The title of this post means "Good man, bad man, strange man". It is the title of a movie that kind of parodies "The good the bad and the ugly" and stars one of my favorite Korean actors Song Kang Ho. You can find the entire movie on Youtube if you want to watch it. I titled my blog post this because today I want to talk about racism.
This weekend I was in Bundang visiting Justin like I seem to do on a regular basis. We decided that we would go to Gangnam and get some delicious pizza, which we have done several times before. We meet our friend Sammi Han in the subway and are lined up to get on the red line. As we are standing there in line, minding our own business, a man approaches Sammi. At first it looked like he was trying to hit on her. She is a good looking young woman and he approached with his phone out and open. He was wearing sunglasses (yes wearing sunglasses in the subway) and a sport jacket. He looked to be about fifty years old and was not really out of the ordinary for many Koreans you would see that were his age. I was able to follow some of the beginning of their conversation. He asked her if she spoke Korean, then if she was Korean, then if she was a student, then if she was dating us, then I lost the conversation. It was quite obvious from his tone and Sammis body language that she was uncomfortable with what he was saying. She relayed to us that he was being rude and was talking about us. He walked to the back of the line waiting to get on the subway car and said lots of curse words that I didn't understand. Justin and Sammi were kind of agitated saying "Dude, he is totally talking shit about us." "Let him talk." I said. It didn't really bother me if he was saying bad things about me that I couldn't understand. I would have really only had a problem if he had been up in my face or laid hands on someone. I did however feel my temperature start to rise. Right when I thought I might actually be angry, this guy tried to curse in English. "Fucking balls!" he said directing it towards us and thinking it was an insult. I lost it. It was probably the funniest thing I have ever heard a Korean say, add that to the nervous tension created by all the other Koreans around him and it made me laugh out loud. I imagine he didn't like that, but I dunno. On the subway car he sat on the other side and a seat row over and kept staring daggers at us. Sammi related that he had been telling her that she was a disgrace and that she shouldn't be friends with foreigners. I find this especially funny because she is from right outside Atlanta. He kept staring on and off for about twenty minutes or so and then decided it was his stop to get off. Instead of exiting the door next to him he walked past and towards us. I thought he was going to try spitting or something but instead he walked past and said "Dirty" to Sammi. He exited the subway car and I didn't see him walk away, so I was prepared for him to throw something or shout something right when the doors were closing. Instead he waited till the doors closed and walked up to the window opposite us. He held up his camera to take a video, then gave us the finger. I am like ninety percent sure he wanted us to give him the finger back so that he could post it to some website and make a big deal about how foreigners are trash. Instead I smiled and waved hello to him. It was a dark subway, so if he does post it, he will just have me waving at him with a reflection in the background of him giving me the finger. We met up with Albert, Sammis boyfriend, at the pizza place and he made some comments about how he would have smashed the guys phone or gone looking for him, but that is not an option for Justin and myself in a country who will deport you in half a second.
We laughed and we joked about this because in all honesty it was more funny than scary. It is a good story to tell people, and honestly makes me a lot more empathetic to those at home in Texas who have to deal with racism on a daily basis. The one thing that we talked about though that does seem to stick with me is the reaction of the crowd. Not a single person said anything. There were maybe eight other Koreans in line behind us and not a single one of them said anything. Why? I think there are a few reasons. One, Korea is a pretty homogenized nation and honestly why would you side with some foreigners when you could side with your own people? I think that is the worst explanation. Two, crowd mentality. It wasn't a situation that was directly affecting anyone in that line so why get involved in a conflict that isn't yours to be involved in? Especially if the dude who is starting it is an ignorant belligerent ass hat. I think this is a good explanation but it has one serious flaw, at one point the dude who was cursing kind of nudged the guy in front of him and was like "ya know what I mean?" and the guy in front of him who was much younger but had maybe half a foot in height on me was like "yeah, yeah, sure." If there was any time for anyone to stand up to this guy it would have been when he was soliciting public opinion on the matter of "the dirty foreigners at the front of the line scandal." The third and I think most plausible explanation is Confuscianism. Simply put it is outside of Confuscian standards to even talk to a stranger without reason, much less arguing with a stranger that is older than you. Add in all those other factors and it really is no surprise why that happened. As white people me and Justin would have had no problem telling this guy to go to hell back in America if we saw him picking on some foreigners, and in fact if you go back in my blog you can see instances where I have stood up to Westerners looking like jackasses on a regular basis. It is different here in Korea though. Sammi even said later "I wanted to tell him to stop saying these things but it would have been weird to use that tone with an elder." Granted Sammi is as sweet as a big piece of Georgia Peach Cobbler, but if the girl who is being targeted by the verbal attacks can't even say something, what makes you think that six or seven people who don't even know us and will never see us again want to get involved. Especially because they were even younger than us. I have seen drunk old men on a bus shout obscenities at the busdriver and no one but the old mans wife has even tried to stop him. I have seen babies cry and cry and cry on a bus and no one say a single word. This is a society built around non-interference. You respect your own social responsibilities and most of the time that means turning a blind eye to some sort of conflict or situation.
All of this being said I think it is pure cowardice to not stand up to someone like that. I am only saying I understand the rationale behind the cowardice, not that I agree with their actions. Also I would like to point out here that this is basically the first time someone like that has reared their ugly head in such an obvious way around me.
Now, a conflicting point of view that I want to bring to light. Watch this video to compare it to what I am talking about. If you can't watch it I will give you a brief synopsis. Girls line up to see a band. They are very enthusiastic. At the very end of the video one comes forward and smacks the girl holding the camera. Since I assume you don't understand Korean I will do a little basic translating for you "Hajimaaaaaaa" means "Stooooooop." What the Korean girls are saying from about forty seconds on is basically yelling at this girl to stop taking pictures. Then the girl goes over and films someone who has been knocked over several times (the first time she goes down is 0:38). Korean girls don't like their picture being taken in general much less by a stranger on the street who is seeming to be delighted by their misfortune. Is it right that the girl came out and slapped her? Of course not. Surely you can see how one is provoked where as ours is just some random guy coming up and trying to start an argument. In this case I side with Korea. There is a difference between being an obnoxious foreigner and just being a foreigner. Often times the difference is subtle, but it revolves around observing and understanding the culture and the language, and most importantly, knowing your place in the hierarchy. I am sure if we would have returned a volley of curse words then public opinion would have been in his favor quite quickly. The weekend was capped off with Michael giving me some examples of things that translate but don't translate. This guy Danny who lives above me has a Korean girlfriend and the other day he joking told her to shut-up. She was shocked and had one of those sharp intake of breath moments. Also I have heard this before but apparently he had not, that the word crazy here is like rather taboo. In America if you call someone retarded it is quite the insult and has a lot of stigma. Crazy is that same way here. Apparently Danny said it and his girlfriend was like "that is NOT something that you call your girlfriend." Those stories are just little examples but they bring a point, some words have different meanings within the same language if you were to just go from country to country, some words have vastly different meanings even though the literal translation is the same from one language to another. Over here they sort of throw around the word "pervert" very jokingly, but at the same time they are much more relaxed about the idea of perverts even existing. The other day I was giving out stickers as four middle school girls stood next to me and rubbed my arm hair. Two years ago I would have been totally freaked out by that and noped right out of the situation. Now it happens so often and to so many foreigners across the board that it doesn't bother me. Even some of the other teachers have done it. Back in America you would never dream of hugging a high school student. Over here teachers and students hug the hell out of each other. Back home if you complimented a man you could be mistaken for being gay. Over here you can walk down the middle of the street holding hands with a dude while you both carry rainbow umbrellas and pick the little falling flower blossoms out of each others hair and no one would even look twice. It is just a different culture with different standards and you kind of have to feel your way through it. I am sure there are much better examples of this but I am in a bit of a rush so forgive me.
I want to conclude this by saying for every one old racist dude I have met on the subway, I have met 1,000 excellent and beautifully minded Koreans who struggle every day to learn our language and our culture simply because they are wonderful and curious people. I need look no further than my own co-teachers to find examples of wonderful individuals, and even in the last week I have made knew Korean friends that I am excited about getting to know.
Since this post was a little heavy I am going to leave you with a trailer for that movie ;) Check it out. The director recently made his American debut and it is just a generally well done film.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Maroon 5
So, like I was saying earlier, a lot has happened in the last year. I will try and hit some of the bigger points. They won't be chronological as much as they will be stream of thought so bear with me.
I was able to take Phillipa to her first concert. She had mentioned to me that she had never been to a concert before and I like giving special things for birthdays. I am not the greatest gift giver in terms of remembering, so I try and make sure that when I do give a gift it is a good one. She had previously mentioned to me how much she liked the band Maroon 5 and I found out that they were coming right around the time of her birthday. I decided I would try and surprise her by buying the tickets and then springing it on her but she would have none of it. It was hard enough to convince her to go to the concert.
The week of the concert finally approached (mid September) and we spent it preparing. Well, I did. I looked up setlists and listened to all their hits that I could remember and tried generally to prepare myself for the experience. It is always way more fun to go into a show knowing the songs and being able to sing along than it is to just sort of sit there like "Is this one new? No? Nevermind." I was fully prepared by the time we went to Seoul on Saturday.
The way a Korean show happens is vastly different to America. First of all it was outside near the Olympic stadium. In the distance we could see the stadium where the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears play. A game had just taken place earlier in the night, so the area was totally packed with people. We went to where the concert was supposed to be and after checking our tickets we were let into a holding area. It was a completely general admission concert, but you had to pick which area you wanted to stand in. There were four areas total. We were in the back area which turned out to be a fantastic idea because the tickets were cheaper and the view was still good. In the holding area though you were basically put into lines about four people wide and forty deep. There were easily twenty of those. When the time came ushers would come up to your line and ask you to move into the general admission seating. By the time we got settled in our area it was turning into dusk. The concert stage was a little unimpressive by my standards but still nice.
The opening group went on and were not so great. I can't even remember who they were. They claimed that they had some radio hit, but I didn't recognize it. The lead singer looked like Jesse from Breaking Bad, so that was entertaining enough to make jokes about. When we went over to get drinks the difference between American and Korean concerts became apparent. The beers were about four dollars and were the equivalent of 16oz cans. In America you would have paid more for less beer. Maybe about 8 or 9 dollars for a 16oz cup. Also the lines in Korea moved very fast, considering there was only one place I could see that was actually selling beer. We got our beers and went back for the end of the opening group and had time to just sort of sit around. It was funny taking Phillipa because she just sort of had no idea how concerts work. She expected Maroon 5 to go on stage right after the opening band got off. I told her that they had to switch instruments, make sure everything was tuned and working then prime the audience a bit. I also had to explain to her that when they finish, the band will walk offstage then come back to play the encore. She was so lucky to have such a handsome knowledgeable man accompany her to the show.
When Maroon 5 came out they did not disappoint. I had seen them play live on television and it was obvious they were well practiced. They were able to improvise and were very good showman as well as being very good musicians. Adam Levines first words to the crowd were the traditional Korean greeting of "Annyeong haseyo!" and the Koreans exploded when he said it. Even though it is only one word, I am glad he took the time to learn it. He made a point during the concert of complimenting them on being one of his favorite crowds because, as he said, "you sing along to every one of my songs" and it's true. They did. For a country whose first language is not English they sure did know a lot of English songs. They were very into it and just generally had a good energy. In Korea they like to do this thing where they bring colored sticks or ears or wands and wave them around or wear them. If you look at the video I post at the end you will be able to see. It really gives the crowd a personality of it's own. When Maroon 5 finished their set they said thank you and goodnight and went off stage. The audience started chanting "Encore! Encore! Encore" but the cute thing was that they were mispronouncing it. They were all saying "Incore! Incore! Incore!" Instead of lighters they were all waving their glowing sticks around. Maroon 5 came back out and played a couple of their best songs then just as quickly went away again. The concert was a good experience and I think Phillipa enjoyed it just as much as I did if not more. On a scale of 1-10 I would give it about a 7 or an 8.
Here is my favorite song from the Maroon 5 concert. This video was filmed from about right where I was and is much better quality than the one I have on my facebook page.
I was able to take Phillipa to her first concert. She had mentioned to me that she had never been to a concert before and I like giving special things for birthdays. I am not the greatest gift giver in terms of remembering, so I try and make sure that when I do give a gift it is a good one. She had previously mentioned to me how much she liked the band Maroon 5 and I found out that they were coming right around the time of her birthday. I decided I would try and surprise her by buying the tickets and then springing it on her but she would have none of it. It was hard enough to convince her to go to the concert.
The week of the concert finally approached (mid September) and we spent it preparing. Well, I did. I looked up setlists and listened to all their hits that I could remember and tried generally to prepare myself for the experience. It is always way more fun to go into a show knowing the songs and being able to sing along than it is to just sort of sit there like "Is this one new? No? Nevermind." I was fully prepared by the time we went to Seoul on Saturday.
The way a Korean show happens is vastly different to America. First of all it was outside near the Olympic stadium. In the distance we could see the stadium where the LG Twins and the Doosan Bears play. A game had just taken place earlier in the night, so the area was totally packed with people. We went to where the concert was supposed to be and after checking our tickets we were let into a holding area. It was a completely general admission concert, but you had to pick which area you wanted to stand in. There were four areas total. We were in the back area which turned out to be a fantastic idea because the tickets were cheaper and the view was still good. In the holding area though you were basically put into lines about four people wide and forty deep. There were easily twenty of those. When the time came ushers would come up to your line and ask you to move into the general admission seating. By the time we got settled in our area it was turning into dusk. The concert stage was a little unimpressive by my standards but still nice.
The opening group went on and were not so great. I can't even remember who they were. They claimed that they had some radio hit, but I didn't recognize it. The lead singer looked like Jesse from Breaking Bad, so that was entertaining enough to make jokes about. When we went over to get drinks the difference between American and Korean concerts became apparent. The beers were about four dollars and were the equivalent of 16oz cans. In America you would have paid more for less beer. Maybe about 8 or 9 dollars for a 16oz cup. Also the lines in Korea moved very fast, considering there was only one place I could see that was actually selling beer. We got our beers and went back for the end of the opening group and had time to just sort of sit around. It was funny taking Phillipa because she just sort of had no idea how concerts work. She expected Maroon 5 to go on stage right after the opening band got off. I told her that they had to switch instruments, make sure everything was tuned and working then prime the audience a bit. I also had to explain to her that when they finish, the band will walk offstage then come back to play the encore. She was so lucky to have such a handsome knowledgeable man accompany her to the show.
When Maroon 5 came out they did not disappoint. I had seen them play live on television and it was obvious they were well practiced. They were able to improvise and were very good showman as well as being very good musicians. Adam Levines first words to the crowd were the traditional Korean greeting of "Annyeong haseyo!" and the Koreans exploded when he said it. Even though it is only one word, I am glad he took the time to learn it. He made a point during the concert of complimenting them on being one of his favorite crowds because, as he said, "you sing along to every one of my songs" and it's true. They did. For a country whose first language is not English they sure did know a lot of English songs. They were very into it and just generally had a good energy. In Korea they like to do this thing where they bring colored sticks or ears or wands and wave them around or wear them. If you look at the video I post at the end you will be able to see. It really gives the crowd a personality of it's own. When Maroon 5 finished their set they said thank you and goodnight and went off stage. The audience started chanting "Encore! Encore! Encore" but the cute thing was that they were mispronouncing it. They were all saying "Incore! Incore! Incore!" Instead of lighters they were all waving their glowing sticks around. Maroon 5 came back out and played a couple of their best songs then just as quickly went away again. The concert was a good experience and I think Phillipa enjoyed it just as much as I did if not more. On a scale of 1-10 I would give it about a 7 or an 8.
Here is my favorite song from the Maroon 5 concert. This video was filmed from about right where I was and is much better quality than the one I have on my facebook page.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
One year later
Hello friends, family and everyone else.
It has been exactly one year to the day since I have posted on my blog. I assure you it was not planned this way. Today I was reading someone elses blog and figured I should start mine up again. I didn't realize it had been a full year already, but I guess it makes sense.
The past year has been... strange. I guess I should take you through all aspects of my life to see how they have changed. We will do it in typical Korean form.
"How old are you?" I am now 30 years old. It really doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me because I was 30 years old Korean age when I first got over here, so I have kind of been thirty for the last two years.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Now? I don't know. I will say yes and leave it at that. Phillipa may be on the other side of the world, but she would still be just as angry if I wrote about her in my blog.
"How tall are you?" Still the same height.
"You... suyom... good." Thank you, I like my beard also.
"What is your favorite singer?" Well, I really like 2ne1 just like I did this time last year, but I have really started to like this Korean American K-pop star called Ailee, and a girl who is brand new called Lee Hi. If you want I can post their videos at the bottom, since they are both incredible singers.
"Can you speak Korean?" Well that's a good question. I still am not fluent by a long shot, but I can definitely speak a lot better than I could one year ago. In fact, just today I learned how to say: "Everyday I practice Korean, but I still can't speak it." I think my big breaks in learning Korean were the fact that around summer time I made myself a bunch of flashcards, so now I know about 90 Korean verbs, and that after Christmas break I got myself a Korean tutor. My Korean tutor is my favorite co-teacher Jo Eun A, who I have spoken so highly of in the past. She sits patiently with me while we listen to "Talk To Me In Korean" and I write every Korean sample sentence that they say, then she corrects my spelling and laughs at me. :) My spelling is what needs the most work, as my vocabulary and grammar are actually not that bad. The real test is when I come back from my lesson and Phillipa says "Oh that thing you just learned how to spell, write it to me!" I always fail that test.
"Where are you from?" Texas... still Texas, but if you want to ask where I am from in Korea I will tell you that I am still from the same town Gamgok. It is a completely different town from when I first moved here and met the other Texan, and the Scotsman, and the South African girl. Of that group of the original four, I am the only one still here. In fact, of the people that I mentioned anywhere in any of my blogs previous, I am the only one still in my county. At a year and a half of experience I am by a full year the most experience person living in Eumseong-gun and have now been given the position of Regional Moderator, which is really just a fancy way of saying that I run a training meeting a month. If I had written an entry one month ago there would have been four people who had been here for two years and Phillipa would have been finishing up her third. To think it was about this time in her experience that she met me. A strange thought indeed. Since that time they have added a new position for a TaLK scholar and have gotten a new Hagwon teacher in the town of Janghowon. So I will take you through a quick rundown of the people in my town.
Nate, the Texan, stayed here about a year then moved to Cheongju where he is now a Hagwon teacher. We still keep in touch and he has come back a couple of times. He was replaced by Michael, a very young Korean American from Hawaii. Michael is a good time. He likes to go out and get a bite to eat or go grab a beer. He is really into Reddit and video games and movies and K-pop so me and him get along perfectly. It is nice to see him growing up before my eyes by learning to love beer, getting a tattoo and having a serious girlfriend who got too clingy so he had to dump. He actually hangs out with Nate a lot in Cheongju. He has a good since of humor and is the kind of guy who tries to not offend anyone. Sometimes that actually makes people offended, but as he grows up more he will learn that sometimes those things just happen. Sorry if I sound a little preachy here, I just like the kid and think he has a lot of promise.
Shaneel, the South African who was dating Nate, moved to Cheongju after half a year and they kind of stopped talking. I talked to her a bit and hung out with her a couple of times since then, but once you move to the city, it's kind of hard to bring yourself around to coming back to Gamgok. She dated an Englishman for awhile and I still see him around. Nice fella. She now lives in South Africa. When she left Cris Boronat moved in, and she was dating this guy named Tim who I saw a lot of who lived in Muguk. They were total hippie animal lovers who had hearts of gold. They finished a year and moved to a city outside Daejeon. Last time I heard they had one dog, but I think at one time it was up to three?
Graham finished up his second year here and decided he couldn't do another in the small town, so he made his way to Cheongju like Nate. Whenever I go and visit Graham I always see Nate also. Graham is now living in the town as two of my other English friends and it seems like they have a pretty good network of people living there. It's tempting to think that if I moved there I would already have a social circle set up. When Graham and Cris left they were replaced by a couple from rural Pennsylvania called Jess and Jeff. It is strange being in a town with five foreigners and one of them shares your name. It is also strange having a large beer drinking chain smoking Scotsman who swears like a sailor be replaced with these two soft spoken youngins who don't drink at all, but they are good people so far and I am looking forward to getting to know them.
The new TaLK scholar position was first filled by a Korean Canadian named Daniel Kim. He didn't live in our building but instead lived out at the school where he worked. He was ok with it. The school and the teachers liked him. He liked to come into town and drink and eat with us. Much fun was had. After him was Julie Jang. She was awesome. Another Korean Canadian. She was fluent in Korean and lived at the school also. Living out there kind of drove her crazy, but she would come into town and hang out with me and Phillipa a lot. I liked her so much. She was very quiet, but once she opened up was really funny. Also, there is something awesome about a chick who can sing K-pop songs because she has a good voice and she is fluent in Korean. She was so much fun to noraebang with. Now at her school is a man named Danny Kwak. He is Korean American and 31 years old. He was a lawyer back in LA and is over here to see if he likes teaching and to try and learn a lot of Korean. He is a really musical guy and I am looking forward to hanging out with him a lot more. He is totally laid back and rather chill to talk to. Him, Michael and myself often go out to get a bite to eat or a beer or something on Wednesdays or another day of the week.
Matt is the Hagwon teacher in Janghowon. He is a Canadian and has been here about six months now. He likes to go out and drink and eat and noraebang and all that good stuff. He has a giant black dog named Alfie who is very well behaved and rather cute. He is seriously committed to learning Korean and I think our skills are at about the same level, but he may be better than me already. Matt is dating a girl named EB who is just as sweet as she is Korean, and by that I mean 100% on both. She works a lot and is in another city entirely so we don't get to see her much, but she is a very very sweet girl.
K-pop surrounds me in this country. Music has always been a hobby of mine, and trivia has been a hobby especially, so when I came to a country where I knew none of the music I quickly tried to immerse myself. Over the past year since I wrote this, K-pop exploded around the world with Psy's smash "Gangnam Style" which got so overplayed here I wanted to gouge my own eardrum out, but luckily the days of Psy are over. So, as promised, here is the video for Lee Hi called "1,2,3,4" and you can tell she has a very soulful voice which is awesome. Also here is the video for Ailee called "I'll show you". My favorite part about that video is pretty much... well... everything. These are two of my favorite new artists, though Ailee is not so new. Anyway, enjoy and I will regale you with more tales of the past year when I return later this week or next.
It has been exactly one year to the day since I have posted on my blog. I assure you it was not planned this way. Today I was reading someone elses blog and figured I should start mine up again. I didn't realize it had been a full year already, but I guess it makes sense.
The past year has been... strange. I guess I should take you through all aspects of my life to see how they have changed. We will do it in typical Korean form.
"How old are you?" I am now 30 years old. It really doesn't seem like that big of a deal to me because I was 30 years old Korean age when I first got over here, so I have kind of been thirty for the last two years.
"Do you have a girlfriend?" Now? I don't know. I will say yes and leave it at that. Phillipa may be on the other side of the world, but she would still be just as angry if I wrote about her in my blog.
"How tall are you?" Still the same height.
"You... suyom... good." Thank you, I like my beard also.
"What is your favorite singer?" Well, I really like 2ne1 just like I did this time last year, but I have really started to like this Korean American K-pop star called Ailee, and a girl who is brand new called Lee Hi. If you want I can post their videos at the bottom, since they are both incredible singers.
"Can you speak Korean?" Well that's a good question. I still am not fluent by a long shot, but I can definitely speak a lot better than I could one year ago. In fact, just today I learned how to say: "Everyday I practice Korean, but I still can't speak it." I think my big breaks in learning Korean were the fact that around summer time I made myself a bunch of flashcards, so now I know about 90 Korean verbs, and that after Christmas break I got myself a Korean tutor. My Korean tutor is my favorite co-teacher Jo Eun A, who I have spoken so highly of in the past. She sits patiently with me while we listen to "Talk To Me In Korean" and I write every Korean sample sentence that they say, then she corrects my spelling and laughs at me. :) My spelling is what needs the most work, as my vocabulary and grammar are actually not that bad. The real test is when I come back from my lesson and Phillipa says "Oh that thing you just learned how to spell, write it to me!" I always fail that test.
"Where are you from?" Texas... still Texas, but if you want to ask where I am from in Korea I will tell you that I am still from the same town Gamgok. It is a completely different town from when I first moved here and met the other Texan, and the Scotsman, and the South African girl. Of that group of the original four, I am the only one still here. In fact, of the people that I mentioned anywhere in any of my blogs previous, I am the only one still in my county. At a year and a half of experience I am by a full year the most experience person living in Eumseong-gun and have now been given the position of Regional Moderator, which is really just a fancy way of saying that I run a training meeting a month. If I had written an entry one month ago there would have been four people who had been here for two years and Phillipa would have been finishing up her third. To think it was about this time in her experience that she met me. A strange thought indeed. Since that time they have added a new position for a TaLK scholar and have gotten a new Hagwon teacher in the town of Janghowon. So I will take you through a quick rundown of the people in my town.
Nate, the Texan, stayed here about a year then moved to Cheongju where he is now a Hagwon teacher. We still keep in touch and he has come back a couple of times. He was replaced by Michael, a very young Korean American from Hawaii. Michael is a good time. He likes to go out and get a bite to eat or go grab a beer. He is really into Reddit and video games and movies and K-pop so me and him get along perfectly. It is nice to see him growing up before my eyes by learning to love beer, getting a tattoo and having a serious girlfriend who got too clingy so he had to dump. He actually hangs out with Nate a lot in Cheongju. He has a good since of humor and is the kind of guy who tries to not offend anyone. Sometimes that actually makes people offended, but as he grows up more he will learn that sometimes those things just happen. Sorry if I sound a little preachy here, I just like the kid and think he has a lot of promise.
Shaneel, the South African who was dating Nate, moved to Cheongju after half a year and they kind of stopped talking. I talked to her a bit and hung out with her a couple of times since then, but once you move to the city, it's kind of hard to bring yourself around to coming back to Gamgok. She dated an Englishman for awhile and I still see him around. Nice fella. She now lives in South Africa. When she left Cris Boronat moved in, and she was dating this guy named Tim who I saw a lot of who lived in Muguk. They were total hippie animal lovers who had hearts of gold. They finished a year and moved to a city outside Daejeon. Last time I heard they had one dog, but I think at one time it was up to three?
Graham finished up his second year here and decided he couldn't do another in the small town, so he made his way to Cheongju like Nate. Whenever I go and visit Graham I always see Nate also. Graham is now living in the town as two of my other English friends and it seems like they have a pretty good network of people living there. It's tempting to think that if I moved there I would already have a social circle set up. When Graham and Cris left they were replaced by a couple from rural Pennsylvania called Jess and Jeff. It is strange being in a town with five foreigners and one of them shares your name. It is also strange having a large beer drinking chain smoking Scotsman who swears like a sailor be replaced with these two soft spoken youngins who don't drink at all, but they are good people so far and I am looking forward to getting to know them.
The new TaLK scholar position was first filled by a Korean Canadian named Daniel Kim. He didn't live in our building but instead lived out at the school where he worked. He was ok with it. The school and the teachers liked him. He liked to come into town and drink and eat with us. Much fun was had. After him was Julie Jang. She was awesome. Another Korean Canadian. She was fluent in Korean and lived at the school also. Living out there kind of drove her crazy, but she would come into town and hang out with me and Phillipa a lot. I liked her so much. She was very quiet, but once she opened up was really funny. Also, there is something awesome about a chick who can sing K-pop songs because she has a good voice and she is fluent in Korean. She was so much fun to noraebang with. Now at her school is a man named Danny Kwak. He is Korean American and 31 years old. He was a lawyer back in LA and is over here to see if he likes teaching and to try and learn a lot of Korean. He is a really musical guy and I am looking forward to hanging out with him a lot more. He is totally laid back and rather chill to talk to. Him, Michael and myself often go out to get a bite to eat or a beer or something on Wednesdays or another day of the week.
Matt is the Hagwon teacher in Janghowon. He is a Canadian and has been here about six months now. He likes to go out and drink and eat and noraebang and all that good stuff. He has a giant black dog named Alfie who is very well behaved and rather cute. He is seriously committed to learning Korean and I think our skills are at about the same level, but he may be better than me already. Matt is dating a girl named EB who is just as sweet as she is Korean, and by that I mean 100% on both. She works a lot and is in another city entirely so we don't get to see her much, but she is a very very sweet girl.
K-pop surrounds me in this country. Music has always been a hobby of mine, and trivia has been a hobby especially, so when I came to a country where I knew none of the music I quickly tried to immerse myself. Over the past year since I wrote this, K-pop exploded around the world with Psy's smash "Gangnam Style" which got so overplayed here I wanted to gouge my own eardrum out, but luckily the days of Psy are over. So, as promised, here is the video for Lee Hi called "1,2,3,4" and you can tell she has a very soulful voice which is awesome. Also here is the video for Ailee called "I'll show you". My favorite part about that video is pretty much... well... everything. These are two of my favorite new artists, though Ailee is not so new. Anyway, enjoy and I will regale you with more tales of the past year when I return later this week or next.
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