Reflections on a year in Samcheonpo

So I have finished my contract, and will be going back to the states soon. I am going to take the beginner TOPIK Korean test before I go. I figure all the time and money I spent should be acknowledged with an official piece of paper. These days I'm not working, just relaxing and resting. So how was the year here? I suppose I'll separate it into the pros and cons. First, the pros, and then the cons.

Pros

• Samcheonpo has a beach. I grew up on an island, so it's not a huge deal to me. But it is quite fun to go there on a summers day and just relax. Drink a few beers, chill with friends, or read a book. There's even a zip line there!
• You can get to most major cities in Korea from here by bus directly. I can't tell you how convenient this is. Sure, Seoul is a ways away. But it's so nice to be able to go there non stop! 
• Things here are generally a little cheaper than big cities. Food, clothes, books, etc.
• Sometimes you get free service, just for being a foreigner. There aren't many (English speaking) foreigners around, so people are still happy to see us, haha. I've gotten free snacks, fruit, and even drinks from places.
• There is fresh seafood here. If you like raw fish, there is a great sushi restaurant. Or you can eat Hwae, Korean style raw fish at one of the restaurants near the fish market.
• Samcheonpo is a pretty authentic place. If you're looking to have a "real" Korean experience, this is a place to go.
• Theres a lot of outdoor stuff to do. Hiking, water sports, kayaking, fishing it's all here.
• You can get anywhere in town via taxi. It's pretty cheap, the most expensive trip won't be more than 5,000 won.

Now, the cons

• Samcheonpo is a small city. There aren't a lot of people here. And to be honest, some of the people that choose to work here are strange and anti social in my opinion. I've only really met 2 English people here that I consider to be my friends.
• Theres no movie theatre. I love going to the movies, and I have to go to Jinju just to see a movie. In general it's just kind of a boring place, theres not even a place to go dancing.
• The food here is just Korean food. There is a pasta place, a Lotteria, and pizza. But good luck getting a decent hamburger or something even more exotic (like a taco). I do quite enjoy Korean food. Just not every day of the month!
• It's hard to meet people here. Like I said, people are kind of cliquish  and anti social in my opinion. I even have trouble meeting Korean people here, simply because most people here are primary school students or grandmothers.
• People here are country, and can sometimes be rude and abrasive. I suppose this statement is true anywhere. But even the people I've met in Jinju (let alone Seoul or Busan) are far more sophisticated and polite. 
• Not a lot of places here to eat by yourself. Korean eating culture is very social. Many restaurants simply don't serve a single portion of food for one person.

So, with all these pros and cons, would I have done this knowing what I know now? It's hard to say. I know people that have spent 2, 3, or more years here and loved it. It's just not for me. I'm in my 20's; I'm looking to have a social life! But I believe all experiences teach you something. For instance, if I had lived in a big city I would never have learned Korean. So ultimately, it's a matter of what you want. If you're looking to have a good time and meet a lot of people, you might want to look elsewhere. But if you're looking to do a lot of outdoor stuff, spend some alone time, and live a relatively quiet life, this is certainly the place.

Wow, a whole month already?

Time flies I guess. I've just been really busy the last month or so. At the beginning of April I finally joined a gym. 2 weeks ago, I started going to Level 2 Korean classes in addition to Level 1. So now I do 8 hours of Korean class a week. I still found time to go to Busan and Gwangju in the meantime; can't spend too many weekends in Samcheonpo haha. But the weather is finally warm, and I'm loving it (even though I sweat like a stuck pig) So these days, I leave my house at 9:30AM 4 days a week, and don't get home until 10PM.

First, the gym. My gym has a sauna. I had never really been in a sauna before this, though they're common in Korea. At my gym, there are 3 steam rooms, 3 hot pools, and a cold pool. I'm not brave enough for the cold pool. But it is great to relax in after working out. I'm definitely going to keep going.

Second, Korean class. I'm one of the better students in Level 1, but I'm the worst in Level 2. I just started, but still. It's really difficult. My classmates are really nice though. A few weeks ago we had lunch with a bunch of people from the center. Just a really nice, relaxed time. I was the only man of course, haha.

A couple of weekends ago, I went to Gwangju with my friend and his family. It was really fun. The bus station is fantastic. Theres a department store,  e-mart, movie theatre, bookstore, and a ton of restaurants. It's massive! We went to see an old friend of my friend. Their baby was having it's first birthday. We got to eat a really nice buffet, and I even got a gift. Then we just did some sightseeing around Gwangju.

The next week, we had a barbecue in Samcheonpo. I met a few of the new teachers who have been here a few months. It was great. Ate a bunch of food, drank a bunch of makgeoli (Korean rice wine) and just generally hung out. We had a ton of food, and everyone was really nice.

Now finally, last weekend was maybe the funnest I've had in Korea. A bunch of Jinju foreigners went to Busan for a Lotte Giants baseball game. First, we had some drinks of course. When we got there, it was just crazy. I was able to get a few souvenirs before the game, but none after. The game itself was a blast. The crowd was the best I've been in (outside of a student section of course) Constantly cheering, dancing, yelling. I even did some dancing myself haha. And of course drinking. You can bring your own food and drinks into the stadium! It's incredible! And it's dirt cheap; $12 gets you a ticket, and there aren't any bad seats in the house. After that, we went out. I got a burrito, I think I'd been talking about tacos all day, but it did the trick.

The next day we went to the beach. I'd been to Haenduae beach before, but this time we went to Waengoli beach. It was fantastic. Though one of my friends got a little too drunk haha. For lunch, I had another burrito. Mission accomplished, 2 burritos in one weekend. We finished up by going to a massive market. All kinds of street food, clothes, just everything you could want. And of course, before we left I got a hamburger.

So that sums up my month. Not much about Samcheonpo, but nothing else is really new. The beach is great right now though. Koreans don't go until around July, so for the next month and a half I've got it to myself. Gonna get my tan on.

Daegu Birthday party

Sorry for the lack of updates! I've been kind of busy lately. I've been studying Korean pretty hard. That doesn't mean I can really speak it or understand much, but I can text and write basic Korean, so I guess it's a start.

This weekend I went to Daegu with my friend Brian. It was our friend Andy's birthday, and our other friend Joe came to visit from Seoul. Before meeting Andy, we went to a foreigner bar called Travelers. Foreigner bars can be hit or miss in Korea, but I really liked this one. Food was delicious and they had good beers. Brian wouldn't shut up about craft beers. I appreciate good beers but when Cass/Hite/Max (Korean domestics) are half the price, I'll drink the shitty Korean beer almost every time. I had a chili cheese burger which came with a mountain of fries. After getting full, I stopped eating. I guess Brian saw it as a contest and a challenge to eat everything because he did. And he got a little sick, haha.

We met up with Andy and went to meet Joe at the train station. It was pretty crowded. After getting a motel, we went to get tacos. They were actually pretty amazing (Dos Tacos). There were four of us, so when they asked how many I couldn't say "Dos...amigos" which I stole from Joe. We had some margaritas, and then went out drinking. I met some pretty cool people that night. A half American half Korean woman with her name tattooed in Korean letters, and an Afghan guy who runs an import/export company. I like Daegu a lot; I could definitely see myself living there in the future.

The next day, we went to this bookstore/cafe called Buy the Book. It's one of, if not the best, used English bookstore I have been to in Korea. It's really relaxed, and when we went they had pulled pork tacos for 2,000 won ($2)! If I hadn't already been full from Quiznos I would have eaten more. You're probably thinking "Oh this guy only eats foreign food" no fuck that. In Samcheonpo all I eat is Korean food every day. When I leave the city I pretty much only eat Korean food. I found out Joe has never eaten kimchi, which is nothing short of astonishing. He said it was a challenge for him. We barely got the last bus back to Jinju (there are no direct Samcheonpo-Daegu buses) Here are some pics and videos. The first ones are from Samcheonpo.

                                    My friends wife made dumpling soup. Delicious.

                                 Jellyfish

                                      Amateur performance at the Daegu stage.

                                     Rockin a throwback jersey in Thursday party

                                     Thursday party

 

                                           Daniel reppin the 803

                                        A cool bar. I don't know why my friends left.

                                        Black out Korea

                                      Joe said this looked like Khan from King of the Hill

                                        These 3 are from Samcheonpo

                                   

Warm weather

Spring time has finally come to Samcheonpo. The miserable, dreadful cold of winter has finally ended. The weather is actually decent now. One of my friends in Samcheonpo has been here for more than 2 years, so he knows the area quite well. He likes outdoor stuff, hiking, stuff like that. I'm going to start doing more outdoor stuff here, because there is quite a lot. There are a lot of Buddhist temples, historical sites, and mountains to climb. You can even go windsurfing around here. Yesterday (Sunday) we had lunch and ended up going to the bridge park. We walked for a few miles to a small fishing village nearby. It was quite lovely. The scenery was amazing, pictures don't really do it justice. But here are some pictures anyway.

                              You can rent these for a day and just fish.

                                        You can rent a fishing boat with other people for 15,000/20000 won ($15-$20)

                               This is at work. i guess the cook knows I like to eat so she gave me that massive bowl of rice. The small bowl is what my coworkers got ha

Jeonju Wedding

Last Friday was March 1st Day, a national holiday in Korea, so I had the day off. Me and a couple friends, Mike and Jim, planned to go to Seoul. But then Mike tells me that his friends sister is getting married in Jeonju, and asked me if I wanted to go. I wasn't sure, but he ended up convincing me. His friend Sarah ended up coming too. Jim went to Seoul, and we met him Saturday.

Jeonju is the guardian of Korean culture. There is a Hanok village full of traditional architecture, and even the bus stops look Korean. Jeonju is also known for its food, and we planned to eat "at least 2 meals" there. Little did we know our trip would be going to a wedding in between eating and eating some more. Here are some pictures of the Hanok village. Mikes friend showed us around. It was really cool, because he grew up in the town and knew good places. We climbed to the top of a big hill, and he played guitar up there, it was funny. We tried to eat in the area, but everything closed ridiculously early, so we weren't able to. Instead, we ended up going to a barbecue place owned by his friend. It was cool except for the part when a homeless man tried to make friends with us. He kept looking at me and knocking on the window. I just looked away. We told the waiter to tell him to go away, but the waiter came back in and said he knew us. We said no he doesn't know us at all, tell him to go away. So of course, the waiter invites him in. We had to physically take him out. Other than that dinner was good.

                                 Makgeoli, Korean rice wine.

                                   We had to climb a small mountain (large hill?) to get here

 
That night, we stayed in a love motel. It wasn't great but it's a love motel so...Anyways, the next day, we went to the wedding. It began at noon, and we got there a little early. We were looking for Mike's friend, and he ended up being in the brides room. I didn't want to go in at first, because I thought it was bad luck. But he invited us in, and his sister was sitting on a couch in her dress with people taking pictures with her. We got a picture too, but I don't have a copy (yet). Then the actual wedding started. It was pretty chill. People were talking, kids running around, people going in and out. I have never been to a wedding that loud. When the bride came out, disco lights and cool music played, and a smoke machine announced her entrance. When the cake came out it was like being in a club. Disco lights came on again, and house music accompanied the cake cutting. Really different kind of wedding. After the wedding was the meal. The wedding took place in a big wedding hall, and the food area was huge. It was a buffett, with probably over 75 items. I had all kind of cool stuff. Maybe 6,7,8 plates, I lost count. I was done but then my Korean friend said "please eat more" so I had to. After eating, we went back to the Korean village with our Korean friend and his two friends from Seoul. We ate Poppingzoo, red bean sherbet ice cream. It was surprisingly delicious. Then we went to Seoul but nothing important happened there really.