So, I have been here now for close to a month and a half and i think i have fully adjusted to life in korea. As a matter of fact, i would say my life is closer now to how it was in Canada, and i don't consider that a bad thing or disappointing. When i say that i mean that i'm doing things that are who i am more. i'd say that now i've got a good group of friends that, although they too will take off sooner or later like everyone in this country eventually does, i feel comfortable with them and i only forsee a strengthen of the trust and friendship moving ahead. i've recently joined a gym and have started my workout program again, and not a minute to soon i might add. these past 7 months have been the longest i've gone without heading to a gym at least 4 times a week, and, as a consequence, i'm the heaviest i've ever been. i thought coming to korea would make me turn skin and bones, but that hasn't happened. it's not like i'm gorging myself on terrible food, it's hard to find that. there are 3 different types of restaurants as i can see. the first are places that you really only go to with a large group of people, or at the very least, one other person. dishes are larger in proportion and they cost closer to the range of 15-25 bucks. still, beer is only an astounding 2.50 for half a litre.
the next are the multidudes of small and quiant luncheon type places. you can get almost any korea dish and this is where i eat most of the time. i seem to get hooked on a certain dish for a week before moving on. right now it's ramen noodles, my fav being mandu ramyeon. mandu is basically jsut dumplings but they have lots of different kinds of it. meals here usually cost between 2.50-4. you can't buy beer here, in fact they don't serve and drinks that i'm aware of. i think i will fall in love with kimbap. it's a korean style seeweed wrap with sticky rice and radish as the two staple ingredients. i enjoy sogogi kimbap. i just walk into my favourite little food shop and say chogiyo, hangay sogogi kimbap jusseyo, literally excuse me, one beef kimbap bring me. food is brought fast in almost all korea eateries. like 5 minutes max. this will be something i miss.
the other is your run of the mill fast food joints like mcdonalds and kfc, and although i have ate there a couple of times it's not something i want to make a habit.
the one thing i still want to do is get out of the suwon and seoul area really soon. making a date with valley for the new year to meet half way between suwon and changwon to go snowboarding. it's slightly ironc that i have never done it before despite living in canada for 26 years, and now after coming to korea i find myself more intrigued by the idea. hope i don't break anything important, i can deal with a finger or a toe, just not a leg or an arm.
i'm still guitarless, a fact that bothers me to my core. i'd like to head into seoul to buy one soon, but not too sure i'll have the money for it. i gotta send some home to make those damn payments on my debt so i think i'll buy one as a birthday present to myself.
later
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Sunday, November 30, 2008
The jaded girl, a naked bed, some bad ideas, a new skin
The girl on fire at the corner of the table spouts her jaded words through your gaping ears. You throw your hands up in defense admitting defeat as the world sheds its holy skin. The air is so cold that even the branches fall from the trees. The jaded girl on fire with the jaded words jades you. You freeze to death in the sunken ship of lonliness while scrubbing the stains from the nails in your mouth. The numb blackness around your eyes are the signatures of the mournful beers and prophetic moom you bathe in night after night after ticking night. Your head like a broken faucet leaks bad ideas onto your naked bed and the one good idea you ever had you left hidden amongst the outdated sweaters hanging on a sale rack in the shopping mall of your dreams. The good idea won't be back. You left it there to be bought by a better beggar who will wear it with pride. His friends will all say how good it looks on him and what a great price he paid for it.
In the early morning movements of meager men on their way to thier meager jobs, the scratches of a pen in your hand make a symphony on the page, but ticket sales are down so the symphony sings to no one but you. Still, the meastro's hand moves swiftly and directly as though there was never another movement it was designed to perform. The air is so hot that even the branches begin to melt off the trees. That jaded girl was so good at being jaded she jaded even you. The mourners at the table drink to their health while they still have it and the dancers keep laughing while the music still plays. Sing for me a verse. Rest your head on my chest. Twirl its dark hairs through your fingers to make me feel close to something again. Actors making memories written by those who have never experienced them. The world sheds a second skin. The whole vertical beauty of it. The last true dream on a burnt-out lonely lovers quite avenue. O wail. Wail into a night sky and listen to the empty replies, the remorseful sorrows, the fantastic breathtaking magistry of it all. Wander o elegant one, until your feet bring you to the eyes of the one you bleed for and you shed the jaded girls beautiful laughter that forms your crystal clear skin.
In the early morning movements of meager men on their way to thier meager jobs, the scratches of a pen in your hand make a symphony on the page, but ticket sales are down so the symphony sings to no one but you. Still, the meastro's hand moves swiftly and directly as though there was never another movement it was designed to perform. The air is so hot that even the branches begin to melt off the trees. That jaded girl was so good at being jaded she jaded even you. The mourners at the table drink to their health while they still have it and the dancers keep laughing while the music still plays. Sing for me a verse. Rest your head on my chest. Twirl its dark hairs through your fingers to make me feel close to something again. Actors making memories written by those who have never experienced them. The world sheds a second skin. The whole vertical beauty of it. The last true dream on a burnt-out lonely lovers quite avenue. O wail. Wail into a night sky and listen to the empty replies, the remorseful sorrows, the fantastic breathtaking magistry of it all. Wander o elegant one, until your feet bring you to the eyes of the one you bleed for and you shed the jaded girls beautiful laughter that forms your crystal clear skin.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
The Point
‘Let’s just get to the point’ she said
I don’t want to watch you go up in a flame
but tomorrow will start out entirely the same.
It rained on my hell still the fires they grew
and I’m wearing the same colours as when I first met you,
a logo on my shirt like some sort of tattoo.
‘Are we moving forward or is the world sliding back?’
‘I can’t take this back’ she said
I’m tied to the leaves and I’ll come alive in June.
If I could be part of the sky I’d choose a balloon
but I’m tied to the leaves and I’ll hit the ground soon.
Keep pouring please even after I say when.
You’re a song that means nothing now but everything then.
‘Are you comfortable being buried beside my landmine?’
‘You have eyes exactly like mine’ she said
The cars can’t come here with this road closed down.
The pavement is cracked and there’s shit on the ground.
The sky is smoke grey and it taste like fall all around.
The train moves forward as if I forgot something
and the drums play a beat but there’s no one left to sing.
‘Are we dancing in silence, or just dulling this point?’
‘Point to a heart and I’ll tell you how to break it’
I don’t want to watch you go up in a flame
but tomorrow will start out entirely the same.
It rained on my hell still the fires they grew
and I’m wearing the same colours as when I first met you,
a logo on my shirt like some sort of tattoo.
‘Are we moving forward or is the world sliding back?’
‘I can’t take this back’ she said
I’m tied to the leaves and I’ll come alive in June.
If I could be part of the sky I’d choose a balloon
but I’m tied to the leaves and I’ll hit the ground soon.
Keep pouring please even after I say when.
You’re a song that means nothing now but everything then.
‘Are you comfortable being buried beside my landmine?’
‘You have eyes exactly like mine’ she said
The cars can’t come here with this road closed down.
The pavement is cracked and there’s shit on the ground.
The sky is smoke grey and it taste like fall all around.
The train moves forward as if I forgot something
and the drums play a beat but there’s no one left to sing.
‘Are we dancing in silence, or just dulling this point?’
‘Point to a heart and I’ll tell you how to break it’
Monday, November 24, 2008
Philosophy from the elderly
Hello once again from yeoungtong south korea.
It's been a solid three weeks and i think i'm finally starting to get pretty comfortable where i am and who i'm meeting. i guess i've always been slow to warmup to people and actually be... well, me. so now after some solid nights of heavy and long drinking people are starting to recognize my face around the ole water hole we call the "Now" bar. that's where all the foreigners go to let loose and get hammied up. i think we an irishmen calls you a cunt 5 times to your face, and gives you a great big hug, it's a good thing.
i finally had my first bout of bad food in korea. for the most part everything has been great, but i tried this soup the other day that instantly rocked my stomach. i love bulgolgi, which is beef with a melee of other veggies in it, so i thought it would be good in a soup too. i'm not sure what was in it tha tdidn't agree with me, but wow, the sharp stings and pains that occured after ward had me walking home in a hobble. i think it was because i had spent the last night up until 6 singing kareoke and it was the first meal i had of the day. i was about 5 minuts from my place when i spotted a couple of my friends amy and clare walking their dog in the park, so i plunked myself on a bench beside them and starting talking. a couple more friends joined us as the sun starting setting behind the surrounding buildings. minutes earlier we got a good laugh at an elderly couple walking through the park. the old man had a hat on that sat way up on his head and didnt cover his ears. the old women was wearing a bland, long jacket that went all the way to her ankles as she danced around the park. it there are korean flower children, they were it. suddenly they were upon us and engages us in some friendly banter. we embraced the couple who were simply put, enchanting. the two of them loved life so much, whether they were on drugs or not. they kept calling eachothers shit out too. i dont think i have ever felt an elderly couple love eachother as much as these two. the women spoke the best english any of us had ever heard in korea, using words such as confined. well one thing lead to another and before i knew it i was opening up my lifes sorrows to this women. i told her of a girl here in korea that i lovingly refer to as a "rash" that just wouldn't leave me alone and how i just couldn't make her see i wasn't interested in her. she helped me understand how i should approach the situation in terms of the language i shouild use. it was a very uplifting moment for me.
later that night after taking a short nap i decided to hit up seoul for the night with some friends. me, amy and clare took the bus from suwon to gangnam dong in seoul where we met up with two friends at a bar called "the rainbow". i had never been to a huaka bar before and this one was perfect for my first time. it was a small place with about 15 places to sit around. you had to sit on the floor of thise place and take off your shoes and place them in a bag that you took to your "table" with you. we tried apple, 5 star (a mix of 5 flavours), liquorice, and the best one, cinnamon. the dj was playing great mixes of favourites like prodigy and underworld (imagine sucking on a huaka drinking a beer and listening to the song from trainspotting) it really was a beautiful time. i couldn't help thinking of so many of you back home that i wish could have been there with me.
all in all life here in korea is starting to be great. there are the occasional annoyances that come and go, like how they seem to not believe in trash bins so there are always myriads of trash piles on the sidewalk, and taxi drivers are absolutely out of this world when driving and you can't put a seat belt on while you are there. for now, i see a lot of the same things. i get lost in thinking about how our differences seperate us, but our similarities bring us together, and their are so many more similarities. people still worry about the same things no matter where you go; the future, love, money, their bankbooks, friends, integrity. people still get up in the morning and go to work. the leaves still fall of the branches and flutter in the wind until falling calmly to the waiting ground so my feet can wade in them like a slow moving river. the sun creeps slowly from east to west signalling one beautiful morning to one dark night. but in those few stars, that one shining moon, and those lifeless fallen leaves, you remember that you are far from home, that you are a small speck on a completely different part of this magnificently large and looming earth, and that here, above all else, is where you know you belong.
It's been a solid three weeks and i think i'm finally starting to get pretty comfortable where i am and who i'm meeting. i guess i've always been slow to warmup to people and actually be... well, me. so now after some solid nights of heavy and long drinking people are starting to recognize my face around the ole water hole we call the "Now" bar. that's where all the foreigners go to let loose and get hammied up. i think we an irishmen calls you a cunt 5 times to your face, and gives you a great big hug, it's a good thing.
i finally had my first bout of bad food in korea. for the most part everything has been great, but i tried this soup the other day that instantly rocked my stomach. i love bulgolgi, which is beef with a melee of other veggies in it, so i thought it would be good in a soup too. i'm not sure what was in it tha tdidn't agree with me, but wow, the sharp stings and pains that occured after ward had me walking home in a hobble. i think it was because i had spent the last night up until 6 singing kareoke and it was the first meal i had of the day. i was about 5 minuts from my place when i spotted a couple of my friends amy and clare walking their dog in the park, so i plunked myself on a bench beside them and starting talking. a couple more friends joined us as the sun starting setting behind the surrounding buildings. minutes earlier we got a good laugh at an elderly couple walking through the park. the old man had a hat on that sat way up on his head and didnt cover his ears. the old women was wearing a bland, long jacket that went all the way to her ankles as she danced around the park. it there are korean flower children, they were it. suddenly they were upon us and engages us in some friendly banter. we embraced the couple who were simply put, enchanting. the two of them loved life so much, whether they were on drugs or not. they kept calling eachothers shit out too. i dont think i have ever felt an elderly couple love eachother as much as these two. the women spoke the best english any of us had ever heard in korea, using words such as confined. well one thing lead to another and before i knew it i was opening up my lifes sorrows to this women. i told her of a girl here in korea that i lovingly refer to as a "rash" that just wouldn't leave me alone and how i just couldn't make her see i wasn't interested in her. she helped me understand how i should approach the situation in terms of the language i shouild use. it was a very uplifting moment for me.
later that night after taking a short nap i decided to hit up seoul for the night with some friends. me, amy and clare took the bus from suwon to gangnam dong in seoul where we met up with two friends at a bar called "the rainbow". i had never been to a huaka bar before and this one was perfect for my first time. it was a small place with about 15 places to sit around. you had to sit on the floor of thise place and take off your shoes and place them in a bag that you took to your "table" with you. we tried apple, 5 star (a mix of 5 flavours), liquorice, and the best one, cinnamon. the dj was playing great mixes of favourites like prodigy and underworld (imagine sucking on a huaka drinking a beer and listening to the song from trainspotting) it really was a beautiful time. i couldn't help thinking of so many of you back home that i wish could have been there with me.
all in all life here in korea is starting to be great. there are the occasional annoyances that come and go, like how they seem to not believe in trash bins so there are always myriads of trash piles on the sidewalk, and taxi drivers are absolutely out of this world when driving and you can't put a seat belt on while you are there. for now, i see a lot of the same things. i get lost in thinking about how our differences seperate us, but our similarities bring us together, and their are so many more similarities. people still worry about the same things no matter where you go; the future, love, money, their bankbooks, friends, integrity. people still get up in the morning and go to work. the leaves still fall of the branches and flutter in the wind until falling calmly to the waiting ground so my feet can wade in them like a slow moving river. the sun creeps slowly from east to west signalling one beautiful morning to one dark night. but in those few stars, that one shining moon, and those lifeless fallen leaves, you remember that you are far from home, that you are a small speck on a completely different part of this magnificently large and looming earth, and that here, above all else, is where you know you belong.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
something to think about...
lyrics to the song "6 days of madness" by cloud cult (my favourite band)
Compare the 6 days of the book of Genesis,
to the 4 billion years of geologic time
on this scale, 1 day equals about 666 billion years
all day Monday, until Tuesday noon
creation was busy getting the earth going
life began on Tuesday noon
and the beautiful organic wholeness of it
developed over the next 4 days.
at 4 P.M. Saturday, the big reptiles came
5 hours later, when the redwoods appeared
there were no longer big reptiles
at 3 minutes before midnight, man appeared
one-fourth of a second before midnight, Christ revolted
one-fortieth of a second before midnight, the industrial revolution began
we are surrounded by people who think
that what we have been doing
for one-fortieth of a second
can go on indefinitely
they are considered normal,
but they are stark, raving, mad.
Compare the 6 days of the book of Genesis,
to the 4 billion years of geologic time
on this scale, 1 day equals about 666 billion years
all day Monday, until Tuesday noon
creation was busy getting the earth going
life began on Tuesday noon
and the beautiful organic wholeness of it
developed over the next 4 days.
at 4 P.M. Saturday, the big reptiles came
5 hours later, when the redwoods appeared
there were no longer big reptiles
at 3 minutes before midnight, man appeared
one-fourth of a second before midnight, Christ revolted
one-fortieth of a second before midnight, the industrial revolution began
we are surrounded by people who think
that what we have been doing
for one-fortieth of a second
can go on indefinitely
they are considered normal,
but they are stark, raving, mad.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Welcome to Korea.. and my blog!
Well, it's official. I'm in Korea and won't leave for some time now. No one knows when I'll set foot on Canadian soil again, but rest assured, I will.
This blog is intended to be an account of my life here in Korea. Although, as many of you know, i often use the good ol' fashioned pen and paper to get my thought out. So, this becomes a way for all of you to read how life is going for me. And don't think for a second that every word i write here will be smiles and sunshine. i make no qualms about voicing when i'm unhappy or disappointed. so without further ado... we begin
I touched down in korea around 7 o'clock last Friday night and got to my apartment close to 9. The flight was very eventful. i wont go into too much detail because i have a lot to cover but when taking off from san fran the plane was hit by lightening. At least that is how it felt. there was definately a large blast of white outside the plane and many gasps from everyone in the coach. I sat beside a very unusual individual. We spoke of many things, but most of it revolved around his love of God. The thing you have to know about this man was that he was a preacher. The hypocritical thing about it all was how many times he made it a point to tell anyone he met that he preached on national television, displaying his second love, vanity. But, he told me that God was in my heart and he felt good things for me in the future, so it wasn't all bad.
It took very little time for me to hit a bar as the foreigners were all celebrating halloween. i ventured into my traditional costume theme by bringing along blue face paint and throwing together a sad attempt at a smurf. if only i had of brought bright white pants.
After a couple of days of drunkenness Monday brought my first day of work. absolute shock! The kids for the most part were very welcoming but there was a lot to take in for a day. Korean kids have a very hard time saying my name. they get confused and think i'm a lion! "Lion teacher, help prease". So sadly, my life as carp seems to have come to an end. everyone calls me ryan and it may be hard to change it. at least in my job.
I ate out by myself for the first time the other day. a lot of pointing and nodding. here is a list of all the things i got.
1.Kimchee (Korea's national dish)
2.3 spam like pieces of meat served cold.
3.8 pieces of mundang, which i said as mandun, so she had no idea what i was asking for. they are pieces of dumplings with good shit inside it.
4.coleslaw type side that isnt' coleslaw but it's all i can think of to describe it
5. and if that wasnt' enough, i ordered pulgogi. it came with a healthy serving of sticky rice and korean style salad. pulgogi is amazing!
so as you can see, i ordered a shit load of food and it was way too much. i feel like the ladies in the back were talking about how much i had ordered and laughing.
Now, for the best story so far. this has noting to do with my ignorance to korean culture and life living here. so, the first night i arrived i got pretty drunk after being jet lagged and not eathing too much for the past 36 hours. it was about 4 in the morning and i decided that i was giong to boil some water and make the instant noodles i had bought at the G2 mart. now, you must know that i didn't have any pots or pans to boil water with. how pray tell would i boil water? no problem, I spotted a kettle that was kindly donated to me by the person who held this apartment before me. so i turned the gas stove top on and put the kettle on. then i heading into the bathroom to wash off the blue from my face. after 2 or 3 minutes i smelled something not quite right. almost... almost like.. yes! yes! why do i smell burning plastic. Holy Shit!! Holy Fuck! the kettle is on FIRE!! what kind of fool puts an electric kettle on an open flame to boil water!!!! oh the humanity. melted plastic pouring down into the burner with exposed wires and connection everywhere! after a 5 minute battle with the kettle i let it to rest in the sink til morning where i would be better able to deal with the issue. But, i was still hungry! Now how would i boil water. ha yes... great idea! a light bulb! genius carp, pure einstienian!!! I'll just fill up the iron with water and turn it on to make the water hot!! that will work!! after 10 minutes i realized that irons don't boil fucking water!!! what a night that was. and i won't make any excuses for it all. just down right stupidity.
so... that's it. that's my first installment. not all of them will be this long i'm sure, but i had to get some things off my chest.
check in again sometime to hear more of Ryan Carpenter's life in korea...
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