Yogurt Drinks and Ajuma Fashion Tips

Reason #73 Korea is awesome: No need for a gym membership

Everywhere you go here there are parks with exercise equipment in them. Some of it is quite silly; contraptions where you kind of just swing from side to side, or stand on a platform and twist. But they also have bench presses and bars for doing pull ups, dips etc. With a little creativity you can get a great workout. And all while being outside in the beautiful sunshine.

So I'm in the park today at one of these little fitness areas, getting after it Korean style. A grandfather has his two grand kids, a girl and a boy, maybe 3 and 5 years old, with him playing in the park. They were fascinated by my strange machinations and came in for a closer inspection. There I'd be, straining for one last sit up, when what should appear? A smiling tiny face and shiny black hair! The little boy would literally get inches from me and make a silly face and in keeping with decorum I would of course make one back. It really made my workout a lot more fun and kept me from taking myself too seriously.

Then out of nowhere the little boy brought me one of the tiny little yogurt drinks they have over here, handed it to me and bowed and ran off giggling. He even included a tiny straw! My heart just about melted. I've worked out in plenty of parks back home, and never had a random child bring me a refreshing beverage before.

So that was pretty cool.

Reason #112 that Korea is awesome: mingling with the locals

A little while back I was in the market for a new sweater. It was chilly, and it's been about 12 years since I bought any new clothing, so yeah, it was time. I headed to Home Plus, sort of like Walmart over here. Pretty quickly I spot it, a hip green number, all fleecy and zippy just like the kids are wearing these days. They had my size in 2 colors: moss green and dark gray. I can't find anyone to let me into the changing room, so I just start trying them on in the middle of the store. I think I like the green, but the dark gray may be better in the long run as it would hide stains better (I'm a messy and voracious eater OK?). I'm going back and forth here more than Federer and Nadal, unable to make a decision.

After a few minutes of this, an ajuma (middle aged/old woman, all of whom have the same sort of short perm for some strange reason) approaches me, motioning to put the green one back on. She looks me over thoughtfully, then gives the universal hand motion for, "now try on the other one." Another captive look. Then, pointing to green " yong." Then gray, "ajushi (the male counterpart to the ajuma). It took me a couple minutes, but I finally figured out she was telling me the green was young and hip, while I looked like an old man in the gray. So there I was, getting fashion tips from an ajuma. Now, if you've ever seen how most ajumas dress, you know that may not be a good thing, but you still gotta love it.

Needless to say, I went with the green.

These are just two small examples of what makes living here so amusing. I'm not sure what the future holds, but as I outlined in earlier posts, this really is a great place to let God work on me while I work on myself. I don't plan on staying forever, but when the time comes it's gonna be hard to leave. I've got a ton of friends and am becoming heavily involved in the community. Combine that with good health care, money in the bank, random Asian amusement and child provided yogurt drinks, I think you can see why....

Korea, a great place to get your *&^% together....

Sometimes you get what you want. Sometimes you get what you want, leave it in the backseat of your car and forget about it, think you lost it, then find it six months later, only to realize it's only gotten better with age and you never would have really used and appreciated it at the time you got it in the first place.

What's my point?

Coming to Korea six and a half months ago, I had two main goals:

1. To save money and get out of debt
2. (Most important) To finally be so far out of my comfort and security zone that I would be forced to learn what it means to be a man

No sooner had my plane landed however, that a vortex of incredible energy enveloped me. I was consumed by the veritable cornucopia of activity and excitement that is Seoul, South Korea, and six months passed in the stuttering blink of two blue eyes.

Then about a month ago, and for no identifiable reason, I woke up. After hitting the snooze button several time, I fixed breakfast, scratched my belly, and looked at my life. Against all odds, I liked what I saw.

Without even meaning to, I had hit my stride. Maybe it was the volunteer work I started doing. It could have been the strenuous exercise I started putting my body through. It may be the time spent in prayer with God. My money's on C: all of the above.

All that time, I thought I was putting off my goal of learning what it means to be a man. Turns out I was neck deep in it the whole time.

Now, I'm not saying I've become the man I want to be. Far from it. And Lord knows there's much work to be done in all areas of my life. All I know is that here I am, exactly where I need to be, being prepared for a purpose, getting ready for my big date with destiny.

You see, I'm filled with passion. God blessed me with a soul on fire. A soul that yearns to give, to grow and stretch itself, to bring joy and love and good things into the world. To make an impact that ripples through eternity.

As of publication however, I don't have a clue how the heck that's gonna happen. Schucks, I can hardly get prepubescent Korean kids to listen to me consistently while I teach them the difference between right and write, how am I supposed to impact the world?

The answer?

I'm not supposed to.

Not yet.

I'm not ready. To paraphrase an incredible mentor of mine, I'm like a five year old who wants a Ferrari. Sure it sounds cool, but if I got one, I'd immediately crash it into the nearest ice cream truck, and, best case scenario, spend the rest of my life with chronic injuries, debilitating pain and horrific scarring. And what good would I be to the world then?

So here I am. In Korea. Being prepared. Learning to drive a Ferrari by starting with what's in front of me: a Batman Big Wheels. And you know what? Big Wheels are pretty sweet. And a Batman Big Wheels? Shoot, I'm totally over blessed on that one. I deserve a Barbie one that has all my friends making fun of me and crying for mommy.

To put it another way, I'm like Rocky in Rocky IV when he goes to Russia to train and fight Drago. He's out of his comfort zone, he's forced away from his family to train and become hardened by the Siberian winter. If he fought that big Russian monster right away, he'd get killed just like Apollo. But he puts in the work and prevails in the end (If you're wondering, I'd say I'm about six months, maybe a year, until the scene where he climbs the mountain, thrusts his hands in the air and screams, and about 3 years until, "If I can change, and you can change, everybody can change").

But I digress. I want to make the point that it's so funny and incredible how God works.

Back in the states I owned and operated my own business. Great business plan and model, completely proven, this thing worked and still does. I worked my tush off. I had a great attitude. I did everything a business owner is supposed to do. And then I did more. I did everything right. I should have been a huge success.

Nope. Abject failure.

So I fell back on my trade: cooking. I worked at some of the finest restaurants in San Diego and tried to convince myself I wanted to become a chef. Why not? I love to cook, I've been doing it since I was four. I'm fascinated by all things food, from how it's grown to how our bodies process it and turn it into energy. As a chef there's no staring at a computer screen all day, no talking on the phone. No sales calls. No suits.

Just action, immediacy and adrenaline. Great food and wine. And let's not forget the steady stream of college-aged cocktail waitresses who just love a man who can cook and looks good in his whites.

I tried and tried to sell myself on becoming a chef.

Turns out I'm a terrible salesman. Sure the good is good, but the downside is huge: ridiculous hours, terrible pay till you make it big, insane rates of burnout, alcoholism and drug abuse.

I couldn't lie to myself anymore. I was miserable. So I looked for other options, a way out. And suddenly there it was: Korea.

"Come to Korea to teach English. No experience or certification necessary, just a BA in any subject. Save money. Travel."

Done, done and done. Where do I sign?

As always happens when God is moving you, everything went smoothly. My belongings were sold easily and for a good price. I was given a good job in the exact area of Korea I wanted to be. Everything felt right and good.

And now here I am. Riding my Big Wheels (copyright Mattel. Not to be combined with other promotions. One per household). Learning to drive that Ferrari. Living. Laughing. Loving.

Thank you Korea for bringing me here. Thank you God.

Great day...

...it's been really cold and overcast lately and I've basically been hibernating in my apartment lately. Today however, was a bit warmer and sunny with not a cloud in the sky so I had to take advantage. My friend Nikita and I went to a place I've been wanting to check out for awhile, the Anyang Art Park.

Wow! Very cool place. I thought it was going to be a lot of statues and whatnot, but most of the art there was of the type you can climb all over and play on. There were also some statues, very cool ones.

I didn't get a picture, but there was also, well, basically a large hamster wheel for the kids to play on, which of course I had to try. Quite easy, until you want to stop that is.

The highlight was the K-grolyphics. The pictures are the only way they can be described.

I can't wait to come back in the summer for a picnic!

The coolest thing that happened this week.....so far...

In the subway station in Seoul, South American live music group with matching red ponchos, playing their homemade flutes and drums.

Old Korean man comes up and gives me a high five. We talk. He's a nuclear physicist or some such thing, they start playing La Bamba.

It's been awhile...

...since I last posted. So here goes...

I went to Cambodia for 11 days over winter break. WOW! An amazing country, do visit should you ever get the chance. I got the feeling that right now, Cambodia is where Thailand was maybe 15-20 years ago, before hordes of backpackers descended and scams ruled the land. The people are just so warm and friendly and genuinely interested in you.

I could go on and on for pages telling tales from my trip, so instead I'll just do a stream of conciousness kind of recap: Angkor Wat sunrise and sunset, monkeys!, watch yer head sir, naps in hammocks, bamboo train, dancing to Bob Marley in the streets on Christmas day, Yaris the Slovenian beekeeper Snake Eyes and Peter Rabbit, adopted by monks, rural volleyball, joyful poverty, the probably corrupt gentleman and $250,000 in counterfeit bills, you want boom boom?, New Years Eve on a tropical island with the full-moon and far too many Europeans which was a good thing and swimming under said full moon, speaking Korean with Khmers, Oh my god!, Mike's stomachache, way too many bus rides, amazing food, same same but different now you buy!, beautiful people, I remember you!, and a tuk tuk ride to the airport fit for a king.

Cambodia really affected me. Just seeing the poverty and corruption really makes me want to use my life to do something good for other people. I feel so lucky to be able to teach in Korea and save up all this money. It will allow me to go and volunteer for a year or so at some point in order to get the experience I need to go and work with an NGO or some organization that makes a difference in the lives of others. At the same time, God gave me this life to enjoy, and I aim to do just that.

After my first year here, I'll be debt free with a good chunk of change in the bank. I'll head home for a couple of months of family time and then back here to Korea, this time working in a Hagwon. With overtime and some privates, and of course being as cheap as I am, I'll be able to put away about 25k. I'll put away 15k of it, and take the other 10k and move to some ski town, probably in Montana or Wyoming, and just be a ski bum for a season. Then maybe down to New Zealand for some WWOOFing, then back to Korea. Another 25k in the bank, then travel for a solid 8 months to a year. I'll keep alternating teaching in Korea with travel and selfish adventure until I'm about 35, then hopefully I'll have a better idea of what I want to do when I grow up.

If not, I figure the worse case scenario is just keep teaching and putting money away, and then retire to some cheap developing nation and live out my days volunteering and napping in hammocks while drinking rum drinks out of coconuts. Unless of course, something completely different comes up, which, knowing me, almost certainly will...

I don't want one 'career' for the rest of my life. In the end, I want my resume to read like the notes of a crackhead guidance counselor: cook, businessman, teacher, farmer, cowboy, photographer, author, gentleman of leisure, humanitarian, philanthropist, fisherman, ski instructor, and so on and so forth...

The Subway: A love/hate relationship...

...it's a part of my daily existence. It takes me to work M-F. It gets me anywhere in Seoul for a dollar or two. It's pretty amazing to think about the massive undertaking that went into building it. Some of the coolest and strangest things I've seen in Korea have been on the subway.

The other day I got on and something was different. I couldn't quite place my finger on it at first. Same people sleeping, heads tilted back, nose hair on full display. Same grandma's texting while businessmen watched last night's baseball game on their phones. Then I realized it was the sweet sound of music caressing my eardrums that had completely changed the atmosphere. It was the classical gospel hymn, 'Amazing Grace'

I looked around. Where was it coming from? Then I saw him: a little old blind man carrying a speaker and basket of change, begging for alms. Genius. 'Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost, but not am found, was blind but now I see.'Beautiful synchronisity. How could I resist giving him 1000 won not (about a dollar)? I couldn't.

So the amusement and convenience factor are what I love about the subway. The hate part? It's really not that fast. At least 45 minutes to an hour to get into Seoul, generally standing up the whole time. People pushing and shoving to get on and off. The fact that it stops running at 11:30pm, 11pm on the weekends. Wanna go party in Seoul Saturday night? Be prepared to stay up till 5:30am when it starts running again, or be lame and go home at 10:30. I'd like to be going into Seoul more on the weekends to explore, but the thought of standing on a crowded subway for an hour or more honestly deters me. Best get over it though, too much to do and see here to let that deter me.

Supposedly the buses are actually much quicker to get into Seoul, the problem is that there is no English website that has the routes and times, while the subway is easily navigated through the English signs in the terminals and an English language website.

On the whole however, amusement and cheap transportation wins out and I love the subway more than hate it.

I'd be lying if I didn't admit it was close however.

Medical Update

Went to the Dr. again today to have him look at my ear. While the infection isn't totally gone it feels much much better and the eardrops and medication are working well. He told me to come back again Monday if it's not all better.

Instead of it being 3500 won.......it was 2500, or about $2. Oh, and this time there was no wait and the receptionist even remembered my name.

This place just keeps getting better and better.