Seasons in Transition

The title of this post refers partly to the weather (it's not quite as hot here anymore, and we've had the occasional sprinkle) but also to myself and school.  We've finished 4 weeks of school already so we're halfway done with the first term.  Everyone is settling into the routine now which I mentioned in response to an email from Owen this morning when he remarked that he hadn't heard from me recently and wondered if that was because I'd been busy.  I'll copy some of my reply to him below and add some subsequent info afterwards:

"Hi Owen, thanks for your email. It’s always great to hear from you! I’m actually not all that busy, at least compared to what I’m used to in teaching, so that’s kind of nice for a change. It’s more like having a regular job that you can actually be finished with at some point in the evening, and not have to work on through the whole weekend (just a little bit of work on the weekends).

The main reason I haven’t been writing more lately is that I feel like I haven’t got much new to say. I guess I’ve fallen into a bit of a routine and everything doesn’t seem so new anymore. But that’s okay too. I confess I’ve been vegging out in front of the t.v. (which is actually my laptop) quite a bit lately, watching such Netflix series as Outlander, River, and Daredevil. I’m also checking out a few early episodes of The Get Down and Hemlock Grove to see if I want to continue watching those series.

Now that I’ve explored my immediate area on foot it’s not so interesting to me to go back to the same places again. So my next project is to buy a bike so I can extend my range for exploring. Of course I can also take the subway to new locations and explore by foot from there and I will do some of that but that takes more time so it’s not so easy to do in the evening of a work day. Also, I kind of feel like to some extent one part of the city is much like another - at least to an outsider like myself who can’t necessarily appreciate the differences between coffee shops or restaurants and who isn’t looking to do much shopping - aside from particular tourist attractions such as museums, which I’ll probably get around to visiting eventually.

But I do plan to ride the subway and explore a new part of the city today in conjunction with my search for a bike because it’s actually just the start of my weekend here (just a little after 9:00 am Sat) and not only that, we have the whole next week off for a Korean holiday called Chuseok, which apparently is like Thanksgiving. Yay! Some people are traveling this week but I don’t have any special plans other than relaxing, a little work, and trying to find a bike store with a reasonably-priced bike big enough for me (most bikes I’ve seen are too short for me, which makes sense since I’m taller than most people around here). I’m also looking forward to going to the house of one of our teachers here who is Korean. His name is Mr. Kim and he teaches Korean both to kids and to the staff (for free). I just had my first lesson with the beginning class last Monday afternoon and we learned how to write and say the 10 vowels in Hangul (the Korean alphabet). Mr. Kim has invited any of us staff who are his students and will be in town over break to his house on Thurs. morning to celebrate Chuseok with his extended family. So I’ m looking forward to that. I’ve really only seen public places here so far so I’m looking forward to seeing a more intimate side of the culture.

P.S. I’ve also been doing a little reading, and I’ve just started The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments, which you gave me a while ago.  Thanks again for your thoughtful gift!"

Mr. Kim

Beginning Korean class for staff members.  Monday afternoons at 4:00.

After I sent that email to Owen I headed out on the subway to a bike store I'd located near a subway stop between here and Seoul using Google maps.  Because I don't have an actual phone plan here (which saves me about $40/month) and therefore no internet access when I'm not at my residence I have to do all my research before I go and take pictures of the maps I think I'll need on my phone so I can look at them later.  It adds a bit of challenge, but I prefer it that way.  It feels like more of an adventure.

So I got to the store I'd picked out and unfortunately they didn't have anything large enough for me but they sent me off to another store not too far away which hadn't even show up on Google maps and I ended up getting a bike which isn't really big enough for me either, but the price was right (about $250) and after I added in a lock and a pair of biking gloves it came to around $280 but then I asked for a discount (using my Lonely Planet Korean phrasebook) and that knocked it back down to about $250 again.  The woman who was helping me was really nice and she attached the pedals for me and inflated the tires and tuned it all up and even threw in the water-bottle cage and a front and rear light for no extra charge.  While she'd been doing all that work I saw the same model bike but in red, with red tires, which I thought was pretty cool looking but I felt like it was too late to mention it at that point.  Not only that, but as soon as I rolled "Blackie" (yeah, that's his name) out the door of the shop I noticed another bike shop about 2 doors away that looked like it might have a bigger better selection but maybe I'm just imagining that.  I didn't go check, it being too late and everything.  It's hard to be a careful shopper when you don't speak the language and feel like you're under some pressure to make a decision and stuff.  Anyway, I finally have a bike!

Blackie on the way home on the subway

After I exited the subway at my local stop (which is more like a train station because the subway is above ground in this area) I was happy to realize the seat post on Blackie is actually pretty long and there was more height to be had, so I raised the seat further and immediately put Blackie through his primary paces which are to get me to and from the local town center where the supermarkets are.  Since this is a holiday week coming up I'll get no meals from school so I needed to stock up on supplies.

A guy slicing up fresh octopus in the seafood section of Home Plus

A woman helping customers pack up crabs which were still alive!  It was freaky to seen their legs twitching.

I didn't get octopus or crabs, but I did get more pork and chicken, onions, garlic and peppers to go with my lentils and black beans.  I made pork and lentils last weekend and it was great and I'm planning to make chicken and black beans later tonight.  I also finally found some almond milk to go with the granola I was able to locate a week ago and I got some yogurt which I haven't been eating in recent years but which I wanted to use to try to replenish my inner flora following a bout of the Korean equivalent of Montezuma's revenge which I think was viral in nature because it started when I didn't feel well last weekend and I believe I had a fever for a day last Saturday, but that all quickly cleared up but then I was left with the after-effects (so to speak) all last week.  I think I'm finally getting over that now but don't want to take any chances.  I think it will be good to be doing my own cooking this week as the school fare is pretty spicy and fatty and I usually load up on fresh veggies at the salad bar which I've now discovered through online research is not necessarily a good idea for someone in my recent condition.  In fact, I was Googling about 'my condition' and came across a slide show of things not to eat under those circumstances and most everything I usually eat was on the list!  And the rest of the list was all the stuff they serve at school, which I'm pretty much stuck with throughout the week.  Now that I think about it, everyone I meet at meals here is always asking me how I like the food, and I always say I like it great!  I like spicy stuff!  And they look at me a little slyly and say "Oh really?" and chuckle.  Now I'm wondering if they've been implying something and if there's some known effect of the local cuisine (or at least the school version) on westerners, especially after another guy told me one day he wasn't having any lunch because sometimes the school food doesn't agree with him.  I wonder if they've all been laughing at me!  Or maybe I'm just being paranoid.  But enough about that.  I ate it all and lots of it for the first 5 weeks I was here with no ill effect until I got sick briefly last weekend.  I hope to be back in piggish form again soon.

So then I road home from the grocery store with a super-heavy backpack.  It feels quite liberating to know I can get around the area now for routine errands when I need to and I'm looking forward to exploring a little further afield in the future beginning next week!

Blackie with the seat raised to the max parked in front of my building.  Believe it or not the seat still isn't high enough for me (which is weird when you look at where all the other bikes seats are at) but it will have to do. I do believe I can slide the seat further back on the post as well which will help a little and I might try to raise the handlebars a bit more if they're not already at the maximum height but that requires a special tool.  Maybe I can get some help with that at a local bike place some day.

Have a nice weekend everybody!  -- Chris