9:14PM 12/06/2014

Just a quick post today. Sorry about being MIA for over a month... had too much fun and no care to do a post... Can't believe I leave in 2 weeks... I don't want to leave... I've had more fun here than I have any place in my entire life.

Still no news on my aunt and cousins.. I have a good idea that I'm going to leave without even meeting them at this point... But it is what it is, what am I supposed to do?

I love all of you, and hope you all have had fun...

Now after a few pictures, it's time for me to get back to studying for my finals.

10:35PM 10/11/2014

I have been to tons of Korean national treasures so, I have tutored easily more than 30 people, I have met easily over 200 people since I landed. I just... I have done so much and had so much fun and yet Yet I feel I haven't even been able to break the surface on what there is to do here yet.

Korea may be an insanely small country, the size of Indiana, but there is easily 100 times more things to do than the entire midwestern part of the USA has to do. It's incredible. I wish I could have more time here, but I could spend 5 years here and still not have done half of what wanted to accomplish.

I know this is a bad comparison, but it reminds me much of the two "Everybody Loves Raymond" episodes that he filmed in Italy. At the end of the second episode I remember he saids "I was just starting to understand it over here and it's over already." While I am happy that I understand it early enough, I only have 2 months and 9 days left. I feel like it's going to end so soon... And every minute I waste is time I could be planning and doing my next event... so I got to spend my time wisely, I don't want to miss this opportunity. 

I also like to note on here that While I was in Jinju with Sean Green last weekend, I was able to go to Haeundae Beach in Busan. It was my very first time at a beach and so I put my feet in the water and sand... It was absolutely wonderful even with the wind blowing the way it was that day. 

Yesterday I went to Jongmyo palace and it was pretty damn awesome. They've done a fairly good job preserving the history there. and the teacher that took us there is definitely pretty awesome. Young Hoon Kim actually did a year sabbatical in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. So it has definitely been fun getting to know him. 

Also as part of that class I am in a group that has to give a presentation on the Suwon Hwaseon Fortress... I have met 3 other gals as part of the group project and for once I feel like the group project will get done as a group effort. They all have good work ethics, from what I've seen, and seem like really relatable and sociable people. Anyways, today I went to Suwon Fortress as well to get a good understanding of what it looks like and it was very fun. 

Finally, I went to Itaewan today to see the Cultural festival. It was pretty awesome. Shout out to my friends in the Army, it made me proud to see the US Army led the cultural parade!!! So that should answer all your questions about how much respect Koreans have for the American military... They led the parade and the Korean Military was right behind them. definitely a heartwarming sight for me, Being a a Korean American seeing the respect that is held between the countries!!! U-S-A!!! haha. 

I have a ton more to say and plenty of picture I like to post, but at 11:15PM on a Saturday night, I should probably get a shower and call it a night. I'll try to post pictures tomorrow in the AM. 

ALSO, Colts are 4-2!!! 4 game winning streak and 10 inter-divisional game streak!!! GO COLTS!!!!

4:11PM 10/06/2014

Talk about the worst sequence of events I have ever gone through during my time here in Korea...

I was in Jinju for the last holiday weekend and I got to see my best friend this weekend that lives in Jinju, His name is Sean Green and I'm sure many of my friends reading this will know who I'm talking about.

Anyways, it was great up until my last 20 minutes there... I was about to leave and the bus station had fucked something up with my ticket so I ended up having to get a new ticket. To add insult to injury, I had to pay additional money, so of course what do I do, I leave my wallet on the counter taking my ticket... my wallet that has my passport, multiple forms of ID, almost an equivalent of $200, 3 credit cards, and 2 bank cards... needless to say, I absolutely freak the fuck out as soon as I realize it's gone. Forget the money, whoever finds it can have all the money that is in it, If I don't have that, as far as the Korean gov't is concerned, I'm an illegal alien, and that is scarier to me than being broke....

So I call a few people and sure enough they find it right there and everything is still in it. I'm overjoyed and feel 100 times better needless to say. They are going to send it by overnight mail tonight. Hopefully overnight mail is 100 times more reliable here in Korean that it is at USPS...

Nonetheless, I still had an awesome time and look forward to the mail tomorrow.

10/11/2014 10:34PM UPDATE:

I got my wallet back as expected and all is well :)

09/28/2014 3:11PM

So I got to see the police in full action today. I have been waiting to see this for some time now cause I really want to compare the differences between American and Korean cops. What would end up happening is something I will never forget and I hope to teach to future generations forever.

This black girl barely gets tapped by a cab driver today and she immediately reacts like a ghetto ratchet mess. "You fucking gook, learn how to drive, I think my hip might be bruised forever now," now getting louder, "SOMEONE CALL THE POLICE, I HAVE BEEN HIT AND NEED AN AMBULANCE" This is all happening while she is still standing up

The cab driver gets out of the car and starts calling her what I assume to be a number of profanities and calls the police himself. not even two minutes elapse and suddenly the police are there, but they end up having to call an interpretor in, and not even 3 more minutes elapse before an interpretor is on the scene (Amazingly fast compared to America). The cop starts asking the cab driver questions all while the woman continues to yell nonsense.

The cop then (When the interpretor arrives) begins questioning the woman. She is wanting to go to the hospital and everything else when the cops saids "We can't do anything for you lady, you were the one that instigated the problem and we have camera footage *Points at cameras* showing you walking where there is no intersection (AKA: J-walking)"

She is shocked to hear this and starts yelling "But that gook needs to be put away. He called me a nigg*r and where I come from, that is a national hate crime"

What the cop said will forever stay with me because he is 100% right, and I wish we could do this in America. "First of all, you called him a gook, a word that is mainly used towards the Vietnamese, but it also hurtful to Koreans around the world, including me. Second, you are the only person I have heard use nigg*r since we got on the scene, so by that logic, you should be the one in jail, not him. Finally, The reason I am not arresting you is simple, We get called derogatory names all the time by the Russians, Japanese, and Chinese, and admittedly we call them names as well but you don't see us starting wars with other countries over that, we work through it and have political and business partnerships with tons of people and companies in those countries, as well as the rest of the world. I recommend you change your thinking strategies quickly before you end up getting sent home to your divided country!"

I really enjoy this country even more than I have at any other moment. Equality and working together is a huge aspect of this country, and for whatever reason it works. Even with all of the wars they have had and so much of the older opposition, they still find a way to work together. I am proud of my motherland more today than I have been in my entire life. I wish we could get this through to the cops and the people of the US. It would make the US such a better homeland.

I think that's all I wanted to post today... But I will add, I went to the farm experience yesterday, talk about feeling like I'm right at home. I got to harvest my own chestnuts and sweet potatoes, got to go rafting, and got to make "poprice", rice cake (In Jeol Mi), rice wine (Makgeolli) and Korean pancakes (Jeon)... all of which were delicious. I should have pictures up in my next post. The landscape was picturesque EVERYWHERE!!!

6:09 PM 09/22/2014

Colts won their first game today... Couldn't have been happier... till..........

Today I absolutely have to vent real fast. This Belgian gal was one of the first people I met when I came here, so me and her became really good friends till I realized she is a partier. Every other night she wants to go party, but who am I to tell her how to run her life. 

Last night she finally convinces me to go drinking with her again, against my better judgement. But after last night I'm not going drinking with her anymore. I absolutely wanted to push her off the edge of the roof at that roof party last night ... I tell her, like I tell all girls I go drinking with, to message me in the AM before I leave. She then proceeds to tell me that "I don't need you to watch out for me, there are all these guys here that can easily defend me. Sides, I wouldn't want help from a gun-wielding American anyways, it shows how weak you fools are, Real Belgians fight with fists, not guns " 

After she said that I left cause I know half of it is the alcohol and half of it is the ignorance of gun laws. So this morning I go to check on her to make sure she made it back OK. We talk for a little bit and I'm thinking things are fine ... then suddenly a message on facebook 3 hours later "Please do not come to my room without telling me or my room mate in advance, I will report you and all your of American buddies next time you come in my room un announced " 

What? I came there to check on you and you make a comment like that... I am done with her... for good... I hope she gets hurt by one of those "Real Belgians" one day and realizes that Americans really ain't as ignorant as she thinks we are. My tolerance with bullshit has reached it's end for her, I seriously need to stay away from her for a few days cause otherwise I know my anger will get the best of me otherwise. 

Oh well, at least I met a few other people today that definitely made that go over with less than a singe. Maybe the day can be less filled with dumb Chinese/Belgian women and more with smart Korean/American women! 

Regardless, I just wanted to post on her to let people know that I am actually studying. Yes, I know, Max and study are NEVER in the same sentence, but it is this time around. Studying for my first quiz in Korean language course tomorrow... wish me luck, cause I just ain't feeling good about this korean language course at all... 

09/17/2014 9:06 PM

Officially 3 weeks and it's definitely been a fun 3 weeks... My language course is definitely hitting me hard, but I never expected learning a foreign language would be easy... lol. I did suddenly wonder what happened to Mr. Mackey, the French teacher from High School. I remember hearing he went to another school. Not surprised. It's hard to be a gay teacher in a relatively conservative town. I was hoping to thank him for teaching me the 3 semesters of French I had taken. It has helped me a ton with the French people I've met here, I don't know how I remember half of it, but then again, there are alot of strange things I remember that I have no idea how I remember. 

Also, while I'm on the language subject, I am teaching people English while I'm here at the English lounge. I love it. I thought it was funny though. The TA is a really old women and she came up to me and told me 2 things today, 1: "Word got out quickly that you have a southern accent, so you have been booked for the next 3 weeks" and 2: "I don't care what you do with the people you help outside of this lounge, that isn't my business, but keep in mind it took you 2 days in here for word to get out that you are a good tutor, know that your 'activities' will get out even faster" OK... I didn't think I had a southern accent, and I have no idea where that "activities" comment is coming from, but whatever... 

So far the one and only cultural thing I am having a huge conflict with is the Kpop... I can't stand that Kpop sensation, I had every intention of NEVER EVER listening to it. I had intentionally downloaded almost 80gb of music so I would not have to hear this crap they call music... but everywhere I go I hear more and more of it. And I don't know how I ever got hooked into going to a Kpop concert... but you'll never guess who is going to a Kpop concert tomorrow... I told my friends I'll give them one hour, if after the first hour I don't like it, I'm leaving... sides it's a free show, whats could I really lose? 

With that, I shall end it for now. 

09/08/2014 6:13PM

First thing is first, I have VERY QUICKLY come to find out that my "American Arrogance" is weighing on everyone... I have heard multiple people tell me from all countries, including an American, that I am too confident, to the point that I am arrogant.


Whether that is true or not, that is part of the reason I went to study abroad, so I can learn how to interact with people of all races, nationalities, sexes, sexual preferences, colors, shapes, sizes, languages, and mentalities. Simply put, I apologize to anyone and everyone I may have offended. My intentions were not to offend, they were simply to interact and learn.

On to another subject, We went to the Han River the other day. It's wonderful and incredible. But it's also scary at the same time. According to some people, there are explosives on every single bridge that crosses the Han River, that way if North Korea was to invade, they could immediately divide the only way for them to cross quickly. How much truth there is to that statement is another story for another day, but nonetheless it is still amazing seeing such a vast river with so much history become such a centerpiece for the country.

Finally, I like to say real quickly for my Hautian friends, I got the hell out of Terre Haute fully expecting to get away from trains... I can't believe I got railroaded the other day on a bus. It was a subway train, so it only lasted like 90 seconds, but I can't seem to get away from trains no matter where I go. What a drag.

10:53AM 09/06/2014

My 21st birthday has come and gone. I have to say, having a birthday abroad is definitely an experience. Especially a 21st birthday. We are virtually the only country in the world that has a drinking age of 21. Everyone I have talked to has a much younger age and even one person I have met, from Ghana, said there is absolutely no drinking age whatsoever. So it was definitely the experience of a lifetime.

I had a series of bad news that came up this week which just weighed on me... I was honestly very reluctant to celebrate, but alas my friends I have barely known for a week pulled me through town and I couldn't be happier. Big thank you to BriAnna Morrison, Sindy Chang, Keeta T. J. Williams, Lacey Williams, Gauthier Hecq. 

I went and attempted to the police station in an attempt to find my family a number of days ago and they couldn't do anything except tell me they are alive an well, but they did refer me to the main police station in all of Seoul. When I went there I found out I forgot the main paper to bring here, My birth certificate. Without that, I'm not even related to my mother as far as they are concerned, so I definitely need to get that before I go any further, unfortunately that is halfway around the world in my house in my files. My mother is the only person that can access those files other than me, but she can't access them cause I have the key... I should have thought this through more... If nothing else I'll just have my mother go to vital records and get me one... it's only $10... It's just the times are so inconvenient... 

One other thing worthy of being said, Don't make the mistake I did. I forgot ONE letter on my address, so a product I ordered was apparently sent to the whole wrong side of the country... Luckily it was only a $12 (12000KRW) item, so I'll just cut my losses and write it off as a loss, but I definitely know for future reference, don't order ANYTHING online... it's damn near impossible if you don't know the hangeul alphabet. 

08/31/2014 8:51PM Last day of August

I went and explored the historic region today. I have to say it was definitely impressive. I have used the words Impressive, amazing, incredible, spectacular, and perfect more times today than I have in my entire life... The views and the scenery here reminds me that there is more to life than just money, riches, makeup, etc and it really gives me a lot more faith in humanity than I used to have.

Everyone is incredibly nice and whole-hearted. I remember talking about altruism in Dr. Tuttle's Honors course "The Biology of Love and Sex". I use to wholeheartedly believe that altruism didn't exist, but something here is making that wall quickly go down... I guess every wall has to go down eventually... Even the Berlin Wall went down eventually.

From Left to Right. 

1^st row: Takahiro-Japan, Keeta- Pensylvania USA, Lacey- Tennessee USA, Clémence-France, Brianna-California USA, Gauthier-Belgium,

2^nd row: Kana-Japan, Myoshin-Japan, Ferdinand- Belgium,  Laetitia-Belgium, Rebecca-Belgium, Victoria- Belgium, and me, Max- Indiana USA

8/30/2014 9:49 AM

It's a beautiful morning. I'm still in shock and aww that I'm here. My dreams are coming true and my fun factor has never been higher. In the last 3 days I have pulled so far out of my comfort zone that I'm still shocked. I have talked to so many people from all around the world, I went to my first "Dance club", I've walked all around the downtown area, I've taken the subway, taxi, and the bus, and I've tried numerous different foods so far. All in all, I have to say that there is more to do here than there is to do in almost all of Illiana. The fact that so much of it is free surprises me even more. 

I was very happy to have found a rock n roll club not far from the school ... All they play is America Heavy metal, rock n roll, and a little bit of country here and there. Seeing all the Korean women try to dance to it is what's even more funny. They don't dance like American "Dance girls" do ... so much more classier and down to Earth. I have gotten tired of seeing twerking, ass-shaking, humping, and the rest of it in America clubs which is why I never got into it nor wanted to get into it. I was hesitant to do it here but I'm glad I went. 

Classes do not start till Monday, but I have a fairly great schedule it seems. They messed up my schedule so I can't get my jr composition foundational study taken care of, but IDC ... I'm still going to have tons of fun regardless ... Going to do as much travel as I can, and going to stay out of my room as much as I possibly can. :)

This is going to be about as short and sweet as I can possibly make it. Landed in Korea about let me tell you, they threw an ungodly amount of stuff at me to get done all at once... I always thought America was the land of the procrastinator, boy how much I could have been wrong. Korean's wait till the absolute last second to get anything done...

Aside from that, I have yet to have a problem here. ATM's here accept MOST (not all as I've quickly found out while trying to help a number of other women around campus) debit and ATM cards.

Met alot of different kind of people so far and I'm shocked to find out that I get along the best with people from Dutchland and Germanic areas. They actually understand Sarcasm and do it better than I do... and I thought I was the king of sarcasm.

Also, as a side note, I couldn't have been happier with eating bulgogi today. Finally had an authentic bulgogi meal. Can't find anything like that there in the states. Got tired of having that sweet bullshit that Americans call bulgogi. I couldn't be much happier right now.

I like to also mention that ALMOST EVERYTHING is so much cheaper here. High end hotels are like $60 a night, food ranges from like $1-8 a meal which is insane... I bought an $8 dollar meal thinking I could finish it and not only could I not finish it... I couldn't finish half of it. Any of you that know me well know's I always can be quoted saying "I didn't get to 250lbs by accident" lol... so trust me... if I can say that, so can all of you.

I guess everyone thinks I'm sick because of my lack of sleep... jet lag is kicking me ass pretty damn hard... I guess that's just a part of flying.

All in all, I feel like a country boy stuck in the city. ON one hand it is pretty damn awesome. So many girls keep calling me a southern boy and thinks I'm from Texas. WHAT?!?!?! One even had the nerve to say "A republican that loves guns I take it?" First of all, how do Koreans know about republicans and second why do they assume all people who own guns are from Texas and republican?

As a side note, I'd really like to say Thanks to Sean Green and Young Woo-Hur. I owe you guys alot for helping me out yesterday.

08/25/2014 3:27PM

I've been thinking a whole lot more than usual because this is potentially the biggest achievement in my life. I'd like to make a quick shout out to all the teachers not only that I had, but all the teachers around the US. Without the help of my many great teachers, I would not be here, and had it not been for their teachers, they would have not taught me what I have learnt. For that I thank all of you. While I do not speak for all, I hope I do speak for the majority.

In the eyes of the many budget cuts that have gone on school corporations, the politics behind the cuts, the meager pay you make, and let's be really honest, that one or many shitty student(s) that you have to teach day in and day out, Y'all continue to teach. That put's you very high on my list of VIP's...

Never forget that what you teach can inspire certain students, it can change certain students, and it those students are the future of the US and even the world. What you tell them has the potential to change the world. So continue to do what you do best. I thank all of you around the world. :)

08/23/2014 1:21AM EDT

I haven't even landed in Korea yet, but the tears have finally begun to flow. I went and saw my brother today to break the news to him. Haven't seen him in 13 years. I've cried more in the last 24 hours, than I have since I was born. It's a bittersweet moment. My brother kept telling me how proud he is of me. I just don't have words to explain my happiness.

Now the realization that I'm going to be closer to my maternal family than even my mom has been in more than 30 years is really hitting me hard. I hope to find my family and meet them more than anything else in the world, but my mom brought up the possibility of them being dead... but you know what, at least I can find closure then. Not only for me, but for my mother too.

This is a dated picture of me (right) and my brother (left) back in a much simpler time. I wish things didn't have to go down the way they did on my birthday in 2001... But as I always say, "You win some, you lose some, you just got to win more often!"

As many of you already know, I'm leaving for Korea August 26th. I'm going to start this blog where I'll post some pictures. This is my first time blogging so bare with me if things get out of hand or IDK what I'm doing which is likely to happen quite often. Heck, I'm hoping I can just post this correctly... lol. With that said, I guess you can like subscribe to blogs and what not, so do that with mine if you want to see how Korean life, food, commerce, and everything else goes. I will do my best post at least once a week.

My birthday is also right around the corner, September 5th and luckily it coincides with the Korean Thanksgiving holiday (Chuseok (Korean: 추석) ) which is September 6th through September 10th this year (it coincides with the moons unlike American Thanksgiving) So you are certain to get some good pictures shortly after I land.

All in all, I think this is a good opening to my blog... I hope all of you enjoy and I look forward to interacting with as many of you as I can. I assume you can comment below, so if you want to get to know me, post your facebook direct link and/or email and I'll be sure to get in contact with you all. :)

안녕히 계세요. Annyeonghi Gyeseyo

MLKIII