Archive for September, 2009

Counting Won

2 years ago

by JR in Korea and Culture

Counting

We are taking a mini-vacation in Honolulu on the way home. I told JJ about a year ago that I would pay for our trip with my change. I filled up this little guy over the last 7 months or so. Let’s just say that the bank staff is not going to be real happy with me. I also have a shopping bag filled with unsorted coins that I have been collecting for about 2 years now. I think I have at least enough to cover 3 or 4 nights in a pretty decent room.

I am excited that this weekend we will be buying our tickets home. I am thrilled that a lay-over in Honolulu is going to cost the same as a direct flight to New Orleans.

We’ll Take The Last Bus Back……

2 years ago

by JR in Korea and Culture

You know what they say about plans…… We met up with Mikael and Sunny on Saturday night and the plan was for us to have dinner and drinks and then head back to Dongtan. Well, we got back on Sunday around 12. Mikael and I used to work together and he was my partner in crime. I think that we first discovered the Blue Bar together. We try to meet them as often as possible. We usually have a late night when we are with them.
We started off the night in Gangnam at a Japanese bar with some shrimp, sake, and beer. (Note to self try to remember that you ordering Asahi at 7,000 a beer and not the local Korean brand)

Can you see those expensive beers?

We next went to Koosters??? It is a European themed bar in Gangnam. We had some great Swiss cheese fondue and watched the Korean vs Australia soccer match which they had playing on a projection screen.

Cheese Action

We left and went to the Rainbow. I have been wanting to try this bar out for awhile now. It is a hookah bar and the atmosphere was awesome. It was really cool to watch everyone sitting on the floor enjoying the music, hookah and stiff drinks. As someone I know would say, It was chill.

Looks pretty cool in B/W

Gotta prevent swine flu

Checking out the crowd

Another Pointing Pic

We moved on to another bar and this pretty much sealed the deal that we were not going back to Dongtan till the next day. We didn’t stay here for that long and finally went to Namboo and found a love motel with a Jacuzzi tub for about 70,000 won.

Maybe she wanted to sing on the 45th floor

Time to find a place to sleep.

Nice Bathroom in the lovemotel

JJ and I woke up pretty hung-over and slowly made our way back to Dongtan via express bus. The rest of the day was spent lazing around the house.

The eight week countdown started today!

Life These Days

2 years ago

by JR in Korea and Culture, Photography

Since returning from Jeju, life has been pretty non-stop. I have had three dental appointments. Hopefully, we are nearing the ending of my dental experience in Korea for awhile.

I said goodbye to Alex and hired a new teacher for our hagwon. Alex and I were really close, so it makes the school day much longer to not have someone to gossip with. Our new teacher seems to be adjusting really well and the staff seems to like him.

I am also in the process of hiring my replacement. We are looking for a special type of teacher, so the process has not been easy. What can I say…..I guess I’m irreplaceable.HA.

My school has gone into a strict Anti-Swine flu mode. All of the children are having their temperature checked at the door and washing their hands before entering the classrooms. Also, the school is being regularly disinfected. I know that the administration is worried about an out-break and seem to be doing everything possible to keep that from happening.

JJ and I have made numerous decisions regarding our wedding ceremony. Receptions, photographer, colors, hotels, flowers, caterers, guest lists, dresses, and schedules have all been chosen.

I have to publicly say what an awesome job that JJ is doing on all of our packing. My help so far as been to take some boxes downstairs to a waiting taxi. She has done the brunt of the work, but we still have a long way to go. We are shipping everything the slow route and it costs us about 27,000 won ($20….damn you exchange rate) for an 8kg box. We probably have about 10 more boxes to go.

I did have a chance to get out and have a quick bite to eat with Steve Miller/Qiranger. His website his here and his youtube is here. He has quite the following on both sites. We have some mutual friends and have been trying to meet up for a couple of weeks now. It was fun to listen to his stories and see someone who is very interested in Korea and Korean culture. We have a couple of meet-ups to plan before I head back to the states. I really want to hit up the fortress at night for some photos..

JJ and I are in the middle of trying to spend a lot of damn money on airplane tickets. In the next couple of weeks we have to book tickets to Jeju for Chuseok, tickets to Mississippi via Honolulu, and JJ’s parents tickets to California. JJ’s older sister is taking care of the in-laws flights from Cali to Mississippi.

I have been adding more photography type blogs to me Google Reader and less Korean ones. I have a feeling that in the next couple of weeks that I will whittle the Korean blogs down to the few that I always read. I will probably trash most of the ones that I never comment on. I have been spending way too much time scanning over random blogs with information/stories that I just don’t have time to read. I have been reading the two blogs below for a couple of weeks and can’t get enough of their photos/stories.

[b]ecker An awesome photographer who has built his own web school/ community. I love looking at his work.I still haven’t had a chance to go back and read some of his older stuff, but will when I have a free few hours.

Jasmine Star I have been checking out her old blog as well. Really inspirational and it has been really awesome to check out the progress of her photography skills. I have seen her name mentioned on a ton of photography sites that I follow and finally added her to my reader.

I just rolled in from a long night out in Seoul and have an upcoming post of what all we did.

Jasmine Star life photographers Photography qiranger steve miller [becker]

Singing Room Mania

2 years ago

by JR in Korea and Culture

You can’t live in Korea very long without being dragged to a singing room or 노래망 Noraebang in Korean. They are are cheap. You will probably spend under 20,000 won. You will undoubtedly be forced to sing even if you don’t sing really well. Don’t worry this is usually the last stop of the night and most people won’t remember how horrible your version of Piano Man was. I am a big fan of the JunKo franchise as they serve food and liquor. They are a little bit more expensive, but you can get a lot of food, a bottle of whiskey and a few beers for about 100,000 won. Most of the establishments have a wireless remote and few books of songs that you use to pick your music. The best ones are open super late and I have been to a few establishments that stay open all night. There has been more than one occasion that I have stumbled out to the sun rising.