For those of you who missed episode one

Hello everyone:

I used to write my letters from what Marcus and I called “Squalor Town East” and it was this odd inside joke about where I lived in Indianapolis. We had this notion that it was like a huge spider web and it was next to impossible to escape its ravenous claws. Once sucked in you were basically doomed. Thus, to “eat, drink and be merry became our mantra as we knew that the “for tomorrow we shall die” was a distinct possibility. Well, now I am seriously east of good, old Washington Street and this is not exactly “Squalor town.”

This is the end of my first week in South Korea and to say it has been a “trip” doesn’t even come close to describing the tastes, smells and sights that have crossed my path over these last six of so days. But let’s get the silly stuff out of the way first:

Scott Hiteshew
1186-1 3^rd Floor
Bukgu Pohang Kyungbuk 791-260
South Korea

Phone: 82-54-248-1658

The beautiful thing about the previous information is that you can use it to send me a letter from the states but if I were to hand the same information to a cab driver they would simply shrug their shoulders and shake their heads as I now live in a world without street signs and the above means jack shit to anyone but the postman. The phone works, so you can call but remember that I am 14 hours ahead of you.

I first want to thank my mother and my Aunt Ann Louise for all of their tireless work and encouragement throughout this process. They both encouraged me to sign the contract and they were instrumental in the moving process. What I thought was a seamless and well prepared job of packing up my apartment they were eager, and most kind, to point out was, although an effort in the proper direction, a piss poor one and that in the future I would be better off finding professional movers to do the job. In the end all of my precious belongings (books, music, more books, more music) are now in storage in Michigan.

I picked this place because it picked me. I put my resume on the internet and within 24 hrs I was getting e-mails and phone calls from various parts of the world. After three missed phone calls a woman by the name of Natalee got a hold of me and after about a 20 minute interview I was told that she would be in touch. By the end of the day her boss’s husband, Dr. David Chung, e-mailed with the following: I hire you.

So I took the bait.

After the strenuous process of getting a VISA and all of the rest, David sent me a ticket and I arrived in Seoul with a whopping $60 in my pocket. For those of you keeping score at home I would only offer the following: DON’T TRY THIS!! It proved to be only enough to get me across town to the GIMPO airport from which I would fly to Pohang. My cabbie was a wonderful man who helped me find a hotel (mood lighting, adult movies) and secure a ride to the airport in the Am. Breakfast was very continental: toast.

I made it to Pohang and David picked me and my world up and drove me to my new house. A house here is simply the upper floor of a house so I live in, for lack of a better term, a flat. It has a few rooms and a desk and a TV and a washing machine and all of the mod-cons that one would need to survive in this big bad world.

I was allowed about two hours to settle in before I was to go off and observe my new teaching environs.

This was just enough time to breathe.

Natalee and Lydia, my new boss, arrived to show my all of the tricks of my apartment (the button for hot water, the three different kinds of garbage I would have to put out, how the AC works, etc.) and then it was off to school.

Now it must be stated that school is literally a five minute walk from my apartment. I don’t know how long the drive was but the streets are narrow and cluttered with people and the like. It is a very busy place.

I observed the various classes (six per day) and then Lydia bought me dinner (pi-bim-ppap) and then Natalee showed me where the grocery store was and signed me up for the video store which is just around the corner from where I live. She then took me back to the grocery store and we parted ways. Again I point out that all of this is within a five minute distance from my new home.

It took me over three hours to find my way home. I have never been more confused and lost and frustrated. And I have no one to help me as no one speaks English. I know that the address does no good as at one point I went to an internet café (open 24 hrs, men playing violent video games, smoking ceaselessly) and copied the info down from an email from David. Thinking that I had done the equivalent of curing cancer I handed the slip of paper to the cab driver only to receive the shoulder shrug and head shake.

Now walking around lost in a foreign country isn’t so bad but it really sucks when one is carrying 9 liters of water and enough stuff for breakfast. I finally had to hide my treasure in an alley and roam the streets drawing a shitty little map on a bit of legal pad. Now, why didn’t poor Scotty ask Natalee to draw him a map? Well, that would have been too easy, now wouldn’t it? Don’t think I wasn’t cursing myself during the course of my walk. All I had to do was utter one simple sentence and I would have no problems. No such luck.

The following day, legs burning from a night of walking in circles, I taught my first day of school. They are all children between 10-13 and they are curious and funny and, for the most part eager to learn. The girls all cover their mouths when they laugh/giggle and, as the children get to choose their English names, I have two boys who chose to name themselves after pro wrestlers: Big Show and Stone Cold. Now for me not to burst out laughing when I call on them is next to impossible but I try my best to keep my composure.

There are two other foreign teachers: a man from Pakistan and a woman from Canada. The rest are Koreans and they are helpful and charming. On my third night we all went to a traditional sit on the floor Korean restaurant with dish after dish of exotic tastes. Fishes with their heads on and strange vegetables with wonderful sauces were coupled with spring water and other goodies. Everything was in large bowls in the center of the table and we simply picked at the food with chopsticks. The pumpkin soup was one of the greatest things I have ever tasted and as I was constantly afraid of getting cramps in my legs I almost tripped out waitress half a dozen times when I stretched them out. It was a little party to welcome the new teachers and say goodbye to the ones who were leaving.

Everyone tells me that for a “Korean Boss” Lydia is tops and I think I agree. As it has been a pain in the ass to find an ATM machine which will take my card she has been very helpful in this cash-based society. Every thing is done in cash and as the largest denomination is the equivalent to about $10 USD everyone has these wads of loot. When Lydia offered me a small advance she took it from a stack of bills that was at least an inch thick. Regardless, she is nice and charming and I do feel most fortunate. We’ll see after payday. But I am certain that it won’t be a problem. Natalee said that when we get paid it is all in cash and the first time she was paid she simply want to spread it out on the bed and roll in it as it is basically 200 bills. I guess banking is a pain in the ass but Natalee says that Lydia will help me set that up. So far so good.

As I have only had one day off I spent it in my apartment watching bad TV and then finally put my bike together and went for a ride on the coast. It was nice but there are some serious hills and the traffic is rather sketchy to say the least. But I rode by the fish markets and watched the people fish off the pier and the like. It seems like a charming place so far.

I must add that my mother seemed to think that me uploading 830 albums in to my computer was simply a means to deal with some degree of stress that I was unable to verbalize. She was very wrong. This 43 gigs of music might be my savior as I don’t think I would know what to do with out music. So when it came to music I really didn’t make any choices. Books are another matter. They’re heavy and awkward and take up space. What to choose, what to choose?

I mean, this is that entire desert island game where you can only take three books with you. I mean, you can take other books for survival (Two guide books on Korea, two books of elementary Korean) and to do your job (a book of English grammar, a couple of books on ESL that I used in Grad School) but what of fiction? What do you take? I wasn’t really certain what to do so I chose the following:

Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass, Norton Critical Edition.
The Brothers Karamazov: Trans. Pevear & Volokohonsky
Don Quixote: Trans. Grossman

I figured between that and trying to learn the language I would be kept rather busy.

It doesn’t look like there will be much to do in the way of preparation for my job as I think they simply expect me to fill in the gaps for the Korean teachers and ty to get the students talking in a comfortable environment. I figure as long as they laugh at my antics and don’t fall asleep I am doing a good job.

Well, I guess that is enough for now. I am pleased to say that some guy named Kim came and hooked up the internet at my flat so now I really connected to the outside world. I’ll try to stay in touch and I promise to send better pictures. The two that are included are from outside my front door. It ain’t Kansas b y a long shot.

Hope all is well. Take care of yourselves and I’ll try to do the same. Peace,

sh