Exploring, Employment, Enjoyment

Another week or so has passed here in Seoul, and things are all well and good and solid. I've got more pictures, a more swollen liver, and nothing but another 49 weeks or so of interesting ahead of me.

Seoul is so alive. There are people everywhere all the time. Although I do kind of wish I had a t-shirt that said 'stop fucking staring at me, I'm just white', I guess the city itself should have a t-shirt for me that says 'stop staring, I'm just Seoul'.

Oh, I didn't mention this before, but right now it's what we like to call 'monsoon season'. Which means that:

A) It is always humid as holyfuck
B) It may, at any given time, rain more that you have ever seen before

Really, though, on at least two occasions I've been woken up by the sound of rain and rain only. Rain like I cannot comprehend. And yet it will still be hot as fuck. The rain here feels nothing like it does at home. You can get soaking wet and still not feel cold. And after the rain stops, the streets dry in minutes. But hot and wet are not fun for 3 weeks in a row, I promise.

The other day as I left work, the sky looked so ready to storm that I swear it was threatening me (as seen above). This will all be over in about a month though. Or at least that's what I'm told.

Then it'll just be hot, minus the damp.

I've been doing a little more exploring, of course. One of the things that amazes me is how they integrate history into the monument to moderninty here. The contrast really helps remind you that this place has well over 20 centuries of history, as opposed to four or five.

For example, this palace gate, right next to city hall (and the Picasso exhibit that I have to see before it leaves in September), in a sea of intimidating skyscrapers.



Speaking of old things, I've found a great little bar just up the road from me...
named Led Zepplin, no less.

The place has the best vinyl collection I've ever ever seen. It's owned by a pretty cool guy who's as close to a stoner as Korea has ever seen. He plays some decent (and some not-so-much) stuff, straight off the vinyls.

There are murals everywhere in the place.

There are even some in the bathroom. The bathroom, by the way, is up a flight of stairs (marked Stairway to Heaven, honestly). Aside from murals, the bathroom has no door and no sink, and is located in the corner of a small parking lot.

I've taken to borrowing a phrase from Ben (one of my compadres and co-workers) and I'm going to call this one of those 'Welcome to Korea' moments.

Work is going well. I like working there. I've still got a few kids who are complete jerks, but I've got a few who are awesome squared.

These are some kids from my Kindergarten class, and the girl on the right is probably my favourite student, bar none. If I was home, I'd use the phrase "She's so cute you could pinch the face off of her" (albeit with a touch of irony, questioning the legitimacy of such a saying) but now that I see it written it seems violent, despite the complimentary sentiment.

And that's about it for now. This weekend I'm going to the Boryeong Mud Festival about 3 hours outside of Seoul (by slow-ass train)



That should be pretty fun.

I'll leave with another little hint of Korean strangeness. I pass this poster every day in the subway, and I keep thinking to myself, "Is this the Korean DFA 1979?!"


I have no idea what this poster says or is about, by the way.

(Note: This is another entry I posted on another site, then migrated to this one.)