Barbershop 3: There are no more barbershops

My hair hadn't been this long since I was about 12 years old. I looked like Paul McCartney in the 1960s, or anybody from the 1960s for that matter. So I decided to get a haircut. Tough thing to do in any new place, but especially in a new country where nobody speaks your language.

So I walked over to a salon that was on the way to my school. I walked in and two women quickly ran to my side. I pointed to my head and made a cutting motion with my 2 fingers. So far, so good. But I didn't really know how to get across how I wanted my hair cut. I didn't have any pictures I could show them in my wallet. That's another thing I need. More pictures of myself or friends in my wallet. All I have is a McDonalds Big Mac Combo card, a Fordham University printing card and a couple terrible fake ids. All pretty much useless, besides the Combo.

Anyway, I asked the two eager women if they had pictures. They didn't really comprehend. Then I saw a picture book with hairstyles for men. I grabbed it and started leafing through the pages. There was absolutely nothing that I liked. In most pictures it seemed like the there was hair added to the man's head instead of taken off. Above is an example of what I saw. Might be able to pull it off without the orange tinge, but didn't know if I wanted to take that extra 20 minutes in the shower to clean it.

So I just told them "short," and made cutting motions again with my fingers. Then they said "ok, short, yes" One woman then proceeded to cut my hair. The other woman kind of circled around sweeping up falling hair as it landed on my face. It was a pretty good system. They were done in about 10 minutes. I could probably count the number of hairs she cut off my head. About 120-140. Nothing. I look almost exactly the same. Instead of getting into another awkward, strained convo with them, I paid the 8 dollars and left. Eight dollars and no tip. No tip because there is no tipping in Korea. Every American's dream.

Don't think I'll go back to this place. Probably just let my hair grow out like Manny and braid it up. Are there no barbershops in Korea? Where's Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer when you need them?

Chuncheon: So Chunchill

Been in Chuncheon for a little over 3 weeks now. I haven't really posted in a while just because I've been getting acclimated to my new area, people and food. Actually, I've been browsing mlb.com for the latest met mishap or tweeting to therealshaq about his new show. Speaking of the internet, it is really fast here. Fastest in the world I believe. Look it up.

Chuncheon is a pretty cool city. Food is amazing but also pretty bad for you. Lots of spicy barbecue chicken and beef. The area I'm in has bars and restaurants all over the place. Literally bars, restaurants, "massage" parlors and apartments. All surrounded by tall mountains. Pretty happening place. I like it so far.

Teaching has also been pretty fun. Although some days are long 3:30-10:30 pm (no break), it seems to be coming along pretty well. I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job. Who knew I could teach? The last thing I taught before this year was probably how to pass back a fake id while entering a bar in nyc. The kids seem to be a good mix of both scared and happy with me. I teach Mondays and Wednesdays from 330-1030, Tuesdays and Thursdays 430-730 and Fridays 330-730. 24 hours a week. Not bad. The kids age anywhere between 8-13. Some of the older kids are a challenge but most want to learn. Prepping for classes takes a good amount of time at night, but I do have most of the night. I generally don't go to sleep until 2 or 3 and wake up at like noon. It's a sleeping pattern I'm all to used to.

Tonight, I'm prepping for tomorrow, but will probably go out to celebrate this korean guy's birthday at a restaurant around 11. Shouldn't get too wild, but with Soju anything can happen. One night at 430 am two fridays ago I ended up eating uncooked chicken off a grill with a Korean couple. Saw them again a couple nights ago and hid my head in shame. They just laughed and told me to come over. People here are very friendly and hospitable at all times of the night to all kinds of people.

Chuncheon: The City surrounded by Mountains

I've been in Chuncheon now since last Friday. The turnaround from my last day of training was pretty quick. I took a van right from the center to to my apartment in Chuncheon. It took about an hour and 15 minutes from Seoul. I met my school director and before I had a chance to really settle in I was out eating dinner with my new faculty advisor, drinking soju and eating beef stew. I then went out to a westernized bar with my fellow teachers and a bunch of other American teachers in the area.

About 5 minutes after I sat down and got myself a drink, a young korean girl, about my age, sat next to me and began asking me questions. Just like the states, I thought to myself. Soon as I walk into a bar.

I don't know if she actually liked me, though. It seemed like she just wanted me to speak English to her. So I did. Asked her about American movies, music, where she worked, where she was from. After about an hour of this, she walked away. That was it. I was used for my language.

After the bar, I went norebanging with a bunch of my institute's teachers. Norebanging means the same thing as karaoke in Korean. They don't like using the word karaoke because I guess they don't really like the Japanese. Norebanging was fun. I sang some third eye blind, spit a few verses of ghetto superstar and finished off the night with Billy Joel "Piano Man." Pretty decent lineup. Went to bed at 4am. Needless to say, I was exhausted the next day.

Speaking of the next day, my faculty advisor comes knocking on my door at about 11 am. He wants me to go on a hike up a mountain with him and some other teachers. I guess I had agreed last night, although I don't recall, so I join him on the hike. Glad I did. The hike took about 4 hours in all (up and down) and had amazing views of the entire city.

Lakes, mountains and rivers all surround the city of Chuncheon (which is quite big itself with over 400,000 people).

(S)Training

I am now entering my last day of training in Seoul.  Tomorrow, if I pass my final mock teaching, I will head to Chuncheon to teach for a year.  Training has been pretty rough just because of the amount of info in such a short period of time, but I feel as if I'm holding my own.  I'm very excited to see what Chuncheon is like and how it is different from Seoul.  Seoul is an amazing city with lots of people, cars and buildings.  Everyone is always trying to get somewhere and everyone is always trying to do it quickly.

But there are also some nice places off the main roads that are small, family owned establishments and restaurants that don't have that big city feel.  They're cool to see and not really hard to find (I mean, I found them.)

I'm excited to see what Chuncheon is like though.  I hear there is a good mix of city and natural scenery.  Lots of lakes and mountains.  Good just in case you're climbing the mountain and you fall.  You have a good chance of falling into a lake and swimming to safety.  Although I'll be about an hour and a half from Seoul and LW and friends, I think I'll enjoy this sort of serene atmosphere.  Gotta go get some studying done for tomorrow.  I will be back when I can.

But, I'll leave you with this video:  If Karim Garcia can be this popular in Korea and make it big, why can't I?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l0-zabDhEE

Seoulful

I arrived in Seoul on Wednesday night after a 14 and a half hour flight.  Too say the plane ride was uncomfortable would be an understatement.  Although having a window seat is nice, I was forced to pass over 2 people each time I needed to use the bathroom.  I thought maybe I could make it the whole flight without going at all but that of course, didn't work.  Instead, I idiotically held it until I needed to go right when both of my seat mates had fallen asleep.  I woke both of them up and knocked over a cup of juice while making my way into the aisle.

Anyway, once I landed, I met up with about 7 other CDI English teachers near the baggage claim.  They all seemed excited but nervous for the coming year.  I exchanged my 100 US dollar bill for 100,000 won and all of a sudden felt wealthy.  Billins be spillin out my wallet.

I am staying at hotel Samsung in the middle of Seoul.  Seoul is an amazing city.  The cityscape seems unending, as do the number of people, and unfortunately, the traffic.  At every time of day there is traffic.  Cars will creep out on to the crosswalk just to get a head start on others.  Pedestrians are definitely not cared for in Seoul.  The walk signs barely give enough time for people to walk across the street.  Scooters drive on the sidewalks.  Beautiful chaos.