The River Runs Through It

The Taehwa river is the main river that runs through Ulsan. The river is a smaller one because the whole course is contained within the city limits of Ulsan. Being the main water source for the city, the rivers cleanliness is very important to the city. Im not sure where the sources is and Wiki doesnt really have information. But whatever the source is, it must be large because the river only drains a small area of land (250,000 acres). In comparison, the Mississippi drains 1,171,200,000 acres.

(Let) The Liquor do the Thinking

I was complaining the other day about Soju, the most horrible liquor ever invented, when James told me there was an Imported Liquor store near my house. Of course, it would be near my house. James also told me that you "pay through the nose" for liquor there. I was expecting to pay a good 80,000W or so but instead I picked up a fifth of Jim Beam 8 year for 44,000W. I know its a little expensive but its definitely worth not having the hang over. As I have said earlier in my blog, Soju is some sort of rice vodka with many different flavors kinda like sake in Japan. Soju is dangerous. Most nights of the I can see many wasted Koreans walking by my house at all hours of the night. Soju isnt horrible going down but the next morning you cant move. It is also one of those liquors that keeps that horrible flavor in your mouth the whole next day. No amount of coffee will rinse it out. Needless to say, I am savoring this small taste of home by rationing it off very slowly.

The Long Weekend

This weekend is Korean Thanksgiving (Chuseok). What this actually means is that I have friday and possibly monday off work. I am going up to Seoul to visit one of the guys I met on my way over here, Alan. He also has a blog and has done some interesting things. I hope to get swept up in some adventure this weekend.

The Sugar Drink

Coca-Cola in the United States is sweetened with high fructose corn syrup. Why? Sweetening with cheap sweeteners raises Cokes bottom line. Here in Korea like many other countries, Coke is make with sugar, you can really taste the difference.

The Language

English is a difficult language to learn for a hundred reasons and Koreans have a specific struggles on learning it. 1) Korean is a very literal language so as a result the use of idioms goes way over their head. 2) Korean word structure is comprised of syllables which all contain either a consonant, vowel or a consonant, vowel, consonant. This sounds easy enough but if you think about english, most words have two or more consonants in a row. How do Koreans express this? by adding a more syllables. Like the picture above, a store sign for Hi Mart. It reads Ha-I Ma-Te. It isnt really close to the English pronunciation. Letters? 14 consonants and 10 vowels. Its simple enough to learn to read and write them. The consonants are... ㄱ (g) ㄴ(n) ㄷ(d) ㄹ(r/l) ㅁ(m) ㅂ(p/b) ㅅ(s) ㅇ(place holder) ㅈ(j) ㅊ(ch) ㅋ(k) ㅌ(t) ㅍ(p) ㅎ(h) and the vowels are... ㅏ(a) ㅑ(ya) ㅓ(e0) ㅕ(yeo) ㅗ(o) ㅛ(yo) ㅜ(u) ㅠ(yu) ㅣ(i) ㅡ (eu). Easy. I learned the alphabet from this website which has many videos in a playlist on youtube.

The Bone Stew

After work the other day, as a treat, Michael was in the mood for "bone stew". He took me to a restaurant near my house and ordered up a round of bone stew. He thought it was extremely spicy but I didnt think it was so bad. Every time I go out with Michael he gives me a history lesson about Korea. Koreans do not waste any part of the animal including the bones. He said it comes out of the Korean war and early immigration. Before the Korean war and directly following it, Korea was a very poor country. Many people immigrated to the United States with little or now money so as a result they were "scavengers for food". Americans do not value animal bones and often grind them up and use them as cattle feed. In Korea bones are prized and as I found for Sagwa, bones are expensive. Restaurants will but many bones and boil them in a large pot for 24 hours. This results in a white, protein rich broth. Spices, blood sausage and vegetables are added to make a tasty stew. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

The School Zone

I live in Samsandong. Dong means District. My school, St. Pauls, is in Okdong. Its a short 10 or 15 minute bus drive away from my home. Okdong is Hogwan row. There are many big Hogwans near St. Pauls. They have American names like Kate LA, Gate, English Learning Center. There are also many other types of Hogwans around us that arent just English Hogwans. They teach math and music mainly. At night when I walk to the bus I can hear the most soothing classical music.

The Golfer

I asked my tour guide, Michael, what these huge green nets are on day. He told me they are driving ranges. Wow! there is one on every corner. Golf is very big in South Korea. The population used to not have as much leisure money but these days with the booming economy, South Koreans have extra money for things like golf. This is big news. It should not a surprise that a Korean man, Y.E. Yang, just won the US PGA open. I watched an interview with him and he said that he started playing golf in high school and had very few chances to play golf on a real golf course. He is a great inspiration here in Korea.

The Pit Stop

Koreans have a funny little snack they call toast. Its pretty much a breakfast sandwich made to order. They come will all sorts of toppings but the ones that seem most popular are egg, bacon, and lettuce. They cost you a cheap 1,800W. This Toastory (literally To-Se-To-Ri) is right around the corner from my school so we usually send Bryan there to pick up our lunch.

The Wedding Dress

This is a photograph of traditional Korean wedding dresses. They look like something straight out of a movie. I wanted to get one made so I asked Christy how much they cost. She said typical price would be around 1,500,000W. No thanks, Ill just look at them through the window.

The Bank Book

The first few days I was here Michael took me to get a number of things like a cellphone and a bank account. This is a picture of my bank account "passport" as Michael called it. Its a little book thats kinda like a check book but you dont write in it. When you go to the ATM you can either use a normal ATM card which is a new addition to Korean banking or you can use the bank passport. You slide the passport into the ATM and it prints the transaction on the booklet. So, I guess its like having a checkbook in the sense that you know how much money you have. Except that this thing is never wrong.

The Alien

On Monday morning, Michael took me to the Office of Foreign Affairs so I could register as a resident alien. I had to get a health check which was a urine and blood test and a physical. They just want to make sure they arent importing disease carriers. I passed with flying carpets. So... back to Monday. I took my passport, medical test and 10,000W along with Michael down to the Office of Foreign Affairs. Every teacher must go through this process. You fill out some form, honestly I have no idea what any of it said but I put down my address, phone number and passport number. Yesterday, Michael gave me my Certificate of Alien Registration. I thought it was going to be a large piece of paper but instead its a small "drivers license-like" card with my picture and some Korean things.

The Service Country

Korea is a very service oriented country. Uncle Mark was explaining it to me alittle before I left. For instance, in the United States if your TV broke you would toss it and buy a new one because most likely the cost of getting your TV fixed is more then a new one. Korea is the exact opposite. There are many repair shops and they make house calls, usually same day. They are very reliable in Korea, even on Saturday and Sunday. Restaurants deliver. Grocery stores deliver. Another example is garlic. Garlic is a great spice but its such a pain to peel it and everything. Here in Korea, the garlic come pre-peeled. You can see the price on the bag, 3,000W ($2.50) for 1/4lb of peeled garlic. I use more garlic more often.

The Bus Stop

At the bus stop there are these lighted signs that tell you alot if you know Korean, but some useful things if you can read numbers. All the three digit numbers on the sign are the bus numbers. There are other numbers that pop-up from time to time, from what I can gather they either tell you how many kilometers the bus away from that station or how many minutes the bus is away the station. If anyone is planning on visiting or traveling to Ulsan I would recommend to them to check out the website UlsanOnline.com. This website has all the bus routes and times laid out in English. The bus is great, it sucks a little because you have to walk more but you cannot beat the price. A 2km taxi ride cost you about 3,000W but the bus will take you anywhere for only 950W. Another bonus to the bus is the bus transfer system. In Korea if you have a public transportation card, first, you can use that card in any city in Korea but also, you receive free transfers within an hour of leaving the first bus. When you get on the bus, an RFID chip in the card scans you on the bus and charges you against your balance that you have on the card, then when you get off the bus it automatically gives you a free transfer an hour from that time. This allows you to take the bus to the store and then take it back home for free. I only use a taxi after the buses quit running.

The Pebble Beach

The other day Michael took me to Jejong beach. He told me it was the best beach in the area. I have no idea what he thinks is a good beach but this one is not the best beach I have seen. I think the Caribbean has the best beaches I have seen yet. The ones with clean white sand and blue water. Jejong beach has black pebbles instead and Michael told me that it was unswimable because the surf is usually too high. I see no redeemable qualities about this beach except for the fact that its close to the fish market.

The Good B(o/u)y

Some might doubt my ability to make fiscally sound decisions these days and I admit to not being super responsible with money but I think Sagwa is one of the best purchases I have made. He is super cute and playful. Judge for yourself. Michael went with me today to get him and all the stuff that goes along with getting a dog. I got a few free things because of Michael's businessman like approach to everything. I havent heard him bark once and he is already literbox trained. Literboxes for dogs are common place here in Korea with the lack of yard space in apartment complexes.

The Olde Towne (Shinae)

Like every other big city, Ulsan as an old down town where many people like to shop. Ulsan's old town is called Shinae. I have been there a few times at night and a few times during the day. Its seems to be a great place to go. There are many shops, bars and restaurants in Old Town. Its a cheap 3000W taxi ride from my house to Shinae so its not out of the question for a few drinks with friends. The first bar I went to in Ulsan where I met some foreigners was in Shinae. Its name is Benchwarmers, the typical sports bar. Its a small taste of home and one of the few places that serves real liquor. But the part like the most about Shine is I even Sagwa there.

The Pedigree

The dog search is over. This is "Top of the White Apple Village". Im not sure what to call him but I am looking, I am thinking 사과 or Sa-Gwa which means "apple". He cost me 1 million won or around a thousand dollars. He is a pure bred long haired chihuahua with an impressive pedigree. His lineage has been show dogs for generations. I found him at a puppy store but the owner assures me he is not from a puppy mill. I trust him because Sagwa was not there when I first went to the store but at someones house. I suspect that he knows a guy who is a breeder. I didnt bring him home today because I am not ready to have him at my house yet. I have been trying to think how to make it puppy proof. I have also read that Chihuahuas are very smart and even manipulative according to the AKC. I am excited and scared to see what changes will happen in my life now that I must care for another living thing.

The Market

Today after pet shopping with Bryan, Michael took me to a near by beach to have sashimi. We went down by the docks to a fish market. The place is full of buckets and bins with life fish in them. You can buy anything that is in the sea there. I saw octopus, squid, all sorts of fish big and small, and my favorite, "sea penis". You walk through the fish mall and pick out your fish or whatever. Then, they take your fish and clean it and chop it up. Right behind the fish mall there are several restaurants. The cut up fish is delivered to the restaurant where you also get many side dishes including, "rest of fish" soup, for a small fee. The rest of fish soup is the head and tail that they boil in spicy sauce. No part goes to waste. The last picture (bottom right) is of Michaels family. He is very proud of them. The picture is of Michael, Christy (his wife), Jenny (two years old) and Bryan (eight years old). In the foreground of the picture you can see the plate of raw fish.

The WA Bar

The "westerner" bars in Ulsan are called WA Bars. I say that because every time I have been, 3 or 4 times, there have not been any westerners in there. WA stands for western ice, Western A-I-Se (아이스). I was confused when I first heard about it and thought I was missing out on some great place, the WI Bar but soon learned that ice is spelled with an "a". The bars claim to be western style but I have never seen this sort of bar in my travels to Europe or in the United States. At most tables they have a large trough filled with ice and many drinks in it. You are supposed to serve yourself, just reach in the trough and grab your own. The bartenders keep track of it somewhere else. The WA Bars also serve these 1 meter tall cylinders of beer that looks pretty interesting, but I have yet to have one. Maybe if they had good beer here I would be more inclined to drink that much.

The Cheap Stuff

What do Americans call really really cheap liquor? Hooch. What do Koreans call girly drinks that are supposed to taste great? Hooch Ice. Yeah, this is Koreas response to Smirnoff Ice although I highly doubt it comes even close. This particular flavor Ben ordered was orange. It was gross. Oh well, Ben didnt drink in the United States so he is all the merrier to drink something that taste like how a public bathroom smells.

The Yellow Brick Road

So, I thought that the sidewalk was just decorated pretty and I said something about how I like the tricolor path. Koreans do not like to obey any sort of traffic rules but the green is supposed to be the walking side and the red is supposed to be the bike side. What is the yellow stripe for? Well, Koreans take care of their blind citizens. The yellow bricks, as you can see, are raised. This is for blind people so they can follow the safest part of the sidewalk, the middle. There are yellow bricks everywhere. They line the edge of the sidewalk and adorn the entrance and exit to crosswalks at every intersection. Not that being blind is fun, but this sort of thing sure would make it easier for the blind to assimilate into normal society.

The Octopus

James took us out to eat tonight because its Bens last night in Ulsan. Tomorrow morning he leaves for Sacheon to teach there. James told me about this great dish called Sam Nagji. Its pretty much explained in the video but Ill help you out. Its live octopus but they chop off the tentacles. Its kinda like eating calamari but the little twist is because the nerves are still fresh in the tentacles so its still moving around and sticking to things with its suckers. We thought Ben would like this little experience before he left so James took us to a place he knew where we could get it. I have to say, its a very tasty dish once you get past the whole... moving around thing. Ben had two bites and as you can see, he didnt like it much.

The Flag

I took a bit of artistic license when I made my rendition of the korean flag but deal. I honestly havent seen many flags flying around the city. Michael told me that during a dictatorship 20 years ago the government mandated that every building have a flag on it to promote nationalism. I guess, after being forced to have a flag up they dont want to do it anymore. So what does it stand for? The blue part of the ying-yang stand for the earth and the red stands for the heavens. They are in perfect harmony, the earth and the sky. In the upper left hand corner is a trigram called "geon", it stand for metal. In the lower left hand corner is "ri", which stands for fire. The upper right hand corner stands for "gam", or water and the lower right hand corner, "gon", stands for earth. I think it is pretty true to form, conveying Koreas traditional culture. Every day at five oclock I hear the Korean national anthem as they lower the flag at a military installation near my school. Its pretty cool.

The Grocery Store

Going shopping in Ulsan is a little different then in the United States. The shopping carts are not normal. They steer from all four wheels and could go sideways if you wanted. Like ALDIs grocery store you have to put a coin in the cart to remove it from the group of carts. Also, as you can tell from the picture, they have escalators that take you to all the levels of the store. Think its dangerous to have a cart on an escalator? They carts have brakes as well to stop them from rolling down the escalator. Most shoppers are just as bad at cart driving as they are at driving a car. I guess I just need to be more aggressive in my cart driving at the grocery store.

The Pavlov

As you may already know, I am searching for a pet here in Ulsan. I want to get a dog of some type to be my companion. It would be a great learning experience on how to be trained by an animal and patience among other things. Well, I was in E-mart this afternoon and went to the pet section to see how much dog food and treats cost. They are cheap but they have some other interesting things in that section as well. For instance, they have duck jerky as a dog treat. I was parousing around and saw this creature in its cage. If you cant settle on a fish or dog (they do not like cats as in Korean tradition they are the bringers of bad luck) you can get a beetle. In a glass case as an advertisement they show the larva and the mature beetle. There were also some live ones. Very interesting.

The Konglish

Michael asked me the first few days I was here to try and think of the best way to learn English. I pondered over it, thinking it was some sort of exercise to see if I could be creative or something but it wasnt. The answer is simple, go to an english speaking country. Get full immersion in the language. That is what Michael is trying to recreate in our school. A place where you come to only speak English. Just like we have a word for bad spanish english-spanglish, Koreans have a word for bad Korean-English speakers, Konglish. So why the picture you ask? Well this is one of hundreds of examples that I see around me every day. At the top of the advertisement for fried chicken you can see it says in English, "Womans Style". It has to be a misnomer. I can only assume they are trying to say, "Home cooked" or "Country style" or something to that affect.

The Hibachi Grill

There are all sorts of Korean BBQ places all over the place. These places are quiet fun to go to. They have this little table that you can see pictured above and a cooker/griller in the middle. They bring you out a plate and all sorts plates of things. Two orders of pork was 14,000 won (12 bucks) and beer was only 3,000 won (2 bucks). There was some sort of confusion about the bill, we paid 7,000 won extra for some reason. I think it may have been a table fee or side order fee or something. Of course Ben thought they were robbing us. Yeah... Robbing us of 5 bucks? Not even worth it. Still we had a ton of food for the 30,000 won that we paid. While I was there I struck up a on conversation with some guys sitting at a table next to us. They were fun loving and all around 30 years old and engineers for Hyundai. Ben, right on que, did not want to sit at their table but instead sat at our table all alone. I coaxed him over for a minute. The guys were all really nice, Sung Beum is the guy in the red shirt. He gave me his number and told me to call him when I go out again. They were toasting our new found friendship, Ben refused to toast because "Im not drinking tonight". Oh well, I had fun trying their food and drinking their drinks.

The Replacement

James is the replacement teacher for Ben. I like James alot, he is very knowledgeable about all of Korea. He should be! This is his 5th tour of teaching English in Korea. He is a Canadian native from Toronto Ontario. He has greatly boosted my confidence because he is very confident about teaching the class. Teaching these kids is truly easy. All that is required is the ability to talk. James is very well adjusted to Korean life here in Ulsan, he has a Korean girlfriend, a car and knows a fair amount of the language. Sad thing though, his Visa is messed up so he has to travel back to his "Country of Origin", Canada to get his Visa reissued. That really sucks for him. Its a 5 hour train ride to Seoul, a 14 hour plane ride to Toronto and just the same back. Wow, what a weekend.

The Mixed Blessing

Ben has gotten another job with Michaels help. I am glad for Ben, he needs to travel more away from Shippensburg. The town that Ben is transferring to is called Sacheon. According to Michael, this town is in the middle of no where, he called it a village. I guess Ben didnt understand Michael because for some reason he thinks its going to be a small and more like his home town. What I think Michael meant was, "Ben, your going to be the only person who speaks english in Sacheon." I think I am pretty accepting of other people but certain groups of people get on my nerves, naive people top that list. There is also something to be said about people who admit their naivety and make an effort to learn more about a topic. Ben has been a little on my nerves recently simply because he believes he is an expert on how other people ought to be living. He is having a hard time adjusting to the Korean lifestyle, which I think is the U.S. lifestyle plus Korean language. Sure the food is a little spicy and not everywhere serves hamburgers but that is not an invitation to criticize a complex culture. I guess I am just frustrated because I can see Ben leaving Korea with a bad taste in his mouth for the rest of the world. He reminds me of those people you met that say things like, "Yeah, those people didnt know what they were doing" or "I went there once, they are a really backwards people". I understand that people do things differently in different places and that South Korea is not a state in the United States. I have been trying to impress this fact on Ben but he is reluctant to accept that we are on the exact opposite side of the world. I wonder if he did any research before he got on that plane?

The Locale

Well this is where I am living. Its a very short walk (1 or 2 blocks) to most restaurants or bars. There are a few small grocery stores right around the corner also. Lotte hotel is the tallest hotel in Ulsan and is the landmark for my area called Samsandong. Everyone knows Samsandong because its the most fun place to go. Its full of nightlife and places to eat. In the Lotte department store is all sorts of American things like the Clinique counter and Banana Republic. There is also a movie theater in the department store. The hotel, department store and ferris wheel are all one complex with an cute courtyard. If you were to walk five or six miles down the main street in Ulsan you would arrive at my school, but its a super long walk so I usually take the bus.