Think about the Polar Bears for Gods Sake!!!!

Ko-re-a!--I-just-met-a-land-named-Ko-re-a! Yeah, not really. Been here almost half a year, but I arrived in the late fall and it's really like being in two different countries. That is, winter Korea vs spring and summer Korea. The warm weather is so nice. I forgot what it's like to be warm. This place gets so damn cold in the winter. It seriously went from cold to warm and even hot just like that. There was no warning or anything. I have heard rumors that in the next two months it will get nasty hot but I'd rather be hot then cold. I guess living in the U.S. I took for granted winter seasons. I usually like the winter. I like the way fresh snow peppers the forest around me. I think ice storms are beautiful in their attempt to preserve the world in a crystal clear crust. But that shit doesn't happen here man. It's just cold....cold and ugly. There are not a lot of trees and the only thing that ice sticks to is the piles of trash in the street. But the warm winds have blown across Korea and the country has responded by rolling out the red carpet. It's like all the stars of nature are doing their thing for all to see. This is a welcome sight to the barren trees of winter.

Warm weather means more time for me to travel around to areas without having to cut my visits short because it's so damn cold. In the next few months I hope to see as much of the country as I can. Since I will not be here for another summer I want to see all that I can before my second winter here. I want to visit and stay at a Buddhist Temple this summer and I plan on Island hoping down south. I think there is still damage to some of the beaches due to the oil spill last fall but I hope to visit some of these areas anyways.

So I've been listening to the news a lot (as always) and I have some questions about what's going on in that great country of mine. I don't want to talk about Obama, Clinton or that other guy (is he still alive?). I want to talk about the price of food and gas. Is it true that milk now cost $42.00 a gallon? I'm joking of course but every time I listen to the news people are talking about how much milk costs. Now I don't drink milk but I do remember that milk used to be so cheap people used to take baths in it. That shit is like liquid gold now according the news. The cost of food seems to have risen a lot since I left the country. Not that it wasn't happening before I left but it seems like it has gotten worse. Is this connected to record oil barrel prices? Hmmmmmm. I gotta tell you, I'm so happy not to have to worry about gas right now. I heard it cost $300.00 to fill up a moped these days? What's funny about the whole oil thing is that oil is expensive as all hell in a lot of other countries and they sell that stuff by liters, not gallons. In the Netherlands, to get a gallon of gas you are going to pay around $8.00. I wonder how high gas will have to get for us (citizens not the government) to demand higher funding for renewable fuels and alternative energy? As much as I complained when I was living in Portland I complained while fueling up my car. I could have taken public transportation. Portland has a really good system set up but I'm addicted to the comfort and convenience of driving my own car. When I didn't have a car I took the bus and the light rail. It was that simple.

I don't have kids but if and when I do I don't want to have to tell them things like, "I remember when milk was only $10". "Now you have to take out a bank loan to have milk with your cereal". I'm hoping our generation is smarter then the last and the next generation is smarter than mine. As a race of human beings we have really fucked things up. I don't want to tell my future son or daughter about Polar Bears. I want them to be able to see a living Polar Bear. I shouldn't be able to hold an ice glacier in my hands. Bees should not be disappearing. Bees!?! We need them, don't we? Aren't they kind of important for things like.....everything that grows!!!!! Jesus. If you stop and think about all the things going on with our planet how can you not be motivated to do something....anything? Start recycling a little more. Start walking a little more. Start car pooling. Start paying attention to what our government is actually doing. Start a blog and pontificate about everything. But do something....because remember: All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for a few good people to do nothing.

Harrison Ford did not play Luke Skywalker!!!!!!!

There's serious problem in my relationship with Danielle. This problem has been there for a long time but I have, until now, been able to make excuses for it. I've ignored the problem altogether in some cases. This problem has nothing to do with me and absolutely everything to do with Danielle. It started over two years ago when she looked at me strangely after I made a comment about Star Trek and how James T. Kirk is one of the coolest white men to ever grace the silver and the small screen. I let her mocking glances slide because I liked her. However, after this rather warm Korean morning I don't know if I can keep making excuses for her "short-comings". I turned on the television in her apartment and watched the last ten minutes of the Fugitive starring Harrison Ford. Side note: Harrison Ford gets beat up in the majority of his films. He's always getting tortured, shot, burned, punched, kicked, frozen in Carbonite, etc. Now, some of you may have noticed I just wrote "frozen in Carbonite". Obviously I'm referring to the Empire Strikes Back which leads us to Danielle's problem and possibly the end of our relationship.

After The Fugitive ended Danielle turns to me and I shit you not, this woman says to me, "I didn't realize he played Luke in Star Wars until recently." Now after the shock of such a mis-statement released its grip on my soul I was left speechless. "Did she seriously just say that Harrison fucking Ford played fucking Luke Skywalker in Star Wars?" "Holy Shit!" Now I have to break up with Danielle after more then 2 years together. I could forgive the whole Star Trek thing but not Star Wars! Not Star Wars! You have to fucking know Star Wars! I looked into those beautiful crystal pools she calls eyes to search for a hint of jest. Surly she's jesting me, she's pulling my leg, she's fucking with me...nope! She was serious. There was no crack of a smile forming on that angelic face of hers. There was no gleam of mischievousness in the sparkle of her eyes. There was only the silence filling the room. The silence of Danielle believing Harrison fucking Ford played Luke Skywalker Star Wars.

What's next Danielle? What's next? Perhaps you believe Superman dresses up like a bat and fights crime in Gotham? Do you even know who the Flash is? Do you!?! Who would win in a fight, Batman or Superman! Quickly, don't think about it, just answer! Batman! The answer is always going to be Batman! My God woman...two years, two years we've been together and you pull this shit on me now??? What the fuck? Who do you think you are? This was all inner conversation I was having with myself of course. What I said aloud was, "Excuse me?" She started to repeat her verbal sin when I had to cut her off and say, "no, no, no, Harrison Ford played Han Solo not Luke Skywalker." She laughed it off and said, "Oh, yeah, that's what I meant to say." The silence returned. What do you mean that's what you meant to say? Who makes a mistake like that? Everybody knows you're either a Luke Skywalker person or you're a Han Solo person, and everybody also knows that if you're cool you're a freaking Han Solo person!!! You don't make mistakes like that! Holy shit...do you think Superman would actually win in a fight against Batman? Or worse...do you not even think about such fights even taking place??? Who are you? Who the hell are you woman!!! Do you mean to tell me that you are laughing at me when I talk about Star Trek and not laughing because you are so ashamed of yourself for not knowing anything about it?

Then came the final blow. She was like Tyson in his youth, not the Tyson who bites peoples ears off. She was one punch Tyson and her punch packed a mighty blow in the form of her final statement on the matter. She must have noticed that I looked disgusted with her so she said, "I've only seen Star Wars once and I didn't see any of the others." Holy Shit!!!!! Holy Shit! This is the worse day of my life. How is it possible I've kissed those lips that spit this acid? Am I dreaming? Did she say she's only seen Star Wars once? Did she say that she hasn't seen Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi??? Ohhh, the room is spinning. The room is spinning and I'm going to be sick. I've got to sit down. Somebody get a bucket, I'm going to puke. I've spent the past two years with a person who's only seen Star Wars and just once! Jesus woman, you really don't know what the "T" in James T. Kirk stands for! I thought you were joking. Have you ever read a comic book? I just assumed you have. So where does this leave us???

I don't know. I was too afraid to talk to you about this while I was at your apartment so I thought it would be way more appropriate to discuss the matter on my public blog. I know you read my blogs so I figured I could get every thing out in the open this way. What am I to do Danielle? Tell me. This is unforgivable. Couldn't you just kiss some dude or something like that. We could work through that but I don't know if we can work through this....Harrison fucking Ford played Luke Skywalker? Jesus! I gotta go take a shower. We'll talk about this later.

Warmer Winds

This place is so interesting. You hate it one day, you like it the next, then you're indifferent after that. Actually, that's kind of how I felt about Portland too. I've never been to a place where I felt like I was home. I've never lived in a place that I wanted to stay in for years and years. I envy people who have sometimes. Korea is getting warmer with each passing day and with each passing day of warmth I feel like I can tolerate more and more of the things I don't particularly like. Nature is starting it annual fashion show and I think this seasons designs are going to something else. I'm surrounded by hills where I live so in the winter it's very ugly. There is no color and the trees are barren exposing all the army bunkers nestled near by. I can hear gun fire in the distance most days. The army seems to constantly be running exercises in case they are attacked by their brothers from the North. After finishing up my first winter in Korea I can honestly say I will only see one more of these in my life time. I'll still be here next winter but after that I'm outta here. Even if the spring and summer turn out to be as beautiful as I have a feeling they are going to be, I didn't enjoy what Korea had to offer me this winter. The barren hill side is being painted with dots of pink cherry blossoms and brushed with a think green coat. Each day I wake up to a work of art in progress. It is beautiful.

I've been taking the bus more often and seeing more of the country with each trip. Korea is made of cities inside of cities. They build right on top of each other and if you don't like crowds you should stay away. As the weather gets warmer the sewers emit stronger and stronger smells. I don't think there is any such thing as conservation in this country. I have seen people dumping oil, trash, and other filth directly into the streams near by. Trash piles up when I walk through the city streets and that smell seems to follow me around. The person who figures out that there is money to be made by setting up recycling centers will make a lot of money in this country. Getting services in Korea is, to steal a line from Sally Fields in "Forrest Gump", like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're going to get. They will charge you or not charge you according to how they feel at the time. They will not tell you the truth about how much something is going to cost if you make payments. They will reduce the price of items by over %50 percent one minute and overcharge for the same item a day later. I go to the grocery store one week and fruit is in one section. I go back the next and they have moved where the fruit can be found in the store. Customer service is not all that important over here. After realizing this I've also realized something about myself....I'm willing to pay more for good customer service. Korea is a country that is in the process of learning how to deal with non Koreans. I am part of this process. I guess all countries learn how to deal with people who are not nationals. However, where the United States is full of different kinds of people the same can not be said of Korea. There are not different kinds of people here. Not in large numbers anyways. When I say this I am not trying to be funny but am simply trying to illustrate what it is like here. Everybody dresses the same. They get the same hair cuts. They try to look like everybody else. I am beginning to understand more and more why people have such a strong reaction to me when they see me. They are not learning about different cultures or people in school here. They learn most of what they know about non Koreans from the television. I am a big, black reminder to them that Korea is not the world and some Koreans truly FREAK OUT when they see me. What worries me about this "sameness" here is that creativity is suffering. In some of my classes I will ask kids to "invent" something and draw a picture of their invention. They sit 5 or 6 kids to a table and 90% of the time they have trouble. These are middle school and high school kids who can not imagine something new. They have no limits, no boundaries and most of them sit there staring at their page. And, if one kid starts to draw something the rest of the kids will look over his/her shoulder and copy what he/she is doing. It's very telling. I know I've talked about this before but those of you who think the education system of the United States should be more like Asian countries that have have Math and Science scores should come and visit Korea. You might change your mind. But, one thing these kids are not is lazy....at least not lazy in the class room. Physically.....hell yeah they are lazy. These kids get winded walking up stairs. It's sad. And now that the U.S. and other countries are pumping their fast foods, candy bars, soda drinks, etc. into the country I predict Korea will see a sharp rise in obesity and other health related problems in the next decade maybe sooner.

This week I am a homeroom teacher and I have a group of 14 boys. These guys have low English (which is still higher than my Korean) but they have amazing attitudes. These guys are awesome and I'm going to be sad to see them go on Friday. I like each and every one of them. They want to learn English and they have good hearts. They ask questions and they are not afraid. Sometimes I get Korean kids who are flat out afraid of me. This can be annoying at times. Usually it's girls. Korean girls do this thing I have coined the "Korean Shuffle" they see me and they quickly shuffle away. I shouldn't say all Korean girls but it's over 50% of the time. I'm kind of curious what they think I'm going to do to them that they react that way. The funny thing is once I have these girls in a class they can't wait to see me the next time. They yell my name, give me high fives, follow me around sometimes. It's like they have a class with me and realize that I'm not going to eat them alive or do whatever they thought I was going to do. Patience truly is a tool one should develop in their life time. I am learning to use this tool with quite some skill since I've been here.

With all that said, I can't really picture myself any where else at the moment. I'm supposed to be where I'm supposed to be and I accept this. Sometimes I picture myself sitting on some deck in Portland playing cribbage with Danielle drinking a Chimay. Sometimes I am having a dinner party with old and new friends pretending like I don't want to be the center of events...I do, I really do! Is that bad?

I'm trying to write...I'm not sure what, but this little voice inside my head keeps whispering "write fool, write". So I think I'm going to have to listen to it sooner than later. What should I write? I'm not sure yet. My ideas and my thoughts? I do that in a blog. I think there's a story somewhere inside of me. I know there is actually. And, I think I am growing closer to writing that story down and seeing what happens from there.