The Devil drinks Soju

There's a little green bottle in Korea that can be found at every corner store in the country. The contents of said bottle can only be described as "lethality". The locals call the liquid "Soju" and let me tell you; Koreans simply love the stuff! With good reason too, it is cheap (a buck a bottle) and it'll get you drunk. Oh, there is just one or two problems with the elixir. The first problem that one might encounter when imbibing Soju is its good to suck ratio. If one enjoys driniking gasoline, then I assume one would truly enjoy the taste of Soju. I have described it as a "Retarded Vodka", but only because I am not sure what my ass tastes like and cannot therefore make that comparison. The second problem with Soju is that it has a nagging habit of giving you the worst hangover you've ever had in your life. I'm talking nasty nightmares, DADS (Day after drinking Shits), and the propensity to lay in one's bed until nightfall the next day.

So why am I telling you this. Simply put, I got my ass kicked by the Soju on Friday night after poker. A bunch of us decided to go hit the Norey-Bang (Karaoke) after poker and we dipped into the soju at about 2:30 in the morning. Long story short, we stayed up until 8 in the morning talking about god-knows-what. I didn't wake up until 5pm and still I was exhausted. My body hurt, my stomach hurt, my mind hurt, and I daresay my pride was a little hurt. I mean, this Soju guy literally beat me down like a red-headed stepchild. Ok you won this round Soju, but next time I'll be wiser, a more seasoned veteran, and I will have done my homework on your signature moves.

I guess the main bullet point of this presentation is this: if you come to Korea and you think that 1 dollar for a bottle of booze is a good deal, remember that unless you want to flirt with death you should probably stay away from anything that comes in a green botle.

Soju 1 Roonnie 0

The Professional

Something that happened today mad me realize that I've written about every aspect of my life here in Korea except for the one that actually brought me here. You see, my school had a field trip day and I had such a good time with my students that I realized that they don't get nearly the press that they deserve. Therefore, this entry is dedicated to Ron the Teacher, who works day in and day out to make sure that tiny little Korean people learn how to say "can I go to the bathroom"?

Here is what you need to know about my teaching job here in Cheonan: I work from 10am until 2:30pm teaching a Kindergarten class of 9 students. These kids are about 6 years old and as cute as sin. They are the main focus of my Haekwon (private school) and their parents pay mucho Won to have them there. Then from 3pm until 6pm I teach students anywhere from 8 years old to 13 years old. They are really cool too but I don't spend nearly as much time with them as I do my Kindergarteners.

So, what made me realize that I need to share with you about my teaching life is this field trip we took today. We went to a park just outside of town that had an exhibit on dinosaurs going on. That's not the important part though. What is important is that after the exhibit, we had some free time for about 15 minutes to just run around in the park and get crazy. And get crazy we did! I spend so much time teaching these kids that it took a crazy run around to make me realize that I really care about my kids. I just wanted to make sure that every kid had the time of their life just running around and getting crazy. After our game of "Chase the Teacher until he gets toot tired to run anymore so we'll just pile on top of him" we took a group picture and it felt great to see their faces all smiling.

I kind of feel like they're my own children and it kills me to see them hurt or crying ( and boy do they cry). I never saw myself ever teaching little kids, and if you ever asked me before this trip if I evder would I am sure my answer was an emphatic HELL NO! But these kids that I've been brought over here to teach have actually taught me something about myself; I Love Kids! These little Korean wonders may forget me the week after I leave to come back home, but I can guarantee you that I will never forget them. Now if you'll excuse me I think I'm going to go and try to find my machismo,

Ronnie Out

Home Cookin'

I have to be totally honest with you; I LOVE living in Korea. It's not like everyday is a super exciting day with all sorts of amazing adventures, but I have settled into a nice interesting groove here. I have a lot of friends to hang out with, I organize two of the special nights here (pool night and poker night), and I am always busy doing fun stuff.

Having said all that, there is nothing I enjoy more than hearing voices from back home. Last night I got to have a conversation on my cell phone with my friends Jarod and Iris, both of whom I haven't spoken to since I've been here. Being able to talk to them about my life here and listening to what's going on in their lives back home, really made my month.

The foreigners that I've met since I've been here are, by and large, smart interesting people that I truly get along with. But... they are not my friends from back home. There is NO substitute for your friends back home!

So even though I am over the homesickness phase of my adventure, I just want to let everybody know that if you are wondering if I might appreciate a call from you at 4am in the morning, the answer will always be a resounding YES!

Ronnie out!

Letterman #2

Back by popular demand, here it is, the second installation of my Top Ten List. I will try and do one at least once a month on account of their pretty fun. This month's theme: Top Ten Things I Like About Korea.

10. The Landscape- There are mountains everywhere and everything is a lush green.

9. Cheap Food- A Korean meal with side dishes and a beer for 5 bucks, can't beat that!

8. My Apartment- It would be a decent sized apartment in Canada, this sucka's a beast by Korean standards. It also helps that it's a hop, skip, and a stumble away from my favorite bar.

7. My Students- Those little SOBs are really starting to grow on me. They are pretty cool and they make me laugh.

6. The Canadian Contigency- I have met so many cool foreigners since I've been here, but you can always pick a Canadian out of a bunch; they are usually the drunkest and loudest people in the place.

5. The Money- I don't make a ton, but I don't really have any expenses either so I am able to put a small dent in my Student Loans.

4. Busan- I love that place man. I'm going back as many times as possible.

3. The Local Weatherman Status- It's nice getting the Ron Burgundy treatment, even if the Koreans secretly hate me behind my back.

2. Freedom- When I'm not working, I do what I want when I want. If I want to sit around my apartment all day eating Kimchi off my chest and watching a Korean soft porn marathon, I don't feel guilty about it. I can drink on the bus, on the street, and even in a church. Okay, I not sure about that the last one, but I am sure if I did they would just think that it's natural for Canadians to drink in church.

1. Making All Of My Friends Back Home Jealous- It was also my number one reason for coming to Korea.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

Weekend of Good Calls

Good Call #1: The decision to go to Busan for the long weekend was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. I knew that I didn't want to waste 4 days in Cheonan, and I knew that hanging out on the beach near the ocean might be good for the spirit.

Good Call #2: Asking my friend Matt from Daegu to come along for the ride. It turns out that he had gone to Busan the week before and had a terrific lead on a fantastic hotel along the beach.

Good Call #3: Everything else we did on the trip!

We got to Busan at about 4 o'clock in the afternoon and Matt's friends Scott and Arthur told us about the UN War Memorial Cemetary in Busan. So we got to the cemetary at 4:45 pm and the cemetary was closed. What a disappointing start to the trip, we had heard so many good things about this cemetary. Just as we are going to walk away, a security guard walks up and gives us the Ok sign for 10 minutes. It turned out to be the most inspiring 10 minutes of my life. Besides being some of the most breathtaking landscape I've ever seen, there were many beautiful monuments that honoured the many soldiers who gave their lives so that South Korea could be free from opression. Cemetary; Good Call.

After the cemetary we decided to find the motel that Matt stayed in the week before and book our rooms. All the way to the beachside, Matt was playing up how great the rooms in this hotel were. He was understating the sheer awesomeness of the rooms. For 20 bucks each a night, 4 of us shared a room with 2 king sized beds, a 6 foot scrren with a sony high def LCD projector, a shower with 2 shower heads and a jaccuzi/steam room. Oh, and we had sex lights in both the bedroom and the steam room. Jamjalee Hotel: Great Call.

After dinner we decided to grab a couple of beers and head down to the beach. There we met a bunch of foreigners and we just sat and chatted with them as the waves crashed along the beach. We ended up meeting a guy named Denis who has been in Busan for a year and a half, and a girl named Erin who has onlky been in Korea for a week. We ended up spending the whole night until 5 in the morning just drinking beer and hanging out on the beach with Erin as most of the the Koreans on the beach shot off fireworks to celebrate Choo Soek. Drinks on the Beach: Key Call.

We woke up at around 11 am the next morning and decided to go hit the Star Wars Exhibit at the BexCo just a few blocks away from our hotel. Because it was being shown in Korea, we really didn't expect too much. Boy, were we underestimating the power of the force! For 13 bucks we got to see original costumes and set pieces, including the podracers and other various cool flying dealios from the new episodes. Now I am not a huge Star Wars fan, but I truly appreciated the history that was present a that exhibit, right down to the original sun-stained model of the Millenium Falcon. Star Wars Exhibit: Good Call.

After we got backto our hotel room, we decided to go for a little dip in the pond. As we were told by many foreigners that the water was too cold to go in, we didn't know how long we would survive. It turns out that everyone we talked to are just a bunch of pussies. The ocean was warmer than most lakes I've swam in back home. It was so amazing to feel the waves take you 50 feet back towards the shore. After our dip, we were given a free beach ball and we decided to hit it aound a bit. We encountered a problem though as the wind proved too strong to hit it around in a circle. So, like good Canadians we invented a new game that we entitled "WindBall Extreme 2006". We had a chant, proper positions and rotations, and even a scoring system. Basically the game involved us all facing the same direction and hitting the beach ball into the wind and seeing how many times we could hit it before the wind took it away. We got extra points for lay-out dives in the sand. The Koreans were just loving it too, as we noticed in the final set that we had quite a gathering of spectators who were probably wondering why they had never seen this dynamic new game on TV before. The Beach: Sweet Call.

But the invention of new games didn't end there. After supper as we were headed to the club, we discovered a nice courtyard at the Marriot located on the beach. It seemed like it was designed for a game of soccer as it had little concrete benches at either side shaped like little soccer nets. One problem though, all we had was Scott's empty Fanta bottle which looks like one of those old school stubby beers. So we paired off; John and I representing Cheonan vs. Matt and Scott representing Daegu. The competition was fierce, and the play was at an excellent calibre and in the end John and I were able to take the cup 3-1. After the game we were rewarded with the inaugural "Fanta Cup" and we all walked to the club sweating like a bunch of beasts. Fanta Soccer: Glorious Call.

We then went to a little club called U2 which I will forever call U'n'8 or a 9 , on account of every girl in ther being ultimately better looking than any other girls I've seen in Korea thus far. We just sat and enjoyed the scenery for the rest of the night. U2: Beautiful Call.

Today John and I were talking about how much we enjoyed our trip to Busan and that at the beginning of next summer we are going to try and make it down to Busan every other weekend. I hope that we can because for the first time that I have been in Korea, I was totally at peace with being in a country other than Canada.

If anyone would like to see an alternate telling of this tale, you can visit my buddy Matt's blog at www.matthewnorick.blogspot.com. It might just be a Good Call.

Ronnie

Deja Vue

This entry will be a little short anf sweet on account of I am getting ready to take off to Busan (the Beach City) with a few friends. Where am I right now? Well none other than the very same apartment that I was resinding in Daegu for 2 weeks. I was able to convince my buddy Matt (who consequently is the guy who took over for me in Daegu and lives in said apartment) to come to Busan with John and I. So we came to Daegu last night and did up downtown Daegu. It was nice to be back in Daegu and also to see my buddy who i swear I only knew for all of about 6 hours but I swear he's a brother from another mother.

So the deja vue part came when we got back to the apartment in a cab, and we had to walk about half a block to the apartment. All the memories of me having random nights near that apartment came rushing back. Then when we entered the apartment, it almost felt like I was still living there. Even though Daegu was probably the loneliest and most trying time of my life, it is also probably the place where I learnt the most about myself. If nothing else, I will always respect the old girl for that.

So anyways, Matt was able to round up a couple of friends to come with us to Busan. Now we have us a convoy of five to Busan and it should be pretty sweet! I just looked at some pictures of Busan that Matt took when he ran his half marathon there and I am pretty stoked. We will return to our regularly scheduled blog when I return from paradise. Ronnie over and out!

Culture Week

My friend Erin's Mom was in town this past weekend, so we decided to take her to see a little Korean culture in Seoul on Sunday. We went to an ancient palace in the heart of Seoul called Jongmyo. Wow was it ever amazing! It was like being in a forest in the middle of Seoul. There were these amazing ancient buildings and some really lush greenery surrounded by the hustle and bustle of Seoul.

My favorite part of the tour was a little spot that I scoped out where you could see Seoul tower and some other tall buildings over the expanse of the palace grounds. There were other spots too where you could just make out downtown Seoul through the trees or over top of one of the ancient buildings. The only thing that I can compare it to is certain places in the river valley in Edmonton where you can just catch the downtown skyline over top of the trees. It was a delicious fusion of Ancient Korea and the new technologically-advanced Korea.

The tour also made me realize that I am very lucky to have a good job making some good money, all the while having the opportunity to see a totally different way of life with amazing architecture. The last month or so I have gottten caught up in just trying to make friends and getting drunk on the weekends. It was nice to do something educational and influential. This Thursday and Friday just happen to be National Holidays (Choo Seok which is comparable to our Thanksgiving). So my friend Matt in Daegu, my roommate John, and I have decided to take advantage of the long weekend and we are heading down south to Busan for some definite cultural experiences there. Busan is on the Southern tip of the peninsula and is called the "Beach City". It is supposedly very beautiful.

So if I don't blog for a few days or so it is because I am riding some waves in Busan, or just catching some rays chillin' on the beach. Later dudes,

Ronnie Five-O

Culture Week

On Sunday, John and Erin and I went to Seoul to check out an ancient palace called Jongmyo, which is smack dab in the middle of Seoul. Not only was it super cool to feel like we were in a forest in the middle of Seoul, but it made me realize that I am very lucky to have a good job making pretty good money, and a chance to see some things that are totally different from the way things are back home.

This Jongmyo though, WOW! It was right in the heart of Seoul and it was like being in an ancient forest. Although they had to give the buildings a lot of repairs due to natural causes and the wars fought with Japan, the palace and its grounds still have a very natural feel to them. It is just really cool to feel like you are standing in a place where the face of the country was shaped and moulded.

My favorite area of the tour was a spot that I scoped where you could see Seoul tower and other tall buildings over the expanse of the palace grounds. It was an amazing fusion of the beutiful serenity of Ancient Korea and the impressive landscape of a technologically-advanced Korea. I can only relate it to certain spots in the river valley in Edmonton where you can just catch the downtown skyline over some trees.

Anyways, Thursday and Friday are national holidays here (Choo Seok, which is very comparable to Thanksgiving) and John and my buddy Matt from Deagu are going way South to Busan to check out some more Korean culture. Busan is the "Beach City" as it is right on the Southern tip of the peninsula. So, if I don't blog for a few days it is because I am riding the waves or just chillin' out on the beach. Later dudes,

Ronnie Five-O