Picked up my new DVD player today so I am back to normal. I play my CD’s on it too, so right now I am playing some Korean music CDs that I got for my birthday. They are actually quite good. Mostly easy listening stuff, and I don’t understand the words, but soothing nonetheless.

Also watched Hitch tonight. Not bad, but kinda predictable. A review in 9 words. Hey, pixels ain’t cheap!

In other news, I went to a meeting of Koreans who want to learn English last night. I have been helping a woman named Ji Yong with her writing through emails and she invited me to come as her chingu (friend). It was different kind of thing for me to do, but it was in Itaewon and it was at a bar, so I felt right at home. Actually, it was interesting. And I have to give credit to the effort these folks are making. The concept is for people to just sit around and have conversations in English. I had a few questions about life in the States thrown my way, and I tried to be helpful. Some of the people spoke very good English, and everyone seemed to be trying hard to improve. The other native English speakers were a couple of Canadians who teach in local schools. I’ve considered getting an English teaching gig part time, just to fill the hours in a healthy way. We’ll see. I’m not looking, but I’m receptive to the idea.

I am immersed in a pretty good game of CIV these past couple of days. It was a good way to recover from my hangover yesterday. Nice safe outlet to vent a little agression too I suppose. I had it out with the Aztecs. We fought to a standoff, then I regrouped (and acquired the calvary advance, and all I can say about the Aztecs now is rest in peace you S.O.Bs.

Work is work. I’ve been that bad combination of busy and unmotivated. This too shall pass. Good night.

Crap. Today I plugged in some lamps that my co-worker Corine gave me. In doing so, I had to re-arrange some of the plugs. Somehow I managed to take the adapter off one plug and stuck it in the 220 outlet.

And when I turned on my DVD player to watch one of my new movies…..snap, crackle, pop along with smoke and that special smell associated with fried circuits.

I replaced the adapter and plugged into the 110 outlet, turned it on again and got a picture. No sound though. And the Hangul subtitles help me not one bit.

Geez, I feel stupid. Could this be the first indication of that old timers disease I heard about?

Ah well.

I came across this post over at Idiot’s Collective and found myself nodding in agreement. One of the big differences I’ve noticed in my Korea life is that almost everyone here strives to look and act the same. This is compounded by the fact that when I leave the relatively safe environs of Itaewon, I am very self-conscious about how different I am from the teeming masses that surround me. Not to mention that people literally stare and gawk.

Ah well. Go read the link. Aaron nails it. The quote from P.J. O’Rourke is hilarious.

Just dropped in to comment on the weather. It has been miserable…hot and beyond sticky. Last night it rained and today is near perfect. Mid-70s and clear. On those rare days when the air is clean and/or not filled with moisture, Seoul is a beautiful city. The skyscrapers framed by mountains in the background is a quite pleasing view.

No other news to speak of. Well, I am making plans to go to Busan for Labor Day weekend. Its past time that I see the “second city” and enjoy the ocean. Hopefully, the crowds will be gone by then.

I know, another worthless post. I am having some political thoughts, but better writers than me are covering those topics. I may chime in if I have an original thought, but what are the chances of that?

It appears that the ROK government has once again taken a blunt intrument and applied it sqaurely upside the head of free speech. For the past several days expats using blogspot or typepad have had access to their blogs mysteriously blocked. The chief suspect is the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC). They pulled the same stunt last year in a futile attempt to keep the beheading of a Korean in Iraq from being viewed. It is unclear what the reasons for this current round of censorship are, but speculation seems to be growing that it has to d0 with Korea’s Independence Day celebrations. I guess I am so used to watching the leadership in this country kissing Kim, Jung Il’s ass that I didn’t think the fawning lovefest with the enlightend government up north would be cause for controversy.

Anyway, it sucks and it is pretty disgusting to see the government of a “free” country resort to such tactics. It is really a pathetic effort doomed to failure anyway, as most of us are still accessing our favorite blogs using a proxy server like unipeak (thanks to Nomad for showing me the way) to bypass the blocks KT and other ISPs have imposed. My original blog was on blogspot, but when I heard about last year’s outrage I purchased my own domain. Rest assured, LTG will not be silenced! (just in case I ever have anything of import to say here. Hey, it could happen!).

Although some folks appear to be apathetic regarding this outrage (absolutely no mention in the Korea media thus far) Kevin at BigHominid is poking the ROK goons with a big stick in a manner for which he is uniquely qualifed. Don’t miss this takedown, and keep scrolling to read all his posts on this topic. Of course, sometimes a picture can speak volumes, and this one captures my sentiments exactly….

I’m putting it on page 2 in order to avoid offending anyone with tender sensitivities…. Continue reading →

Left New York City at 0800 Friday and touched down at Incheon at 1600 on Saturday. It was actually worse than that. I left my hotel at 0500 (after the 0400 wake-up call) which got me to JFK airport way earlier than I needed to be. Flight left the gate on time but we got in the back of the take-off queue so actually were running late by the time we were off the ground.

I figured there would be plenty of time for my connection in San Francisco but we didn’t land until 1230 local time and my flight to Korea left at 1300. As we pulled up to the gate the flight attendent announced that Incheon was departing from gate 92 in the International terminal. And that’s all she said. So I hoofed it through the airport and discovered to my dismay that I had to go through security to enter the International terminal. Fortunately the line was not very long, but doing the “taking of belt, shoes, watch, laptop out of the case and on the belt seperately” routine (and its reverse on the other side) took some time. When I finally made it to gate 92 the sign said “last call” and they were calling my name on the PA system.

The gate agent takes my ticket and asks “where have you been?”. I wasn’t a real happy camper at this point and I shared my opinion about the United’s short connection window and how screwed up it was to have to go through security again. He said we have a shuttle that brings passengers to the International terminal bypassing security. I said am I supposed to know that through osmosis? He responded we have “signage”. Well, I didn’t see any signs but it seems that would have been a good piece of information for the flight attendent to share when she announced the gate. Anyway I made the flight but didn’t get to do the duty free store or buy some comfort foods for the long trip across the Pacific.

The flight was uneventful (which is a good thing). I was seated next to a young Korean woman who was returning with a group of 50 Korean kids who had been visiting the USA. I was relieved that they were so well behaved because I was smack dab in the middle of them. The woman was exhausted and slept most of the flight. I couldn’t catch more than a couple of naps, maybe two hours total. I saw two movies “It must be love” with that Ashton Kutchner guy and “The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy”. Neither was great, but they helped pass the time which I guess is the point. I also made it halfway through a book called “Skinny Dip” which I am enjoying.

I had a $70 AFFES cab ride home from the airport. Took a long hot shower and went into Itaewon to burn some energy. Ran into my buds Robert, Vance and Kelly at Sweet Caroline’s and we had some drinks before they headed off to Shooters for some live music. I wasn’t up for that so I went across the street to Dolce Vita and had a reunion with my pool league teammates. Seems they have been doing quite well in absence, winning all 3 of the matches I missed. I hope that was just a coincidence. Then I headed over to Bar Metro to play some pool and did alright considering I hadn’t played and was buzzed and tired. On the way back home I stopped off at Bar Episode for some darts. Got my clock cleaned by Jin Hee, one of the bar girls I chat with there. So it was midnight, I had been up about 30 hours and I got home and crashed hard.

Now its Sunday morning and I’m hoping I hear from Corine who I let use my car while I was gone. No food in the house so I need to hit the commissary today. Corine moved into her new apartment during my absence and I don’t have a phone number. So I’m kinda stuck unless she calls.

I had a great time in New York which I will post on later with some photos. I also want to post photos of Kevin and Lynn’s wedding, which was very nicely done. I don’t have any good photos from the wedding though, so I am waiting till they email me the professional pics.

So that pretty much catches you up on my journey home. I have a positive outlook as I begin my second six months in Korea. I am committed to making the most of my time here and I think the bumps and bruises I experienced during my first six months were the lessons learned as I adjusted to this new life. I’m going to try and get down to Busan over Labor Day weekend so I can get a taste of the second city. At least it is something to look forward to.