Ding Dong The Witch is Dead

     I am working on a story and didn't get it done in time for my departure. So I will leave you with this......a little Xmas cheer......
http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111219000413

Sports (W)rap

     Well, let me get the bad news out of the way. My sports viewing has been suffering. I don't get to see much of the NFL because of the time difference. 10am games on the west coast translate to a 2am Monday morning kickoff time here--ain't gonna happen. The Sunday night game is a little more doable as it starts here around 10am, but then again, I'm working at that time. The guy next to me at work, Michael, has the NFL ticket so he gets all the games and sometimes puts the SNF game on at work meaning that at lunch on Mondays (and Tuesdays for the MNF game), I get to see a quarter or so. But enjoying the games with a beer is certainly out.
     College football is a little better as Saturday games translate to Sunday games here. But again, the times are tough. The best I can do is wake up on a Sunday morning to catch a Saturday evening game unless I want to get up extremely early and so far I haven't.
     Baseball was deep into the playoffs when I arrived, so next spring will reveal more, but I did manage to catch some of the World Series. I'm thinking that Giants home games (or west coast games anyway) might be ok for me on the weekends. By April the clock will move in America so that 7pm on the west coast will mean 11am the next day here. If I'm working, I won't see much. But perhaps on a weekend I can catch a game if Ami has lots of homework to do and we can't go do anything.
     And then there's Formula 1. I got here the weekend of the Korean Grand Prix--about four hours after the race finished to be exact. The next weekend was the GP of Singapore, so I set about searching the cable that Ami had gotten hooked up and found a channel that listed it. When I was in Japan, the races were broadcast in Japanese, as expected, and I found that I had to watch extra closely because I wouldn't have the announcers to bail me out if I missed something. Crashes, blown engines, and cut tires happen in a flash in auto racing and if you aren't watching, it is quite easy to miss and you'll find yourself going, "Hmmm....I wonder what happened to so-and-so." So here in Korea, I fully expected to get F1 in Korean. But when I tuned in to the practice session, I heard English. Turns out, and this is just my theory, that Koreans, for the most part, don't much care about F1 and they just pipe in foreign coverage instead of hiring guys to give it their own. This is good and bad. Bad because apparently next year's race here in Korea is in jeopardy of being cancelled and the Korean GP of being completely discontinued and I was planning on being there next year. But good because I get English during the practices, qualifying sessions, and races. We don't have a DVR, though, so recording races that are on in the middle of the night is out. The GPs in India and Singapore worked out ok, but the one in Brazil this last weekend did not. It was on at one am Monday morning. Not a convenient time.
     Now for the good news.......Sumo's back. Ami tried to get me NHK, the Japanese broadcasting network that carries sumo, but what we ended up getting was NHK World, or something like that, and it doesn't show sumo for some reason--and whatever that reason is is not a good one as sumo should be broadcast to the world in all its beauty. Anyway, I found an easy fix to this problem.....streaming. The Nihon Sumo Kyokai Offical Grand Sumo Home Page, which is a long title methinks, shows sumo via computer streaming. It's a beautiful thing all this technology and I can watch almost all day if I so choose--not that I do--because they start streaming when the first matches start and go all the way until the last match of the day at six pm. The big boys (no pun intended) start at four, so I try to get home by five so I can catch the really important bouts. Actually, all of you could stream in the same coverage, but the time will get you. 4pm here is 2-3am est depending on the time of year. That's essentially why I have been out of the sumo loop since I left Japan. But I'm back in it now, baby.
     And finally, as some of you know, I try to get into local sports when I move. In Japan it was sumo, in the US, it's football and baseball. If I ever moved to Europe, I'm sure I would get into soccer (or football) and maybe even cricket. Here in Korea, though, I am having trouble finding a sport to follow. Come spring, I am sure that baseball and soccer will be on my daily radar but right now there is nothing. And it seems that Korea doesn't really have a national sport. So perhaps I am out of luck with that--a little disappointing.
     Local teams usually capture my heart, too. When I lived in Bakersfield, I rooted for the single-A baseball Bakersfield Blaze, when I lived in San Jose, same thing but with the San Jose Giants. In Japan I went to a couple games featuring the local soccer team in the J2 league, Ventforet Kofu. Here I have a feeling that when the two big sports do finally start up, my teams of choice will be the Doosan Bears (baseball) and FC Seoul (soccer). In fact, the Bears play home games about a 15-minute walk from my place, so perhaps season tickets are in my future. I always wanted to have my own seat at the ballpark.

It Ain't Over Till It's Over

     I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.-----Albert Einstein

     A bit over a week ago I was finishing up my afternoon class when suddenly there was a loud noise. At first I wasn't sure what it was or where it was coming from, but within a few seconds I realized it was a very loud air raid-type siren and was coming from outside. As I was trying to process what this meant and what I should do next, I looked at the students and noticed that they didn't seem too bothered by it in the least, so I asked, "What is that?" They had to search for the vocabulary but finally came up with words like "army", "invasion", "attack", and "North Korea." Now, I would imagine that normally these words might set fear and panic into the heart of most, but as my students said these words, they looked no more worried than when I announce a quiz for the following day--in fact, less so. So going off them, I didn't run out the door and start heading south.

     As this was exactly 2pm, I dismissed the class and found Greg (the boss man) out in the hallway. To my surprise, he came into my room, said "hi", and went to the window and pulled down the blinds. "Strange," I thought quizzically. The siren was still sounding in that familiar WWII documentary the-Germans-are-over-London way when I asked him, looking for a little more clarification than mere words and raising my voice a little so I could be heard, "So what's all this?"

     He then told me that it was nothing more than a drill conducted by the city. He said they used to happen once a month but that this was the first in about three or four. He also told me that sometimes we get directions as to what to do and other times not. This time the directions were to lower the blinds and turn off the lights, so he was going around to all the rooms telling the teachers what to do. Other times, he said, they'd had directions to go into the basement of the building or to exit the building. He then went on to tell me that in about 15 minutes there would be another siren which was the "all clear" signal and that we would then be able to turn the lights back on and raise the shades.
     As I peeked out the window, probably defying the local authorities and risking imprisonment, I noticed that life on the street seemed pretty status quo. People were walking, cars were moving, construction was still going...nothing changed. Greg told me though that this hadn't always been the case. In years past traffic stopped, people stopped walking, and basically the city shut down until the all clear was sounded. So I asked, "You mean people would literally stop walking and stand in place for 15 minutes?!" He then told me that some did, but that most continued walking to the next major intersection where the traffic light would not allow them to cross until the all clear. So they'd wait there. "Strange," I thought.
     As two o'clock marks the end of my last class, I made my way down to the teachers' room and sat at my desk. Luckily the internet was still working, so I just surfed around and then texted Ami to ask if she had heard the siren. Initially she said no, but as we were texting, the all clear sounded and she told me that she was, indeed, hearing it but that she had missed the first. So I guess if North Korea ever does attack, Ami will be the last to know and I feel sorry for the North Korean soldier who either wakes her up or interrupts her show. 

Day Tripper

     The Friday before last (the 11th) I got home looking forward to the weekend when Ami asked me if I would like to go to Chuncheon on Sunday to have a meal with her father and grandparents and a few others to celebrate her grandmother's birthday. Although the idea didn't overwhelm me with excitement, I agreed thinking that 1) I should go and meet her family--or at least her father's side, 2) Not only should I meet them all, but I actually wanted to, 3) I'd like to see Chuncheon, and 4) I came here to experience things, and this would be an experience--how many of us get to eat a meal with a real Korean family in Korea?
     So around 10:30am or so, Ami and I headed out. First we stopped by one of the local 7-11s, I think there are three or four within a five minute walk, to put money on our phones. Public transportation in Seoul uses something called the T-Money system (although you can do the old-fashioned pay cash as you go also). I'm not an expert on this, but I believe T-Money can either be put on a card or on a smart phone that has the proper application installed. Ami's and my phones have this application so we can go to any convenience store, hand over a sum of cash, and tell the clerk to put in on our T-Money account. To do this, you put the phone on some little pad/sensor thing, the clerk punches a few buttons on the cash register, and magic...the money is on your phone. You can then take your phone, go down into a subway station (or enter a bus or taxi apparently), wave your phone in front of a sensor when walking through the turnstile (although turnstile is kind of a misnomer as there is nothing that turns--see picture below), then you do the same when leaving the subway at your destination, and the money is automatically deducted from your phone. In Japan, I always had to run by a ticket machine and punch in my destination and then put money in the machine, so this is nice. It's very much like the Underground in London, which, when I was there, used a card. But I'm guessing that Japan and London are both using smart phones by now.

The modern turnstile

     The original plan was to take the rail all the way there. According to Ami it would cost us a little over two dollars (yes, just $2) each and would take about two hours. But as Ami had taken a little longer to get ready, we were pressed for time and so she decided that we should take the bus instead. The bus would take a little more than an hour and cost us about six bucks each. So we rode the subway a few stops and then walked over to the bus station to buy tickets and board the bus.
     To get to Chuncheon we took highway 60 east, which is the same road that we took a couple weeks back to get over to the east coast with Andrew and Alice. Since I'd already seen the surrounding area and since most of the people on the bus in front of us closed their curtains to keep out the sun, I just zoned out with my phone and listened to jazz. I found an application for free that lets me stream in jazz as long as my phone can find the internet or the 3G network. I gotta say that before coming over here, I had no idea smart phones were so cool. My phone in America was just a phone and texting machine. I couldn't download apps and to be honest, I didn't need to. But here it's a completely different thing. Yes, I could get by without it if I had to, but I don't have to, so I don't want to. The GPS feature has come in handy on a number of occasions, the T-Money thing has already been mentioned, and there's so much more. I've downloaded apps that let me get sports scores from America, weather reports, the latest news, currency exchange rates, Seoul subway routes and times, radio from almost any country, earthquake updates, and more. I can also talk to anyone in the world for free if they have a smart phone and have downloaded either Skype or Viber. Hell, I even downloaded an app that makes the flash on the camera light up and serve as a flashlight, so I use this in the early morning when I'm getting dressed to go running and don't want to bother Ami. And I'm just getting started with this thing. I'm hoping to find an app that will brush my teeth for me, do my shopping, and perhaps show up at work so I don't have to, but for these I am not holding my breath just yet. So anyway, I plugged in to some bebop and just zoned out while we made our way to Chuncheon.
     After about an hour, Ami poked me and pointed out the window, "There's Chuncheon". Looking at the town from the side of a small mountain, I saw the place where Ami grew up and had always lived until she came to America two and a half years ago. It didn't look like anything special really--just a medium sized town with the tall apartment buildings that you see everywhere in Korea. Koreans love apartments. Ami has informed me that Koreans prefer apartments to houses--something that is rather shocking to me. I'll have to do a little more research about why this is.
     As we made our way into town, the people around us opened their curtains and I could see the town of about 265,000 a little better. We drove down a wide avenue with buildings on both sides and signs in Hangul. To me, it felt a lot like America (minus the Hangul) in that the buildings had no particular beauty to them and seemed quite utilitarian. After a few minutes, we got to the bus station and I saw Ami's father standing outside his car watching the buses come in. After our bus parked, we got out and walked over to him. He smiled happily and we shook hands and said it was good to see each other again.
     He then motioned us to get in the car and as we approached it, I saw two elderly people inside. As was usual in Japan and is becoming familiar to me again, I wasn't in the know. I had thought we would be meeting everyone at the restaurant but here were grandma and grandpa in the car. Grandma scooted over and let us in the backseat with her, while grandpa sat in the front seat not saying anything and not even looking back at us. Grandma, however, was quite happy and spoke to me in Korean. I think she said "nice to meet you", but Ami is a terrible translator for reasons I still haven't figured out. I have a feeling that she thinks it's not important for me to understand certain things. She's great with important things--like at the phone company or the bank--but seems to turn it off when it comes to friends or family. Anyway, grandma and I looked at each and smiled and soon we headed off.
     A few minutes later we parked at a medium sized restaurant with rather traditional architecture. It looked like an old house, albeit a large one, and was all made of wood. The specialty of the house.....duck. As we parked, so did Ami's aunt who was driving herself, her husband, and their son. As we all got out of the car, grandpa came over and shook my hand as did Ami's uncle. Her aunt and son and I just smiled at each other and said hello in various ways--both Korean and English--and then we all made our way into the restaurant.
     As we entered, we took off our shoes, put them on a shelf and made our way to a private room with sliding doors made of wood and rice paper. In the room there were two low tables about two feet apart, one seating eight, the other four, and cushions around each. Both tables, one in the smaller and two in the larger, had sections cut out of the wood in  the middle where there was a kind of steel fire pit thing with a grill on top. And above these grills and hanging from the ceiling were long vacuum tubes that could be pulled down close the grill. At each place at the tables there was a cushion to sit on, a few dishes and a set of silverware.  In Japan, silverware was actually woodware (or plasticware) and was usually just a set of chopsticks. But in Korea, chopsticks, usually make of metal (though I'm not sure of which kind), are often accompanied by a long spoon. Koreans seems to love the spoon.
     Within a few minutes of sitting down, another three people, including So Yeon, Ami's cousin whom I had met a couple weeks earlier, showed up. As Ami was in the restroom, her father introduced them as his younger brother and his wife. All told, there were now eleven of us: grandma, grandpa, Ami's father, his brother and sister, their spouses, two of Ami's cousins, Ami, and me.
     Eventually, some worker came in and put red hot embers in each of the fire pits, and the waitresses brought in food for us to cook and we got to eating. I basically just sat in the corner eating and trying to make out a word here and a word there. Everyone was quite nice, but no one was speaking English and Ami didn't do a lot of translating for me.
     The food consisted of duck, which was already cooked meaning we merely heated it up on the grill instead of actually cooking it, Korean style salad, kimchi and other side dishes, and rice. Near the end of the meal, someone took out a cake (I think she had been hiding it under the table), stuck three candles in it and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to grandma....in Korean so I just hummed along. After the song, grandma, to the amazement of us all, blew out the candles with one quick blow. This wouldn't have been so impressive in itself, but she did it from a fairly good distance--I'd say roughly two feet. So everyone laughed and probably told her how healthy she was and then the ladies set about cutting the cake and passing it out.
     After all the food was gone, we got up, went outside, and took a few pictures--Ami and me; Ami, her father and me; grandma, Ami and me; both grandparents, Ami and me, and a couple with all of us minus the camera-person (see a few below). Grandma turned to me at some point and said something which Ami laughed about but didn't translate. She smiled when she said it, though, so I think it was probably something nice. Actually, later, Ami mentioned that grandma had been afraid that Ami was dating some oversized American that would be interested in eating only bread, so she was quite happy that I am not so big and can eat rice and kimchi. Guess I got some stereotypes to kill, aye?
     With all the goodbyes said, Ami's father, Ami, and I got into his car and took a little tour of Chuncheon, We went by the local lake, up to the place where he wants to have Ami and I get married in a more Korean-style wedding next year sometime, Ami's middle and high school, Ami's university, and then to his apartment for some coffee. His place is on the 14th floor of a large apartment building which is just one in a complex of about six or eight. The apartment itself was small (although my first impression was that it was big because I've become quite used to my own place) and it had three bedrooms, a main room, and a bathroom. The main room and the kitchen area were basically both in the same area.
     The part I liked the most though was the balcony. Ami had told me about Korean style balconies and had made it seem different than what I am used to so I wasn't sure I believed her because what she was describing wasn't a balcony but a small room on the edge of the apartment. But sure enough, she was right. The main room and this "balcony" were separated by a sliding glass door--one that you might think would lead outside--and on the other side was just another room for the most part, but one in which the outside wall was all windows that could be opened so that you were still inside, technically speaking, but exposed to the outside air. Ami's father used the balcony to smoke a couple times while she and I sat inside the living room and looked at old photo albums from her childhood.
     Eventually, her father took us back to the bus station and he and I said we'd see each other again in December. Ami later told me that I didn't have to go back in December, but actually, I had a good time. So I probably will go back. Chuncheon had a good feel to it and minus the language barrier, everyone and everything went just fine.

We took some pictures outside the restaurant. This is Ami's father.

And these would be Ami's grandparents. You see how grandma is holding my arm? I believe I have been accepted.

Let's see if I can get this right. Starting on the left, the lady in the green scarf is Ami's father's sister. She is married to the guy behind Ami. Poking her head between Ami's aunt and grandma is So Yeon, Ami's cousin. On the other side sorta behind grandpa is Ami's father's brother. His wife is to his left. The guy between me and grandpa is another of Ami's cousins, Sung Dong. I'm assuming Ami's father is taking the picture--thus, his absence. 

Jumping through Hoops, Part II

     I'm working on the story of my day in Chuncheon last Sunday, but the desire to write hasn't been there. I'll get it done soon. In the meantime, however, I thought I'd vent a little.

     As most of you know, Ami and I will get married soon. We will be doing this in Key West, Florida and need to get a wedding license, of course. The practice in Florida is that non-residents can get the license without any waiting period (residents must wait three days) and can get the license in one county and get married in another. Sounds easy and I think it would be...if I was in the states. The hard part, for me anyway, is that the license is good only for sixty days. So once it's issued, you then have two months to get married or you'll have to get another one.

     So with the sixty-day period in mind, I left America without doing anything with regards to the license and got to Korea seventy-two days before the wedding. Then, with about sixty-five days to go, I started looking into what exactly I'd need to do. At first, it looked like getting one in the mail was impossible, but with a little more digging I found a place where I could do it. So I contacted the place via email and they quite quickly got back to me and requested that I send them some info and then they would create the documents I'd need to get notarized.
     Meanwhile, I started looking for places to get a notarization here in Seoul. After a few searches, I found that the US Embassy is the place to get these things done. So I looked them up and found my way to an appointment page and made an appointment for as late in the day as possible because, as you know, I have to work. I was a little disappointed to find that the last appointments they offer are at 2:45, but what could I do? I made one for the 8th, which was the earliest day I could get one at that time.
     The place in Florida put all my info on the forms and emailed them back to me and I printed them out at work. Now, during this time, Ami was in contact with two friends (sisters) that are here in Korea because they are coming to the wedding. The plan was (astute readers will notice the verb tense I just used) for Ami to fly, with her friends, to Florida. Ami wants to help them and apparently these two have never been out of the country; in fact, they've never, I think, been on a plane. So Ami felt she should go with them to guide them through the airports and immigration. I had decided a few weeks before to fly alone and go into Orlando to hang out with my family for a couple days before we'd all make our way down to Key West.
     So once I got the paperwork and the appointment at the embassy, I felt pretty confidant that things would go smoothly and as Ami kept asking me if she could buy the plane tickets, I told her to go ahead and get them. So she did. She and the sisters booked their flights, with my help, via Orbitz. I, however, did not buy my ticket for no real reason other than I was just being lazy about it.
     So our appointment day came and Ami caught a taxi to my school, and I cut out early to join her for the ride across the river to the embassy. The embassy experience was fairly painless and I paid $50 for a notary from a nice lady there. She looked at the forms, asked me for a few details, made us both raise our right hands, swear it was all true, and then told me that she would do the notary. Now, these two forms had a place for her signature and the official stamp, but she informed me that embassy policy is not to sign and stamp the forms directly but to instead put another paper on top of the forms from Florida which would then be attached to the them and bear her signature and the stamp. This made me a little nervous but she assured me that it was policy and that it would be ok. So after that was done we left and found a post office and I had the forms sent as fast as I could to Florida.
     One week later I wake up, go for a run, and come back to find an email from the Florida office telling me that the forms will NOT be accepted because they were not stamped and signed in the right place. The email then says that I should reprint the forms, get it done right, and resubmit them. So I fire off an email that says, "Hey, the embassy here doesn't do it that way. Just accept it, you idiots. The US Gov trumps your little county gov." Ok, I didn't quite put it that way, but anyway, I get an email back telling me sorry, we won't accept it.
     Obviously, I was less than happy with this turn of events, but what can you do when you are stuck between two forces who won't agree on how to do something that YOU need to do? Ami wanted to go back to the embassy, but that would mean making another appointment (a week from now at the earliest), taking off work early again, doing the taxi thing again, and then probably being told, sorry, we don't do it that way. So I told her we would not be trying again. I looked around a bit for other places that would do notaries but couldn't find one. So we cancelled her flight (I did this yesterday and got everything but $100 back) and will be flying together to Orlando to go in person to a courthouse and get this thing done. Thanks to Wendy, Rigel's wife, I found out we can do it there and get it on the same day. I only hope Ami's friends don't end up in Iowa.
     What a stupid world we live in.

     

Sunday Rainy Sunday

     After getting out of the local area last Saturday and seeing a little more of Seoul, I wanted to do it again on Sunday. I looked online and in a small book I have about this citry for things to do, and then Ami looked online, too. And after our bit of research we agreed to go up to some area where there were some old buildings and a bit of shopping (I'm still not sure exactly what it is). But when we woke up on Sunday, the rain was falling hard. Ami hates rain, I mean really hates it, so that put the brakes on that idea and I ended up spending all morning watching the Alabama/LSU game (I streamed it through the computer and hooked it up to the tv).

     By the time the game was finished, I was ready to go out no matter what. Ami still didn't want to go, but as the rain had let up and as I suggested that we simply walk over to the large mall called COEX so that I could explore the bookstore, she agreed--after I promised to buy her lunch, of course. 

     So we walked over and I was pleased to find that they have a pretty good selection of books in English. My favorite section was the three or four shelves on which they had various books about Korea and its history and/or culture. I bought three small books about one subject each related to Korea: Hangul, food, and the DMZ. I am currently reading the one about Hangul and learning a bit.
     The great thing about the books I found in the Korea section was that they were not the kind you'd find in American bookstores like Barnes & Noble. And searching on Amazon for something like "Korea" or "Korean history" also doesn't tend to yield the books I found in this store. Before I came over, I went to a B&N and looked in the history section for something to read on the plane over. I found the Asian section and found quite a few books on China and Japan but absolutely nothing on Korea. That's not to say that other bookstores might not have anything, but Korea doesn't seem to be on the American radar when it comes to curiosity. I dare any of you to name five things you know about Korea. "Hmmmm.....kimchi, the DMZ, and........?" And don't take that personally. That's about all I knew a few years ago too--before I got the job in San Jose and started teaching the small Korean village that is Cupertino. And, hey, I'm not without my ignorances either. I don't know crap about Eritrea (that's a country in Africa in case you are wondering). All I'm trying to say is that when we Americans think of the Far East, we think of China and Japan and that's about it.
     After the bookstore and in my mood to discover and experience more about the land that is Korea, I asked Ami to pick a restaurant for us to eat at. "Any restaurant," I said thinking that she'd been good enough to brave the slight sprinkles and mild temperatures and that I should let her choose her favorite Korean food. "Spaghetti!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. "Great," I thought, "All the way to Korea and I get to have Italian food."
     I do like spaghetti, though, and even make it from time to time and the dish I had was quite good. One thing I've already noticed about Seoul is that I don't really think I'll be missing much in the way of food. I've seen pizza places, fried chicken places, sushi places, sandwich places. I've seen McDonalds, Burger King, Domino's, Papa John's, one TGI Friday's, and even a Mexican place called On The Border. I love Korean food, but if I didn't, I think I'd be ok here.
     So, that was Sunday. I woke up in Korea and got to watch American football and eat Italian food. Just another day in Seoul.

Sshhh.....no honking!

     When I started my first class this morning, some of the students asked me if I knew that today was the day of a rather large test for high school seniors. They said it was very important and that much depends on one's results. I asked if it was a nation wide thing and they told me it was. I believed them but I didn't realize quite how big this thing was. Then I read the following in the newspaper during lunch. Seems it affects more than just one's future.

Morning rush hour adjusted for college test
The morning rush hour and public transportation schedule will be adjusted Thursday for the annual state-run examination for college admission. 

The College Scholastic Ability Test, a key decider of college entrance, will take place throughout the nation on Thursday. 

Government offices and companies with over 50 employees advised their employees on Wednesday to come to work one hour late to alleviate traffic for students heading to test sites, government officials said.

And more subways trains and buses will be put into operation, extending the 7-to-9 morning rush hour operation by two hours to 6-to-10.

Buses stopping at test sites will post signs to help students easily recognize which buses to take. They will also make a special announcement before stopping at the locations.

The Korean military will forbid all jets and helicopters from taking off or landing during the Korean and English language listening comprehension tests for 23 minutes around 8 a.m. and for 30 minutes around 1 p.m. The U.S. military also will stop their training so that students can take the test quietly.

The National Police Agency asked drivers not to honk near test sites and construction companies to halt construction temporarily during the audio test.

The police will arrange cars and motorcycles to help students arrive on time for the exam. Students can just dial 112 and ask for their help. A team of parent volunteers also will mobilize motorcycles and cars.

As the police will restrict traffic and parking within 200 meters of the test places, students may have to unload from cars and walk to their test places, police said.

This year, a total of 693,634 students will take the test, 2.6 percent down from last year, at 1,207 testing locations from 8:40 a.m. to 5:35 p.m.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldm.com)

Subway, Eat Fresh

     Sunday marked three weeks that I've been in Korea and going into the weekend I hadn't yet stepped on a bus or subway. Besides the trip that Ami and I took with Andrew and Alice, I hadn't been out of my local area. I think this was in part due to the fact that I got to Korea a mere 15 hours before I was to report to work and since then it's basically been wake up, walk to work, teach, walk home, eat, sleep, and then do it again the next day. Not that I'm complaining, but I think we all know how life gets into a routine and then the days pass without much thought. I guess I shouldn't get melodramatic about this, but I was itching to get out and see a little more of this huge city that I live in. It's easy to live in one area and think "Well....This is it," although I knew this wasn't true.

     I've been telling Ami that I want to ride the subway so that I can learn how it works. I've ridden subways in Tokyo, London, Paris, Washington D.C. and a few smaller cities and have always been able to figure out how they work and love the challenge of trying to get myself, and anyone with me, from point A to B. I knew I could figure out the Seoul system too, but I also knew that it would be likely that Ami would be with me when I was doing it and that perhaps she could enlighten me to any details I might not be able to get on my own (I recall my Brit friend telling me in London that a certain line didn't stop at a certain station on Sundays or maybe it was a certain time of day, and how that little tidbit of info really helped).

     So on Saturday Ami and I headed out to meet her cousin and brother for lunch in an area north of the Han River and one that is known for being the university area. The subway runs pretty much as expected. You need to know three things: the line to take, the direction to take it, and the stop at which to get off. The lines here, like Tokyo, are given both numbers and colors. And each stop has a number too, along with a name. The hard part for me is trying to figure out the names. It's not that I can't read, mind you, as the names of the stops are written in both Hangul and our Roman script, but rather I'm finding it difficult to tell the difference between the names. For example, if I go down to the main road to the nearest station, I will be at Samseong station. One stop west is Seouleung and two stops easy is Sinchon. Ok, that's not too hard, I guess, but then there's Jamsil, Jamsilaru, Gangbyeon, Guui, Konkuk, and Seongsu if I keep going on that same line. I imagine that eventually, I will come to recognize the names but trust me when I tell you that at the current time, they are all running together for me (much like all my students' names).
     Anyway, riding the subway was easy for the most part--and cheap. To get pretty far away here in Seoul cost me just about $1.50. Not bad. They are clean, relatively quiet, run on time, run often, and, unlike subways I've experience before, there is a glass wall at the station between the platform and the tracks so that there seems to be no way a drunken idiot could fall down onto the tracks. The driver of the trains stops so that the doors of the glass wall and the doors of the train line up and then both open and close. I've also noticed that people seem to line up in front of these doors--a strange practice as I've never seen passengers line up anywhere for subways. Usually there's a guy over there reading a paper, a lady over there checking her phone, a couple sitting on the bench talking and laughing, and a teenager listening to his headphones, and when the train comes, they all gather in a mass near where the door will be. But here in Seoul, the norm seems to be lining up. I'm not so sure I like this practice though as it means I'll also have to line up instead of standing off away from the masses or sitting on a bench. Well see how it goes.
     Ami and I had to change lines once and then rode up to a station called Hyehwa. Upon exiting the station I could tell immediately that I wasn't in Gangnam anymore. The people were younger, the sidewalks narrower, and there was more neon. There were street vendors selling hats and jewlery and shoes and all sorts of food, some recognizable, others not so much. As I looked around, I thought to myself, "Yeah. This is the Korea I expected." It's not that Gangnam is bad, but it's a little more civilized in the sense that you see a lot of suits walking around, the sidewalks don't really have too many vendors, and if you want to find any "life" beyond taxis and businessmen/women, you have to dive off the main roads and back into the side streets. In other words, it seems a little boring.
     Ami's cousin, So Yeon (she also goes by Sophie as she lived in New Zealand for a few months), came up and greeted us and immediately turned red upon seeing me. I'm not really sure why this was, but she's a cute young woman whose English actually turned out to be pretty good. We then waited a few minutes and Ami's brother, Soon, who lives in the local area, walked up. After the introductions we walked over to a place that serves Tak-kalbi. For those of you who don't know, and I assume that is all of you, tak means chicken and kalbi means something along the lines of grilled marinated meat, although its literal meaning is rib. Tak-kalbi, I soon found out, is the specialty of Ami's (and Soon's and So Yeon's) hometown, Chuncheon. We sat at a table with a large gas burner in the middle for a large skillet and a little while after ordering, the chicken with kalbi sauce (I guess it's called) and rice cakes, and cabbage and some other veggie I'm not sure what to call was all sizzling in front of us. It was a tasty meal.
     Meeting more of Ami's family was good too. So Yeon is studying here in Seoul at some university to be an air traffic controller, while Soon is studying so that he can pass the Korean equivalent of the BAR exam. I'll have to keep him close in case I ever need him while I'm over here. Soon loves American baseball, although he loves the wrong teams, so we talked about sports while the girls laughed at us and talked in Korean about fashion and makeup and shoes (I'm assuming).
     After we ate, we went and got a coffee--a VERY Korean thing to do I'm discovering--and then we all boarded the subway south. Soon was going to his church while Ami, So Yeon, and I were headed back to our place so that So Yeon could meet Stella. The two of them then took off for a cat cafe where the owners have 27 cats to entertain you while you drink coffee and talk, presumably, about cats. As you might imagine, I stayed home with my beer and tv. Too many years at vet offices has turned me off to drinking coffee with the smell of cat pee in the air. 

Walk this Way

     I'm going to try to get some pictures up this weekend. I haven't been carrying my camera with me, but today I remembered to grab it before I left for work. These are a few shots I took on my way to work this morning.

Not a very flattering look at my apartment building, but then again I don't think that's possible. My building is the one with the sign. 

I'm moving away from my place here. That's not my building but the one in front of it.

The view to the north as I step out on the road. I turn left at the T.

I've now turned left and walk a few block down a narrow road.

And I pass the little store that I get my beer at sometimes. This place is literally a 30-40 second walk from my place.

Still walking down the narrow road. That car up ahead is on the bigger road that runs approximately north/south.

I've now turned onto that bigger road and will walk a block down to those large buildings and then take a left .

I've now taken that left and am walking east down the road. I took this, though, when I was waiting to cross the road. This is looking west.

After I cross the road above, I walk down a side street until I get to this park. I then follow the perimeter of it to the next busy road.

It's a nice walk by this park and I usually try to take in the trees because I spend the rest of my time in the concrete jungle.

I've now turned north but still hug the park.

Waiting at an intersection. There are four colors of busses and the colors signify the routes they run. 

Still walking north and getting close now.

And closer still. 

There's my school. Not a beautiful building but it does the trick. GNUCR is on the fourth and fifth floors. And the construction in front of the place is actually taking place down much of this street while they extend one of the subway lines.

The window in my classroom. It looks out over the street I just came from.

My desk in my classroom.

A look back at the door to my classroom.

The teachers' room. When I'm not actually teaching, I come here to prep, talk to other teachers, and do anything else that needs to be done.

My desk in the teachers' room. Four of us sit in this area. Mine is on the back right.

The view out my window.

     I'll try to get some more pics over the weekend. Ami and I are supposed to go out tomorrow to meet her brother and cousin for lunch/dinner. It will be my first time out of the local area since Andrew took us out of town.

The Beer's the Thing

     Let's talk Korean beer (this won't be a long post, I can assure you). Most of you know how much I love the stuff--beer, that is, not Korean beer in particular. And most of you know how much I like variety when it comes to beer. So I am rather sad to say, although I knew this coming over, that I'm pretty sure I've tried just about everything Korea has to offer and I've been here just three weeks!
     Now, that's not to say that there might not be some small brewery somewhere in the mountains that serves some really good beer on premises. But as far as getting anything good at the local grocery store....I think I'm outta luck.
     The beer here is basically all light lagers--I won't even go so far as to call them pilsners as that would do good European pilsners an injustice. Imagine a world in which there was only Budweiser, Coors, and Miller and you are are still slightly, and I do mean ever so slightly, better off than I am here in Korea.

In my opinion so far, this is the worst of the worst.

Not very good either. But the big bottles are kinda nice. And everything I've posted here comes in the different sizes. 

I believe OB stands for Original Brewery. This one is roughly on par with a Coors. Have to taste them together to decide which one is better though.

This has been my beer of choice so far. It's not something I would buy in the states, but it'll do for now.

     There are no IPAs, no stouts, no ambers, no pale ales, no reds, no porters. There is no variety. There is no hop aroma when you open a bottle. There is no flavor when you pour it down. There is only light fizzy yellow boring lager. And the beer labels seem to enjoy words like "Fresh" or "Clean" which a true beer lover knows mean "Don't drink this beer. This beer has nothing you will remember." I don't want fresh beer. I don't want it old either but fresh is not really a redeeming quality. And clean?! What does that mean? I like my apartment clean. I like my clothes to be clean. But my beer?! No. That should have flavor. Clean means without flavor when it comes to beer.

     In Japan, I had a hard time, too, when it came to the beer. Asahi, Kirin, and Sapporo were the choices, but at least they were high quality boring lagers. The beer in Korea is not even on that level. And in Japan, there was something called nihonshu (sake), which almost made up for the lack of quality beer. But here in Korea, the drink of choice is something called soju. And let's just say that soju is like a watered down vodka. I'll write more about soju if and when I learn more about and try more of the stuff, but my initial reaction to it isn't so good.

     So anyway, the food is good, the girls are pretty, the streets are busy, but the beer is.......well, I guess you get the idea. 

     

Meet the Parent

     Last week on Wednesday afternoon, Ami took off for her hometown and a visit to her father and grandparents. They all live in a place called Chuncheon (pronounced "choon-chun"), which is a little over an hour away depending on the route you take to get there. I don't wish to get into Ami's personal life here, so I'll only say that her parents are divorced. Her mother lives in the states and her father is over here. I've met her mother many times and we get along well; in fact, I met Ami's mother before I met Ami and it was her mother who introduced us. But I'd never met her father before.
     I didn't go to Chuncheon, but on Saturday, he drove her back to Seoul (she had taken the bus on Wednesday) and the three of us went out for lunch. At first, it was little awkward as any meeting between future son-in-law and father-in-law will be--and perhaps extra so for us as we are of different cultures and different languages--but soon we both relaxed a bit and while the conversation may not have been flowing freely between us, we did manage a few exchanges and had a few laughs.
     At one point when Ami tried to be the interpreter, he told her to be quiet as he wanted to try his English--a gesture I appreciated very much as it takes effort and a certain disregard for risking embarrassment to speak in another tongue. He also bought me a winter coat as a gift. After lunch, we walked back to our apartment where I made coffee for us all before he hit the road home. During the coffee and baseball--I had turned on the tv and found game three of the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) championship between the SK Wyverns and Samsung Lions--he turned to me, smiled, and said something to the effect of "You come to Chuncheon. My parents want to meet you. No problem?" I said that I would go, no problem, to which he looked very pleased and then discussed more details with Ami in Korea.n So I guess I will be going to Chuncheon sometime before Christmas. Should be an interesting weekend.
     When he left, Ami came back to the apartment after seeing him off and was very happy. She said he'd liked me. So overall, I guess things went rather well. He even called her last night to talk for a few minutes and when she got off the phone she looked at me and said, "Jeez, my father really likes you!" "That's not surprising," I thought.
   
 

Heigh ho, heigh ho....

     Guess you could say I'm settling into the job. We started the new session last Thursday, which was my first day of teaching at GNUCR. Greg set me up with a very easy schedule to get me into the flow of things. I teach four classes a day, but I teach the same subjects twice. So I've got grammar level 400 twice (two different sets of students) and something called IOF2 grammar twice (IOF stands for Improving Oral Fluency). So when I lesson plan for the following days, I have to plan for only two classes and then just repeat them when the second groups of students come in. I teach four hours starting at 9 and ending at 2 (lunch is from 12-1). Then from 2 to 3 I am the designated substitute, meaning if a teacher is sick and has a class during that hour, I will fill in for him/her. I've already done this twice and it was kinda fun to go in and meet a new group of students and then just implement the lesson plan that was given to me. If no one is out, I can use that hour to lesson plan, grade papers, or do anything else I need to do.
     I usually arrive at school about 8:30 and then leave sometime around 4-4:30. And as it takes me a half hour to walk to school, I am usually gone from about 7:50 to 5 or so. It's a full day, I guess, but it goes by quickly as there's a nice balance between teaching and sitting at my desk getting other work done. This is something I didn't have in my previous job as it was all classroom time and no prep/grading time at all. I always enjoyed the teaching, but the lack of time to prep for classes started to gnaw at me quite a bit, so I am happy to have time to do this at this place. I think teachers everywhere must feel more respected when they get paid to prep for classes as that's a huge part of the job.
     I think I might have mentioned this before, but the teachers at this place seem good and happy. But what really impresses me is the way they work together to help one another and discuss students and lessons. And it's funny when I think about it, but I think there are two rather large yet simple factors that lead to this impetus to help each other. One is that we, as mentioned above, are given time to lesson plan and grade and this leads to the teachers also having time to help instead of just teaching classes and then getting out of the place. The other is that instead of each of us having just our own classrooms to do our work, there is a teachers' room where we all have our own desks that we sit at to do the outside-class work and this inevitably leads to a more social feel amongst the teachers.  Such simple factors but I am convinced that they lead to the, for lack of a better way to put it, "team" feel of the place. And it sure helps the new guy.
     My classes are all right around 15 students. The biggest change for me is that all the students, and I do mean all, are Korean. In California, I was teaching Koreans, Japanese, Taiwanese, and Chinese students most of the time with a German, Brazilian, Mexican, Italian, Colombian, or Thai student thrown in for fun sometimes. I realize that many of you might think that Asians are roughly all the same, but I would argue against that. They each have their own idiosyncrasies that vary from country to country and, obviously, individual to individual. But here, it's 100% Korean. This has its advantages in that the students tend to relax and not worry about dealing with "others" so much--or at least I think I am perceiving this--which means that  they can focus on the language and not so much on Chinese or Brazilian culture. But, of course, this also has its drawbacks in that they, and I, are not learning about the big world out there. In California, we'd often just sit and compare cultural practices like gestures, etiquette, holidays, etc. and we'd all come out of class understanding a little more about one another and where we all came from. Here, though, there is none of that. But like I said, this means that English can be the focus in a way that isn't always possible in a mixed class.
     So far the students and I seem to get along--something I wasn't at all worried about. The first day was a little rough as they sized me up the way that all students always size up new teachers on the first day of class. But by just the second day, I could already tell that if I just kept being my crazy self, it was all going to go well. Today was just day four and I feel that most of them and I are getting along quite well and they are starting to trust me. I was even invited out yesterday for a small gathering today after school. To be fair, the group of students invited many (or all, I don't know) of the teachers, but it's good to be included in such things methinks. One of the students who just finished the school is going to go to Canada soon so they had a small good-bye event. We just went out for pizza, Korean style pizza, and talked and got to know each other. Was good.
     So, the job is good and I think my teaching is taking the next step in its progression as I learn a new system, technology, and ways of doing things and running classes.

Across the River and Into the Trees

     This last weekend, Alice (Andrew's wife) called Ami and asked if we would be interested in going on a day trip to a mountain to see the fall foliage on Tuesday (Andrew and I had Mon-Wed off this week as the school is closed for the session change). I love Seoul so far, but the thought of getting out to see a little nature very much appealed to me, so we agreed and yesterday took a nice long road trip.

     They borrowed Alice's brother's car and about 10am picked us up at our place. Getting out of Seoul was a small challenge and we crossed the Han River twice, once going north and then coming back south, but we finally got our bearings and were soon heading east and into the mountains. Actually, I'm not so sure I should called them mountains. They were more like steep hills covered in trees. To me, mountains are formidable looking structures of nature and these looked more like bumps on the landscape. Some were large and steep but none of them rose very high and it looked as though a person in moderate physical condition could climb to the top of any of them in under half an hour. 

     The other interesting feature, this one regarding the highway, was that rather than turn and wind its way around these geological features, the road simply burrowed through them. There were a lot of tunnels, most of them several hundred meters long.

     As we passed over rivers and through tunnels and past the bumps, the trees began to thicken with some of them beginning to turn to the reds and yellows of fall and others clinging to their summer fashions. Alice and Ami spoke a lot of Korean with Andrew (he's fluent too) jumping in from time to time and at other times throwing out English to keep me informed of the topic at hand. I'm noticing that while I don't understand 99% of the words, there are some that I do and those coupled together with the context of the conversation and the English loan-words that Koreans use means I can, about 50% of the time, figure out at least what the subject being discussed is. This is something that I learned to do in Japan and it's fun to be back in the dark with a small flashlight again trying to figure out where I am. Of course, I do hope to learn more Korean in the weeks/months and possibly years to come. I haven't sat down to study yet, but starting tomorrow, life will begin the work/home routine and perhaps I can find time to do this.

Seoul is circled in green and our destination is in red (the red has been zoomed in on below).
(Click for larger images)

   
     Unbeknownst to me in the early moments of our journey, we were heading for a town called Sokcho (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokcho). I was in the back seat having fun with the GPS feature on my new phone trying to find where we were and where we were going when I scrolled around a bit and found a large blank expanse--no roads, no rivers, no mountains, no place names. "Ah," I thought, "North Korea." And I showed my GPS map to Ami who found it slightly less interesting than me. 

     As you might have already figured out, we were more or less paralleling the DMZ which lay about 40 miles to the north while were were heading due east on highway 60. But once we turned onto the 46, we got to within about 14 miles of the border. I've watched quite a few documentaries on the hermit country and was quite excited to be in such close proximity to it--kinda like the way the you might get excited to see a dead body. North Korea holds such fascination with me mostly because I can't believe in this day and age that such a country exists, but there we were nearly within running distance of the place.

     Anyway, as we made our way to the east coast, Andrew mentioned something about Korean rest stops. Apparently, Korean rest stops were something to behold and he quite excitedly informed us that we would be stopping at one quite soon. A few minutes later, we were, indeed, pulling into one and I instantly remembered day three of my stay in Japan, when we drove from Tokyo to Kofu and the bus stopped at a rest stop. 

     I don't know if it's a continent-wide thing, but rest stops in Japan and Korea put American rest stops to shame. The Far East versions have bathrooms as big as a house, food courts with all sorts of delicious-looking dishes, coffee shops, and a store or two selling jackets, shoes, hats, socks, sunglasses and nearly any other necessity you suddenly remembered that your forgot when you packed this morning. So we stopped and had lunch. Ami and I went with the breaded and fried pork cutlet (tonkatsu for those of you who know the Japanese version) with udon soup, Alice went for the soup and kimbap (the Korean version of sushi minus the fish), and Andrew went for a hotdog because, he said, " I haven't had a hotdog in two years!" 

     After eating we hit the road again and about an hour later stopped at a smaller rest stop, this one containing a giant swing and two smaller ones. We all tried them out and were lucky not to be strong or skilled enough to go vertical, although Andrew and I tried.

Andrew tries to get some height while the girls try not to fall.

View from the swing.

     After a quick trip to the restroom and a shot of some energy drink that tasted a little like a cross between a RedBull and medicine, we were back in the car. The further east we got, the bigger the bumps became so that eventually I could call them mountains. The trees were still red and yellow in parts with many of them still green and the road eventually dipped down as we started our decent into Sokcho. Before we got all the way  into the town, however, we stopped one last time at a very small (and unimpressive by now) rest stop to take in the view.

This is what we stopped for although I took this shot from the road.

Andrew and I thought this sign a little funny. What were we supposed to be observing exactly?

     After the quick stop, we then drove the last twenty minutes into Sokcho. I guess before and during the Korean war, this town was part of North Korea. It wasn't until after the war that it was deemed part of South Korea. To me, however, it just looked like a medium-sized sleepy town with a colorful downtown and a fishing industry (from what I could tell). It was a little strange to be looking east out over the Pacific Ocean when just a couple weeks before I was sitting with Ray and Judy, drinking wine on the beach, and looking west out over the same ocean and I had one of those moments (again) when I realized how far I was from home.

     I say that I was looking out over the Pacific but in reality I was looking out over the Sea of Japan (or East Sea if you are Korean). This Sea of Japan/East Sea thing is quite funny to me. Basically, the entire world calls it the former while Koreans refuse to do this. I'm sure it goes back to the Japanese/Korean relationship and all the trouble between the two. I have seen it for myself in my many Korean students and Ami has told me herself that Korea still has ill feelings towards Japan--although I should mention that the two countries citizens, from what I've witnessed, get along quite well. But when it comes to things like baseball or the Olympics or the naming of large shared bodies of water, Korea feels quite slighted by much of the world and feels the need to make up for this by, all else being of some small significance, beating Japan in whatever game/challenge is at hand. It doesn't matter if Korea gets second-to-last place in the world in whatever venture it is being measured by so long as it is Japan that is in last place. This is why Korea still looks to the 2002 World Cup as cause for celebration when it got fourth place overall; a feat that Japan has never accomplished. On the other side of the spectrum, it is also why Korea felt such dismay over the 2009 World Baseball Classic when the final game went into extra innings and Japan beat Korea 5-3. Ami still can't stand the name Ichiro.

This is Sokcho. The red marks where we stopped to have a walk around. The yellow marks where we stopped for a meal (a zoom in on the yellow area below).

    Back to the trip, though. We stopped at one area in Sokcho to walk around a bit and then we drove up to another area for lunch. Lunch was interesting. I don't think I've ever had such fresh fish. As we walked up to the market/restaurant, we were (or rather Alice was) accosted by middle-aged ladies imploring us to stop and look at the fish we could buy and eat. At first we just passed them by and took a look around off the pier. Andrew and I watched some fish in the water and talked about what kind they might be--they were long, maybe 6-8 inches and very skinny. Soon, though, we went back to the ladies and Alice told them something and one of them set about gathering fish out of the holding tanks. She grabbed a plastic basket and reached into the tanks coming out with a fish each time. Each holding tank held a different variety of fish, some of which were quite strange looking. After she gathered about five or six, we all followed her into the building to where there were rooms. Inside the rooms were more ladies seated before a low table. The lady who had gathered the fish then gave the basket to the seated ladies and then took our money, about $45. The ladies in the room then, and much to my surprise although I guess I shouldn't have been, started cutting. These fish were alive, mind you. They had just been ripped from their tanks and were flopping about in the basket and now they were on a large cutting table being hacked to death--although perhaps hacked is the wrong word because these ladies cut them in a very methodical way and one that they were obviously very familiar with. Real pros with the blades, I tell you.
     Once the bloodshed was over, the ladies handed us the plastic tray upon which the raw fish was laid and we carried that and another tray upstairs to the eating area. The other tray, for your information, held a plastic bag of garlic and peppers, another one of lettuce, some styrofoam containers of different pastes (aka. dipping sauces), and another bag with the head of one fish and other various body parts that had not been so delicately cut and would not be eaten raw. These parts, I later found out, were to go into a soup which would be cooked at our table in a pot over a burner.
     When we got upstairs, we sat at a long table, a lady came over and spread out a plastic table cloth for us and we got to eating. This was all quite different from the Japanese way of eating sashimi (raw fish) in that there was a lot less fuss over presentation. Nothing was beautiful in any sort of aesthetic way. Basically, they hacked the fish to death, put it on a plastic tray, sat us at a large table in a room full of people doing the same thing, and we ate. I even had to get up to go get my own beer. But I will say this.....The fish was excellent.

This is the area where we stopped for a late lunch. The orange circle indicates where Andrew and I climbed a small hill for some photos. The red shows where we had lunch. 

The fish market and restaurant. The holding tanks are inside the little blue walls and are divided into sections. Each section holds a different species of fish.

The gathering of the fish. Notice the fish in the basket flopping about. Within 20 minutes, he and his friends were in my stomach.

She was a pro as she simply reached in and grabbed our lunch.

The variety of fish was rather impressive.

These ladies didn't want their picture taken for some reason, so I snuck one through the glass. They are cutting up the fish.

I was so impressed with the whole business that I forgot to take a photo when our meal began. Here it is after about five minutes of eating.

     After we ate more food than we should have, we left the place and headed out. The girls ran by a bank while Andrew and I climbed a long flight of stairs up to a structure that overlooked the ocean (see the yellow oval in the map above). We took a few pictures from up there and then we headed back down to meet the girls, grab the car, and head north. 

The pagoda-type thing we climbed the stairs up to.

A look back at the fish place we'd just eaten at.

Looking south down the coast.

West towards the town.

     For those of you so inclined, you might look at a map and find to see how close we were now going to get to North Korea. I did a little measuring and I believe we came within about eight miles. Good stuff.

     Our destination now was just north of a town called Goseong. Apparently, Kim Il Sung--the father of Kim Jong Il, the first leader of North Korea, also known as the "Great Leader", and still thought by many to be the leader of the country (although I would assume these are all brainwashed North Koreans)--used to have a vacation house in this area in the years between World War II and the Korean War.
     The house itself was no big deal aside from the look of the exterior. It looked like a castle at the top and was made of rocks and mortar. Really the only cool thing about it was the knowledge that Kim Il Sung and a young Kim Jong Il had stayed there. There was even a picture of the little guy sitting on the steps that we walked up to get up to the place. Inside the house, rather predictably, was a very small museum with large pictures and maps about the South/North relationship and all the strife that has gone along with it. I couldn't read anything but the pictures were pretty clear.
     Once we finished with the Kim house, we went to another vacation house, this one the small getaway of the first president of Korea after the war, Rhee SyngMan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syngman_Rhee). He was a bit of a controversial figure but I don't think you can argue with the fact that he accomplished a lot in his life and was a pretty powerful man. The cottage itself was again no big deal, but the museum, which was up a few steps was better than the one for Kim Il Sung. There were artifacts that were apparently used by the guy: a pocket watch, a pair of gloves, and even one of those hot water plastic bags (which Andrew insisted was an enema bag), along with his books and various degrees from various universities. From what I could get from the whole experience and the very little I've read about the guy, he was a cross between George Washington, Richard Nixon with perhaps a little of Joseph Stalin thrown in, but I am sure that I am vastly oversimplifying it.
     After we finished with this place, we then made the long drive home. It was dark by this time and I couldn't see much out the windows of the car, so I just enjoyed my GPS a little more while Ami and Alice nodded off--Korean girls are pros at falling asleep wherever they are. We did stop at another rest stop on the way back and Andrew ate a hamburger out of a bag that looked absolutely nothing like the picture on the wall next to the price for it. While he and Alice ate, I watched a baseball game on the big screen HD that pitted the SK Wyverns against the Samsung Lions. I think it was game one of the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization) championship series. It had been a good day and a little baseball was a nice touch.

This is the area containing Kim Il Sung's vacation house. The ocean is to the right and the two lakes are to the left. North Korea is about eight miles to the left.

The stairs leading up to Kim Il Sung's vacation house.

At the top of the stairs is this picture. I would have never known the boy that the arrow points at had it not been for Ami who told me it was none other than a young Kim Jong Il.  

Kim Il Sung's vacation house.

And the view from the top.