-Kife in Korea-

a brave new world...

www.thesquarerootofmetal.blogspot.com

Into the Fray...

Hmmmmm. Being back in the homeland has led to curious realizations. The bridge spanning from a life of Asian to one of Caucasian has produced rifts in social experience and interpretations.

People don't take care of themselves. Interestingly enough, health clubs and gyms offering crazy-ass deals and membership programs appear to in no way dissuade the population from gorging on McDonald's and denial. This truth is held self-evidently.

Anxiety stems from even the most simple of interactions. Walking around a crowded area and being able to understand what people are discussing and how poorly they are discussing it, is an unusual and awkward event. Additionally, my grade 8 Korean class could furiously outwit a decent cross-section of the local population, not to mention perform any number of tasks with far greater efficiency. They are also affectionate to each other, and don't see each other as potential threats. Many people appear to have resigned these qualities in favour of masking themselves in whatever the latest fashion trends are, and agreeing with their peers that there are in fact problems in the world, but not actually offering or contributing any original ideas or solutions of their own. An entire generation of plagiarism. Or maybe I've just become cynical or too polite to fit in back home.

Anxiety also persists in no longer being able to systematically select my interactions. Being confronted in stores by charismatic employee with a penchant for offering assistance makes me slink stealthily away as inconspicuously as possible, which is often difficult when I'm alone in the store. I absent-mindedly mangle some sentence of broken Korean mixed with jumbled English and stare at the wall while attempting to regroup and formulate a more appropriate plan. Then I casually hum a tune and turn up the volume on my Ipod, thereby eliminating unwanted hassling, friendly or otherwise, and confidently remove myself from the store.

While dining with family at a restaurant offering a wide variety of Asian cuisine, 2 men eating nearby candidly amused themselves by phoning a local business in search of a colleague and to have the phone answered by a Chinese man, who spoke with a slight accent. Several racist insinuations later they continued eating, demonstrating that modern civilization has canceled out the useful and essential function of natural selection.

Speaking coherently is no longer a challenge. The thrill of practicing a new language and witnessing the success or failure of each attempt no longer exists. Therefore, I intend to become severely intoxicated in order to foster a repetition of this type of experience.

The Last Hurrah

My last moments in Asia were exciting, expensive and thoroughly inspiring. And a day may come when such things can be experienced again.

a modest engagement of feasting

fetish gear - wicked awesome

the real KFC

Japanese pit of DOOM

hair power

shred...SHRED!

Oathean - simply the best in Korean metal yet again

cool women enjoy the prospect of consuming your heathen soul

Min Jae offering metal-sign tutoring for foreigners

transcribe amazing biscuit

final view of Korea

Ex-pats?

I'm become detached from Western people and ways of life. I hold nothing in particular against them, but the Western attitude suggests to me that a lot of people are very insecure. I listened to fellow teachers at my workplace today (not exactly and uncommon experience) discuss how Korean culture is bizarre and lacking and made up of people who are unwilling to accept foreigners. Clearly then, perhaps foreigners who a) make no effort to learn Korean while living in Korea, b) expect Korean people to cater to their wishes because they believe that rich Western countries hold some sway over other nationalities, c) make little or no effort to actually venture out and experience Korean culture, save for the standard hofs and bars that they routinely get hammered at, d) suck, have no method for gaining any entended knowledge or greater understanding outside their own subjectivity. Approaching Korean culture from a Western viewpoint removes the possibility for being able to extend one's own experience into the realm of a foreign culture. This can be a problem and lacks empathy. Experiences like this are not resigned to Korea, but can be found in many cultures in Asia rich in both cultural heritage and language development, yet treated as sub-standard. The whining of whitey's is almost enough to encourage a renunciation of culture.

The book Jonathan Livingstone Seagull relates that after being belittled and shunned from his flock, Jonathan, having achieved something greater than his community could before him, came back to his flock in order to offer himself to instruct those who lacked the knowledge he acquired, but only those who had the desire to learn. In Korea however, many Westerners responsible for teaching the flock are themselves unwilling to undergo any sort of education.

Additionally, I promise to rear my children in such a way as to never even closely approximate the lifestyle of my roommate, who somehow believes that she is a character on Sex and the City.

The Venusto Experience

For the past 10 months or so, I have had the fortune of playing with the Venusto String Ensemble (established in 1999), an amatuer but devoted group of musicians. We practise every Sunday afternoon from 2pm until approximately 6pm. I had originally joined this organization simply to keep up my pretense of being a marginally competent violinist, however, it became more of a ritual typified by long and arduous practise sessions and dinner conversations revolving around speaking better Korean or English. Venusto was first mentioned to me by a Korean friend whose roomate happens to be the concert master, and he suggested that I come and audition for the orchestra once he learned that I knew what a violin was, clearly being drunk and speaking facetiously. I took him seriously of course, and went to my first practise session the following day.

After 10 months of rehearsal, Venusto staged a concert in Yangjae, a district adjacent to my workplace. Our conductor had selected a fairly wide range of music, including Brahms' Academic Festival Overture, an oboe concerto, and Bach's Tocatta and Fudge in D(oom). Unlike the metal scene in Korea (which showcases a wide variety of talent and style, yet is only menially supported by the public), the turnout for the concert was extremely decent. It felt stimulating to play concerts again, and to be a part of something productive and inspiring.

Venusto String Ensemble!

concert attendees Sunny and Yang Mi

spot the infidel

dissension in the ranks

everything will be metal: Team Ultimate Awesome

like Fiddler on the Roof, only not

Chiaksan

Over the course of the Korean Chuseok holiday, I had originally planned on travelling to Russia and exploring all of the imperialist treasures therein in order to further inspire awe in a place unknown. However, this plan was forced into remission once I learned that attempting to get a flight even two months before the actual date of departure during this holiday season is only possible if you are wealthy enough to purchase your own plane or somehow bribe airline officials. Seoul population: over 10 million. International Airports: 1. Even with my limited mathematical abilities, I was able to forecast the difficulty involved with my intentions.

After spending some time wandering around Incheon and subsequently boarding the ferry to a nearby island, myself and travelling partner Tomek decided to employ the use of several modes of transportation and just see where we might end up. We toured the Gyonggi-do island for a spell, hopped on a bus, and slowly edged our way towards the airport. Once inside, we bought bus tickets to a place called Wonju, which is nestled among the Chiaksan mountains. One of the great things about Korea is that public transportation costs about as much as a fast food meal in Canada...unlike Japan, which costs about the price of a small car to take a taxi down the street.

The Chiaksan mountains themselves bear strong resemblance to the mountains in Seoraksan, save for the fact that there are many more trails and viable rock-climbing opportunities. Additionally, hardcore ajumas and ajashis (elderly women and men) rocket past you at quite a pace, breathing evenly and effortlessly as you curse the fact that you wore jeans and have the lung capacity of a small fish. Sweating profusely, we reached the summit of the first peak, a 4.6km journey. With this goal achieved, we made the decision to reach the summit of every peak, a ludicrous 10.2km journey.

After much effort and arduous trekking, the Chiaksan mountain expedition was complete. Once atop the final peak, we ate a Bohemian feast of rice cakes, beef jerky, and water bottled in the all-natural, ancient spring-fed slopes of...wherever. Then we waited until the sun set and began our descent in the dark. Taking an alternate route down meant there was lack of clarity as to what direction we were actually heading, coupled with the fact that skate shoes are absolute crap for traversing rocky slopes. Our descent lasted approximately three hours and covered more than 6km under cover of moonlight and soft braying of four-legged mammals. The incident of curiosity versus fatigue played itself out here in the adventive geography of Korea for the Caucasian Earth male aged 19-35. Subtle, yet powerfully visceral experiences such as this always seem to have a way of validating one's sense of restlessness.