Mon, June 8, 2009 at 1:10am
Friday night I visited the pirate bar, lonesome for some interaction outside my apartment/school. The pirate bar was relatively quiet for a Friday night, but it was good to connect with the folks from my last visit there (remember the Norae Bang experience? Neither do I, but I was reminded of this by a photo of me wearing a pink wig with microphone in hand). Apparently, many Americans living in Sanbon have recently been sick. I learned this from John, new friend who has taught in Korea for many years now, and has a medical background in the U.S. prior to this. Unfortunately, he told me it is virtually impossible not to frequently get sick in Korea and I should be prepared to battle illness, often the same illness, on a regular basis. Great news!
To support his comment, he offered the following explanations: 1) Asia has new virus strains our Western immune systems are not accustomed to battling. 2) Viruses are stronger here. 3) Korea is not as sanitary country as the U.S. For instance, it is rare to find soap in a public restroom, food is communal and shared at the dinner table, there is bad pollution, people spit all over the place, and things are just dirtier here. I know it seems hard to believe for such a developed country, but I'm totally serious. Also, there are more people congested into a much smaller geographical area. Interesting thoughts, and I would invite anyone with a medical background, or more knowledge of this subject than I, to offer any comments or suggestions to support or disprove his theory. Until then, I am preparing an all out boost to my immune system via mass vitamins, supplements, anti-oxidants, and numerous bottles of hand sanitizer. Frequent exercise and healthy eating habits, apparently, are just not enough.
Saturday morning, I had previously agreed to meet James at 720am outside the Sanbon subway station to depart for Everland, Korean amusement park. Feeling tired from the night before, I hit snooze several times before finally jumping from bed in a slight panic when I realized I had probably hit snooze one to many times. So I hurried to get ready, grabbed what I needed for the day, and bolted for the station, texting James on my way out the door to assure him I was on my way. But when I arrived at the station, he was nowhere to be found. It wasn't until I began to telephone him to inquire his whereabouts, when I realized the time was actually 630am, instead of 730am. A serious oversight on my part, and I cheated myself out of a much needed extra hour of sleep. Smooth move Ethan.
At 720am, James and I finally met and traveled to connect with Mina (Japanese teacher from school), Melissa (our super cute school secretary), and Melissa's two older sisters. Everland is advertised as South Korea's largest theme park, and the 10th largest amusement park in the world for attendance. There are many obvious similarities to Disneyland, though I have never actually been to Disneyland to confirm this. (http://www.everland.com) Total travel time to Everland was maybe one and a half hours, and full day's admission to the park was 35,000 Won. We watched an exotic bird show and rode many rides throughout the day, including the T-Express, advertised as the 6th longest wooden roller coaster in the world. It was no Gemini, but was a pretty good roller coaster. Melissa's younger sister is a sea lion trainer at Everland (no joke), so we were granted special access to the sea lion show, and got to meet Charlie, one of the stars of the show. Sea lion show was most bizarre (it featured a medieval Korean theme), but was perhaps my second favorite part of the day, next to the T-Express. The only unfortunate part of the day was when I accidentally sat on my sunglasses, snapping them in half. Otherwise, it was a long, yet fun day. We were all worn out when we left the park, and it was after 10pm when I finally returned to Sanbon.
Monday marks the start of my seventh week in Korea, and following last week's illness, I am excited to renew many goals for myself. I am also excited to receive my first paycheck on Wednesday and replenish my bank account. I truly believe I have accomplished much in only six weeks and managed to live relatively well with a limited supply of cash. As far as I am concerned, June is only beginning, and I am just getting warmed up. Stay tuned for more adventure.
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2 comments:
So happy to hear you are feeling better. Email me your address and I will send you some homeopathics from Whole Foods to help with your immune system. Also, I have been very worried about you with all of the talk about the North Korea bomb b.s. How are issues concerning this affecting you and what is the general consenses around town?
Dude, we did do DisneyWorld, through briefly, when you were about 6 or 7.
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