Posted: Sun May 14, 2006 6:28 pm
Al Haig can confirm this ^^^^
poptart wrote:I'm a spy.
Page 3 of 3
Posted: Mon May 15, 2006 12:35 am
Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 11:43 am
The restaurant experience here leaves a lot to be desired. I've been to a number of 'nice' places, and it's always the same. I leave hungry, smelling shitty, and in need of a chiropractor. For starters, why would anyone want to go dine at a nice place ........ and sit on the fucking FLOOR to eat ... ? Well sure, they plop a pad down for you to squat your ass on, but even though your ass makes it through the meal in one piece the low-back, knees, ankles, are all screaming bloody murder by the time dinner is over. Chairs are out. I don't get it.
The waiter(s) will bring out 8-10 side dishes for all diners in a party to share in. Usually cup-sized dishes containing a variety of 'foods', most of which look as if they either came through a garden hose, off of a rake, or were scooped off the bottom of a fish tank. Diners in a party reach out with their chopsticks and take from the community side-dishes .... most often just a bite-at-a-time. They eat off their chopsticks and then use those same salivated-on sticks to gather more bites from the community dishes of their choice. I'm used to sharing spit with my wife, yes, but now I have to share it with Hyun, Yong-Mun, Chang, and whichever other slant is present. Hey, also, eating grass out of a coffee cup with a fork would be hard enough, but whoever decided 2 sticks is more efficient for that task than one fork is a friggin' idiot, man.
The Koreans have a noticable fetish for dinning on fish with their heads still attached. Why, I dunno. Myself, I find Charlie Tuna more palatable if he's not staring me down while I eat him. Is the head-attached deal a macho thing, or what ... ? I've asked, and the reply has been, "Does it matter? Fish is fish either way, right?". bwa....ok, you got me.
Also, many 'soups' here are made (in part) by grinding the ENTIRE fish up, and plopping it into the mix. Burn your fuggen tongue off on some of the soups too. I watch my step, and I ask before I try. As I mentioned before, slurping your soup, all but attacking your food, and chewing with an open mouth, are all signs that one is finding a meal enjoyable. So many culture differences between east and west.
Wednesday is an election day in South Korea. City Mayors, Province Governors, and some other positions, will be voted on. As such, campaigning has been at it's peak. Campaign workers set up vehicles ....... trucks with extended flat beds, on which they put up a large pic of their candidate. These trucks have been driving ALL over the city the last 2 weeks ..... and there are a LOT of 'em. They drive everywhere, each one playing it's own unique happy-happy music jingle over and over and over...into infinity. Each truck is carrying a group of people too, all dressed in the same color shirt, pants, and even hat. These people are all smiling, waving, and dancing around on the truck bed. Every once in a while the truck will stop somewhere, a store parking lot, an apartment complex, or even just on the side of the street. They will then crank the music LOUDER for a while, and then they will stop it, and one of the campaign workers will take the microphone and YELL a 'message of hope and prosperity' for 5 or 10 minutes. When the message has been given the happy-happy music is turned back on, the people dance, smile, and wave again, and the truck moves on it's way. Understand that these trucks are parading ALL over the friggin' place for the past couple of weeks. Often times they are effectively screaming each other down.
Groups of 'dressed-alike' campaign barkers are positioned all over the city too. As people walk by they all bow simultaneously and chant some message in unison. Sometimes they even sing a short little song. They're clearly very well practiced in their routine. I don't understand 9/10 of what is being said, so I can't judge for sure. I'm assuming it's mostly a load of horeshit though. The horseshit political process just takes a different color here than it does in the USA. It's really very strange here. Loud, busy, hurried, ...... and the hot-and-rainy season is just around the corner. Joy.
The waiter(s) will bring out 8-10 side dishes for all diners in a party to share in. Usually cup-sized dishes containing a variety of 'foods', most of which look as if they either came through a garden hose, off of a rake, or were scooped off the bottom of a fish tank. Diners in a party reach out with their chopsticks and take from the community side-dishes .... most often just a bite-at-a-time. They eat off their chopsticks and then use those same salivated-on sticks to gather more bites from the community dishes of their choice. I'm used to sharing spit with my wife, yes, but now I have to share it with Hyun, Yong-Mun, Chang, and whichever other slant is present. Hey, also, eating grass out of a coffee cup with a fork would be hard enough, but whoever decided 2 sticks is more efficient for that task than one fork is a friggin' idiot, man.
The Koreans have a noticable fetish for dinning on fish with their heads still attached. Why, I dunno. Myself, I find Charlie Tuna more palatable if he's not staring me down while I eat him. Is the head-attached deal a macho thing, or what ... ? I've asked, and the reply has been, "Does it matter? Fish is fish either way, right?". bwa....ok, you got me.
Also, many 'soups' here are made (in part) by grinding the ENTIRE fish up, and plopping it into the mix. Burn your fuggen tongue off on some of the soups too. I watch my step, and I ask before I try. As I mentioned before, slurping your soup, all but attacking your food, and chewing with an open mouth, are all signs that one is finding a meal enjoyable. So many culture differences between east and west.
Wednesday is an election day in South Korea. City Mayors, Province Governors, and some other positions, will be voted on. As such, campaigning has been at it's peak. Campaign workers set up vehicles ....... trucks with extended flat beds, on which they put up a large pic of their candidate. These trucks have been driving ALL over the city the last 2 weeks ..... and there are a LOT of 'em. They drive everywhere, each one playing it's own unique happy-happy music jingle over and over and over...into infinity. Each truck is carrying a group of people too, all dressed in the same color shirt, pants, and even hat. These people are all smiling, waving, and dancing around on the truck bed. Every once in a while the truck will stop somewhere, a store parking lot, an apartment complex, or even just on the side of the street. They will then crank the music LOUDER for a while, and then they will stop it, and one of the campaign workers will take the microphone and YELL a 'message of hope and prosperity' for 5 or 10 minutes. When the message has been given the happy-happy music is turned back on, the people dance, smile, and wave again, and the truck moves on it's way. Understand that these trucks are parading ALL over the friggin' place for the past couple of weeks. Often times they are effectively screaming each other down.
Groups of 'dressed-alike' campaign barkers are positioned all over the city too. As people walk by they all bow simultaneously and chant some message in unison. Sometimes they even sing a short little song. They're clearly very well practiced in their routine. I don't understand 9/10 of what is being said, so I can't judge for sure. I'm assuming it's mostly a load of horeshit though. The horseshit political process just takes a different color here than it does in the USA. It's really very strange here. Loud, busy, hurried, ...... and the hot-and-rainy season is just around the corner. Joy.
Posted: Tue Jun 13, 2006 10:30 pm
Rack the the Brog.
SK sounds a rot rike Japan - Probabry a rot of Jap infruence since they dominated the pennisara during the war.
You met any other Yanks to hang out with.
Pray any Gorf? - I'rr assume they have Gorf courses.
I'd arso check out the Muay Thai boxing or other Broodsports,
Sincerery, Zrcrone
SK sounds a rot rike Japan - Probabry a rot of Jap infruence since they dominated the pennisara during the war.
You met any other Yanks to hang out with.
Pray any Gorf? - I'rr assume they have Gorf courses.
I'd arso check out the Muay Thai boxing or other Broodsports,
Sincerery, Zrcrone
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 2:38 am
There is some deep-seated hatred of the Japanese here in Korea.
It's mainly evident in the older Koreans, and I can fully understand why they feel that way.
Being colonized by your neighbor might piss a person off a bit, I dunno.
I see some Yanks in my daily routine, but I don't have anyone close to hang with.
I basically hate them all. haha
Golf hasn't been on my agenda .... yet.
People are interested in golf, but courses are not plentiful.
Land is limited and real estate is expensive here.
It's pretty pricey to swing the sticks.
Since land is limited, EVERYTHING is stacked up high.
Houston is the strip-mall capital of the world, but Korea has it's own version of strip-malls.
But instead of 8 small stores/shops laying horizontally on a piece of land, they stack the 8 stores up vertically on top of each other.
The erevrator business be very good in Korea.
Train/subway travel is routine here.
Interesting that security is virtually non-existent.
Just a few flunkies standing around here and there.
Not hard to imagine that terrorists could pull off a mass subway killing with little problem at all.
Sordid thought, but yeah, it has crossed my mind.
Hey, Korea's participation in the World Cup is a HUGE deal here.
The country came to a halt last night at 10:00 as EVERYONE was watching the game with Togo.
Korea kicked Togo's asshole, and when goal is scored I hear MUCH noise outside my window.
Much, much .... MUCH noise !!!!!!!
Out .........
It's mainly evident in the older Koreans, and I can fully understand why they feel that way.
Being colonized by your neighbor might piss a person off a bit, I dunno.
I see some Yanks in my daily routine, but I don't have anyone close to hang with.
I basically hate them all. haha
Golf hasn't been on my agenda .... yet.
People are interested in golf, but courses are not plentiful.
Land is limited and real estate is expensive here.
It's pretty pricey to swing the sticks.
Since land is limited, EVERYTHING is stacked up high.
Houston is the strip-mall capital of the world, but Korea has it's own version of strip-malls.
But instead of 8 small stores/shops laying horizontally on a piece of land, they stack the 8 stores up vertically on top of each other.
The erevrator business be very good in Korea.
Train/subway travel is routine here.
Interesting that security is virtually non-existent.
Just a few flunkies standing around here and there.
Not hard to imagine that terrorists could pull off a mass subway killing with little problem at all.
Sordid thought, but yeah, it has crossed my mind.
Hey, Korea's participation in the World Cup is a HUGE deal here.
The country came to a halt last night at 10:00 as EVERYONE was watching the game with Togo.
Korea kicked Togo's asshole, and when goal is scored I hear MUCH noise outside my window.
Much, much .... MUCH noise !!!!!!!
Out .........
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:17 am
you should drive to the border and throw rocks at them......poptart wrote:North Korea ... ?
I'm closer to it than I'd like to be. haha 50 miles or so, I guess.
rack the travelogue....
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 6:13 am
Why do that when I can simply log on to .net and do the same thing .... ?Felix wrote:you should drive to the border and throw rocks at them......poptart wrote:North Korea ... ?
I'm closer to it than I'd like to be. haha 50 miles or so, I guess.
:wink:
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 10:30 am
The US of A had BODE in the cereal dept, yes.
But US cereals (and most US food products) cost about double here what they do in the states.
Shipping ......
I want my Cap'n Crunch, yes, but even the good Captain isn't worth $9.00 a box.
Oh, they've got their sweet tooth cereals here too, but sweet foods have a disturbing tendency NOT to live up to the package enticement.
Always some bean paste crappola mixed in in place of what ought to be pure HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, DAMN IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!
RACK the US food store cereal aisle !
But US cereals (and most US food products) cost about double here what they do in the states.
Shipping ......
I want my Cap'n Crunch, yes, but even the good Captain isn't worth $9.00 a box.
Oh, they've got their sweet tooth cereals here too, but sweet foods have a disturbing tendency NOT to live up to the package enticement.
Always some bean paste crappola mixed in in place of what ought to be pure HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, DAMN IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!1!!
RACK the US food store cereal aisle !
Posted: Wed Jun 14, 2006 3:54 pm
"Eeebee she ba-dah."
That's the only Korean I know.
That's the only Korean I know.
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 5:59 am
Left a meeting last night, and a Korean guy who was also at the meeting briskly walked up to me, looking to 'chat me up' some.
Happens occassionally, but usually it's the young grade school or middle school kids who do it.
They are looking to try out some english that they've be schooled in.
It's cool.
I welcome the opportunity to chat up the youngsters.
But this time it was a 20 yr old college student named Jing Oh.
Short, slight of build, dark t-shirt on, thick glasses, sort of nerdy looking.
Mr Oh starts out with the predictable, "Hewrro, howr are you?"
"I'm good, thanks, and how are you?", I say.
"Oh, grwood, grwood," he says.
He then whips his english class paper out of his back pocket.
I can see that the paper has 'common' phrases on it.
"How was your breakfrast this morning?"
"Where are you from?"
"Do you rike Korea?'
etc......
I give sort of standard replies, speaking slowly to help him understand.
Mr Oh then puts the paper back in his pocket, ..... but he's not done.
I can all but SEE the hamster wheel turning in his head as he searches for more he can 'talk' to me about.
But now he wants to 'freestyle' it a bit.
......Out of nowhere he says, "Do you like Michael Jackson?"
I pause for a moment, smile, and sort of chuckle ..."No, not really"
"Oh, wry not," asks Mr Oh.
I motion with my finger by my ear, the 'cuckoo' sign, and chuckle again.
He laughs a little and then pauses to think again.
A minute or so pass.
Maybe we're done, I think.
Mr Oh then blurts out ..... "I rwove Red Zrepprin"
I give him a double-take, and think, "Did he just say he loves Led Zeppelin?"
Bwaaa ....
He gives a WIDE smile and then says, "Jimmy Prage, I rwove" .....
.... and proceeds to do a full windmill air guitar move, ala Pete Townsend.
All the people milling around be damned.
The bespectacled Mr Oh cares not.
He's getting OFF.
Never judge a brwook by it's cover.
Happens occassionally, but usually it's the young grade school or middle school kids who do it.
They are looking to try out some english that they've be schooled in.
It's cool.
I welcome the opportunity to chat up the youngsters.
But this time it was a 20 yr old college student named Jing Oh.
Short, slight of build, dark t-shirt on, thick glasses, sort of nerdy looking.
Mr Oh starts out with the predictable, "Hewrro, howr are you?"
"I'm good, thanks, and how are you?", I say.
"Oh, grwood, grwood," he says.
He then whips his english class paper out of his back pocket.
I can see that the paper has 'common' phrases on it.
"How was your breakfrast this morning?"
"Where are you from?"
"Do you rike Korea?'
etc......
I give sort of standard replies, speaking slowly to help him understand.
Mr Oh then puts the paper back in his pocket, ..... but he's not done.
I can all but SEE the hamster wheel turning in his head as he searches for more he can 'talk' to me about.
But now he wants to 'freestyle' it a bit.
......Out of nowhere he says, "Do you like Michael Jackson?"
I pause for a moment, smile, and sort of chuckle ..."No, not really"
"Oh, wry not," asks Mr Oh.
I motion with my finger by my ear, the 'cuckoo' sign, and chuckle again.
He laughs a little and then pauses to think again.
A minute or so pass.
Maybe we're done, I think.
Mr Oh then blurts out ..... "I rwove Red Zrepprin"
I give him a double-take, and think, "Did he just say he loves Led Zeppelin?"
Bwaaa ....
He gives a WIDE smile and then says, "Jimmy Prage, I rwove" .....
.... and proceeds to do a full windmill air guitar move, ala Pete Townsend.
All the people milling around be damned.
The bespectacled Mr Oh cares not.
He's getting OFF.
Never judge a brwook by it's cover.
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 6:35 am
For Christmas, you should get Jing Oh bells.
Posted: Fri Jun 16, 2006 8:24 am
We here at al Qaeda would like to thank the Clinton administration for assisting North Korea in obtaining nuclear weapons to sell to us.
Allah Akbar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Allah Akbar!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:54 am
Women's Lib hasn't gone mainstream here yet, and it's refreshing.
Not that there aren't aspects of women's lib that are cool by me, but ....... anyway ......
Lots of colorful silk skirts, heels, long hair, and eye-catching earrings.
Too many of the dudes ALSO gear up that way though, and that's the bitch.
Can't have it all.
I'm a conservative.
Always 'understood' the reasoning behind citizen's right to bear arms, BUT....
I'll honestly tell you that I have to question what I've always thought.
The Koreans don't kill each other......nearly as much as the ugly Americans.
Murder just doesn't happen......much.
That is ALSO refreshing.
They could kill off a few of the fucked-up drivers here though and I'd be good with that.
The Koreans also build nice things and don't then have assheads coming around to vandalize them all to hell.
There are SO many nice public parks, etc built here.
People enjoy them, and they stay in good shape.
Not so in most of America.
Build something nice in a public place and it's almost certain to get shit on by someone.
Every wonder why Americans tear
shit up and go around murdering
each other .... ?
Not that there aren't aspects of women's lib that are cool by me, but ....... anyway ......
Lots of colorful silk skirts, heels, long hair, and eye-catching earrings.
Too many of the dudes ALSO gear up that way though, and that's the bitch.
Can't have it all.
I'm a conservative.
Always 'understood' the reasoning behind citizen's right to bear arms, BUT....
I'll honestly tell you that I have to question what I've always thought.
The Koreans don't kill each other......nearly as much as the ugly Americans.
Murder just doesn't happen......much.
That is ALSO refreshing.
They could kill off a few of the fucked-up drivers here though and I'd be good with that.
The Koreans also build nice things and don't then have assheads coming around to vandalize them all to hell.
There are SO many nice public parks, etc built here.
People enjoy them, and they stay in good shape.
Not so in most of America.
Build something nice in a public place and it's almost certain to get shit on by someone.
Every wonder why Americans tear
shit up and go around murdering
each other .... ?
Posted: Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:49 pm
Infinity RACKS to Tart for this log on his travels and experiences.
I've enjoyed it immensely.
Get home safe, bro.
I've enjoyed it immensely.
Get home safe, bro.