Visions from the Rooftop

Before I get into this post, I wanna make sure everyone knows that the recent disasters in Japan have not reached Korea. A lot of people have asked me if I'm ok, or what people are saying about Japan over here. I can't tell you what most people say, because I don't speak Korean. For that same reason, I don't really watch the news. But I know that for the most part, we're safe...aside from that constant fear of impending war. But I try not to think about that too much.

Anyways, I decided to showcase a bit of scenery and describe my location in this post. Most of the interesting stuff that happens to me occurs in Seoul, but Ilsan isn't awful. When it's warm outside, one of my favorite pastimes is taking my iPod to the roof of my apartment building and just zoning out. A well furnished rooftop is a great place to hang out on a sunny day.



This is the roof of the building where I work. Consequently it's only a block away from my apartment building, which is so very convenient. Most of the time you'll run into people from the other businesses in the building, having a smoke. Our building has seven floors: restaurants on the bottom, then a photographer studio, Christian bookstore, Yamaha music store, TaeKwonDo class, and a medical lab for the nearby hospital takes up the top floors (there's some kind of dark humor to be had when you see how many doctors smoke cigarettes). My school shares two floors with the bookstore and the music store.



You may notice the vast intersections we must traverse to simply cross the street. It's kind of crazy to try and fly across the street before the light changes. There's like eight lanes with a bus lane in the middle. It's only a little bit dangerous though. The cool thing about this intersection, though, is that there is an electronics store on three of the four corners. Samsung store on one, LG store on another, and a 4-floor mega-store called ETLand right across the street from my school building. That really comes in handy when you're in need of an HDMI cable or a surge protector.



The thing I don't like is the architecture of the apartment buildings. This tower block format on all these buildings is incredibly bland. But on the opposite side, there's some pretty cool architecture in some of the hotels behind my apartment building. One even has a Taj Mahal vibe.



However, I have been led to believe that many of these reputable establishments are actually of ill repute. They may be...Love Motels.

Yes. That's exactly what you think it means.

If that's still not clear enough for you, it works like this: some business men use these hotels for illicit dealings with women of a certain profession (I said that in the most eloquent way I could). It's convenient for them because they may rent these rooms in 4-hour intervals.

Now, before you start saying, "How do you know all this, Anthony?" firstly, shame on you for thinking so foul of me. If I'm gonna go do that, I'll at least leave my own neighborhood. Secondly, you can blame this bit of education on my colleague, Cryn Johannsen. She told me a story about one of her friends staying in one of these hotels and having a not-so-pleasant experience.



All in all, it's not a bad place to live. Not many young people live around here so there's pretty much no nightlife. But there's good Korean restaurants, a few bars, and coffeshops aplenty. It's usually pretty quiet, minus the constant roar of buses storming by. And just like anywhere else in Korea, you will see random drunk Korean men ambling their way down the street at night. Sometimes I watch them for fun. It's like watching a baby who's learning to walk hahaha.

Peace

The Rock Show

I'm back again. Since I took that extended absence from the blog, I figure it's best to fill you in on where I was. I'm no stranger to Seoul's nightlife; it's a staple of my weekend schedule. I usually end up running around bars and the occasional dance club. But seeing the same people around the bar in one place, and standing shoulder to shoulder with strangers while speakers bang out my eardrums in another, isn't always fulfilling. So one night, we decide to take in a live show.



There are a bunch of concert venues throughout Hongdae featuring everything from rock to reggae. We checked out a spot called DGBD. It's your average smokey basement, with a bar along the wall, space to stand around the top and bottom floors, and a moderately sized stage. Me and Darin got there a little late, so we missed the first act (Chris said it was a girl, punk japanese group, dang). But the first act we caught was well worth seeing.



This is No. 1 Korean. Yeah...that's the name of their band. Not the most creative moniker, but they put on a damn good show. They're this ska band with the most high-powered frontman I've ever witnessed. Not only was this guy flying all over the stage and pumping up the crowd, but he blasted that same energy through a trumpet.



The whole crowd was digging the sound and I'm not sure how many people knew the bands songs, but those guys got us all singing along.

After they wrapped up, a jazzier combo showed up on stage.



This well-dressed quartet goes by the name of Tama & Vagabond. No idea why. They weren't bad, but it was a tough transition going from a guy flying around the stage, to a guy just swaying from side to side. They had a nice, mellow sound though, a guy on the upright bass, and they were giving out free CDs after their set. Oh, and did I mention they had a girl drummer?



She even went off for a while, on a mean drum solo. But the show couldn't stay mellow forever, and the next act REALLY got the blood flowing.



Never, in a million years, did I expect to see a rockabilly band in Korea. And then I saw The RockTigers. But since this is a Korean rockabilly band, they prefer to call their sound, Kimchibilly. This group really put on a show. A pretty authentic sound with style and hair to match. They featured a guy on the upright bass as well, but his bass was just a bit cooler.



I think the majority of the bodies in that club showed up specifically to see the RockTigers. And anyone in the audience who didn't know about them, became an instant fan. People crowded around the front of the stage to really get the full effect. The big sound, the call-and-response, and the hot lead singer. Well, that's if you're into chicks in rockabilly bands, covered in tattoos and a blond pompadour...which I'm sure many people are.

And she gave the crowd as much as they could handle.



Definitely a good choice for the closing act. They gave a couple of encores and even stuck around to take a few pictures with the fans.



Awesome.

I haven't been to a lot of live shows, but that was a pretty satisfying lineup. Since the weather is getting nicer, hopefully I'll get to check out some more live shows, and maybe a music festival or two. 'Til next time.

Rock on

Return of the Blog AKA Under The Sea

Hey there, it's been a while. Yeah, I know, it's completely my fault. I kinda let my blog fall by the wayside. It's not that I don't enjoy sharing these stories. And it's not that I've stopped having adventures. I just kept putting off these updates until it reached the point where I forgot it existed. But I've blown the dust off my blogger and we're already through the first paragraph.

So, let's give this another try, shall we?

This is gonna be a simple one. I'll slowly reclaim my blog, but this one is mostly for the pictures. If you know me, you know that I think aquariums are one of the most worthwhile experiences that any human being can have. It's one of the reasons I love going to Chicago. Me and Shedd get along rather well.



They're timeless; enjoyable for babies who are mesmerized by bright colors, adults who like reliving they're first time seeing a dolphins dance, or that 20-something year old who maintains an affection for giant turtles.



If you've ever heard of the Coex Mall in Seoul, you'll know there's a massive movie theater, a nearby exhibition hall, and a kimchi museum (haven't been there). But it also houses a rather lovely aquarium.







Of course these big bright swimmers will catch your attention with their stunning display. But they also find creative ways of showcasing the smaller fish, by putting them into glass harps and toilet bowls. Though I think the latter could cause some painful memories for certain children.



Along with the citizens of the aquatic, there's also a small section of lizards that you might enjoy, but my favorite oxygen-breathing exhibit was the batcave. Ok, not so much a cave as a bunch of tree branches spaced between a painted wall and a sheet of glass. But they look comfortable right?



But my favorite part of any aquarium is always when I see the penguins. I love those little fuzzy guys. So majestic, yet so cute.



It's not the most extensive exposition of marine life, but it's a fun trip nonetheless. Hope you guys enjoy the pictures and if you ever end up in Seoul, maybe spend an afternoon with some sea creatures.

Until next time. (which is hopefully soon, haha)
Peace

Happy Birthday 대돈

A major part of life is getting older. And even though most people see birthdays as an incentive to drink more than usual, you can still celebrate in a relaxed and comfortable way. So, today is my boy Dae Don's birthday.



In certain situations, he might go by his American name (John), but in Korea, Dae Don Choi is like fam. In Korean, he's my 형 (hyung) or big brother, but only because he's older than me. He looked out for me when I first arrived. It's always convenient to have a Korean-American, who is fluent in both languages, living across the street from you. So I've gotten really close to Dae Don, and his fiance' Soo, since I've been here.



After work, the three of us went out to dinner and had some drinks. Soo bought a birthday cake and we even invited some of the friendly patrons and workers in the restaurant to sing Happy Birthday (in Korean) along with us. Other than that, it was pretty much dinner as usual (except we had pig intestines for dinner; chitlins?)



I also have to say a quick word for my blood brother DeMarcus, whose birthday was a couple weeks ago, and let the kid know I love him. But this is for my Korean brother Dae Don, cuz I love that kid too...and of course Soo, haha.

Happy Halloween y'all!

Out And About 2

So I've been neglecting my blog. It's partially because I haven't been doing anything too interesting, but mostly because I'm just lazy. But every once in a while I get the urge to post, so let's ignore my lethargy and follow the words.

Most of the time when I get to see my friends from home, it's when they're visiting. And that in and of itself is still crazy to me. But I also get to hang out with Michigan Alumni who are teaching in Korea. Some are alums who I'm meeting for the first time overseas (I mean, it's a really big school, right?) like Euna and Stephanie. And then there's people over here who I've known for years, like Andy, who's already been here for a year and my boy John Zhu who got here last month.



I met up with John to show him around a little bit. One of the coolest things about Korea is the street food stands that you find all over the place. They sell different traditional foods, fried foods and all kinds of other good stuff. While John and I were in Gangnam, we found a stand selling cheeseburgers. CHEESEBURGERS MAN!! And the crazy thing is that the burgers were made with this rice cake called ttuk inside of it. Amazing.



Then that weekend I met up with John and Andy in Sinchon. This was right around the Korean holiday, Chuseok. It's kind of like Thanksgiving, in the sense that it's based mainly around family and food. Most of the businesses shut down for like 3 days, and we even got a day off from school. The downside was that most of the restaurants closed down too, so it was hard to get food. Luckily, Andy came through with an alternative.



We met up with Andy's friend's Azusa and Reiko and some of their classmates from Yonsei University who were doing a project for school. They showed us the cultural elements of Chuseok and asked our opinions on the experience. It's always funny when Korean people see Americans using chopsticks and are SO astounded. Like it's just mind-blowing that anyone outside of Asia has ever eaten anything with something other than a fork. The funnies part was when John said he'd been using chopsticks his whole life. The girls were surprised and asked him why, so he matter-of-factly said "I'm Chinese".



But those girls were great. We had these really open conversations about our different cultures, the holidays, and also Korean popular culture. Yeah, Korean dramas, movies and music are pretty interesting. Even though I can't make heads or tails of anything they say. However, as much as I love having spirited discussions with intelligent students of varied backgrounds, the best part was the food.

We had this kind of Korean pizza, fried with vegetables. It was kind of hard to pull apart with chopsticks, but it was delicious. There was also this dish with ttuk (rice cake) and odeng (fish cake) in a spicy sauce.





So that was excellent. Cool group of people, great food and an engaging cultural experience. Then after that, we went to a bar. We actually found this bar that had beer pong tables. Of course, after experiencing all of that Korean culture we go for the most American act that we could find. Like being back in college...





Shout out to John Zhu and welcome to Korea, shout out to Andy for hooking all this up, shout out to Azusa and Reiko for some fun matches of beer pong and a big shout out to the girls from Yonsei for a great experience.



Good times

Out And About

Wow, I hadn't even realized how long it'd been since my last post. Sorry, bout that. Been kinda busy and kinda lazy. But in the time since then, I've got to hang out with some of my friends from back home, and there's nothing more enjoyable.



First, Felicia and Vickie came over for a week and I got to meet up with them a couple of times. So to start, I took them to Rainbow for some hookah. Friday nights at Rainbow are crazy packed so it was kinda crowded. And apparently that's techno/electronic night so this DJ was spinning some trance and dance music. People were goin crazy, getting up and dancing in the middle of the floor (which was already crowded with people smoking). But somehow the vibe was still pretty mellow.



Afterward, I took them over to this bar I like in Gangnam called Vudu. Most bars in Korea seem more like restaurants. There's tables and booths, no dancing, and while you can order drinks, you HAVE to order food first. But Vudu is more like a bar in the States. There's loud music, a small dance floor, cheap drinks, shots and beer, all that stuff. But the best thing about Vudu is the bartender.



So, this is LJ. She pours most of the drinks at Vudu and she's one of the coolest people you'll meet. It's always cool when you can go to a bar and make friends with the bartender. There's also usually a pretty interesting crowd here too. You get some military guys, some English teachers, a couple of Koreans, but mostly your regular drunk foreigners.

Since it was their first night in Seoul, Felicia and I decided to explore the shot list. The thing that made this so much fun is that LJ gets really creative with the shots. For instance, "The Brainhammer" which if you look at it, resembles a preserved brain in a jar (shot glass).



It's also pretty chunky, with a bit of Bailey's in the mix, so LJ recommends you chew. It was pretty weird. But I think our favorite was "The Blue Skies". Now I can't really tell you what's in any of these shots, except I know LJ likes to slip a bit of Bacardi 151 into the shot for a little extra knock. But you can see from this one that the shot has a bit of blue liquor with some small clouds of Bailey's.



See? Blue Skies...

So, it was a good night. But I don't think either of us wanna see that shot list any time soon.



Shout out to Felicia and Vickie for hangin with me. And be on the look out for more post of my nights out.

Cheers

Sun & Fun

First blog post of August. Let's get started, shall we?

It's always cool when I get to see or hang out with people from home, while overseas. Like when I met up with Andy my first day here, or when we had that funKtion reunion when Terence and Sherry came to Korea. It just makes me feel like I'm home. Of course this is mainly the case with my University of Michigan folks. I didn't even realize I had so many Korean friends, or just traveling friends in general. So I was excited when my friend Ann told me she was visiting family in Korea this summer.



Ann was in Seoul, so I got a chance to meet up with her for lunch, and I even got to meet her sister. We also have a friend from Michigan who teaches in Busan. The thing about Busan is that it's wayyyy in the South of Korea. There's a KTX train that goes from Seoul to Busan, but it's a 3-hour ride. So, with some tactical scheduling, we devised a plan to spend the day in Busan with Alex.

So Ann and I got on a train about around 9am and journeyed down South. The funny thing is, most of that week, it had been raining like crazy. So I totally expected it to be gray and dreary, but I don't think I've ever seen the sun shine so brightly. So nice that a bunch of high school kids were doing some dance routine outside of the train station.



So we met up with Alex and walked around a little bit and grabbed lunch. The main reason that people like to check out Busan is the beaches. Like I said, it's down South, on the southern tip actually, so you get to visit the gorgeous coastline. And that's exactly what we did.



We got on the subway and went over to Haeundae. And we weren't the only ones either. There were mobs of people visiting the beach that day. You could barely see the sand because it was covered with umbrellas, beach towels, and small spots of people throwing frisbees.



But who needs sand when you've got this amazing blue water



It was such a beautiful day. And we were pretty lucky to end up going on the day that it didn't rain. Just walking around in the sunshine, eating an ice cream cone, taking it all in and enjoying it.

My favorite part of the day actually came when we were leaving the beach. We were walking past this man with his two little kids: a girl and a boy. He was taking the kids for a ride on a scooter, so he pulled the girl on in front of him and tried to help the buy up on the seat behind him. However, the boy was too small to climb up, so he struggled. Me being the superhero that I am, I ran over and lifted the boy onto the back of the scooter. The man thanked me and the boy just stared; part shock, part confusion I think. But when they were riding away, the man stopped and the boy smiled and said "thank you". I highly doubt that boy spoke/understood much English (or any for that matter) but it felt good hearing it.

I also wish I'd taken a picture of him.

So to end our day in sunny Haeundae, we went to this Vietnamese restaurant that served phở and that's where I had my second favorite part of the day.



Imported beers aren't always common in Korea, and when they are, they're usually on the expensive side. But that tall, cold glass of Guinness was like drinking a piece of heaven.

So that was the end of my bright and sunny day in Busan. Definitely worth six hours of traveling in one day. Big shout outs to Ann for hanging out and making the trip with me, and to Alex for taking us around her neck of the woods. An expedition I won't soon forget.



Good times.

P.S. My boy Jason told me that his mom reads my blog pretty consistently, so a special shout out to Rasheedah Wazeerud-Din. And the same goes to everyone who's been checking out my posts. Thanks for reading.