Six Months in South Korea

Well, I have been here for 6 months now, the time has gone quite fast for me. The summer was pretty hot here, nothing I couldn't handle though. Hot and humid, kind of like some of the weather in Wisconsin, maybe a bit warmer and maybe a bit more consistent. I continue to meet people that come to teach and more Koreans that live here and always have lived here. Many of my friends that I met when I first got here have left recently or are leaving soon. There one year contract is up and they are off to the next phase of there life. This country pumps a lot of teachers through it, it is quite amazing. And now there are new faces from time to time and I often introduce myself and see where they are from and how they are adjusting and that sort of thing. Do what I can to help them out in there first couple weeks. Old friends leave and new ones are coming now, this happens to every year here. Although I have also met a handful of teachers who have been here for 7 years. They came for the World Cup and just stayed since then. They all have college teaching jobs and some are married to Koreans. I guess I have met people who have been here a day all the way up to 17 years. There are not so many of 17 year vets, but it is an easy life here and you can save a good penny if you do it right, which I am doing pretty good at. If I was 23 and here, I think I would be in a different place in my life. I think it is a good thing I came when I did. Most teachers that I do meet are 23-26. I am one of the more older teachers here. Sometimes I even feel old here because all of my friends are usually younger than I am.... But it is alright, no worries for me... Couple of things to break down for you....

My Job
-It has been pretty easy so far. The job gets a bit old sometimes since my kids levels are pretty low, that I didn't have summer vacation like I usually do. That is one of things you just have to deal with. I recently moved to go half time at another school. So now, half of my days are with my old school, half with my new school. This happened because the numbers at the old school are dropping. Not sure the real reason for this..... But the change is good, I really like my new school, but their levels are even lower than my first school. Oh well.... My hours are generally 12-6, but when the kids had off for their summer break my hours were 9:30-3:30, still pretty good. So even though the kids don't have regular school, they still come to my "after school program" weird stuff. I eat hot lunch which is all Korean food, and I love it. It is great food, much better than what I remember of my school lunch days, sorry Bonnie.... As far as prep goes, I don't do a whole lot, which is nice, not much correcting, not much planning. I stick to the book and go through it. The students like me, which is great. They are always happy to see me, which makes those rough Friday mornings a bit easier... But my job is only part of my experience here...

My music
- The music started out strong here and I was playing many gigs, and partying and teaching and my voice got in a little trouble. As I as here I wanted to start to see other parts of the country and so now I try to play one weekend a month, both Friday and Saturday night at two different bars. Rhythm and Booze is one and Club Freebird is the other. They are both pretty nice. Club Freebird is a pretty neat club, that has a good sound system and atmosphere. Sometimes it is hard to fill, other times it has been slamming. My Milwaukee friend Vanessa and Laura really made some of my shows great, they were always great to have there, thanks ladies. I have played other places too, another one in Seoul called Club DGBD, this was maybe the best venue I have ever played with. The sound was great and they had a huge light show set up which reminded me of MOE show, or some other big Jam Band. It was great. The psychedelic lights and fog machine, they did it all. I hope to get back there before I leave. We shall see. I have been selling some CD's here, that has been going well. I think I will run out of them before I return home, I brought close to 200. So the gigs shall continue, they continue to get better as I meet more people and invite them to my shows.

My traveling weekends
-The weekends I am not playing music I really try and leave the city for some fresh air and great hiking. Koreans love to hike and I enjoy it too. Outside of the city, this country is very beautiful. Lots of mountains to climb and National Parks to check out. It is great to get hiking in the parks and get away form the city. My city's air is not the cleanest by any means.... I miss the Wisconsin air very much. But I will hang in there. I hope to continue to check out more parks here and hike up and down them. I have found some groups of people who like to go out on the weekends and hike so I get together with them, sometimes I go without knowing anyone and meet some new friends. This is great. www.meetup.com=this is a site if you want to connect with people who share the same interests as you. I think it is great. Anything you are interested in, there are probably other people you don't know who are also interested in it. It might be worth checking out if you really, lets say go camping, but can't find anyone to go with, I am willing to bet you can find campers in your area to go with. There have been a handful of weekends I did stay close to home. I would check out Seoul and things that are close by. I have discovered that I enjoy the countryside rather than big cities.

My Summer vacation
-Nikki came out to visit for 2 weeks at the end of July. I told my boss and she gave me an extra week off because of the swine flu scare. It was great timing, so instead of one week, I got two weeks off! Brilliant. We traveled all of the country. Went to a the East coast then headed south. Did some camping, saw a cave, went hiking, stayed with some friends, then met some friends in Busan, this is South Korea's 2nd biggest city. I was ill with intestinal problems so I didn't enjoy it too much. There was so many people there it was insane. Too many people and the hotel we stayed at was pretty crummy and way to expensive for Korean standards. But it was the high season so all the prices were up. Then we went to Jeju Island, this was a great time. We climbed up the highest point on the island, this is also the highest point in South Korea, it was a great hike indeed. We took a ferry form Busan to Jeju, it was an overnight one and it was a great time. The ferry rides that we took were some of my summers highlights. The other ferry we took was from Jeju to Incheon (this is the city I live in). Again another overnight ferry. There was some live music on the boat and I got to play a set with them, it was a duo really, but I had a great time and then the night turned into partying with Azerbaijan Olympic Tai Kwon Do team. It was pretty epic night. They loved beer just as much as we did so we got along well. I have a friend that knows a good bit of Russian so it worked out pretty well. It was a night to remember. A fine vacation.

My soccer team
-I have just started the fall session of the soccer season. It has been pretty fun, my team is called the Incheon Internationals FC. We are pretty good, we have a lot of fun. It reminds me of the times I played in La Crosse. A lot of beer drinkers on the team. Some like to smoke cigarettes at halftime, so it is pretty relaxed, but at the same time, we out there to win, that is for sure. Many guys on my team have been here for more than 2-3 years, and the there are about 7 Koreans on the team as well. It is a fun time, but honestly seeing the country is a bit more important to me for the time. I hope to make every other week, but if I don't make it, it is okay....

My diet
-My diet here is pretty good. Many people say it is cheaper to eat out in Korea than to cook for yourself. Yes the food can be very cheap here, but I shop at the open markets and get a bunch of fruits and veggies for a real cheap. So that is what I eat, fruits and veggies, hot lunch, and I do go out for the traditional Korean food from time to time. And it can be damn cheap as well. I will make myself a PB$J too. They have something called mandu here, which is like little noodle balls filled with rice, noodles, meat, veggies, all sorts of things really, they are cheap and easy to make. I have them in my freezer all the time. I tend to disagree with those who say it is cheaper to eat out. I spend about about 10 bucks and get a hefty bag of veggies and fruits. Make some rice, sweet potatoes, some tuna from time to time, I like cooking so there you have it. I do enjoy the Korean food, it is very delicious.

Keeping active
-When I got here, I was running when I could, playing some basketball, then soccer started and hiking on the weekends. I have joined a gym that is close to my house. It is pretty nice, and my membership comes with a free Yoga class which is good. I can't understand the instructor, but I am getting the hang of it. I think running in the city might not be the best since you have to inhale all that exhaust, so the gym is nice to run in and bike and such.

My apartment
-It is small, but definitely good enough. There is a room downstairs where people put things they don't want. I have gotten some pretty nice things. A couple of paintings, 8 nice plants, pots, pans, and I just found an electric guitar, go figure... It needs some cleaning up, so we will see.

Transportation
-I take the subway whenever I can, it is a really nice system they have here. On the weekends when I leave the city, I take bus, they are probably easily half the price of back in the states so I take full advantage. Taxi's are cheap. A taxi from Seoul to my apartment is about 30,000 Won, which is a little less than 25 dollars. Not too shabby.

My Korean
-I have not put a lot of effort into learning the language, but I like to learn it from time to time. I have some good Korean friends that help me with it. I know enough to get by. Many Koreans know some English so between what I know and what they know, it all works out. I think by the time I leave, I will have a pretty good grasp of it. It is a very hard language though.

My spare time
-I play guitar in the mornings, I try to play about an hour or so, go to the gym, maybe email friends, or talk to friends and family back home and read books. I have never read so many books than my time in Korea. There is a small blog on the books I have read while I have been here if you care to look. It has been great. I seem to have more free time here than when I was back home.....

Six months to go
-Traveling, my parents and brother coming in November, finishing out the soccer season, playing gigs, going somewhere around Christmas, probably Southeast Asia. Check out some snowboarding while I am here, do a Temple Stay, save some more money, learn some more Korean, meet some new friends, say good bye to some old ones, hopefully write some new songs, got any ideas???? Let me know.

Sorry if you find a typo in this long Blog, I didn't mean to put it there. Be well and in touch.

Mike Brummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

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Boryeoung Mud Festival July 11-13

Friday night I boarded a bus from Incheon Bus Terminal to go to the Mud festival. I was rolling solo, there were quite a few festers on board. I tagged along with Trent and Ryan when I got there, we drank some beer had some dinner and checked things out. It was pretty quite that night all in all. I eventually lost those two guys and set up my tent in some trees just up from the beach. I slept real good that night. I woke up Saturday morning and found some fruit and some water for breakfast and walked around a bit waiting for some friends to show up. They eventually did and we got muddy. We coated ourselves in the mud and had a good time. I heard that this mud is some of the best mud in the world as far as being good for you skin and such. We partied all day and into the night. Matt and Blair and Seoul ladies were in attendance. At one point Matt, Michelle, and I tipped over a picnic table because we were all sitting on the same side of it, and no one was on the other side. We were laughing our asses off on that one. We ate some good food and saw some fireworks. There was a big dance party as well. It was a grand time. We woke up to lots of rain, my tent stayed nice and dry.... I caught the 3 o'clock bus home and met some nice folks on the bus as well. Even a woman from Milwaukee. It was strange to talk about street names and things being in South Korea. I highly recommend going to Mud Fess if you have a chance... Do it!

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Books I have read in South Korea

A Prayer for Owen Meaney--It was okay, some unneeded stuff in the book, a 6.5
Third Degree--This book was a page turnere, reminded me of a Dan Brown book, a 8
Trainspotting--A tough read, but a good one, good story, a 7.7
Into Thin Air--A great book, a great story, gave me the willies at time, a 8.8
Choke--A comical book about a sex addict, made me laugh, a 7.32
2012--I liked this one a lot, makes me feel like conquering the world asap, a 8.9
Lost Horizon--A fine story with great characters, a good one, a 9
One Straw Revolution--If you like farming and not eating toxins read it, a 9
Simple Life--Another good book, makes me want to live off the grid, a 9
Interpreter of Maladies--Short stories, some good, some okay, a 7
The Harder They Come--A story about a young Jamaican musician some tough words, a 7.8
Tree of Smoke--A book about the Vietnam, wasn't impressed at all, a 3
Harry Potter I--Good story, I will read the next soon, easy read, a 7.3
Uncle Tom's Cabin--A book everyone should probably read, doesn't talk too much about the cabin, but tells lots of history on how messed up our country used to be, a 8
A Million Little Pieces--Pretty good book even if it is not true, a 8.3
The Road--Okay book, easy read, is this the future? We will see, a 7
The Unbearable Lightness of Being--The grass is always greener, not the best ending, a 6.5
How to be Good--It was easy to read and I liked the idea of, we can all do more good things in life, 7.9
The Guardian--Great read, kept it interesting till the last page, dogs are great animals, a 8.8
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Taebaek National Park and rafting, July 4th, 2009

On the weekend of July 4th my friend Vanessa and I took a morning bus on Saturday out of Incheon. We left at 7:30 and went to Taebaek, where Vanessa's boyfriend lives. The bus went went well, we both slept and read and the 4 hours went by nicely. We got to the small town on the East side of the country and took a taxi to Nick's house. He made us some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, thanks so much Nick! Nick and Vanessa went to the sea to hang out on the beach and I decided to hike the cities mountain. Nick had a map of the city on the wall and I figured out where I was on the map and where the mountain was. I started walking to the main road to get up to the mountain. I walked about 30 minutes in the rain and found a bus stop on the main road. I realized I didn't have any small bills to pay for the bus so I went into a restaurant to get some change. A nice man eventually offered me a ride to the park entrance. A great find. I paid 2,000 won to get into the park and started my ascent towards the top. There are two ways of getting to the top, I took the first trail to the left. I only ran into 2 people on my way to the top. There are 3 peaks to this mountain and I hit all 3 of them. Two of the peaks were full of these giant rocks. I sat on the rocks on the first peak and no one else was there, for South Korea this isn't too common. I sat for about 30 minutes and went on my way to the second peak. Also, the rain had stopped as I was about halfway up the mountain, which was nice. At the next peak, about 2km away, there was a small group of people, who happened to be from Incheon. They were very excited about me being from Incheon. They shared their snacks with me and we talked for a while and then went our separate ways. They were very nice and welcoming. On top of this mountain there were 3-4 huge rock cones. 15 feet high cone made of rocks, pretty neat to look at. The third and highest peak had another rock structure where two people were praying, it was a big rock structure that you could walk into and pray on the top. Taebaeksan is the South Korea's most cherished mountain. There were times when I came across people who were praying. I headed down the mountain, and it started to pour down again. The walk down was okay, the rain wasn't the best, but my umbrella was nice to have. I got down, bought a beer and sat and watched the trees on the mountain and enjoyed the view. I started the walk out of the park, stopped the first car I saw and hitched a ride down the hill towards Nick's place. A nice Korean family gladly dropped me off and I walked back to Nick's place for another PB and J and a short nap. Nick and Vanessa got back, we drank some beer's, and went downtown Taebaek. Had some Panchi (sp?), a Korean pancake filled with kimchi, squid, and potatoes. It was real yummy. We also drank Makalee. Stacy and Ally joined the party too. Stacy is a friend of Nick's and Stacy lives in Daegu and is also a friend. We went to another bar and played some games and drank beer and soju and met some locals. It was a good time. Eventually we went home and went to bed.

The next morning we woke up for our day of rafting. We nearly missed the bus, it was an amusing morning. Took the bus to Youngwal, a big rafting town on the East side of the country. Had some lunch, got picked up by someone who worked for a rafting company. Drove up to get the rafts. Got all packed up and drove to the put in. There were lots of people there. The ride down was a fun one, we played games and talked. The rapids were pretty weak overall, but it was nice to be on the water for the day. Our guide happens to live in Incheon as well. It is crazy how that keeps happening. The water was low, and I think I would like to do it, when the water is high and the rapids are a bit better and we don't hit the rocks. We hit several rocks on the way down.... Just got on my bus towards Incheon. The East side of the country is very pretty, lots of hills, and such. Good air and friendly folks. Hopefully I can rent a raft next time and do it myself. Until next time, be well and in touch.

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Deokjeokdo Island; June 27th, 2009.

Two weeks ago, myself and about 50 others all went to an island off the coast of Incheon. We too a ferry for about 80 minutes into the sea towards the island. The ferry left at 9:30 am. My friend Tony bought me a beer on the way there and then I bought him one after that, that was how most of the day was, lots of beer and soju had by all. We got to the ferry terminal on the island, a small little part with a few shops and restaurants. We loaded up in a bus and took a 15 minute drive to a nice beach where we were all to meet. There was a nice row of trees about 100-200 yards from the water. This is where I set up my tent, in shade, it was a real nice spot. During the day, we swam, played frisbee, and frisbee cups'. It is a game where you put some cups on a stick that is in the ground and you try to throw a frisbee at the stick to try and knock the cup off. Pretty fun. In the late afternoon, I went to the shade for a bit and did some reading, trying to get my second wind. I was there for about 30 minutes when my friends Matt and Blair happened to be walking down a trail and there we met. Chances of that happening were too good, it was great to see them. So we sat and talked and drank some more beer. It was a good time. They set up their tent, and we got back to the party. I met some girls from Seoul, they were real nice. We sat on the beach and drank soju, while talking about our lives and such. Matt, Blair and I soon went to a place to have some grub. This is where the night turns a bit cloudy. We drank beer and soju during dinner, the day was starting to catch up with me. We went back to the beach where there was a large fire with many people sitting around it and partying there "asses" off. It was a good time. Some people were playing guitar, I tried, but at that point I was not very good, so I put the guitar down, eventually jumped into the ocean for a while, I think that was a good thing, it felt good. Next thing I knew, it was 11 the next morning, I was in my tent and felt reasonably okay. A great night. That morning Evan and I, climbed a peak that was real close to the beach, it took us about an hour to get to the top. It was a great view, you could see much of the island from there. It was a hot day and I was sweating a lot. By the time I got down to the beach again, that is when the hang over started for me. It was not a good one. I sat on the beach for a while, then packed up my tent. Just in time, because it started to rain pretty heavily. I caught a bus to the ferry port and sat in front of a store just away from the rain, shut my eyes and listened to some music on Warnke's iPod, thanks for lending that to me Matt! We got on the ferry about 90 minutes later, many people of the party were drinking too, I couldn't even think about it. The ride back was nice, I sat with Filip, he is a friend from Canada. we said our good byes when we got back to Incheon, I helped the ladies from Seoul on the subway back to Seoul. I went home and suffered the "two day" hangover. I think it was a first for me. I am not proud of it, but that is how you learn. Overall it was great to be away from the city, meet a bunch more of people and sleep in my new tent. A great time, you should try to make it out there if you can. Will I make it there again? We will see. The ferry cost was about 40,000 won for a round trip ticket. A good deal, I think. Until next time, be well and in touch.
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Taean National Park

About a month ago Heejun took Josh, Ryan, and myself to an island about 1.5 hours south of Incheon. We loaded up the car on a Friday night, bought some snacks for the ride and of course some beers. It was smooth sailing on the way down, we did stop at at rest stop and it had one of the biggest bathrooms I had ever seen. It also had a nice little garden in it. Very fancy. We got to the our hotel and made some soju drinks. The hotel was real nice, my first time in a hotel in South Korea. We then took our drinks down to the sea and tried to make a fire. The wood was a bit wet, we tried but it wasn't doing it. Oh well. We eventually went to sleep. Saturday morning we got up and Heejun had left to grab us some breakfast, such a nice guy. He got back, we all ate and then took a drive to a nice beach that was close by. The beach was pretty big, I would say the largest I have been on. We threw the Frisbee and football, didn't put on sunblock and all got nice and red, stupid, stupid. We stayed about 3 hours and then hit another beach, equally pretty. We hiked around the rocks and there was so much wild life living in the rocks it was pretty great. The weekend was a nice, we drove back that Saturday and nursed our sun burns. Made a big dinner of mandu and pasta. Heejun took us to the island on him, it was very generous of him. He is a great friend. Until next time, be well and in touch.

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Official Father's Day Song Lyrics

Dad you are the best, you certainly are
Always there for me you’re the best by far
Took Care of me when I was small
Cleaned up knees when I would fall
You taught me so much yes you did
So many fun times when I was a kid

As I got older I drank your beer
The price was right that was clear
These current days we don’t live to close
That’s the reason I wrote you this toast

Happy Father’s Day to you my dad
You are my father for this I am glad
Hope to see you soon, drink a beer with you
I love you so much, yes its true

You are my father, for this I am glad
Happy Father’s Day to you my dad


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