2 Week Synopsis

Dude.

I got a motorcycle.

A friend in town finished his contract and was willing to sell me his bike.

In the long run, I should be able to save a ton of cash by having a bike.  No more cab rides or bus fares to work.  Plus I can sell it when I leave.  Until then, I ride.

However, if I keep using the bike like I have this past week, I'll blow any savings on gas.  Almost every day after work, I've been taking the long way home through the country.  Cruising through tiny farming villages and past fields of onions and cabbage really gives you a different perspective on this country.

Here's a picture of the bike at the entrance to some temple grounds on my way back from work.  There were lanterns hung everywhere in preparation for Buddha's birthday last Saturday.

Jindo

Two weekends ago, a dozen of us crammed like a can of fancy salted mixed nuts into two rental cars and made the hour and change drive to Jindo, an island south of Mokpo.  When we got there, the nuts turned out to be snakes made of springs and we exploded all over the parking lot.

We had come for what is known as "The Parting of the Sea Festival", or alternatively, "The Moses Miracle", but more commonly "That Moses thing".

Legend has it, ancient inhabitants of Jindo kept getting mauled by tigers until one day they decided, "Screw this tiger shit, let's live on an island!".  It was only later that they realized they'd left Grandma behind with the tigers.  Grandma prayed to the Dragon God, and suddenly a 2.5 Km. path appeared in the sea, and Grandma was able to walk to the island.  Or at least part way to the island.  Apparently she couldn't walk fast enough and collapsed from exhaustion.  Her family met her from the other end of the path, and there was one glorious moment when they were reunited before Grandma bit the dust and I can only assume was swept away by the rising tide.

To remember that happy moment, every year when the Sun and Moon are in proper Neap Tide positions, the water parts again and there's a big festival.

We all bought big rubber boots and joined the swarms of people as they strolled their way towards the island.

Unfortunately, the tide doesn't last very long, and we were ushered back to the shore before we could be swept away like Grandma.

Waydaldo

Tuesday was a national holiday called Children's Day, a natural addition to Mother's and Father's days I suppose.  

To celebrate Children's day, we got as far away from them as possible.  A group of us took advantage of the time off and the weather and made a trip to nearby Waydal Island (Waydaldo).  For a measly 8,000 won ($5) we got round trip ferry tickets to this secluded island 40 minutes away.  

All in all, about 20 people made it out.  Everybody brought some food; there were burgers and dogs, potato salad, pasta salad and about a million other things.  I brought bread and cheese that I made, and there was an old lady on the island who sold brews.  

Tans and good times were had.

Foreigner Photo Op

Sometimes Korea gives me free stuff because I'm white.

The first time I was offered something for free was in a coffee shop in Daejeon.  Dralle and I had just finished our espressos when the barista came over, pointed at our empty shot glasses, and said, "Serviss-uh?".  We of course had no idea what she meant, so she got her friend who was supposed to know more English and had her translate.  Her friend said basically the same thing, "You want this.......serviss-uh?".  Turns out they were trying to say "service".

Tangent:

A Konglish word is an English word that has been translated phonetically into Korean, but whose meaning has strayed from that of the original.  "Service" is Konglish for "free".  Some other mistranslations are:

샤프 (sharp) - A mechanical pencil

원 플러스 원 (one plus one) - A buy-one-get-one-free sale.

쌤쌤 (same same) - Two things are exactly the same.

Konglish is prolific in Korea and can be pretty freaking weird.

I get "service" things all the time; beers, pretzels, waffles, coffees, soups and street snacks.

We're celebrities in a monoculture society.  I used to feel self conscious every time I went outside, but I've found it can actually be liberating to be stared at the whole time.  If you know there's always somebody watching, then it eventually becomes the norm and you stop caring entirely.  We stand out.  We're not normal.  We're freaks.

You should see me go for a run.  I'm a white Moses parting a sea of Koreans.  Children shout "Nice to meet you!" from city bus windows.  Schoolgirls loose their cool.  Boys line up for high-fives.

I've gone through several stages of acceptance of this fame.  At first I thought it was interesting.  Then I found it annoying.  Eventually I got upset that the only reason I'm treated so well is because of the color of my skin.  These people don't know anything about me, but they treat me like a king.  It's racism of a sort, and while it's not negative, it is certainly dehumanizing.  I eventually decided I can't really do anything about it and started accepting free things again.

This past Saturday 25 foreigners from Mokpo got the biggest "service" yet; a day long coach bus tour.

The island of Wando was hosting "The 1st World Slow Walking Festival" (yeah, that's right) and was televising the whole event.  From what we were able to piece together, Wando wanted to pass this off as an international affair, and so paid to have foreigners shipped from all over the country to attend.  

Stranger than shipping in a bunch of foreigners for National TV is the fact that they asked us not to tell anybody that the trip was free.  If anybody asked, we were to say that we paid 30,000 won for the tour.  Then they made us sign a form saying that we had already paid a bunch of money.  It was sketchy.

The bus took us first to a free lunch at a restaurant, then to the festival where we were given reserved seats.  The fest started off with some African drummers and dancers which was pretty phenomenal, as world music is unheard of in Korea.  Then there were a lot of speeches.  There was an English translator on stage, which made it bearable and actually pretty awesome at points.  The best translations of the day were: 

"We hope all who come to Wando will catch the happy virus" 

and 

"Wando is the Mecca of slow city"

We had been told we were going to a "Slow Walking Competition", which sounded intriguing, but this turned out not to be the case.  At first I was oddly disappointed (although we all had some interesting theories about how that kind of competition might work) then as the intentions of the festival were explained a little further, things became a bit more clear.  The message of the festival seemed to be:  The world is getting too hectic and crazy.  Nobody just goes for a stroll anymore, but strolls really are nice, aren't they?

A strange reason to have a festival for sure, but something I could really get behind.  

I got super excited as the interpreter said, "Now lets look at some pictures from the trip on the Camino de Santiago".  They showed this one picture....

...and then moved on to something else.  I never really figured out what that was all about.

When the speeches were over, we got rebellious and went for a rather average speed walk down the beach.  Then I jumped in some flowers.  

Then we were taken back in the tour bus to the most southern point in mainland Korea, 땅끝 (T'angk'eutt) or "Land's End", Korea's version of Finesterre,  for a free monorail ride and some killer photos.

Finally we were taken out for a free dinner, and eventually made it back to Mokpo around 9:30, just in time to make it to P Club, a local foreigner bar, where I played some tunes with the 50's band and bid our drummer farewell.

It was a busy day.

Fedora the Explorer

I've been meeting up with my friend Jens to play music every week for the past month, and so when word spread around town last week that there was going to be a big 50's themed birthday party thrown, we decided to learn some 50's songs.  We practiced together a few times and picked out some tunes, and then recruited the help of Alex, a drummer in town.  

Last week was dominated by band practice, and we managed to piece togther a pretty respectable setlist.  Then Thursday came around and I got a call from U of I friend Tim Cap confirming he was coming down to visit from Seoul.  

A portion of our conversation went a little like this:

Tim: So I should be getting in around 10 p.m.

Me: Cool, there's a beach bonfire happening Friday night, and then Saturday I'm playing 50's tunes with a band at a 50's themed party.

Tim: Sounds like fun.

Me: ..... How are you on the bass?

Tim: ..... Are you asking me to play in your band?

Me: Yes

Tim: Then yes, I'll play bass in your band.

And so it was settled.  Tim came down Friday, we went to a bonfire and stayed out way too late, had a sound check and Tim's first practice on Saturday afternoon, and played a killer show that night.

Our band name modulated between The Fighting Mokpo Allstars, The Communist Manifested, Sputnik and the Space Race, Squeaky Wheel and the Greasers, and my personal favorite, Fedora the Explorer. 

Jens and I traded Vocals, my songs are underlined:

Good Rockin' Tonight - Roy Brown

Oh Boy - Buddy Holly

Blue Suede Shoes - Elvis Presley

Diana - Paul Anka

That's All Right Mama - Elvis Presley

Mr. Sandman - The Chordettes

Hound Dog - Elvis Presley

Hoochie Coochie Man - Muddy Waters

Earth Angel - The Penguins

Jambalaya - Hank Williams

Mighty Mighty Man - Roy Brown

Sea Cruise - Frankie Ford

Everyday - Buddy Holly

I put a Spell on You - Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis Presley

Sea of Love - John Phillip Baptiste

Woolly Bully - Sam the Sham (not a 50's tune... but it fit in)

Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash

Mr. Sandman's Revenge (Also known as Enter Mr. Sandman)

Good Birthday Tonight (A Good Rockin' Reprise with altered lyrics)

When we had finished our set, someone in the crowd yelled somehing like, "We want Cake!", so Tim rocked the mike and we did an impromptu cover of Cake's cover of "I will survive".  We only realized after we finished that they probably actually yelled something like, "It's time for birthday cake!", but we only heard what we wanted to hear, so we played a song that Cake didn't even write in the first place.

Then we all ate cake.

Good parties end with an acoustic guitar on the roof.  So by inference, the best parties end with an acoustic, an electric, and part of a drum set on the roof.

Friendships were made, beer was consumed, good times were had, and Fedora the Explorer is looking into playing at a bar in town.