Notes from Korea

Actually, teaching is rewarding when a) you feel

a connection with the students and b) they want
to learn. There are a few classes per day where
this is actually the case. The rest of the time,
I'm just babysitting little crazy children, trying
to keep them in control while they scream and
play and talk in Korean. And in the evenings, I
babysit the big kids, in this case I have to be
tougher on them and make them study. Because
when they go home and their parents ask them -
what did you learn? and they learned nothing,
guess who will get the blame?

I spent the new year alone, meditating into it. I

figured that would be best, because my intention
was and is to stabilize away from the emotional
ups and downs, simplify, spiritualize my life
and revert to the innocence and purity I
remember having when I was a child.

I'm seeing overall progress in the classes now,

pretty much everyone is ahead and skipping
levels.. Moving up exponentially... After
school, I usually spend a few hours painting and
listening to radio shows on new science or to
good music. The painting process has been
especially rewarding lately, as I was able to
effortlessly and quickly create some of my
favorite works so far.

I haven't been going out much at all. There is

no point. Because the restaurant food usually
makes my stomach upset plus has other
consequences. I feel more comfortable and
relaxed at home anyway, and these days, I'm
trying not to lose my center, not wear out and
recover, like I used to do, but instead go steady
and slow.

I am also accustomed to simplicity now. No

TV, no news, no radio... Now also no computer,
because my monitor is broken. Just walks in
nature, bike rides, shopping for food, cooking it,
painting and pure love. Haven't been out of this
city in a while. Don't have any desire to go!
That's the reason I have not been posting
pictures. I haven't been doing anything exciting
enough and public enough to share pictures of it
with hundreds of people on the Internet.

My diet has grown Asian... I just eat the foods I

buy from the farmers here, supplemented by the
supermarket, but hey, in the last while I have
not eaten anything pre-made, canned, or
processed. My body is starting to look like that
of an Asian person.

I have been a bit homesick lately, just cause I

miss a lot of things... But every time I step
outside my door it's really nice... Especially
after all this time here. There isn't a day when I
go for a walk and don't meet someone I know -
a friend or a student. And it makes me feel
really nice. Today I saw two of my students in
different locations.. I don't know, you get such a
connection to these kids that it feels like they're
almost my own... One girl gave me a walnut
cookie, and we actually were able to make small
talk. Then I went shopping for food - apples,
seaweed, bread, and some wine. Just the
basics... The weather here is great. I can't tell
what season it is like, but it feels like April or
October or something.. Today I just walked in a
sweater with no jacket and wasn't the slightest
bit cold. Sometimes the air quality is bad,
especially in the house.. Don't know why. This
fact is causing me to sleep more than usual. But
it's also nice to take that rest and stay in bed.
Yesterday I also went for a walk, saw rabbits
near a church and fed them. Then payed with a
little dog tied up on a farm.. And tried to pet a
black goat. I walked past kids and they kept
saying bye to me, over and over, till I was about
200 meters away. Then I walked back the same
way, said hello to them again and then waved
goodbye. And I saw bulls on an apple farm..
Wild bulls, adult and kids, running around in an
apple garden. Quite a sight... So those little
things keep me in good spirits, even though at
other times I get a bit down... But overall things
are good and I'm looking forward to the short
but welcome Christmas break.

I have been a bit homesick lately, just cause i

miss a lot of things... But every time I step
outside my door it's really nice... Especially
after all this time here. There isn't a day when I
go for a walk and don't meet someone I know -
a friend or a student. And it makes me feel
really nice. Today I saw two of my students in
different locations.. I don't know, you get such a
connection to these kids that it feels like they're
almost my own... One girl gave me a walnut
cookie, and we actually were able to make small
talk. Then I went shopping for food - apples,
seaweed, bread, and some wine. Just the
basics... The weather here is great. I can't tell
what season it is like, but it feels like April or
October or something.. Today I just walked in a
sweater with no jacket and wasn't the slightest
bit cold.

Sometimes the air quality is bad, especially in

the house.. Don't know why. This fact is
causing me to sleep more than usual. But it's
also nice to take that rest and stay in bed.
Yesterday I also went for a walk, saw rabbits
near a church and fed them. Then payed with a
little dog tied up on a farm.. And tried to pet a
black goat. I walked past kids and they kept
saying bye to me, over and over, till I was about
200 meters away. Then I walked back the same
way, said hello to them again and then waved
goodbye. And I saw bulls on an apple farm..
Wild bulls, adult and kids, running around in an
apple garden. Quite a sight... So those little
things keep me in good spirits, even though at
other times I get a bit down... But overall things
are good and I'm looking forward to the short
but welcome Christmas break.

Exploring a new area out of town, the George

Carlin standup in my earphones was interrupted
by the squealing and wailing of dogs. I paused
for a bit and stood and listened to the sounds
coming from a large hangar-like structure where
dogs were apparently being bred and
slaughtered for consumption as either a "health
food" or a "delicacy". I contemplated going
there and just letting them all out, even if they
died under car wheels it would be better...
Because it was obvious that they were suffering
every second of their existence. But there was a
truck parked there and it was clear that people
were there, talking and going around their
business. It just makes me completely nauseous
and sick to know that some people actually
make their money doing this kind of thing.

I could only tolerate being there for a short

while. Then I thought about cows and pigs and
chickens and all the other animals we just
mistreat, destroy, and treat like dispensable little
plastic products. Nobody cares, because they
like the taste and just eat the stuff. But
seriously, people ought to see some
slaughterhouses...

It's not that I thin there is anything wrong with

eating meat per se. I mean there are hormones
in the meat, and all that, but... Basically people
say - eating meat is natural. Or God put these
animals here for us to eat. It is natural, but
when about 3 billion greedy humans want to eat
meat on a daily basis, that is a bit of a problem,
no? Do we realize the scale of the entire thing?
I say - if you want to eat meat, either hunt it
down or raise it yourself. Otherwise you have
no excuse for eating it. That is just my feeling
about it. Besides most meat is so contaminated
by drugs that you would be doing yourself a big
favor.
Then, I thought about love, and the fact that if
we had love, we wouldn't be so careless about
the environment, we wouldn't treat animals like
commodities, and we wouldn't kill other human
beings in the name of religion or nationalism.
And if we had love, we would do something –
whatever small thing we can to make things
better. But we don't do anything, and the
insanity goes on. So obviously, we have no
love.

And then, if we do feel it, we find it so difficult

to express it... It is so difficult to express that it
sometimes makes me wonder whether it is there
or not, and the very words "I love you" are so
cliche that it almost makes me feel like they
devalue and dilute the love... Maybe it's just
me, but to me those words mean almost nothing.
I can feel the love, but words words words...
Again, they have been said for thousands of
years and there is no evidence of them being
true.

And i wonder if a love is not expressed, does it

have value or not? Because when I passed by
some kids on the road, I could feel that I love
them. When I climbed a mountain, looking at
the fresh dirt, I could feel that I love it. But... I
just watch the world devour all those things and
people I love...

These days I'm beginning to miss home. For

example waking up, it would be nice to hear
some birds singing. Ain't no birds around
here... But the weather is still really nice and
sunny, so I go for walks everyday. I also still
like the kids I'm teaching and that whole
environment. But I miss my friends, family,
some home cooking and all that.

The mind that thinks about money, sex, or

anything else good or bad - on its own, without
your choice to think about it - is just a parasite
entity. It is not your mind at all. I can stay
without unconscious thought most of the day,
but in the evenings when I am very tired, it
comes on. And last night I watched it and saw
how it functions. All of a sudden I start thinking
about things I could have in the future (success)
and then about how I didn't do some things that
were "steps on the way" to that. So here comes
desire and guilt. And desire brings self doubt.
And that leads to some kind of unconscious,
destructive behavior. I'm sure each of us has a
different vice, but this is when they get
activated. And once you fall into that trap - it
starts with desire and moves from there - you
will create more and more problems for
yourself, and then think about how you created
them and how to solve them. And the more you
are concerned with them, the worse they get.
And this mind entity is then going on and on
non stop and you can't relax and it just destroys
you. You start feeling sick... It happens to me
periodically. Then I have to do something
drastic. And I realize what happened and do my
best to stay away from those thinking patterns.

But last night, I just rejected the whole thing at

the first step. The moment I realized the mind
was waving the carrot of success under my nose
- I said "I don't want it" and stopped at that. So
the mind tempts you with whatever desires it
can offer you just to take over your life... This
cannot even be understood properly if you still
have the view that it is "My mind" and "my
thoughts". So I realized that all the thoughts are
nothing but illusions. They cannot offer me
anything. So I just rejected it right there. Any
plan to make money - rejected. Any desire for
anyone or anything - go away I am not
interested... I think only if you are really not
interested in anything the world or the mind has
to offer can you live sanely. Otherwise you just
slowly go mad. And not wanting, not desiring
doesn't mean that you can't have it or that you
reject things like a monk. You just say "I don't
want it" to anything thought has to offer you. If
thought offers me a sexual fantasy - i'm not
interested at all. If a girl comes and wants to
spend time with me tonight - that is a different
story. But purely mentally - I don't want it!

When you go downtown, its pretty much

happening any day of the week, till 8 AM.

By about 5AM you see girls crying in their

boyfriends' arms because they drank too much
soju.
Soju is this stuff that's 20 percent alcohol and
cheaper than bottled water... and it has some
chemicals that make you trip out, give you the
worst hangover and make you mentally retarded
the next day.

You can get used to it I guess. I know one or

two girls who don't get hungover from it... But
this stuff doesn't hit you until its too late.. So its
like no effects and then BAM you're gone like
after 15 shots of vodka.

We sat at a restaurant a while ago and I watched

two guys and two girls.. One girl was out cold.
The other was eating and drinking.. The guys
ordered all kinds of food and drinks... One of
them kept pouring his shots past his mouth unto
the floor, and the girl he was with didn't see.. I
resisted the temptation to go over there and beat
his face in.

So after some time the girl passed out. At this

point the dude grabbed her purse and tried to get
her to walk with him. She protested weakly for
30 seconds saying "no" but he couldn't care less
and basically dragged her out... I don't know
why I didn't beat his ass.... Anyway the two
bastards left. leaving the one passed out girl
alone. After some time, the waiter came and
gave her the bill. So both girls got screwed, one
literally and the other figuratively. Fortunately
for the second girl, she sobered up enough to
run away before the waiter caught her.

Judging by my classes in school, this is a male

dominated society and girls generally don't have
high self esteem.

I've been recently listening to a lot of Beat

generation audio books including “Dharma
Bums”, “On The Road” and “Big Sur” by Jack
Kerouac. Also “Junky” by William Burroughs...
The earlier books made me want to travel,
hitchhike and sit in the mountains. But after Big
Sur, made when Kerouac was 40, I realized that
Kerouac wasn't really satisfied. Basically, the
life these Beat poets lived was a failure... And
now all that romanticism has faded away.

I learned that Kerouac died due to alcohol

overuse, and Burroughs was a Junkie and also
didn't look particularly happy. These guys were
down and out, although they thought the
Hippies were the ones who were out of it.

Interesting.. 60's romanticism also dropped

away from me, and now 60s music does nothing
for me, really. Still, it's better than most modern
music. However, I found myself listening to
very little music over these last weeks.

One thing I have noticed, aside from the fact

that people are extremely easy going here, is
that it is not at all unusual for men or boys to
call each other handsome. Nor is it uncommon
for girls to call each other pretty. I am called
handsome on an almost daily basis, sometimes
at the market when I am buying something. If
this happens, I usually ask for “the handsome
discount”, although so far I haven’t succeeded
in actually getting one. The other day, a
construction worker outside my house started
talking to me and my roommate as he saw us
exit the building. We are not entirely sure what
he was saying, but he used the word
“handsome” extensively. Finally we thanked
him and left, still understanding almost nothing
about what just happened. Another time, I was
biking near a school, and some kids saw me,
possibly some of my students. I waved “hi” to
them and they shouted, “teacher, teacher,
handsome!” Things like this are pretty routine
now and don’t really surprise me. It is pretty
normal here to behave this way, and it’s no
indication at all as to the sexual preference of
the person making the comment.

One often sees men walking hand in hand, or

boys holding hands or hugging each other. Of
course, the same is true with girls. I have heard
that this kind of closeness between friends is
present in India, although there it extends
beyond fiends, so even strangers will be hugged
and touched affectionately. A friend of mine
who has been there told me that it was
unnerving at first but that he missed it after
leaving India and coming back to Canada.
Some of my students have now began to like me
enough to hug me, hold on to me, or hang
around in very close proximity to me. I have to
say that it is a little bit uneasy at first to have the
boundaries removed like that. Mostly, it’s fear
of what others will think, or fear of the
authorities, because we all know that back home
in Canada it’s extremely dangerous to show any
affection towards kids in these crazy times.

I think that in the West it is automatically

assumed that if you show any affection to a
member of the opposite sex, you probably want
to have sex with them. Equally as certain is the
assumption that if you show any affection to a
member of the same sex, you are homosexual
and want to have sex with them. Finally, if you
show any affection to a child, this means that
you are some kind of a pervert. It is scary to
think about how crazy the world is becoming!

There is still a large gap between males and

females in Korea, unless they are a couple.
There is certainly much more formality
surrounding relationships of any kind, and there
are certain rules that have to be followed. There
are certain things we consider absolutely normal
which a Korean could never do. For example, a
woman could never tell a crude joke to a male
co-worker, even if they are both young and
know each other well. I’m not sure what else
Koreans can never do, because obviously I
haven’t seen them do those things, but I have a
feeling that there is a large number of things that
are considered inappropriate. However, there
are also things which are considered fine in
Korea which would be inappropriate in the
West.

One obvious example is public urination. Korea

is a very clean country, even by western
standards. There is not any garbage flying
around, and one does not find plastic bottles and
other trash like that in conservation areas. The
Korean people are very clean and generally
never litter. But they don’t consider urinating in
a public place as particularly wrong, especially
while intoxicated after drinking Soju. One of
the first times I have encountered this
phenomenon was while walking to work at 2
PM. A bus driver was urinating behind his bus,
parked in front of the school where I teach,
pretty much in plain view. I don’t think it really
bothered anyone, as nobody was really there to
see it. Another time, we were going to a bar and
saw a man urinating right on the side of the
road, in a much more populated area. It was
quite funny when my roommate waved to him
and said “Anyonghaseyo!” (hello), to which the
man actually replied. I have also seen this
phenomenon in various parks, numerous times.
Spitting is another common thing here. You
might see a nice girl walking in front of you,
and suddenly she would clear her throat and spit
a wad of phlegm unto the sidewalk. Then she’ll
look around, as an afterthought, and upon seeing
you, she’ll get embarrassed (if she’s shy) and
probably try to lose you.

One interesting thing I am beginning to notice,

which my roommate confirms as true in his
experience as well, is that the Korean people
have only about a dozen different facial
structures, and also very few hairstyles. As a
result, many Koreans resemble each other to
uncanny degrees. Every single day, we see
someone who reminds us of someone else.
Another interesting thing regarding appearances
is that there is a definite lack of boundary
between masculinity and femininity, especially
in the younger generations. Mostly, everyone
here is more feminine. Boys look like girls, and
often dress like girls. Teenage boys wear pink
preppy shirts, and sometimes even wear purses.
Teenage girls often dress like tomboys, with
their hair in a slick pony tail. They wear plaid
loose-fitting shirts, big glasses and loose jeans.

This lack of boundary between the sexes

becomes even more pronounced when teens
start dating – they become virtual twins. It is
extremely common to see both the girl and the
guy wear exactly the same clothes – for
example, black jeans and a Mickey Mouse T-
shirt, with matching blue and red Disney caps.
They will even wear the same shoes and have
the same purse. At least you know that they are
a couple! I have often imagined how they call
each other up before a date and decide on every
detail of what they are going to wear... The
planning that must go into this absurd custom is
mind boggling.
I’ve noticed in my students that they are more
sensitive than the kids in the West. There is
always someone crying because somebody has
hurt them. They cry over the most insignificant
things, like when a classmate calls them “crazy”
or something like that. It almost makes me cry
sometimes to see these kids crying.

There was a kid who was acting really bad, so I

had to drag him out of his seat to get him to
participate and get with the program. But then I
realized that he was crying. Needless to say, I
felt very bad. I had tears in my own eyes! I
then took him out to see the Korean teacher at
the front desk, so she would talk to him. She
did, and when she brought him back, she was
almost crying too. It’s really funny to watch
this kind of drama.

I have to be extra gentle with everyone, because

many of them are so sensitive… I really don’t
want to make anyone feel bad or cry. But it also
used to get to me when nobody would listen to
me, class after class. Going through class after
class with all of the kids screaming and not
listening drains you of energy, and then you
snap at some poor kid.

There was one side dish which I just couldn’t

stomach. I’ll give you a hint. This animal is
very small, full of protein, and has at least six
legs. It’s brown in color, and there could be
perhaps 60 specimens of it in a little dish. Yes,
it is some kind of a bug! Personally, I find these
things nasty, but my roommate has tried them
before. He says they are neither tasty nor
distasteful, but overall, he prefers not to eat
them more than two or three times a day. Just
kidding!

Being a curious person, I went as far as to smell

the vile looking dish. It was quite repulsive in
odor, and I graciously put it on the table behind
us. However, I was too rash in my actions, as
this was the favorite snack of one of the girls.
She crunched them down one after the other and
told us that she knows how to cook these guys.
My friend found – to his own surprise and mine
as well – that the girl looked very cute while
crunching down these little protein snacks.
There was a lot of peer pressure on me to try
one of them, but I flat out refused.

In the meantime, the girl next to me was trying

to teach me how to use chopsticks properly. I
have been managing just fine using them
improperly, but Koreans have to be proper in
everything, and that involves how you hold your
chopsticks!

After I failed to satisfy the national standard for

holding chopsticks correctly, she concluded that
I’m stupid and hit me for the 67th time that
evening. She was quite a violent personality,
possibly the most violent female I have ever
known. She had an iron grip and volunteered to
give me a bit of a massage. I accepted happily,
and she expressed all of her latent anger during
the next three or four minutes.

Luckily, I had been strictly disciplining myself

for the last month or so - I had been taking cold
showers, sweating in saunas, doing sets of 90
pushups, dozens of pull-ups, staying up all
night, biking for 5 to 6 hours in a single day,
and jogging on mountainous terrain. In other
words, I have been conditioning my body and
mind so as to transcend the idea of pain and
undesirability altogether.

My Korean friend was a little surprised when

her massage did not elicit the customary pleas
for help – as any good Korean massage should.
I think she really wanted me to scream in agony
or cry out in pain, but I was too well-
conditioned to succumb to the temptation that
easily. In short, I enjoyed the massage despite
its painful nature, and I think it actually made
my evening! However, I am almost sure now
that all massage therapists are somewhat
sadistic. When my best friend gave me a proper
massage back in Canada, I was not yet so well-
disciplined and stoic. That time, I had to plea for
mercy and scream out in pain many times – to
his satisfaction I’m sure. I am probably
somewhat masochistic in a small way. This
would explain my attraction to massages.

While we ate, we saw a fight break out. There

was one beautiful girl, and about 6 to 8 guys.
They all wanted her. The fight went on for
quite some time and we even changed our
seating arrangements so that we could get a
better view of the action. Actually, the girls we
were with thought it was both dangerous and
embarrassing, and that was the real reason for
our relocation.

We explored humor, and realized that Koreans

probably don’t understand western humor at all.
There was one exception – gay jokes. They
found this type of joke funny. But that’s just
slapstick. They didn’t really get real western
humor.

Here is a Korean joke:

There are three people – A, B and C
A wants to talk to B but isn’t sure how to
approach him.
So he asks C – what do I say?
C tells him – just say “what’s up”
So A goes to B and says “wasabi”

GET IT?? GET IT!!??

Scenario A – waygooks (foreigners like me) ask
the person telling the joke, “it’s over, right?”
She replies, “yes, did you get it?”

Scenario B – a Korean hears the joke and falls

over laughing. The waygooks start laughing
because it’s incomprehensible how the Korean
can find this joke funny.

Overall, I have to say that the people here are

more easy going and less obsessed with money
than they are back in Canada. I will give a few
examples to illustrate the point. Once I was in
Seoul and wanted a drink of water. I saw some
ladies with bottles of water in a giant cooler. I
asked if I could have a drink and they gave me a
bottle of water without charging me.

Another time I was eating at my favorite local

“gimbap nara” and I was so satisfied with the
quality of my food that I decided to tip the lady
who owned the place. After all, I had ordered a
one-dollar item, because I was in too much of a
rush to eat anything bigger. But with my item, I
received the customary bowl of soup and some
side dishes, which of course made me very
grateful, especially since miso soup is my
favorite soup in the world. However, the lady
not only served me but also refilled my side
dishes and gave me an extra bowl of soup. To
express my gratitude, I tried to give her more
money than just a dollar, however she flatly
refused and ushered me out with a big smile.

Cab rides begin from about 2 dollars, which

would be sufficient to get from my house to the
nearest supermarket. This is helpful in cases
when it is necessary to purchase large quantities
of food or water. I have not yet drank tap water,
nor have I cooked with it. I have heard of other
teachers drinking it, but I don’t even trust
Canada’s tap water, not to mention this stuff. I
once asked a Korean friend about it. “How is the
tap water here – is it drinkable?”, to which he
replied “I don’t know, I have never tried it. I
use a filter.” His reply was satisfactory enough
for me to stick to my initial idea of not drinking
tap water.
Luckily, bottled water is quite cheap, at about
50 cents for 1.5 litres, and there are many
natural springs throughout the city, where one
can fill up on natural spring water.

Cigarettes are under 2 dollars a pack here, so

many people tend to smoke, although not so
much Korean girls. Apparently it is still
extremely rude for a girl to smoke, and if her
parents caught her, she would be in deep
trouble. However, one thing that is not
considered rude here is to wear a t-shirt with
some weird statement on it. For instance, I was
shocked to see our secretary at work in a t-shirt
that stated “Sleep with the Best” in gigantic
letters. In fact, on my first day of school, my
Korean co-teacher John wore a shirt that said
“sex without love is just an exercise”. This
confused me quite a bit, and I don’t really
understand Korean sexuality at all.

It’s not uncommon for boys or men to hold

hands in public, nor is it strange for a teacher to
slap some boys on their butts. In fact I saw that
exact action today. In the saunas, one sees nude
men walking around, and it is understandable
that some of them are as gay as the men who
frequent the so called “saunas” in Canada, but I
do not think that gay men in saunas are the
norm.
It is said in Korea that a massage is not a good
massage unless it hurts. Well, most saunas
contain a VIP area where one can get one of
these painful massages. The thing that makes it
quite funny is that both of the men are naked –
the one giving and the other receiving the
massage – and periodically the one getting the
massage screams out in pain. It’s quite a
strange thing to witness.

Getting a job here is easy. You can take my

word for it that if you fly over here with a
University degree, a number of jobs are
definitely guaranteed for you. I personally have
met a man who was a fisherman in Canada and
is now a University professor here. It is not
necessary to get the job online or to go through
an agent. The experienced teachers with whom
I’ve talked have all said that coming here
independently and finding a job thereafter is the
best option.

This is a country where some people work 12

hours a day, 7 days a week. These are
engineers and such, working for large
corporations such as Samsung. They would
earn 12 000 dollars a month, which is certainly a
lot of money, but I don’t think such working
conditions would ever be accepted in Canada.
These are extremely hard working people, and it
is a shame that they are often cheated out of
their money by American brand name
merchandise which is sold here at highly
inflated prices. A lot of that merchandise also
looks like its overstock from the 80s.

The presence of the elderly is very much felt in

Korea. In general, every inch of empty land is
used to cultivate vegetables. Elderly people
create gardens next to every house or apartment,
next to walking paths or on patches of empty
land in the surrounding mountains. These are
mostly retired women, probably over 55 or 60,
who plant the gardens, water the plants, weed
them, and later collect the harvest to sell on a
roadside or sidewalk near an apartment complex
or a supermarket. Their prices are usually better
than in the stores.

Interestingly enough, these gardens are left

completely in the open, accessible to all, yet
nobody steals food from them. To be precise, if
I were to leave my house this very second, I
would arrive at one of these gardens the moment
I stepped out my front door. If I were to walk
for roughly 10 to 20 seconds in any of the four
directions, I would likely arrive at another
vegetable garden. My school is located
approximately 60 seconds away from my
apartment, and to get there, I would have to pass
about 4 of the above mentioned gardens, all of
them in perfect shape, with not a single onion or
lettuce bush missing. This is significant because
vegetables are for the most part quite expensive
here.

I cannot help but feel respect for the elderly

when I see them sitting in the markets, selling
their garden-grown cucumbers, tomatoes and
green peas. I feel like they still are functioning
in society and although they work hard, it is
probably better than sitting in an old folks
home.

On the way to the airport one could see the cars

stretching endlessly in four lanes simply
standing, not moving at all. On the way back
from the airport, there was a similar traffic jam,
but we avoided it because the bus was able to
drive in the special bus lane. In any case, the air
pollution was devastating. I am already
experiencing quite noticeable throat pain from
breathing the air. Yesterday on the bus, I was
actually contemplating leaving. And it was only
my first day.

Along the highway stretched complexes of

gigantic boring looking apartment buildings
sometimes grouped together in blocks of 20 or
30 buildings. One can imagine the view which
one could see out the window. Each window
simply faced another building, the highway was
stretching closely below, and all around them,
there were factories, industrial areas, ghetto
looking sites under construction, and what
looked like the most boring scenery one could
ever see.

The sky above was grey, completely filled with

pollution. The sun was shining, but the sky
wasn’t blue. If I had to live in Seoul, I wouldn’t
survive a week.

Thankfully, we soon left the dirty, ugly city, and

moved into the next province. Finally, there
were some landscapes worth seeing. Mountains
stretched around us, and forests could be seen
along the highway. The highway itself,
comprising of eight lanes, still remained the
major element of the landscape, making the
mountains and forests surrounding us seem
weak and pale, struggling to survive.

In the afternoon we met a strange Australian

teacher who is also here to teach students
conversational English. The only difference is
that he is teaching three-year-olds and I can
barely understand a word he says, because his
accent is so strong. Meeting him was quite
surreal. He talked a lot, but his words had
almost no meaning. He took us to some noodle
restaurant which smelled awfully like fish.
There was a lady sitting on the floor chopping
vegetables, and a family with many small
children eating. We decided not to go in
because the smell was overwhelming.

Nobody in this country can understand a word

we are saying. After we left this noodle
restaurant we found another noodle restaurant
where we tried very hard to order a vegetarian
dish. Of course the guy didn't understand a
word I said, and it turned out that the noodles
contained not only beef broth but also came
with some kind of pastry which contained beef
as well. We barely managed to force down the
nasty tasting cold noodles, paid 10,000 Korean
won, and went to the Internet café.

Japan is awesome.. Its so crazy. Everyone is so

cool there.. The girls are so hot there... Oh my
god. Its like I'm in a dream. I am convinced
that the Japanese must have come from another
planet cause they just do everything better. The
girls sometime look like they are angels... And
the clothes they wear - oh my god.
I saw girls who have their hair painted purple,
and who look exactly like they came out of a
cartoon or a dream or something. The japanese
skirt, by the way, ends just below the butt
cheeks... lol.. I've seen people here dress in
such a way that you can't even imagine it...
Even in the movies / cartoons you won't find
anything like that.

Fun Facts about Osaka Japan

• In Japan you see many people well over the

age of 60 or 70, walking around, biking,
etc.
• 80-90 percent of men on the subway are
dressed in suits.
• There are about 12 subway lines in Osaka,
plus numerous private lines.
• I haven't seen a single person speed or drive
like a maniac.
• I haven't seen anyone littler or spit.
• The service in restaurants is 10 times better,
the price is the same as in Canada
• There is maybe one overweight person in
approximately 200.
• In the restaurant district, there are probably
400 restaurants.
• In the entertainment area, there are at least 6
casinos. Middle aged men in suits play
there.
• In the mall, there are sometimes more
middle-aged people and old people than
teeangers.
• They modern rock music (loudly) at the
mall.
• You can buy cigarettes and alcohol from
vending machines.
• Everyone uses cell phones - for texting,
mp3, camera, etc... from 7 year olds to
90 year olds.
• Ahh.. Have you ever seen beautiful girls in
miniskirts biking in the rain with
colorful umbrellas?
• The shopping is amazing... I haven't seen
any crap store even remotely resembling
Zellers, Canadian Tire, Walmart, or any
other gigantic boring ugly store.
• Coca Cola makes health drinks here - like
green tea with medicinal herbs and such.
• You can buy buddhist lectures / music at any
record store - lectures by zen masters
 and such!
• You can get a massage from a Sega game
chair for a dollar

Last light we took the KTX train to Seoul, the

capital city. This train goes about 300
kilometers an hour at it’s best, though most of
the trip is slower - 160- 220 kph or so. In Japan
they supposedly have a train that goes 500 kph.
Seoul is a pretty decent city - we checked out
the foreign areas (where westerners hang) and
also the big technology mall. Its weird to be in a
place where there are 100 000 items and no set
prices. You have to bargain, and they will screw
you if you’re not careful.

This country is really chilled out… It’s quite

surreal. I actually feel like I have been here
before. In terms of culture shock, there hasn’t
been any shock at all. We hardly noticed that we
left Canada. We are not even conscious of any
significant differences. Neither myself or Liam
have regretted the decision to come here even
for a moment so far.
The Koreans are pretty chilled out. Nobody will
ever give you any trouble for anything. You can
do stupid stuff, yell in the middle of the street or
wander around drunk, or say stupid things…
You can dress in a weird way… There is this
guy Charlie here who’s been drunk for 5 days in
a row so far, and everybody loves the guy. He’s
got a big beard, wears overalls, and has a tooth
missing, yet nobody has been prejudiced against
him so far. Hmm.

Yesterday in Seoul I saw a dude with a trumpet,

preaching the gospel of Jesus in Russian by
reading phonetically from Korean. Wow. It just
doesn’t make any sense.

Consider this – Taxi in a capital city - big van

for 5 people and a bunch of bags - 3.000 won.
Taxi in a smaller town - half the distance - 2
people, no bags, small car - 7000+ won. And he
didn’t even drive us in the right direction!
Many teachers say that if you are here and seek
some kind of logic, you’re going to be very
disappointed. But if you have a sense of humor,
then everything is pretty funny.