Drinking, Korean style.

When I first started asking people in various forums about Korea, somebody told me "the primary social activity is drinking." Seeing as of how I don't mind a drink every now and again, I decided I was fine with that! Though I really haven't done much drinking here in Korea- mostly 'cause I'm still not 100 percent recovered from the jetlag yet, and so by the time 8:00 or so rolls around, I'd rather go to sleep than have a beer. Shocking, I know.

Which isn't to say I've gone prohibition! Far from it. In fact, on Friday night, I roamed around- at which point I found a beer bar not too far from my house. Neat! It's nothing like a beer bar back home, I fear, but I'm glad I found it. Especially since they had Duvel! Tasty, tasty (and pricey) Duvel! They tried to serve it to me on ice, however, which I found to be somewhat blasphemous. Thankfully, they understood 'no ice!' easily enough (the no-doubt horrified expression on my face probably helped) Still, at least I know where I can find a decent treat for myself if I need one.

Not all the beer here is bad, though. I've found something called "Black Beer Stout" which I think is Korean, and tastes not-terrible. I think I may have found my Korean beer of choice, but who knows what I'll find next?

Anyway, as mentioned before, after the graduation ceremony last night, the bosses took us out to dinner/drinks. We went to a sashimi place, where we all took off our shoes and sat on the floor around a low-lying table in some little room, whereupon they piled food and booze in front of us. Eating in one of these traditional Korean resturants is odd, as the food does. Not. Stop. I'm sure there's some order to the courses, but it seems like every time you thought you were done, they'd bring another platter full of...uh, something. Next time I go to a joint like this, I'm bringing my camera so you can see just how much food they wind up serving.

Now, I don't particularly care for sushi/sashimi, but that's what we were eating, and I was pretty hungry at the time. Eventually, I just thought to myself 'what would Les Stroud do?' and dug in. I'd been watching a lot of Survivorman before I left the States, see. Honestly, it wasn't too bad- except for the fact that sashimi really isn't good drinking food. I'd much rather have something more...substantial than artfully arranged raw fish to mix around with a pint or three, y'know?

From my first impression, Korean-style drinking is...impractical. As for one, you're not allowed to pour your own drink; the other people at the table do it for you. You're supposed to hold the glass or the bottle with both hands, or put the other hand on your elbow. There's some other business about turning away from your elders when you drink, but they told me not to bother with that since I'm not actually Korean. There's probably a whole bunch of cultural history behind this, but ultimately it's one of those Korean customs that's geared to create a sense of community and/or hierarchy.

Soju, a sort of rice wine, is the favorite drink of a lot of Koreans. I had some for the first time last night, and, well, I honestly couldn't say I care for it that much. It's too sweet for my tastes- kinda like...I dunno, mediciney vodka? Thankfully, there was beer as well- again, the crappy lager, but it was fine for the occasion.

This is also when I discovered something called "So-Mak," or the soju bomb. Basically, it's a shot of soju mixed into a glass of beer (maekju, in Korean- hence, soju + maekju = somak). The soju is enough to give the beer some character (and booze), and the beer is enough to cut the sweetness of the soju.

This...is a dangerous combination. Once I drank one, I realized that I could get a bit sloppy on these if I wasn't careful. Which, given a belly full of raw salmon, didn't seem to be a very pleasant proposition. But I know how to pace myself, and I stuck to just beer and water (separately, mind) so I came out alright. Not even a hangover this morning!

All and all, it was a fun evening. Most of the conversation was about the food, as the Korean teachers educated me on the proper way to eat this or that. I did run into some younger (and drunker) Korean dudes when I went to the bathroom, who were quite enthusiastic in practicing their English. Funny little experience, really.

So after about three hours of food and booze, we wrapped up. The bosses paid for everything (as is the tradition), so bonus on that. I was a little buzzed by the time we were done, but not too much. I certainly didn't have any trouble finding my way back to my apartment, at least. This didn't stop the other American teacher from calling me afterward to make sure I did, but I'm glad he's looking out for me. There's still a lot to take in about Korea- and I haven't even left this little ten block radius around my apartment yet!

Though that'll be fixed soon- on Tuesday, I'm gonna meet up with my cousin and one of her friends for various touristy hijinks in Seoul proper. I'm looking forward to it! Pictures and a proper report will come soon enough. Stay tuned!

"Maak Teachuh!"

So at the school, they call me "Maak Teachuh." Which is kind of like a title I guess, as there's also "Amy Teachuh" and "Brian Teachuh" and so on.

So yeah! Today (Sunday) is my first day off since I got here- I have no idea what I'm gonna do! Even still, it's a much needed day off, as the last few days have been crazy- and not just from the whole 'moving to the other side of the planet' deal.

Y'see, this week has apparently been the busiest week of the year at the school. It's the last week of their class session, so they spent most of the time practicing for a big graduation ceremony (more on that later). As a result, there wasn't really much time for showing me the ropes- which is fine. For the most part, I would either shadow one of the other teachers...or, one of the Koreans would say "Maak Teachuh!" and have me cover for some class whose teacher was sick. Which was fine, honestly- even if nobody really knew what said kids were supposed to be doing. Sometimes I didn't even get five minutes prep time before. It's pretty nuts.

And then, on Saturday, there was the graduation ceremony- which was ridiculously chaotic. The term 'herding cats' comes to mind. For example, one of the little skits the kids were putting on was the Three Little Pigs. But...the costume rental place only sent one pig costume. Oops. As best I could figure, there were about two dozen (maybe a few more) kids altogether. Each kid was in about three little performances like a skit, or a song & dance number. I couldn't help but wonder about the appropriateness of having first-graders sing "Summer Nights" from grease, but I figure they're not that familliar with the musical in the first place, so...yeah.

In any case, 3 costumes X 25 kids equals seventy five costumes to keep track of, which was a bit of a mess. Cleanup didn't take THAT long, but I think my experience in theatrical logistics may be more useful than Stanislavsky while I'm here.

This said, while things were crazy behind the scenes, the actual stuff on stage went off very well. The kids did great, and had a good time- and their parents just ate it up. Lots of cameras and clapping and so on.

Regardless, they keep telling me things will be better next week, once they'll have the chance to actually work me into the schedule. So yay for that. I'm also peeking at my contract- if we're going with the original dates, I'll be able to leave right before next year's graduation mayhem. Mwa ha ha.

So after we cleaned everything up from the performance, we went out for dinner (read: drinking). Which warrants a post of its own!

Pictures, as promised!

My Apartment!

The Kitchen(ette).

The korean robo pig and I.

The street outside the school where I work!

Korean Beer! Lager-ish, and cheap.

These are the books & DVD's I brought from the states. Expect random book-reviews to come whenever I'm at a loss for more content.

I've been in Korea for less than 72 hours. It's been a crazy experience thus far, but in a good way. Lots, and lots to do. It's 5:30 am over here- I just woke up after getting to sleep around 10:00. This...is kind of like a proper sleep pattern, but not really. I imagine it'll be kinda rough getting to proper sleep habits, but we'll see.

But I'm getting ahead of myself! There's really so much to say- and so much I'm GOING to say, so I'm kind of at a loss of where to start!

So, some specifics. I've just started working for a ESL school in Ilsan, Korea. Ilsan's a little satellite city, about an hour north of Seoul. The school is actually a chain- and this is the headquarters. They still have classes and such, which are only about a half dozen little kids each. It's pretty fun.

They've put me up in a little studio apartment (which I will post pictures of soon enough, I assure you).

Honestly, the first night there was pretty horrid. I was in pretty bad shape from jetlag (and having only slept like 5 hours on the plane), for one. And so, looking over that small-but-empty little room, I couldn't help but feel a surge of existential dread, and wondered how hard it would be to get back to the airport and hop the first flight back to the states. I also made the mistake of not picking up any duty free liquor at the airport, to boot. And finally, the apartment had no toilet paper. Bad night, all around.

But! The next morning was far, far better. I got to meet the other teachers at the school- including two other Americans who have been here awhile, and they've been invaluable in showing me the ropes. I've exchanged some dollars to won- and now life looks a hell of a lot better with cash in my wallet. Each little thing I buy for the apartment is a little victory. I'm sure I'll make the place my own, soon enough!

The first thing I bought was a big package of TP, and then some beer. Priorities, y'know.

I've been eating a lot of Korean food- for obvious reasons. I'm sure people who know me may be shocked at this, given my reputation as a picky eater! Still, I've been eating a variety of stuff- mostly because a lot of the time, I can't quite tell what something is, and I wind up eating it anyway. For example, yesterday, I ate something that appeared to be shellfish wrapped in pork, put on a stick, and slathered in barbeque sauce. Seems almost American in that respect. Korean food's fairly spicy- but I lived in Texas for all those years, so it's not like I can't manage a little kick. Most Koreans I've talked to are pretty impressed when I say this and order food that's a little spicy.

I've learned, uh...maybe about four words in Korean so far? Not bad for just a few days, though. For the most part, I muddle through with hand gestures and pointing, and the fragmentary English Korean people tend to have.

In any case, that's a very brief recap of what I've seen thus far! But rest assured, friends, there will be far more to come! Travel adventures! New food! Beer reviews (or just rants about how I can't find a good saison in this country)! Cultural comparisons! Book reviews of the (probably not enough) paperbacks I brought with me! And more!

So stay tuned. It's gonna be a wild ride.