 'foreign tourist' area, but has become much unlike that over time. The area is near the big US Army base in aSeoul, however their curfew is pretty early so we didn't see many of those types around. Itaewon is like a 'foreigner town' in Seoul, much like finding Chinatowns and so on in western cities. It's a great place to find ethnic food from all over the world (and the only place to get a damn good hamburger I've found so far), and is a popular shopping destination for western clothing (that fits ME, no korean sizes). However, I digress.

Itaewon is an awesome place to party. Let's go back to Halloween. The original group consisted of Paul, Chris, Kristy, Lori, Amanda, Chung-Hw, Connor (new teacher from Ireland) and we met Lori's friend and ex-roomie 'Mimi' and her husband in Seoul. We arrived at the 'Rocky Mountain Tavern' about 8pm, after a long bus ride and subway jaunt. This place is run by a Canadian dude, and it shows. Hockey Jerseys on the walls, Tragically Hip on the playlist, and poutine on the menu, all that nonsense. We started with a meal and some pitchers of beer. 8000 won ($9.50) for 'chicken tenders', which included way too much phat and juicy chicken fingers and homemade chips (that's right, potatoes cut fresh like a potato chip, no one bothers to do that in Hali eh?) Enough about dinner....

Chris came dressed as the 'devil', sort of...he bought a girls' devil wig, which was actually kinda cool, devil horns and curly red hair. Aviators, and a fu manchu. I had bought some vampire teeth and a mustache and dressed in black, aiming to be a vampire. However the teeth and mustache were crap, and Amanda happened to have costume makeup, so Kristy made me up as what i christened 'the undead'....the pics speak for themselves.

Spent a couple hours there, proceeded to get a little tipsy on pitchers of korean beer (in plastic cups, they don't trust us with glass, reminded me of Canada). The party picked up, more people showed up in costume. The group planned to see a few live bands and come back later, so Chris and I tagged along.

On to 'Big Electric Cat'. In the basement of a restaurant complex, black paint job, reminded me of a typical rock bar. They had Sam Adams beer which was nice (expensive at 6000 won), and good R&C. Saw two bands, one made up of foreign expats (Brodie the guitar player was from NS) called 'Taste of Dinomite', and a Korean blues band called
'Electric Soju King'. Both bands were entertaining, TOD playing solid mainstream-ish vocal rock, and Soju king blowing my mind with spot-on covers and an amazing lead guitarist. Paddy and Jay (new teacher from England) showed up at this point; this party's just gettin' started yo!

After Soju King's second set, we head back to Rocky Mountain Tavern. At this point it's wall to wall people, 90% foreigners. Did I mention they had mooshead lager, and poutine? But I digress, again.

Chris and I started drinking harder stuff, long island and whatnot (and some tequila, I think) and were at that point pretty smashed...then Paddy exclaims 'Let's check out hooker hill!!!!' Insert colon here -----> :

Hooker Hill is like Seoul's red light district. All kinds of small establishments, with many attractive (not kidding) cute women calling you, grabbing you, begging to show you their, umm.....wares. We had a laugh, but there were girls with us, and we're good boys, so no debauchery (sorry fellas).

At the top of the hill is a bar called 'Polly's Tavern'. Pool table, video screens, Sean Paul blasting, wooden chairs, dancefloor filled with a mix of young people, pervs, and nigerians.....am I at the Palace back home? Naw, cant be....I'm drinking soju and orange pop from a 1.5l pop bottle with four straws in it. Had a blast there. At that point Chris and Chung-Hwa had 'hooked up' so to speak, it was cute :-)
Lots of running around trying to find people, talking to nigerians and suprisingly being told not to smoke so much or do drugs, and dancing like it was 2001 again. I was bombed, it's 5:30, time to head back to our hostel room we booked (well, Kristy made us book, good idea nonetheless). Made it back to the room around 6:30, after Chris insisted we goto the corner store for food, and he spilled ramen noodles all over himself (he don't remember this by the way). Slept from 7ish until noon, didn't feel like we slept at all.

The three of us met Amanda back at Rocky Mountain Tavern for a WESTERN BREAKFAST!!! That's right, kids- two eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast. First time I had that since I got here, would've been more satisfying if I wasn't still tipsy and in desparate need of sleep.

Split a cab back to our part of Incheon for 36,000 won. (9 bucks each, not bad considering it's 60+km). Crashed for a few hours, woke up and went to the rehearsal space and jammed. And so it ends.

There have been many crazy nights in this country, but this was by far the craziest. Anyway, it's 3am and I need sleep...I'll check in soon.

P

Oh Shit...it's been that long?

2006-10-28T04:19:00.000+09:00

Sorry guys and gals, a posted comment from Mr. Hull reminded me it's been a month since I updated this fucking thing! Lots to say, but it's 4am and I need some beauty rest, so key points now, pictures and details later. Speaking of photos, please click/bookmark this link as all the pics we've bothered to upload are here- Photobucket Page

Let's go:

1) I am not afraid of Kim Jong Il, or his tiny, broken nuclear arsenal. For the time being we are as safe here as in any other country, and I have registered with the Canadian embassy and will be notified upon any major crisis/issue upon which evacuation is suggested. The currency/markets have stayed solid, and the general climate among the locals is....'whatever, we'll get through it'.
Some waygooks (foreigners) are talking about their 'get out' plans and acting quite paranoid, some have already left, but they are a small minority. For most of us its business as usual, and business is good.

2) Our band is now a four-piece. Andrew from Miramachi, NB has joined on 2nd guitar and vocals and brings a wealth of experience and confidence to our little outfit. We played as Goose Goose last Friday and it went well, covering the Beatles, Cream, Led Zepplin, and some general jamming. Hopefully we'll get paid for this shit soon enough.

3) We're moving in a month! Even though Chris' and I are best buds, our apartment is shite, and living together is causing us to bicker like a married couple. And all who know me well know I'm an asshole sometimes inadvertenly... our own studios in Yeonsu-dong will be a welcome reprieve. Speaking of studio, once I get my own spot Pandemic Productions will be back in business :-)

4) I now know more people in this part of Incheon from Nova Scotia than from USA. I'm fucking serious.

5) I have a webcam, but have yet to try it out, if you wanna try cross-coastal techno telecommunication of the future, email me or something.

6) I have to dress up for Halloween at my Hakwon (Academy) on Tuesday...and Korea doesn't even really do Halloween like Canada does. Good luck finding a costume that fits my fat ole' ass!

7) I'm getting pretty damn good at speaking pidgin Korean, and so is Chris. We get by pretty well and don't get ripped off anymore.

8) I miss donairs.

Good Night, and stay tuned for pics and adventurous stories!

P

Im not dead! I'm just lazy!

2006-09-30T16:22:00.000+09:00

Hey everyone? how are things? this is one of those, i meant to call, i really did, but didn't posts... Things for me have been going great. I don't have any new pics, becasue i lent my camera to my bud pat, so he could go to Japan, and he didn't use it, and I keep forgetting to take it back.
One of my greatest memories in recent times is making fun of passed out drunken businessmen... we got really into it one night. (I think he was pretending), but something told me he wasn't.

Teaching is going great, but there's a game her called DongDongChen or something like that where the kids try and jam their fingers in your ass when you walk by, and its very violating. You'd just be walking down the isle reading page 26..."I went to the house, h-o-u-s HOLY JESUS SHIT!!" well, now im used to it, but my counter is to chase them, and then swat them (in a playful manner) with the book. I'd wet willy them, but im afraid if i show them that, they'll constantly use it on me.

Anywho, sorry for neglecting the blog after the title of my last post was "Neglecting the Blog no more!"

Signing off
-Chris

Update No. 5 - Lou Bega Sucks

2006-09-25T23:53:00.000+09:00

A few points of interest, no theme to this post:

1) Updated the 'Jimmy Jam Jam' post with pics of Studio Pulse, our rehearsal space. Musicians prepare to drool (scroll down a bit), I've never seen anything close in Halifax. We still haven't hacked out any originals yet, but have been working on some classic rock covers befitting a 'Blues Jam' night at the local bar. Thiss friday will feature versions of 'Sunshine of Your Love', 'White Room', 'Whole Lotta Love', and 'Jailhouse Rock' (the Jeff Beck cover). I've posted two vids below for your enjoyment, thank me later :-)

2) Had my first private lesson today after classes, went to her house. She is 10 years old and spent 3 years in Wisconsin, it was surreal as my director and her two parents were sitting next to me for most of it; they seem to think I did a great job though I was fucking clueless, the director advised me of it with no prep time and I had to wing it, checking her level with a textbook I grabbed from school (she was almost flawless with level 2 stuff though, may have to up the ante). I think I'll play alot of games and have her read stories and talk about it, maybe go over phrasal verbs and idioms and all that fun stuff you can do with higher level kids/adults. Still, 150,000 won a month for 6 hrs ain't bad considering.

3) Put a deposit on another bass today, $485 for what would cost almost a grand back home...custom finish on the body, the neck is all pearlized, and active pickups. Active pickups, and it plays like a dream. Don't need it, but I'm a sucker for a good buy. Going to put that Fender up for sale, it's nice but isn't fit for my tiny bitch hands lol. To anyone in Korea reading this blog, I'll take 350,000 won or best offer :-)

4) Going to see Suck Stuff (a korean punk band) this or next Saturday, whichever works out better. One of the guys runs a label here and I'm pretty sure they own 'Skunk Hell', the punk bar in Hongdae, Seoul. Bought the album a few weeks back, it's like Rancid Meets the Clash meets....well...Korea. Fun stuff, here's a taste:

5) All in all, up to the same old stuff here, teaching, drinking, and taking in the sights. Been here 2 months but it feels like longer. Korea is like Keith's: 'Those Who Like it, Like It a Lot'. And I fucking like it, that's the truth. Here's are some pics of us I had kicking around, and don't get me wrong I miss all my Canadian boys n' girls too!

Cheers,

P

K-Food and Stuff

2006-09-14T22:25:00.000+09:00

Stuff:

So the jam night went pretty well last Friday, met a few cool people from the Maritimes (the fun never ends) like Andrew from NB and Kristy from CB. Played for about two hours with intermission, pretty impressive considering we really didn't have any songs. The jam night at Goose Goose is going to be a recurring thing once every 2 Fridays, maybe more often if it catches on and more acts sign up to play. School's going pretty well, I have settled into my schedule of teaching middle school kids (13-16) on Fridays from 3:45 to 9:45. They sometimes clam up a bit, but I honestly don't care as the 'brat' factor is so low. See the pics for a comparison of middle school boys vs. middle school girls, the poses pretty well sum it up (plus they think I'm cool 'cuz I like video games and play bass lol). Methinks I'll go for a job at this age level if/when I come back next year...

Sorry for the drop off in new pictures, it turns out both of the memory cards that came with my camera have stopped working, and I haven't found the time to pick up a new one :-(

I have the starts of my first Korean Cold I think, been feeling run down and stuffed up today. Chris was pretty Ill for the last few days, as was Patrick. Seems to be affecting the students as well. Apparently this is very common when the weather changes in the fall. (On that note, it's still 25-28 c in the daytime and only a little cooler at night. The difference is the lack of stifling humidity, I love it).

K-Food:

After the show at Goose Goose we met up with Nick and Kerry at a hole-in-the-wall Korean restaurant and tried 'dongdongju'. Dongdongju is a traditional Korean rice liquor, milky and fizzy in texture, tasting a little like rice wine, but not really (very unique). It seemed pretty potent as things got pretty fuzzy after a few bowls, and it really gets the talking going. It's only 6000won for a bowl of at least 1.5 litres, pretty delicious. (see pic at left)

Lately we have been eating alot of pork Galbi (grilled chunks of meat cooked in front of you), a steal at only 8000 won per person for two servings. The meat is essentially a rib with a long flank of the meat coming off it, they put the slab on the charcoal grill on your table, and as it cooks you cut it up into little chunks. The meal is served with 'banchan' (side dishes) like cabbage Kimchi, Korean Coleslaw, Kimchi Green Beans, and Radish, and usually comes with a bowl of onions in soy sauce. You are served garlic as well and two different kinds of leaves (sesame and another kind I can't name), and use chopsticks to load a piece of galbi and what ever extras you want into the leaf. Then proceed to fold it up, and shove it in! Pic at left is not quite what you get, but close (the meat is sliced thicker at the galbi houses I've been to in Incheon).

I've already talked about Soju at length but have posted a pic for your viewing pleasure. What you need to know:

1) 20.1% alcohol
2) 1 loonie for a 300ml bottle
3) Mixes well with almost anything (Apple Soda is my favourite, see the pic above)
4) Causes epic hangovers

Keep the shit-storms at bay, later!

P

Bloose Jam Baby!

2006-09-06T20:46:00.000+09:00

Hey,

To all the K-residents that follow my blog, come out to Goose Goose in Bupyeong Friday night, we're having a blues jam! Starting at about 11:30, it's open mic so if you're interested bring your guitar and Chris and I will be your rhythm section! Bring friends, it's no fun playing to an empty bar, k? Not that I'm begging... I know I'm the bizness lol. The bar is kinda hard to find so gimme a ring if you need directions 010-2771-1420. Call Joe if you want some play time 011-1764-1031

P.S.Check my post on Super Junior/ Windy City, got my first flame :-)

I never understand this sort of activity on blogs/forums, why take the time and effort to take the piss out of someone you've never met? It's not like I've had an epiphany and said 'Oh, mass-marketed boy band pop music is GREAT after all!' I call super junior a bunch of girly men with no talent, while the other guy calls heavy metal a bunch of noise that only losers enjoy. Whatever, to each his own.

I'm a self described musicologist, I can dislike something and still show interest in its history, significance etc (ask me about NKOTB or Creed lol). As long as I can hear some genuine talent and solid beats I'll give it a chance (hence my strange attraction to Kylie Minogue), so sorry but most (if not all) boy bands have neither, and if they do it's stifled by the limited pallete of their genre. Look at Justin Timberlake for example, as much as most men don't dig it, you can't deny the man has singing talent and he's doing the style of music he so chooses rather than what his management chose for him. Remember 'Nsync fellas? Not so good. Or even Beyonce after Destiny's Child, most artists improve once released from the shackles of the boy group/girl group mold. Except for Nick Lachey, he still sucks.

That's my rant for today, comments are for friends, please just email me next time k? We'll have a gab :-)

- On that note, thanks for all the comments everybody, I truly miss my comrades in Canuckstan!

NS Rules Incheon

2006-09-02T03:01:00.000+09:00

I commented earlier on the suprising amount of NS guys and gals out here in Incheon. Tonight I was at a wine and dinner party hosted by Clara, the beautiful girl in the middle of the leftward photo ;-) , she is accompanied by sexy Nicole (both from Yarmouth) and drop dead gorgeous Melanie (from New Glasgow). Haha!

Also met Natasha from St. Johns, Amanda and Christina from somewhere in Canada (forgot to ask lol), and Josh, Christine, and Lucy from Kiwi-land (New Zealand by the way). It felt in a way like an oldschool NS kitchen party, what with the kitchen and the living room being the same room and all. Spent a while talking about old jobs/ experiences in NS, it was good for the soul. Wish I took pictures, going to find Natasha's email as she snapped a few. (Clara's apt is awesome, and only two blocks from my sty.)

I discovered trivia night at Goose Goose last wednesday with Joe, Nick and Tim. We came back this Wednesday with Clara, Nicole, Mel, Chris, and a bunch of the NS Girls' friends. Came in 2nd place of 8 teams, not too shabby. The catch is its 2000won for each person that wants to play, the winning team shares the pot and hosts the game next week. Questions are asked quiz style, with three rounds and bonus questions for pitchers of beer. Great fun!

Anyways, these girls are awesome to hang out with and make me homesick for all my peeps back in Hali, something about us Nova Scotians...

Nothing new to speak of, Chris is off in Sinchon getting smashed with K-Thug, I'm posting at 3am (early for Saturday I guess lol). Going to buy an mp3 player tomorrow and prolly end up drinking somewhere as per usual.

Found out my middle school kids like rap and techno music, think I'm going to teach a class with some music next week, should break the insanity!

P

P.S. Check out Seo Tai-Ji, he's generally 1-3 years behind North American rock culture, but his vids are damn cool and the musicianship is sound. I likes it, pull out your dreads and headbang to this :-) His latest stuff sounds like Hoobastank, go figure :-/

P.P.S.

Just HAD to post this. Drowning in K-Pool, remember "bodies"? Not saying this is good Krock, but it made me laugh nonetheless (and look up that drowning pool video lol)

Super Junior

2006-08-30T01:16:00.001+09:00

So Canucks, watch this shit. 13 guys that sound exactly the same, who look like girly men. The song features a 'jiggy' beat like the worst N'Sync ever came up with, and the token rap interlude. Check out the haircuts! The are the hottest thing in K-Land now, I hear this song 10 times a day, and my kids love it. Korean pop music is strange, it will impress you one song and totally go back to 1999 bubblegum shit the next.

So Opinion #1: Super Junior Sucks

Opinion #2: Windy City Rules

These guys are like marley crossed with Remy Shand, only Korean. I want this CD, if only I could find a music store... saw them live at Pentaport Rock Fest in Songdo, and was doubly impressed. They get airplay on music TV which is encouraging.

I'll post some more K-Vids later, cheers!

P

Jimmy Jam Jam

2006-08-29T01:49:00.000+09:00

Hey Halifax kids, you know Rock Garden / Area 52? Well, Korea offers that, on crack, with a side dish of professional recording. Sunday we met up with Joe (from NYC, been here for 5+ years, a sound guy) at Studio Pulse in Bupyeong. I came there expecting the equivalent of a practice space in hali, man was I in for a treat.

They had two amps for six string in the room: a fender twin-reverb 150w combo amp (pretty nice), and a fucking marshall stack taller than me (4 10 inch speakers, killer). It was a tube amp, naturally. The drums were Tama (good Japanese make) and the bass amp was an Ampeg 4 x 10 cabinet (that's right kids, its not a combo amp) and a 600w SWR head with built in overdrive, octaver, limiter, all the toys us bass boys drool over. The room also had a KORG TRITON 88 a la carte, hooked up to the PA, which was fed into a 24 channel mixer. Suffice to say, it was a little slice of heaven.

Joe's like Stevie Ray Vaughn style, real fun to bloose-out with. Can't wait to go back, and I'll take pics next time ;-)

Update: These pics are from our last Jam, notice the awesomeness of the room/equipment? Rock Garden just became ghetto garden boys muhahahaha!

Cheers,

P

Neglecting the blog no more

2006-08-29T01:34:00.000+09:00

So, the last few weeks have been kind of a roller coaster

I've had some bad news in the last while. Most of you have probably heard my Grandfather passed away last week. Despite this, things are actually going pretty good for me. I'm not here to talk about this specific topic, so... let us continue.

I don't remember what we've been doing because it's been a while since i've posted. We've been everywhere.

2. Paul and I met a Korean dude named Daniel. This guy is hilarious. He's ethnically Korean, but he's spent 18 years in Argentina, and he speaks 4 fluent languages, Korean, English, Spanish and Portugeese. I call him K-Thug. (not really to his face, more of a joke) He's only been back in Korea for 4 months, so he doesn't really
identify with the Korean people, but he's been taking us out to different places acting as a translator. This past weekend, we went to a Korean hiphop bar called J2, which had FREE tequila. Paul and I had a blast.
I REPEAT ..FREE TEQUILA.

So, i don't remember much of that night... next story.

3. At market day, a Russian girl who has been in a few TV commercials was talking to our Irish friend Dyrimuid and myself, and mentioned that she wants to see if we can do a shoot for a commercial or advertising, and get paid 300,000 won (300$) for a 6 hour shoot. FUCK YEAH! So, she got our shirt sizes, birthday, name and phone numbers, however, so far it was just an offer and don't know if it will pan out, but i'm still kinda stoked on the idea. Hopefully i'm not posing for some hemroid commercial.

OOwww! it hurts soo much! Thank god I have my Lanikane-7! Finally! I can sit down again! What would I do without my Lanikane?

many other occurances in Hongdae, Bupyong, Seoul will have to wait until tomorrow for blog updae time, because i'm lazy and tired. Either way, things are going great, but I still miss home, in the good way though, not the bad way.

Love goes out to my family in these especailly pressing times. I hope everyone is dealing with Grampy's funeral as well as I have. Stand strong, or else he would have told you to stop whimpering and get back to work. lol... love you grampy, and everyone at home. xoxoxo

-Chris

Market Day...how much is this?

2006-08-28T21:57:00.000+09:00

So on Saturday August 26th Chris and I agreed to accompany my campus in Songdo to "Market Day" and be shopkeepers. What is market day you ask?

It is basically toys r us in english, for korean kids. Except the toys are crappier. Basically a foreigner or Korean High School student who speaks decent english mans a small booth/desk type thing loaded up with toys. There were six hagwon teachers there including chris and myself, a few russian students from seoul (they said they were Canadian to the kids/parents lol) and some very pretty Koreans. The kids had varying degrees of preparation, they would come up and ask 'How much is this?' I would respond how much in US dollars (the parents buy US dollars at the 'bank' which the kids can use, 10000 won gets you 10 bucks), and they either take it or say 'Its too expensive!' and try to bargain. We couldn't give discounts because the whole thing is run by a toy store owner in Incheon (though I discounted this talking parrot that he wanted $10 for to $8, sold 'em all so he was happy). My school was there for 2 hours, and there was also a stage left of the 'market' where the kids would give speeches and singing presentations to the parents. But I had to stay on my feet for 6 hrs with about 10mins of break time total. I may do it again (pays 115 Canadian bucks), but damn it felt like I was there for a month! The pic of the two cute little girls above are sally and cindy, possibly my favourite kids at the Songdo campus. They speak well for their age, are eager to learn and LOVE me!

The GnB schools (my company) were done after 3 hours, then another hagwon company came. Their kids spoke horrible english, took forever to spend their money, and then they made us do 'free talking' with the kids, with their parents sitting with them! My god I almost wanted to tell them to take their kids outta that school asap and come to mine, it was such a struggle. Then we had to do photo ops for the parents for like 20mins. I felt less like a celebrity and more like 'Pork- the other white meat'. But my kids did great naturally, cuz I'm the man (and I prepped them for it lol).

It's Been Awhile....

2006-08-28T21:50:00.000+09:00

Sorry guys! It's been over two weeks since the last post so I want to offer my apologies, I promise we will be better in the coming weeks!

What's new? Well alot of things so I think multiple posts are in order...

Anyway, I will leave you with our funny konglish sign of the week, this is a furniture boutique...whaaa? And that doesn't spell a.l.b.u.m hehe

Our castle in the Nightlife District

2006-08-12T14:13:00.000+09:00

So lemme tell you about our apartment. It is large by Korean standards, with two bedrooms, a living room/kitchen, a large bathroom/shower area, and a closed in balcony type thing. However, the place is in need of repair; we will most likely only be here 2 more months. The bathroom has been fixed now, but for weeks it would flood whenever we took a shower, did a load of wash, or at random and spew all this stinky, muddy crap into the room. The place is infested with tiny red ants that no amount of raid seems to kill (they don't bite thank god) and it smells funny. Also, we have no air-conditioning, just two fans that blow hot air everywhere. Enough bitching though, at least we don't live in a matchbox.

I miss you all!

- Paul

Ton of Bricks? My Head? Same Same....thank you Soju!

2006-08-12T13:44:00.000+09:00

Shenanigans

Last week a new teacher from Eire and a friend of Patty's arrived names Diermuid (probably spelled that wrong). Two days later, his girlfriend Katrina came to visit for 2.5 weeks. Fun lads, though they can't keep up with our drinking regimen! (pic is above)

So Patty, Chris, and I went to Bupyeong last night, taking the last subway train out and arriving around midnight. I had all intentions of being home by 3 am so I could wake up before lunch time and make it a busy saturday... it's 1:45 pm as I am typing and I just woke up, c'est la vie. Drinking soju most of the night, and rum and cokes. Soju is 20.1% alcohol and tastes kinda like weak vodka. It's around $1 a small bottle and the average man needs 2-3 a night to get plastered. The buzz is happy, like a white wine buzz maybe? We're already sick of Korean beeer so Soju it is!

There is one bar in Bupyeong that it seems all the foreigners congregate called 'Goose Goose'. No soju available, and the rum and cokes are strong, it reminded me of Canadian Bars in a way. Met a few people, and found out they need a bass player ASAP for a blues jam, methinks I can assist.

Last night (Thursday) I awoke at 5:30 am to some noise outside my window; it was Chris and Patty at the Korean restaurant across the street! They discovered the wonders of the Soju buzz and partied until 6:30 am. Now I understand why Koreans don't seem to sleep, in this part of Incheon at least.

Today I am going to Seoul to meet up with another foreign teacher dude who is selling a bass, I crave music so much it hurts, and he's giving me a good deal. 600,000 won for a Fender Precision Bass Special, and a Line 6 Bass Pod (amp simulator). I am now more than 4 grand into my line of credit, yippee! Can't wait to pay that off....

How We Do (Working)

Currently Chris and I each work at 2 schools apiece. On M-W-F I am at a GnB school in New Songdo (reclaimed land, the area is only 2 years old) and T-TH I teach at our director's school in Dongchun-dong. Chris covers the Dongchun-dong school M-W-F and works at a school in an area of Incheon called Onyong-dong T-TH. On average we have 4.5-6 'teaching hours' a day and are at the school for about 6.5 hours, not too shabby.

The teaching regimen for elementary students involves mostly simple grammar and phonics exercises; they repeat after me in the hopes they will learn to pronounce correctly. Most of the children are quiet, eager, and well-behaved however sometimes there are absolute bastard children....I find either staring them down or calling the Korean teacher works wonders. Me, I like teaching the older kids more, as the classes boil down to 1/2 lessons from a book and 1/2 conversation. I know all kinds of stuff about Korean sports, and did you know most kids eat Kimchi and Rice for breakfast? I coudn't do it...it's frosted flakes or toast with jam for me.

Above is a pic of me and one of my co-workers in Songdo, Taehee Kim. She has taught me alot about Korean culture, and is a great drinking buddy too!

Anyways, i'm off to Seoul, I'll check in soon!

- Paul

Home 032-812-1420
C.P. 010-2771-1429

War and Peace

2006-08-08T03:00:00.000+09:00

BUPYONG

Amazing Day. First off, Paul and I woke up at 5 pm after finally going to bed at 9 am from a long night of drinking with Irish folk at a Norebang (kareoke room), whom we met randomly in the streets of Bupyong on our way home from Itawon (American military base part of town).

ITAWON
Itawon was pretty cool, but too many westerners and too many Americans... the rough kind, but a good cool part of Seoul none the less.

International moment: 2 Canadians and 3 Irishmen (and woman) eating Moroccan cuisine, in Seoul. (This picture is from Bupyong, and I look totally wasted)

INCHEON LANDING WAR MEMORIAL
so we got home at 9am, crashed until 5pm, then went to the Incheon landing memorial, where General McArthur landed UN Forces in 1950 during the Korean War. (This one's for you Grandpa)

It was incredible,up ontop of a hill in Songdo, Incheon, with tanks, misslies, fighterjets, boats and heavy artillery guns, totally used for kicking communist ass. It gave an incredible view of Songdo, and we stayed up and watched the sunset from atop the monument. Done with war, next stop peace

HEUNGNYUN-SA BUDDHIST TEMPLE
Amazing... simply Amazing. Going to an authentic Buddhist temple is a life changing experience. It was so overwhelming that I became emotionally moved by how beautiful and peaceful a place could really be in a city of 2.5 million. As taught to me in Karate oh so many years ago, I decided that I would meditate in the temple. The music, aroma and decorated atmosphere touch the senses in ways unimaginable. It's like nothing i've never experienced. I have decided that I'm going to do a 4 day templestay at one of the local temples to fully engage myself in the temple experience. Paul also wants to join me in this adventure. Incredible.

Afterward for dinner, we went to a traditional korean resturant and ate bulgogi, a beef dish cooked in the middle of the table, and ate about 14 side dishes, from kimchi (spicy cabbage) to squid, to sweet potatoes. It was delicious, I love Korea.

Cheers
-Chris

Pentaport Rocks!

2006-07-31T22:07:00.000+09:00

Stupid Sign of the day - Sand and Coffee

Pentaport Rock Fest

On the most blistering day of summer thus far, Paul and I went to the pentaport rock fest.
We met many Canadians, whom were basically the only white people starting conversations with others. We even ran into Jim and Becca. Jim was the old guitarist for Death by Nostalgia, and Becca McCallum (sp?) used to be a teacher at NASCAD. They were totally cool people and invited us to their part of Korea, which I believe is down in the south by Pusan. I asked Becca if she taught Bianca, and she said she remembers. This however, may be the friendly maritimer agreeing with things not necessarily true simply to continue the conversation.

We got to see Common Ground, a korean rip of KC and the Sunshine Band, but with break dancing.

Atomosphere, totally wicked rapper from USA (in your face Mike!), and today we went to the electronics district called Yongsan, and Paul and I ran into theAtmosphere crew, and told them they did a wicked show. There was the formal "thanks" handshake, and we were on our way. (once again, in your face Mike)

The headliner of the night was Franz Ferdinand. Theytotally wicked in a scottish-korean mix kind of way. It's kind of eerie to listen to thousands of Koreans singing along to Ferdinand lyrics, in a drunken stupor. There were fireworks, and another noon-to-midnight drinking session came to a close.

-Chu-ris-u

A Seoul Decision

2006-07-31T13:59:00.000+09:00

Part 1: Hangovers and Seoul

So we didn't make it to day 2 of the Pentaport Rock Festival due to a vicious hangover from the night before. No bother though, as the headliner that evening were the Black Eyed Pieces of Shit! Instead, Chris and I crawled out of bed around 3pm and decided to take the Subway to Seoul. This turned out to be a sound decision, we had a blast!

The subway to the City Hall area cost 1400 won (around a buck 65 canadian), taking u farther than our 40 dollar cab ride the night before. The subways are clean and efficient, and due a decent job of catering to the non-Korean speaking peeps like us. After one transfer and about 80min travel time we made it to our destination. On the way we met a student from Pakistan named 'Boby'. He argued his English was horrible but he did pretty well, we are going to ring him up soon for a pint or two.

Seoul is fucking beautiful! I thought Incheon was huge, but it had nothin' on this. Check out the tower above, it was at least 60 stories high and looks like something out of a superhero movie; buildings like this were EVERYWHERE! We spent about 2 hours in a Western bar drinking pitchers (btw in Korea the only cheep booze is draft and Soju, see above).

After drinking we went for a walk on the town and were overwhelmed with the beautiful sights and sounds. We saw a fashion show, and open air concert doing Korean renditions of famous showtunes, and the coolest kiddie swimming pool ever! All the buildings in Seoul are huge, however right in the middle of downtown they have the original city gate from the 14th century, very spiffy.

We stopped at a Korean 'hof' (pub) for more beer and some dinner. Suffice to say, Korean fried chicken is delicious! After gaining quite a buzz, we called it an evening and hopped on the subway back to Incheon. Tomorrow we will rock out at the rock festival!

Cheers! I miss you all!

- Paul

P.S. Franz Ferdinand and Kula Shaker and Atmosphere (with MC Slug) are playing tomorrow. Next week Andrew W.K. , the week after that TOOL opens for METALLICA! Who said Korea doesn't know how to rock?

Mappo? how the fuck did we end up in Mappo?

2006-07-29T14:29:00.000+09:00

UPDATE

Article 1.1 - Guests of honour

Article 1.2 - Hof's n' Bars

Article 1.3 - The Mappo affair

Article 1.1 - Guests of Honour

Sunny, our director, Paul and myself went out to an authentic traditional Korean restraunt, which was an incredible sight. We had our own personal waitress, which was more like having someone explain everything to you while you look at one of the fourteen dishes and ask "uuummm what am i eating?" bulgogi, kimchi, gimbap, sushi, glass noodle soup etc.... everything was so beautiful that i didn't know wheather to eat it or put it on a mantlepiece. We were the guests of honour simply for being western, so they brought us some delicious fresh mango and porte wine. It was a thank you for choosing their restraunt... Kamsamnida (Thank You)

Article 1.2 - Hofs and Bars
Bars and Hofs are so inexpensive that it costs roughly the same to drink beer from a convenience store. We've had the fortunate luck of meeting through our director, a guy from Ireland named Patty. He's a really cool guy. This aside, he drinks every night of the week because he's Irish. Can't blame him, it's biological for the Irish. However, this makes sober living about as likely as being struck by lightning .... twice. We had to bail at 3:30am from a bar where we had ordered 5L of beer, (which is huge!, thats like 10 tallboys) for 19,000 Won (23$ Canadian). This was in the hof across the street (pictured above), and our irish bud slept in until 7pm the next day...

Article 1.3 - The Mappo Affair
After knocking back a few beer and sipping on some Soju, we decide it would be fun to be adventurous and hop in a taxi to try and find Hong Dae University, which our director, Sunny had explained in thorough detail. This turned out to not work the way we had expected. Apparently a 6,000 Won up the street cab ride, turned in to a 40,000 Won trip to Seoul. Apparently Hong Dae University (where all of the young middle class kids hang around) isn't in Incheon, it's in Shincheon. which is in the heart of Seoul. So after realizing that the trip up the street brought us into the heartland of the Korean peninsula, we got off at a random location, and went to a western bar, to prevent the inevetable... sobering up. Not a single person in Mappo speaks english, but we did find this cool door entrance that lead to a really shitty private Kareoke bar. Doorway = good, Kareoke = bad. So we drank at Boston bar, also where no one speaks English, right across the street from the Texas bar, also where no one speaks English. We got shitfaced and took another expensive cab back home. Fun times in Asia

Signing off, now with internet access,
-Chris

The Adventure Begins...

2006-07-24T13:55:00.000+09:00

Chris and I have made it to Incheon, Korea safe and sound, after a hellish day and a half of travel. Our flight plan was as follows:

1) Get to Halifax airport at 4:30 am.

2) Fly to JFK airport in New York for 2 hours.

3) Get bored and drink ten dollar beers in the shittiest airport terminal ever. America sucks!

4) 14 hour flight from NYC to Tokyo. We traveled on a Boeing 777, a fucking huge airplane with all the trimmings. Sleep was hard to come by due to the noise of the plane, however I did not hear one crying child or loudmouth drunk the whole trip (Japanese are evidently very quiet and composed, the stereotype fits.) Watched 'the Shaggy Dog', 'the Benchwarmers', episodes of CSI, Simpsons, Arrested Development, and still managed to get 300pgs into a book, eat three meals, and go crazy from not being able to puff. Methinks we'll take a less direct route back to Canada.

5) Sanity slipping, we land at Narita Airport in Tokyo. This airport was awesome, a beacon of technology and creature comforts. Massage chairs in the terminal, car-style lighters in the smoking rooms (of which there are plenty), helpful workers who could all speak basic english, and many places to eat and shop.

6) Stopped at a Japanese restaurant and had Tempura Udon and Sapporo beer. Simple Plan, Avril, and Alanis playing in the background (sic, can't get away from it).

7) Approaching delerium, we board the Japan Airlines flight to Incheon Airport. After a 14 hour flight, this flew by. Drank green tea and beer, ate weird food, and played video games.

8) Landed in Korea.

1st impressions of Korea:

- Our apartment is in Yeonsu district, we arrived Friday night, which is know as 'happy day' (i.e. the day where everybody gets crunk until all hours of the morning)

- The apartment is adequate, but the area is very noisy. We live on top of a bar, and there are a dozen bars and restaurants within 1 block!

- Koreans do not separate the shower from the rest of the bathroom, it's messed, i'll post pics when I have a chance.

- Saturday or director and manager tooks us out for lunch and dinner, and fed us pint after pint of Korean beer (which is actually pretty good! Canada/USA style).

- Sunday we go to Lotte Mart (like Wal-Mart on crack) and get provisions, the director pays for all of it.

- The director and her husband come over and clean our apartment and help us set up! She's awesome!

Anyways, gotta get started on our first day of work. I miss you all, and hope everything is well! PLease email me if you have the time!

Cheers,

Paul

Hongul

2006-07-24T12:59:00.000+09:00

ㅙㅜ혀ㅑㅣ ㅑㄴ ㅁ ㅍㄷ교 채ㅡㅔㅣㅑㅊㅁㅅㄷㅇ ㅈ갸샤ㅜㅎ 뇬ㅅ드 뭉 ㅑ ㅗㅁㅍㄷ ㅜㅐ 치ㅕㄷ ㅙㅈ 새 ㄱㄷㅁㅇ ㅐㄱ ㅈ걋ㄷ ㅑㅅ.

Hongul is a very complicated writing system, and i dont know how to read or write it yet.

It is apparently really easy to learn, but i look at it and feel like i'm trying to read while on mushrooms.

-Chris

1st Post!

2006-07-20T05:06:00.000+09:00

Hey everybody, I'm still in Canada, WTF?

Well, let me tell ya.... we were supposed to be flying out July 14, direct Halifax-Toronto-Incheon (Seoul) BUT, we didn't get the visas in time. Why, you ask?

a) Our recruiter (heretofore known as 'Kirk') is a slacker
b) Kirk's korean GF is a slacker.
c) I didn't call the consulate to confirm the correct mailing address, and went with what Kirk told me.
d) All of the above.

Kirk attests to (b), however (d) is the true answer. Suffice to say, this put us back a week or so, and led to a ton of stress and service charges and courier fees. I buttered up the nice lady at the consulate and she advised they would go out ASAP.

BUT!

Chris went to Sears to get his passport photos done, and those archaic motherfuckers use a b&w printer. Nowhere in the info the recruiter sent us, or on the consulate's website did it mention a color photo was required. All they do is put the motherfucker in a filing cabinet. They did not want to send it before recieving a new photo, which Chris did, but again I buttered up the nice lady at the consulate (as did my father when she called back), and they sent us our visas! Whew... it's over.

NOPE!

Kirk sent us at 2am last night our 'tickets' to fly, not realizing that the 'intinerary' is essentially the equivlent of an unofficial transcript: it's useless. So now I am sitting in a cafe waiting for the ACTUAL ticket to be emailed to me.... c'est la vie.

So, if everything goes smoothly, we will be in Korea by Friday evening their time! I'll check in in a few days, peace!