20 day recap

So it's been quite a while since I last posted so I'm going to let you all know what I've been doing this whole time.  I was really trying to get some pictures before I posted again so you didn't just get a text wall, but it looks like that's how it's going to have to be.

First off, I've been working on getting a new job. I've gotten some offers and am currently looking at getting a new job with more of an international school than just a straight English academy. Unfortunately, this has been complicated by the fact that there seems to be an internal struggle for power going on in their company over who is able to hire and fire people. So I seem to have come in right in the middle of that and really would rather lay low until it burns itself out. Other specifics I would rather not mention as this is a public blog and they may go so far as to google me seeing as I am a potential new hire. Nobody likes seeing their dirty laundry on the web, but I'll be happy to tell you in private as there are some funny stories that have come out of this. 

The "new job" thing has also been complicated by the fact that my current boss is acting like a 5 year old regarding my leaving his company. He has fallen just short of stamping his feet in meeting where he has yelled at me to stay threatening me with insults and empty legal action. He demanded I give him 3 months notice, I said that three weeks was more than adequate and now I'm leaving in the middle of October and he still thinks it's outrageous. 

Honestly, after all this i'd almost rather just come home so i could get away from people hanging visa problems over my head to act as false leverage in business encounters. I think i've handle myself well though - so we'll see if this all winds up to a favorable conclusion. If it doesn't, I can always move.

So, aside from that, i've taken up scuba lessons and am going for my PADI Open Water certification. I, just yesterday, finished the confined water dives which were done in a pool in Suwan. I had a lot of initial problems breathing underwater without my mask on (one of the requirements) but I finally got it after about 10 tries and lots and lots of coughing. Next week I'm heading to the ocean in a wetsuit that will hopefully fit in order to finish up the certification by proving that i can do everything i just did in the pool in the ocean.  I'm worried though, mainly because it's SO cold right now. the temperature last week went from about 28 degrees C to about 15 degrees C overnight! Fortunately the instructors have noticed my aversion to cold and are pretty keen on taking precautions to prevent my premature demise.

so, that's it! I tried to make it pretty short so I left at lot of little details out - but now at least you know what i've been up to!

I'll post about the job stuff later. until then, i'm going to go mentally prepare for a very cold ocean! 

Shark Diving!

I went shark diving this weekend. This was my first scuba experience and I hope it wasn't my last! I had a great time!

We went to Busan aquarium where we suited up, went through roughly 2 hours of training and dove into the shark tank. Mike, the guy who was instructing was absolutely wonderful, he made everyone feel at ease and none of us felt like we were going to die.

Honestly, I wasn't too scared of the sharks, I was more scared of somehow blowing up my own lungs. 

Keep in mind that all the pictures are taken from inside the tank!

The coolest part of the whole experience was hanging out behind the scenes at the aquarium. I love aquariums anyway, so I felt like I was about 5 years old when I got to see all the breeding tanks and staff rooms, etc. 

I also met some great people while I was down in Busan. Most notably, a scuba diving pastry chef named Alex helped me though some of my initial anxieties involving death among other things.

If I can muster the time/money, I will totally go for my open water certification!

Two Quick Pictures

From the rafting trip two weeks ago. I have pictures from this weekend too, but it's going to take more time than I have right now to write that post.

Sooo, here I am, in a helmet - looking awful. I guess their kind of funny, consider them "action pictures".

Clearly I wasn't too aware of the camera... enjoy!

Next post: Shark Dive~!

Rolling on the River

This weekend I went river rafting on the Hantan River in Cherwon, Gangwondo. Fortunately, due to all the rain, the river was higher and faster than it's been in years. So, what is usually a yawn of a paddling trip turned into an actual rapids experience. We nearly flipped a few times and at one point were run into the raft in front of us so hard that the guide fell into our raft and the raft we hit flew into the air, sprinkling paddles, people and sandals everywhere. I have to say, it was more fun than I expected it to be. The water was cold though, I can't imagine rafting in a river flowing high with snow melt... brrrr! I was enough of a wimp when it came to just the rain water.

As I said before, the river was faster than usual. So fast, in fact, that we had to cancel the scheduled bungee jumping that was to take place afterwards (no, I wasn't planning on jumping). Instead, we went to the remains of a historic government building where North Koreans used to torture South Koreans *shutter*... It wasn't quite the light activity that I had expected for the day.

They did double back around on the bus so that we could take a picture of the place we WOULD have gone bungee jumping... which I felt was unnecessarily cruel for those that actually wanted to do it. So I took a picture of it, as can be seen here:

I do not have any photos currently of the river rafting. There was one water-proof camera on our raft so I hope to be shaking down those photos soon. When I have them, I will post them.

So, Caving...

Will have to happen another weekend. I woke up late and then took the wrong bus to the wrong bus station. Now I'm home again 4 hours later and have decided that today would be a good day to go read in the park and fall asleep.... yeah, I'm going to be lazy - how's that for an adventure?

Also...

For no other reason than this is just really funny (sorry kids, close your eyes):

Cookies or bust dagnabbit!

The reason it took me so long to get that last post up is because I was sick most of last weekend and this week has been an endurance test with the amount of work I've had to do without losing my cool at shifting working conditions. Sometimes I feel like I've been tasked with washing my laundry without the use of water for no reason other than it makes for great entertainment.

This weekend I hope to go caving. Looks like I'm going alone to, as most of the people I know really aren't into doing stuff that's not drinking yourself into a coma. Anyone up for an adventure?

Taiwan Final!

I wanted to include in a separate post some additional places I visited in Taipei. I also wanted to say again that I was really impressed by the beauty of the city. Places like Democracy Memorial Park (Above) were amazing surprises. The monument in the center of the park is actually so massive that there is an entire museum underneath it. The park also had its own performance theater and concert hall. At night, the park is filled with the sounds of musicians warming up their instruments as well as various clubs practicing hip-hop dancing, yoga and kung-fu among other activities. It was a bit of fresh air from Korea where everything feels like it's on top of you at all times. In Taipei I could feel alone, but I still felt like there were people around. I really loved the city! If I decide to change countries, I may just go to Taiwan.

FYI

Today I submitted my completed graduate school application!

More interesting posts to follow...

Taipei Part 3

I went to the Palace Museum on Friday where I was shocked by both the scale and beauty of the building. Also, by the fact that it's roughly freezing in the building at all times in the middle of the summer heat. (ok, not really, but it IS 21 degrees C in there, which for me is cold) I took some time to explore the gardens around the museum and feed the fish, which is something awesome that you can do at about every pond in Taipei. Don't freak out there environmental people, we have to buy the fish food, and there's a limited amount for the day - I'm not feeding them nickels. Just the scale of this building is something to behold. One person told me that the museum (which is 3 full buildings) contains roughly 600,000 artifacts from Chinese-Taiwanese history. This includes pots, weapons, clothing and, most of all, calligraphy. The scrolls and tapestries go on and on and on in this place. From official state documents to poetry and art, every style is examined. It made me wish I knew more about it.

While I was getting back on the subway (which is way better than ours.... get on it, America!) I was kidnapped by a group of traveling international students. In particular, a very sweet indivudual by the name of Kim picked me up and had me follow the group to a big computer expo and then on to  Taipei 101 tower. Along with Heidi, Vivia, Tim, Fatih and others - these guys really made my day.... and here they are!

That would be Taipei 101 tower behind us. Some call it the tallest building in the world. True, the one in Dubai is taller, but it's not finished yet. Either way, at 509 meters tall... it's nothing to sneeze at. We went to the 91st floor where you can go out onto one of the lower roofs. Unlike the Empire State Building though (which is the only other tall building I've been on the roof of), it's actually nice to be out there because of the wind barrier.

Stay tuned for the action-void conclusion!

Temple Video (extension of part 2 )

This is one of the temple buildings. I thought I'd take a video to try to capture some of the feel of the place. Lots of chanting, drumming and incense*. Marvelous!

Sure this could have been included in the previous post, but - hey, you want it or not?

* - It took me around 2 minutes to figure out how to spell this word... what's wrong with me?

Taiwan Part 2

So, I've been sick, but I'll get to that later.

My second day in Taipei I rode the Maokong gondola to the Zhinan Temple. By the way, for those who are uncertain about heights, the Maokong gondola is a pant-wetting experience - let me show you what I mean:

Of course, the view was spectacular... wet pants aside.

 There I got to spend a really relaxing day reading, walking around and talking to people who were not used to seeing white people around. One person said "I never see white people here!" It was great.

I had a lot of tea that day... which lead me to the bathrooms... By the way, can someone, ANYONE, explain how anyone could be comfortable in the following room, because I have trouble peeing when someone walks by:

Having said that, I'll try to refrain from mentioning urine again for some time. (no promises)

Regarding Taiwan Part 1

So, I went to Taiwan this last week and let me make something clear for those who have already asked me. No, Taiwan is NOT Thailand. It is a separate country off the continent and no, I didn't ride an elephant while I was there because that's not where they live. Taiwan is off the coast of China and 90% of the people speak Mandarin. Now that the geography lesson is out of the way...

Taiwan was so much more than I expected it would be! I had a great time! It is a beautiful country and Taipei is unlike any Asian city I've seen so far. In fact, it feels almost like a European or American city with its many coffee shops, parks and museums along with what can only be described as a very cosmopolitan culture. It is not surprising that many of the Taiwanese refer to their country as "Asia's America". 

I stayed in a Hostel, pictured below. I stayed in a room with 3 other people and there were about 5 rooms in the hostel. In the mornings and early evenings the common room was full of chatter and I seldom had a conversation in a single language. Most of the people staying at the hostel were Korean, but there were also people from Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Holland, Denmark, China and Mexico floating around.

The one view is from inside my room and the other is the roof where we had outdoor showers. The accommodations were rustic and not for everyone, but I loved it.

My first day there I spent a great deal of time walking the length of the city. My first stop was Longshan Temple in the Center of Taipei. This is where Sunday's picture came from. The entire inside of the temple is full of people meditating, bowing and burning incense. The site was pretty spectacular. I felt a little bad taking photos, so i didn't take too many.

After visiting the Temple I walked down through the city and just sort of took it all in. More later!

Back from Taipei!

... and I'm sick. So I'm not going to do any writing right now. So, here's a picture!

What the Deus?

Seriously, Bloggspot picture interface, you're killing me here.

Busan

After my meeting on Friday I went down to Busan early Sat. morning. Or at least I intended to. I really wound up getting down there at around 3pm. Which was fine because I got to spend a good portion of the afternoon lounging around the beach - with roughly 600,000 other individuals. I had a great time, though. Sure, I had to stay in a love motel in the red light district, but where's the adventure in posh accommodations anyway?

I also managed to get away from the city (aka: get lost) and wander up to the mountain overlooking the beach. Up there I found a gorgeous Buddhist monastery. I took a good hour or two to meditate / relax in the room displayed below. I just find it very relaxing... I imagine my mom feels the same way when she prays. This does not mean that I'm a Buddhist, I just enjoy being in places that I find to be peaceful. I did find the juxtaposition between this serene temple and the beach bellow just...weird.

The highlight of the weekend was sitting on the beach in the wee hours of the morning as this

semi-pro guitar group sat around in lawn chairs and performed some really great music. There were only about 50 people gathered around and the whole thing was just very intimate and just plain cool. They even sang a song for me in English because I was the only non-Korean there. (Radiohead's Creep, if you must know) Also, when I sing in Korean, it seems to make people laugh, maybe that's my superpower?

See everyone? Fun IS possible without alcohol, we non-drinkers just have to get really creative.

I also got to take the KTX train down and back. At 300mph it's the fastest train in Korea and the nicest train I've ever been on. On the way back I discovered that I'd been seated in the movie theater car and got to experience a full, surround-sound cinematic experience from the inside of a speeding train. Unfortunately the movie was some horror flick that I didn't care to watch... but the concept of having a movie theater in a train is still pretty impressive. 

Happy Birthday to me!

It was my birthday this friday and I was forced to spend it working all day. I had a late meeting that went until about 11pm where I had to present, for the first time ever, the concerns of the foreign teachers at a managerial meeting. With Chad's help, we threw together a synopsis of all the problems that we feel are fixable at the academy. Since I was given no time to prepare it (48 hours notice, with 12 hours of classes a day), I only finished whipping it together just as the meeting was about to start at 9.... just in time to wait for 45 min while the rest of the managers that didn't spend the day working took their time getting there. 

I gave a knockout presentation though. I know it's egocentric, but presentations are something I feel I do well and I'm proud of it. Even though I was blindsided by a fellow manager that tried to stab me  in the back (along with all the foreign teachers) during the meeting, I was able to casually turn his comment aside and make him look rather silly. Are you reading this, Jeff? 'cause that wasn't cool.

Of course the entire thing was met with rousing indifference by my boss who only likes ideas if they can be traced back directly to him. Which is why I'm on the hunt for better jobs at the moment.

Either way, I kicked some butt in there, wish I got it on tape. Also, I think a rather managed to impress some of the more reasonable managers who fell just short of high-fiving me.

On the much brighter sides, some of my kids sang happy birthday to me, which was adorable. Also, i was given a cake by some of my coworkers, you guys rock!

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog!!

Should really be viewed by everyone at some point. Unfortunately, it was only free up until about a day ago... but even still. It has super villains, super heroes, blogging and it's a musical. What else could you want? Oh, I know, produced by Joss Whedon! Thanks, Kris, for the heads up on this. You can get this on iTunes from www.drhorrible.com

In addition to online stuff. This week I will most likely getting my tickets to go to Taiwan for the end of the month. If anyone knows a good hostel, please email me because I'm going without a hotel booked in advance this time around.... being low on funds and all.

New People

I got to hang out a whole bunch of new people this weekend! Excitement!

On Saturday I met up with two new friends at the National Museum of Korea... Which, like most Korean museums, was amazing! They're putting on a display of Persian artifacts right now that's just great if you love history. It's the permanent displays that really stole the show on this one though. The giant Buddist tapestries and Neolithic artifacts were just some of the things I got to see. There's also a giant pagoda in the middle of the museum... which is today's picture. If you want to get technical, it's called the Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda and it's korean national treasure # 86. I'm going to have to go back there at some point because we ducked out early to get lunch.

I dragged everyone to my favorite Indian restaurant in Seoul, Taj Palace. To my shock, it was even better than I remembered it. Truly great food, and if any of you are ever in Itewon you should definitely check it out.

I've started premium classes, which means that i have to work about 4 addition hours in the morning, so I'll talk more about my weekend at a later date... until then, I'm going to go pass out.

Deep thoughts

My art history friends will hate this, but I thought it was funny.

I was discussing with Chad recently about Napoleon Bonaparte (there was a logical reason for this, I'm sure).

Anyway, we concluded that in the above picture he's actually holding up his pants. Think about it, perhaps they're just to big for him? I'm not sure I'll look at this portrait the same way again.

What can I say, not all posts will be serious.

Buuuurnnn!

After waking up today, I've concluded that mud takes off sunscreen.

FYI

Anyone have any aloe?

Mud Fest!!

This weekend I headed down to Boryeong to go to the 11th annual mud festival. Which is exactly what it sounds like - lots of foreigners getting really drunk and playing in mud. As i'm sitting here I'm still picking pieces of mud out of my hair and i think I'm due for an unusually long shower after this post. Unfortunately i didn't get any pictures of me covered in mud because that would have required me to bring my camera into the mud with me.

Though i did brave the odds just as we were arriving and leaving to get some shots of random people covered in mud. 

To give you an idea of the scene, Daecheon Beach, Boryeong is, well, a beach - with no mud of its own. So, by the truckload the local government of Boryeong imports barrels of mud that are then hurled at locals and tourists alike. And right behind the truckloads of mud are the truckloads of beer.

But this isn't just any mud, oh no... this is special mineral mud of the highest quality. So, it's more like a giant spa treatment - with mud wrestling. In fact there is a giant inflatable pit exclusively for mud wrestling (pictured below) where loads of foreigners (I among them)

miraculously avoid concussion after concussion as they throw each other around in a mixture of playful aggression and deep-seeded sexual frustration.

After getting thoroughly mudded and doing various mud-related activities, i spent a good deal of time swimming in the ocean... it was gorgeous!

It was unnerving though, seeing so many foreigners in korea. It's no wonder that all koreans think foreigners are a bunch of drunken frat-boys, they really come out of the woodwork for these types of events. Though, this is a tourist event, so what's to be expected really?

I have to say though, even for a non-drinker, this festival is a great time and shouldn't be missed!

If you want more info about this you can go to

http://www.mudfestival.or.kr/lang/en/index.jsp

It should also be noted that these little characters are everywhere! I think I love them!

The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse

This week was nice and crazy. I'm still getting into the swing of things as far as being back in Korea, back teaching, etc. I really hit a nice stride in a bunch of my classes towards the end of the week and I'm getting particuarly excited about some of my writing mechanics classes that i've gotten in addition to my science classes. 

One of my co-workers, Chad, has introduced me to his gym and we're planning to make a regular routine of waking up  and hitting the place up at 7:30 as often as we can muster. 7:30 being a time we reached as we tried to out-man each other with earlier and earlier times, beginning at 10 and working backwards until we realized that we'd actually have to wake up, perhaps for the next several months in order to put our money where are collective mouths were.

In addition to waking up early and adding pain to my morning, Chad has also lent me a book that I'm fairly keen on reading. It's called The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse and gives this post both it's snappy title and photo. So far I'm only about 50 pages in, but the book is wonderfully twisted and is cracking me up.

Chad, by the way, is an Aussie that I work with who's been a good friend and the catalyst of a lot of the nonsense that goes on in the Hag-won (Korean for academy). He's a recurring character in this chapter of the story of my life and deserves a mention/explanation as I'll probably talk about him in the future. This will be especially flattering if I become one of those intriguing personalities that the public just can't get enough of and this blog is published in book form after my premature death because my family is in need of cash. oh, to dream....

Here we go

I probably should have started this a while ago, so I wouldn't have so many unblogged about adventures under my belt. Regardless, I'm starting now, so I'll just fill in the gaps as time goes on. It's been said that "too much exposition can really kill a show" anyway. Or a bad title for that matter- at least, if Urinetown is to be believed.

Anyway, my name is Pete. I'm 24 and live in Guri, S. Korea. I've decided to document what happens to me for two reasons. First, I have several people on my back about it and, secondly, I may, at some point, come to appreciate that I've begun writing things down. 

I love traveling, and I constantly plague myself with the question of whether or not I've been living my life to the fullest. I fear that the answer for that is "no, I haven't been"... and worse still, i fear that the answer to that question could very easily be "yes, why would you live any other way?". Even if I'm somewhere between those two answers, I would rather be closer to the latter than the former. 

So, perhaps this really is a blog about me... my journeys and my efforts to become a happier person but, this blog is really for everyone, my students, my mentors, my friends and my family.

Thank you for reading, and I hope I can make it worth your time. (Aside to my future self - that goes double for you!)

So, our story begins...