Spring 2010

MArch... NO- wait.. APRIL?!?!?! (8th)

Um... wow... can’t believe it’s already April!!! I know “time flies” but time REALLY DOES fly over here... maybe it’s b.c. I’m constantly “ahead” of the actual time... 

1. January- APAC 2010 in Shanghai, China (Asia Pacific Activities Conference) Basically the HS swim team trained from November- January for this one 2-day competition...  all the big international schools throughout Asia get together and swim agnst. each other..  I met coaches from all over- mostly China... (one real hot Chinese guy that was an Olympian!!) and it was a great experience.. The kids had a great time and... well, yeah- good experience... didn’t see a lick of Shanghai, so don’t think “Man, that’s SO awesome you got to go there!!” b.c. all I saw was another international school, a pool, & an airport... 
2. February- My first trip home to the US of A!! Erica Farford was becoming Mrs. Casey Beson and of course I had to be there for my girl’s wedding! :)    It was surreal being back in the US, esp. after 7 months of living in Korea... I DEF had some reverse-culture shock: 

1. Sittin’ next to Bo-Shee-Qua on my flight from LAX to Houston & listenin’ in on all her interesting ghetto-ish stories... 
2. Telling a story at the checkout counter & the checkout girl laughing b.c. she is eavesdropping b.c. she can actually UNDERSTAND my language!! 
3. Using cars to go places?!?!?
4. Drive-thrus?!?!? 
5. Guys that actually hit on you instead of being too shy and staring @ u outta the corner of their eyes... 
6. People that hate their jobs & lives & it shows thru every second of their work...
7. I could go on and on... 

I had a GREAT time visiting w. my fam & seein my niece & nephew after SO long was a great time! :) I missed them bunches & bunches  & bunches, hope they missed me somewhat too- it def was sad realizing that I had missed the last 7 mo. of their lives and even tho that was a reality I accepted prior to going 2 Korea, I didn’t truly understand the impact that it’d have on me. :( 

I was SO glad to see my peeps that it was way too painful to return to Seoul and I did NOT want to go... I grew a much larger appreciation for home, people at home, things from home, just home in general... 

So, my return to Seoul was DEF bittersweet...(and let’s just say, I’m not really over it- even now)  :( 

3. March- KAIAC (Korean American Interscholastic Activities Conference) : The next season of HS swimming started in Feb. (there’s 2 seasons of Swimming @ SFS!!) and this one has weekly (ish) meets with international schools from around Korea.. so, I work my butt off every single Saturday, have no weekend time off & essentially have no life... but @ least the coach from the military base & I created the Dr. Pepper inside joke & now he brings Dr. Pepper to me every meet!!! :) He Rulez! :)

  

4. March- Wayne Goldsmith: my control freak of a boss decided he wanted a fellow countryman to come teach us SFSers how to “really coach” & that simply meant that I had to endure yet another annoying Aussie accent! (No offense to all you Aussies/Aussie-lovers out there... another part of my culture shock aka I-Don’t-Like-My-Boss shock)

We learned a bit from the crazy Australian “World Renowned Coach” and I will tell you I have utilized very little of what he taught me... I think this is more due to my “rebellious nature” in regards to my boss & anything swimming related b.c. I have grown to have a disdain for swimming as a result of my boss making me hate life so much... (I know, I know... I’m using rather strong words... unfortunately I am not the only one who has been negatively affected by this individual- I don’t think there’s anyone in this world that I have ever disliked so much...) Ok, enough...  I at least was able to meet Shim Min- the Olympic coach of the first Korean Gold Medalist in swimming from 2008- Park Tae-hwan.... 

5. March- My sister, Christa, came for a visit! When you live this far away from home for a prolonged time, you never see a familiar face, & can never go home- it’s pretty awesome to get a visitor from your neck of the woods! :) Christa came for the infamous Wayne G. “Coaching Clinic” & stayed to tour Seoul with me for Spring Break! :) 

1. We went to the DMZ (The Demilitarized Zone- 38th parallel- 
   
   
   
   the place where the 2 Koreas became “the 2 Koreas” and where they pushed a pause button on that Forgotten War of the 1950s- the 1st in a series of wars known as the Phony Wars fought as a part of the much larger “COLD WAR” b.n the Eastern Communist nations and the Western Democracies...) 
   
   
   
   I stood on the DMZ line, saw NoKo, & went into a tunnel the N. Koreans built in order to sneak into SoKo.. pretty cool.
1. Now, time for an interesting cultural sidenote: Asians in general like competition and being the best... Asians like to be better than other types of Asians (aka Chinese like to be better than all other Asians, Japanese like to be better than all other Asians, Koreans like to be better than all other Asians.. I think you get my gist) well now, South and North Koreans are no different... even though they don’t see themselves as “different countries” they still need to be better than each other... So, @ the DMZ- the only place that NoKo can see SoKoreans & vice versa... they gotta outdo each other... Examples:
1. NoKo built a mock “Propaganda Village” to show SoKo how awesome, neat, and organized- oh, and how “advanced” NoKo is.. 
2. SoKo built a flagpole to hang a flag from... so NoKo built a WAY larger one with a flag that’s so huge & heavy- it can’t blow in the wind even!! 
3. SoKo plucks the hottest solidiers from their ranks to serve @ the DMZ to show NoKo how awesome they are... (in my opinion, they are NOT the hottest SoKoreans... but I guess they have different taste than I do...) 

ii. Geez... They seem to be compensating for something.......... hmmm..... I wonder what ??! lol. 

1. Suwon Folk Village: we go to this “historic village” only to find an amusement park w. a tight rope walker, traditional Korean performers, & a pirate ship! Quite an interesting experience...
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3. The G- Palace: The first of the Korean palaces. Built during the Joseon Dynasty (the most famous dynasty that ruled for 500ish yrs) in the 14th century.. It’s got it’s Asian influences from China, fo sho! and there were def. separate quarters for the “wife” AND all the many many concubines... my fave part, fo shiz! (altho, I’d HATE to be one of them... ugh)  
1. The most famous Korean emperor was here- his name was: King Sejong. He created the alphabet (only 24 characters, the easiest of all the Asian languages to read/understand (factual, and imo- tru!), he also did a lot for improving the use of science, &, yea- he was just awesome... 
1. Korean BBQ- Fo Shizzle!
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Dog cafe: Like the Asians try to out-do each other, they really like their dogs.. so much, that we went to a cafe dedicated to dogs.. dogs just walk around while you drink coffee or beer, they come sit on your lap, walk on your table, and DEF greet you with insane excitement as you walk in... pretty neat-o... 
3. Never COULD find the ICE BAR!! :( Next time, Next time...