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It’s hard to believe we’ve already been out in Korea for almost five months. Sometimes it feels like just the other day our Director was picking us up at the airport after a 12 hour flight out of San Francisco, then other days it feels like we’ve been out here for years already. It’s fair to say by now Korea has become ‘home’, and while it’s not without its faults, what home ever is?

One of the nice things about living in Bundang-gu, as opposed to say, Seoul city is that it’s actually clean. Sure, the pollution in Korea still makes a bad day in L.A. seem about as clear as a mountain sky, but asthma aside, it’s quite a charming place, especially when you consider that this entire district was farmland just a decade ago.

We’ve spent the last month or so on a bit of a health kick. No, we haven’t traded in beef for veggie burgers and chicken for bean sprouts; we’re still meat loving carnivores who’d strap two skinned baby seals to our feet if they were more comfortable than our ASICS. Our health kick has been walking. Not running, or jogging, just walking.

A lot of freakin’ walking.

Every day after work we head from Jukjeon back to Ori via the Tancheon River. It’s a pleasant enough walk despite the stifling humidity and absurd amount of mosquitos and it only takes some thirty-odd minutes so it’s great for walking off the beer belly. We still get the occasional stares of confusion from little Korean kids as they go: “Waygook saram!” and point like Donald Sutherland from Body Snatchers. Other times we get the giddy high-schoolers who go: “HELL-OH!” to which I’ll sometimes reply with an overly exaggerated: “ANN-YEONG-HA-SE-YO!” (”Hello!”)

The Tancheon River even has these great little rock crossings that let you cross from one side to the other and occasionally fall in. It’s amusing watching some prissed up ajumma in Gucci and high heels navigate the stones from one bank to the other with all the agility of an Olympic gymnast. It’s amazing to see these perm-haired visor wearing ladies in their late fifties power-walking four deep and twice as fast as me.

Weekends are usually spent relaxing, going outside for walks and embarking on the occasional bender courtesy of some of the funniest and wildest expats I’ve ever met. There’s a GS25 outside our apartment in Ori, and it’s served as a great rallying point to meet others or get into trouble. Think of a 7/11 with a few tables outside it and that pretty much sums it up. Almost every weeknight the blue plastic seats and tables are packed with people both local and foreign and some of the funniest memories, or lack of, have happened out here.

Of course the best part of Korea remains the job, and while it’s far from perfect, it has its perks, such as seeing kids show up to school with effeminate Konglish T-shirts…

…or rocking the famous “LOVING COUGARS IS NOT A CRIME” shirt…

…or having one of the other teachers plaster a kid in Canada stickers for Canada Day.

Cheers!

-D-