Ode to a very special friend

I just heard this morning that Cocoa Murphy, the little lhasa apso that has consistently rejected my love for the last 14 or so years, is no longer with us. Since the family is geographically dispersed I figured here is as good a place as any to put up a memorial. For Cocoa, I decided to let her star in her very own episode of "animals, close up, with a wide angle lens."

She was a good dog. I will miss you, little baby girl...

Points of interest...

Erin and her dad are here right now, and the trip has gone splendidly. The timing couldn't have worked out better, and I've finally gotten to see all the major sights of the city. I will dedicate a post just to her visit when I get all the pictures.
After years of putting it off, I finally got a Buddha for my bedside. This was after hours upon hours of going in and out of antique shops looking for the right color, weight, hand position, etc. I knew if I couldn't find it in the bronze Buddha district in Seoul, then there was never going to be a bedside Buddha for Joe. The street salesman told me "its from Tibet, original not copy, bring you love love, good spirit good love." DEAL.

Also, I had to give a speech in Korean class this week. In my defense, I accidentally left my notebook at home before I went to deliver it, so I had to scrawl some notes on my day-planner before I went up and rely on my poor memory, hence all the "ums." They are laughing, because I said that my teacher is the best, beautiful, and smart.

"It is like a hot tranny mess up in here..."

God bless you, Christian Siriano. Tonight I went to a fashion show... Who ever said sustainability couldn't be sexy?

John Lee in action!

Posing with John after the show

Ipselenti

This week has been 'festivals' week at Korea University, which means that the students drink on campus all week long and they have concerts. I went to Ipselenti with Wonguk (which we have given an English name... doesn't he look like a Danny Kim?)

Ipselenti is a cheering celebration, and by cheering I mean a bunch of dudes dressed up like wizards stand on stage and dance around like they were bad guys from Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers. Meanwhile, the audience has linked arms and are completing dances in unison to songs played by a live band that sound like the intro song to Pokemon. It's hard to imagine but here is a video I found on youtube:


"Cheerleaders"

Here, here, and here are closeups of their costumes. The whole thing was crazy, and LITERALLY people did these same cheers (about 10-15 songs total) over and over again for a sum total of about 4 hours.

In between cheering they inserted live performances by pop stars/comedians, fireworks, and smack-talking of their rival, Yonsei University. So basically it was KU's version of Gator Growl. The final pop group to play was Epik High, which I actually enjoyed. It's hard to tell if having been here has made me crazy, and so I will find their pop songs appealing (even though I can only understand the lyrics "you. can. fly." and "can't stop... love, love, love") or if there is actually something good about these two Korean dudes. Well, I'll let you see and decide for yourself.


Love, Love, Love


Fly

After that, me and Danny went and drank beer, ate fried chick (fried chicken places here only serve fried chicken and beer), and drank soju on the grass in front of the University's Memorial Hall with his classmates until 4am.

Bless this child...

Daily Puppy

I was so inspired by the Daily Puppy widget on Jessica's blog that I just had to add it myself. Reminds me of "Animals, close up, with a wide angle lens."

Back from Tokyo

So the trip was successful. I will let you peruse the photos on your own, but highlights of Japan include:

-Sleeping in a 'capsule bed'
-Vending machines that sold Coke tall-boys and Asahi beer tall-boys
-The 100 Yen menu at McDonalds (get off my back, Japan is f*ing expensive)
-Heated toilet seats with bidets and/or toilets that allow you to wash your hands with the water that is refilling the toilet tank (how clever!)
-Went to the largest metropolitan area in the world (Tokyo) to see the largest pedestrian crossing in the world and get lost in the busiest metro station in the world (Shinjuku station, which I have AKA'd as 'the nightmare zone' and 'the halls of Mordor')
-Went to a hot spring theme park and wore a sweet Japanese robe
-Kill Bill restaurant (Gonpachi)
-Shrines, shrines, shrines...
-Did I mention that Japan is f*ing expensive?
-Sushi
-A tattoo parlor and a tattoo artist named Hara (don't worry, mom, I didn't get a tattoo)
-Leaving Beckie alone for literally 15 minutes and her getting sexually harassed by a really old toothless/homeless man which she had no way of communicating except to slap his hand and run away (don't worry, once it was over we had a good laugh)

Well, that is really my last trip out of Seoul, and I really enjoyed it. Tokyo was very modern and seemed at times to be just mall on top of mall on top of underground city. I think I saw some crab people. It is the only city that I've ever felt really lost in, so I humble myself before it.

네일 친구하고 일본에 가요!

That is to say "Tomorrow, I go to Japan with my friend!" We have a 5 day weekend that mustn't go to waste, so we are seizing the day and going to Tokyo. I won't be able to go while my sister is there because it overlaps with my final exams so now is the time. I'll take lots of pictures and report back when I return next Monday.

Whew

It has been a busy few weeks. Finished exams and went on a trip to the southern portion of South Korea (Kwangju and Hampyeong) for a famous "Butterfly Expo." I didn't plan this one, my RA Alex did, but after exams I was anxious to get out of the city.

These are his photographs from the trip (I didn't bring my camera). The big things of note are that, in Seoul, some people say "hello" and "how are you!" when they see me because I am white. But in Kwangju and Hampyeong, me and Becky were the only white people, and probably about half of the thousands of people we saw insisted on saying hello and practicing their English. This made it really easy to accost all of the mascots and get pictures taken with them.

Also, we slept overnight at a sauna. Yes, on the floor with a little square cushion. $6 for the whole night. It was strange, but I sort of liked it (except that I only got 1 hour of sleep because of the whole floor thing). They call it chimchilbang, which I think means "heated compress room." Regardless it's pretty fun to go to, and you can get massages and stuff if you feel like.

I may be traveling to Osaka or Tokyo next week because we have school off for Buddha's Birthday. They string up paper lanterns on the streets... its like Christmas! Anyway, good luck to all my pals back home that are probably having finals right now. Shouldn't be much longer before I'm back in Gainesville!

Seoul N Tower & K-pop

Last night, I took two of my classmates to Seoul North Tower, which is on top of a mountain that used to be a fortress. The tower was initially used as a transmission tower, and was in use during the Korean War. But now they have lit it up beautifully at night, and you can tour the observation deck, which gives a 360 degree view of Seoul.

View from the ground

The City!

Bridges crossing the Han River

Padlocks put on by couples!

Becky, in the subway with our favorite Korean soap opera star, Yoon Eun Hye of "The First Shop of Coffee Prince."

And as a side note, K-pop is really getting to me. I must have heard about the same three songs over and over and now I know some of the lyrics, and can sing along. Here are some links to their associated videos. With some notes about what I find hilarious about each one.

-Mighty Mouth's "Sarang Hae" ("I Love You"): the opening line in this song is "This song goes out to my so SPECIAL lady."

-Big Bang's "Lies": Korean rap artists like to roller skate! (See 1m:25s) They are an unruly, slightly threatening roller skating gang.

-The Wonder Girls' "Tell Me": the Korean response to Soulja Boy's "Superman;" pure delight.

And if you are wondering if people actually dress the way they do in these videos, a. they do and b. I've seen much crazier clothing in the subway than on these videos.

Peace.

I'm back!

So I have to give you a brief rundown of last week:

April 8th: After class, board the airport bus and depart for Hong Kong. Arrive to see Matt Oxner's smiling face. Head back to his apartment and stay up all night talking.

April 9th: Jessica makes banana pancakes for breakfast. Head to street markets to get some Nintendo accessories for my cellphone and backpack. Get a tour of central Hong Kong/Victoria Harbour. Go shopping at H&M. Dinner at sushi restaurant.

April 10th: Walk around Tai Po with Matt for most of the morning doing low-impact exercises designed for the elderly. I'm not joking. See the local temples and catch up on old times. Later that evening we go out for my BIRTHDAY! How many people can say they've spent a birthday being drunk with a bunch of English teachers in downtown Hong Kong?

April 11th: All three of us are groggy, so we sleep in a bit, and then head up to see the Tian Tan Buddha. Simply beautiful. Perfect cloudy weather. Then we watch a few South Parks.

April 12th: Get up and get some dimsum with Jessica for breakfast. She takes me to the bus stop where we part ways. :'-(

Basically, it was the best birthday I've ever had. Matt and Jessica got me an Indiana Jones lego action playset (see video below) and were being ridiculous and buying me drinks and transit cards all week. It was definitely a week I will never forget, so a big thanks to the both of them.

If you want to see pictures from the trip, just click here. They are in reverse order.

Busted!

Watch these two kids screw around outside my window and subsequently get reamed out by their mother. My window was closed so you'll just have to imagine her yelling in Korean.

The Neighborhood

IMG_2819a
Originally uploaded by youngki-bear

More Panoramas

My birthday is fast approaching and I think I'm going to try to fly to Hong Kong next week to see Matt and Jessica. They just got back from a vacation themselves so I have yet to solidify any plans, but I found out that my Visa allows me to come and go from Korea as much as I want without any additional charges or harassment. Yay for being American! There is a travel agency in the room next to my Korean class so I'm going to stop and see how much a round-trip ticket will cost me.

If I can pull this off, and Matt/Jessica are available, it will mean I will probably spend my birthday playing video games. Anybody who knows me even just a little knows that this would a good thing.

And check out this awesome panorama of Seoul! [click to see larger] I've placed a red circle where I think I am. I say think, because it is difficult to orient myself in that picture, and this place is notably huge and confusing. 11 million citizens! (24 million if you include the whole metropolitan area).

Adorable Story

So one of the girls I tutor, Young-hyung, asked me, since I have 3 siblings, if my parents have a favorite. I said, that probably I am their favorite, but they would never actually say that out loud. ;-)

Anyway, she said since she only has one sister, she has always wondered if her parents like her or her sister more or less. Then she told me this little anecdote:

"One time, my father came to me, and he leaned down and whispered into my ear 'Here is 10,000 won, but don't tell your sister, this is only a special gift for you, because you are my favorite.' I kept the secret and I was so happy to know that I was his favorite. Then my sister, who is bad at keeping secrets came to me and said 'Dad gave me 10,000 won because I am his favorite.' I could not believe this! So we both were very angry and confronted him about this."

Anyway, I thought that was funny.

Hello!

From the Joseon Dynasty Palace, Gyeongbokgung!

One Whole Month

Today I have been in Seoul for exactly 1 month! I went out with my roommates, John and Joshua, and we ate tofu soup, fish, and pork. John explained that a typical Korean meal might have these types of food because the tofu is from the earth, the fish is from the sea, and the pork is from the land. Then they initiated me into their stolen toilet paper scheme. It isn't as devious as it sounds, but it was a good roommate bonding experience.

I went to Seoul Forest, which is a massive plot of land that they have developed into a public park. Sadly, things around here are still pretty dead from the winter, but some plants are beginning to have little green buds on them. Here is a plethora of pictures from the park...

-Point of Departure (this station is literally under one of my classrooms!)









-A mother rides a bike with her son on what I would call a highway









-Seoul Forest entrance (Seoul Sup)










-A big metal monster in the park










-Some deer









-A sign that I am almost certain I mistranslated to "Collision! Danger, 1000 future left right, make sure"









-Birds (on the Han River) that became increasingly angered at my presence



HAPPY MONTH-IVERSARY TO MYSELF!

Culinary Mistake

Today in the cafeteria, I boldly placed a plate of what the placard called "intestines" on my lunch tray. They are serving it in a cafeteria, so I assumed it would be okay.

It tasted like a brat with slippery angel hair pasta inside. I imagined these to be the contents of the animals intestines, and I decided not to eat any more of it. It wouldn't have been so bad, but it was also served room temperature which is upsetting to my American tastes.

From what I can tell, this is what Koreans call "sundae" (talk about a false cognate!). But I don't think there will be any mistakes of the "intestines-instead-of-ice-cream" type, as it is pronounced "soon-day."

What I probably was eating was blood sausage filled with noodles. I will not likely be chancing these intestines any more, but I did eat the onions and cabbage it was cooked with.
Has anyone noticed that I am obsessed with food?

For some friends...

Busy...

I've been busy with school. Lots of reading and learning about North Korea, Japan, and my favorite, the United States of America!

I'll probably have something interesting to post about soon (like pictures of me with my teachers), but until then, just enjoy this picture of me, with crazy eyes, probably talking about something disinteresting.

Gimbap!

This is gimbap, which means seaweed (gim) and rice (bap). It is my dinner for tonight, and it is basically Korean sushi. Although it can have a variety of ingredients that Japanese sushi doesn't have (like beef), all the varieties sold in my neighborhood have spinach, carrots, and sweet slightly pickled squash, and some times kimchi.

This roll cost me $1 from a street stall, but if you want to get fancy and get it to go from a restaurant, it costs about $2.

Also... there is this guy who sells pancakes with brownsugar inside for $.50. He wasn't out there tonight, but anytime I see him, I get one.

I love this place!

Korean is hard.

요셉 헨리 머비

This is what my name translates to in Korean. There is really no 'f' sound in Korean, so they change most of their f's to p's. Accordingly, in Korea I am "Yo-sep Haen-ri Maw-pi." But my teacher just calls me 요셉씨 (Yo-sep-shii), or Mr. Joseph.

I have to say that Korean is hard. But I keep doing my homework, and teacher says I am quite good. I will take a picture with her soon, and post it.

Today I had class from 8am-7pm, and I learned about Japan's foreign policy formation, how to say 'I will see you tomorrow' in the mother tongue, and why America screwed up the rest of the world with their sub-prime mortgage shenanigans. This is what I look like now:

New Acquisitions!

Wonkuk is lending me his own cellphone, which has made life much easier, as far as meeting up with people and getting around. My phone number is 010-6875-7765, and you can get me much faster in cases of emergency. Korea University cell phone charms are all the rage.


Wonkuk helped me get a nice dressy coat for the cold weather. Sad that I may not get to use it much as it seems to be warming up... but hopefully we will get a few more days of snow so I can put it to good use. It is priced at $180 but I got it for half-price! It is from Ad Hoc Paris.

Lost in Translation

Here is an e-mail I received from my professor:

Dear students,

How are you doing these days?
I just want you to remind that read any economics text book on supply and demand.
It will help a lot to follow lecture.
I will give you more detailed references next week.

WR,

Jin-sang

This is the same professor that said "And now, I will tell you a joke... there are three retarded people in the hospital ward..." The joke went on, but none of it was funnier than hearing an Asian guy be politically incorrect.

I am tutoring two grad students in English conversation... that is to say somebody is finally PAYING me to talk at them, instead of me just rambling on for free! As many of you know, this is what I have always dreamed of. More on this later!

Snowing again.

Korea is kind of like Florida, except that instead of raining for a few hours in the middle of the day, it snows for a few hours in the middle of the day. Today it was sunny in the morning, and its sunny now, but it was pouring snow in between. I managed to snag this beautiful shot of the Inchon Memorial Hall.

Panorama, Yellow Dust, and First Day of School!

That is a panoramic view from my floor, as I got the panorama program to work again (click to see it larger). Today seems to be okay, but let me tell you about Yellow Dust (or Asian Dust). Apparently, since there are deserts in Mongolia, China, and Kazakhstan, and currently there are strong winds heading from west to east, Korea, Japan, and apparently sometimes even the eastern United States has something called Yellow Dust, which is a yellowy dusty kind of hue in the atmosphere. Until recently, it wasn't much of a problem. However, since the area that this dust is coming from has become industrialized, Wonkuk tells me there are heavy metals included in the Yellow Dust.

This is sort of bad, I know. Most of the older people around here wear the breathing masks (SARS masks). Maybe I will don a mask if it gets bad enough... I don't particularly care for heavy metals in my lungs. You can read more about Yellow Dust here.

Last week was orientation and today was the first day of class. So far, Wonkuk has helped me through orientation, helped me buy a coat (it's a nice one, but I will receive it in the mail in a day or two, as they didn't have my size... picture will follow), and now is lending me his old cell phone so that I can use it while I am here. He is a lot of fun, and all the girls like him.

First day was good, but it turns out that two of my classes were canceled until next week, and I ended up waiting around inconveniently for them to start. They are much more disorganized than UF.

Wonkuk sent me to his 'Korean Myspace' (www.cyworld.com) so I could download some pictures from orientation. So here you go:












And here is one with Christoph (Austria), me, and Wonkuk

Out with Marshall

Today, my friend Marshall took me out to Myeong-dong and Namdaemun, both of which have many clothing shops, food stalls, knock-off bags, etc. You name it, they have it. Oh, and Marshall tells me that it also contains the only GAP in all of Korea! But since there were, at times, hundreds of people crowding the streets, I kept my camera in my bag. I did however manage to snap a few shots of lunch, which was delicious beef on the grill (with kimchi, garlic, onions... just like always). It tasted kind of sweet and was really excellent. Thanks for the impromptu tour, Marshall!

Raw Beef becomes...














cooked beef! Right before your very eyes!














RANDOM PHOTOS:
My favorite statue on campus.














Our campus auditorium.














Finally, the reason why North Korea is shaking in their boots:

1 Week Marker!

So I've been here for just over 1 week! So far I still love it, except I have been missing home. But I've set some routines for going to the gym, which has helped to keep me busy until school starts.

The food is so good, I cannot stress this enough. Yesterday I went out, and for $5 flat (you do not tip here, and there is no sales tax on food) I got a hot bowl of bibimbap, with 7 side dishes. It was delicious, although I burnt myself a lot (I couldn't stop eating it!)

Tomorrow, I am going to go on a self-guided tour of the downtown touristy area and the palaces/gardens, etc. So hopefully I will get some good pictures to post.

For now, I leave you with a video of my favorite meal thus far, and what I dream of every night:

NORAEBANG

Literally, noraebang means "song room," and is the Korean version of karaoke. This is me, a few of the RA's, fellow students, and resident adviser at a noraebang (not my song choice, by the way).



A few other images of the evening:
-Sarah (Canada/South Korea) grilling pork on the table (sam-gyeob-sal).



















-Me and Sarah ordered kimchi stew (kimchi-chigae) and Coca Corra.














-The resident adviser advised me to pretend to eat the money for a picture with him.














-Playing the tambourine with Jacky and Diana, both from the United States (U S A! U S A!).














-Brendan (Australia) and Alex (Canada).

Nighttime Shots

I figured out how to use the nighttime setting on the camera! Thats all.

Snowing at Hogwarts

Obligatory snow photos!




















































Outside my window (that is my roommate, Joshua, speaking).

Adventure on a Mountain Top

Yesterday, I decided to climb to the top of this hill/mountain that I live on the side of, to see what was there. Well there appears to be some type of prison or work camp there, but besides that, there are beautiful woods, a Buddhist monastery, and a great view of the Northeastern portion of the city. There were lots of paths, and lots of ajummas (old ladies) walking around with their winter gear on. Oh and if there is ever a scary cliff or drop off, somebody was kind enough to put up posts with razor wire and barbed wire to catch you before you fall.

Great View!



















Prison? School? (they were all wearing orange jumpsuits).














Paths!



















For your safety...

Sunday Morning

It is Sunday morning here, so I braved the cold to go get some breakfast and mail a letter. Before I left I memorized the word for sweet potato, because I really wanted a bagel with sweet potato that I had seen in a shop near my house.

"Koguma... koguma... koguma..." All the way down the hill, I practiced because I didn't want to look like an idiot. Well the joke was on me because nothing is open at 9am on Sunday morning. And now I'm really cold and have accomplished nothing.

I did however get to see a ceremony at the temple, which included lots of banging on some kind of pot/pan/cowbell-type instrument, and some kind of harsh sounding flute, and old men singing. I didn't have my camera with me, but I'll try to get them on film next Sunday.

That picture is a painting from inside the temple. Although there is no snow here right now, it feels as cold as that picture looks. And no, I don't know why he cut his hand off.

EDIT: I went back out and they were playing songs again. There must be a noon ceremony as well. I didn't see the procession this time, but then again, I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to be taking video, so I tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.

Ode to Won-kuk

So today I met my Korean Buddy that the school assigned to me. His name is Won-kuk, and I'm pretty sure that he's the best buddy I could have gotten.

Today he a. took me out to lunch (and paid), b. took me around campus to help me get some items of interest, c. showed me where to get my groceries for cheap, and d. showed me his apartment... which is literally a 1 minute walk down the hill.

His English is excellent, and we had a great time telling each other about our respective lives. He is 24, studies Korean History, and was a Korean soldier for two years. Service in the army is compulsory here, but Won-kuk got to work with American soldiers, so he already knows a lot of the slang I tried to teach him (actually he probably knows more dirty phrases than I do).

So then, I went home and got a call from him "Joe, would you like to come watch a soccer game with me and my friend?" OF COURSE! So we watched South Korea vs. Japan, and the game was a draw. Won-kuk was a little peeved, but I like soccer. He is the captain of the soccer team so I am going to go see him play on March 1st. I'm bringing my camera so you can see him in action.




















Ji Sung Park - Footballer for South Korea

Lemon-mas, Gator-ami!

I think this means UF will haunt me for the rest of my days. It's just as good as back home!

Contact Information

Mail:
Joseph Murphy
Room #326A
CJ International House
Anam Residence Life
Korea University
Anam-Dong, Seongbuk-ku
Seoul, 136-701, Korea

Phone:
I can only receive phone calls from this number, and it will not record messages.
82.2.3920.0121

Skype:
A much better way of talking to me is via skype. If you have a microphone for your computer, we can talk for free if you download skype. I've used it with a few people thus far, and there is only a tiny delay, but otherwise it works well. My username is: joseph.henry.murphy

First Post

15 Hours of Flight (in Summary)
-Flight Plan (and yes, we ended up avoiding North Korea, in spite of that green line).














-Leaving Atlanta














-Indiana














-Siberia














-Sea of Okhotsk














-Eastern Mountains of South Korea















Getting to Korea University
I arrived in Seoul yesterday. I was coming off a Unisom trip and had two very heavy bags, so as I searched for place to sit to get my bearings and then decide if I was taking a bus or a cab, a young man (who I later found out only had one hand) came up to me, took one of my bags and told me he would take me to where I needed to go. Long story short, I had to pay him $180 for cab fare when I probably should have only paid $50 max. Maybe it was worth it because I got to sit with him in the cab and listen to French/Spanish love songs and Korean commercials. I didn't want to offend him by taking video of him, but I did manage to get a few seconds of video inside the cab. Oh yeah, and he liked to speed and be totally rude to other people on the road.


On a good note, my first introduction to Seoul was speeding through it while a full red moon hung in the background. Very eerie and exciting!

I arrived at my dorm and met some very nice Korean American students, as well as many other foreigners. It's funny because anybody thats NOT-asian, ie. hispanic or black, smiles at me (and I at them) and we strike up conversations left and right. I guess since I am part of the minority now, its nice to see a friendly face that isn't trying to hold me down.

I asked one of the RA's what a good walking path would be, and went and looked about the immediate area of the campus for about 30 minutes. Koreans tend to flit about with no regard for other people, bikes, traffic, time, space, anything really. I imagine all the pedestrians of New York bursting out into the streets the moment that they have the right of way. Here, they stand at the street corner, and when the green "walk" sign pops up, they take their time to look around for 20 seconds before aimlessly traversing the cross walk. I think I'm just used to the American sense of NEEDING to be in a mad rush to be somewhere at all times of the day. Koreans are adorable.

Thanks to my mom who sent me money, I was able to sleep with blankets and a pillow for the night (when I told the girls at the desk I could not afford it at the moment, they gave me the "thats so sad!" face, and offered to pay for me if I'd pay them back). It's really cold here, so I'm glad the blanket situation worked out.















First Morning in Seoul
Walked campus alone this morning for an hour, with 30,000 won and needing a voltage adapter and ethernet cable. Without these things, I was nearly unable to contact anybody at home in any reasonable manner. Oh, and I needed food because I was getting hungry.

View From my Dorm










Street with restaurants/shops/bars/college kids



















I've always wanted to get my nails done while I was eating pizza (this is actually located ON the school campus).














Temple (called Gaeunsa) that is a 20 second walk from the entrance to my dorm. Lanterns are lit up at night!














"Paegel wita Creama Cheezu" and espresso for breakfast (don't mock me, there isn't really a traditional Korean breakfast food). They have LOTS of French-style bakeries.














Busy Intersection


All in all, I love it so far. I thought I was going to find it hard to adjust to and hate it for a few weeks, but really, I am enjoying myself in spite of overpaying a cab driver and realizing that off campus, about zero point zero zero percent of people speak English. I've busted out some phrases like "igo urlmayo" (how much does this cost?) to get the ethernet cable, only to realize in horror, that the young computer store clerk, after being amazed by my command of the Korean language, would respond with the cost quoted in Korean numbers, which I don't know.

Sweet Success!















The one thing I can count on is the friendliness of Koreans. So far, even if they can't understand a damn thing I'm trying to say (in my language or my attempt at theirs) everybody has been warm and kind. Love, Joe.