One Month and Some First Impressions

Since today marks one month here in South Korea, I figured I'd finally get it together and start blogging. This will probably be a long one, but suffer through it and I'll try to make them shorter in the future. And as for the dorky blog name, I gave Phil my word that I would keep it, so stay it shall.

I have been teaching for one month at Avalon English Academy in the city of Daegu, South Korea. Daegu is the fourth largest city in Korea, with a population of 2.4 million. That is a fraction of New York City's population, but it sometimes feels even more crowded here. Here's a photo of my new home from the summit of Yongjibong Mountain, to the south.

And here's the view from the roof of my apartment building. Not too shabby. Also, my building, as demanded by the Asian custom of making everything sound cute, is named "Happy Town."

Since Korea is so mountainous, they've learned how to squeeze millions of people into small valleys. They are also quite good at putting things on top of other things. There are huge netted driving ranges many stories high all over the city. Also check out the standard Korean parking tower. Ingenious.

This is no more than a humdrum parking garage to the locals, but every foreign teacher who comes here is amazed by it. Myself included.

Here is a by no means exhaustive list -- which will hopefully be added to with each post -- of some of the good and the bad I have encountered so far.

The Good

• Cool inventions. I've had dozens of encounters already with innovative technology or customs where the reaction is always the same: "That's brilliant! Why don't we do that in the U.S.?" We have the parking towers, of course. Restaurants also have very polite, unobtrusive buzzers on every table to get the server's attention. Fast food places often have these numbered discs which they give you when you order, and then you can go about your business elsewhere, and the disc will light up and buzz when your order is ready.
• The cost of living. Considering my salary here is nearly the same as what I was making in the U.S., and my apartment is free, money goes a long way here. I can get a full dinner at a restaurant (with free refills of all the kimchi and radishes I could want) for about $3.50.
• The internet speed. Oh wow, that's a cool song, I should downlo...OH WAIT IT'S DONE ALREADY. South Korea has the second highest internet speed in the world, behind only Japan. America is in a very sad 14th place. Americans, you can tell yourselves that's why they're so much better at Starcraft than you, you know, if it helps you sleep at night.
• The hiking. Being surrounded by mountains is pretty awesome. Yongjibong, in the first picture is only an hour and a half to the top, on foot, from my door. And of course there's an outdoor gym -- free weights and ellipticals and all -- halfway up the mountain. Why? Because Korea, that's why.

The Bad

• The coffee. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, but I do partake maybe once or twice a week. I am also by no means a coffee snob, but the coffee here is bad. Really bad. Like, monumentally bad. 
• The students. Don't let anyone tell you that Asian students are more respectful than their American counterparts. There are many differences, to be sure, but teenagers are teenagers the world over, it would seem.
• No Pandora. Pandora apparently blocks free access to any IP outside the U.S. Lame!

That's it for now. I promise that my future posts will be more thematic and a less disconnected. I will leave you with PSY's Gangnam Style, which many of you may have already seen since it apparently took off like crazy in the U.S. Here I'm betting it's only another month or two from becoming the official national anthem. I hear it at least six times a day from all sorts of venues. So if you're wondering what living in Korea is like, it's like this. Exactly like this: