Sunday Night and Kickoff Hasn't Happened Yet

So I have to get used to this whole Sunday evening and the NFL doesn't kick off until 3am Monday morning.  Shame that I have to wake up and find out how badly I kicked ass in fantasy football this week.

Anyway, the trip to Jinju Castle was a success yesterday.  Set in the middle of the city, it is celebrated for being an important cog in the Korean's holding off the Japanese in the Imjin War which ranged from 1592-1598.  It is more of a collection of fortresses than a castle but they aren't into semantics...that is why I am here in this country to begin with

This crazy dude points at you as you walk in.  He must be Jewish cause I immediately felt guilted into doing numerous things I normally wouldn't do.  

Hey it's the first pic of me.  This is one of many fortresses that make up the "castle."  Yes it is as stereotypical as you can get when you think Asian architecture but it is very nice and the artwork on it is very intricate.  Those two guys on the side are fake but you don't realize it until you get up there and close.

You are allowed to venture up into this thing (exact name I don't know) via the staircase in the direct middle.  Like many places in the city though you have to remove your shoes before entering.

This is inside the Jinju National Museum (admission free!).  As you can see I perform being a Devil better than Ilya Kovalchuk...OH SNAP!  (P.S. how bout them Rangers?  Sure heartache is going to happen but Dubinsky and Callahan look great right now.  Alright back to Korean stuff).

The most impressive of the fortresses as the design and detail was fantastic.  This one looked out right onto the river (extra pictures will be on Facebook...kind of like extra's on the Special Edition DVD, I need to give you a reason to follow me on yet another medium).

Hey it's me again.  I do look dapper in a coat that wasn't stolen in Hoboken (nope, still not letting that go.  Damn you Phyllis).  The lights of the metropolis Jinju in the background.

Grace and I also spent time exploring downtown Jinju.  The city is not that big but there is a downtown and other neighborhoods which we do not know the names of yet.  What makes the city feel so big is how they cram stores into every possible nook and cranny.  There are stores that go up and down in the same building and the streets wind around in curves and aren't grid-like.  The city is probably no bigger than say Hartford but it feels so much bigger.  Downtown is a busy few streets with dozens of bars, shops (ranging from the dinkiest of clothes to Lacoste and Polo), about 600 coffee shops and plenty of food.

A typical street in the downtown section.  Like many other Asian cities, it is very bright, the stores are compact and people are walking around freely.  Lot of fun things in this area.

This is one of those picture taking things you see at the mall, just hyper-it up Asian style.  You take pictures and then can essentially do whatever you want with them.  It's much more than the ones you see on the boardwalk or other places that would have these that I just can't think of now.  But it is who uses these that make it comical (see next pic).

Obviously teenage girls are the predominant users of these things (there was about 10 or so of these machines in the store).  Those silver jackets you see glistening behind the curtain belong to five Jinju police officers who obviously had such a busy night that they took a half hour perfecting their pictures in this machine.  Giddy doesn't begin to describe how these guys were acting.  Meanwhile, as the rest of the world stops and worries about if war is going to break out here, police officers are putting computerized sparkles on pictures.  There has to be something poetic about that but I just can't figure out what.

Street vendors lining a section of downtown.  The food is not expensive and range from tempura, hotdogs and other Korean delicacies.  They are open late and the people that work these are behind them working all night.  

Nothing important to say about this except that it's the movie theater and obviously this need to be found for me to be able to stay sane.  The English language films playing were The Social Network, Skyline (on two screens!) and Due Date.  Harry Potter doesn't open for a few more weeks so I get Potter-mania in two separate countries.

This is the Jeep clothing store.  I have yet to see a Jeep vehicle anywhere but the fact that there is a whole clothing line of Jeep certainly made me laugh and get freaked out at the same time.  The jeans are "rugged" and the hats are "tough."  Alright I made that part up but the store is as you imagined...if you ever imagined what your jeep would look like in clothes form.

At one of the Western bars I found this gem.  At first I was disappointed since they had a Philadelphia Flyers license plate by the entrance but after looking around I found this and geeked out.  Yes there was a New Jersey license plate which was cool but a Back To The Future time machine license plate was the last thing I expected to find in Jinju (well, I guess second least expected thing after a cup of Matzohball Soup).  There was also a huge ceramic penis over one of the tables.

Some other notes of interest:

• People love Major League Baseball hats.  While there are plenty of Yankee hats, there seems to be a lot more Red Sox hats.  Everytime I see this, I wish just slightly that the North attacks.

• While walking around, we found the Jinju Red Light District.  Of course there was no red lights like in Amsterdam, but instead it was almost pitch black.  The whorehouses are called "Business Rooms" which might be a double entendre or not, I can't tell.  But the lobbies aren't disguised from the outside and if you're walking down the street you see 8 scantly clad women just sitting there in a row waiting for people to come in and take their pick (this set-up is a lot better then the way some of the hookers in Amsterdam solicited themselves.  My favorite one there was the girl eating lo mein out of carton.  Needless to say, she wasn't getting much attention).

• Koreans LOVE pastries.  There are multiple pastry shops on every corner and there are always people in them, yet I never see overweight people.  The U.S. should take notice.

Alright, this has been my longest one of this yet and I hope you have mildly enjoyed reading it.  Please comment or message me or tell me you are reading this.  Any and all feedback would be great.  

Second Update (more creative titles to come)

I want to get into a regular habit of writing these thing as much as I can so I'll try to get my way through a second post.  The quirks of this city are becoming apparent more and more by the hour.  The biggest, as I alluded to in the first post, is that the number of kids that seem to be walking around the city at all times of the day is insane.  They are always dressed for school and are carrying around books/backpacks, yet never seem to ever be there.  The buses are full of them as are the streets and mostly every store.

Speaking of the stores, what we would consider a problem in the U.S. is far from one here.  East Windsor never got a Borders or Barnes & Noble because there were those stores in Hamilton, Lawrence, etc and therefore too close for one in EW.  But here is the exact opposite.  There are cell phone stores of the same company across the street from each other and two on every block.  Same goes for coffee shops, convenient stores and internet cafes (or internet gaming cafes really).  There are so many of them that it's hard to find other stores.  When I add pictures of the city I will show some of these stores.  There is also is a large number of outdoor sportswear stores which of course is exactly what I like.

There was just an older woman connected to an IV walking down the block as I was writing and I felt like that is worth pointing out for both the insanity of it and the humor of it.

This is one view of Jinju from a hill that was found.  As you can see there aren't many skyscrapers or anything but the number of stores and restaurants that are here on every street and in every corner is truly remarkable.  

That bridge separates East and West Jinju.  The other side is where the bus/train station and the hospital is (for when I hurt myself climbing the Korean version of Masada is for you birthright people reading this).

As promised as well I will share pictures of my small, tiny, internetless apartment (at least for now).  It serves its purpose though.

This is the size of the kitchen which leads into the bathroom.  The view you see as you walk into the apartment.

You might be able to make out the TV on the far corner.  Needless to say I doubt it will be used much

The closet and refrigerator are both extremely small but it works fine which is all that matters.

Here is the toilet I tried explaining in the previous post.  As you can see, they built the shelf or whatever that is OVER the top of the lid of the toilet so it can not shut and will therefore always be open.  The chest to keep all the stuff in the bathroom is over this so one slip and its going in.  It's a nice quirk of the apartment.

I'm going to Jinju Castle later today with two Korean girls that work at the school.  The language barrier makes communicating difficult but they understand us somewhat so it shouldn't be that hard.  They're also showing us a typical Korean dish later for dinner so an eventful night is in store for tonight.  I'll report back after school starts on Monday with some pictures of school and other thoughts.  

But for anyone wondering, another quick update on the North Vs. South thing.  Some Koreans Grace and I have spoken to say that they usually ignore the threats from the North but this one seems to have a little more validity to it.  There doesn't seem to be a big concern in the Southern part of the country where I am as people are going through their everyday lives so it's nothing to be too concerned with yet. Enjoy the weekend.

First update

So it's currently 10pm on a Thursday evening on night 4 of this year long adventure to Jinju, South Korea and I am currently without internet in my box of an apartment.  Luckily there is a coffee house not to far away that looks like something that was transported out of the West Village that has free wireless as well as some soothing Louis Armstrong (although it is about 600 degrees in here).

I will use this space to update all of you with what is going on over here instead of sending out e-mail after e-mail saying the same thing to everyone.  I'll try and update frequently (for those of you that actually are going to continue reading this) with all the happenings.  As I get more access to the internet in my apartment I will add pictures and other things that you guys really want to see and less of me rambling but for the first entry it'll be graphicless.

Adjusting to a new life halfway around the world is both exciting and completely overwhelming at the same time.  There are times I have felt completely lost yet there are times like right now that feels eerily very Manhattanish and like home.  Of course Jinju is nothing like home.  Take out the McDonalds, Dunkin Donuts, Outback Stakehouse and Dominoes (no plain pies though) and it is nothing like home.  The city is active until all hours of the night and it's like no kids have any curfews or responsibilities at all.  It's like Fridays and the Movies in middle school just every night.  Kids walk around all day in their school uniforms even though I can't seem to ever tell when they go to school (I swear this place is Weber's porn collection come to life with all the Asian school girls).  It really is mind-blowing but just one of the overt differences between our cultures.

My apartment is extremely small.  There is a stove in the kitchen with a sink and that's about all.  The bathroom has a showerhead but no actual shower so I had to tape it to the wall and create a shower space (picture will follow about how the construction of the bathroom has the toilet unable to shut fully).  Single bed with a pretty hard mattress but that seems to be customary.  College sized refrigerator was included.  Luxurious it is not but I have never been one that needs a lot of space.

The school I am teaching at is a start-up school actually.  The school SLP (Suwon Language Program) is a chain throughout Korea and are just opening up the Jinju school so I am here for the beginning of it.  The school is extremely nice looking and has all the makings of something that will be real good but I will elaborate as I learn more myself.  My boss today, Mr. Jeong (very Bond villain sounding) told me that Shin-Soo Choo of the Indians is a national hero and he is a Red Sox fan.  After not quitting right on the spot he told me that he doesn't like Derek Jeter and Chan Ho Park is great.  My resume is en route to other schools in the area as we speak.

The other American at my school, Grace, is very nice and we have gotten along great these past few days which is good cause we have yet to find another foreigner in this city even though we know they exist.  We actually found a Thanksgiving dinner going on at the English speaking church here on Sunday night (one of the biggest in the country actually) which hopefully will open up some connections.  I also hope it will be as non-denominational as possible for all the obvious reasons.  But I do hope there will be some foreigners there so we can start making some more friends here.

So I'll end this now.  A Happy Thanksgiving to all at home as Thursday is approaching the end for me and it's just starting over there.  I'll check in in a few days, if not sooner since I really like this coffee shop.  Now all I have to do is start drinking coffee.