The 8th Annual Busan Fireworks Festival

      The 8th annual Busan Fireworks Festival was last night, October 28th, and was held to usher in Autumn.  It's a 50 minute show synchronized to elaborate music, cost $1.5 million, and brings in over a million viewers.  This year's theme was "love" - there was even a one minute interlude designated for marriage proposals.  Despite the festival being canceled on its originally scheduled Saturday night due to the rain, being moved to Sunday, and the cold temperature, there was still an insane turn out.  I had the brilliant idea to stay away from the crowded beaches and head to an open mountainside so that I'd be able to gaze down upon the city and photograph it...so did a thousand others!  I stood for hours protecting my location and tripod, fighting onlookers, and freezing but I did the best I could to capture the event.  Here are the results...

The grand finale set the night on fire.

The Restoration of Faith

       Needless to say, as of my last entry I hadn't had the greatest week. And it didn't end with my incident; there where other issues thrust to the forefront with most of the foreign teachers. Things were on edge and tensions ran high. But as with most things, time has a way of covering (notice I did not say healing) wounds. While I can not speak for the other foreigners, I suppose I feel about as much at ease as one in my situation would given the circumstances. What's helped is the welcomed, yet sadly, only temporary escape known as the weekend.

      As fortune would have it, my Saturday came together in spectacular fashion. We had a cold front blow through which meant a day doomed by heavy rain, plummeting temperatures, and stiff winds.  Coincidentally at BEXCO, Busan's extremely large convention center, there were a myriad of fairs going on, three of which captured my interests. I got an early start heading to BEXCO and made it there just in time for the skies to open. Once inside, I knew that I wanted to see the International Tea Fair, the International Food Festival, and the Organic and Health Food Fair. Each provided endless entertainment and a much needed escape. As if that wasn't positive enough, the fact that I wasn't jailed in my apartment by the rain made it all the better.

      At the Organic and Health Food Fair I was exposed to every Korean claiming that their food/supplement/drink/extract/root/tea/paste/cream was "good for me." I've already mentioned that they're famously noted for this but it was surely taken to an extreme here. But what do I know? There are numerous elderly Koreans whom are still very active and so much more flexible than I. So maybe there's something to this. I ingested enough free samples to keep me healthy for what I estimate to be the next 8 or 9 years.

      The International Food Festival was quite an impressive culinary exhibition. While it was mainly geared toward restaurant owners and chefs by informing them of the latest and greatest in cooking technologies, I was able to learn about many different dining customs and cuisine preparations. There was one questionable advertising attempt. In order to promote their organic, free range chicken one company decided to set up a pen full of the cutest, fluffiest peeping chicks. Needless to say, this pulled on the heartstrings of every child there and didn't really make you hungry to kill and eat these future chicken nuggets.

      I then attended the International Tea Fair armed with the proper knowledge beat into me bestowed upon me previously by a monk. I was determined not to make a fool of myself and the fair didn't disappoint. Again, I estimate I consumed a gallon's worth of tea samples ranging from mistletoe and mugwort to arrowroot and mushroom. Highlights of the fair included endless impressive hand-made ceramics and rice cakes which I'm gaining quite an affinity for. They are oh so mouth-watering, come in a dizzying array of flavors, and accompany a hot cup of tea perfectly. 

      There was also a small group of musicians providing beautiful background tunes while people made their rounds. Unbelievably enough, a trumpet player dazzled an interested crowd of one (me) by playing "When the Saints Go Marching In." Oddly enough my chant of "Who Dat!" went unechoed after his performance. The highlight of the highlights was an invitation to sit and have coffee with a family while passing their booth. They urged their little girl who was 7 or 8 to practice her English with me. Over the cup of coffee, I was not only offered rice cakes (!) but a cup of tea and a 감 (one of three of the native species of persimmons). As the minutes ticked away and the typical game of gestural charades that I commonly use to converse went on, I was offered a free tea cup and saucer. This was such a kind and unexpected gesture that I felt I needed to do more than just entertain the little girl while eating and drinking for free. I decided that I'd buy another cup to show my appreciation so back to our game of charades we went. Now maybe I got this wrong but after 10 minutes of asking the price of various tiny tea cups, the least expensive answer I received was 1,000,000 won. I hate to be self-referential, especially twice in the same entry, but I've already discovered that I don't make that much money. So...

Dear Extremely Kind Korean Family,

     While I am honored that I was invited to sit down, fed so well, had my thirst quenched, and was given an all-too-nice gift, I just can not afford any of your ceramics. I am more than willing to continue the free English tutoring with your daughter however. Perhaps over a cup of tea in my new cup.

Heart warmed and faith restored,

Ryan

Some younger ceramists are straying from the traditional style 

favored by the monks for something more contemporary.

That Gut-Wrenching Reality Check

       So I knew the honeymoon phase was over; I had no disillusion of this. But now I've experienced what truly bad days are like away from family, friends, loved ones...hell, any other Southerner for that matter. Completely alone and isolated with absolutely no support system. It's a rough thing to go through and I'm purposely writing this entry days post-aftermath as to not give a terribly scathing diatribe on Korea. I've had time to let the weight of the world that was crashing down on my shoulders get slightly lighter so hopefully this wouldn't just be some angry rant.

      I'll spare the details of the events that took place and instead focus on the larger picture with which I'm having issues...

Working as part of a system that you disagree with is tough.

Having co-workers that initially react too angrily and harshly rather that civilized is tough.

Working somewhere where you aren't supported is tough.

Being in a workplace that is segregated is tough.

Working somewhere where you are constantly undermined is tough.

Working with bosses, co-workers, clients, and students in a language that you can't read, write, or speak is tough.

...should I keep going?

      I know, I know, I know...it's a job. Any and most jobs are terrible. If you're one of the extreme few who gets paid to do what you love, I'm beyond envious. Still, the worst days that we experience are made easier by coming home to the people, places, entertainment, or hobbies that we love. Especially the people. They should raise us up on our bad days rather than having our pissed-offness bring them down to our level. A lesson that I unfortunately learned all too late in life.

     Now imagine that support system - those certain things that fill us with safe-and-sound childlike comfort - being taken away. Not just a little bit away but 7,276 miles and 14 time zones away. It's no fun. So looking back on everything and everyone that's ever meant anything to me, I want to say that I miss you and I'm sorry if I ever took you for granted. I'd suggest you look at those in your life and do the same.

      Here's where I bring it back to Korea. Later that same terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day, my school had a surprise raid from immigration officers. They'd been tipped off that there were teachers working illegally and decided to investigate. Here's the thing – there's a lot of illegal things going on, probably at all of the schools. People come into the country illegally or don't have their Visas or their Alien Registration Cards. It's a system that will screw you as the employee, the school as an employer, and itself as the system. To shorten a lengthy story, the officers singled out one girl, made the school buy her a one way ticket home, and she had to show up at the immigration offices the next morning with bags packed. The school hired a lawyer and things worked out; she was able to stay. Maybe he was a good lawyer, maybe immigration just wanted to flex some muscle – who knows? What's my advice to anyone thinking of working in Korea teaching English?

1. Expect to get screwed over. Somehow, someway. If, by some miracle you don't, count your lucky stars. If (or when) you do, you can't be disappointed. I'm still waiting to see $1450 that I'm owed.
2. If you can, come with a significant other or a friend. Having someone there to make those lows not so low and those highs even higher would be invaluable. After 9 or 10 hours of exhausting, tedious work you're going to want someone there to just help you breathe. Not a claustrophobic box of an apartment, not a television that plays the most nonsensical shows in a different language, or books that could contain the markings of a blind man as far as you're concerned.

      If you're fine with that then come on! Live it up and enjoy it. If not, just come visit and until next time, here's to the better days ahead.

The 21st Annual Jagalchi Fish Festival

      Over this past weekend I was fortunate enough to attend the 21st annual Jagalchi Fish Festival.  As you'll see, it's clearly something that's uniquely Korean.  If your passion is food, especially the peculiar type, then Jagalchi and Nampo are the places for you.  There's quite the storied past - fishermen have made a living here by selling their daily catches to eagerly awaiting crowds since the 1910's.

This area of Busan is renowned for its flounder sashimi.

A school of delicious mullet just like back home.

Gizzard shad, which also have a festival devoted specifically to them.

Sea Worms and...

...a guy far too excited to play with them before they are cooked and served.

A juvenile Leopard Shark attempting to escape the inevitable dinner plate of a hungry Korean.

Cochon de Lait.

Bar-be-que whole baby chickens.

And what festival would be complete without live music on the streets?

Continual Attempts

      Just because I've completely tricked Just because my brother, Brandon and our friend, Quentin are kind enough to come visit me for Christmas doesn't mean I'm going to give up on persuading my parents (both Mother AND Father) and friends *cough* Barret, Kenneth, Pat *cough*.  I'm not swayed so easily.

      What follows are photos of the Buddhist temple Haedong Yonggungsa and the Nampo and Jagalchi open fish market. This particular temple is very unique in the fact that that it is not built high in the mountains, as was typical practice thousands of years ago. Instead this temple was built into the jagged Pacific coast.

Prayer candles in an underground cave.

An enormous, golden Buddha.

      And a stroll through the fish market just shows how similar Busan, Korea can be to St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.

Pick out your own Redfish to grill scale-side down.

Boil some crabs.

Turtle soup anyone?

Can't make hog's head cheese without the hog's head!

All the dried seafood you can imagine.

There's good news and then there's good news

      This current entry could be used to report that I have finally received my Alien Registration Card and was able to use that to open my very own banking account here in Korea. Or about how I ate a delicious bowl of red beans and ice. Now I'm willing to bet that everyone back home read over that previous line so quickly that their brain automatically read "red beans and rice" but that is no typo – I had red beans and ice! It's a traditional Korean dessert called Patbingsu which is basically sno-ball ice, red beans, chocolate syrup, rice balls, pineapple and mango chunks, banana slices, and Corn Flakes. Sounds absurd, I know...tastes incredible though. 

      Instead I'm writing to announce that the Orient will be gaining two more Louisianians for Christmas 2012. My brother, Brandon and our close friend, Quentin are coming to visit me and for that I am very grateful. Their timing is perfect too because it will be during my winter holiday so we'll have a great deal of opportunities to live it up. Look out Korea!

      The second thing I'd like to mention is happy anniversary to my mother and father. It was this day, 33 years ago, that they were wed. My dad, while working shift work, had the upcoming weekend off and decided that with a week's notice he and my mother should just get married. They did. It's truly an interesting story with a very movie-esque feel to it. Here's to 33 more.

At the top of the world - Mont Blanc, Chamonix, France

I don't know what made us think it was safe to teeter precariously high upon Swiss castle walls.

Dr. Smallspace or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pyong

      My apartment is small. Really small actually. Even to me, and I consider myself a minimalist who doesn't need much. And what makes it even smaller are its cubist features and lack of windows. It’s literally a rectangle; no unique architectural elements what-so-ever. My apartment is 3 pyong. To give you some perspective of size, a pyong is 3.3 square meters or about 34 square feet. So I estimate my apartment's dimensions at 22' x 12' and unfortunately that's not all usable living space. That’s not much at all. So what a expat living in Korea to do? Be creative and make the most of the available space I suppose...

A café for coffee and tea time.

A full service laundromat.

An art gallery that exhibits both photography and paintings (in progress).

 

An artist's studio. 

A yoga studio/physical therapy gym.

The Monday after Chuseok - A Photographic Tour

     After bathing over a wash basin (which consisted of nothing more than ladling warm water from a large bowl and pouring it over my head) and sleeping on the hardwood floor with all the Korean boys Sunday night, I arose when the rooster crowed. That is no metaphor, the obnoxious rooster actually woke me around 5:45 in the morning. The thought of rolling over and attempting to go back to sleep momentarily crossed my mind but then I quickly realized that that'd be foolish. When else would I be able to watch the rising sun over the mountains of the Korean countryside? I grabbed my camera and tip-toed over the countless sleeping bodies strewn about and made it outside only to discover that it was cold and densely foggy. I was prepared for neither, but it made for interesting photo opportunities. I decided that some fresh rice grain and a persimmon would make for a good breakfast and I was correct on only one of those. The rice grain pulled from the stalks tasted great, however I ruined my mouth for the next hour by biting into what I thought looked like a ripe persimmon. Don't know what I'm talking about? Give a green persimmon a try one day.

When taking pictures, Koreans love the peace sign and saying "1, 2, 3...Cheese!  KIMCHI!"

     I return back to the house to find most of the family awake and preparing breakfast. Sausage, French toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon, you ask? Nope...clams, pork, onions, kimchi, and more kimchi – like always. We ate and I was then informed that we'd be taking a trip to a nearby Buddhist temple. You can imagine my excitement, and after spending the day there picnicking on fruit (Buddhist monks follow a strict vegan diet as not to harm any other living things so that diet must be followed while on the village's ground), it surpassed every expectation that I had.

     What I'll leave you with are the photos from that wonderful Monday. I'm incredibly grateful that I was able to experience all that is Chuseok. I believe I left a good impression upon my friend's family as I was asked to be in a family-style portrait that was taken to be hung up on the wall. I was also told by the men, women, and children of the village that I was "very handsome" so many times you'd think I was Brad freakin' Pitt. Finally, I was invited back to celebrate the second most important holiday in Korea – Lunar New Years. How could I say no?! So here's to ringing in the year of the snake in 2013, lunar style!