I have pictures

I didn't publish anything last week, and for that I apologize. This week I'm going to make up for last week's negligence with pictures.

School



The front desk. Eli is displaying the Korean enthusiasm for peace that Asians seem they need to express in pictures. Eli is one of a few people to have left Maple Bear a month after I started. I miss her very much. She was one of the few people who appreciated my stupidity. One the phone is my new boss. She's very nice, and unlike my old boss, she actually cares. Sometimes her caring means more work for us though. I'm confident she'll make Maple Bear Mokdong less of a joke than it is today.


Lunchtime in Turquoise Bear. Why they call this classroom Turquoise Bear instead of Green Bear is beyond anybody. Some of the Korean TAs have a difficult time pronouncing the word turquoise, there's just no chance for the kids. This is Kim's class, however, she is forced to share the room with me. I also have classes in White Bear (not pictured).

The great thing about lunch time is that it is provided by Maple Bear. Even though I don't start my classes till 14:00, I always make sure I'm in before noon so I can enjoy a meal of rice, soup, vegetables, meats and seafood. Since I don't have class, I don't have to eat my lunch with kids. I get to eat my lunch with the Korean administration staff, which provides me a unique opportunity to talk to Korean adults.

Home Sweet Home



The tall building is where I live, in front of it is a high school. It's an enjoyable walk between home and school. I live in a high class part of Seoul, so most areas do not look like this.


The loft feels quite big because of the high ceilings in the main area. The bedroom only has 1.5 meter (4.5 feet) high ceilings, so I only use it for sleeping. The Canada flag makes me smile, but it also helps stop some light shine on my face in the morning. The window is massive and the blinds are thin. I love my window, just not in the mornings.














The washing machine under the stove is a weird idea to me. The floor gets dirtiest under the stove, so if I happen to drop my clothes taking it out of the washer, they'll immediately get stained. I like not having to pay for laundry though. The rail provides me a nice place to hang my clothes to dry. I just have to remember not to cook fish while my clothes are drying.



I quite enjoy the view of the high school and McDonald's from my window. The gray building in front of McDonald's is where three other teachers live. I've seen one of the rooms in there. It's quite nice, but they don't have 15 foot ceilings or talking doors. They do have an island in the kitchen and a couch though. Still, I feel like I got the nicest place. All the other teachers are in a very ghetto area of Seoul with very small apartments. The area they live in is pretty cool though, just because it's very lively, has a nice little market, and everything is cheaper there.



Mokdong has over 500 schools of various types. The building adjacent to me has a school from the fifth floor up to the eighth. I don't know what kind of school it is, but it can't be a good one, because they still use green chalk boards instead of the less messy white boards. At night when the lights are on I can see clearly into their windows. Usually there's classes running till about 22:00. This makes me wonder if the students ever get distracted from their long day of studies when they see me walking around my apartment. I'm reminded of ugly naked guy in Friends.

Gyeonghuigung Palace


Gyeonghuigung Palace is the only palace I've seen so far. It's one of the smaller palaces here, but it was incredible to visit. It has architecture unlike anything I've seen before. It's so simple, yet so effective.


All the buildings within the Palace, with the exception of their roofs, are made from wood. It's clear that the buildings are restored regularly, which makes it difficult to feel like you're in a palace built the 17th century.



What I enjoyed the most about the palace is how empty it was. It adds an element of serenity to the already majestic site. In a city of 10.5 million people,


this is a welcome change of pace. It's also a stark contrast to historical sites in Europe, where often tourists are lined up around the corner to get in.




Street Vendors Are Everywhere


Itaewon is the multicultural part of Seoul. It's the one place where foreigners out number Koreans, and where English is wildly spoken. It's where foreigners go to drink at night and shop during the day. I went once, and I'm sure I'll go back, but I don't imagine it will be anytime soon. I took one picture in Itaewon, just outside the subway station. It's of a vendor selling ripped copies of DVDs. The sign reads: Warning! This area is a special designated public facility. All vending activity is absolutely prohibited here! Any foreign and/or domestic vendor found violating this order, will be Severely punished according to the law.


FC Seoul 0 - 2 FC Suwon

Tim was nice enough to take Dan and myself to a soccer game. It's a mere $7 to get in, and just $3 more for a beer. I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. The season is just starting, so I'm sure I'll be able to enjoy many more games.

The stadium is a World Cup stadium holding 65,000 people, so when FC Seoul get an attendance of 40,000 people the stadium looks empty. Still, people are noisy, and everyone has a good time, regardless of the score.



The Suwon fans came in numbers. They were louder and enthusiastic and almost made wish I was sitting with them. Suwon is about an hour from me via subway, and they have some historic city walls that I would like to see. I am quite sure I'll go see a game there, because their home games are sure to be a blast.


On the home side we're holding up pieces of construction paper to provide an neat aerial view. I have no idea how cool it looked, but I assume it looked a bit like the the Suwon picture.









After the game, this girl wanted a picture with me. Of course this meant that she had to display her love for peace, because that's just what they do. This is very much the kind of attention that I love. Dan felt left out, but I was eating it up. Another girl told me I look like Thiery Henry, one of the best players in the world. I only assume that meant she was attracted to me. I think soccer games might be the best place to meet girls. I just need to learn to talk to them. I guess I now how a reason to try and learn one of the most difficult languages in the world.