I am almost 100 percent again. My nose has suffered the most from my illness however. I hope it will one day forgive me. It feels like it's about to fall off actually but other then that I am feeling myself again. I went to visit a palace yesterday. Most of it was rebuilt though because it got destroyed during the Korean War. That war took out a lot ancient structures in this country actually. I guess wars have a way of doing that though. They kind of end up robbing you of your history or in the case of the US they could end up robbing us of our future....ok, this will not be a political blog....I promise.

Anyways, I saw this palace with some people from work yesterday and it was pretty cool for the first 15 minutes and then it was kind of the same thing over and over again. This has always been my problem. I can't spend all day looking at the same thing over and over again. When we went to Ireland the castles and ruins all started to look the same after a while. When I lived in Colorado I lived directly under Pikes Peaks which are beautiful. But waking up everyday getting ready to go to class you just get used to seeing them in the background. I feel bad about this. I feel like I take these things for granted. I've been lucky enough so far to see and live in some pretty amazing places. The odds are I will continue to see really amazing things, but it is so rare to have something take my breath away.

I feel like the Egyptian pyramids might knock me on my ass. When I went to Costa Rica and stayed in the cloud forest there was this moment when the clouds actually cleared up and I could see across the whole forest and there was this beautiful lake and then a volcano across from where I was standing....I could have looked at that for a long time....I did look at that for a long time actually. I wish I could have more experiences like that. That's what I love about Art. Really good art stops me in my tracks. I'm not just talking about paintings and sculpture either. I'm talking about music and theater too. Maybe I'm greedy. I want to wake up everyday and go somewhere or see something that takes my breath away. Maybe I just miss my girlfriend. She usually has that affect on me.

So back to the palace. We're walking around the palace and some of the teachers decide to go on the guided tour and some of us just walk around. I can't do the whole guided tour thing. I like to walk my own path, guided tours are like Christmas sweaters...they just feel uncomfortable and I look stupid in them. So I walk around with the non guided tour teachers and we see some pretty neat stuff but then it gets old. So we go back out to the front and wait for the guided tour people to come back. While we are waiting this pretty cool show starts happening where these guardsmen dressed in traditional clothing start marching in a pattern and hitting this huge drum and swing their swords. It's pretty cool and I'm no long bored at this point. So they are yelling some stuff in Korean which I don't understand and walking in formation when I start to feel like I'm being stared at. Then this group of Korean girls tap me on the shoulder and ask to have their picture taken. So I take their camera and say sure thinking they want their picture taken with the guardsmen doing their thing in the background....NO.....they want their picture taken with me. All this cool shit is going on and they want their picture taken with the black guy. So I smiled and they took their picture with me. Then about ten minutes later another group came up to me and it was the same thing. This happened about five times while we were waiting for the other group to finish their tour of the palace. So I started thinking, am I an attraction? I still don't know how I feel about it. I mean, they were all very friendly but it was kind of weird. I mean if you go to the Grand Canyon you don't take pictures of the stranger waiting for his buddies to come out of the bathroom do you? I know they don't have much contact with foreign folks here but WOW, I never thought it would be like this.

One of the Korean teachers I work with and teach with told me that for about 95 percent of the Koreans I will come in to contact with while I'm here I will probably be the first live African American they have ever talked to and been close to. Now that's a lot of pressure! No wonder I get stared at so hard on the subway. I'm thinking about having some business cards made. I'll be the ambassador of American Black folk. Better me then Snoop Dogg I guess.

Today is Thursday which means it is Thanksgiving. But back in the States it is only Wednesday. For those of you reading this blog today I hope you have a very very exciting or relaxing (which ever one you most want) Thanksgiving.

I have a phone finally (not that I expect anyone to call but if you find yourself lost in Korea feel free) My phone number is 010 8682 6952. In Korea, like in most other foreign countries, incoming calls are free...yet another thing they do better then the United States. It doesn't matter what company the other caller is from, all incoming calls are free.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chris

Hello there

Wow. So in the past three days I've received Skype messages and emails from a lot of people. A lot of you were asking about my blog address again which means I either forgot to give it out or you just forgot. First of all I'd like to say that I really appreciate those of you who have taken the time to call me (skype me) and email me back and forth. It means a lot to me. I'm really busy here learning the schedule and the way they like to teach at my school but I always have time to read funny and important or even just boring ass emails from you guys. I'm the kind of person who remains in pretty good contact with those who I want to remain in touch with so I really do take your messages seriously as a sign of our friendship. Now to those of you who I have not heard from....I guess we are not good friends. Just kidding. I know some of you are not good at keeping in touch with people and I'll keep that in mind when you need a blood transfusion and my O-blood is the kind that will save your lives.

Korea is great and the kids are really fun most of the time! Write me, skype me, or send me gifts.

My email is geromeshanklin@yahoo.com and my skype email is cdubsla@yahoo.com

laters,

Chris

Korean Flu

Let me tell you something about the Korean flu....it sucks! Now, I have not been sick for almost two years. I arrive in Korea and on the second week, I get sick as hell. I forgot what it was like to be sick like that. Snot all over the place, can't sleep cause I can't breath, fluid in the ol' lungs! I was feeling like crap for a whole week. I'm just now feeling better. I went to the gym for the first time in a week, which is the longest I have not worked out in a very very very long time. I'm still hurting a little bit but I think I'm over the worst of it. I don't have my ARC (Alien Resident Card) yet so I couldn't see a doctor which meant I had to go at it with no pills no nothing. That was not fun.

However, one of the teachers I work with here got sick at the same time I did and he went to a doctor. He explained his experience to me and he said the health care system in the US should be ashamed. I have to agree with him. First of all the whole experience for him took 15 minutes...total. In the US it takes 15 minutes for them to call you name...and that's quick. He said he met with the doctor right away, he check him out, gave him six pills and charged in around 15,000won, which is around $17.00 US. Come on! My co pay was $20 dollars alone. Pills were always extra. I think we would all agree that Kaiser sucks ass!!


It seems like the US does a lot of things ass backwards. I think we are still a great young country but we have our heads up our ass's on so many things. The health care system is one of them. It's not the present administrations (who I can't stand by the way) fault either. Bush and his people have just managed to highlight ALL that is wrong with the USA. Seriously, they took a gigantic highlighter marker and they colored in everything that sucks about the USA. They put it out there for the whole world to see and then tried to do a little razzle, dazzle (which worked for about 6 years by the way) to convince the rest of us that their way was good and helpful....yeah...I feel so much safer.

I tell you what, if we don't start taking care of our internal problems, instead of ignoring them and pointing the finger at countries all over the globe, we are in for a world of hurt. You know that saying "when you point a finger at someone else, three other fingers are pointing back at you"? That should be the new logo for the US. We are everything that we talk shit about other countries for. It's just that nobody seems to care enough to do anything about it. We are all too content (myself included). People like George W. and Cheny will always take advantage of a mood like that. Our country is so desperate for a true leader right now. A uniter not a divider. We've had enough division to last a very long time.

My subway adventure

So yesterday I decided to make the trek into Bundang which is a little south of Seoul. I took the train from Paju and then I caught the subway in Seoul Station. Now, those of you who know me know that my sense of direction is really really bad. I'm not the guy who you come to when you get lost, but I think that's all about to change. The reason is because I have to pay attention now. When I'm traveling all by myself I have to pay attention to signs and read maps like normal people. Who knew. You look at the map, find where you are and then find where you want to go. The map actually shows you how to get there? I don't know what kind of new technology I'm dealing with here but if those crazy explorers back in the day had maps they could have really done some things you know.

Anyways, I got lost in the subway system of Seoul for a while but I'm glad I did because I quickly realized that I can take care of myself. I looked at the subway map and quickly figured out where I had gone wrong. Bundang is where Danielle is going to be and I think it only took me about two hours to get there but I got lost so it felt more like 3 and a half.

So I'm on the train and then I'm on the subway and I'm looking around at all the lovely Korean faces pretending like they are not interested in me. To bad I can see them all in the reflection of the subway window staring at me. The little kids are the best though because they don't mess around. They walk in the subway, see me, and their eyes get huge and the yell something I don't understand and then come up to me and touch me. They are friendly enough but like I've said at times one does feel like a freak show. I love the little kids though. They are so curious and have no fear. I've met some nice people on the subway too. A lot of the stops sound alike so it would be easy to miss your station to get off so sometime I have to ask people what stop I'm at.

I also find that as much as people stare at me I'm staring at them too. I have seen some very sharply dressed people. Some really sharp outfits on the guys. Too bad nothing here will ever fit me. For the most part they are very petite and lean.....and I am not. But it's the women who steal the thunder. I have never seen so many knee high boots in my life. Knee high boot and tights with mine skirts that would make Paris Hilton blush.

I'm sure I will get more used to the subway system the more I use it. I ended up getting pretty sick last night. I think this whole voyage in general took a lot out on my system and I'm finally paying the price. My throat started hurting on the subway yesterday and it got really bad last night. I'm still not feeling so hot right now actually. I hope I feel better tomorrow because I have to go back to work. I'm glad I have a strong immune system usually because there are a lot of people in this tiny country. The subway is hot and packed. I was sweating my ass off. You can't be a germ a phob and live here, that's for sure. I guess in the summers it gets really bad because all the pollution from China blows over the country with the trade winds. They call it the "yellow dust" obviously because it's yellow. But I guess you have to wear those white face masks a lot of the summer, especially in the Seoul area. Good thing for me I'm more in the country but it still gets bad here I guess.

Well, that's all I have for now. I'm going to try to rest up some. Peace from Korea.

Where to begin?

First of all I'd like to say that I am very happy with my choice to live and work in South Korea for the upcoming year. I have not been able to get out and see the country as much as I would like to yet but I'm getting used to my class schedule at the moment. The country is full of people and I have been treated very well so far. I work at a large school and teach in the Science building. For those of you who are laughing right now because you know I don't know the first thing about science calm down. It's not really about the science when you are teaching English. It's more about the language. Getting the kids comfortable with speaking complete English sentences. I work funny hours at the moment. I have Wed and Th off. There are around 100 teachers at the school I work at. It is about 65% Korean teachers and the rest are from all over the globe. Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South African, Great Britain, Ireland, USA, etc. It's nice to be around people with so many different world experiences and perspectives.

I get stared at pretty much every place I go. When I go to the store to get food I have young people following me around pretending like they are not. I don't mind it though. You have to remember that Korea is 99% Koreans. So they really don't get to see foreign faces as much as you would think...at least not live foreign faces. The kids that I work with are great. They don't have filters so they just say what ever is in their head. When you introduce yourself you say ask the class if they can guess where you are from and most of the time the kids guess that I am from Africa. This always makes me laugh because for them that is where people with dark skin come from. The funny thing is that all of the south africans are white so when they tell the kids they are from Africa the kids have a hard time understanding that.

Korean boys and Korean men for that matter are very affectionate towards each other. They hold hands while walking together and give each other hugs constantly. Some of the Western male teachers have issue with this but I think it's great. I hope that our western homophobic issues never infect these guys but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one. You can see the influence of popular western ideas already. In a country where 99 percent of the people are Koreans most of the advertising is of white faces selling everything from cars to underwear. I think that is so telling. Sad too.

I have to admit that sometimes I feel like the animal in the zoo with some of the looks I get. I'm the first black person that a lot of these kids have had contact with. So besides what they get from American movies they don't have anything to compare me to. Lucky for me American movies give black people a great name overseas!!!! Yeah, right. If I have another kid say "yo" to me I might explode. It's funny and it's not funny. I mean that's how they think all black people talk. I can only imagine what else they think black Americans do.

All the Koreans I work with think I'm way younger than I am. When they find out I'm 31 they freak out. It's pretty funny. They think I look like I'm 26 which makes me laugh because I feel old. I will have more to write when I'm able to get out and experience the country more. Danielle arrives in a couple of weeks. She is going to be working in a very very rich part of South Korea just outside of Seoul. It's a brand new city that they built for people who did not want to live in Seoul but worked there. I'm excited to see where her new home. I basically live in the country. I go jogging and there's nothing but hills, so by the time I'm done here my legs should be very strong. It's beautiful here right now because all the leaves are changing colors getting ready for the winter season. I have to get ready for class now but I will write more later.