North Koreans

First of all, sorry; I havent' kept up with this blog as much as I should.

Not, that there's like a blog-o-meter or something.

Anyhow, been back from Jeju Island and just finished peeling all my skin off. Pleasant to itch my back only to find a sliver of skin has decided to jump ship from my back . . . onto my hands.

(A full week of beaching on a volcanic island was kinda nice, though.)

Anyhow, now that that business is done and over with* I have another topic I want to (aimlessly) ramble on about;

North Koreans.

I mean, where to begin, right? Well, let me be a little more specific here - I've been to North Korea, the most totalitarian nation on the face of the Earth, before this whole fiasco - right before, and to the same damn place, actually, and let me give you an impression of the North Koreans I've seen there.

Stiff as a board.

You may ask yourself; what, are they bored stiff**? Are they dead? Are they the stereotypical-hard-nosed commie types we've all seen in 80's codl war movies? Are they scared stiff?

My answer, and of course I could be wrong here, is that it's a mix of all - and in retrospect, an uneasy fear, especially around caucasians.

Why do I being such a topic up, you may ask? First, I'd say get out of my head, and secondly, I'm currently volunteering to teach North Korean refugees English through a small church*** - essentially, they get a free college education but they have to qualify to enter - and admittedly, I've just started to help, but damn.

It's kind of weird to see them in person - what I mean is, they are, physically, just the same as South Koreans - but they do have a North Korean accent, and they seem just as friendly and outgoing as any of us - it still blows my mind that just two months ago I've seen others like them in North Korea, standing stiffly, monitoring our evey move and anxious to not be around any white people. And that they had to risk their lives to get here.

I'm not saing that we should be grateful to be here (where ever that "here" may be - America or S. Korea), but goddamn that outs some things into perspective.

I tell you - one the one hand, I feel for what they may have had to go through, but they have my utmost respect.

*I'll post pictures later. Maybe.
**Rimshot
***No, I've not suddenly turned fundie Christian - it's a coworker's church that I've decided to help out in.

Being in Korea - part 1

Hey peeps,

Just thought I'd update this a bit - you know, I have to make it a habit if I am to keep this up, me being a masterba, I mean, master procrastinator and all.

Anyhow, this is more for the peeps back in the States ('sup) - (part of) my general consensus of living in Korea as a whole.

Well, it's certainly different, being that, you know, Korea's not the US and all - but where to begin? Hmm, let's begin with the small things - there's an Outback steakhouse everywhere you look (Leah said that she has never been to one until she came to S. Korea). And they serve kimchi and fried rice with their meals; I wish I could say I was joking, but I'm not kidding here folks, they're serious about that shit here.

Ah, speaking of restaurants; here's one more - you know what they call a Quarter Pounder in Seoul?
Answer: nothing. They don't have a fucking quarter pounder. Most of their menu, save for the Big Mac and Cheeseburger, is completely different. And they deliver (free of charge, no tip), too.

And, of course, you can't forget the penis fish.
They eat that here. I mean, not the "they" as in "all of them Koreans" but think of the same ratio as Americans that eat prairie oysters.
But, dear reader, notice the aquariums in the video where the penis fish were? That's right - being a peninsula, fish is cheaper than beef and pork here - and fresh, to boot.

I mean, I could go on and on about food in Korea, but I think the rest is up for another time. Peace out, yo.

- This next part is more for my sake than anything else, so don't mind me.

Being in Korea is;

• Food
• Variety
• Itaewon
• Tipping
• Sexuality/Dating in Korea
• Whore alley
• Gay, or attitudes towards
  
• Picking up one night stands vs marriage material
• Perception of foreigners
• Towards foreign women vs men
• Towards gyopos
• Job
• Family

Yes, I've assimilated!

I've given up. Quit. Compromised.

Quit what, you ask? I've quit not being assimilated into the now-culture; I've given up my proud status as an independent, rational human being (in reality a thinly-veiled guise for my neo-tech phobia/ineptness for such things - or just good ol' American lazyness).

Anyhow, yeah; so now I'm a proud(?) member of myspa-, er, I mean, cyworl-, oh, facebook this time. Right. Well, every foreigner in Korea has one, so hey, when in Korea . . . (inside joke; as my lovely wife tells me, "fuck a Korean" . . ..)

So why the blog, all of a sudden? Well, I've been meaning to, really. It's just that . . . "things" have been getting in my way; er, right (i.e. I'm a lazy fuck, and I wholly embrace the lifestyle - you, dear reader, should subscribe to this lifestyle; don't want to try? Eh, I'm too lazy to sell it to you).

So where to begin? I mean, I'm going to send this to everyone in the States so they can read this, right?

Well, it IS late at night (oh no, it begins) so I'll just bulletpoint some things I should cover;

• My trip to North Korea
• Guards, the flags and their love of saucer hats
• Their hatred of all things American; yet they only take US dollars?
• The weird box thing we found in the hotel room
• My trip going Whitewater Rafting
• My job
• My continuing obsession/"passion" with;
• Motorcycles
• Martial Arts - Muay Thai in particular
• Other martial arts schools in Korea I've seen/found
  
• Male Pattern Baldness - oh noes!
• Marriage to my wife, the person I married
  

Of which I will cover with glee - later(maybe). Maybe I'll take a poll of which one I should start with.

Oh, forgot to mention a few things;

To bulletpoint, I mean - coincidentally, it's all oh-so very perv related in one way or another;

• Whore alley/town/district/whatever
• Penis Fish
• Penis Statues we found on the way back from North Korea (In South Korea)
• Adult Novelty shops . . . er, vans on highways