Fresh means eating it while it’s fighting back.

So, I made it. Here I am, in Korea, I landed in Seoul after a lonnnnnnnggg flight. I flew over Canada, Alaska, and oddly enough Russia, pretty cool. And at the end of that flight we dipped in over the almost black mountains of South Korea, which are everywhere. *Because the mountains are covered by such dense dark green forest they look black.

South Korea is nuts, there are people on top of people and buildings on top of buildings. Imagine taking everyone in Texas and California and smashing them all into Indiana, that is what South Korea is like. Today in my orientation day for teaching they told me to talk about the open spaces of America and my families house to my students, because it will blow my kids minds since mostly all of them live in high rises and barely understand the concept of farmland.

I took the train from Seoul to Jochiwon, (where I’m teaching), and it was about an hour and a half train ride. On that ride the city almost never stopped, there were skyscrapers 80 stories tall for miles and miles, it’s so crazy. They should just call South Korea the city that never ends. Seoul is said to be the second biggest city in the world, it makes New York seem like a little bitch, which if you’ve ever been to New York you understand how preposterous that seems.

In Seoul I stayed with Steve and his girlfriend, and in the little 5 block area around their apartment there was about 40 bars, no joke, just bars and restaurants everywhere, and apparently the whole city is like that. It’s cheap eats and drinks too, as far as the eye can see. We went out the night before we left for camp and celebrated Steve’s 30th birthday over Soju, beer, octopus, kimchi, chicken ass, and fish head soup, no bullshit. This is one wacky place. But in the spirit of adventure I’m trying everything, and there is no food I won’t give a go, including eating live octopus, which was probably made a little easier by the consumption of liquid courage. Octopus is like the chicken of the sea, that is if that chicken was as chewy as rubber, had suction cups, and fought like a badger to keep you from eating it with tentacles all over your mouth and face.

Well, before I ramble on anymore, and it’s almost time to go sing at a karaoke bar with my co-teachers, so far, so crazy. Asia is wild, it is a world and place all it’s own, I feel like a little worm on a big freaking hook, but I think I like it. I don’t have many pictures just yet, but they will be coming soon. To everybody at home, I love ya, miss ya, and am thinking about you constantly. Until next time…..