Beautiful Busan

I went for a walk this morning and discovered a new area between Haeundae Beach and Gwanghali Beach. There's a nice mixture of new and old architecture throughout the area, blended perfectly with the natural landscape (ocean, cliffs, and hilltop). Words can't really describe the scene so hopefully these pictures will.

Nothing beats outdoor exercising...

From my apartment here in Busan, Haeundae Beach is a 15-20 minute walk due South. Jangsan Mountain is a 15-20 minute walk due West. Generally in the mornings before I head to work I like to spend a couple relaxing hours on the beach soaking up some sun and catching a few waves. Today, Jesi and I decided to walk to Jangsan Mountain instead, and boy am I glad we did. About 1/6 of the way up the mountain is and outdoor recreational/exercise area full of medieval contraptions that supposedly provide one with a physical "workout." Personally, I think a hearty sneeze would do more for the body than 90% of these Korean-style exercises but they sure are fun to watch.

KJC Speaking Contest

Twice a year our KJC Academy hosts a speaking contest in which the best three English writing/speaking students in each level create powerpoint presentations and speak in front of a small audience consisting of other students and us foreign teachers. Our task was to judge each of the students and choose the best in each level so he/she can advance to the all-KJC competion a month later. The speeches were pretty impressive overall, but some of them were downright hilarious. For some reason, Koreans freak out about mad cow disease. Students talk about it, Korean politicians debate it, Korean newspapers write story after story about it, and I'm not convinced any of them know what they're talking about. At any rate, the Korean obsession with mad cow disease led to some entertaining speeches during the competiton. Hopefully the pictures will portray the scene. Look closely at the slides in the background.

"Guy's Night"

Shortly after starting my job here as a foreign English teacher, I decided that Brandon and I should host a monthy "guy's night" get-together with the male Korean teachers at our school in order to get to know them a little better and experience an insider's view of South Korea. Last Friday after work we joined up with Sam, Jay, Phil, and Young June (all Korean teachers at KJC Academy) for a night of recreation. They took us to a nearby bowling alley which was intelligently positioned on the 7th floor of a mini-skyrise. Imagine what it sounds like on the 6th floor! :-) Anyway, we formed teams and bowled a couple games. My team won and the losing team had to pay, so the night was off to a good start. Phil is a hilarious bowler (actually he's pretty funny doing just about anything). He's not athletically gifted at all. I think his average bowling score was around his age (30). When he rolled a gutter-ball, which happened a lot, he always had a funny response (falling on the floor, staring blankly-disappointingly down the lane for several seconds, or my personal favorite...taking of his shoe and acting like he was going to throw it at the remaining pins). We had so much fun bowling that nobody wanted to call it a night, so they then took us to a pool-hall for some Korean-style billiards. Just like everything else in this country, Korean pool is a little different. Okay, it's a lot different. Korean pool consists of only 4 balls... oh yeah, and the table has NO HOLES. None. Nada. Zip. Zero holes. The object is to hit one of two "cue balls" and find a way to make that ball hit both of the other balls in one stroke. It's harder than it sounds but our Korean buddies had a really good time teaching us to play. As luck would have it, my team won again so I played for free. We had so much fun bowling, and had so much fun playing pool that nobody wanted to call it a night, so they took us to a bar called "The Basement". We met up with the female Korean teachers from our school and spent the next couple hours dancing and sharing some drinks. Looking forward to the next edition of "Guy's Night".

Lotte Giants Baseball

Alright, if you know me at all, you clearly understand that I'm a diehard K-State sports fan. Many of the most exhilerating moments of my life occurred while attending various KSU sporting events (Big 12 Championship win over Oklahoma in 2003, Beating Nebraska in 1998, Stomping ku for over a decade, and the list goes on and on. I remind you of this to ensure that my first couple experiences at Korean baseball games are put in the proper context. I attended 2 Lotte Giants (Busan's professional team) games this past weekend and they instantly etched themselves in my top 5 sports experiences of all time. Combine the noise of the KSU football student section, with the intensity of the KSU basketball student section, topped off with the creativity of the KSU volleyball student section (if you've been to a KSU volleyball game, you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, get your tickets now) and multiply the number of fans by 5 and that's what it feels like inside the Lotte Giants Stadium in downtown Busan, South Korea. The first base side of the stadium houses the young, rowdy fans led by a 20 something male cheer leader/announcer/drum line director/music video maker. He's nuts. He spends the entire game dancing, yelling, fist pumping, and leading the fans in numerous cheers from the opening pitch to the final out. He's surrounded by 4 female cheerleaders who serve mainly as his backup dancers. While this side of the stadium is clearly the loudest and most intense, the rest of the fans are pretty fanatical as well. They have individual cheers for each player as he stroles up the the plate. These cheers are super loud and super catchy. My favorite such cheer is for a Mexican player with the last name of Garcia. He's the starting right fielder for the Giants and each time he steps up to the plate, the entire stadium erupts in a Korean/Mexican style chant "Gaaaaar-a-cia, Gar-a-cia, Gar-a-cia! Gaaaaar-a-cia, Gar-a-cia, Gar-a-cia!" The cheer lasts the duration of most of his atbats. While chanting his name, most fans jump in the air waving their hands frantically above their heads (like Rocky Balboa when he reached the top of the mountain during his workout in Russia). In addition to the crazy chants, Korean fans make pom-pons out of newspapers and wear orange air-filled grocery bags on their heads (Korean style rally caps) during every game. We met two new Korean friends, who I'm certain will become our baseball buddies for the rest of the season. Their names are Pak and Lee, two early 20's crazy Giants fans. They taught us many of the cheers, bought us some beers, and entertained us throughout Sunday's game. The Giants rallied to overcome a 5-1 deficit to win the game 7-5 in 9 innings. For a guy who has loved sports since birth, taking part in my first couple Korean baseball games was truly an unbelievable experience.

An English Teacher Everywhere I Go

One of the coolest things about being an American in Korea is that everyone I meet wants to use me for a quick English speaking practice session. The funniest moments are when parents literally push their kids toward me, encouraging them to say something, anything in English. After all, most Korean parents are paying big bucks to send their children to English Academies (Hogwans) and they want to see the results first hand. The other day Jesi, Brandon, and I were in a taxi headed for a Lotte Giants baseball game when a middle-aged mother pulled up along side of us at a stoplight. She had two children in the back seat, a 3-year old boy and a 9 year-old girl. The little girl rolled down her window and motioned for me to do the same. "Hi. Where are you from?" she asked. "How are you? I'm from the USA," I responded. The little girl then turned to her mom to translate what I just said. A moment later, as the young English speaker was attempting to ask me another question, the traffic light changed and her mother was forced to pull forward. Conversation over. Well, not quite... A few moments later, I see the same car backing up in the middle of the street so the little girl could talk with me a little more. The cab driver had a wry smile while Jesi and Brandon were cracking up. In the middle of a city of 4 million people, Korean parents are willing to do almost anything to give their kids a chance to speak English to authentic Americans. I'm an English teacher at school, on the street, in the gym, on the bus, and even in a taxi on a busy Busan street. Life here is just a little different.