Racism...

I have briefly discussed racism before on this blog, and noted that I would eventually come back to it.  I feel that this is as important of a subject as it is a touchy one, so I will try to be careful how I word this.  Racism is a very real thing in the world, as everybody knows, but it is very different in the United States than it is here in Korea (and I would imagine most other countries).  The fundamental reason for that difference is Nationalism.  America is a country of immigrants, so we have a very diverse demography, most of which consider themselves American.  In other countries around the world (Korea and Thailand being my only real experiences so far, but others seem to apply), there are immigrants/foreigners/outsiders, and they are clearly that.  The reason is when one Asian person sees another Asian person, they know immediately if they are Japanese, Thai, Korean, etc.  Not only do they recognize that immediately, but to some degree, it matters.

I'm not saying that the racism that I have seen, experienced, or heard about is worse, or terrible.. but it IS very different.  I think it is important to point out that in America, racism is often hidden, because in this day and age it is so looked down upon.  Of course it still exists, but we don't have clan rally's like we used to, we don't have institutionalized slavery, and we do have a Black president.  

(photo from internet)

(I will take this opportunity to point out that the term "Black" is just as politically correct as "African American."  I prefer to use the term Black these days because we don't refer to White people as "European Americans."  I am not racist at all, just a realist.  Because of this I feel comfortable discussing race-related issues, though some other people do seem to feel uncomfortable discussing them.  One of my biggest pet-peeves living in Korea is when an American acquaintance refers to a black South African [for example] as an "African American" by mistake.  They are so afraid of saying "Black," and sounding racist, that they automatically refer to them as African American.)

Anyways.. I digress.  I am happy that racism is beginning to fade away with the times, but as someone who is a certified Social Studies teacher with a particular interest in Sociology and Anthropology, I enjoy discussing such matters, because they are very real, and relevant   Living in Korea I have the unique opportunity to gain some perspective on racism around the world.  When you identify with a Nationality that is the same as your race, it is much easier to be influenced by history and contemporary issues in this matter.  Koreans have a very bad history with Japan and China, and many still have hangups with them.  The younger generation is much more open minded than the older folks I've encountered, but there are some problems.  China and Japan have some fairly serious issues as well as you may have read about in my post about Craziness in Eastern Asia (and/or you already knew that).  Well when they had an international incident, the Chinese people targeted Japanese people living in China.  That must have been a terrifying time for those people, and that was blatant racism.  Those people didn't do a thing wrong.

These kinds of things don't really happen in the United States.  They have happened in the past (Japanese Internment Camps?), but these days people who are racist mostly seem to notice skin color.  Black, Brown, Yellow, Red.. I've never heard of an American say "I hate Koreans.. but the Chinese?  They're cool"  Nope, they say "Those Asians.. blah blah blah."

I have experienced racism in America, Korea and in Thailand.  I haven't had any HUGE problems from the several occasions that I experienced negative racism towards me, but it is enough to bother me a little.  I'm not going to get into the incidents back in the States or the minor instance in Thailand, but I will give 2 examples from Korea.

One example, and the most common, is positive!  Me, along with many of my fellow WHITE foreigners here in Korea, are constantly feeling like we are being regarded as better than other people.  We are very "handsome" or "pretty."  We are very "cool."  We get respect from many before we even say a word.  My Indian and Black friends don't encounter this here... sadly.

I love this because it's so true.  You don't know that different is bad until society tells you that it is.

The other example was a negative one, and I was fairly offended.  About 3 weeks ago I worked a Saturday English program (the one with the picture doing arts and crafts).  Afterwards my friend Justin and I went to have lunch together at a Lotteria, a Korean fast food joint.  I happened to have my guitar with me and my bike helmet, so if we didn't stand out enough to begin with, we definitely did this time.  As we stood waiting in line having some small talk, the workers behind the counter definitely took notice to us, and started making fun of us.  I don't know all what they were saying, but as Justin was ordering I started to notice this, and they were being very obvious about it (it was 2 or 3 young girls, maybe 19 years old taking part).  Justin was ordering in a normal manner, doing nothing out of the ordinary, but they were practically laughing in his face.. and he either didn't notice or chose to ignore it.  I wasn't happy, but I was planning on letting it go.. until the girl taking his order loudly made a comment using the word "Waygooken," which means foreigner.  So just in case any of 40 people in the restaurant didn't know she was making fun of us to our face in a different language, now they all did.  I tapped Justin on the shoulder and told him what I had been noticing, and he had basically been oblivious to it (if you don't speak much Korean, you generally tune out what the random Koreans around you are saying).  Well I speak a little more Korean than Justin, so I decided I had a social responsibility to say something.  I was up to order, so I ordered using as much Korean as I could, just to see her reaction to it.  She did not slow her roll at all, and just kept carrying on, having what appeared to be the time of her life.  Since she didn't get the hint I said "Shila hamnida.  Waygookens.. jamy kay ta, eh?"  Which means "Excuse me.  Foreigners look funny, eh?"  In the tone that I said it, the whole restaurant seemed to go silent!  It was a bit of an intense moment, but boy was she embarrassed.  I thought about asking for her manager to complain, but since she didn't say another word the whole time we stood there waiting for our food, I just let it go.  The other customers in line didn't say anything, but I don't think I offended anyone, and I actually  feel like they respected that I stood up for my friend and I.  I'm not much for confrontation or conflict, but some things are worth causing a bit of noise about.  Racism is one of those things.  (However do keep in mind, this is very low level racism.. nothing like what so many other unfortunate people have encountered.)

Lotteria (photo from internet)

So there are some interesting differences that can be explored in regards to this topic, and this was one of the most significant culture shocks to me living abroad.  I needed to wait as long as I did to report on it though, so that I could really have a grasp on the social atmosphere.  I wanted to end with a Bob Marley quote, but I couldn't find one containing this message, so I will quote the movie I Am Legend, and hope that Will Smith wasn't lying... But if I ever have the opportunity to really impact the world in a positive way, I will carry Bob's torch, since he did not get to see his dream come true:

"He [Bob Marley] had this idea, it was kind of a virologist idea, he believed he could cure racism and hate, literally cure it by injecting music and love into people's lives. One day he was scheduled to perform at a peace concert, gunmen came to his house and shot him down. Two days later he walked out on that stage and sang. Somebody asked him why. He said the people who were trying to make this world worse are not taking a day off. How can I? Light up the darkness."

Construction On My Hiking Trail!

An interesting thing that has happened lately on my hiking trail is the government has built several new bridges.  There were a few places where hikers had to walk across large rocks to get along the trail, but have now been replaced with bridges.  I actually enjoyed that part of the trail quite a bit (unless of course there had just been tons of rain and the water was raging), but the bridges are actually quite nice.  During the construction there were some interesting trips for Mr. Park and I, where we found ourselves really hiking on our lunch break.

Here is a shot of the workers carrying the beams along the trail.

Here they are taking a short break.

As you can see, this is a pretty serious looking bridge!  Not just a dropping a tree trunk across the creek kinda thing.

Here you can see some of the building supplies that they had ready for use.  Also one of the preexisting bridges where a nice stream was running under.  

Here is a nearly finished bridge.

On the right is the way that we were supposed to go while the construction was going on.  For some of them it was quite challenging to navigate.  

 Two of the finished bridges (and Mr. Park).

These bridges are nice, but for me.. they were unnecessary additions to our trail.  The only reason I point that out, is because Mr. Park and I have been talking quite a bit of politics lately (on the same side of the coin, fortunately), and this is relevant to the issue of government spending.  Now you don't have to be very involved in politics to recognize when tax dollars are being misallocated.  This isn't the worst of those occurrences (even thought it was quite an expensive project when you think about all of the labor costs), but I have learn about many other instances where the government here has spent tax dollars for.. their own agendas.  I don't feel like I have enough information to really cite specifics, but from what I understand there is a certain amount of bribery and corruption going on here, that is disappointing to learn about.  One of the major ones Mr. Park has talked about is the "4 Major Rivers" project that involved building dams on the 4 biggest rivers in and around Seoul.  When I Googled it there was not a lot of information on it in a negative light, but Korea (again according to my source) does control its media outlets pretty strictly.  Wikipedia for example mentions some of the negative things I heard, but it focused much more on the positives of the project.  Mr. Park says it was a complete failure, and waste of money.  Also many of the current President's friends and family members made tons of money off of this project from buying land along the river, then selling it to the government at a very high rate.  I would love to look further into these kinds of issues, and if I do I will report back!

Field Trip to "21st Century Farm"

A couple of weeks ago my school went on a field trip to a place called the "21st Century Farm."  I don't know why they decided to called it that (a little strange sounding to Mr. Park and I) but it was a fun time nonetheless.  We did a few different activities, had a really great lunch (well, the teachers did :) and then picked some pears from an orchard.  The first activity we did was feed some goats and cows.  The petting zoo scene is always a winner for elementary school kids, so that was nice.

Here I am in front of the park's main sign.  I guess sometimes rabbits ride whales?  haha

Here is a picture of the goat feeding area.

Snack time for the goats.

Here are more students and a cow.

Next we went to this little fish farm area where a unique (and apparently delicious) fish/eel creature gets bread in mass quantity.  Here you can pick up these little guys, and try to hold on to them.  The students were all about reaching into these shallow pools to pick them up.  Mr. Park and I did as well, a little reluctantly though since they were quite slimy, and there was not anywhere to wash our hands.

Here's the pool with students grabbing fishies.

Mr. Park and a student.

A boy holding 2 of these little guys.

Next we walked through a rice field, and up to an area where they had tractor rides.  This one was a lot of fun for me, and the kids really enjoyed it too.

Here is a video of it.

Next we had our lunch.  The students had the lunches that they packed, and the staff at 21st Century Farm looked after them.  The teachers usually have a picnic with kimbap and fruit for lunch on field trips, but on this trip we had a full restaurant style meal.  The people that main and operate this park know that if you keep the teachers happy, there is a better chance that our school will return here next year.  It still costed money (the school covered it, so free to me), but it was much better than a traditional picnic style lunch.  We had a kind of seafood gumbo and many common side dishes.  After lunch we went to the pear orchard.

This is one of my favorite students, Min-Ho, in the pear orchard.  He used to be a pretty disruptive student, but after taking him aside and using positive reinforcement (as opposed to just yelling at him, which seemed to be the old approach) he has turned into one of my best behaved students!  

Here I am in the Pear orchard.  We all picked one, and were given a second one to take with us.  

That was a nice little break in my week, and a fun experience.  We finished around 1:30 or 2:00, then made it back to school around 3:00.  Mr. Park and I still had our after school class, but it was a nice treat of a day.

Dad Came To Korea!

My Father Mike Manary made it to Korea after 21 hours in transit, and had what we both consider to be one of the best weeks ever!  I packed our tentative schedule full (with a little room for error.. which was sometimes needed), and we had an amazing time.  The room for error in the schedule was in the form of several optional events, along with the possibility to end things earlier than I normally would.  There were a couple things we couldn't get to (especially in Seoul), but Dad really hung tough for a couple nights out with us young guys (who were on a vacation)!

I went to Busan's Gimhe Int'Nat Airport on Saturday night (9/29) to meet the Padre around 8:30, and watched him come through the gates a little closer to 9:30.  I know I used this photo in the last post, but it deserves to be in this one too.

This was such a cool moment for me.

We got his currency exchanged and discussed what the rest of the evening would look like.  We could have come straight back to my apartment in Ulsan, or we could drop his luggage in a motel and go watch my friend Yusef's Jazz band play.  My Dad loves Jazz, so I was pretty sure I could talk him into going, and I did ;)  We had a little trouble finding the place (Busan isn't exactly small, OR my city), but we beat the band there after they changed venues (and I knew where the new one was located).  After all of that travel my Dad made it until the music stopped at 1:30, and a little longer after that before we headed back to the motel.

Here we are at the Jazz concert (@ 'Ole 55's in Busan).  While there my band booked our first gig outside of Ulsan; set to play there on November 10th.

The next day we slept in, and then went out to find some Traditional Korean cuisine.  A lot of the BBQ restaurants (which was my original recommendation) are closed around lunch time, so we went to a seafood restaurant.  I thought it would be an interesting soup/gumbo dish with oysters, octopus and other exotic (and delicious) seafood.. turns out I took him to a RAW FISH restaurant for his first taste of Korea.  Oops.  It was still pretty good though, and the only real struggle was trying to eat with chopsticks, haha.  I forgot that I came to Korea already knowing how to use chopsticks (from eating at Mongolian BBQ a lot back in high school), so that is a common struggle for newbies to Asia.

Here is our delicious raw fish meal.  If you know how to use chopsticks.. then you'll recognize how off he was on day 1.  (haha)

Next we made our way back to the train station via subway, and ended up sharing a train with Keenan (from the band) and our great friend Rena (who sadly just left).  We played musical chairs and ended up sitting across from them for the hour trip up to Ulsan.  I think one of the best parts of this trip for my Dad was getting to really meet and talk to my good friends.  The majority of people that I have met here (as English teachers anyways) have been so wonderful.  We are very kind and respectful with each other, and as Dad pointed out, we have each other's backs.  I think he can now understand just how hard it is for me to leave this kind of environment after meeting the awesome people that are always around me.  Keenan is definitely one of my best friends, and this was a nice opportunity to talk about whatever.

Once we got back to my apartment we had about 2 hours to relax, and then we had a dinner party to attend for the holiday of Chusok.  As I mentioned before, I left some room for error in our schedule, and this was a day in which that was very necessary.  We had a number of very optional things to do on this Sunday morning/afternoon before the dinner party.  We didn't do a single one of them.  I didn't know if we would stay in Busan or not, and I didn't know that we would arrive back at my apartment around 5 PM!  In any case, it was all fine, and we took a taxi to this party around 7 o'clock.  The party was hosted by some new, but very good  friends of mine, Robert and Young.  They are a married couple that have been living in New York City for some time.  Robert is from England, Young is from Korea, but they both have lived in the US for years.  Robert is in my Korean language class, and Young is in the beginner level course (she immigrated to the States when she was relatively young.. no punn intended).  This was my second time over to their apartment for a meal, and it was a really nice time.  Again my Father really enjoyed meeting people that I see regularly, and this time from a slightly different perspective since they are much closer to his age.  Part of what is so interesting about the Korean culture is the whole hierarchical, Confucianism thing.  Hearing stories from a 24 year old English teacher living in Korea are very different than the stories you hear from a 50 year old Engineer.  Out of all the people we visited with during my trip, Robert ranks as one of the 2 most interesting guys to talk to according to the Padre, and that is part of the reason.  (Also Robert is just a really nice, intelligent and fun loving guy.  Cheers Robert!)

Mike, Ryan, Robert.

We didn't stay out at Robert and Young (who is also super nice and funny)'s place too late because the next day we had a trip to Seoul.  I purchased the bus tickets the week before, and they were for 8:50 Monday morning.  We would have taken the speed train (AKA the KTX) but it was already sold out when I purchased the tickets.  The bus takes 5 hours, and the KTX only takes about 2 1/2 hours, which is what we took back to Ulsan on Tuesday.  When you go to Seoul, you should have a whole week to do the city any sort of justice, but we gave ourselves just over a day.  I think it was still worth it, but it would have been cooler if we had had more time.  We decided on the bus ride to Seoul that we would have the following (tentative) itinerary:

MONDAY:

2:00 PM >Arrive

2:30 PM > Check into hostel/guest house

3:00 PM > Go visit Gyeongbok Palace

5:00 PM > Meet Alex (from the band) and his girlfriend Ellen.  Also meet my friends Justin and Charlie.

               > Visit Seoul Tower

7:00 PM > Have dinner at a Mexican Restaurant 

9:00 PM > ???

TUESDAY:

11:00 AM > Visit the Korean War Museum

2:00 PM > Visit Dongdae Mun Market (big street market)

4:20 PM > KTX back to Ulsan

Well almost everything on that schedule fell through... but we still had a blast!  We arrived on time, got some lunch at Lotteria (the Korean version of McDonald's), and made it to the guest house by 3:30.  We figured there was not enough time to see the palace, which wasn't a huge deal to us.  We were set to meet my friends at five, but got a little turned around at Seoul Station while transferring subway lines, so we were about 10 minutes late, as was everyone else.  (This transfer is very confusing.  I actually got VERY turned around doing a similar transfer my first time in Seoul by myself, for Global Gathering last year.)  We basically made it to Seoul Tower in good time.. but there was a 2 to 3 hour wait for the cable car that takes you to it atop a mountain.  It did not take us very long to decide that none of us wanted to stand in that line.  Too bad.  

Relaxing in our hostel before meeting everyone.

Next we went to the Mexican restaurant that Alex and Ellen were keen on going to, and had some interesting "Koreanized" Mexican food.  That was great, and we had to decide what to do with the rest of the night.  We were in Itaewon, which is a huge spot for Westerners to go and get rowdy, so we decided to have one drink out there.  Alex and Ellen had a train back to Ulsan around 10 PM, so they were parting ways after that.  Charlie lives near Gangnam, which has recently been made famous by the song "Gangnam Style," by Psy (see video below.. I can't imagine that you haven't seen it by now though).  It is basically the Beverly Hills of Korea, but not just for residence, it is also a very prominent business district.  

This may be the most famous man in the world right now.  Just remember: "Dress classy, and dance cheesy."

This is a little glimpse of us.. doing the awesome/ridiculous Gangnam Style dance.. in Gangnam.  So proud.  (As you can see Charlie on the left is.. less than enthused.  Justin and I were turning heads with our enthusiasm)

After Alex and Connie took off we headed there, and went to a few different places for drinks.  What was so great about this night is the conversations we had about Korean culture.  Justin and I came to Korea at the same time (he is the one playing guitar and dancing in my orientation talent show video), but Charlie has a much greater wealth of knowledge in regards to Korea.  He is from the UK, and he has been coming to Korea studying the language for 5 years off and on.  We had a variety of Korean foods, drinks, and chopstick practice to accompany the great conversations.  Charlie ranks as the 1st (or 2nd, to Robert) most interesting people my Dad met on this trip.  That is because of his extensive knowledge and insight on Korea and its culture.  We ended the night by going to the Norebang (private singing room), and we had a blast.  Dad and I sang a number of Classic Rock tunes, from CCR to the Rolling Stones, to Bob Segar.  It was great!

That night ran a little later than we anticipated, so we got a slightly later start than we 'planned.'  The only real regret I have about the stop in Seoul is that we didn't mingle enough at the hostel.  Some of my greatest memories in Korea so far have stemmed from the youth hostels, and the people I meet in them.  Since my Father has backpacked in the US and in Europe (way back when), I really thought staying in a hostel would be a great way to bring him back to his past experiences.  Unfortunately all we did was drop our stuff off, sleep, shower and leave.  I met a Chinese girl and a Swedish guy whilst my Dad was getting cleaned up Tuesday morning, but it was very brief.  We did make it to the Korean War Museum (which I have been to before), however when we arrived there around 1:30 PM, it was closed.  CLOSED!  Agghhh.  It's a good thing we had a great evening with Justin and Charlie (and Alex and Ellen too), because the Seoul Tower thing didn't work out, and now this happened.  There were some cool planes, helicopters and boats outside that we checked out, but it was fairly lame that it was closed.  

We clearly still enjoyed ourselves though :)

We made it to Seoul Station around 3:30, and had a 4:20 KTX train to catch.  Since we had a little time we went to find a small market (our late start made Dongdae Mun Market impossible), but we came up short.  We saw a free little art exhibition though, and it was very interesting.  We spent about 20 minutes there, and then went back to board our train.  The trip back was nice, faster than the bus, and smooth.  I guess there is a new KTX train that is almost ready for use that will only take 1 1/2 hours to make the Ulsan/Seoul journey.  A plane takes about an hour, so that is movin!'

In the art exhibition.  I really want to build a table/art piece like this some day!

Here is a little video on the KTX.

We arrived back in Ulsan and were set for a very rockin' night at the Royal Anchor, where 'Stache Potatoes was playing a show just for my Dad's visit.  We stopped back at my apartment and relaxed for an hour or two, then went for dinner at a Korean BBQ (finally!).  We got some pork BBQ (my favorite), and finally got my Father some kimchi.  That is a tough food for Westerners to get into, as it is spicy, garlicky, and strong in flavor, along with a slightly weird texture.  He 'tried' it, which is all you can really ask for.  Anyways the meal as a whole was very good, and he gave a big thumbs up for that one.

They give you big pieces of meat, tongs and scissors.  You can throw garlic, onions and kimchi on with the meat too if you like.  Also notice my t-shirt.  My Mom was so happy that she found this shirt displaying all the different styles of mustaches.  Of course I had to wear it for the concert!

Next we went to the Royal Anchor, where we had very successful concert for Pops.  Some of our friends from the other band Karaoke Dokey played for about 45 minutes, then we played for a little bit over an hour.  It was such great fun, and seeing my Dad really get into the songs we were playing (particularly our last song that encourages the entire crowd to dance and chant "Bah, bah, bah, da dah dah da, da da dah da!"), was one of my proudest moments as a band member.  It was AWESOME.  

The next day we met my co-teacher, Mr. Park, at 10:30 AM to go visit some temples and have a nice traditional dinner.  We rode my scooter out to Mr. Park's neighborhood which is on the other side of town, and that was just one more cool experience that Dad was able to have.  We stopped by Mr. Park's parents' house for a few moments, then we went out to visit Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa, which are recognized by Unesco as World Heritage sites (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/736)!   I've been to a couple of those now (1 in Jeju Island), so I need to start keeping track of which ones I have visited.  First we saw some amazing pagodas and statues at Bulguksa.  

Then we went to see the beautiful temple at Seokgulam, which is in a man made cave at the top of the mountain.  It was really nice and had a gorgeous view of the East Sea.  Truly amazing!  We bought some nice souvenirs and had a great picnic there.

We weren't done yet, and headed over to Gyeongju Historic Area which is also a Unesco World Heritage site (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/976).  Here there were several interesting things, but most notably were a famous ancient bell and a museum.  The bell has a myth, legend or story behind it, about a divine experience of a monk, who was compelled to offer a sacrifice to Buddha.  According to the story, this monk actually forged this bell with a young girl, as his sacrifice.  It sounds quite extreme (well.. read many other historical stories and you'll find similar or worse), but now when the bell is rung, it makes a tone that cannot be duplicated.  It is a mystery, that makes this a famous site in the world.  

The Museum was really cool too.  It wasn't the largest I've ever visited, but it had some really neat stuff that I'd never seen before.  There were many unique cultural art works inside, as well as several crowns of former kings and queens of the Korean Peninsula.  As someone who studied history, I feel like there is an infinite amount of material to learn, and I always appreciate a good museum.  I have only had the opportunity  to visit museums in America (and a few here in Korea) so far, so seeing some evidence of Royalty (and..feudalism?)  was quite exciting for me.  

Now this is the evening that my band and I had an interview scheduled for 8 PM.  We were doing pretty good on time, but we still had dinner in our plans, so we had to mind the time.  After the museum we went to a famous tofu soup restaurant that was nearby.  (In Korea there are many 'famous' restaurants, that basically serve the same food as many similar restaurants.  Somebody, however, decides which ones will be famous, so all of the celebrities that pass that area eat there, and sign a framed piece of paper on the wall.)  For that reason we waited about 30 minutes for our table, and had a great meal.  My Dad was a real trooper through this whole trip, but some meals (this one in particular) were just not his style.  We still had a nice meal nonetheless, and were off when we realized that it was 7 PM, and that I might be late for my interview.  

I think Dad's the only one looking real "photogenic" in this one, but you can see the meal that we had here.

We decided to leave my scooter in Mugeodong where Mr. Park lives, so that we could just get dropped off right in Downtown where we were meeting for the interview.  I linked the resulting article in the last post, so it is there if you would like to read it.  We arrived only 5 minutes late, and had a very interesting, and fun interview for about an hour.  I think it was just as cool for me as it was for my Dad, being my first 'real' interview.  Not to mention how much fun the guys and I had with it!   

Here I am with Deirdre Madden who contacted us about doing this interview.

Here are the fellas trying to think of something to say.  haha

After the interview Dad and I rode a sardine packed bus (what I call it, for obvious reasons) back to my apartment.  We finally got a relaxing night in, which was not only needed but also very appropriate since we both had school in the morning.  There was another party this evening, but we wisely declined on that one.  We watched Animal House (an absolute classic), and I gladly surrendered my bed to the Padre.

Thursday was the day that Dad finally got to see my school, and what it is that I actually came to Asia to do; teaching. Unfortunately the only day that he could come was the day that I had 6th graders.  Now, I think that most of my students really enjoy English, and are legitimately excited for my class.  Not the 6th graders.  They are at the point in their lives where they stop seeking the teacher's (i.e. MY) approval, and start to value their peer's approval much much more.  I don't mind that really because I do understand it, and I enjoy the challenge.  Even though the other grades would be much more fun to watch, this did allow my Father to see a side of me that he has never seen before, a disciplinarian.  He was a bit surprised by this, and told me after class, "don't be like this because I'm here."  I reassured him that his presence had nothing at all to do with my strictness.  These students are at a point where they do not yet know their boundaries.  I take most of their insubordination as disrespect, however I recognize that most of them are not trying to be disrespectful, they're just trying to fit in.  I can actually tell that some of them really want me to make a lesson interesting enough that they can participate without losing face.  Because of this I am quite strict with them, and the Padre came at just a good enough time to see how well he rubbed off on me ;)

Mr. Park told us to finish the 4th period about 10 minutes early, and come back to his room so we could go eat with the principle.  When we arrived at the classroom he was still teaching the 5th graders.  When he dismissed the class they swarmed my Dad, haha.

The last event of this trip was my good friend Connie's birthday/potluck party in which her mother Diana was in town for!  I prepared some of my 'famous' buttered ramen noodles with sauteed veggies and shrimp, some of my Grama Ehrman's cookies, and some of Mr. Park's pears.  We had a great time with about 20 others in Connie's tiny studio apartment.  It was a nice evening with great company for my Father's last night in Korea.  We got back relatively early since I had to teach in the morning, and he had a flight to catch in Busan at 2.  

This is Father and I with a good friend of mine Chrissy.  She is actually from Concord!  When she visited home last December she was working at Spats and ended up meeting my Aunt Peggy and Grama Manary.  What a small world!

Here is my Dad, Barry, Alex and Ellen at Connie's party. 

This was by far my longest post, and for good reason.  It hardly tells the story of this week, because there were so many parts where you 'just had to be there' to understand.  I'm hoping I have another visitor or two before I'm done living in Korea, but it will be hard to beat this.  We set the bar pretty high.  Thanks again Dad for coming, love ya!

Okay, It's Starting To Get Crazy ;)

I am having the most intense experience right now, and I am loving every minute of it!  I am struggling to keep up with everything, as far as the blog goes, so bear with me.  I have 5 or 6 really good topics to share, but hardly have the time to do them justice just yet.  This is a fairly broad update, which will have several follow up posts to give more details on everything.

The most significant post that will be coming soon is "Dad Came to Korea!"  As I reported he would, my Father, Mike Manary, came to see the Republic of Korea (ROK) for about 1 week.  We did so much between the Saturday night he arrived and the Friday afternoon that he left.  We spent a night in Busan, a day and a half in Seoul, and the rest of our time in Ulsan.  We saw museums, temples, concerts (including my band's performance), friends, parties, Korean food, Western food.. you name it!  I am so impressed that he kept up with me for this week, despite the jet lag/time change, and the fact that I was completely drained by Friday (and I have A LOT of energy).  There are many stories, pictures and videos to come :)

I killed my whole phone battery, standing ready to take this photo for 40 minutes, haha.  Welcome Father!

The next most significant thing is the band.  'Stache Potatoes has suddenly grabbed the attention of Ulsan!  We have a show almost every Friday and Saturday during this month of October, we are getting a bit of money and/or compensation in other forms for our shows, we are having to turn down events because we are so booked, AND we just had an amazing article done on us by a popular publication in town, Ulsan Online.  We are blown away by this success, and hope to ride the momentum into other cities around Korea (we have booked 1 show in Busan, and are looking to Daegu next).  There will be a much more thorough update on the band coming soon, but for now you can check out the article yourself:

http://ulsanonline.com/nightlife/?p=602

This was our most recent gig, and our first acoustic one ever.  It went well, but our next acoustic set is this Saturday, and we need at least one amp and a microphone.. working on it!

The rest of my life/schedule is a wind whirl of practicing Taekwondo, studying Korean (which I am starting to get pretty good at), keeping up with an exciting social life (seeing old friends off, welcoming new ones, and having celebrations of all kinds), and continuing to be a full time teacher (with more and more responsibilities and assignments).  Now I don't want to scare anyone away from taking a job like this, I asked for the craziness that is going on in my planner, but it is intense.  I am excited for some down time, but I don't know when that will come.. I am also adjusting to feeling like a local celebrity, which.. has it's ups and downs.. but more than anything is CRAZY! Life is exciting right now, and I'm just running with it.  I will do my best to share my experiences as they come, but a few might be left unreported.

This is my Korean language teacher, Eunji!  She is so great, so we threw her a really nice surprise party in our classroom.  We also sang happy birthday for her in Korean, while I played the guitar.  (There are 2 Ryans in the class now, so I am "Rockin' Ryan."  Had to live up to that :)

An extra teaching job I picked up on a Saturday morning.  It pays pretty nice and is really fun!  There are many different types of jobs you can do on Saturdays, and this is one of my favorites at the craft hall at Ulsan Grand Park.  (Also note the 'Playboy Bunny' logo on this girls shirt.  Nobody knows what it means, and it is everywhere!)

Also before I forget, I have purchased a scooter!  It has been SO nice getting around on this bad boy.  Discussing this and about the driving culture is a-whole-nother post to look forward to as well.  Stay tuned!