tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46510672806919934082012-02-16T21:38:16.353+09:00The Misadventures of Our Hero in KoreaKeithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-2005303610938851612009-04-20T05:10:00.004+09:002009-04-20T16:45:30.446+09:00

SITTING IN the Business Room booth of a Tom N Toms Coffee shop, listening to Korean R&B mismatched with ridiculous music video (angry Korean jamiroquai), having finished a large Hot Chocolate with whipped cream -- yawning, should have opted for a higher caffeine/gulp ratio -- Our Hero contemplates the next stage of his life.But first, we must recount the past few months of the current one.*

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-19751649067756415182009-01-09T16:10:00.019+09:002009-02-27T14:27:31.134+09:00

OUR HERO has not, in fact, perished.He has just been very busy. Festivals, snowboarding, essay grading, essay writing, essay revising, application making, and some work as well. I do earn my paycheck. Occasionally. On Wednesdays, anyway.So stay your concerns, unless they are in the form of cookie-laden care packages. (No raisins! Raisin-laden care is scarcely care at all; if you must send old

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-81948802052311451612008-12-01T07:30:00.014+09:002008-12-19T05:15:10.246+09:00

WE rendezvous with Our Hero during a brief reprieve from an anti-hellscape that would give Ithaca a run for its "How Low Does Kelvin Go?" prize. Today warmed up to a toasty 30something. Warmed Up To. When you see a Korean weather forecast that, in Celsius, looks more like an elementary paint-by-numbers kit than anything else, you know it's time to invest in a few animal hides.From there, our

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-6050076005734209362008-11-13T20:39:00.011+09:002008-11-14T04:06:41.254+09:00

OUR HERO finds himself in a bit of a predicament, the likes of which may only be appreciated by the more videogamerish among you: buy the Nintendo DS or the Playstation PSP? Both have their merits, their problems, and share an order-of-magnitude price similarity, but I find myself leaning towards the DS. I can wangle one for two hundies, replete with hard case, travel bag, and the illegal R4 chip

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-78519120266458202152008-10-23T14:17:00.009+09:002008-11-06T21:30:50.764+09:00

SO, I'm lazy. On the other hand, you're getting this for free. So who's really the lazy one?Ok it's me, as evidenced by the utter lack of pictures accompanying this post. Mea Culpa, I'll do better next time.* MihwangsaWent to a Buddhist temple. Stayed the night. Partied with monks. Climbed a mountain, and looked over the sea in both directions. Also, gained Squat Toilet Skillz. Awww, yeah, gimme

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-77161698389895445282008-08-26T21:08:00.013+09:002008-09-19T13:45:41.427+09:00

OK GANG, here's the deal. I've been on two photolicious trips since last time I posted, and those photos are forthcoming. For now, content yourselves with the following, less adventurous problems of Our Hero, and perhaps glean from it that he is settling into this strange land with some success.* Spaghetti in a styrofoam bowl -- proof that it's not "the thought that counts." The concept, though

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-41510375450475124642008-07-12T17:21:00.005+09:002008-12-12T10:07:20.450+09:00

It has come to the attention of Our Hero that further adventures are expected, and their recountings made public at the whim of his audience. Not one to disappoint, it has become his solemn duty to 1) get into hijinks and shenanigans galore, and 2) tell all you busybodies about it. Unfortunately, the "adventures" of hiking a beautiful mountain, tasting traditional cuisine, and attending festivals

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-88906030133082148892008-06-22T05:03:00.011+09:002008-12-12T10:07:22.603+09:00

WE rejoin Our Hero -- gag rule on any "rejoinder" rejoinders... dang! -- as he further contemplates his new life. For one thing, the internets are still owning me, instead of the other way 'round. That should all change next week, though, when I get my green card thingy. Then the tubes shall open, and their vast, interconnected series shall bow to my whim.But that day is still ahead of us, and

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-17689694434027064112008-06-04T15:17:00.000+09:002008-12-12T10:07:23.068+09:00

Well, me buckos, it finally sank in that I'm not in Kansas anymore. What pushed me over the rainbow?It wasn't the subway. The underground metro here is amazing: take the Moscow metro, but replace the beautiful, historic architecture with efficient, sleek gadgetry, throw in some mini-malls, a shopping center or two, and garnish with an exceedingly confusing system of exits and understreet

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-51229346338271257312008-06-02T15:52:00.000+09:002008-12-12T10:07:24.067+09:00

In a philosophical sense, I guess we're all Lost for most, if not all of our lives. We spend our time looking for familiar guideposts, hoping to run into a companion along the way. And when that doesn't happen, we look to a higher spiritual power to shepherd us in the right direction.In a more earthly sense, I spent about 6 hours out of my first 36 in Seoul completely and utterly lost. I forgot

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-69338655957505975712008-06-01T14:50:00.000+09:002008-06-01T14:51:29.947+09:00

It’s -52 degrees Celsius outside, dark, and there’s a discontinuity in the space-time continuum. Duran Duran’s goin’ crazy psychedelic even through closed eyelids, but all I hear is China’s best love songs on continuous loop. I’ve been awake for 21 hours, and in the last 7 I’ve consumed coffee, red wine, orange juice, and three bourbons and coke. I’m pretty sure I’ve found Limbo. Thoughts of

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-65940961156844614452008-05-27T05:12:00.000+09:002008-05-27T05:25:18.146+09:00

Hello and welcome to the first episode in what promises to be a long, drawn-out, shark-jumptastic serial program! We join Our Hero in Korea...town, L.A., where he is just learning that he may be the victim of poor planning. You see, he forgot the universal truth that, when given the chance, anybody will take a vacation day. Case in point: the Korean Consulate General of Los Angeles. You see,

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4651067280691993408.post-91615213516451647722008-05-15T16:52:00.000+09:002008-05-18T13:10:10.591+09:00

And we come to it. Here begins the story of the Beast, and his sojourn to the East. Like any good epic, it requires an introduction: call this Chapter 0, and page i.Parental and popular demands have necessitated an internet-accessible log of my experiences; the latter to appease the 3 or so people who read my last blog, and the former to stay the effects of not calling home twice a day to confirm

Keithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01137365879374304443noreply@blogger.com0