Whoa...

So yesterday I finally bought some running shoes for myself. It's been about a month and a half since my last jog so I decided tonight was the time. Leaving early from a social establishment, I went home and suited up in preparation for some much needed exercise . Unsure of the pace I would be able to maintain, I took my cell phone and a calling card along; intending to take a break part ways in order to make some phone calls.

At 11:45 I began my run. At 11:51 I was atop the hill in Ansan Lake park...seems I can still run. Although the muscles in my legs were unhappy after climbing the steep hillside-staircase, the rest of my body was overjoyed. At this point I decided to take it easy and soak up the smells and sounds of the night. Now, I've walked around a lot of Gojan-dong and Jungang-dong at night, but I've never really walked in an area devoid of buildings and traffic. Sauntering down the steps on the opposite side of the hill, I wondered why I hadn't explored the surrounding parks and mountains more. I'm sure not having a bike or running shoes was part of the cause...

Anyways, night-time in Korea is much different than back home. The crime rate here, at least from observation, is much, much, much lower. Ideas of safety are also dramatically different. Children will play in parks at midnight, middle school girls will cut through alleyways at 2am to get home, and tonight, I saw that girls will play badminton, in a dark park at midnight, seemingly without a second thought. It's pretty amazing. In fact, it's almost unbelievable. It's actually taken me about a month to be able to walk outside at night without thinking I'm about to be jumped, threatened, or have any number of annoying things that can happen (but likely won't) when you're alone at night in a large city. So since I was comfortable with my surroundings, I took out my cellphone and began to make phone calls. Leaning on a marble wall with a group of loud teenagers behind me, I called home. Not once, did I look behind me or worry about what the kids might be up to.

Now, apart from this little tangent, something very cool also happened when I was calling a friend. Before calling I had relocated to a bench which overlooked a marsh area. Bats were occasionally flying overhead and all manners of crickets and other insects sang loudly. It was a relaxing scene. At one point during the conversation, a bat flew over my head and then into the open over the marsh. As soon as it drifted into the open air, a large bird flew out from the trees and flew past my head. Looking at the short tail feathers, or what looked short, I thought I'd scared a pigeon or some other common bird. The mystery bird silently headed straight for the bat. It quickly closed the distance and with a dull 'thwak' caught the bat mid flight. Without hesitation it flew off into the night. I was flabbergasted...I had just watched (what I believe to be) an owl fly past my head and then catch a bat in mid air.

It's the little things in this country that have come to impress me the most. I'm glad I came.

Observations

Just a little something I found in a notebook. I wrote it while riding the subway into Seoul. I managed to get a seat on the very packed train by getting on board at Gojan Station rather then Jungang. Since I was and am still adjusting to life here, I always try to imagine what the locals think of me. Usually I think that they are more amused or curious. Other times I think that they may be judging me. Anyways...enjoy the rambling.

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Sitting in a chair while on a crowded subway car feels excessively greedy. Lots of people must stand around me while I, a foreigner, this wayguk, sits and writes. Now, I certainly couldn't write standing. But...I certainly can't stand sitting.

I'm loathe to look up into the faces that surround me. Should they be scowling at my comfort would cause me even greater discomfort. But, to consider that maybe I'm just one of many who enjoy a seat this train. Though I am quite a bit pinker than the rest, would it even be reasonable for them to notice my apparent selfishness?

So...I just looked around and nobody caught my gaze. It is how it is...just a fair-haired, blue-eyed stranger sitting alone. Worth no more than an occasional curious glance. But still...I can't stop but wonder. Maybe they were looking, thinking; "Look at him there, that pink fellow, scribbling away."

My stop comes soon, this entry might continue...

Geting Here - Part 3 of 3

Part 3 of an entry written more than a month ago...wow...

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So anyways...Asia...it was an old idea of mine, maybe a dream even, to one day visit some part of East-Asia. This was, of course, before university. Before I studied Asian History and before I gave up on doing anything that cost me more than $400.

Riding along in this bus from Incheon to Seoul I sat and stared out the window. Taking in the new landscape, the soil with it's reddish tint, the grass with a different shade of green, trees at odd angles, and mountains everywhere, it finally hit me. I remembered that I was deep into something that I had always wanted to do. Something that I'd forgotten about but something that had stayed deep in my brain. I started to think back to the job fair months ago...maybe talking to that recruiter was more than just an impulse. Maybe it was a sub-conscious desire managing to break through my jaded exterior. Then again, there's an equal chance that it wasn't. Speculation aside, all that I can really confirm is that I am in East-Asia. And it is good.



So...as I write this entry, sitting in A Twosome Place Cafe in Gangnam while sipping a 2500 Won espresso, I'm overjoyed that I came to Korea and I'm hopeful that I can quickly acculturate to a functional degree. Funny to think that only one day after stepping off the plane I'm realising that I'm actually here fulfilling a long-held dream. I'm not just coming to a foreign country to make a decent wage. On top of that, I'm very glad that I'm not just taking a 'trip' here. Instead of being here to do stuff and sightsee I actually feel a lot of pressure to do more than just 'experience' new things. I feel pressure not just to live, but to live in a way that is almost completely new to me. But, then again...right now it's hard to say what I think. It's not hard to forget that this is just day one...only five hours into day one. But even in that short time I already feel like I've fulfilled a dream. Because of that, I really need to give thanks to today. I need to thank the short walk I took for reminding me of the importance of a single hour...just one single hour of walking to clear my mind and realign my thoughts.


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It took that long to just recap a bit of writing from day one....woops

Updates are coming

I still don't have Internet at home...which isn't an excuse for not updating.

But, I am at war with some fruit flies...many fruit flies. Just today I figured out their game. They hatch from yellow-melons in my fridge. Then, being cold, they play dead near the door. When I open the door and feel disgust at the pile of insects at the bottom of the fridge I use my dust-buster to suck them up. They then pull off an escape more great than anything Steve McQueen was ever a part of, breed in my garbage, and then hatch to annoy the crap out of me.

Otherwise...life is good. It's just far too easy to spend money on food here. It's not very expensive to eat out but it's 1000 times more convenient than back home. Something I certainly need to get under control.

Some others...mostly raw

August 12th/08

Training.......Training



August 19th/08

Well, training is over and work has started. Each day passes like syrup. This makes me happy. Exhausted, I have trouble recalling the details of the past week. So much happened in so few days that it's almost impossible to sort through all the details at once.

I knew it would happen, just today I hit the language barrier...hard. In the late morning I tried to register the cell phone at one of the local stores. I'm pretty sure that the clerk didn't fully understand my request. But...if his refusal was honest, I'm now the proud owner of a 45000 won dictionary and camera! How keen.

So anyways...last night as I sat watching the Simpson's(in English) I wondered to myself if it had actually set in that I was in a different country. With everything being so Westernised here it often feels like I'm in some ethnic neighbourhood in Canada. Many of the cars are the same, the stuff for sale is similar, and the feel isn't that much different. Then again...I do feel incredibly isolated, even insulated, when I'm walking through the streets. Unable to speak with basically everyone is a strange but sometimes comforting feeling. I'm very much the outsider here, a mere visitor even. Tough oddly enough, I'm okay with that. Despite the isolation, I've been living more or less as I want to live. I think any misgivings at this point in time simply come from being overwhelmed. I know I'll get through it...I just need to keep smiling.

There was some old mail in my mail slot today. My apparent address is very long and very Korean. I'll do what I can do anglicise it and send it to those who need it...

I've got a lot of work to do....clearing the backlog of entries will have to wait...



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Still busy up until today. Writing the backlog along with the new stuff is difficult...so...enjoy these relics instead!