Puppies, Market and Scrap Yard

Notable pictures from Seoul. I came across the most adorable group of puppies in the history of the universe and had to take pictures. The others are just ones I liked.

oh my guard!

Oh geez. My relishing in the moment has caught up with me. Has it really nearly been a month since my last post? So much has happened! I don't really know where to begin.

Currently I'm jiving to some fresh Disco (check it) with my good friend Joel in my gleaming apartment, slowly digesting a full belly of bulgogi, and staying up way too late for a trip arranged to depart from a distant subway station at 7 in the morning. What glorious odyssey commences at such an unruly hour you ask? Why, a pre-arranged trip to the ancient hot springs of Deokgu of course (conveniently located a town away from a nuclear power plant. Why this is mentioned in the trip outline, I have no idea). Hiking, nearby Uljin beach, and an organic food expo (?) await our Korean scenery-craving palettes. In about 4 hours time (probably when I finish writing this entry), we will be on a bus toward the East coast of Korea partaking on yet another indulging experience.

Now, to divulge in past events, I will follow irregular formula and go from most recent to latest. Mainly because I feel like it and I am totally awesome. To start off, my vacation started yesterday with an explosion of fun, as I was invited by two of my Korean partner teachers (Emily and Helen, both awesome) and a former Wonderland teacher named Sue (also awesome), to an all day excursion upon Everland, the Korean equivalent (and semi-rip-off) of Disneyland. The majority of the day was dedicated to Caribbean Bay, a massive water park chock full of slides, wave pools, (actually delicious) peanut butter squid dispensing snack bars, and relex (not my typo) room spas. It was fantastic. Sue, Helen, Emily and Emily's son, (who's Korean name I kept forgetting, so I called him Max), were perfect companions, and even with the semi language barrier, coworker friendships were developed and strengthened. I of course managed to burn my entire torso even with my countless applications of sunscreen and by the time daytime and Caribbean Bay had been conquered, sights were set on a free transfer to sans bathing suit Everland with aspirations of witnessing fireworks and fervent consumption of chicken and beer. Both were achieved and with a subsequent slight buzz, we pranced the park, riding nearly vacant rides and touching everything possible in the plethora of gift stores. By 11pm, bodies and general giddiness had been spent, and we drove home to many infectious tunes of K-pop (seriously, this song is awesome). All in all, a glorious day.

Before this, about a week ago, my friend Joel arrived on a 14-hour direct flight from Chicago and it was so pleasantly refreshing to see a face from home. By his first weekend here, he managed to do more Seoul exploration than I had been able to do in the last month. Luckily, we were together. We went to the ancient village of Bukchon, within the greater neighborhood of Jongno, an area that literally bore witness to the birth of this magnificently historic city. Over 600 years reside in this one region and it is truly splendid. Bukchon, the smaller more historically vibrant region, is situated between two palaces: Gyeongbukgong and Changgyeonggung. Because of our rather impromptu decision to embark on the region so late in the day, we weren't able to see anything inside either palace. But it hardly mattered. The entire exploration that ensued boasted its own illustrious atmosphere, somehow perfectly encapsulating ancient and modern architecture into a seamless flow from one end of the neighborhood to the other. Coffee shops, fashion boutiques, art galleries, and trendy restaurants strewn about winding, narrow and sloping streets satiated our thirst for unique atmosphere. The entire area was so becoming of a side of Seoul I knew had to exist but hadn't chanced upon yet, and experiencing it all with a friend from home made the experience so incredibly worthwhile. Classic Joel and Paul banter was revisited after an overdue hiatus and plenty of stupid inside jokes bloomed in its wake (i.e. the title of this entry). Everything we thought was awesome was immediately commented on with an "oh my god! that's so awesome!" exclamation. It wasn't until we saw some sort of military official standing guard at the entrance of a gated road that an inevitable "oh my guard! that's so awesome!" comment came about. Probably less than 1% of the entire world's population would've found that funny, but to us, it was hysterical. Anyway, Jongno is awesome. I'm definitely going back.

Two weeks ago, the most significant happening was my invitation to skip Mudfest (an event that can be likened to spring break in Cancun: lots of drunken white people compacted into a designated area of a small foreign city, of which little or no attention to cultural etiquette is paid), and join my amazing co-teacher Emily, her husband and aforementioned son Max, on a weekend boating trip to an area of the Han river Northeast of Seoul. Hilariously, our ten o'clock arrival at the prearranged hotel inadvertently threw us into the middle of terrible Tiesto style bass thumping at the outdoor pool. The hotel, a certain Masion de Bali, converts its pool area into an all night club on the summer weekends and doesn't stop playing cheesy (not the good kind), wall resonating music until 2am. We were all already itching to get some rest before the morning's boat ride, but instead did our best to avoid such catastrophic sleeping implications by opting to get a late night dinner along the river bank. All in all, it managed to work out perfectly. The dinner was downriver enough to not be phased by the bass, and was freaking delicious. I was an amateur vegetarian before I came to Korea, but am now a full blown meat addict. I can't help it. I invite any one of you to try and resist freshly battered succulent pork cutlet cut into deliciously crispy strips of pure tender juiciness and dipped into the most distinctly fantastic barbeque sauce you've ever had in your whole entire damn life. It is pretty much impossible.


Co-teacher Emily and I eating Korean BBQ at Masion De Bali

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was notable for the beautiful rolling hills witnessed all along the banks of the Han during the boating trip and Saturday's decision to stay behind and partake in the club (after witnessing countless sunbathing Korean women) with the group's young boat driver friend named Choi while Emily and her family went home. I mean the boating trip is definitely of mention, but uh, this club thing was probably more notable. I was pleasantly surprised/completely confused about being the only westerner among the crowd of rowdy 20-something Koreans. Choi kept insisting I dance and/or talk to any girl I wanted, but with my classic party logic, I insisted on having one more drink instead. One more drink soon turned into "ok I can totally dance with zero inhibition now" and after plenty of garbled Korean phrases, I actually met a girl without turning into too much of an idiot. Honestly, even though enough alcohol was consumed, I was pretty coherent. HONESTLY. Anyway, by the next morning, torrential rain was falling and Choi, being my ride back home, displayed excellent driving skills throughout some pretty serious flash flooding. I guess I should mention I was not his only passenger. Unbeknownst to me, he was talking to one of Eun-Hye's (the girl I met) friends the night before and said he would give them a ride back into Seoul. I was surprised. Within five or six hours of meeting, I was recovering with Eun-Hye, her two friends, and Choi at a restaurant stop eating holy-crap-this-is-ridiculously-spicy bone soup (yes thats right, bone soup) and getting to know new friends a little better.

Ok so at the beginning, I was totally kidding when I said it would take 4 hours to write this. But seriously here I am four hours later typing out my last sentence.

What?

That is retarded.

we are the bourgeoisie and we're coming to town- beep! beep!

I have honestly considered myself to be at least a decently fashionable person throughout my ever delayed awareness of how to look cool. This is not to say I have always looked cool, nor that I am even generally accepted as looking cool even when I think I do BUT, holy crap, I have to say the population of Seoul has by far the most amount of cool looking people I have ever seen in my life. 

After arriving, my fashion sense looked immediately paltry, completely out of step, and totally boring. Before arriving, I thought at least a few of my outfits would funnel me into "ooo, an American wearing American clothes from America!" admiration, but to my somewhat biased dismay, they have not. I am not exaggerating when I say that Korean women (and men) dress in utterly beautiful ways. They manage to pull things off that I don't think westerners would even know how to put on. Like take a few of these pictures I am shamelessly reposting on the internet (it is a bit difficult and creepy as a foreigner to attempt publicly taking pictures of women in a country you've only been in for one month):

 These are not the best examples, but if this at all peaks your interest, go here. This site readily displays pretty much everything I'm talking about and I'm not exaggerating when I say 8 out of every 10 people you see in Korea are dressed as the pictures so adequately display them. 

Also, an interesting side note for this link: 

I found out about it by meeting its owner and her friend at the bars two weekends ago. Her friend, whom I did a terrible job of drunkenly trying to woo, is the model in most of the pictures. Cute right? I just discovered that researching for this entry. 

Anyway, continuing with the impeccable national sense of style that dominates Korea, it is completely within reason that I admit to my love of girls with undeniably sophisticated yet eccentric fashion. Basically anything evolved from Mod (big buttons and high waisted skirts anyone?). In America, this type of sighting was rare and usually highlighted the day. Here, it is literally every 10th girl you walk by. It has essentially been the biggest incentive to adjust my wardrobe accordingly and make myself look a whole lot better in the process (by better, I am of course strictly talking about standards I feel I can more subscribe to a lot more openly, i.e. in Korea, I wouldn't be typecast as 'hipster'). The trends here may be sweeping the globe and clearly represent offshoots of American cultural identity, but here, people just know how to look good with them in a distinctly Korean way. With the country being as small and condensed as it is, it actually seems to be less difficult I think for corporate dominance to set into the practicality of everyday expression (i.e. dressing yourself). America has trends that are unique and fresh in themselves, but far too often get pigeonholed into specific crowds and age ranges. It isn't like that here, and its apparent just walking down the street. I mean seriously, there are 40 to 50 year old Korean women dressing in ways that look fresh and new. I've never seen anything like it. 

Now, throughout this entry, I purposefully avoided talking about a very specific trend here. Just so all seven of my readers will be fully engaged and on the edge of their seats wanting more more more, I will devote a later* blog to it with loads of example pictures just so I can say... to be continued.

so, here it goes...

To Be CONTINUED

*like, a couple weeks from now.

p.s. one free totally awesome souvenir to anyone who can guess the inspiration for this blog's title

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.