September 2008
13 posts
Where I Live...
I live in Seoul, but more specifically in the Sanggye-Dong of the Nowon-Gu. Seoul is a crazy big city, so it’s broken down into subsections. There are 25 Gu’s, or districts, with each one broken down into Dongs, or neighborhoods. My neighborhood is pronounced San-gay. So, I live in a gay dong. Pause for laughter and dick jokes……done? OK. Now try as I might , my...
Adventures In Street Food #3
One of the more common items you’ll see in the world of street food is Topohki. It’s far and away the most popular dish around. Every other cart set up is selling it. It’s a swampy, red mess of slightly sweet and spicy sauce with a kind of rice dumpling as the major component. They’re big, chewy, very filling and at 2,000 won, quite a deal. Most places will also have...
A Quick Post For the Ladies...
There isn’t an inch of sidewalk space here that isn’t being used to sell something. From food, to household items to clothing to electronic devices and everything in between. People will lay out almost an entire store’s worth of shit, stretching stretching it across half a block. This is shoppers paradise. Ask a Korean girl what she likes to do and 90% of the time her...
Adventures In Street Food #2
Among the more popular items being sold are various sticks of meat. They sit out partially cooked, waiting to be finished on the grill after you order it. One of the more interesting things is, as the meat finishes cooking, the vendor will use a pair of scissors to cut off any little bits around the edge that get charred. I kind of like those crispy little bits of charcoally goodness, but here...
It's raining...again.
What started as a normal, humid, sweaty day turned into a down pour. I’m told monsoon season should be over, but the rain keeps coming. Now they tell me the rain isn’t indicative of it being monsoon season, rather it simply means “fall is coming”. Fall is coming. That has been the answer for more than one question. For a couple days I was hearing what I thought to be...
Misconceptions...
At my old job I worked with a lot of Asians. Predominantly Vietnamese people. They all agreed that of the Asian people, Koreans were the rudest, most untrustworthy of the bunch. When I decided to come here I began to worry I might be treated poorly by a bunch of asshole Koreans. Thus far, nothing could be further from the truth. The people have been more kindhearted and made me feel more...
The Greatest Challenge of My Life...
This is not easy. I am thousands of miles away from everything and everyone I know. Can’t read signs, very few people speak english. Join the military and you find people like yourself in boot camp. Go away to college and there are lonely freshmen just like you, all waiting to latch on to their new life. I have acquaintances, but not friends. Romanticized as this experience might have...
Adventures In Street Food #1
Warning; If you are not prepared to see pictures of almost everything I eat while in Korea, it’s probably a good idea to stop checking in right here and now. If I listed the reasons I came to Korea in order of importance, food would be second only to my desire to contract Avian Flu. I’d like to be a good teacher and I plan on doing my best at my job, but really, I give a shit if...
So here we go...
Seoulsuckingjerk.com is now operational. Like the Death Star. Changes will be made, things will be posted and reposted numerous times I am sure. I’ll do my best to make it interesting and not let the blog devolve into something keeping track of things as boring as “I went to work today. I taught English. I came home.” No one wants to hear that. So if i go a few days or...