Back in our humble apartment in Gireum-dong.  33 hours door-to-door.

Began the day at 0400 in order to catch my 0700 flight out of Columbia.  Arrived in Atlanta at 0800 with 4 hours to kill before my departure to Seoul via Korean Air.  Had a sausage, cheese and egg biscuit from McDonalds, then parked myself in the smoking lounge where I enjoyed free airport WiFi, a rare treat in the USofA.

The appointed departure time came and went, and then came the announcement of some unspecified “mechanical problems” with our A-380 aircraft.  They estimated the fix time to be three hours, and gave us all a ten dollar lunch voucher.  So, I scored me some Arby’s and headed back to the smoking lounge to wait out the delay.

Three hours go by and the repair is still not complete.  Then another hour.  Then Korean Air rolled out a couple of carts filled with snacks, soft drinks, and water with the promise the problem would be resolved “soon”.  We finally boarded at 6:30 and then sat at the gate for the better part of an hour.  I set my watch for Seoul time and resolved to not worry about those things I can’t control.

About halfway into the flight, I hear a woman screaming in Korean.  I figured maybe a fight had broken out.  Shortly thereafter the flight attendant took to the P.A. to ask if there was a doctor on board.  After a few more minutes she came back on to ask if there was anyone with medical skills available to help.  I asked the flight attendant what was going on and she said, we have to get a sick passenger to the hospital.  I said “A hospital, what is it?”  She said “it’s a big building paitents, but that’s not important right now!”.  Alright, of course that last part didn’t happen, but I couldn’t resist the “Airplane!” reference.

Anyway, they moved the ill person up front and things quieted down   I watched three forgettable movies (2 American, 1 Korean) and in between actually managed to sleep a few hours.  Which might explain why I’m still up right now.

We landed at Incheon at 0100 local time.  As we deplaned, a Korean Air employee gave us each an envelope with seven W10,000 coupons good for future travel with the airline.  An unexpected and nice touch. I sailed through immigration and customs, although one of my bags got destroyed somewhere between Columbia and Korea.  It was the last bag to come down the carousel.  I had packed that sucker jam full and had a hard time getting it zippered up.  I knew if TSA or Korean customs attempted to open it they’d never get it closed again.  It arrived back in my possession with a burst zipper and haphazardly held together with packing tape.  All the contents seemed to be intact however, so I’m grateful for that.

I was happy to see a currency exchange kiosk still open, so I exchanged $200 for Won as I anticipated an expensive taxi ride from Incheon to Gireum.  Instead, another Korean Air employee met me as I exited the airport and directed me to a bus that would take me to Seoul City Hall, paid for by the airline.  That suited me just fine.  I was the only passenger on said bus, and in broken English the driver asked where I was going.  I told him Gireum station.  He had a suggestion: He would take me to Gimpo Airport where his car was parked, and then he drive me to Gireum himself.  I caught on that the guy was ready to get home, and this plan likely would have shaved a couple of hours off his night.  I readily agreed, but alas, another passenger arrived and foiled our plan.  Still, there was a cab waiting at the City Hall bus stop and he carried me to my destination for W12,000 including tip.

Jee Yeun greeted me at the door with a smile and a kiss and I knew at long last my journey was over.  It’s good to be home.

What the fuck are you doing on my mountain?

Heard from the wife today and she related an encounter she had with a pack (herd?) of wild boars whilst hiking on Bukhansan.  She said there were five or six of them and they were very close.  She was so scared that she stood completely still for thirty minutes until the beasts moved away.  She ended her story with the statement “I thought I was gonna die”. Although she was genuinely frightened by the experience I thought it was pretty funny. Then I read up a little on the South Korean variety of this beast and learned they can and do attack humans.  In fact, by standing completely still Jee Yeun did exactly what the experts suggest to avoid provoking the boar to violence.

A South Korean boar in the wild. They are bigger than I imagined.

Nothing so exciting taking place on this side of the Pacific.  It’s Thanksgiving day and I’m spending it alone.  By choice mind you.  I had a gracious invitation from the mother of my children to join them for a family celebration of the holiday, but I declined.  I can’t say why precisely and I hope I didn’t hurt any feelings.  I’m just not feeling sociable these days I guess.

This will have to do.

A final meal with friends Tom and Yuli at Don Valley

I’m fixin’ to head out to Incheon to catch my flight across the wide Pacific.  Sad to be making the trip alone, but Jee Yeun needs to stay and care for her mother.  I offered to stay and help but Jee Yeun will be taking her mom to the “countryside” for the next couple of weeks.  So, faced with being alone either way, I stuck with the plan and will return to the USA as scheduled.

Goodbye to you Korea!

A poisonous fog descended on the neighborhood across the street from my apartment this morning.

Die you bastards! Die!

Purportedly the gas cloud kills mosquitoes.  I suspect that at best it just causes them to relocate to my side of the street.  I’ve never seen them spray over here.  And those pesky bastards have been all over my ass (and legs and arms) for most of the summer.

I’ve been zapping the ones I can see with the worthless stuff in the blue can. It just seems to make them hungrier. The green bottle takes some of the itch out of the bite though.

Five more days.  Then I can be bitten by the South Carolina variety.

Seven days remaining in this iteration of my Korea life.  Here’s how things stand:

Played my last league match with the Dillinger’s Dartitis Quarantine team.  We won our first match of the season against the Sin Bin Dartaholics, but I turned in another sorry performance.  USA Goal: Practice, practice, practice.  I have a board at home so no excuses!

Rolled over in my sleep last night and wound up face first on the floor.  Can’t remember the last time I’ve fallen out of bed like that.  USA Goal:  Avoid nocturnal skydiving.  My bed at home is twice as high as my low-lying Korean mattress so I don’t want to break my neck.

Had my checkup with Dr. Yoo this morning.  I was surprised that my blood work actually showed some significant reductions in both categories of “bad cholesterol” because my diet discipline has been sorely lacking these past several months.  Guess that Lipitor really does work.  Dr. Yoo also told me to “cut back on the carbs and lose some weight.  USA Goal:  Get back on the diet and exercise plan and stick with it!  I’ve got me some good intentions to live a healthier lifestyle, including kicking the cigarettes (again!).

I’ve done a little more networking and have floated my resume to a couple of more contractors for potential on-base employment.  Times are tough and most organizations are cutting back so I haven’t gotten a lot of encouragement.  My dream job would be to get re-employed with my old organization but there are some pretty major hurdles involved with that as well.  I also learned that if move forward with the F-6 visa (Korean equivalent of the green card) I will essentially be unemployable with USFK.  USA Goal: Shit or get off the pot.  I figure I’ll give it till January or so and then try to make some decisions about the course of my future life.

Anyway, it’s been a pretty good six months here.  I’m also looking forward to getting back to the comforts of my American life.  Perhaps I should be encouraged that my one foot in two continents lifestyle is working out as well as might be expected.  Hopefully I will always be sad to leave one and happy to return to the other.

So, I’ll be flying to Osaka on Saturday.  Another one of those “one day, never leave the airport” visa runs.  The trip was necessitated because of my inability to count days.  My current visa expires on September 9 and my return flight to the USA is scheduled for September 10.

I had hoped that the folks at Korean immigration would show me a little mercy and grant me a one day extension.  Alas, it was not to be.  The pricks at Delta Airlines who will be providing my transportation to South Carolina (eh, technically Charlotte, NC) would charge me an additional $600 to move my flight (and Jee Yeun’s) to the 9th.  So instead I’m giving Korean Air* four hundred bucks for their Osaka and back service.  No charge for killing 8 hours in the Kansai airport though.

*I opted not to use the low-cost Peach Air this time around.  Korean Air is a little more expensive ($50 or so), but Peach Air is just too damn uncomfortable and they nickle and dime you to death (charges for paying by credit card and in-flight snacks and beverages) so the difference really isn’t even fifty dollars.  Plus, Korean Air flies out of Gimpo which is easier and quicker to access than Incheon.

…between racism and ignorance.  Granted, I suppose it would be fair to say that racists are by definition ignorant.  But of course, you can also be ignorant without being racist.

The expat pages on Facebook have been on fire this week regarding the ill-conceived effort of an Itaewon pub to stop the spread of the Ebola virus by, wait for it, banning Africans from the bar.

The story has since been picked up by traditional media like the Korea Times.  Heck, I even saw that the Drudge Report had a (non-working) link to the story this morning.  Anyway, the bar has posted some apologetic signage, but I imagine the damage is done.

So, was this a case of ignorance, racism, or both?  I’ve been to JR Pub a couple of times, although it’s been a few years now since I’ve ventured inside.  I was there for their grand opening way back when and I was surprised and disappointed that the bar staff uniform included a Che Guevara t-shirt something like this:

Which is kind of ironic, because in addition to being a mass murderer, Che was also a racist.  At the time I asked one of the servers if she had any idea of who the guy on the shirt she was wearing was, but of course she was without a clue.  I briefly mentioned some of his more depraved acts but only got a shrug in response.  I noticed a few months later that the uniforms had been changed to something less offensive, but you know the old saw about only getting one chance to make a first impression. Anyway, I don’t really know the owner having only met him briefly on a couple of occasions.  Friends of mine who know him better say he’s a great and generous guy.  And he did post what appears to be a sincere apology in one of the Facebook forums:

Firstly, I would like to specifically apologize to Africans of all nations and to the people and families who are dealing with the ebola disease. An insensitive message was directed towards you in JR Pub, a restaurant that I co-own with a Korean National, and it is something that I will not tolerate.

To everyone else, I would like to personally apologize for the posting of the racist and discriminatory sign. Anyone who knows me, knows that the sign is not representative of who I am and is not reflective of the services that we provide; no matter the race, color, creed, or sexual orientation, we value all of our customers.

I must admit, that bridging the cultural gap between Korean and international cultures has been, and continue to be, a challenge for us. When we get it right, our service stands above and beyond. Unfortunately in this instance, it was completely wrong in every way, and we take full responsibility for it.

Ironically, the night before this incident, we hosted a distinguished visitor from an African nation. The majority of his party of 80, were from African nations and we were honored to serve them.

Once my partner realized that his actions were offensive and highly insensitive, we discussed how we would like to make amends:

1. The first was to immediately remove the offensive sign and the policy associated with it.
2. The drafting of this letter of apology.
3. Conduct cultural and sensitivity training for my partner and staff.
4. Organize a fund raiser to assist in research of Ebloa and/or for assistance to the African communities plagued by the disease.

We would like to reach out to our concerned customers and community members for assistance in #4. We welcome ideas on helping us find the best way forward.

Again, for me and on behalf of my partner and staff at JR Pub, we sincerely apologize and are committed to mending the damage that we have caused.

Respectfully,
Troy Armado
Co-Owner JR Pub

Ah, so it was his Korean partner who was responsible for the ignorance on display.  Go figure.  I remember when I first came to Korea I was astounded to see signs posted at several bars saying “No Nigerians Allowed”.  And of course, foreigners on occasion find this kind of “welcome” awaiting them:

Racism or ignorance?  Who knows.  Heh, reminds me of story where the teacher says “McCrarey, are you really that ignorant or are you just apathetic?”  To which I responded “I don’t know and I don’t care!”  (I think that’s a joke, but having told it so often over the years it’s starting to seem like it really happened.)

Whatever the motivation for this sorry state of affairs, I think it is a fair observation that if ignorance truly is bliss, then planet Earth must be the happiest damn place in the universe.

The drunks who frequent the park downstairs from my apartment are a noisy and irksome bunch.  Regularly keeping me awake late into the night and/or waking me up at the crack of dawn with their rantings and ravings.  Signs are posted all over the park prohibiting drinking but I’ve never seen that enforced.  Until tonight.

The intensity of the shouting reached an unusually high fevered pitch so I stepped out on the veranda overlooking the park to see what was going on and I arrived just in time to observe one of the drunk ajusshi’s give one of Korea’s finest a violent shove.  The cop shoved him back and said what I assume was the Korean equivalent of “settle down!”.  Now, in my observations over the years I’ve found Korean cops to be exceedingly tolerant when dealing with disgruntled citizens.  Had the drunk guy backed off I doubt he’d have suffered any consequences for assaulting an officer of the law.  Instead, he charged the cop again and the fight was on!  The cop quickly got the upper hand and was wrestling the ajusshi to the ground.  Another cop came into view at this point and as he attempted to assist his partner, a second drunk guy jumped him from behind.  All hell pretty much broke out at the point.

It appeared there were six cops versus three drunks (several other drunks were milling about but limited themselves to verbal tirades) and in short order the police had subdued the offenders and had them in handcuffs.  But what really stood out for me was the restraint the officers showed in the face of physical violence.  No billy clubs, no pepper spray, no punches–they just put them on the ground and slapped on the cuffs.

Now, of course this brought to mind the unfortunate situation in Ferguson, MO.  I don’t know what happened other than what I’ve read and I’m not passing judgement.  But in general I’ve been concerned about the growing militarization of our local PD’s.  It seems more and more the police do not see citizens as a community to be served but rather as an enemy to be subdued.  I don’t think that bodes well for anyone.

Granted, the police have a difficult and dangerous job and we obviously owe them a fair amount of discretion when it comes to protecting themselves.  But it seems all too frequently I’m seeing stuff like this woman being beaten mercilessly for having the audacity of walking on the shoulder of the freeway.  “Hey lady, what you are doing is dangerous and against the law.  Let me punch your face in.”

Handcuffed and sitting on the curb are you? Well, a swift kick to the head seems to be in order then…

Anyway, I think the Korean cops take more shit than they deserve, and American cops dish out more shit than is normally warranted.  I would think there’s a middle ground to be found between these extremes.  But of the two I’d say the Korean cops got the job done and everyone lived to see another day.

And now the park is quiet.  I think I’ll take advantage of that and get me some sleep.

UPDATE:  And yes, for every story of police misconduct there are probably 100 like this.

I reckon this is as close as I’ll ever get.  Or want to.

Saturday night we dined at Bistecca, an Italian restaurant featuring beef and seafood in the Buk-gu section of Itaewon (up the road and to the right of Noksapyeong station).  It was by far the fanciest place I’ve eaten at in many a year.  Also the most expensive.  We were there through the generosity of my old friend Dennis, and dinner for four came in at over $400.  I guess that may have been over generous in retrospect.

The food was nothing short of outstanding, if not quite worth the price.  I went with a dinner set (appetizer, soup, entree, and dessert) featuring a rib-eye steak for $88.  The steak, although smallish by American standards, was melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  I ordered mine medium on the hunch that it would come out the way I like it, which is medium rare.  I was proven correct and was glad I didn’t order medium rare otherwise it would have still been mooing on my plate.  The dessert was a healthy portion of tiramisu which was quite tasty indeed.

Jee Yeun went with a seafood pasta (about the cheapest item on the menu at $26, bless her heart) and professed it to be wonderful.

Dennis and Julie shared the seafood platter for two at $120. It was also outstanding.

I took a break from dining for some “fresh air” midway through the meal.  The valet parking dude was standing nearby so I gave him a friendly head nod.  He responded by putting his hand on his belly, pointed at mine, and shook his head disgustedly.  I took that to me he didn’t like my shirt.  Or maybe Buddha.

After dinner we did some norebang and then some street-side coffee and people watching.  It was a good evening, although I did have to stand on the subway all the way from Samgakji to Gireum station.  That’s Saturday night in the big city I suppose.

Yesterday we broke our summer hiatus from mountain climbing and ventured up Bukhansan.  I sweated like an out-of-shape race horse and was soaked by the time we reached the summit.  I was soaked by a steady rain all the way down, which was pleasantly cooling although it made the rocks perilously slippery.  Arrived home safe and sound though and Jee Yeun was pleased that I had gotten off my lazy ass and did something for a change.

Tonight I’ll add another B by drinking some beer at the BnB bar with my buddy Tom.  And that brings you up to speed on my so-called life.

…almost as much as it sucks.

I’ve been under siege from hungry mosquitoes for the past couple of weeks.  And this article indicates that it’s gonna get worse before it gets better.

I hate those blood sucking bastards and their itchy bites.

A sign of the times

According to Time magazine, the ubiquitous “V” sign that Asians universally flash whenever they are photographed is all about a fallen American figure skater.

I remain unconvinced.  Plus, I’m doing it wrong.

UPDATE: Commenter Kevin notes that my “V” style is more apropos to the traditional British fuck you.

Fook you, ya damn Yankee wanker…

The origins of which are well known:

Winston Churchill famously telling Hitler to fuck off…