Random Korean Cultural Trivia
- Lotte is a Korean confectionary conglomerate founded by Shin Kyuk-Ho in the 1940s when he was selling gum to post-WWII kids in Japan. Now it is one of Asia's largest conglomerates in food, branching into other businesses like managing sports, hotels and Lotte World (Korea's national theme park)
I'm back in my hometown of Mokpo to relax at my relatives' place. Since I was given four days of free time I didn't want to stay in Wando with nothing to do, so I hopped on the next bus back home. I went to the bathhouse with the local thugs (not on purpose) and I finally caught up on other things.
I went to Lotte Mart (think of it as a Korean walmart) this morning to shop for my living essentials and any other things I may want to get before I leave for Wando. When I got there, there was an incident right across the street involving roughly five thugs and about three other guys. I moved a bit closer to the Song's Beer bar right beside them and lit up a smoke pretending to turn a blind eye to the situation.
From what I could understand, the three guys in the sedan tried to cut off the van full of the thugs and of course crashed into them and left a scratch on their van bumper. I know the people here never follow the traffic laws (red lights, car lanes, speed limit are all suggestions as pointed out by Eliza), but damn those guys chose the wrong van to try to cut off. Anyway there was about two minutes of swearing, arguing saying the other was at fault.
It seems those three idiots didn't understand their position in the situation as there were three of them and five gangsters. The 'leader' of both sides were doing the arguing, soon after the gangster (who seemed like a Judo expert) grabbed the guy and threw the guy, slamming him against the road pavement. He put his knee on the guy's chest and started bashing the guys face in. I estimate the thug leader weighed about 220lbs, about 190cm in height, which is about 80lbs heavier than the guy he was thrashing, plus the thug was wearing these gold rings on his fingers.. ouch.
When I went to Seoul a few weeks ago, I saw a bunch of pussy kids pulling on each other's hair and shoving each other. Now I clearly see why the Mokpo people laugh at how weak the Seoul people are. THIS is a fight, not pulling on each other's goddamn emo hair. To be fair it wasn't even a fight, it was a massacre of the idiots who tried to fight gangsters.
Instead of apologizing and trying to get their friend out, the guy's two friends tried to help him and of course get similar punishment. The pounding continued for about 20 seconds and goddamn I've never seen anyone get that bloody that fast. When they stopped the gangsters spat on them and gave them a quick lecture and they all left. Soon after the local people called for an ambulance I guess and that was the end of it.
I'm surprised they allowed them to just get away with a near fatal beating. I kinda expected them to say something like "I'll come back to collect money for scratching my car" or something like that. Soon after I walked into the store and got my shit and went back home. I got here two days ago and I've already encountered two groups of gangsters doing their shit. o_O
Friday, February 26, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Last Couple of Days in Mokpo - Jan-31-2010
Random Korean Cultural Trivia
- The name Korea comes from it's second last dynasty, the Goryeo/Koryo kingdom (918-1392). One of the top universities in the nation, Korea University (고려대학교) is actually written as Goryeo University.
It's my second last day in my hometown Mokpo before I leave for teacher's training in Jochiwon (조치원) in Korea University. I've stayed here for a little two months and a lot of things happened. For one thing my Korean got tons better and I gained about 15 lbs from all the alcohol and good food I've been eating. I've lost roughly 25lbs since then so we can just say I lost 10lbs. =)
I've been hitting the gym 6 days a week and I've climbed like twenty mountains if not more, including the nations second tallest. In the long and short, it's just drink, eat, workout, meet people and sleep lmao.
Since I've been working out like a madman I've made a huge improvement in my strength. My last 'peak strength' was in grade 11 and after like six years I finally got past it. Sadly today was my last day at the gym (which turned out to be much more impressive than I thought). I'm gonna miss the gym owner (관장님), he's a pretty cool guy and gave me a lot of new exercise ideas that I never even imagined. And of course I'll miss all the beautiful young girls keeping their bodies beautiful. LOL. But yea here's a little rundown of my new peak strength.
Barbell Bench Press - 110kg (6x)
Tricep Pulldowns - 130kg (20x)
Seated Rows - 130kg (20x)
Chest Flys - 130kg (20x)
Leg Press - 180kg (8x) damnit.. I used to do 500 lbs back then D=
Dumbell Curls - 25kg per arm (8x)
Lat Pulldown - 100kg (20x)
I forgot the rest but you get the idea.
Anyway, I'll be heading over to Korea University in a couple of days for 3 weeks of teachers training. I'm really looking forward to it and I hope to meet a lot of great people there. Apparently we're staying at the University residence there for two weeks and then splitting off into groups based on provincial placement. I hope they have internet there and preferably a gym where I can still maintain my progress.
When I go to my placement in Wando County, I'm given like 3-4 days to get my apartment and stuff organized, as well as getting an idea of what's where in the city. When I went there last week I went around the harbourfront. All I saw was an endless strip plaza of seafood restaurants, convenience stores and fishing marts. Literally after two miles of walking that's all I ever saw. I walked into what looks like a mini supermarket and they had like nothing.
I haven't been to the main city yet but I'm gonna be scoping for four very important things.
- a gym (with heavy weights and nice looking girls? XD)
- a GOOD supermarket, (one that sells in good variety at good price)
- a convenience store (for snacks, drinks and the like)
- an electronics store (preferably one that sells games and other stuff)
When I move into my apartment in late Feb/early March I'm gonna start cooking again. =D It'll come in a variety, but mostly Korean and Western food, once I run out of those I'll try following other recipes I find online and give it a success/fail rating.
- The name Korea comes from it's second last dynasty, the Goryeo/Koryo kingdom (918-1392). One of the top universities in the nation, Korea University (고려대학교) is actually written as Goryeo University.
It's my second last day in my hometown Mokpo before I leave for teacher's training in Jochiwon (조치원) in Korea University. I've stayed here for a little two months and a lot of things happened. For one thing my Korean got tons better and I gained about 15 lbs from all the alcohol and good food I've been eating. I've lost roughly 25lbs since then so we can just say I lost 10lbs. =)
I've been hitting the gym 6 days a week and I've climbed like twenty mountains if not more, including the nations second tallest. In the long and short, it's just drink, eat, workout, meet people and sleep lmao.
Since I've been working out like a madman I've made a huge improvement in my strength. My last 'peak strength' was in grade 11 and after like six years I finally got past it. Sadly today was my last day at the gym (which turned out to be much more impressive than I thought). I'm gonna miss the gym owner (관장님), he's a pretty cool guy and gave me a lot of new exercise ideas that I never even imagined. And of course I'll miss all the beautiful young girls keeping their bodies beautiful. LOL. But yea here's a little rundown of my new peak strength.
Barbell Bench Press - 110kg (6x)
Tricep Pulldowns - 130kg (20x)
Seated Rows - 130kg (20x)
Chest Flys - 130kg (20x)
Leg Press - 180kg (8x) damnit.. I used to do 500 lbs back then D=
Dumbell Curls - 25kg per arm (8x)
Lat Pulldown - 100kg (20x)
I forgot the rest but you get the idea.
Anyway, I'll be heading over to Korea University in a couple of days for 3 weeks of teachers training. I'm really looking forward to it and I hope to meet a lot of great people there. Apparently we're staying at the University residence there for two weeks and then splitting off into groups based on provincial placement. I hope they have internet there and preferably a gym where I can still maintain my progress.
When I go to my placement in Wando County, I'm given like 3-4 days to get my apartment and stuff organized, as well as getting an idea of what's where in the city. When I went there last week I went around the harbourfront. All I saw was an endless strip plaza of seafood restaurants, convenience stores and fishing marts. Literally after two miles of walking that's all I ever saw. I walked into what looks like a mini supermarket and they had like nothing.
I haven't been to the main city yet but I'm gonna be scoping for four very important things.
- a gym (with heavy weights and nice looking girls? XD)
- a GOOD supermarket, (one that sells in good variety at good price)
- a convenience store (for snacks, drinks and the like)
- an electronics store (preferably one that sells games and other stuff)
When I move into my apartment in late Feb/early March I'm gonna start cooking again. =D It'll come in a variety, but mostly Korean and Western food, once I run out of those I'll try following other recipes I find online and give it a success/fail rating.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Halla Mountain and Horse Meat - Jan-07-2010
Random Korean Cultural Trivia
Kimbap - "Korean sushi" seaweed wrapped ricerolls that has assorted veggies and meats for stuffings
If you come to Jeju Island, the main attraction is to go up Halla Mountain (한라산). The volcano is Korea's 2nd tallest mountain (after Baekdu in the North) and the South's national natural monument. Apparently it's a rare opportunity to go and not many are able to do it, including the island locals too.
Anyway along the way near the base of the mountain is another of the island's strange mysteries. There's a particular road that goes down into a countryside area. If you put your car in neutral, the car will automatically start moving UP the slope no matter which way you face. It's an unexplained mystery and it's one of the main attractions before you climb up. At the time we tried it there was about 10 cars all doing it.
To begin the climb up you have to drive half way up on this highway that goes up, otherwise it would take you forever. The climb up takes about 3 hours and the climb down takes an hour and half, all in all about 5 hours including a 30 minute break. The climb is divided into two sections, the first half is a forest and the second half is a mountain valley. It was decided that I would be carrying our supplies, about 15 rolls of kimbap and about 5 litres of water plus some other stuff. (Roughly 35lbs in a bag)
Anyway, let me tell you about the path up Halla Mountain. It is the cheapest, most twisted, cruel and most unfair path you can ever walk on. To begin with there was heavy snowfall and strong freezing winds, that alone is a pain in the ass. The first part is the forest section, basically you climb up what is possibly the longest set of stairs in the world through a forest scenery.
Because of the heavy snowfall the staircase isn't a staircase anymore. It's become a slippery ice slope that you have to walk up praying not to slip, fall and slide all the way back down. Oh yeah, the slope you have to walk up is on an 80 degree angle, I'm not kidding the slope is THAT steep. It's not a straight path up either, it's a twisted path which makes moving difficult and there are random points where a fallen tree log obstructs your path.
Halfway up you reach a mid resting point, where you can drink clean mountain water and take a lunch break. A lot of the people brought gas cookers and they use the mountain water to cook ramen noodles. They say that the mountain water makes the noodle soup taste a lot better. By this point my legs are dying and I can barely walk as it is. So to lighten my burden we took a snack break and drank our fill. In the end the bag weighed about 10lbs and my dad carried it for the rest of the journey.
By this point the air really starts to thin out so breathing gets a bit difficult, especially in the cold wind. The second half of the journey is on the mountain slope itself. By this point we're in the clouds so the area is all gray and snowy making it really hard to see where you're going. The path is now guided by these red flag markers. There's also warning signs telling people not go by themselves. About 20 or so meters from the path, there's the edge of the cliff where you'll fall to your death.
This time the steepness is a lot more lenient (probably a 50-60 degree angle). To make up for it, there are random sections of the path where there are sharp bulgy rocks that you have to step on in order to continue. There are also areas where you have to jump down a ledge and climb back up another ledge, all roughly a meter in height. The worst part of the whole thing is probably the snow pitfalls. Since we're so high up, the snow falling is massive and it quickly built up patches of light snow where if you step into one it'll suck your leg in completely. I swear I must've fallen in like 50 times before I reached the summit.
Well finally after 3 sore hours of climbing we reach the summit. There's a rest house that doesn't really serve any purpose. It's just a wooden shack with tables/chairs stuck to the ground. No restaurant or workers, just a small cafeteria and washrooms for people to rest and eat.
Well technically this isn't the summit since there's an extra 2km left, but this is the point where everyone turns back. The path up here was about 5km and the real summit is on the 7km point. I'm gonna call it the summit, I don't care what any of you guys say, you can call it w/e you want but I'm gonna call it the summit. Fuck you. =)
For dinner we had horse meat at a local bar. It came in a variety of forms: raw, cheese steakburgers, grilled, rib stew and soup. The meat itself was quite good and melts in your mouth every bite. (drool) The amount of protein they say nearly doubles that of beef or chicken. It's also good for your body joints apparently and strengthens your leg muscles. (Most of it comes from horse leg) The restaurant also had a service where it takes you back home for free. o_O What kind of restaurant does that?
Anyway, that's all I gotta say about that. Happy new years!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New Years on Jeju Island - Jan-04-2010
Random Korean Cultural Trivia
Ssireum (씨름) - Korean style wrestling from the Goguryeo kingdom. Two opponents stand in a sandpit with sashes tied to their waists. The competitors would grab each other's sashes by the side hips and would try to take each other to the ground. Methods of winning are done by throws and sweeps using mind games and strength.
For New Years we went to the island province of Jeju. The island is a common tourist destination (mostly for Chinese and Japanese visitors) and is a favourite dating / honeymoon spot. We left at 6am and after a rough, noisy five hour boat ride we docked on the island. The island always looks different wherever you go. The main city looks like Florida where the sun shines and theres palm trees everywhere. Oh yes I forgot to mention, it's ridiculously hot over there even in the winter time. Probably because it's close to the equator but I actually got a mild tan as a result of it. Other parts look like the mainland with it's mountainous range and the coasts are high with strong waves and a strong fishing culture. Since it's a volcanic island, the land isn't very suitable for agriculture so seafood is the main food source.
The culture is much different then the mainland, especially their language. Most dialects I'd understand or at least figure out but over here they sound like gibberish. The island was only a part of Korea for about 1000 years when the Tamna kingdom was officially absorbed, much like Okinawa was to Japan. To serve the high amount of foreign guests most things are written in multiple languages (Japanese, Chinese and English specifically). Most of my time on the island, there was a Japanese tour group of about 20 people touring the island with us. The rest kinda came on their own.
The island is apparently very well known for three things: (1- Rocks) (2 - Wind) (3 - Women)
Rocks
- The island is formed by volcanic eruptions, resulting in tons of volcanic rock. With the exception of road pavements and cement buildings everything on the island is made of volcanic rock. There's so much rock that theres actually a stone monument park. It's common for people to go by the shore side and stack rocks on top of each other making little statues.
Wind (and weather)
- The city is damn windy, aside from the wind itself, the weather is really random. Weather can change in a matter of minutes. When we arrived on the island by boat it was snowing with strong wind, ten minutes later it was drizzling with rain and about 30 minutes later the sun was shining and later in the afternoon it was snowing again.
Ssireum (씨름) - Korean style wrestling from the Goguryeo kingdom. Two opponents stand in a sandpit with sashes tied to their waists. The competitors would grab each other's sashes by the side hips and would try to take each other to the ground. Methods of winning are done by throws and sweeps using mind games and strength.
For New Years we went to the island province of Jeju. The island is a common tourist destination (mostly for Chinese and Japanese visitors) and is a favourite dating / honeymoon spot. We left at 6am and after a rough, noisy five hour boat ride we docked on the island. The island always looks different wherever you go. The main city looks like Florida where the sun shines and theres palm trees everywhere. Oh yes I forgot to mention, it's ridiculously hot over there even in the winter time. Probably because it's close to the equator but I actually got a mild tan as a result of it. Other parts look like the mainland with it's mountainous range and the coasts are high with strong waves and a strong fishing culture. Since it's a volcanic island, the land isn't very suitable for agriculture so seafood is the main food source.
The island is apparently very well known for three things: (1- Rocks) (2 - Wind) (3 - Women)
Rocks
- The island is formed by volcanic eruptions, resulting in tons of volcanic rock. With the exception of road pavements and cement buildings everything on the island is made of volcanic rock. There's so much rock that theres actually a stone monument park. It's common for people to go by the shore side and stack rocks on top of each other making little statues.
Wind (and weather)
- The city is damn windy, aside from the wind itself, the weather is really random. Weather can change in a matter of minutes. When we arrived on the island by boat it was snowing with strong wind, ten minutes later it was drizzling with rain and about 30 minutes later the sun was shining and later in the afternoon it was snowing again.
Women
- The indiginous people had a different social structure. The family system was run on a matriarch system where the matriarch would get most of the income and sort out the stuff of the house. Men apparently just went fishing and doing less important things. I did notice that the women here were particularly more brutish looking with a rougher personality while the men were really small and puny by stature, kinda like the physical appearance is swapped by the gender. Yea.. my eyes were depressed the whole time I was here.
I had a taste of the village's unique style of rice wine and green onion juhn pancake (해물파전).
For dinner we had Korean sashimi. It's basically raw fish of course but using fish that isn't normally seen in Japanese sashimi. Koreans use (go-doong-uh/고둥어) mackerel and (gal-chi/갈치) cutlassfish. I had a small drinking contest with my uncle and we downed soju and beer bomb mixed drinks. All in all it cost over $100 (100 000 won).. that's a LOT of bottles.
The most messed up thing I learned was that there was a way of raising livestock pigs which is quite nasty. The pigs (lit. s**t pigs) were fed s**t because they naturally cleaned it up and they grew on that. As nasty as that sounds it's actually a convenient way to feed them without wasting animal feed. There was a Japanese tour group of about 20 people touring the village with us. When they got to the pig part, I just heard a loud mixture of screaming, disgusted groaning and laughter. Can't really blame them, I feel creeped out as I write this blog. The same pigs are served as food today, but of course they don't raise them the way they did back then.
We visited the Jeju Island Folk Village, basically its like a modern made village based on the people their from a few hundred years ago. There was music, folk dancing, restaurants with their unique cuisine.
I had a taste of the village's unique style of rice wine and green onion juhn pancake (해물파전).
For dinner we had Korean sashimi. It's basically raw fish of course but using fish that isn't normally seen in Japanese sashimi. Koreans use (go-doong-uh/고둥어) mackerel and (gal-chi/갈치) cutlassfish. I had a small drinking contest with my uncle and we downed soju and beer bomb mixed drinks. All in all it cost over $100 (100 000 won).. that's a LOT of bottles.
The most messed up thing I learned was that there was a way of raising livestock pigs which is quite nasty. The pigs (lit. s**t pigs) were fed s**t because they naturally cleaned it up and they grew on that. As nasty as that sounds it's actually a convenient way to feed them without wasting animal feed. There was a Japanese tour group of about 20 people touring the village with us. When they got to the pig part, I just heard a loud mixture of screaming, disgusted groaning and laughter. Can't really blame them, I feel creeped out as I write this blog. The same pigs are served as food today, but of course they don't raise them the way they did back then.
This rock... as you can probably tell is the shape of a penis. It's like a symbol of good luck, fertility and a healthy child. If a house owned one, it meant that they were planning to have children and that the parents were praying for good fortune.
The rock is not carved by people and is a natural volcanic rock formation.
The rock is not carved by people and is a natural volcanic rock formation.
There's also cultural aspects of the olden days of mainland Korea that was brought over. Probably the most notable one ssireum wrestling. There's also a set of pillars where contests of strength was held. Basically you climb onto the pedestal and try to lift an egg shaped stones. The lighter stones would be about 50lbs and the heaviest weighs about 200lbs. Back then, the young men in the village would show the young women that their strength is much greater than the other men and that they are more suitable husbands. I tried three times to lift the stone and believe me it's a LOT harder than you think. The egg shape makes it awkward to pick up, let alone hold in your arms. I picked it up and held it for about 10 seconds until my arms and back gave out.
Friday, December 25, 2009
Christmas in Korea - Dec-25-2009
Random Korean Trivia
- Family titles exist, but there are certain ways of calling certain relatives. (A number)-chon is literally your (1st/2nd/3rd)-link in the family tree. Siblings would be 1-chon, parents would be 2-chon, uncles would be 3-chon and first cousins would be 4-chon. You get the idea.
Il - I - Sam- Sah - Oh - Yuk - Chil - Pal - Goo - Ship = 1-10 in Korean and then chon (link)
Hodogwajah - Literally walnut snack, it's a bitesize sweet bread with red bean paste inside and a walnut bit on top.
It's a green, foggy Christmas day in Korea. Fine by me, I'd rather not get my feet soaking wet as snow tends to become slush really quickly over here. Today my cousin and his family from Seoul came to stay over at our place. Koreans don't really celebrate Christmas by giving gifts to each other or singing carols, but we go about our day a bit better.
My cousin rings the doorbell and my first hope is that I have surpassed him in height after like 20 years of trying. In the end he's still taller than me (his wife is taller than me too D=). Damnit... despite me growing 1.5cm this past month I'm a full 6cm shorter... oh well lol, I still need to get to 181cm to beat him (sad face). My cousin is a general manager of a computer company and he runs his own team of programmers.
I haven't seen him for about 7 years (he came to Canada for one year to study English). I got to meet his wife and of course his daughter. Her name is Jeong I-Seul (정이슬) She's about 17 months old and like her parents she's quite tall for a child her age. She doesn't speak yet but she's able to say words well enough so that we can figure out what she's saying.
- Family titles exist, but there are certain ways of calling certain relatives. (A number)-chon is literally your (1st/2nd/3rd)-link in the family tree. Siblings would be 1-chon, parents would be 2-chon, uncles would be 3-chon and first cousins would be 4-chon. You get the idea.
Il - I - Sam- Sah - Oh - Yuk - Chil - Pal - Goo - Ship = 1-10 in Korean and then chon (link)
Hodogwajah - Literally walnut snack, it's a bitesize sweet bread with red bean paste inside and a walnut bit on top.
It's a green, foggy Christmas day in Korea. Fine by me, I'd rather not get my feet soaking wet as snow tends to become slush really quickly over here. Today my cousin and his family from Seoul came to stay over at our place. Koreans don't really celebrate Christmas by giving gifts to each other or singing carols, but we go about our day a bit better.
My cousin rings the doorbell and my first hope is that I have surpassed him in height after like 20 years of trying. In the end he's still taller than me (his wife is taller than me too D=). Damnit... despite me growing 1.5cm this past month I'm a full 6cm shorter... oh well lol, I still need to get to 181cm to beat him (sad face). My cousin is a general manager of a computer company and he runs his own team of programmers.
I haven't seen him for about 7 years (he came to Canada for one year to study English). I got to meet his wife and of course his daughter. Her name is Jeong I-Seul (정이슬) She's about 17 months old and like her parents she's quite tall for a child her age. She doesn't speak yet but she's able to say words well enough so that we can figure out what she's saying.
I-seul is just adorable, even though it's my first time meeting her we bonded instantly. She likes food and is constantly feeding me. She unwraps hodogwajah and peels oranges and she just keeps feeding me. She also likes to hug.. I mean hug a lot. She likes the attention I give her and she's always hugging or leaning on me. (To 다운 noona, you're missing out a lot over here).
She doesn't respond as well to her grandparents (my aunt and uncle) and her little-grandparents (my parents). I tell her that my dad is balding gramps and my uncle is wrinkly gramps which she surprinsgly laughed at (so I guess she got those jokes?) She's a very smart girl, eats on her own mostly and knows most of what we're saying to her.
Anyway, I wish you all a Merry Christmas!~
Since I won't be drinking, please drink my share for me. =)
Until next year!
She doesn't respond as well to her grandparents (my aunt and uncle) and her little-grandparents (my parents). I tell her that my dad is balding gramps and my uncle is wrinkly gramps which she surprinsgly laughed at (so I guess she got those jokes?) She's a very smart girl, eats on her own mostly and knows most of what we're saying to her.
I was playing some Super Turbo with a this Korean guy on GGPO and she walked into my room and just sat on my stick when the match was over. I got her off and logged off so she could play with it. Damnit I wish I got a picture of that. When she fiddled with it she actually looked like she was playing.
My uncle also gave me a fitness challenge. I am to run 120km carrying 50kg on my back and do it all in 24 hours. I'll be doing this sometime in the summer, so can someone join me? =D
Anyway, I wish you all a Merry Christmas!~
Since I won't be drinking, please drink my share for me. =)
Until next year!
Monday, December 14, 2009
New Comp, New Goals, New Pissoff - Dec-15-2009
Random Korean Cultural Trivia
Ahjuhsshi (아저씨) - a title people call men who are in their mid 30s to late 50s or so.. the English equivalent is mister I guess
I got my own comp finally. Up until two days ago I've been using my uncle's computer and now I finally have my own here. It should be good to go for SC2 (on avg-low standard) but hey it'll work out. The only problem I have with it is that it's all in Korean. Since I'm not exactly fluent I have a lot of trouble getting things to work on it. This is Windows 7 by the way, so it is completely different from XP. I managed to get GGPO up and running so I'll get my Street Fighter practice with the arcade stick through Super Turbo and 3rd Strike. So far most of what I expect to work runs pretty well and so far this is the most powerful system I've ever owned.
OS - Windows 7
Processor - Dual Core 2.8 ghz
Hard Drive - 320 gb
RAM - 2 gb
Video Card - 512 mb GeForce
I might need a bit more ram but other than that I should be good to go. I tried downloading and installing a cracked copy of Street Fighter 4 on it, but it turns out that Windows 7 isn't compatible with it (at least the Korean version). I guess I'll have to wait 'til I get my PS3 to get some real practice in. I feel my skills have left me already, plus I'm trying to migrate over from the DPad to the arcade stick. (DON'T GET TOO FAR AHEAD GODFREY, WE'RE RIVALS AFTER ALL D=) Maybe later I'll try running Starcraft Brood War.
I'm going to be visiting my aunt's school and I'm going to be observing english classes so I can get a nice demonstration of how things are run by experienced people and also get all my questions and inquiries answered. Apparently a Canadian girl is there teaching English so I'll have someone who is in a similar case to me and will have more things to relate too. Apparently the students' parents all know that I'm gonna be visiting and requested that I befriend their children and use only English. Normally I wouldn't mind this, but these are grade-school kids, they expect me hang out with kids...? Fuck-no, if they want me to waste time with their kids they're gonna have to pay me for it. (This school is full of kids who come from well-off families so it shouldn't be an issue for them right? I mean do they really expect me to do it for free? -_-)
I've been here for nearly 3 weeks and already I'm starting to miss some things at home. Mainly I miss you guys and all the hang out days. I'm also starting to miss food over there. Don't get me wrong, the food is insanely good here, but the menu in Korea that's not Korean food seems to be limited. The only other thing I've seen was pizza... that's it. Congee Time.... I'm craving that shit right now as I type this. Surprisingly there's no Chinese restaurant in this damn city. (I haven't been to the Central downtown area of my city yet so when I get there maybe things will change).
Going to the gym 6 days a week is tough, I always feel so much weaker than everyone else. In Canada, I can do most of the stack on most of the machines, but over here I'm lucky if I can even lift half of the damn stack. Even the guys who don't look particularly strong are way stronger than me (damn soldiers). In fact there was this chin up contest between five big guys the other day. (Chin ups as in no swinging, dropping your arms down completely) The winner did about 79 or 82... The girls who go there are just... wow. They're really committed to keeping their very nice bodies very nice.
Goals... ah yes, I designed my own exercise program to help me slim down again. Weight training alternates between days (every day) but I'm not gonna bother mentioning it, but believe me it's a damn lot. So this is the stuff I do 6 days a week.
Pushups - as many as I can (usually last up to 300 pushups, 400 if I'm not lazy)
(Pushups aren't done on chest days and the day after)
Full Situps - 200... I heard all Korean male celebs do over 600 a day to get their mandatory abs so I decided to add about 10 every week, so in about 40 weeks I should hit that mark unless my abs just explode from stress.
Stretching - I can't do the splits anymore and that pisses me off. So I spend about 2 minutes per stretching exercise.
I also went to the Korean Consulate today to submit my work contract. My dad was driving and there were no spaces in the parking lot. We finally notice someone exiting so we move in to back park. Then this punk ass bitch ahjuhsshi front park snipes the spot. My dad slams the breaks and yells all kinds of curse words. When that assclown got out of his car, he looks over at us does a little bow and smiles. At first I thought that was an insult like "yea took your spot bitches", but over here it's like a "sorry for doing that" gesture. So I started unbuckling to teach that motherfucker a lesson. I don't care if it's an ahjuhsshi or not, a dickhole is a fucking dickhole. My dad stopped me however and said not to pick fights with anyone in Korea, especially since I don't know their connections and if the cops catch me it's a heavy fine for a punch. Promising not to beat him I just got out of the car and sized him down and I'd probably crush his face in one blow if I tried. When we got in the building to find our way to the office we needed to go to, we saw him again waiting for an elevator again giving us the same bow and faggot ass smile. I just gave him a cold stare that clearly implied "you do that shit again and I'm gonna punch the fuck out of your face".
We went back kinda pissed off, so my dad decided to park by a food stand. We got hot/spicy rice cake (떡볶기) as a snack. This surprisingly made me feel a lot better and it was well worth the price (about 3 bucks).
Ahjuhsshi (아저씨) - a title people call men who are in their mid 30s to late 50s or so.. the English equivalent is mister I guess
I got my own comp finally. Up until two days ago I've been using my uncle's computer and now I finally have my own here. It should be good to go for SC2 (on avg-low standard) but hey it'll work out. The only problem I have with it is that it's all in Korean. Since I'm not exactly fluent I have a lot of trouble getting things to work on it. This is Windows 7 by the way, so it is completely different from XP. I managed to get GGPO up and running so I'll get my Street Fighter practice with the arcade stick through Super Turbo and 3rd Strike. So far most of what I expect to work runs pretty well and so far this is the most powerful system I've ever owned.
OS - Windows 7
Processor - Dual Core 2.8 ghz
Hard Drive - 320 gb
RAM - 2 gb
Video Card - 512 mb GeForce
I might need a bit more ram but other than that I should be good to go. I tried downloading and installing a cracked copy of Street Fighter 4 on it, but it turns out that Windows 7 isn't compatible with it (at least the Korean version). I guess I'll have to wait 'til I get my PS3 to get some real practice in. I feel my skills have left me already, plus I'm trying to migrate over from the DPad to the arcade stick. (DON'T GET TOO FAR AHEAD GODFREY, WE'RE RIVALS AFTER ALL D=) Maybe later I'll try running Starcraft Brood War.
I'm going to be visiting my aunt's school and I'm going to be observing english classes so I can get a nice demonstration of how things are run by experienced people and also get all my questions and inquiries answered. Apparently a Canadian girl is there teaching English so I'll have someone who is in a similar case to me and will have more things to relate too. Apparently the students' parents all know that I'm gonna be visiting and requested that I befriend their children and use only English. Normally I wouldn't mind this, but these are grade-school kids, they expect me hang out with kids...? Fuck-no, if they want me to waste time with their kids they're gonna have to pay me for it. (This school is full of kids who come from well-off families so it shouldn't be an issue for them right? I mean do they really expect me to do it for free? -_-)
I've been here for nearly 3 weeks and already I'm starting to miss some things at home. Mainly I miss you guys and all the hang out days. I'm also starting to miss food over there. Don't get me wrong, the food is insanely good here, but the menu in Korea that's not Korean food seems to be limited. The only other thing I've seen was pizza... that's it. Congee Time.... I'm craving that shit right now as I type this. Surprisingly there's no Chinese restaurant in this damn city. (I haven't been to the Central downtown area of my city yet so when I get there maybe things will change).
Going to the gym 6 days a week is tough, I always feel so much weaker than everyone else. In Canada, I can do most of the stack on most of the machines, but over here I'm lucky if I can even lift half of the damn stack. Even the guys who don't look particularly strong are way stronger than me (damn soldiers). In fact there was this chin up contest between five big guys the other day. (Chin ups as in no swinging, dropping your arms down completely) The winner did about 79 or 82... The girls who go there are just... wow. They're really committed to keeping their very nice bodies very nice.
Goals... ah yes, I designed my own exercise program to help me slim down again. Weight training alternates between days (every day) but I'm not gonna bother mentioning it, but believe me it's a damn lot. So this is the stuff I do 6 days a week.
Pushups - as many as I can (usually last up to 300 pushups, 400 if I'm not lazy)
(Pushups aren't done on chest days and the day after)
Full Situps - 200... I heard all Korean male celebs do over 600 a day to get their mandatory abs so I decided to add about 10 every week, so in about 40 weeks I should hit that mark unless my abs just explode from stress.
Stretching - I can't do the splits anymore and that pisses me off. So I spend about 2 minutes per stretching exercise.
I also went to the Korean Consulate today to submit my work contract. My dad was driving and there were no spaces in the parking lot. We finally notice someone exiting so we move in to back park. Then this punk ass bitch ahjuhsshi front park snipes the spot. My dad slams the breaks and yells all kinds of curse words. When that assclown got out of his car, he looks over at us does a little bow and smiles. At first I thought that was an insult like "yea took your spot bitches", but over here it's like a "sorry for doing that" gesture. So I started unbuckling to teach that motherfucker a lesson. I don't care if it's an ahjuhsshi or not, a dickhole is a fucking dickhole. My dad stopped me however and said not to pick fights with anyone in Korea, especially since I don't know their connections and if the cops catch me it's a heavy fine for a punch. Promising not to beat him I just got out of the car and sized him down and I'd probably crush his face in one blow if I tried. When we got in the building to find our way to the office we needed to go to, we saw him again waiting for an elevator again giving us the same bow and faggot ass smile. I just gave him a cold stare that clearly implied "you do that shit again and I'm gonna punch the fuck out of your face".
We went back kinda pissed off, so my dad decided to park by a food stand. We got hot/spicy rice cake (떡볶기) as a snack. This surprisingly made me feel a lot better and it was well worth the price (about 3 bucks).
Monday, December 7, 2009
Going to the Gym - Dec-08-2009
I joined a gym that's across the street from my house today. It's located on the 2nd floor of an office building and it's called Olympia Health Club. I'll start working in February 2010, so I got a temporary 2-month membership for 90 000 won ($90). The price did shock me quite a bit, since places in Canada like Goodlife Fitness or Extreme Fitness won't charge more than $35 for a standard membership. I guess it's because everyone in Korea is physically fit. In the west, obesity rate is dangerously high, so the government takes steps to encourage people to exercise for their health. Over here it's not necessary at all, so it's probably more of a want than a need.
The gym owner (관장님)/general manager was a professional bodybuilder and fitness coach back in the 90's. The instant you walk through the front doors you're greeted by a giant framed picture of him posing in his speedo in a competition o_O.
To say the least, this is a humble gym. It isn't anything large and fancy like the Extreme Fitness on Yonge and 7, but it's a pretty small gym with all the right equipment for exercise. One major adjustment I'll have to make is the equipment and the system. In Korea they use kilograms instead of pounds, so that'll take me a bit to get used to. The weight on a lot of the machines is just ridiculous. For example, the chest press machine goes well over 320 lbs, whereas in Canada the highest I've seen was 290 lbs.
I also mentioned some unique machines that I've never seen before at any gym in Canada. To name one, there's a machine that trains your hips and lower back. Basically you sit on this chair and do 180 degree hip rotations from side to side by using your waist and your hands on a handlebar in front of you. There's also a groin squeezer. I forgot the real name so I'm just gonna call it that. Basically you're in the splits and you have to close your thighs together while resisting the weight you set it on.
I told the boss that I did training for years before I came here, so he decided to put me through one round of his circuit training. Having survived it, I think I shouldn't have said anything at all. If you're familiar with the Fit Fix they do at Goodlife, imagine that but a lot more machines at a much higher weight for a longer time duration.
Start
Cardio Warmup
- 1 minute of speed walking + 9 minutes of running (70% of a sprint)
Weight Training (roughly 45 seconds each, 20 slow reps, middle-heavy weight)
- Shoulder press
- Chest flys (yes it's flys not flies)
- Chest press
- Lat pulldown
- Bicep curl on the machine
- Tricep extension on the machine
- Upside down squats
- Laydown hamstring curls
- Calf press (basically going on your tiptoes while pressing against weight)
- Torso twist
- Groin squeezing
Cardio Training (on my own)
Next to me was a woman in her early 30's (I think). Since we started on the machines at the same time, I made small talk with her. Turns out that she's the head aerobics instructor a few floors above and that she's at the gym on her day off. (That's insane, this is someone who is REALLY dedicated to keeping her body fit). I told her about my own background and she wanted to see if I could keep up with her. The challenge was 40 minutes on the treadmill, 5 minutes walking, 30 minutes running and 5 minutes walking. We had to follow the same speed and same elevation (she would give the cue when to change what). Though I managed to come out alive, I was feeling dead. I never liked running to begin with (especially on a treadmill) and I'm not anywhere close to the level I was 3 years ago. She said she was impressed but I needed a lot of work to do before I could beat her. As you probably guessed, she didn't look that tired and said that was basic for her.
Cooldown Stretching and Abs (on my own)
This took me about 2 hours to complete. While in most other cases I would like these exercises, today the boss made me hate every single one of them. Besides martial arts, this has to be the most painful training session I have ever done in my life (and that's saying a lot). On observation of other members of the gym, I have to say that the adults and seniors here are in much better health and fitness than their western counterparts. Even as I climbed all those mountains, they were able to make it to the top and down without feeling anything.
I guess I'll be going there everyday starting tomorrow or the day after. Of course I won't be training at the insanity of today's, but still hard enough. I only have 2 months left to go before I start teaching, so hopefully I can get back in better shape in time.
I'm also gonna buy a laptop later today or sometime tomorrow. =D
Anyway, peace out everyone.
The gym owner (관장님)/general manager was a professional bodybuilder and fitness coach back in the 90's. The instant you walk through the front doors you're greeted by a giant framed picture of him posing in his speedo in a competition o_O.
To say the least, this is a humble gym. It isn't anything large and fancy like the Extreme Fitness on Yonge and 7, but it's a pretty small gym with all the right equipment for exercise. One major adjustment I'll have to make is the equipment and the system. In Korea they use kilograms instead of pounds, so that'll take me a bit to get used to. The weight on a lot of the machines is just ridiculous. For example, the chest press machine goes well over 320 lbs, whereas in Canada the highest I've seen was 290 lbs.
I also mentioned some unique machines that I've never seen before at any gym in Canada. To name one, there's a machine that trains your hips and lower back. Basically you sit on this chair and do 180 degree hip rotations from side to side by using your waist and your hands on a handlebar in front of you. There's also a groin squeezer. I forgot the real name so I'm just gonna call it that. Basically you're in the splits and you have to close your thighs together while resisting the weight you set it on.
I told the boss that I did training for years before I came here, so he decided to put me through one round of his circuit training. Having survived it, I think I shouldn't have said anything at all. If you're familiar with the Fit Fix they do at Goodlife, imagine that but a lot more machines at a much higher weight for a longer time duration.
Start
Cardio Warmup
- 1 minute of speed walking + 9 minutes of running (70% of a sprint)
Weight Training (roughly 45 seconds each, 20 slow reps, middle-heavy weight)
- Shoulder press
- Chest flys (yes it's flys not flies)
- Chest press
- Lat pulldown
- Bicep curl on the machine
- Tricep extension on the machine
- Upside down squats
- Laydown hamstring curls
- Calf press (basically going on your tiptoes while pressing against weight)
- Torso twist
- Groin squeezing
Cardio Training (on my own)
Next to me was a woman in her early 30's (I think). Since we started on the machines at the same time, I made small talk with her. Turns out that she's the head aerobics instructor a few floors above and that she's at the gym on her day off. (That's insane, this is someone who is REALLY dedicated to keeping her body fit). I told her about my own background and she wanted to see if I could keep up with her. The challenge was 40 minutes on the treadmill, 5 minutes walking, 30 minutes running and 5 minutes walking. We had to follow the same speed and same elevation (she would give the cue when to change what). Though I managed to come out alive, I was feeling dead. I never liked running to begin with (especially on a treadmill) and I'm not anywhere close to the level I was 3 years ago. She said she was impressed but I needed a lot of work to do before I could beat her. As you probably guessed, she didn't look that tired and said that was basic for her.
Cooldown Stretching and Abs (on my own)
This took me about 2 hours to complete. While in most other cases I would like these exercises, today the boss made me hate every single one of them. Besides martial arts, this has to be the most painful training session I have ever done in my life (and that's saying a lot). On observation of other members of the gym, I have to say that the adults and seniors here are in much better health and fitness than their western counterparts. Even as I climbed all those mountains, they were able to make it to the top and down without feeling anything.
I guess I'll be going there everyday starting tomorrow or the day after. Of course I won't be training at the insanity of today's, but still hard enough. I only have 2 months left to go before I start teaching, so hopefully I can get back in better shape in time.
I'm also gonna buy a laptop later today or sometime tomorrow. =D
Anyway, peace out everyone.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Downtown, Countrysides and Mountain Climbing - Dec-4-2009
Korean Cultural Trivia
Ondol - Koreans invented the heating and cooling system for building floors in the early Goguryeo kingdom (37BC-669AD). Basically under the wooden floors, there would be stones beneath them with soil and sand covering them, seperating the rocks and the floor (most commonly where people sleep). The rocks would then be heated through fire to keep warm during winter and be left unheated during the summer. Today, modern ondol is done by electricity with a control panel in each room to adjust the floor temperature.
Yangban - The noble class of Korean society in the olden days. Often remembered as wealthy snobs who had the money to do whatever they want. They mostly cared nothing for the middle and lower class people, usually looking down on them for not being on the same level as them and their peers.
I met up with my friend Eliza so she could show me around downtown. Here I saw a bit more of the modern side of the city even though it wasn't the main downtown area. The sites were actually pretty cool and looked like something you'd see out of those Asian advertising magazines. The roadside strip plazas mainly consisted of clothing stores, restaurants, karaokes and pc rooms. They all looked pretty fancy and from what I saw they offered some pretty good merchandise at a very good price. We also went to Lotte Mart, think of it as a better Walmart. It's really cool that instead of escalators, they use these bands that they use at the airport to walk the hallways, but it's elevated. If you have a cart, the wheels of the cart are magnetized to the track and you can let go of it to give yourself a rest.
I think I already mentioned that bus tickets cost 1000 won (a dollar) vs the 3+ dollars that I had to pay over there. I also took a cab back home from her house and it cost me 2700 won ($2.50). I also must mention that the public transportation here are just flat out ridiculous. Speed seems to be their number one priority, so the driver's waste no time getting people from one stop to the next. Hell buses here cut off more people than cars do in Canada. The cab drivers are just insane, they go through tiny ass alleyways doing like 70km per hour with cars parked on b0th sides. It seems like they won't even care about some drunk idiot jumping out to the middle of the street. Much better than the cab drivers here don't you think?
About a day after I went to the countryside to do a bit of touring. The plan was to visit my mom's hometown city Ham-pyung-goon(함평군) which is located right outside of Mokpo city (think of it as a county). We also visited her childhood home and coincidentally bumped into her oldest brother who was on his way to work on his motorbike. She showed me her family farm and I also got to meet her cousins and the lifestyle that she had back in the 60's. There was also a giant stone monument which was dedicated to my grandfather. Apparently he was a wealthy and generous man who did a lot of good deeds for the people. For doing that, the local community had it made in his honour and it was pretty cool to see it. Some of it was in Chinese letters so I got my parents to read it to me.
While in the area we took the time to visit the area's most famous restaurants. Arriving at the place, there was no giant building like any typical restaurant. Instead it was around 5 mini-buildings in the shape of homes. These small buildings were designed in the fashion of the old Joseon dynasty (1397-1910) of Korea. The dining area was like a giant bedroom with every guest taking their shoes off at the entrance and walking in to about 8 tables nicely organized. The floor was also fitted with the ondol system and all the food was served in stone pots all made over a fire (now that's old school).
Unlike Chinese cuisine, Korean cuisine commonly has soup mixed with rice into this porridge meal. It's probably because Chinese soup isn't nearly as flavour and spice filled as Korean soup. The place was apparently legendary in status for their gook-bap (lit. soup-rice) meals. And holy shit it was the best soup-rice I have ever eaten. There are many types to choose from, I got pig intestines (gop-chang). It might sound nasty, but once you eat it, you'll realize what a delicacy it is. Feeding me and my parents cost about 28 000 won (28 dollars, remember there's no such thing as leaving tip in Korea =D), pretty expensive by Korean standards but very cheap by Western standards.
We also visited my family burial grounds, starting with my paternal side. They were located on mountain bases on the countrysides. We literally had to go through someone else's backyard just to climb up there. When we got there, we cut an apple and a yam, along with a shot of soju and laid it in front of each mound we paid our respects too. We had to do the Korean bow twice by saying "______ I have returned to visit you" then stand back up. During this we have to think in our heads of what we would say to them had they actually been alive. It might be a bit sacriligious, but I just thought "hey.. I don't remember your faces... but nice to see you". After that, we walk around the mounds, pouring the leftover alcohol as we circle it (one bottle per mound). After we did great grandparents, gramps, uncle and aunt, we went to the maternal side.
My mom's side was pretty fancy for a burial mound. Stones with personal art circling the mound, dedication monument statues everywhere. Apparently if you come from a noble class (yangban) family, it was very affordable to do this. Because they were Christian and were not drinkers, we did the same rituals skipping the alcohol related parts. We then left for home.
Today we climbed Yudal mountain (Mokpo's ™ mountain). My parents were feeling exercisy so they told me that were going to walk there, scale the mountain and walk back home. The walk to the mountain was pretty short, about 15-20 minutes or so. While it isn't the tallest mountain, it's a hell of a climb to get up to. A famous monument that I saw along the way was this giant stone perched on the side facing towards the sea. About 500 years ago, Admiral Yi Sun-Shin used it to scare of the Japanese invaders by making the rock seem like a place where the main ground forces were waiting to repel the invaders. This forced the Japanese to turn around and attack from the Eastern coasts instead, where the main navy was waiting for them. Near it was an old statue of the admiral made of bronze (I think) and an epitaph made in his honour.
The climb itself wasn't that bad, but it felt like an eternity. The stairs (old and new) were extremely small and very steep at some points. The old stairs were steps that were carved into the mountainous rocks that are there and you could see that it's starting to wear down. Instead of just going up there were many side routes you could take that would lead you all over the mountain. So we decided to explore all of them and I must say, the views were out of this world. We spent about a good 3 hours on the mountain and it had a lot of small padogas where the yangban nobles would do their recreational activities (usually singing folk songs, playing games, eating food and of course drinking.) We got down and walked to a local restaurant in the street markets. There we sat at a restaurant and ate stuffed pig intestines (fucking awesome), pig head meat (fucking awesome), juhn (Korean pancakes) and drank about a litre of Korean rice wine (yes, the original sake). 13 000 won by the way, whereas in Canada it would be like 30 000 won.All in all it was a pretty enjoyable half a week, I haven't done this much walking or mountain climbing since the last time I've been here. So thanks for reading and I'll see you guys next time.
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