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December 2009
DEC. 31: THERE IS JUST NO ESCAPING THIS STORY Quick anecdote from a middle school conversation class Tuesday. I was teaching about verbs in simple present tense. Me (reading from a book): Tiger Woods ... Student: ...has 17 girlfriends. You can comment, ask questions or submit your voice mail message here, or on the "Mark Fitzhenry's Korea Blogging!" page here. DEC. 31: HAVE A PERFECTLY NORMAL HOLIDAY SEASON On Christmas Eve, I popped down to the hospital where doctors rehabilitated my calves last fall. I asked Doctor Chu what his plans were for Christmas. He was coming in to work. Even in go-go-go South Korea, I was surprised. I already knew that Christmas is not as big a deal here as it is in the States. But I expected a rehab doctor whose role is provide elective services to give himself the day off. Nope. I also knew of several English academies open on Christmas Eve and one that was open on Christmas Day. The neighborhood Outback Steakhouse was open until midnight on Christmas Eve. And some of my middle school students reported that they received no presents on Christmas because they no longer were children. I still don't know what to make of South Korea's rather blase treatment of Christmas. On one hand, I was already sick of the holiday hoo-hah when I left the U.S. on Dec. 7. Yes, I get it, I will lose all sense of self-worth if I don't buy this 145-karat diamond necklace. And yet I would still like to see the occasional Christmas tree or lights. I guess like talk radio and politics, there's no middle ground. I spent my Christmas afternoon eating brunch at the apartment of a Canadian couple, Brian and Karen. We ate French toast, smoked salmon, deviled eggs, fruit, cheese, cookies, bacon and other stuff I'm sure I have forgotten but surely ate. We also had a Secret Santa, and Brian was kind enough to get treats for Baldy, as well as one of the most thorough day planners I've ever seen for me. That was the second Christmas I celebrated. I had already celebrated Christmas in my hometown of Keene, N.H., two days after Thanksgiving. I already miss Mom's lasagne.
By the way, if you have never heard of my hometown, it is the birthplace of a civil rights martyr, the shooting location of this movie, and the home of an annual pumpkin festival that briefly held the world record for most lit pumpkins at once. We later lost out to Boston, the fucking bullies. We also claim to have the widest Main Street in the world, although I have yet to see any documented proof of this. So now you know about Keene, New Hampshire. You're welcome. You can comment or ask questions by sending me an email here, or by leaving a comment on the "Mark Fitzhenry's Korea Blogging!" page here. DEC. 22: DON'T HOLD YOUR APPLAUSE (AND OTHER WEDDING TIPS) Upon coming to South Korea for the first time in October 2008, I packed, among other things, a handful of dress shirts, three ties and a suit. It took slightly more than 13 months before I wore a tie for the first time. The occasion was a wedding, held at this hall along the Han River in Seoul.
That's Dave McLean, a Canadian, on the left. He lived in my neighborhood, Siji, for several years and now teaches at a university in Ulsan. On the right is Lee Dong Ryun, an English teacher who still lives in Daegu. They're a natural couple, and every time I see them it's like they're still in their first weeks of dating each other. They're also loyal Baldysitters, to the extent that, when they were moving Dave's stuff from Siji to Ulsan, they chose to kill time with the moving van by entering my apartment and taking Baldy to a park. The wedding mixed Western and Korean rituals. For example, they cut the cake, but did so without playing that stupid song.
Some observations: 1. The ceremony and reception occurred in the same room. An aisle separated the room. They took their vows, the minister gave his speech, and then they took photos on the stage as we began our course meal.
2. There was no need to hold our applause. We clapped as the couple's mothers walked down the aisle, as the bride and groom walked down the aisle, after they exchanged vows and rings, after they bowed to the brides' parents (and the groom's parents and us), after the minister's speech and as they left.
3. The minister's speech was simple, biographical and heartfelt. He spoke in Korean as two screens on either side of him showed his speech in English, along with photos of the couple that were taken before the wedding (Facebook friends of Dave can see the photos on his page). His lone joke was off-the-cuff, and he needed to pause to compose himself twice. 4. The playing of "Here Comes the Bride" happened as the bride and groom were leaving. 5. No dancing. This leads to the more important observation, which is there was no chicken dance. 6. The ceremony and reception lasted a total of about 90 minutes. Short and sweet, with the emphasis on sweet. Bonus Seoul photo
You can comment or ask questions by sending me an email here, or by leaving a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. DEC. 10: VACATION ARCHIVE, PART II: KISSED BY A DOLPHIN AND OTHER TRAVEL TALES It's my third full day in South Korea, and this whole beat-the-jet-lag thing is not going as planned. The first time around, I went to bed around 9 or 10 and woke up around 6 or 7 before I gradually morphed into the go-to-bed-late, sleep-later pattern most English teachers have here. This week, I stayed up until around 2 a.m. my first night back and thought, "OK, so I'm already close to my normal schedule here." And then came last night, when I conked out at 9 p.m. and woke up by 11 p.m., a rather inconvenient time for a nap, although at least I could catch four episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" (with Korean subtitles). Why do I mention this in a blog entry about my vacation? Because the late hours enabled me to download most of my photos from the trip onto Facebook. You see, when I packed for the U.S., I forgot two things. One was a coat. Hey, it was November in New England, why would I think I needed a coat? Two, the the cord that connected my camera to my laptop. So my nearly 500 photos and videos taken on the vacation were dumped in one large lump into my computer. I've posted what I think are the best photos, or at least those indicative of my trip, on this page. At the bottom of this entry I have linked to my photo albums on my public Facebook page. I plan to post about my hometown and family in my next entry. Washington, D.C. This was my first and last stop in the U.S. My first stop was the National Mall, where I saw two monuments for the first time. One was the Korean War Veterans Memorial, a collection of 19 stainless steel statues near the Lincoln Memorial. For something that has as much detail as it does, there's something simple about it too. You look, you see 19 soldiers on a mission, you get it. The National World War II Memorial, on the other hand, just seems out of place. I'm glad we have a monument for it. I'm just not sure a 7.4-acre monstrosity with 56 pillars and a pool nearly as long as a football field is the right thing to go on the National Mall. And I was unable to know what exactly it was commemorating until I saw a small circle under one of the two 43-foot arches.
I also checked out the Newseum, which includes a Berlin Wall exhibit and every Puliter Prize-winning photo ever won with the stories behind it, and the National Postal Museum, which included some creative mailboxes and a look at the vehicles that have delivered mail to all outposts in the U.S. The Bahamas.
The motus operandi for my mom and I was simple: Decompress. Or so I thought. Despite the beautiful resort with the pool and free kayaking and killer cole slaw and relaxing pool and one free massage, I got stir crazy and wanted to check out Port Lucaya in Freeport, the largest city on Grand Bahama Island. We arranged for our driver to pick us up about five hours after he dropped us off. An hour later, we were bored to tears. The shops sucked. There was little local culture to delve into. The casino was limited to slot machines until 5 p.m. -- the time of our pickup. So I decided to follow my impulse and swim with the dolphins. Our group of nine consisted of an Italian family, me, and a Belgian-born mom with her German-born daughter from Miami. Now's a good time to say someone willingly kissed me on the trip. His name is Salvatore.
The trainers, using simple signals, have taught the dolphins to jump, swim to you, call out, hug you and kiss you. Once they perform the task they dart to the trainer to gorge on fish; one trainer said the dolphins eat about 30 pounds of fish a day. So much for my dream of owning a pet dolphin. Here's a routine Salvatore did for us after we swam with him: Montreal. Despite growing up in New England, I had never been to Canada. I changed that with an overnight trip to Montreal. If you missed my adventures in finding a hostel, read this. I went without much of a plan. I just wanted to walk around a city that's among the most unique in North America -- a French-speaking city in the confines of a mostly English-speaking country. The old buildings were beautiful, and if there are more churches per square mile in a big city I'd be surprised. I even did surprisingly well with my French. Most of my conversation with a cab driver following my night out was in French; after I basically let him just go on about how stupid other drivers were, I found myself understanding him and using words I thought I had forgotten since my last lesson in high school. I learned that teachers speak in French but teach everyone English as well. Overall, a cool trip and a good way to leave my comfort zone for a day or two.
Links to the photo albums I have posted photo albums on Facebook. Each album is on a public page, but I don't know if that means public for everyone, or public for all Facebook users. So if you're not on Facebook you might need to know someone who is to see the photos. Or you can just join 2007 and sign up for Facebook. For the Washington, D.C. photo album, click here. For the Bahamas photo album, click here. For the Montreal photo album, click here. You can comment or ask questions by sending me an email here, or by leaving a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. DEC. 8: VACATION ARCHIVE, PART I: THE BALDY SHOW (BY REQUEST) In slightly more than a month, I slept in nine places during my five-week vacation from teaching in South Korea. Two were in another country, two were in my hometown, and five more were en route to or from Washington, D.C., which is where I landed on Nov. 2 and departed Dec. 7. I don't know if those numbers strike you as a big deal or not, but I can tell you that this itinerary stressed out a certain four-legged bundle of awesome named Baldy, who found himself hauled, in his kennel, in and out of rental cars and into the homes of people and dogs he'd never met. He stayed in five houses in five states1. He kept himself occupied in four of them by playing with other dogs. As for the other one, he kept himself occupied by peeing on the rug twice. But that was a minor transgression in what otherwise had to be an anxious month for Baldy, a creature of habit. The good news for Baldy is that he finally met his cousin Molly, a rescue who is my sister's dog. Because my mom's apartment does not allow dogs, Baldy's home for much of November was a playroom on 242 Church Street in Keene, N.H. Far from having the place to himself, he shared with my sister and her husband, my wonderfully accommodating nieces, and a very excited (and very strong) puppy. After a testy first meeting in a nearby park, Baldy and Molly soon bonded and engaged in their favorite activity called, Let's See Who Can Remove The Other Dog's Head. Thankfully, neither of them won. But seriously, after a couple of days where they tested each other's comfort zones, the two became fast friends. Molly's favorite maneuver was to clamp her mouth on Baldy's neck. Baldy would respond by pulling on Molly's cheek with his teeth. Why yes, of course I have video: I have included more photos of Baldy in this entry. I do this by request of loyal reader Jane Lawton Ellis, who took the time to post this on my blog's Facebook page: "More pictures of Baldy please!" So I have complied. For more photos of Baldy, read on. For more photos of Tim Tebow, log on to ESPN.com.
Baldy traveled through New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia to bring his total to 13 U.S. states plus D.C. (and, of course, South Korea). That puts him 35 states behind Fred and Hank, Baldy's friends that he met in Virginia. I'm referring to my friend Jim Brady's blog, Fred & Hank Mark America, in which Jim and his wife Joan took the canines on a cross-country road trip that included, if I am not mistaken, 374 presidential libraries. If you have time to spare and want to engage in topics such which band had the greatest debut album ever (hint: The Doors), click on the link and check out the adventure. Today's Christmas hype You're not sick of Christmas songs. You're sick of bad Christmas songs. That's why I'm here to save you. Today I present my favorite non-traditional holiday song: Christmas Is the Time To Say I Love You by Billy Squire. Yes, the same guy who wrote the lyrics "Rake me, shake me, baby you make me -- turn me on again" penned my favorite Christmas song (and released it as the B side to the song I just referred to, My Kinda Lover). This video captures him at MTV in 1982, when the network was still getting its legs. Not only is the song an immediate feel-good injection, but check out the VJs and crew just totally enjoying themselves. I dare you not to feel just a little bit better after watching. Join in the conversation by sending me an email here, or by leaving a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. 1Special thanks to the Donohues, the Cooksons, the Zinns, aunt Mary Lou and uncle John Paul, Neil Greenberger and the fine staff at Trouble Ahead Farm, and Jim and Joan Brady for allowing Baldy to stay at your places. He says hi to Loki, Sox, Bruin, Molly, Chaos, Fred and Hank. He also wants more of the chicken Neil fed him. And when I say I'm back, I mean I'm back in South Korea, back to blogging, back up to 207 pounds (how did that happen?), back after five weeks that flew by like two, back to hailing cab drivers who want Baldy to ride in the trunk, and, dare I say it, I am back for more cash. I have not been this excited about a return since Jose Mourinho accepted his first gig after he left Chelsea (the London football club, not the former First Daughter). It's 25 minutes after midnight Tuesday as I write this, and I don't know what surprises me more -- that I'm still awake, or that I chose to post a blog entry instead of playing my new video games. I'm going on about three hours' sleep, and the over/under on my wakeup time tomorrow is about 1 p.m. Several things struck me about my five weeks off. First of all, they went quickly. Second, my fear that I'd answer questions in the U.S. with "neh" -- Korea's catch-all "yes," "I agree," "I heard you" etc. -- instead of yes went unfounded, but I did bow to people, especially drivers who let me cross the street. Third, I was amazed at how much sports programming in the States is just talking, and most of the time I'd be more informed listening to my friends who worked with me at The Washington Post. Fourth, time flew. I figured that one was worth mentioning twice. I won't give a rundown of everything I did, although I plan on posting links to photo albums in the next day or so. I will say that, beyond catching up with friends and family, my No. 1 priority was gorging on food that is not as available (if at all) in South Korea. My first meal in the States, as predicted, was a meatloaf dinner at Bob and Edith's Diner in Arlington, Va. The place was just as I remembered it from 15 years ago, from the parking lot on the side to the clientele that spans all races and social classes to the slab of butter they slop on your plate next to the dinner rolls. I also ordered pie whenever I could -- apple, chocolate cream, pumpkin, lemon meringue, key lime, and, of course, pizza. I had cold-cut sandwiches, my mom's lasagna (but cooked by my sister), my cousin's lasagna, a Greek pizza (with gyro meat and feta cheese), a bleu cheese omelette, a bleu cheese bacon burger, and two Thanksgiving dinners (fried turkey at the Patriots-Jets game, and the honest-to-goodness Thanksgiving meal four days later). So color me not surprised when I weighed myself upon my return and the scale read 94.5 kilograms (just under 207 pounds, 14.8 stone). Suffice to say that I felt, in the words of many of my elementary students, "very not good." I also used the vacation to buy more clothes, given that (a) my waistline has shrunk since my initial arrival here and (b) size XL shirts and 11 shoes are as easily found in South Korea as the Abominable Snowman. I fell in love with TV shows that I don't think I'll be able to see here. I celebrated Christmas two days after Thanksgiving. And I listened to far too much Christmas music and saw far too many Yuletide ads, and I can only say to those of you still in the U.S. with three weeks of hype remaining, better you than me. So I am back. My to-do list includes organizing the apartment, buying food, hitting my normal sleep cycle and getting ready to return to work. It's worth noting that when I left the cab tonight to complete my 22 hours or so of traveling, I didn't tell Baldy that we were back to work, or back in the Ghetto, or back in Siji. I told him we were home. Questions, comments, demands or suggestions can be sent here, or leave a comment on the Mark Fitzhenry's "Korea Blogging!" page here. |
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