Two faces

This week is level-up testing for my students. Which basically means no prep work and all I have to do is wander around my class for three hours making sure my students are doing the work and not cheating. It's dull, but it's kind of a nice break. The thing is we still have three weeks of class after this week so I'm not exactly sure why they're doing the testing now instead of at the end of the term. I'm also not sure how I'm going to get my students to focus once the tests are done. Quite the pickle Nope, didn't just write that.

So one thing I've found kinda funny but also depressing is how Korea handles waste management. I think ages ago someone probably wrote down garbage disposal procedures into a massive document, but then a few pages blew away and no one was ever able to find them because the instructions for doing so were written on those pages. Kind of a catch-22 if you pretend for even one second that it actually happened. I honestly don't know what the hell I'm talking about right now, I've been having trouble sleeping this week.

Basically, my point here is that everything seems to create unnecessary waste yet there's a few pretty basic steps missing in how to handle it. Steps like: garbage bags. And selling them. I have checked every grocery store, department store and convenience store (of which there are literally a billion) and not a single place actually sells garbage bags. So far I've been using the oversized plastic bags I get my groceries in, which I also have to purchase at 50 cents each. The only thing I was able to find that came close was a sealed plastic thing that had 15 bags in it for $5, and it was under the heaviest security of anything I've ever seen. The small plastic box (that contained BAGS, by the way) had a digital security alarm, was hanging on a peg that also had a lock on it, and was sealed behind a glass door that ALSO HAD A LOCK. There were three levels of security for PLASTIC BAGS. If you went up one floor you would have found about a dozen laptops on display that weren't even bolted down but god damn you if you try to make off with those bags.

So they don't want you to get the bags, but the problem is everything creates trash. Way more trash than it needs to create. There are multiple layers of redundant wrapping on just about everything you buy. I bought a box of biscuits (which is my way of getting around saying I ate a box of cookies once), and inside the box was the plastic sleeve and inside the plastic sleeve were the biscuits, each of them individually wrapped in a plastic wrapper. Why? Don't know. Maybe just to make me feel like a pig as the wrappers started to accumulate around me. Success.

If you buy an iced coffee they still put a cardboard sleeve on it. You know, to keep your hand from burning on your ice cold cup of coffee. The nearest garbage can in which to throw the empty cup of iced coffee, presuming you escaped burn-related injury and are not now being rushed to the emergency room, will be approximately ten kilometers away from any given place you are standing. Surprisingly enough the streets are all relatively clean compared to cities in North America, so my only explanation is magic.

One thing I found hilarious is that while looking for garbage bags I found an aisle specifically dedicated to disposable utensils. You know, plates, cups, cutlery, stuff like that. Stuff that is disposable. Which means you throw it out. How are the garbage bags not located directly next to this aisle? That would follow a pretty basic line of reasoning, wouldn't it? "Here's what you eat off of and here's where you put it when you're done."

Although after you buy it I guess they do put it in a grocery bag...hmmm...

Nevermind.


Today's title:

The world is outside

Things are going well! At least, that's what I'd like to be saying...

Nah that dramatic twist was just a joke. Really everything is going great - at least for the most part. To be serious for just a minute, I have been a little stressed out over the past couple weeks. When I got here it was kind of like wandering around in vacation mode ("Oooh, look at that! Look at this! Everything is new and exciting and wheeeeee!"), and there is still a lot of that from time to time, but now that I'm approaching the two-month mark the majority just feels like everyday life. And everyday life is stressful! I'm getting BILLS and stuff now! Who the hell has to pay bills while travelling in a different country? It was a good reminder that this isn't just a trip; it's basically relocation for work.

It hasn't really been anything major. Although - I'm embarrassed to admit this but it happened - I did temporarily start smoking again. Yes I know, I can hear the boo's already. I was off them for about 18 months, but a combination of anxiety and alcohol and a few other things...I'm just making excuses now. I fucked up, that's basically it. All I can really do now is try not to smoke again. So I've reset the counter and I've gone without them for six days. Not as awesome a number as 544 admittedly but there you go.

Anyway, moving along. I'm trying to remember some things I've done since my last post but it's tough to follow "I wandered around the Red Light District" with "I'm starting to take the bus a lot HUR HUR HUR." I've noticed that my social circle is starting to grow a little bit. When I first got here I was so worried about making sure I had a place to live and knew where to buy groceries and could remember how to tie my shoes or put on pants without falling over, stuff like that. Organizing day trips and meeting new people in Seoul was wayyyy down on my list of priorities. But now it's much easier to branch out a little bit. I have to get out of my little town every once in a while and see this country! I've gone up to Seoul the past two weekends to meet people and explore a bit. Today there was some sort of event in Itaewan; pretty huge crowds of people and seemed like there was live music happening but I didn't stick around long. Because when I say "music" I mean rapping and it was, ah...I didn't stick around long.

I think my next two priorities are Busan and the DMZ. Hopefully by typing them down here I'll make more of an effort to actually travel to those places. My weekends feel kinda short because I'm trying to pack so much stuff into two days. Might have to fake my death so I can take some extra time off. Maybe blame it on one of my students. That'll show them for talking in class.


Today's title:

Nightcall

So I have a bit of a story. The story about how, less than an hour ago, I accidentally (no) wandered into Pyeongtaek's red light district. Last week I broke my computer because it and the floor had a bit of a disagreement that I, drunk as I was, failed to mediate. So over Chuseok weekend 

[Hey! Chuseok was a lot of fun too! I went to a Gyeongbokgung Palace with my co-workers and travelled around Seoul a bit, and also got to visit Hongdae for the first time. If you're from a University town and you sometimes say, "Yeah we throw crazy parties, sometimes whole streets shut down HUEH HUEH HUEH!" well, my extremely irritating friend I just made up, you haven't seen shit. Hongdae is basically a small city within Seoul that does nothing but party non-stop]

I went out looking for a new laptop. Of the many places I checked in downtown Pyeongtaek that afternoon, one happened to be the worst Samsung dealership on planet Earth. There were piles of junk everywhere and for whatever baffling reason they primarily sold old, previously owned models of laptops. So I nope'd out of there pretty quickly and took a turn around the corner to see if the shops continued. They didn't. Instead what I found was a really odd-looking street.

I'm not even sure why it struck me as odd, it just didn't look like a normal street. The road was narrow and there were no sidewalks. Instead there were rows and rows of single-level buildings entirely fronted by large glass windows. I couldn't see through the windows because at the time every store had a metal security door pulled closed behind the glass. I didn't really think much of it until about two hours ago, when the following thoughts struck me:

It's late. I have to be up early. I should get some rest.

Hey! Remember that weird street?

Do you think maybe that's where the red light district-

So the next thing that happened was I was walking downtown at about one in the morning, headphones on and heading into probably the sketchiest area of town because I guess I'm stupid. I found the Samsung dealership and took the same turn. And hey look! There it was. All the security doors were up and what I could now see were rows of what appeared to be really small dressing rooms. You know, counter, mirror, make-up on the counter and so on. The girls were just hanging out in the dressing rooms behind the giant window. That's pretty much it really, just standing around doing their make-up and looking bored. Actually they had the same expression I used to have when I'd be sitting around waiting for a customer to wander in at the mall. I'm not trying to draw a parallel between prostitution and working in retail but if you really think about it for a second that's absolutely what I'm doing. 

The street is located really close to the train station, kind of off to the side and behind a few other buildings. There's actually a 7/11 right in front of it which struck me as, I don't know, too convenient. I felt like I'd wandered backstage at a...a...I don't even know what sort of venue adequately completes this simile, but yeah. The girls kept waving at me as I walked by which was flattering for maybe two seconds before I figured it out.

Mom, the answer to your next question is, "No, I just looked around a bit." 

Anyway, around the time I thought, Does South Korea have gangs? They almost absolutely certainly do, I suddenly decided I was tired and started to head home at an unreasonably high pace. Exploring is fun!

Today's title (this is actually what was playing randomly on my mp3 player when I stumbled onto the street, which I found hilariously appropriate)