seoul searching

Pardon the terrible pun, but on Saturday, I did in fact go Seoul searching. It was a wonderfully humid, smog-soaked afternoon and after an hour long transfer-filled subway excursion, the highest point in Korea, N Seoul Tower, was reached. I surfaced at Seoul Station, a distinctly historic building covered in a curious westernized architectural facade, and was immediately greeted by a totally random Christian dance troupe. Within the procession, four costumed Korean women performed something reminiscent of a rain dance while a Korean Jesus stood gallantly by. An all horn band played backup to a pre-recorded tape of what reminded me of Paradise Found, the 14 member church band I cringed over so many times throughout my adolescence. It was quite entertaining, in its own completely bizarre way, but really made me consider the strength of Christianity here. Seriously, church steeples are all over the place, and just like Chicago, you are sure to encounter lone preachers standing atop milk crates, denouncing your way of life through megaphones, and completely 100% accurately predicting when the world will end (okay, that realistically cannot be determined in my Korean encounter, but I would be willing to bet one dollar). It was interesting to say the least, especially since I never thought I'd encounter something like it here. 

Anyway, with a loosely scheduled plan to eventually reach the tower on my own time, I sauntered around, took mediocre pictures on my complete crap of a camera, and absorbed the charm. The area was the most natural blend of corporate urbanization and residential neighborhood I've ever seen. Somehow, it managed to go from big city steel and glass to quaint, charming restaurants, five to six story apartment buildings, and outdoor snoozing shop clerks within a couple blocks. Trying to capture these aspects on camera was difficult if not impossible and it forced me to appreciate being in the middle of a distinctly different culture, feeding into the limitless alterations of my own urban perceptions. Its what makes being in a foreign country so exciting, especially one with such characteristic variance. 

So Seoul Tower is on top of this area called Namsan in the middle of the city. Because the region is so hilly, most of the natural terrain has managed to stay intact. This is not to say human impediment hasn't occurred, as countless paths, statues, rest areas and fountains accommodate the weekend tourist on their excursion upwards. There are two methods for getting to the top: a cable car and about 3,000 steps directly upward. I chose the latter. It wasn't all bad, as just like climbing anything high, you can immediately dissuade your muscles from feeling pain by pumping them full "Whoa! Holy crap! I can see the whole city from here!" adrenaline. The higher you climb the path, the better you feel about yourself doing so. At least I think so. 

Right before the plateau the tower is situated on, there was a beautiful, completely stunning structure built during Korea's Joseon Dynasty that had once acted as a smoke signaling post. In fact, there was an entire defensive wall from this era which culminated at this point along most of the path upwards. It was stunning for two reasons:

1. The view from it literally overlooked the entire Northern section of the city, a view that had to have been completely, stunningly different around the time it was built.

2. The structure was essentially six gigantic furnaces, actually used as a perfectly reasonable, if not totally necessary, means to communicate messages to places miles and miles away. 

Like all physical historical things I encounter, it created an eerie, totally weird feeling within me just trying to imagine what it must've been like at the time the stones for such a project were being laid. How vastly different that atmosphere must have been. Trying to imagine how people back then must've casually interacted to pass the time. So weird. 

But yeah. After this point, the modern tower itself became the focus and I proceeded to the top. Once there, I observed the completely ridiculous massiveness that is Seoul and relished my moment above the world, less than 200 kilometers from Pyongyang, and over 10,000 from Chicago. 

Click here for my pictures of the trip.

iranian protests

I've just fed into the media frenzy that is the Iranian elections and am emotionally shaken. If you visit Youtube's Citizen Tube, the experience is mind-bogglingly surreal. I feel disgraceful for not making myself aware of the complete insanity of these events sooner. Just watch the videos. It is live streaming history. Emphasis is placed here because of the completely unfiltered, unembellished, brutal reality brandishing itself across the internet. This is legitimate textbook history undergoing its legitimization instantaneously. Think about that for one solid minute. 

Even though there is fair warning on the more graphic videos, I highly advise taking extreme precaution before watching anything with blood, fire, or what has become the viral martyrdom of Neda Agha-Soltan (it can be found through basically any video titled 'Neda'). This was not produced on some studio backlot in Hollywood. In fact, take the most realistic movie death scene you can imagine and multiply it by one thousand. Because IT IS REAL. Watch it only to be grounded in the actual events of present moment Iran. It is quite possibly the most disturbing thing I have ever witnessed. The video documents an entirely innocent, beautiful woman's horrific death as recorded frame by frame onto a cell phone this past Saturday. A CELL PHONE? What? Really? It made me consider how the entire historical nature of these events is inherently causing them to become some sort of anti-history, hastily feeding reality into this bizarre, new alternate universe. Which, in turn, caused me to ask the question, can the internet be considered its own legitimate universe?

Watching the "Neda" video quite literally shocked me to my core. It released adrenaline and anxiousness on levels I have never even interpreted in my lifetime. It really put every present moment into context, and made it feel pretty worthless. 

field trip and a random playlist

Yet another week has passed with blazing speed and I am all the more experienced for it. Learning how to teach is probably the most intense thing I've ever had to do, and its amazing how adopting it really affects one's outlook on life. I can honestly say my prior perceptions of teaching were completely skewed. As a student, so many aspects of just one class were not even considered, let alone admired. Even in college. I can't believe how much work teachers actually have to invest themselves in to get through even just one lesson. Even on something as redundant as teaching English to Korean Kindergartners. By this I am of course not suggesting the work is meaningless, or even unenjoyable, just completely, 100% engaging. It really does require a stellar amount of energy. I've been teaching for two weeks and already feel like I've invested two months worth of continuous stress. To be clear, this is not at all a complaint about the work. In fact, it is more of an ode to a job bursting at the seams with rewards. I can't wait to get better. 

On Friday, Wonderland went on a field trip to the transportation museum in Everland. From what I've gathered, Everland is somewhat of an equivalent to Disneyland, with an array of theme park amenities of which the co-workers and I have discussed potentially visiting in the near future. Anyway, the museum consisted of an outdoor miniature urban street center complete with real asphalt, kid sized cars, working traffic signals, and a fully automated train signal thing. It was set up as a guide to street safety and led by uniformed traffic attendants. The kids got a grand tour of what to and what not to do at cross walks, train tracks, and underpasses. I spent the entire time attempting my hand at photography capturing any photo op possible for Wonderland marketing. It was pretty fun and though the setting was completely different, brought me back to my days as an elementary school student half understanding what was going on and half completely oblivious to anything even remotely educational. The nostalgia trip was interesting, as it had me in a weird "is this deja vu or my brain confusing things?"  limbo. Probably the most interesting part was how well some of the kids reactions paralleled the memories I had of my own. It wasn't even things they said, just ways things were observed. I could clearly tell the educational elements were reaching them halfway, while the other half remained in "Whoa! Look at that thing! Ah! I have a cookie in my pocket! Yes! Field trrriiip!!" mode. Ahh if I could only revisit those days. 

Apart from the field trip, I spent a majority of my time over the weekend making music. Seriously, I logged nearly six straight hours in Reason Friday night alone. I think I am really making progress and will hopefully post some songs in the near future. Criticism will be more than welcome. 

Anyway, I really enjoyed doing this note on Facebook that involved putting your ipod on shuffle and documenting the first thirty songs that come up without skipping ahead or covering up potentially embarrassing guilty pleasures. In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I am going to do it here with comments just because I feel like it. Here we go. Tell me what you think.

 (oh yeah also check my picture link thing. Not very many pictures yet, but more are sure to come.)

1. 1984- David Bowie - excellent song. David Bowie is one of the best songwriters I am familiar with. Actually       written in 1973

2. Dear Mr. Fantasy- Traffic - yet another excellent song. 1967

3. Voodoo Ray- A Guy Called Gerald - Early Acid House. Probably around '89 or '90 or something. Off a Warp 10+1 Influences compilation.

4. Sexx Laws- Beck - Groovy, revitalized Funk from one of Beck's most underrated albums. 1999, a year after the confusingly controversial Mutations.

5. Milkman- Aphex Twin - Hilariously and bizarrely harmonious track from one of Aphex Twin's best albums: The Richard D. James Album. 1997

6. Promo- Jackson and His Computer Band - 20 second track not worth mentioning. Good though.

7. Panda Panda Panda- Deerhoof - I think one of the most talented bands I've ever seen live. Such thoroughness and excellent musicianship. Something you I didn't expect listening to their records. 2003

8. Turn Up the Radio- Autograph - Hilariously cheesy mid-80s synthesized power rock ballad given to me from my good friend and music connoisseur Ryan. Taken from the Grand Theft Auto: Vice City soundtrack.

9. Julian Fane- Birthday Boys - Beautiful ambient tune that doesn't get enough of my attention. Coming straight out of Canada, reminiscent of Barber's Adagio for Strings. 2004 

10. Number One (Black Strobe Instrumental Mix)- Shake - Wonderful synth-driven remix acquired by my friend Ryan. Very Disco inspired and completely perfect for dancing in a dark , dingy basement party. 

11. Tak 4- Plaid - I am very appreciative of Plaid and always like them when they come on. Another fantastic show where I wasn't expecting what I witnessed. Tiny track off Double Figure 2001

12. Someday my Prince Will Come- Mile Davis - Very pretty track from a best of compilation I bought awhile back when I was trying to get more seriously into Jazz. I have yet to get any deeper. Originally recorded in 1955

13. Chapel Hill- Sonic Youth - Wonderful tune from one of my all-time favorite bands. Brings back a lot of memories from high school. What a fantastic song. Full of tons of unexpected hooks. Off Dirty, an album you should own if you don't already. 1992

14. Cool Out- Leroy Hutson - Not too familiar with this, but a great smooth and cool Jazz/R&B instrumental track I acquired from a previous co-worker's mix CD. 1975

15. Like Spinning Plates- Radiohead - I don't think I can say anything about this band that hasn't already been said. Just fantastic. Off Amnesiac for all you crazies that pretend to not like them. 2003

16. Cephalopod- Lithops - Track from the solo project of Jan St. Werner of Mouse on Mars. Weird, loosely structured, and repetitive. In other words, awesome. 2008

17. Will You Smile Again- And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead...- Intensely dramatic song with a catchy and nice middle section from a band I admittedly only became familiar with because of their track Mistakes and Regrets. Music I'd probably spend more time listening to if I wasn't obsessed with cheesy electro. 

18. Stereo Sanctity- Sonic Youth - Really fantastic song from an earlier SY album. Completely ahead of its time and full of catchy, trademark distortion. Off Sister 1987

19. We Still Expect Freedom- James T. Cotton- Very redundant, hypnotic, and old school yet still somehow fresh sounding House track from this guy named James T. Cotton. He basically creates dance tracks that go nowhere and are virtually un-danceable. He goes by numerous other monikers and is well respected in the house community. Off The Dancing Box, an album with appallingly terrible cover art. 2004

20. Nimrod- Edward Elgar - An intoxicatingly beautiful song from the infamous Enigma Variations written by the English composer. This song has a significantly special place in my heart as I will never forget the insanely powerful feeling of building its crescendos and dramatic climax in my high school orchestra. Written in 1898-99

21. Wooden- Simian Mobile Disco - Another intoxicatingly beautiful song of completely different persuasion. Borrowing heavily from early 90's pop trance (a genre I just made up), it completely embraces the magical quality of zoning out and dancing your buns off. From an album I foolishly underestimated well after it was released: Attack Decay Sustain Release 2007

22. Wu-Tang Clan- Visionz - Not one of their best, but a random one I downloaded in college. Clearly, its all about Da' Mystery of Chessboxin'. 

23. Harder Better Faster Stronger- Daft Punk - A song notoriously mutilated by Kanye West in 2008. You can't slow down a brilliant classic dance song, half-assedly rap over it, and call it genius. Personally, I believe Discovery will become one of the greatest classics of our generation. 

24. That Which Cannot be Measured- Devast8r - A song produced by my brother! Go to his myspace page now: myspace.com/archcarriermusic  

25. Walking On a Dream- Empire of the Sun - A track that should be played in every dance club everywhere. So fantastically emotionally investing and entirely appropriate for dancing. Watch the video right now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmM2RwlxGt0 

26. Shrewland- Chris Clark - A song that would fit more than perfectly in a horror movie about waking up in your completely abandoned elementary school. 

27. First Gear- The Rapture - The Rapture are such a great band and this song is really fun. I unfortunately am reminded too much of terrible breakups when listening to them for me to really enjoy them fully.  2006

28. Atlas- Battles - A great song by a band so many random people went bananas over last year. Interestingly, they were brought onto the scene by Warp, a label that seemed unlikely to ever break out of its electronica shell. 2007

29. Eugene's Lament- Beastie Boys - Ahhh the Beastie Boys. One classic New York act with countless classic EPs under their belt. This song is very Middle Eastern inspired, for lack of a better term, and composes just a fraction of their innumerable instrumentals. 1994

30. You Are the Sunshine of My Life- Stevie Wonder- Gorgeous track from one of my personal musical heroes and a perfect to cap this ridiculous, two hour long playlist. Sporting a voice I would kill to be gifted with, Stevie Wonder truly is a wonder to listen to. This song always makes me feel like I have a girlfriend, even when I don't. I really like it. 1973

I can't believe I just did that. 

geogaddi seoul

Korea living status has officially reached over a week. I am so happy to be here. It feels fantastic. Last night, I went out with new co-workers and received a punishing blow from Itaewon. Not really, I just wanted to say that because it sounded cool. 

So in Seoul, Itaewon is like the foreigner capital, constantly brimming with drunken westerners. I've been there twice so far, and have yet to interpret it completely sober. My recollections of last night have me in this absurdly crowded bar called the Wolfhound, talking to people from England, South Africa and U.S., all guzzling frosted beer and bad mix drinks and ending up in a hilariously bad dance club. Most of the people were very nice and I had a pretty fun time celebrating my co-worker Jaemie's birthday. 

Of course, this was not the highlight of officially living here a week. 

On Thursday, I was sent after school to the Immigration office in Seoul, about an hour's commute from Bundang. As I lust after traveling into the unknown, prompted to use urban survival skills, and marvel at the sheer massiveness and never ending complexity that is life, I went alone with only a subway map, immigration papers, directions and enthusiasm. One cannot express the complexity and massiveness that is Seoul. If you've ever been to New York, its public transit is comparable. In fact I would say it's better. The trains are well-lit, clean, and appropriately complimented by raw, thick, sprawling underground cities. And that is to be taken literally. Seoul's subway stations are a consortium of consumer business first, transport hubs second. Clothing shops, arcades, food stops, and even banks construct a subterranean maze so unprecedented in scale, it is nearly incomprehensible. Seoul's underground network is made up of vast walls, tunnels, and grandiose staircases on par with being slightly-larger-than-large-enough and are constantly illuminated by borderline surreal fluorescence. It is bright, solid, stoic, and completely embarrasses the Chicago Transportation Authority. To say I love it is an understatement. 

Aside from this, the infrastructure of the city is to be constantly marveled. The sheer physical weight of its massive granite blocks, grated metal, and deep cement sliced neat into such elegantly simple structures is astonishing. However, newness is perpetually contrasted by ancient density. The major streets' offshoots are inundated with a standard array of steep hills, compacted storefronts, and winding built-before-cars-existed throughways. I have been consistently amazed traveling through this city, as it has always been overwhelming in volume. As with New York City and all metropolitan areas, the vibrancy here is encased in the grit. Unlike New York, charm is ensconced within the endless holding aquariums brimming with exotic sea life, the worn neon Hangeul hanging above floor seating only restaurants, and dozen or so street vendors encountered on a stroll down a bustling city block. I couldn't but pause every few blocks on my way to immigration to observe something I'd never seen before: live squid, eel, clams, perfectly foreign alleys packed with haphazard looking electrical wiring, hastily parked scooters, and crumbling balconies. Maybe its the Metric system working its charm, but structures here seem to have their own unique physicality unlike anywhere in the States. It feels as though geometry sprawls throughout the architecture here in a deceptively homogenous manner to that of my own country. The perfection in completed structure is a different type of perfection. Needless to say, it is the beginning of quenching this foreigner's thirst for the exotic. 

After reading on the internet that Koreans have no concept of personal space before I arrived here, I observed a nearly 200-person line in seemingly normal fashion stretching down the sidewalk to board a bus. I observed and stood in lines waiting for trains at subway stops. It appeared to me that patience is conceived of differently here, as a willing and calm line of people in America waiting to board a bus in a dense urban area would probably result in some type of obnoxious yelling. I will say that riding a totally packed train is different from Chicago, as I definitely had the brightest hair on the car. And my god, observing the obscene amount of cuteness bursting from everywhere I walk in Korea is ridiculous. Korean girls have just adopted a new fan. There was seriously a girl on the train on my way back from immigration who could've quite possibly been the cutest girl I've ever seen. The bangs, the thick rimmed glasses, the collared shirt, the cute cute loafers, everything. It was ridiculous. I am a huge fan of girls that look like total nerds, probably are, have bangs and are actually really hot. And holy lord train girl fit this profile to the tea. In fact the percentage of girls that do in this country is significantly higher than back home. It is awesome. 

Anyway, I am really seriously considering pursuing my personal DJ aspirations so I can make people dance and feel good. I want to be really good and only play music that would fit the essence of feeling fantastic. Basically, old school disco tastefully and progressively meshed with good downbeat, funky bass driven electro as the set wore on. Oh man I get goosebumps just thinking about it. I even just thought of the most perfect name: Vega. More on this later.

lack of posts

My apologies for not posting more regularly. My first week of teaching has been kind of a whirlwind of stress. I really intend on posting more frequently in the next couple weeks or so, but I am just kind of inundated right now. Hopefully, I'll get a good blog in this Sunday (with pictures). 

Laterzzzz

here

Yo-ho! Two weeks have past! After a 12 hour flight into the most ergonomically designed airport ever, hour long bus ride through rice fields, valleys of mud slopes at low tide, charmingly condensed urban and rural life, and the following three days of hilarious and absurdly cute Korean kids and some already amazing and beautiful people, I am in Korea. It is very hard to adequately portray the feeling of being here, as it has been a complete burst of newness. I couldn't even get to this blog until after arriving four days ago, but already, there is so much to think about, dissect, and analyze. What's most shocking is how little culture shock has set in (at least not yet) and I am stunned by my lack of trans-globe fatigue. It practically makes no sense. I barely even slept on the plane. But I am here and in it and feeling like I've finally done something huge in my life completely on my own. 

So, to start off, the plane ride began with a mad dash to the international terminal from a two hour delayed arrival into San Francisco. Because a handful of people were transferring to Seoul on the the said flight, our magical flight steward made some "magic" (an expression he used at least five times) happen by telling everyone aboard to not get up until we were at the front of the plane. I have to say, it felt really nice walking through first class wearing cutoffs and a hoodie, watching dozens of eyes impatiently stare me down as I, last in line, exited the plane. "Hello! I am your inferior relishing in my two and half minutes of completely inane superiority! Thank yooooooooouuuuuuu!" 

Well I made the flight to Seoul with a host of my counterparts scurrying to get into the dying remnants of a line boarding the plane. "Yes I have my passport! Yes I have my confirmation ticket! Yes! Yes! I am ready for this!"

I stepped on, looked into the decadent sleeping pods trimmed with ten square feet of personal space in first class, and was immediately slapped back into my airplane riding reality. However, it wasn't all bad, as when I was shuffling to my seat and dreading sitting in an armpit for twelve hours, I was pleasantly taken aback at how I had happened to evade such bad luck. The seat beckoned me like a holy grail, bursting with magically glowing well-worn cotton threads, a cellophane-wrapped blanket, and the oh so extravagant Tyvek pillow. I had been fortunate enough to be graced with the godly throne of seat 30B, the emergency exit row, and over five feet of legroom in the clouds. 

For the next twelve hours, I sat next to a well built, completely grizzled, Louisiana drawling Iraq war veteran traveling abroad to "get some stuff." We had a number of friendly conversations about North Korea, his love of boats, and life goal of traveling the Pacific Rim in a catamaran and not caring whether his 20 year old wife would want to join him or not. I asked him about serving in Iraq and he delved into things I wasn't expecting, aligning many of his points with America's supposed solid course into developing into a Marxist state (and most interestingly, claiming that once I was in South Korea, how I'd see they "are freer here than in the U.S."). I steered clear of U.S. politics and we ended up discussing the threat of North Korea, much of which I am admittedly lagging behind on completely understanding. It was interesting getting his perspective and the logic behind it, as it seemed to make sense in his context and understanding how close we were traveling to said country. It actually did a lot for me, expanding my bubble to include the reality of the threat, knowing I was closer to it on the plane and would be for the next year. But I also learned that much of the logic behind this threat is completely irrational and stupid. South Koreans do not feel threatened. It is understood here that if the North were to attack, the resources it has to sustain any type of conflict would dwindle so fast, the government would probably collapse if it pushed too far. This is not suggesting it couldn't inflict sufficient damage and major harm on its neighboring countries, but unlike the Taliban or Al-Queada or Terrorism, North Korea is a legitimately recognized governed society, feeding into the endless swarm of political mess. Needless to say, I was very appreciative of my seat partner's presence the whole way there. 

We arrived and it was off to Wonderland. Some medical screening (as in checking forms we filled out on the plane) was conducted, and everyone followed each other through the sleekest, cleanest, nicest airport ever built to the baggage claim and then onward to bus travel into Seoul. I was greeted by a man holding a Mr. Paul Schaffenberger sign and was directed to my bus and which stop to get off at. I arrived and was immediately greeted by two members of my school and set up in a hotel approximately 200 feet from where I got off. I then toured the school and met everyone there. It was really fantastic. I think I am really going to love being here. I love it already. I am comfortable in the school after being there for two days. The biggest challenge is going to be learning how to teach, but I am going to take it and run. So, as I sit here in my new Korean apartment, eating squid flavored chips, and just starting my whole life changing saga, I anticipate learning and discovering and blogging about it all. The best is yet to come (including pictures: my camera is being a downright fool at the moment).