Heart and Seoul and Busan

It began as any other Tuesday. I woke up with a small sting of a hangover, though I had only had a few beers the night before. The dehydration in my throat was a feeling that I did not want to carry over to Korea with me when we began our journey the next morning. The start of our trip included a run to our favorite fast food burger man, Carl. Upon departure of our beef infused eating session, Haley, Mason, Bret, and I took off for a night of very little sleep, for we had to be up for the airport very, very early in the morning. A 4:30am alarm and a harrowing taxi ride later and we arrived at the airport. Upon receiving information that Bret had gone to the wrong airport for his flight to Hong Kong, we put him in a cab as we panicked and saw him drive away. Luckily, he did make his flight.

Korea is an amazing place. There are many things that are similar and many things that are different from China. Now, remember that I've only really been in Shanghai and Beijing, two of the largest cities in the world. Coming into Seoul, another large city, I knew there would be similarities. It is a vast town with a lot of history and very few skyscrapers. It seems that Seoul's real heart lies in the expansion outward and not skyward. As we climbed to the top of the N Seoul Tower, the tallest point in the city, and overlooked the sea of white buildings and rainy day clouds, we saw that we were definitely in a new place.

The next six days would be some of the most adventurous of my young life. With barely a wink of sleep each night, my friends and I would take to the streets of Korea and find adventure in truly cultural and touristy attractions. Whether it was visiting an ancient Korean village or spending a night filled with Soju shots in a traditional Korean bathhouse (jimjilbang), the things we did stretched into long days and (seemingly) short nights. From exploring an outdoor and indoor theme park filled with rides, games, and a claw machine that could not escape my fantastic game play, we found jubilation in the broad streets and lights of this magnificent city.

The four days spent in Seoul blend together like a milkshake of culture, tradition, modernism, and fun. Though it was cold and there were small bumps along the way, we managed to complete most of our itinerary. This included witnessing the workings of the famous Hooker and Homo Hills. These hills, centered in a section of town called Itaewon, are surrounded by the US military base. I saw some of my countrymen walking in their military outfits, though they seemed a bit aloof. We experienced fried chicken and beer at a Hof. These small chicken places are scattered all throughout the country and you could not throw a stone without hitting one. That, along with finding out there is a Taco Bell in the area, we definitely ate our fill that night in Korea.

Come to think of it, we ate our fill quite a bit. We ate everything from Korean Barbeque, corn dogs, hot dogs, Mexican food, Taco Bell, Fried Chicken, and Twix bars. Yes, I found Twix in Korea, and it was glorious. Moving on, eating was definitely not an issue while in Korea. Upon our arrival in Busan, the country's second largest city, we ventured to the Jagalchi Fish Market, famous for being located right on the water and known to have the freshest fish in quite a radius. It was there that I embarked on another eating adventure. I do not know why I enjoy the glory of eating randomly weird things, but there's something about it that makes me proud of myself in a strange way. We approached two old ladies in the fish market and asked for a live octopus. The one woman stuck her hand into a tub and pulled out a squirming, slimy, gray, multi-tentacled creature from the sea. I took it off her hands and, after asking Haley to record a video, put the head of the octopus into my mouth. Now, for the more fainthearted, I will not go into extraneous detail, only to say that it did not taste very good.

Our trip to Korea was planned with an itinerary. Though we knew that we would probably not get through all of what we had planned, we did make quite a dent. We explored Seoul, Busan, and other things in between. It is difficult to sum up a visit to a whole country in six days, but I believe we did a pretty good job at it. When my co-workers and I found out that we had a lot of time off for Chinese New Year, I had said outright that I wanted to visit Korea. I would have gladly gone by myself, but I am extremely happy that I had two friends to share in the experience. There may be things that I like about Korea over China and vice versa, but I would have never known if those lands had gone unexplored.

Whether it was freezing while waiting for a bridge that would never light up, staying in a sleazy motel, sleeping in a Korean sauna, or visiting the site of the Busan International Film Festival, the experiences are too many to count. It was a trip for the books, and I look forward to my second half of living in Shanghai and all the adventures that will come with it.

Wo Xi Huan Shanghai

The title is probably wrong. I'm sure I will hear about that from someone. But in my American mind it translates to "I like Shanghai". It's a true statement, though. I find myself sitting here coming up on my 5 month anniversary of moving to this cultural phenomenon known as China. I've been told many times that Shanghai is a poor representation of true Chinese culture, but for someone like me, who had never stepped foot in Asia ever before, I have found it truly mesmerizing to experience such a cultural difference in every day life. I just realized that 5 months is not half of one year, but I count it as halfway because Chinese New Year is upon us in a few days, and we have time off equiavelent to winter break in the States.

In these past few months I have met and associated myself with so many different people. Most of them have one thing in common with me, the employment of Disney, and that's pretty much it. Never would I have thought I would travel to Korea for vacation with a Brit and an Australian. I'll get to that soon. The experiences I have had here have been numerous and astounding. I'm not going to list them all here, because that would just be a list of stuff. However, I have enjoyed my first 5 months here, and though it has been cold and rainy lately, I know that the spring season is just around the corner and those fun experiences will be had again. Though my bike got stolen, but that's a different story.

In two days I begin my Chinese New Year (of course here it's just called "new year") vacation to South Korea. Much against my mother's nightmares, I will not be embarking upon the border of North Korea in any type of capacity. I will be traveling with my friends Haley and Mason (the Brit and Aussie). We have many adventures planned for the 4 days spent in Seoul and the 2 spent in Busan. I will go into further detail upon my arrival back in Shanghai. One hint, I will be trying my hand at eating live octopus.

As for Shanghai, my job is, well, a job. There are ups and downs as there are with any job in the world. Teaching is teaching, and kids are kids, no matter where they are in the world or what language they speak. But to have good friends as co-workers is never a complaint either. The city has become my home in many ways, and I find comfort in that truth. Though it will not be my home forever, I cherish the fact that it is my current home, at least for the next 7 months. I have made friends with cultured and interesting people from all over the world. We do anything and everything from visiting the Shanghai Zoo (not recommended if you like animals), to eating street food, to shopping, to watching movies on a Tuesday night. Our lives are centered mainly around our jobs which is the usual topic of conversation at a gathering. Whether it's learning that a friend lived in a cave in Sri Lanka, is fluent in Japanese, or learning that there is yet another Canadian among us, these are people that I would have never met if I didn't move here.

New Years (of the western variety) was definitely different from the normal house party situation I am accustomed to. We got dressed up, paid a lot of money, and went to a bar on the Bund overlooking the gorgeous skyline of the angelic city. Time seemed to stand still as we gobbled down our bottomless champagne and liquor. The coat check was a great idea until everyone realized there was a terrace outside. So it was cold, but that was what the alcohol was for. As I was getting ready and tying my tie, my friend Dominic looked at me and said, "dude, does it feel to you that we are going to a high school dance?" He had a point. We got dressed up, waited for the ladies we were accompanying to the party finish getting ready while we hummed the tune of "Wonderful Tonight" in our heads, and gobbled down Subway sandwiches. After about 20 minutes of unsuccessfully finding a cab, we finally did, and from that point on, New Years was quite a blur. Now, I wasn't told this directly, but apparently I danced due to quite a bit of rum and champagne. Hence, the first time the "Alex crazy dance" was implemented into the Shanghai nightlife.

After a New Years Day full of headaches and putrid smells, it was back to work. In these past few weeks I have experienced being sick for the first time, cold and rainy China weather, and a karaoke event for work where I found myself singing "Total Eclipse of the Heart", "Firework", and "Sexy Back". After that last one, I knew it was time for me to leave. Fortunately, a week after New Years Day, I got notice from my mother that she and her friend Karen are coming to visit. That was a fantastic way to wrap up the holiday season. Now for Chinese New Year. I'm excited to have a break from work, traipse around the streets of Korea, and find these two famous "hills" that I have been told about over and over again. I'm looking forward to the year of the Dragon.

Holidays Across the World

It's a strange feeling to be around so many different people that share affinity for one holiday. Thanksgiving? No. Hannukah? Yeah, right. You guessed it. Christmas. What is this obsession about a holiday that doesn't very much have a religious base anymore? I thought the word Christ was in there for a reason. But this is not a religious rant.

This is merely a recognition of how 7 billion people on this planet all find one holiday utterly stimulating. This holiday, whether Catholic, Jewish, Muslim, or Islam is no longer a day of religious celebration, but a coming together of sorts to bring families and friends to a peaceful place on this Earth.

Joyeux Noel, a 2005 film, is based on the day of Christmas Eve during World War I where a cease-fire was called, bringing together the armies of Scotland, France, and Germany. They came together to get to know their fellow men on the eve of Christmas instead of concentrating on killing each other.

So here we are, and I am sitting at my computer on the opposite side of the world. I sit here talking with Americans, Brits, Australians, and native Chinese people. During this time of year, we have one thing in common. We talk about the holidays. A fellow Jew and myself insisted on including Hannukah decorations in our classrooms. Working for a corporate American giant, we knew there would be no argument.

For me, Christmas is a time of watching 24 hours of A Christmas Story (best Christmas movie ever) and an annual tradition with my mother that I will be missing for the first time in about 15 years. That will be the hardest part. I will also miss the movie adventures with Jeff and others (after they have been doing the "family" thing). But overall, Christmas is a time for people to spend a ton of money, singers to cover the same ten songs, and all children hoping for a snowfall that will probably never come due to global warming.

The holiday season is upon us. Bring it on with shopping mall pepper spray, insane working hours, and cliche marriage proposals. Happy holidays to everyone I love. It's going to be an interesting one.

From Movies to living in China

Day 1. August 24-25, 2011

My plane from Newark to Hong Kong was delayed about two hours. I guess I found out why they put bars in airports. I met a few nice people who have traveled to China before, and they were telling me all about it. After finally getting on the plane, I was almost instantly told that I would miss my connection. Looks like I may be spending the night in Hong Kong. Oh well, another adventure for me. As for the 16 hour flight from Newark to Hong Kong, I can't really complain about the on-demand movies. I watched five movies in 6 hours. I'm sure some of my friends are wondering which movies, and without hesitation, I will list them: Limitless, Surrogates, Jonah Hex, Take Me Home Tonight, and Scream 4. Of course I have seen Scream 4 already, but you know.

Anyway, that has pretty much been my day. I shall update when I get to Shanghai, whenever that may be.

8:45pm

What's Up Demon Lady?

I really don't even know what Insidious means. Nevermind, just looked it up. Good title. Although I think I'm saying Inception, but not getting confused just by the mere thought. Ah! Thought I heard her. It's alright. It's very rare that you get to actually see the demon(s) in a horror movie. It kind of reminded me of Thirteen Ghosts (awesome movie) in the way that different demons were represented.

A family moves into a creaky old house. Their son falls into a "coma" and weird shit starts happening. Patrick Wilson plays the dad, but he still creeps me out from being in 2 movies about pedophilia. Anyway, the plot thickens as the noises of course grow louder and longer, eventually causing the family to move. Turns out, the coma kid has an open vessel of a body and demons are duking it out wrestle mania style for the remains.

The scary parts were scary. The suspense was okay. The predictability was immense. With a Drag Me To Hell mentality, the creepy music and awkward walking spirits take you along for a ride of terror and fear. Although some of the screams fall flat, making a modern day shriek-flick is difficult. Relying on the loud music and creeps around corners comes back, but it's tolerable. I couldn't contain laughing at certain parts that probably shouldn't be funny. But I'm kind of a cynic when it comes to horror movies. I do scare easily, so it would take a lot for me to be not terrified tonight when I sleep.

I Haven't Blogged In a While

Yeah, well I've been busy. The upcoming commencement of my teaching career in a foreign land has temporarily taken over my ability to blog or watch movies effectively. I blame this on the drugs. NyQuil, DayQuil, whatever-quil. It happens. Bring it on meat brain. I did watch movies. I have watched movies. I am still watching movies. But the blogging has taken a step to the back burner as I prepare myself for transcendence into the world of education and unreal expectation.

So, where to begin? I have 4 movies to write about. Of course (if you know me at all), the genres vary immensely. I will begin with the classic of classics, Casablanca. Bring it on 1942. I find it difficult to watch a movie like this when not in a specific mood. It's a Wonderful Life is a fantastic representation of my classic movie collection, but it can still be difficult to watch those smooth talking 1940s characters such as Rick from Casablanca or George Bailey. Rick's last name escapes me at this very moment. But it was part of a deal. My friend and I each created a list of five movies we love that the other has to see. It goes along with those old arguments of “how can you say you love movies and have never seen _______________!?” You fill in the blank. And yes, Casablanca was one of them for me to watch.

A classic. That's all I can say about it. It was good, interesting. I found it insanely heroic to shoot a movie about WWII during WWII. I guess it would be like shooting The Hurt Locker and The Messenger and any other Irag War movie-type. But WWII was such an uncertain time. And to shoot it in the middle of everything, talking about Hitler and NAZIs and other parts of the war (there were other parts?) was pretty cool, especially to see 70 years after the fact. The characterization of Humphrey Bogart's character Rick was intense. I loved him. He was a drunk, a smooth talker, an asshole. Pretty much like Scott, you know, the one banging Kourtney Kardashian, but Bogart doesn't have that slimy greaseball hair and the douchebag look on his face, as in it looks like someone threw a douchebag onto his face after using it.

Moving on, here comes the weird movie. Movie #2 in my friend's list for me was Magnolia. With a star-studded cast including Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Julianne Moore, and others, the back-and-forth movement of different people's lives throughout one dreadful San Bernandino day brings about rain in the form of frogs. This is not a literary work by me, it's true. These frogs descend from the sky in a storm of biblical proportion. I didn't really understand it, but the small stories inside the movie were pretty interesting. The movie actually had John C. Reilly playing a good part. I haven't seen that since The Good Girl. I don't really have much to say, except that the movie was long. It wasn't unbearable, but just long.

Sucker Punch. What a dumb title. Probably because everyone (including Zack Snyder) knew it would be a dumb movie. With the exception of making young girls sluttified (I don't care if that's a word, it's the correct way to describe it) and video-game like fight sequences, the movie just falls flat. Were they trying to show some king of feministic dominance in alternate realms? Was Snyder trying to show that even though young girls are cute and pretty and vulnerable looking, they should be feared and fought against? I

guess. Truth is, I don't really care. It was an interesting concept, but the story was way to intense for what the movie was. The eye candy

was nice. Vanessa Hudgens and I have kind of a relationship of her being in movies and me liking them. I'm ok with that. She was hot. And that's all I have to say about that.

And now to talk about (yes, real title) I Spit On Your Grave. A remake. From when, I don't know, go to IMDB and look it up, because I don't feel like it. So yeah, the whole reason I got this movie on Netflix is because I heard the star, Sarah Butler, on the Howard Stern show a while back and they were talking about it. Of course, she came in to the show because she's hot and was promoting a movie. Movie plot in one sentence, go: So this woman drives to an old cabin on a lake to write a novel, ends up getting raped by 5 guys and gets revenge on them by setting up Saw-like traps around the small, rural town. Yeah, that's pretty much it. Look, watching a rape scene in a movie is a really hard thing to do. Watching the innocence get pounded (no pun intended) out of a woman and her life being completely transformed forever is a hideous and disgusting sight. But the badass shit she pulled was the stuff that actually made me have to cover my eyes and cower on the corner of the couch. Sticking fish hooks in eye

lids and ensuring a man cannot blink as crows peck out his eye balls. Watching a pair of garden shears John Wayne Bobbitt a man's manhood and altogether being. Ugh, I just cringed a little. Terrible. But the movie was straight forward. I never say if I like rape movies, because I don't know what kind of speculation that would bring, but it was definitely not a movie for the faint-hearted.

So there you have it. Four reviews right there. Boom. I promise to try to keep things up to date as best I can. I still have Taxi Driver, City of God, and Synedoche, New York to watch on my friend's list. By the way, he had never seen The Goonies or Rudy. So I win.

There's Obviously Something Going On Here

What have we been talking about? Oh yeah, movies. It's funny that it's already March and I've already seen a very funny movie. It's rare for me to laugh at movies constantly, but somehow I found myself laughing quite a bit during this Farrelly Brothers rendition of Freebie Tuesday. I just made that up, but you know what I mean.

The Farrellys make it look easy to take such a simple plot line and turn it into hilarity. I don't think they're given their proper due, ever. There's Something About Mary and Shallow Hal are very funny movies. Are they plot driven? Eh, maybe Mary was. But the point is that they know how to make a funny movie without any sticking plot points what-so-ever. Hall Pass is no different.

I found myself not caring about the plot. I found myself waiting for the next funny line to come out of Jason Sudeikis' mouth. I found myself waiting for the next time they show Jenna Fischer on screen. I don't know what it is about her, but she's sassy. So here's the breakdown:

Simple plot? Check.
Good Looking people? Check.
Owen Wilson's deformed nose? Check.

What is it with that nose, man? Get it fixed. I know it's your thing, like Adrien Brody, just with less talent. I feel like Owen Wilson is trying too hard sometimes. He has that nasally(?) voice that goes along with the broken dorsum. Ah, anyway, I don't really have much to say except that it was funny. It kept me laughing, and the mushy parts were quasi-bearable. Just let me know next time when you're going to throw two huge weiners on the screen. So I can prepare myself mentally.