Okcheon, *&%$ I'm still in Okcheon.

In my short time in Korea I've changed my mind on my imperialist guilt trip. I've come at it from the wrong perspective. As an American it is hard to not imagine being the top dog but when it comes down to it that doesn't really matter so long as you are happy. Korea has proven to be adaptable. In fact one of the advertising slogans for Korea is "Dynamic Korea" because it is ever changing. It is a go with the flow culture. A region that has been divided and conquered several times over the last few thousand years - but has also done amazing things scientifically. A king commissioned linguist philosophers to create the Korean written language in a mathematical way that made phonetic sense. This of course led to metal letter printing generations before Gutenberg printed his Bible in Germany. Korea may not be the biggest dog at the table but they have always managed to get fed. And its the adaptability of Korea that invites all of us westerners here to teach them English. They want to be sure their kids can keep the Korea strong and that means thinking globally and it is what it is that English is the closest thing we have to the global language. I mean, at the very least, roman letters are necessary to go anywhere on the internet. And the ability to go places, whether it is a website, New York City, or simply into the future that leans me to where I am, as well as where Korea is, today.

I am in Okcheon. For all my friends in Davis, CA, I will say that Okcheon is a lot like Woodland. Almost directly in the center of South Korea and surrounded by little mountains, it is a city of about 50,000 people. Its urban planning makes more sense than Woodland because it has a centrally located downtown that is easy to get to, with the only traffic problems being the couple creeks wind through town that make the street paths a little more interesting. I would compare the town to Davis because of its similar population but it lacks the University that serves as Davis' core - although on Sunday there is a great street faire. Okcheon's website is based off from a generic template that many towns in South Korea use. There is a short letter from a high up political office on the top center of the page. It thanks the viewer for being interested in Okcheon and it says that Okcheon is a transportation hub. When I told my Korean worker Joey this he repeated "hub" as a question. I said, "yes. Hub." And he quickly responded in his soft honest voice, "That is a lie." The website has many links on it to other information on Okcheon but when you click on them the page simply refreshes.

The downtown is very colorful with all the signage of the shops being a rainbow of variety. There are scores of mom and pop shops. In a way I like that there is no superstore in town - but as someone totally lost on the language I must confess that the convenience of a Costco or something comparable in town would be a life saver - luckily for me there is one on Daejeon - which is a less than 15 minute train ride away (serving as the Sacramento to my hometown analogy).

I was put up in a hotel for my first four and half days here. The hotel room was very spacious but after the whole experience is done with I would give the hotel a C minus. The hotel's cleaning lady takes the cleaning aspect various seriously. The first time she came to the room I had the afternoon off so she rings the bell and I try to gesture that I am OK and she can pass by my room but she still comes in and investigates my trashcan and flushes my toilet and changes my towel. She did stop short of making the bed. The next day I come in and all my clothes are folded and rearranged and everything i had on the desk has been moved around and "organized" as well. This happened to my fellow expats in the hotel as well. We all agreed that we felt it invasive.

I also messed up something as well. There is a slot in the hotel room, by the door, that you are supposed to put your key into after entering the room. The lights turn on (and I guess it activities some of the electric outlets as well). I didn't realize the outlets part so when my key wasn't in the door I tried to plug in my computer and it wasn't charging so in the morning when Joey was picking us to take us to the office I had him tell the desk clerk that I think something is wrong. When the managers (a married couple) come in, eight hours later, I had already figured out the problem but couldn't really tell him. The desk was told there could have been a refrigerator out and it took them that long to check on it. When the managers came in the room I had just set up my iChat camera and I was checking the preferences so a video of the room was on my laptop's screen. When the manager saw herself on my computer she got freaked out and tried to stay off camera the rest of the time she was in the room. her husband however, is not camera shy because there are glossy professional pictures all throughout the hotel of him playing the saxophone. This would have been of no consequence if it wasn't for our attempt to eat at the hotel on Thursday night.

One of my expat friends works with a guy named Tim that has spent half his life in the states and the other half in Korea. He is here as part of a program for college kids to immerse in Korea culture while they also teach. Tim really wanted take out and when we went to the hotel he asked if there were any menus for local restaurant but the managers tried to convince us to eat at the restaurant on the sixth floor. Our first night in the hotel involved the manager trying to convince us to have a breakfast at the restaurant for 12,000 won (roughly 10 bucks). We declined and she dropped it to 10,000 won but all of us stood firm because, in all honesty, the manager lady gives off bad vibes.

We were in a hurry to eat because Friday morning we had to go to the hospital to be tested for TB, HIV, and drugs. We were told to start fasting at 9pm. We were up in the restaurant on Thursday night at 8pm. Thankfully we had Tim to tell them our orders in Korean. Two of us simply wanted tofu, rice, and vegetables which the manager seemed to understand when she took or order but when the food came over a half an hour later we had on our plates: eggs, SPAM, a leaf of lettuce, three french fries, and a tomato slice. Nothing that we had ordered. Then they bring out the rice so at least they got that right. But still, Tim starts arguing with the manager because of the royal fuckup. Tim even asks them if they speak Korean. Those of us that didn't get what we ordered just our Spam to Sam, a friendly Texan expat that is always hungry. The eggs tasted like they made them Monday night in hopes that we would actually come down for breakfast Tuesday morning. And we made due because of the deadline - even though they said they would bring out an order correction, which never happened. I paid 12,000 won for a meal that was pretty much to opposite of what I ordered.

But things really got weird while we were eating. Not only was the restaurant empty at the beginning and it was a David Lynch type scene with the manager, that looked like she was ten years past being attractive, and her husband the wannabee sax-god putting his priorities on reed instead of the plate. He started to play the sax while we ate and the room got filled up. Some drunken Koreans pointed at us and Tim wanted to get up and fight them but we calmed him down. The Saxophone player was playing over a karaoke mix but he was actually pretty good. The Sax is actually what calmed Tim down because he plays the Sax and defended the quality of the Co-managers playing ability. Now if only he would quit his day job.

At 9 o'clock it was just the Saxophone player on the mic but by the time we go to our rooms two floors down the karaoke started. The same drunks that were staring at us howled like hyenas while I tried to fall asleep. the karaoke went into the night like a branch dividian lullaby.

On friday afternoon at 3:50 Joey came into our office and said that we were supposed to move out of the hotel and in to our new apartments that day. We could leave at 4, walk to the hotel, and he would come pick us up at 5. So we had to move quick. And within a rush of a couple hours I had packed, moved, and semi-furnitured my new apartment. But if there is one thing I miss about the hotel it is the internet because I am currently sitting on the steps of the library around the corner stealing someone's wi-fi. But Korea is dynamic and I have to stay adaptable.