Monkey Butts

I can't really explain this one. All I know is that I love it.

I hate being sick

I've been sick for two weeks now. Stuffy nose, coughing, mild fever. For two weeks. I'm sick of it (pardon the pun). This morning I woke up at 6:30 with a earache that felt not unlike someone pushing an icepick into my brain. I downed some aspirin and made my way down to the doctor who I was assured was great and spoke English.

Both counts turned out to be true, thankfully. She gave me a cursory inspection and told me that (tada!) I have a cold. She said my ear looked fine but would prescribe a few days worth of antibiotics just to be safe. And to top it off, she gave me a shot in the ass. In Kyrgyzstan it was really common to take injections instead of pills and I think I was told by a doctor that it really doesn't work any better or faster if you inject the medicine. Regardless, the doc here gave me a shot. It was kinda strange, I've never had a shot in the butt that I can remember. The nurse who gave it to me spoke no English so it was accomplished by awkward hand gestures. She also slapped me a few times which weirded me out. "Is this some sort of holistic thing?" I wondered. I discovered she was just distracting me from the shot since she told me I was done before I felt anything. So I got slapped on the ass by a nurse and should be better in a few days.

And all for the grand total of $20 including meds. Korea certainly has the medical system figured out. I can't imagine how much more a visit to the doctor, an injection and a filled prescription would cost back home. It's all part of the delightful, "everything is so much cheaper here" phenomena.

Take haircuts for example. I got my haircut last weekend for 5,000 won ($5). It's not a great cut (like Kerrie would give back home) but it'll do. How is it so cheap? Well, parts of it I found are do it yourself. After it was cut I was asked if I wanted a shampoo and I said yes. I was led to a back room, shown a sink, soap and some towels and then left to fend for myself. It took me a few minutes to figure out that I was supposed to wash my own hair. Not that I'm opposed to that it's just that washing your hair in a tiny sink isn't exactly easy. I made a mess of it and ended up soaking my hoodie but it was funny more than anything. It's those weird little differences that make being here so much fun.

Seoul Man

Sorry.

I spent last weekend in Seoul and thought I'd jot down my impressions of this bussling metropolis: "Ehh."

It's pretty much a bigger (much bigger) version of Busan and I didn't find anything that awesome about it. It was crowded, smoggy and neon laden just like it is here. Also, westerners tend to be much more indifferent and cold than they are down here, to the point of avoiding eye contact when you pass them by. That just doesn't happen in my city. I shouldn't judge to harshly though since I spent much more of my time drinking crappy beer and hanging out with Katie than I did exploring the cultural aspects of the city. Mind you, I don't consider my time misspent.

I went up to visit Katie and we spent most of our time reminiscing about Prague, complaining about our relationships and trying to figure out just what the hell we're doing here. We went to see a DJ from Brno, the Czech Republics second largest city, play in a really cool club in the center of the city. The club was brand new and very cool. Problem was nobody was in it. I counted 18 people on the dance floor when we walked in at midnight. Hoping it would get busier when the headliner went on we stuck around. Turns out though that they didn't sell enough tickets and the DJ refused to play. So we hung out, drank and danced till 3, much to the amusement of the small, predominantly Korean audience.

The next day I resolved to see something unique and cultural and Katie and I got lost. Seoul's 12 million residents are served by a 10 line metro system and it's easy to get confused. We spent most of the time yelling at each other instead of seeing the sights and at one point I remarked to Katie "I hate you and I hate your city". It wasn't all that bad though. We found a shopping district that had people juggling while crossing the street, some weird promotional show going on and guys dressed like cats. Also we found this little gem while on an art walk of sorts. As far as we could tell it was a rainbow colored mosaic piece of shit. Korea is weird.

I took the KTX bullet train back down to Busan Monday morning and was treated to a spectacularly unimpressive view of the Korean countryside. Maybe I'm wrong but isn't stuff supposed to look better in the Spring? Everything was brown still and very, what's the word, hideously ugly. Maybe the train just doesn't go through the nice areas. I have made plans to visit a traditional village and temple in early May and hopefully I'll be reminded what it's like to live outside of a industrial area.

Bunch of things of great and little importance

It's been a month since I've posted. I've been busy, I've been lazy. Lot's has gone on but since it's been a whole month I'm not going to put it into any coherent order. Bullet points:

• We got our new schedules, and predictably, got screwed. The promises of less hours turned out to be just that, and we were left with the same classes or more. It sucks and we're all kinda pissed. Two teachers have decided to leave in May.
• I broke up with Michelle. We had both felt different since we got here and we had been spending way too much time together. This is all for the best (I tell myself) and we're going to remain friends.
• Started working out everyday and studying Korean. After a month, I'm still working out. Where is that text book anyway?
• Taught adjectives to a class a few weeks ago and couldn't find anything in the room with which to demonstrate 'long' and 'short'. Lines on the board weren't working neither was my "shoot an imaginary arrow across the room" technique. A student pointed to her pinky finger and said "short". I applauded this and said "Yes! Short!" pointing to my own pinky. "And this is long..." I said before I knew what I was doing. I managed to stop myself but the kids all began to display their middle fingers. I got flipped off by a dozen eight year-olds. (And, yeah, they knew what they were doing.)
• Watched all of season 1 and what is available from season 2 of Lost. That show is kick ass.
• Korea has gone undefeated in the World Baseball Classic, beating Japan AND the US. This is awesome. Baseball season starts up here April 6th. Tickets are $4 and you can bring as much beer and food into the stadium as you can carry.
• My youngest brother has been accepted to UC Riverside and my middle brother turned 21. God damn I feel old.
• A student of mine brought a syringe to class yesterday. Where he got it or what he was going to do with it I have no idea. I took it away and never heard if he was punished or not.
• I've discovered that I am a mediocre poker player at best and I have lost whatever skill I once had at Tiger Woods video game golf.
• I've gone to a nori-bong (Karaoke room) five times since I've been here. Still haven't been to the famous fish market, Busan tower or any temples of note.
• I'm reading that "A Million Little Pieces" book that everybody was freaking out about. Halfway through and I'm unimpressed.
• I've developed a "Spider-sense" that alerts me to the presence of students who wish to poke their fingers into my butt. It's amazing. All the teachers here have this ability.
• I went to get my Alien Registration Card at the immigration office today. Instead of writing my name as Sean LaMar Brown, they spelled it Sean La Mad Brown. I'm going to ask to be called "La Mad" from now on.

That's all that's going on. The rest is just teaching, drinking and spending way too much money. I'll keep you posted.