I'm a Seoooouuull man

Dave Gilbert · Wed 20/07/2005 17:40:27

Greetings from Seoul, everybody!

As a chunk of you should know by now since I've been chatting about it for ages, I've accepted an English Teaching position here in Seoul, South Korea. At long last, I am finally here. I arrived two days ago and my brain is about to go into sensory overload. My short time here has been incredibly overwhelming, but I think I will get over that in time. The kids are a handful but extremely cute. I don't have my laptop connected to the Internet yet, but this city has a cyber cafe on every street corner so my physical displacement should go otherwise un-noticed (You know, for the three of you who care).

Anyway, just have jetlag at 1:40am and thought I'd share. Take care, all.

-Dave

deadsuperhero · Wed 20/07/2005 17:45:37

Wow, cool! I was born in Seoul. On an army base.

BerserkerTails · Wed 20/07/2005 19:25:30

Nice to hear your trip was okay, Dave! I'm sure I'll hear more about it later, haha.

edmundito · Wed 20/07/2005 20:17:59

I talked to Dave on one of those Messengers, and he's totally fine. He just needs to figure out how to use Windows in Korean, and then he'll be all good!

Kweepa · Wed 20/07/2005 20:20:15

Damn, where am I going to buy my cheap jeans in NY?

Andail · Wed 20/07/2005 21:18:33

Thanks for the reassuring update, Edmundo, I started to worry during the three hours it took from his previous post

Eggie · Wed 20/07/2005 21:22:51

Congratulations on not being in that place where you were previously.

Also, have you tracked down the source of the Jung-Hwa Ban Jum song yet?

edmundito · Wed 20/07/2005 21:51:21

Quote from: Andail on Wed 20/07/2005 21:18:33
Thanks for the reassuring update, Edmundo, I started to worry during the three hours it took from his previous post

No problem!

Totoro · Wed 20/07/2005 22:48:08

Hey, Dave

Good luck on this great experience! Do you like Kimchi already?

deadsuperhero · Wed 20/07/2005 23:31:17

Quote from: Totoro on Wed 20/07/2005 22:48:08
Hey, Dave Good luck on this great experience! Do you like Kimchi already?

Mmm...kimchi's good...

Kinoko · Thu 21/07/2005 00:05:55

Annyong, Dave! ^_^ How cool... what's your impression of the place so far? I can't wait 'til I'm in your position, being all overwhelmed by a new country.

Blackthorne · Thu 21/07/2005 00:47:38

Dave,

Glad to hear everything is working out! Good to hear from ya.

Bt

Haddas · Thu 21/07/2005 10:32:15

Huzzah! Go you Dave! Hope you have a good time there.

Dave Gilbert · Fri 22/07/2005 16:11:26

Greetings!

Thanks for the comments, all. Eggie: No I haven't tracked down that song yet. That song actually scares me. Kinoko: My first impression? Totally, inequivically, overwhelming. Right now I'm in a 24 hour cyber cafe next door from my new apartment. (There are cyber cafes - or PC Bangs, as they are called here - all over the darn place). I'm surrounded by a whole crowd of korean men and women slavering over Warcraft, Counterstrike, and Anarchy Online. Also some cutesy racing game where bright characters race around a track collecting stars.

My new apartment is quiet and comfy, but small. So no massive Mittens sleepovers next year, I'm afraid!

I had my first classes today. It's the summer session so the classes are quite small (around 4-5 kids each). It's hard work keeping them motivated and focused, but I suppose it's good training for the higher class loads later on. Good thing my 2 1/2 years of improv performances prepared me for thinking on my feet.

Anyway, not to go on but there's so much insane stuff happening! I was a bit freaked out when I first arrived, but I am now very confident that this was the right decision to make.

And as for Kimchi... ugh. I've had it a few times and it gets slightly less awful each time. Ask me in a month.

Pumaman · Fri 22/07/2005 18:43:36

Good to hear you're settling in, Dave. Sounds like it'll be quite an experience!

Anarcho · Fri 22/07/2005 19:03:43

Dave, I think I read an article about that race game in Businessweek or Newsweek or something...in Korea companies actually sponser video gamers to play for them---just like a cyclist or indy driver. And that game in particular, kids spend money buying avatars and paint jobs for their race cars, it's a multi-million dollar industry. Sounds interesting over there! Good luck.

Eggie · Fri 22/07/2005 22:09:25

Ooh. That reminds me, have you seen any of those TV broadcasts of Starcraft battles yet. A guy in a used DVD shop told me about them once, they sound...um...a bit lame actually. But interesting at the same time...

Dave Gilbert · Sat 23/07/2005 03:58:23

Eggie: No starcraft broadcasts, but I did flip on the TV yesterday and saw a live broadcast of Counterstrike. There was a running commentary too, but I couldn't understand the Korean. Maybe someday soon.

Matt Goble · Sat 23/07/2005 14:26:47

Glad to hear you've arrived an settled in ok. Handy having the internet cafe so close!

Are we going to get a regulary feature "Dave on Seoul or 'How an AGS guy communicates with the counterstrike culture'"...

Will we be getting photos over time?

Best of Luck.

Matt

Dave Gilbert · Sat 23/07/2005 15:28:10

Funny you mention that, Matt. (ooh that rhymes).

I never thought I would do this... but I was convinced by a number of people to start a web log of my experiences here. It's still in the early stages, but I've converted my webspace into a blog of sorts. You can check that out at www.davelgil.com.