Living Up to The Blog's Title

Ok, so this blog's title is "Life in South Korea". And so far, it has been nothing but my adventures in Hong Kong. Well, that is now over and I've finally made my leap into Ulsan, South Korea. Lets just shortly explain the flight. Korean Air is not the best airline. The food was worst than other airlines, but they were on time. Upon arrival, I did not see anyone at the "meeting point". Which scared me a little. After wondering around for half an hour, I saw a few "Lost" faces and I asked whether they were with the program. Luckily, they were and we got lost together. Another 15 minutes went by, I finally had to call the coordinator and found out they have changed the "meeting point" and failed to tell us. Anyway, we got to meet some of the other teachers as they showed us the way to the bus stop. It was about an hour bus ride to Ulsan from Busan. We got to the Office of Education at around 8pm. The building was all closed and they had to re-open the building for us to go inside. Once we got inside, we waited.....As we were waiting, I realize that that this program seems a bit un-organized. Finally, the co-teachers came and picked us up. Each teacher went their seperate ways.

My co-teacher is a middle-age lady with very broken english. But communication is still possible and that is all that is important. We got into her little geo-metro looking vehicle and cruised away. Three minutes into the ride, I thought I would never get the chance to teach in Korea. People know Asian drivers are horrible, but you never really know how bad until you ride with one. With that said, I've been riding with her for two days now and I am still here to blog about it so I guess she knows what she is doing (in her own way). I got to my apartment and I liked it right away.

A code to at the main door opens a sliding glass door. Third floor up is where my room is. Another code unlikes the door and we entered. I liked it right away because there is no key involved. And with my habits of alcohol consumption, keys are very important in my case when there are no roommates to let you in. The apartment is also brand new. The school had bought brand new appliances such as rice cooker (of course), toaster, air conditioner, tv, washing machine, and fridge. They also bought new furniture like tv stand, dinning table, chairs, and a bed. The bathroom is nice, but one weird thing about it is the shower head. It is connected to the sink's faucet head and with a push of a button, you can change the flow of water from the faucet to the shower head and vice versa. This is the traditional Korean way of a bathroom. NO curtains, and you shower right there in front of the sink and toliet with a drain right in the middle. Weird, but efficient I guess.

So far, it seems as though there is not much I can do. My co-teacher did take me shopping for certain items that I needed and was not provided. I went grocery shopping for some drinks and intant noodles. I want to go venture out to downtown and maybe to a few bars but I am afraid I won't be able to get back. It is very difficult to say where I live so even if I got into a taxi, I would think I will have a hard time finding out. I think the best way is to have my co-teacher write it down on paper tomorrow. Taxi is relatively cheap, probably $2-3 dollars for a 15 minute ride (which takes me to downtown and to my school).

And a little cultural lesson for you today. As you know, Asians love their video games. But what I (an Asian) didn't know, was how much Koreans are into their "PC cafes". I think there are 8 PC cafes within a 5 minute walking radius from my house. Each with probably 50 computers and are packed pretty much from 4pm till close (if they even close, I am not sure). It is $1 per hour to use a computer and they are all just hacking video games. I am getting a few bad looks as I am typing this blog. I think they think I am a waste of space for taking up a computer to type and not be hacking vids. OH well, thats all I have for my first two days/nights here. I hope I get all my essential set up soon (phone, cable, internet) so I can hide away in my pad and not come to a PC cafe.

More after the weekend and school starts Monday!

One Full Week

This will be my last post for my adventures in Hong Kong.  This week was full of events and I had a blast.  Tuesday, we went "boating".  Boating here is a little different.  My cousin's friend too us on her yacht where we stationed just outside the beach.  From there, we took a smaller boat to go to a beach about 40 minutes away where the water is clear and we shared the beach with only another group of people.  While I don't dig romantic walks on the beach, it was a good time.  From there, we went "wakeboarding".  Well, no one knew how to and I (if you knew me) had only the slightest clue.  However, I was a like a superstar! haha, getting up off the water at will and making my famous "jump" across the wake (I had 0 inches of air), it was awesome. Afterwards, we went back to the yacht and had dinner.  It is not everyday that you get to go on a yacht and had a whole crew serving you so it was a new/good experience.

Thursday was another normal night at LKF.  We got a table at the club which had similar rules to the clubs back in the states.  With a table, meeting people is quite easy :).  I danced like I was in a Jay-Z video (so obviously I was hammered) and got a few numbers. My friends danced as well, but they were sober.....I don't know how they do it. They asked me the same thing when I was drinking the bottle of whiskey we had to open at the table by myself.  I am also starting to wonder why I keep getting numbers wen I know I won't call them and they probably won't call me either. Especially when I am not staying here for much longer.  Maybe in Korea, getting a number will be more meaningful.  But overall, a great night, plus I made it home.

Friday, Hong Kong was hit by a typhoon 9 (10 being the strongest).  Winds were going at like 80mphs and no one had to work.  But public transportation was all shut down as well.  Luckily, we have a car and we went to my uncles house to eat and play majong (favorite pass-time, especially during a typhoon).  So I got to witnessed a typhoon while I was here.  The next day, the city was trashed with fallen trees and garbage was everywhere.  

Saturday, was a odd/expensive night.  My friends and I jokingly said we would go to Macau.  It is pretty much the Asian Las Vegas located about an hour boat ride from Hong Kong.  It is a place where girls are pretty and you lose a lot of money, which were both true in my case.  We didn't get over till 1am and didn't get back till 9am.  I don't want to go in to details but 1. I went to a club and got drunk off United States bar prices (which is considered really cheap)>  2. We went to the casino where a minimum bet was $13 dollars.  So I lost rather quickly and with great amount (Emac, this was worst than the night at Grand Casino).  The reason being I lost a great amount in probably less than 2 hours.  Where at Grand, I played for 10 hours and got a sandwhich out of it.  Here, I got 5 glasses of cheap red wine and 3 beers.  After 3 out of 4 of us lost all our money, it was 5:30am and my cousin took me to a place much like the place in Rush Hour 2.  It was very un-characteristic of me but I was hammered (that was my excuse).  It was also very expensive.  Macau was fun but at a very high cost (much like Vegas).  I think I plan on going back on Monday, haha, with my two cousins.  I think it will be a good time again but I think I might just stay away from the tables.  

It is now Sunday and it is a day of recovery and rest.  I had 3 hours of sleep before my aunts came to my house and woke me up from my rest.  It is time to go celebrate my cousin's son's birthday I guess.....again it is 3 o'clock (PM) and I wanna go to bed.  If anything crazy happens Monday, I will be sure to let you know.  But Korea is coming on Wednesday!

3 am and I wanna go to bed

To eliminate the ridiculous long blog posts of a combination of 3 or 4 days, I figured I would try my best to try to write every day or at least every other day when I know there is much to do talk about.  Tonight, can be considered one of those nights.  Tonight, well, technically yesterday night since it is 3 am, was another eventful night.  I was hungover from the night before so I pretty much laid around and watched Heroes (illegally) over the web for 5 hours straight.  When it came to dinner time, my aunt wanted to treat me to an all-you-can-eat japanese restaurant....sweet:) The restaurant was not a buffet style but rather, a order as you go type of system.  I had everything imaginable in the japanese cuisine menu.  I held back a bit this time since I know I was gonna get a little wild afterwards and wanted to save room.

When the meal was over, I went to home to take a power nap which lasted 3 hours before getting up to get ready to go out.  It was about 11:45pm when I went out the door.  40 minutes of transportation took me back to LKF (where I was last night).  I approached the club that I am supposedly to be at, and I noticed a line all the way around the corner (probably 200 people).  I was not too worried since it was my cousin's party and I figured I would get the royal treatment...I was wrong of course.  While my older cousin (the boss) was partying it up upstairs, his younger brother (still my older cousin) was trying to manage the downstairs chaos.  Being closer to the the younger brother, i went to him for help.  It nearly took him 25 minutes to get me in (25 minutes in 85 degree weather does not go well in a dress shirt).  I did eventually skp the line of hundreds and got in. 

There, the fun didn't start.  The place was packed (I would say take the "library" in minnesota and times it by 2).  Usually at something like this, I am did not expect to be digging in to my wallet due to the circumstances, but I figured this was kinda of ridiculous.  I ran into my other cousin whom I've not seen in probably 4 years.  I offered to buy and that was the last time I bought anything.  Two shots of absolute vodka ("rail vodka") came to a total of $20 dollars.  Luckily, tipping is not expected.  Then, the all-mighty famous rapper "Jin" came on stage.  Oh wait, that was before the police raid of the place, checking ids and such which lasted nearly 45 minutes. During this "raid", everyone is required to sit and not speak...totally buzz kill if you had a buzz.  In the meantime, I found the party host's table and had as much free booze as I could find.  But yeah, eventually, the rap started.  It was in chinese! hahahhah, the guy is ABC (American born chinese) and acted much like an American.  But he was rapping in Chinese.  And being a person who does not like rap in general, Chinese rap goes one step below every American rapper I've heard.  There is no doubt he is a great Chinese rapper due to the van base I saw, but wow, what a joke.  That was my queue to leave, I was not really enjoying my time.  It was way too loud to talk, wasn't much dancing going on (just bouncing up and down), and I couldn't get drunk enough due to the price.  If you have ever since 8 Mile with Eminem, the atmosphere was kinda like that battle scene where the rapper was on stage and everyone was bouncing up and down (only it was in a a nice air conditioned high rise. 

Chinese rap is really not my thing and having to pay too much to get drunk is also not my thing.  So a relatively cheap $12 dollar taxi ride led me back home, typing this.  I hope for a better night tomorrow, the family is having a little potluck party and perhaps i will hit up LKF with a better approach.  We will see....

Hong Kong before the weekend

So the beginning of the week is usually a little slow.  So I decided to do some traveling (to the mainland).  My dad had some business up there and I decided to tag along (free trip).  When crossing over to the mainland, you must present an Hong Kong ID for express or else a passport would take much longer.  Luckily, I have both so it wasn't too bad to pass through "immigration".  The amount of people crossing over to China can be described as trying to leave a basketball game at then end of the 4th quarter.  It is actually kind of ridiculous.  Anyway, got on the train and decided to go to the restaurant cart  where some prepaid lunch boxes were for sale.  Had a box and a soda and by the time I finished, we were there in "Dong-Guan".  Driving there is similar  to Mexico where rules don't apply to anyone.  We waved a cab down and established a price, and off we went to our hotel.  When I got to the hotel, I was absolutely amazed at where we were staying.  The place was really nice and the service was phenomenal.  I also found out that it only cost $45/night.  And I was like...I will stay for a while :)  I posted a few pictures of just the pool but the inside was just as nice.  Everything is China is even cheaper than Hong Kong.  So a few dollars can go a long way.  I got my haircut in the hotel for 5 bucks. A one dollar tip brought a huge smile on the barber's face.  I was happy.  However, while my dad went off to work, I stayed behind, hoping to go venture out a little.  But then, within 30 minutes of my father's departure, I felt sick.  Without exaggeration, I had "party butt" for the next 14 hours.  Stayed in the room all day/night, didn't go anywhere else.  The only thing it could've been was the lunch box on the train.  So a long story short, I went to China and stayed in a hotel for a night with "party butt".  At the same time, I also found out a can of soda cost the same as a can of Heineken.  Random.

So that trip didn't go so well and I came back to Hong Kong, still recovering from my painful experience.  I decided to go play some basketball to sweat it off (much like I would do in the states when I am hungover).  7pm, 85 degrees, humidity level 85% makes breathing a little difficult, especially when I am playing.  But the competition was not very good so i didn't have to work too hard.  Me, a little guy, can play center and push people around in Asia.  It is a nice change of pace from what I am used to.  This was Wednesday.  Thursday was an eventful day.  Did the usual "eat 3 meals before 3pm".  Then decided to go play basketball again with a few of my friends I met from the U.  Competition was much better and I lost a few games and was mean-mugging for a bit.  My cousin called and asked if I wanted to go LKF, which is the party central in Hong Kong.  It is just a few block of straight bars and clubs.  The most expensive place to be at since a drink is like $10. And cover charge is a given.  But for a little fun, it was worth it.  

I did my normal rushed alcoholic pre-game of taking 3 BIG pulls of absolute before meeting my cousin at the subway.  He was late as usual so I went to the 7-11 nearby and bought two pints of Heineken for $2.50.  Walked down the street gracefully, enjoying my beer while I saw confused eyes starring at me.  I knew exactly what they were thinking, "Why is this good-looking fella walking down the street by himself, pounding beers in a "non-party" zone".  Well, my friends, my answer is simple, I am waiting for my cousin so we can go to the "party zone" and I like to drink.  Straight up.  After 3 pulls and 2 pints in half an hour, I felt a nice warm feeling.  Finally, we got to LKF.  We were actually on a mission there.  To quickly explain, my cousin is hosting a party at a club in LKF.  A famous rapper is coming to perform and they are hosting a huge event, giving away free stuff.  There were banners everywhere around LKF for this event which is happening on Friday.  Pretty awesome, no big deal :)  I guess our job was to go and be "promoters" to try to get more people to come.  We had passes to give out and so we were on the hunt.  It was nice since my cousin pretty much covered all my cost of drinking and transportation (he is a big spender, good guy).  I learned a few things from this experience:       1. Being a "promoter" for some event is a great conversation started, often time leading to a healthy relationship.  2. Asian (girls) travel in packs and usually don't have guy friends with.  3. Like me, they can't dance. 4. Want her number, just ask. 5.  I drink too much.

So the party is tonight and we will see who all shows.  More on how everything went on next's blog on "First Weekend in Hong Kong"

Hong Kong Day 1

I am back at it already.  I think it has something to do with me being jet lagged and eating too much to the point where I couldn't turn over in my sleep.  Seriously!  My grandmas, aunts, uncle, and dad came and picked me up from the train station. 8pm, time to eat.  Got to the restaurant where my other uncle was already waiting with a table.  We ordered an "8 person package meal" but with only 4 person really eating.  My grandmas had a bite here and there, my aunts did the same, and my uncles were more concentrated on the $1 beers.  Which left my dad and I to do some seriously work.  As I ate, I look around and I saw myself as a specimen of some sort.  Everyone just wanted to observe the way I devour everything in sight.  If you knew me, I can hold my own when it comes to eating (no kobayashi but I like to finish was other people can't eat :) )  But here with family, it is a different ball game.  It is almost eating against your will.  I was actually really full and tired when they ordered a "side plate" of my favorite dish (the roasted pork).  Which was probably meant to feed two hungry individual (with rice).  Not being able to turn it down, I ended up eating about 75% of it.  I really couldn't get up afterwards.  You know, in the states, people often say things like "I am so full I can't get up" or "I loosened up my belt by two notches"...etc etc.  Mainly, they use these phrases as a description of really how full they are, but often times didn't physically mean what they were saying.  But here, I really couldn't get up without assistance and my stomach was really expanded to the point where it was painful unless  I loosened up my belt.  Going to bed that full is usually not a good idea, especially when jet lagged.  Oh well, tomorrow is a new day, it has been close to 12 hours since I ate that meal, and I am still really really full.  They already scheduled to go eat at 10am at my uncles restaurant.  And he is definitely not shy with his portions.  So I have that to look forward to.  I need to start playing some basketball or this could be trouble.

Airport Problems

So it is worth mentioning that a few more obstacles nearly prevented my stopover in Hong Kong.  My flight was booked for Saturday (9th) and I was supposed to get my visa in Chicago on the 8th.  Little did I know, it would take me approximately 5 hours to get there when the driving distance is only 2.5 hours.  So I was stuck in traffic moving slower than the DSL turtles and having road rage at the same time.  I ended up having to call the consulate to explain my situation and they were nice enough to wait an extra 15 minutes for me.  In the end, I got everything I needed and I stayed in the shadiest motel 8 ever for one night before flying out on Saturday.

And of course, the problems won't just stop there.  When I was shuttle to the airport, I assumed I was flying Air Canada all the way (this was mostly my fault I guess).  But the guy dropped me off at the Air Canada counter so I can be told to go to the United counters ("a quick 5 minute walk" she says). Well, it would be a quick walk if I didn't have to carry two 50 lb bags, a carry-0n suitcase, a backpack, and a fully stuffed computer bag.  At this point, getting a cart was also not an option since I didn't have any cash on me (stupid on my part) and the credit card machine at the carts were malfunctioning.  Plus, it was $3 dollars anyway to get one so I figured I would get a good workout in in the meantime. I am immediately regretted my decision.  After about 7 pit stops and one sweaty t-shirt later, I finally got to the United Airlines counter.  

The problem continued after check-in.  When I was packing, I really wanted to bring everything I wanted so I decided to bring a small suitcase for carry-on.  I also forgot you are only allowed two carry-on bags and I had three (computer bag, backpack, and suitcase).  To minimize my losses, I threw my backpack away and stuff what I can in my suitcase.  Not happy.

Got upgraded to Economy Plus on my first flight to Vancouver which made me happy for a brief moment.  I fell asleep right away  in the "Economy Plus" section for about an hour which was nice.  However, when I woke up, I looked out the window and I noticed we were still at the our gate! It wasn't until an hour and 30 minutes after our scheduled departure time before we took off.  It wasn't engine problems, it wasn't weather problems, or anything else that would make it OK for such delay.  It was all because of a god damn stamp that they needed to get before flying across the boarder.  God damn Canadians!  The 1.5 hrs delay pretty much took all the time I had to make next connection from Vancouver to Hong Kong.  I was actually given clearance to be the first one out the door (while everyone sat patiently) so I can try to make my connection.  Ran across an ugly and confusing Canadian airport in a record time.  They have closed the gate but have not launched away from the gate, so lucky me :)  My luggage however, did not make it in time on to that flight and will have to be delivered tomorrow.  Oh well!  My seat on that flight was an exit aisle and window seat (for those of you who have never flew in big planes, this is like the first class of the economy class).  I am talking full leg room, get up whenever you want and not bother anyone in front or behind you.  I was so excited!  But nothing can work out the way it was supposed to.  Someone was already sitting in my seat.  I obviously kindly asked the man to move out of my seat.  It was then when I realized I have started a chain of reaction with a seat arrangement.  Apparently, about 7 people moved away from their assigned seats to accommodate for a baby and a mother.  Being the nice guy I am, I decided to not make everyone move and settled for a basic, crunched, economy  (still window) seat.  The flight wasn't bad, had as much free booze as they would give me so I got a little buzzed. I was surrounded by the curse of crying babies, old smelly people, and no one interesting to talk AGAIN.  Did I mention that my original assigned seat had a young girl, probably in her 20s', and looked like she actually spoke English? I bet we could've held a semi-intelligent conversation while we stretched our legs FULL extension.  God damn it.

Sorry for a long blog and the pessimistic angle.  Obviously, if you read this, you probably expected it coming from me :)  I do hope that will change soon, starting with my first day in Hong Kong!

The Day is Here

So my plan for leaving August 6th didn't work out.  The documents got here a little bit later than I expected.  Once it got here, I decided to personally take it to Chicago to save mailing time.  After driving to Chicago and then getting lost for about 4 hours, I've finally sent in my application for my E-2 working visa and will be picking it up tomorrow (Friday).  All this rush to get my visa was so I can make my stopover in Hong Kong to visit some family and friends.  I think that is going to happen.  My flight is booked for Saturday and as long as the Korean Consulate General didn't mess up, I should be in the air by 9:43am.  This whole process was filled with obstacles and barriers.  I guess I can look at them as a test for how much I really want to do this.  I am extremely excited but I still have to pass one last test; that is, fitting a year worth of apparel in two average sized suitcases (keeping it under 45lbs). I am also a bit worried about my flight with Air Canada.  After all, who can trust the Canadians...:)

More when I get to Hong Kong