As you all know (and by "you all", I mean Scott and Joel....maybe other folks), I live and work in Suwon, South Korea. It's about an hour south of Seoul. In many ways it feels the same as Seoul cuz it's super busy and stuff. But in other ways it's different. Depends on the area, really. I live in Mangpo-dong which is in the south, and kinda country. There's some farmland right by the school I work at which is just a 20 minute walk. The school I work at is called Mangpo High School (망포고등학교, for those "in the know"). It's not a big school, and it features some of the city's so called "worst" students. They're not too bad. They kinda run wild, but the school doesn't do anything about it, so....what can an alien like myself do? Right? Where am I going....okay. Enough about the school for now. I want to get to what I did with the teachers from the school this passed weekend. Not an orgy! Not. an. orgy.
Here's the thing, when the year end school tests are finished (the school year starts in March and finishes in December), the school takes all the teachers to a teacher "workshop" somewhere in Korea. When I first heard about these "workshops" I thought it would be, like, sitting in a conference room listening to lectures about teaching and the next year and all of that. But, one of my co-workers clarified things. It's only an excuse to get wasted and relax on the school's dollar. Well....why not? Let's see what this is about.
The day of departure was Friday at 12. Students finished their morning tests, and then we were all hustled on board. Of course, I was the last one cuz I couldn't understand the Korean on the intercom that said we're leaving earlier. But, everyone loves a late foreigner, and I happen to be a foreigner so fun fun fun!
The mood of the bus was set early on when my tenth grade co-teacher (name is Joe) started walking down the aisle with beer and soju shots ready. Yes, I have no problem with these things. I like that very much. Off we go! Destination: Byeonsan Bando (변산반도 one of the national parks) in Jeolla province (전라도 this province has a reputation for protesting the government and food). From Suwon it's maybe 3 hours or so, but we make a stop at another high school for a quick lesson on the history of the school, which I couldn't understand, and I took a quick nap. Then back on the bus to ride down the famous causeway of Korea. I don't know how many miles it was, but I guess they put a lot of money into it. Kinda neat. It's right on the ocean. Probably destroyed marine life making it, but maybe not.
Then we hit Byeonsan, and we do a quick jaunt through a small hill, and stand by the ocean and pictures and things happen very fast in Korea. Something like that might take an hour or 2 in America, but because Korea likes to finish everything too goddamn fast, it only took maybe 30 minutes. I got some neat pictures of all this for your enjoyment (see above. this is the town). Please....ENJOY!
Finally, it's dark, and everyone is ready to get down to some serious eating and drinking. Koreans do not fuck around, for better or worse, and eating n drinking is one area that they DEFINITELY don't fuck around in. Okay, that's not totally true. Koreans do fuck around. I have noticed that they will look busy at work, even if they have not a thing to do. I usually just kick back with book or something. Okay! Back to the story! We are at a seafood restaurant, and booze and food is practically falling off the table. There's a shit ton of raw shit, and tons of side dishes because we are in Jeolla-do which has a reputation for covering your table in side dishes. Eat....drink....eat....drink. I meet folks I rarely get to talk to. Turns out some of them know more English than they were letting on. Some people start to go down early, though, including the guy I rode down with. I knew from talking to him on the bus that he would be the first one down, and I was right. He was screaming and yelling and slobbering, and later he told me that he thought he said some bad shit to some of the girls. Maybe he did, but I didn't hear it. I consoled him by telling him that most people on the bus has probably done that. He's catholic, so he kinda likes to feel guilty about everything. I would also like to point out that, through all of this, the principal and vice principal are there getting drunk, too.
After a couple of hours, we spill out into the street. Bloodlust. I'm getting hit on by a married woman. Everyone else is yelling for the singing room. But the singing starts early, cuz as it turns out, there's a goddamn singing room ON the bus. So, Joe starts belting out his favorite Trot song, and then another co-worker gets on and starts slurring his way through another. The scene is set with flashing neon lights. Here's a picture. It's a strange thing.
Last stop: our hotel and a singing room inside the hotel. More beer. More food. Lots of singing. I sang Bizarre Love Triangle but it was pulled cuz it's too slow. Sad. And then I try 9 to 5 which is still pulled cuz I keep laughing during it. Super sad. So, I leave that crew and go to another room where I eat some extrodinarily hot n spicy soup. Burned so much that I was pouring tap water through my mouth, and then....I guess I stumble back to my room and pass out.
Next day, out the door and to a restaurant out by the sea. Excellent view. Delicious rice porridge. Good hangover remedy. And back on the bus to head back to Suwon. BUT, we stop at a great temple called Naesosa (내소사). For once, I had kinda of a tour guide. One of my co-workers is a Buddhist and she explained the meaning of different things around the temple grounds.
After finishing, we loaded back into the bus and did one more stop. As said before, Jeolla-do is famous for food. One food they are famous for is jeot (젓). Jeot is salted and fermented fish and shellfish. After it has rotted enough they mix in a spicy concoction with it, so it gets a nice bright red and slimy appearance. It's not a side dish, and you usually eat it with rice. The principal is from Jeolla-do, so that explains why he gave us an allowance to buy this slimy stinky stuff. I bought an extra jar. There were many varieties, but I ended up getting changran jeot which is fish intestines and bibimnakji jeot which is octopus. I almost bought the oysters, which I love, but this was so incredibly salty and rich, that I couldn't do it. C'est la vie.
Not much to say after that. It was pretty uneventful the rest of the way back to Suwon, but my appreciation of Korea had been lagging for quite some time. It was nice to take a trip to remind me why I really love this country. Sure, these fuckers work hard, and that keeps them from appreciating some important aspects of living. But, it really is a great country, I'm happy to call it my second home. Keep rockin' Korea.
Here's 2 more pictures:
Jeot galore!!!!
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