My new life begins at LAX

Update: Bored at work

gregorboyd — Tue, 3 Mar 2009 06:51:00 GMT

I haven't done much blogging since I have been in Korea. There are a few reasons for this. One reason is I came here to work and save money, and blogs about working just aren't that interesting.

Another reason is that I don't have the internet at my house and I won't be getting it. Yesterday I informed my school that I would be going back to America at the end of the month and there is no reason for me to pay the set up fee's just to use the Internet at home for a month. Also there is a huge amount of downtime at my work and I spend way to much time online as it is anyways (btw-if anybody has any good website recommendations please let me know).

There were a couple of times when I was genuinely motivated to write a blog, and those blogs are now sitting at home on my laptop). I told myself I would put them on my thumb drive and post them from work but I kept forgetting and after a week the blogs seems too outdated to post. However I did post one, the DMZ blog was written almost a month before I posted it.

I have two others at home that I have thought about posting but I am not sure If I will. The first one was blog I wrote about a quick trip I took back Japan at the end of January. I spent the majority of the time in my old town Kofu. It was great to see my old friends, skate my old park and eat lots of good Japanese food. It was also kind of weird being back in a way. A lot of things were exactly the same and other things were completely different. I have done a lot since I left Japan, and it felt like I was a different person in some ways.

The weather was really good when I was there, I think Fuji was visible every day. It made me think a lot about the history of Japan, all the generations that have stared at that perfectly symmetrical mountain. How much life has changed since the days when Hokusai paid tribute to Fuji San with his prints. Back then they had no idea what was to come; Sony, Toyota, the A-Bomb and a vending machine on every street corner. Who knows how much the life on the island nation will change until someday the volcano becomes active and the symmetry is lost. It was a good trip, but it made for kind of a boring blog.

The second blog was pretty good, and I think I will post it. I wrote it the day I finally moved into my apartment, over a month after coming to South Korea. It was a long month and by the time I finally got settled I was at my wits end and it a pretty good state of mind to be writing. I won't say too much about it this will be a preview for that one, I will post it.

So what else do I have to say? It has been about a month since I moved into my apartment and have been settled. Working Monday-Friday 9-6. The job I got isn't the best, and I won't miss it in one month when I leave. But I work with some great people and I will definitely miss them and the laid back atmosphere in the office. I work at an English Village. It's a school but all the classrooms are themed. One classroom that looks like a post office another looks like a grocery store, ect. The students who I teach are really young, lots of kindergartens students. They usually come to the English Village as part of a field trip from their school. So they don't study English much and I will only teach them about once a month. It isn't a very fulfilling job and I am not able to apply a lot of the stuff I learned from my TEFL class.There are a lot of crafts, glorified babysitting. The schedule here is different everyday. Last week we were slammed teaching over 7 hours a day. Today I only have 2 hours of class. Unfortunately I still have to stay in the office for the other 6 working hours of the day. I finished my lesson plan, got bored with the Internet and figured I might well update my blog. Even if I have nothing to say.

DMZ

gregorboyd — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 01:33:00 GMT

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On of the things that I really wanted to see while in Korea was the DMZ. The DMZ is the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. The DMZ goes 2 kms from the demarcation line into both North and South Korea. A few days ago somebody on Couch Surfing said they were going on a DMZ tour and I had the day free so decided to tag along and check it out.

I really hate guided tours, but it was the only way I would have access to the DMZ so I thought it would be worth it. We met at the Lotte Hotel at 8:00am. I met Alaa the CSer from Morocco right when I get there. There was one other English Speaking tourist with us, a business woman from New York. We had an extremely energetic tour guide with the very original Korean name of Ms. Kim, her English name was Pansy (“like the flower”). There was also a couple Japanese tourists in the van and the driver was their guide.

As we drove out of Seoul we hit rush hour traffic. We took highway 1 which runs parallels to the Han river to the boarder. North Korea is only about 50 kilometers from Seoul. All along the banks of the River there are high fences with barbed wire and look out posts. The river doesn’t separate North and South Korea, but the river does run into North Korea, so the area around the river is heavily fortified. We drove about an hour and got to an amusement park and ride area that had a bunch of tributes to the Korean War. There was also an old immobile train there that no longer ran into North Korea, symbolizing the division.

At the Amusement park area we boarded a large red bus with other tourist groups. There were a lot of restrictions in the DMZ and one of them was that we could not take any photos while on the bus.

We drove over the unification bridge, but first had to pass through Security. An Armed South Korean guard got on the bus and checked all of out passports, then we proceeded to cross the bridge. As we crossed the bridge we had to swerve between several massive un-joined barricades. The barricades were set up so that they could be moved into place at any moments incase relations go bad with North Korea.

After crossing the bridge we drove through the DMZ area. Off the road there was barbed wire and there was warning about landmines. Apparently there are hundreds of thousands of landmines in the DMZ. There are also thousands of troops stationed in the DMZ at all times. When we exited the bus we heard gun shots from shooting ranges. Our first stop was in a little museum area where we watched a film about the DMZ. Then we went underground into a tunnel that North Korea had built into South Korea. The South discovered the tunnel in the 1970’s (over 20 years after the war ended) while it was still under construction. Three other tunnels were also discovered the most recent one in the 1990’s.

The tunnel was about 250 feet deep, and it showed how hard the North were trying to get into South Korea. The tunnels was blasted into the limestone with dynamite. We walked for a bit until got to the end which was one of 3 massive blockades that the South had put up. The tunnels were designed with Koreans men in mind so I had to bend over the whole time I was walking, my back was sore by the time I got to the end.

Inside the tunnel walls were painted black with charcoal. It was the last thing that the North did before abandoning the tunnel when they knew the South would find it. The North later claimed responsibility for the tunnel but said they were only down there mining coal. The tunnel was pretty interesting, but there was also a photo restriction in the tunnel.

After the tunnel we went to an observation deck on top of a mountain where we could look into North Korea. We could see 3 heavily fortified fences. One between the South and the DMZ, the actual boarder fence, and the fence separating the north from the DMZ.

The observation deck was also photo restricted. They had coin operated telescopes so I put in a 500 won coin in and looked into North Korea. It was overcast and visibility wasn’t too good. There was one village which was easy to find because there was a massive flag pole (supposedly the tallest in the world) with a huge North Korean flag. There was a story about the flag poles. Both the North and South each have a small village in the DMZ. The South put up a flag pole and the North responded by building a taller flag pole. This pissing contest went on for several years, then the South finally gave up and let North have the taller flag pole.

I didn’t see much action going on in the North Korean village because of the haze. But apparently the village is a “fake” village, set up as propaganda. My guide told me that nobody lives in the village and that there are no windows in any of the buildings. They told me that the village was set up by North Korea to show how great they are, because they knew that many tourists come to the DMZ from the South and look it. The buildings in the North Korean town looked very modern and orderly which supported the propaganda village theory. The village on the South side of the DMZ is supposedly a “real” village and people live and work there.

The was also an industrial complex in view within the North. The complex was built by South Korea, when relations were good. There is a Hyundai factory and a few other South Korean companies have factories there. One of the hopes for reunification is to help the North get involved with some of the South’s export production, trying to get the North involved in international commerce and bringing them out of their isolation. Even though relations aren’t too good between the Koreas now the factories are still operating, although at reduced capacities.

After the viewing platform we went to a train station. The train station was built in 2002 when relations between the North and South were better. They are still working to put a functional train line through North Korea into China. George W. Bush was there for the opening and he singed a rail post with the words “May this railroad unite Korean Families“. Since the grand opening relations between the Koreas have soured and the proposed Trans Korean Railway has been suspended. The station is kind of weird, it’s brand new and completely unused. There were a couple Korean Army men there, who all the tourists stood next to and took pictures with. There was also a sign for the tracks to Pyongyang.

After the station we left the DMZ zone and returned to South Korea.

It was a weird day. I never realized how tense the situation between the two Korea was. It seems that they are ready to go to war with each other at any moment. Most people outside Korea see the North and South as two separate countries, but people in South Korea however seem to think they are one divided country and they still have hopes for reunification.

The DMZ is a symbol of ugly time in Korea’s history. When you are in it feels like you are in a quiet war zone (Actually I just found out the 2 Korea's are still techinically at war so it is just that). The DMZ is a symbol of division and war. But one good thing about the DMZ is that with almost no human activity for the last 50 years it has become a haven for wildlife, despite the occasional loss of a deer leg by a landmine. Although we were there during the winter and we didn’t see too many animals, I did see a lot of birds and I’m sure the area is a very beautiful place in the Spring and the Summer.

I'm glad I went on the tour and saw the DMZ, I'm sure there aren't many places like it on Earth. I'm also glad I went when I did because after I went North Korea started making some bold statements, and parts of the tour have been shut down.

It was also a god reminded why I don't like organized tours. Every time we arrived at a point of interest our guide was talking too much, when I would have rather just explored on my own. Also every place we went to we were only given about 20 or 15 minutes to look around. The photo restrictions were really annoying, and they seemed pretty unnecessary as well. But the worst part of the day was after the tour we were dropped off at a amethyst center tourist trap. When all I wanted to do was go home and get some food we were to spend 30 minutes in a jewelry store that coincidentally was having a 50% off sale.

Camp Life

gregorboyd — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:15:00 GMT

The day after I arrived in Seoul, I found a 2 week job working an English Camp. I was stoked, I had never worked at an English Camp but it sounded fun. It is basically a camp that parents send their kids to during Winter or Summer vacation. The camp is supposed to be a completely English speaking environment. There are some English classes, but there are also a lot of regular camp type activities done in english.

After getting the job I had a few days to explore Seoul and I figured one thing out really quickly. Seoul gets really cold in the Winter. Most days the temperature was around 20 degrees Fahrenheit (-5 Celsius). Not ideal weather for sightseeing. I could only handle about 20-30 minutes outside at a time, so I spent a lot of times in malls, boring.

By the time that Sunday came around I was really excited to start work. I had more than enough idle time on my hands. We met at Sadang station exit 7. There was a bus waiting for us that would take us all to the camp. This was the second week of the camp and most the people on the bus worked the first week. I felt a little out of place since I didn’t know anyone.

I can’t remember the name of the city where the camp was but it was about 90 minutes from Seoul. We had a quick meeting and the told us what we would be doing tomorrow, but they never gave us very specific instructions. After the meeting I went to the bunk where I would be living for the next 5 days. I shared a room with two other Americans Matt and Fernando, who came out from the States just to work the camp.

The next morning the students arrived. I was one of the teachers selected to stand outside and greet all the incoming students. I was out there for about an hour and a half and by the time the last group of students arrived my hands, feet, thighs and faces were almost completely frozen.

The was over 300 students total and they were divided into classes based on their ages, each class was named after a country. My class was Mexico and they were all around 10 years old. I met my students and we had an opening ceremony then Lunch in the Cafeteria. For the duration of the camp I would eat all my meals with the students in the cafeteria.

The first day was rough. I we had to keep the kids busy and entertained from 9am to 9pm. By the end of the day I was beat and I wondered how I would be able to handle 4 more days of this before our weekend break between sessions. The days however got easier. I got used the schedule, and I started to have a lot of fun with the kids. Watching kids this age is a lot of work. There was 20 students in my class and 2 teachers, me and Teddy my Korean assistant teacher. I would have gone insane without Teddy he did a really good job with the children, and he had quite a few more responsibilities than me.

All the days of the camp kind of blended together in hind sight. There were lots of classes, actities, crafts, sports, games and role playing. Between all the activities we ate a bunch of meals in the cafeteria on metal trays. Some of the meals were good, some were bad. Before each meal we would go the auditorium and they call each class one by one to go and get their food. During this process they would play Tom and Jerry Cartoons. I probably saw about 3-4 hours of T&J during the 5 days and I would be happy if I never saw another one of their skits again.

Friday night at the camp each class did a performance. I had no idea what they expected so I let Teddy take this one over. Most the classes including ours did some sort of hip-hop dance. Luckily teddy knows quite a few dance moves so he came up with some choreography. He made a mix or Daftpunk, Soulja Boy and T-Pain and taught the 10 years old a really ambitious dance routine. We had a few sessions in the week when we were supposed to work on it. During the show on Friday night, I was amazed at how good our kids were. Unfortunately we didn’t win, but I still think we should have.

The performance was basically the grand finally for the camp. After it we had a snack party with out students the next morning after breakfast they would be leaving.

Saturday morning I was again standing outside freezing and saying bye to all the students. It was amazing how much their attitudes had changed during the 5 day camp. When we greeted them Monday morning it was obvious they didn’t want to be here, but on Saturday some of the students seemed sad to leave.

The first camp was kind of rough, I had to figure a lot of things out and I never really knew what I was supposed to be doing. I was looking forward to the second camp. This time I would know what was expected of me and I would be able to make the camp more enjoyable for the students.

Unfortunently, Friday night after the performance over half of the teachers were laid off. They gave us a heads up on Wednesday telling us that there was some cancellations and they might not need all the teacher for the second week of camp, but we were all surprised with how many of us were let go. The only teachers that were kept were the ones who flew out from their native countries specifically for the camp.

I had a signed contract for 2 weeks of work, but since I don't have a work visa yet there is nothing I could do to enforce it. If I went the authorities and complained I would get in trouble for working illegally.

I was bumbed. I had been expecting to work 2 weeks, now I didn’t know what I would do with myself the second week. I had been in contact with another camp, that just needed someone for the second week, but by now that job was gone. I checked the job boards a week ago before I started the camps there was plenty of English camps, now they were all gone.

When I got back to Seoul I saw someone from CS had put a post about another English Camp that needed a teacher ASAP. I talked to them the camp was only 2 days, and it was about 7 hours away by bus. The pay wasn’t that great, but they would cover the cost of transport and I had nothing else to do. So I jumped on the next bus to Jeaunheung (I think that is the city's name). Arrived there around 10 pm. My roomates were out when I arrived, they showed up wasted around 2:00am. They offered me a beer and I tried talking with them. It’s hard talking to drunk people when you are sober. These guys were pretty drunk and they were waking everyone up, including the students. I was trying to save them from themselves but they weren’t having it. The camp director wasn’t impressed the next morning, but she also didn’t seem too pissed. This camp was pretty easy compared with the other one. I worked one full day and one half day. They had another group of campers coming in after I left but they said they had enough teachers for this camp.

The students left after lunch on the second day of camp, and I could have taken a bus back to Seoul that night, but I had nothing to do in Seoul and I thought it would be fun to stick around one more night and go out with some of the teachers. I went out to a Korean BBQ place with my roomates. We drank beer and Soju (Korean Rice Wine), probably too much Soju I was kind of hurting the next day on the bus.

Now I am back in Seoul. I have a job lined up that starts in the beginning on Feb. Also I will be taking a trip to Japan next week so that I can get my work visa. I’m hoping to find another camp or some kind of substituting job on my free days here in Seoul.

Korea First Impressions

gregorboyd — Sun, 4 Jan 2009 00:46:00 GMT

My first full day in Korea was New Year Eve and it was a pretty awesome one. The first thing I had to do was go to a job interview. I was a little worried about what would happen if I didn’t get the job, but it was all invain, because after ten minutes I was signing a contract. Securing work with in 12 hours of arriving in Korea really felt good.

The job I will be working is an English Camp and it is just for 2 weeks. I saw the schedule for the camp and it looks like it will be a lot of work but it should be an interesting experience. The camp starts on the 5^th so it gives me a few days to get adjusted to Korea and do a little bit of exploring.

I will need to get another job when the camp ends, but I talked to Tom the camp director and he said he could find me a long term position after the camp finishes if I am interested. I will keep an eye on other jobs out there just to keep my options open.

After my interview I met up with Amanda my CS host and we saw a lot of Seoul. We went to Itaewon the foreigners area and met up with one of her friends for lunch. Then she showed me around various spots of the city.

In the evening we went to a free new years eve concert put on by the local English radio station. The concert was kind of funny because it was a TV and radio broadcast and the hosts had a really cheesy banter going throughout the evening. There was 5 or 6 bands all of different genes playing 2 songs each and some of them were pretty good there. The highlights of the evening were the Korean Reggae band and the Korean Eric Clapton (forgot his name) doing a BB cover.

After the concert there was a drawing, and I won a new Orange iPod Nano. Within 24 hours I got a job and a free iPod. I love Korea already.

After the concert we went to city hall for the countdown. There was a lot of people there, including a group of Free Huggers. I gave and received about 20. It was pretty damn cold and as soon as the countdown was over. I was ready to go to bed. We decided to take a Taxi back to avoid the cold and it was a great decision.

The next few days were spent exploring Seoul. I did a lot walking a riding the trains. I had heard bad things about Korea from some people that lived here, but so far I like what I have seen. I know that it is hard to judge a country by it’s biggest city. Big cities all seem kind of similar to me, but so far Seoul is one city I like. I am unsure if I will be living in Seoul so I wanted to see as much of it as I can before going to my English Camp. I went to the Korean War Museum, and it was interesting, I didn’t know much about the history of the war before that.

One thing that really surprised me about Seoul is the amount of American Franchises they have here. Way more than in Japan. I have seen Quiznos, Outback Steak house, TGI Fridays, Hooters, Burger King along with hundreds of Starbucks.

Overall Korea really reminds me of Japan. It’s hard to explain but it is the little things that remind me of Japan so much, such as the brickwork on the sidewalks. I keep looking for differences between Korea and Japan but they aren’t very noticeable. The biggest ones I notice are the Language and the different types of restaurants. I would say that Korea and Japan are on the surface at least as similar as the US and Canada.

I am still new hear and it will be interesting to see how my opinion of this place changes with time but so far I like what I see.

My quick trip to America

gregorboyd — Thu, 1 Jan 2009 08:04:00 GMT

12.29.08

Somewhere over the Pacific.

Authors Note:

This is probably the most boring blog ever. Basically it is just a giant list of things I did with very little reflection. But I felt I have done so much since my last post that I needed to put this up to explain the gap between my Cambodia posts and my Korea posts. Enjoy

Right now I am in in a overstuffed United Airlines Flight from LAX to Narita. I think I have about ten hours until I get to Tokyo. I’ll have a couple hours at Narita Airport then a 3 hour flight to Seoul. This is my 7^th time crossing the Pacific. A few years ago the thought of spending 12 hours on a plane seemed like torture to me. Now I actually kind of enjoy these long flights. Usually the week before my flight is extremely hectic with various preparations for my travel. When I finally get to the day of the flight it is great, no more responsibilities or worries. For a several hours I just have to sit in one spot and wait. It’s a good chance to catch up on some reading or attempt a crossword puzzle. Usually on these long international flights there is a personal TV, and you can choose what movies you want to watch. But being that this is United there is none of that. There is one big screen, and they are playing Mamma Mia the movie, which I want nothing to do with. So this gives me a good opportunity to catch up on some blogging.

A lot has happened since my last blog entry from Cambodia, more than usual. There are about 3 or 4 entries I could have written, but I was just too busy to sit down and write any of them. Now I have nothing but time, although I know I could probably write for longer than my laptop's battery will allow. I will attempt to catch my blog up with the last 3 weeks of my life. I would like to finish this before I get to Korea, because I know things will be incredibly hectic once I get there and who knows when I will be able to do another post.

So when I last left off I had returned to Phnom Penh from the Half Marathon in Siem Reap. I spent my last few days in my favorite city on earth packing up and having a lot farewell drinks with friends. I was kind of stressed out about whether or not I would be able to bring my bicycle back to the States with me, but after all the worry and concern everything worked out. I tried to do a whole blog about all the hassles I had to go through to get that bike on the plane with me, but it ended up being way too long and pointless to finish or post.

When I was sitting in the Phnom Penh airport just over 2 weeks ago waiting for my flight I tried several times to write a farewell blog to Phnom Penh. It never came out right, and I figured I would get around to it later but never did. The point was this, I still love Cambodia. When I went there back in May, it was because it was my favorite Country I had ever visited. I was worried that by living in Cambodia for a longer period of time that it might lose the appeal that it had to me. I didn’t think Cambodia would be able to live up to my memories. However after spending nearly six months there I love Cambodia even more than ever. Originally I planned on staying longer, but things came up and I had to leave. It felt like I was leaving way too soon, it was the first time I was ever really sad to leave a place. It is still my favorite country (more than ever) and I know I will return.

The flight was uneventful. It was EVA and much more comfortable that this United flight I am on now. We stopped in Taipei. It was probably the 4^th or 5^th time I have been in that Airport. Someday I would like to get out of it and see Taiwan. On the flight from Taipei to LAX I sat next to a Cambodian man who lived through the Khmer Rouge, and later became a refugee in Thailand, and is now a US citizen. His story was pretty powerful. We only talked about his experiences for a short while, but it made the Cambodia’s brutal history seem a lot more personal, and terrible to me.

When I arrived in LA and got off the plane the first thing I noticed was how clean the air was. That tells you how polluted the air is in Phnom Penh. I went to the place where I reserved my rental car. Waited in line for an hour, then I was told they wouldn't give me my car. Thanks again Fox Rent-A-Car. Not exactly what I wanted to hear after traveling about 20 hours to get to LA. My parents were at a Christmas party, I didn’t have a cell phone and there weren’t any pay phones near by. I was screwed. Luckily while I was waiting in line I met a British guy who told me he was driving to Oceanside. When he got his car I asked him if he could drop me off in OC and he obliged.

That night after a much needed shower and a nap, Arthur picked me up and we met the rest of the guys at a bar in Santa Ana. It was good to see the crew. Arthur and Raf looked exactly the same. Norton grew a proud and grizzly beard. Danny got rid of his long flowing hair and his beard, as Norton said he looked like "Walt Disney’s son" with his pompadour and mustache. It was good to catch up with my old friends. Perfect size crew. I was able to talk to all of them and do a good job of catching up. That night I stayed at Arthurs parents house and the next day I went to Arthurs newly purchased house, and helped out with the remodling job he and his old man have been working on. That night I came home and finally saw my parents.

On Monday I got a sweet rental Impala which I kept for a week. I stopped into Printworks (my old work) and caught up with John, Hoang, Glen and the rest of the crew. That first week I spent a lot of time running errands in my gold impala. I had to secure several documents for a work visa in Korea, not to mention do all my Christmas shopping.

On Tuesday my sister Emily flew in and it was good to see her for a few days. She would be spending Christmas in Pittsburgh with her husband, but she wanted to come out and see the family during the holiday season.

My parents house was a construction zone while I was there. The downstairs bathroom was ripped apart, and only one shower in the house had hot water so we were all sharing. My Dad also had a couple of projects he wanted me to work on around the house. He wanted me to dig all the dirt out of one of the planters. There was a lot of rain, so it was difficult to find time when I could dig.

Friday night I went to LAX to pick up the beautiful Marlene, who was flying in from New York. I wanted to take her up to the Big Bear but that fell through so we decided on Vegas. I had never driven to Vegas from LA, and I missed the turn off for the 15, then got some bad directions from a guy at a gas stations. Long story short, we ended up staying in Lake Havasu the first night. We made it to Vegas the next day. It was a really great weekend and it ended all to fast. We spent most of the weekend driving around (lost), but it never seemed to matter, we both enjoyed ourselves. When we retunred sunday evening I took here to LAX for her evening flight back to NY, can‘t wait till we meet up again.

When I went back to my parents house my other sister Sarah had arrived. Emily was supposed to have left that morning but they cancelled her flight and she was spending an extra night in OC.

That week it was dry so I did a lot of digging. They also had some work for me at Printworks so I came in a couple days to stuff envelopes and bind books. Christmas eve the family spent at Grandpa Franks house. Christmas day we stayed home opened presents and went to the theater to see Benjamin Button (very good) in the afternoon.

The day after Christmas I rented a truck to haul all the dirt I had dug up to the dump off the Ortega Highway. I had never been to the dump before, it’s a lot different from the Steung Menchey dump in Phnom Penh. I had never seen so many Seagulls in my life. It took 2 trips to get rid of all the dirt. All totaled up I had dug out about 3 tons of dirt.

That night I met up with Robert for a Tofu Mushroom Burger at Taco Loco. Last time I saw him was Christmas last year when he was visiting his Mother. It’s good to have friends that you can see once a year and talk to without it seeming forced.

Later that night I was supposed to meet up with the guys at the Santa Ana bars again. I had about a half an hour to kill and I decided to swing by my old dojo, the Laguna Hills Skate Park, this sight of much pleasure, pain and about 5 helmet violation tickets. One of the things I was really looking forward to about coming back to America was skating. Now here I was a few days before leaving and it was my first time to the park. I was so busy the whole time I was there I never even had the time (not to mention all the rain). Being on the familiar terrain felt good. I have the park so dialed in I could skate with my eyes closed. Even after 6 months without skating I still had my lines. Although I was a little rusty and wobbly it felt really good doing 50-50’s on my favorite section of the copping in the bowl. I wasn’t even warmed up by the time I had to leave.

It was good seeing the boys again, I only stayed out for a short while though because I knew I had a lot to do the next day.

Saturday was supposed to be my last full day in CA and I had to pack and meet up with a notary in Oceanside to get my criminal background check apostilled for my Korean Visa. The weather was good so I decided to take my motorcycle which has been in storage at printwork for the last 6 months. I almost couldn’t get the beast to start but finally it kicked over. The ride to Oceanside was very cold. I had a little more time to kill in the evening and stopped my Laguna Hills for another quick session in the bowl.

In the evening I went to a UFC party. Not really because I’m into MMA but it was my last night in OC and a couple of my friends who I hadn’t seen would be there. Went home shortly after the last fight.

Got up early the next morning, finished my packing and went to LAX. I got to the airport plenty early but there was a ton of problems and they couldn’t get me on my flight. Another long story about hassles that isn’t worth writing about. They ended up giving me a hotel voucher and I stayed the night in LA. I went into my duffel bag and put my skateboard together cruised around the city for a bit. Then I met up with Meghan and saw Slumdog Millionaire.

This morning things worked out much better at LAX. I got on my flight with no problems. I wasn’t too pissed about missing my flight yesterday. I wasn’t in too much of a hurry to get to Korea anyways, and my free day in LA was a good one.

So that pretty much catches me up to this point. On the plane somewhere between here and there. Mamma Mia is finished and now there is a Brendan Frasher Movie playing in the plane, and I‘m still not interested. My stay in CA went way too quick, I was busy the majority of the time there was very little down time. I was able to seem most my friends which was good. I feel like it would have been nice to have stayed another week but oh well, I’ll be back.

I was so busy the whole time I was there I didn’t have much time to reflect on reverse culture shock, or how I have changed since being gone. There were a few reminders here and there of why I left. I’m not sure if I can ever see myself living in Southern CA again. The only thing that So Cal has for me is friends and family (and the Angels during baseball season). I have always felt out of step in OC, and I think it is time for a change of scenery the next time I live in the States.

Another thing that I haven’t had much time to think about it what lays ahead for me in Korea. I decided to go to Korea, because I need to save a bit of money, and I heard it is a good place to work for ESL Teachers. Luckily I have a friend who will be able to help me out a bit once I get there, but I really have no idea what is in store for me. I guess it should make for some interesting blogs.

Back in PP

gregorboyd — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 02:15:00 GMT

On my return trip from Siem Reap I wanted to take one of the overstuffed local vans I described in my Tour de Cambodge blog, just for the story but Kate from the Hash had an extra free bus ticket, and I couldn’t justify turning in down. I had to pay 2 bucks to bring my bike on board which seemed fair. It was cool passing through all the villages I just cycled through from the comfort of an air conditioned bus. When we arrived in Phnom Penh I disappointed all the moto and tuk-tuk drivers when I pulled my bike out of the bus and cycled off. Cycling through the city at dusk, I was reminded how much I love this place.

I had a lot to do in Phnom Penh before leaving in 5 days. One of the most daunting tasks was finding a box for my bicycle and breaking it down to bring it on the plane with me. About halfway to my apartment I saw a furniture store unloading a truck. There was a massive stack of cardboard boxes, and on top was the perfect box for my bike. I asked the worked if I could take the table box and he obliged. It was difficult ridding carrying the huge card board box and I cracked up the locals, but I was happy with my find. Later that night I went to Revolution to play poker. I am no Kenny Roggers, but I had fun.

The next day I dismantled my bike. Packed it up for my trip. It felt weird, just six month ago I pulled the bike out of a box and put it together. I thought I would be staying longer, there were a lot of things I wanted to do that I didn’t do (such as get a paycheck). I am sad to leave, don’t know when I will be back, but I do know I will be back.

Siam Reap 13.1

gregorboyd — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:03:00 GMT

I had a day to rest before the half marathon, but my legs were still sore from my cycling when the starting gun was fired. I recited my mantra “pain is temporary, pride is forever” and ran like the wind (on a slightly breezy day). My training was screwed up because of getting sick I had no idea how long the race would take me but I was hoping for something under 1 hour 45 minutes. The course was beautiful, running around several ancient temples and through lush jungles. The temperature was perfect running weather and there was also very little elevation change. There were also tons of locals along the course cheering us on and giving high fives. I probably gave about 1,000 high fives to Cambodian kids. I kept my goal pace strong until the last few miles when I was running out of gas. Unlike most half or full marathons there was no electrolyte drinks or bananas at any of the water stations (I love excuses). I was hoping to pick up the pace during those last few miles, but no matter how fast it felt like I was running I was obviously going slower than I did in the early miles.

I finished about 30 seconds over my goals of 1:45. I didn’t really care too much about my time. I enjoyed myself. I’m sure my cycling 200 miles a few days earlier didn’t help my performance (I told you I love excuses). Completeing the cycle trip was more important to me than my performance in the race anyways.

At the finish line Blah-Blah (the GM of the Hash), was waiting to cheer everyone on-on. In true Hash fashion he had stocked his truck up with ice cold beer. Despite the fact that it was not even 9:00am I had a few down-downs with my Hash brethren. After running a half marathon you can do pretty much whatever you want for they day (“Hey I just ran 13+ miles. What the hell have you done today”). Blah-Blah got started early, he sustained an injury about a week before the race and had to pull out of the half marathon and was reduced to competing in the 3k family fun run with all the 6 year olds (a fact none of us will ever let him live down). Since he finished about an hour before anyone I’m fairly confident he cracked his first brew before 8:00am. We hung out and cheered on all our hash friends and the other runners.

After the race I got I ride into town in the back of a pick up truck. The winner of the race was in the back too, drinking a beer in true champion form. He is a marathon runner and he competed in the Beijing Olympics was one of the 4 athletes who represented Cambodia this Summer. I’m not sure but I think this was the first time I’ve had a beer with an Olympian in the back of a pick up truck, before noon.

Great race with great people. I hope I’m back in Cambodia next year to run it again.

Tour de Cambodge

gregorboyd — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 01:58:00 GMT

After finishing my TEFL class the only obligation I had in Cambodia was running the Siem Reap Half Marathon on December 7^th, which I had registered for several months ago. The race was about a week after my class finished and since I really had nothing to do during that week I decided I would ride my bicycle to Siem Reap. I have never done a cycle tour before, but when I came out here I brought my bike from the States because it was something I wanted to do while I was out here (I planned on doing a much longer tour, but that’s another story). So I did what I always do when I decide I want to do something I have never done before. I told everyone I knew that I was going to ride my bike to Siem Reap. The reason is because I hate going back on something I have told others I am going to do. I would much rather endure a hellacious bike trek than explain to all my friends why I didn’t take my bike even though I said I would. All my friends thought I was crazy when I told them I was ridding my bike there.

About a week and a half before my planned departure date I got a pretty bad case of strep throat. I had to stop training and I was beginning to wonder if I would be able to run the half marathon, yet alone cycle there. I was getting my excuses ready and I was pretty bummed on the timing of my illness. Fortunately a couple days before I planned on leaving I started feeling better.

On Wednesday morning I got up packed my duffel bag with some clothes and toiletries then strapped it to the rear rack of my bicycle and hit the road. I was unsure if I would make it, but I thought that best thing to do would be to start pedaling and see what happened. I wanted to get a couple hours out of Phnom Penh making it hard for me to turn back. Getting out of the city took a while during the morning rush hour traffic. After about 30 minutes of dodging moto drivers with death wishes I finally made it over the Japanese friendship bridge out of the city and onto National Highway Route 6.

Route six is a two lane smooth asphalt rode that cuts across 320 kms of the flat Cambodian countryside from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap (and beyond to the Thai boarder). Every manner of wheeled vehicle utilized this highways from massive tourist buses to cow drawn coaches and everything in between. The most interesting vehicles are the overstuffed trucks and vans that the less affluent locals take. These vehicles wait at the edge of town and do not leave until they are dangerously overstuffed. A typical 9 seater van might contain 17 Cambodians with their faces pressed against the windows, 5 fifty kilo bags of rice, a few cages of live chickens, several hundred eggs and other random objects. The trunk would be left open and 6 or 7 bicycles would be strapped to the back. On the roof of the vehicle there might be a motor bike or two some large pieces of furniture and 2 or 3 Cambodian men holding everything down. Ask anyone who has been to Cambodia and they will tell you this is no exaggeration.

The first day wasn’t all that interesting, there was a lot of large truck traffic on the outskirts on Phnom Penh. I only cycled for about four and a half hours and stopped in a town called Skun around 2:30. I was pretty beat but I probably could have rode more, not to mention it didn‘t look like there were any decent sized towns within riding distance. I checked into a guest house took and shower and had a nap then saw what Skun had to offer. Nothing, not even a place when I could check my email. Luckily my room had a TV with some English Channels and I watched some bad movies before going to bed.

The next morning I got up early and started pedaling shortly after breakfast. It was nice not to have to deal with getting out of the city to start riding. Skun is a small town, the only reason it is notable is because it is the cross roads between rout 6 and 7. Within a minute of pedaling I was out of Skun and into the Rice paddies which dominated the trip to Siem Reap. I got lucky I picked 2 of the coolest days I have experienced in Cambodia for my cycle trip so heat was never an issue.

The Cambodia Landscape is beautiful. I have taken 4 or 5 bus trips up and down Route 6 and it has always impressed me. The geometric rice paddies with their sporadic sugar palm trees. The locals young and old working the fields, leading water buffalos and swimming and fishing in their make shift ponds. There are settlements along most of the highway. If I needed bottled water it was never more than a 10 minute ride to the next vendor. The locals love seeing a Barang (foreigner) cycle through their village. I must have gotten at least 10,000 different “Hello”s from locals I passed. One particularly memorable one was a girl of about 3 or 4 who saw me from a distance and ran along her dirt path drive way so that she could jump up and down screaming “Hello!” when I passed by. Then she chased after me for a while. A couple other locals on bicycles and motos rode with me for a while so they could practice their English.

I got to Kampong Thom around 3:00, which was about 90 kms from Skun. I had thought about staying there since it was a proper sized city with things to do, but I knew it would be difficult for me to ride 150 kms and make in Siem Reap the next day. I was hoping to do the trip in 3 days but I gave myself four, so that I would have a day to rest before the race, or so that I could go slower if I decided to. I stopped in Kampong Thom for about an hour checked my email and rested my legs. Around 4 I decided to ride on. The next city was Steung and it was about 50kms away. I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it there but I decided to ride on anyways and just see where I ended up, and worry about finding lodgings when I needed them. I had heard that monks often allow passers through to sleep at the temples if there are no guesthouses near.

Around 6 when it was getting dark I started looking for a guesthouse or a temple and saw nothing. I was only about half way to Steung and I wasn’t about to ride there in the dark. For a while I considered sleeping in one of the abandoned huts that are used for selling produce during the day. Then I came upon a small settlement of about 10 huts, and one large brick house, that looked like it might have been a guesthouse. I inquired to the locals if it was in fact a guesthouse through broken Khmer and stupid gestures. They invited me in, then I met the eldest daughter who was an English Teacher. She told me that it wasn’t a guest house but the family insisted that I stay there. She said nothing about money so I asked how much, she talked to the old lady of the house and they said 2 dollars, I refused and gave them 5.

I ate a dinner of dried fish and rice with the family. The father kept asking the daughter questions in Khmer that she translated to English for me. He had about a million questions about farming in America, I tried to answer them as best as I could. He also kept asking me if the rice was delicious (because he had grown in himself). I’m not sure of the name of the village I stayed in, but I had never seen so many bugs in one place. I wore a white T-shirt and the bugs flocked to it like a light bulb. Crickets also bounced off my body every few seconds. I went to bed early and slept on a bamboo mat on top of the wood floor under a mosquito net. Even as tired as I was it was difficult sleeping on the hard floor.

I got up early when the roosters were making their noise. I didn’t sleep well but I was refreshed and ready to ride. I loaded up my bike thanked the family and said my goodbyes. I had rode about 120 kms the previous day and I had the same distance between me in Siem Reap. As soon as I sat on the saddle all the sores in my body picked up right where they left off yesterday evening. I stopped in Steung for breakfast after an hour of cycling and took some Ibuprofen to ease my ride. My last day of cycling it was a little warmer than the previous two, I had to stop more often for water and apply sunscreen. The ride again was beautiful but I couldn’t wait to get to Siem Reap. There was a concrete marker ever 100 kms and I counted down the distance I would have to ride. I stopped more often on my third day of cycling but I never stayed off the bike too long. Pretty soon I started seeing tuk tuks full of barangs who were out on day trips from Siem Reap. I was excited to know I only had about an hour left of my tour. Before entering the city I was passed by a tourist on a granny bike who I had passed earlier. It injured my pride, my my legs were sore and it was obvious I was slowing down. Stopping was not an option however the end was in sight.

I got to Siem Reap around 3:30 filthy, tired and with an epic farmers tan. I found my hotel easily and checked in. I was pretty proud to have made it the whole way in the time that I wanted to. Also I realized I was getting stronger. On day three I had ridden longer then the previous days and it was still early. I could have probably ridden another couple hours if I had to.

Originally my plan was to cycle to Siem Reap run the marathon and cycle back. I decided against cycling back pretty early on my trip. It would have been kind of boring cycling on the same road and stopping in the same towns. Also after the half marathon I had less than a week left in Cambodia, and if I cycled back I would only have 2 days back in Phnom Penh. If I took a motorized vehicle I would have 2 extra days in my favorite city in the world.

I’ve meet some hard core cyclist who would laugh at my “tour”, but I enjoyed it and I am determined to do another, longer one some time soon.

Hash Name

gregorboyd — Tue, 2 Dec 2008 07:17:00 GMT

I have mention the Hash House Harriers in quite a few of my blogs. I have spent most Sundays afternoons on hash runs in various outskirts of Phnom Penh. It's quite a bit of fun and I would reccomend it to anyone anywhere. On Sunday it was the last run I will be running with P2H3, at least for a while. Next week I will be in Siem Reap running the half marathon, and I head back to the states shortly after that. It was also a special run because it was run number 888. We went for a very scenic run on Mekong Island. There was over 100 runners on hand for the momentus run. After the run, in the drinking circle I was given a Hash name, Khmer Compass (because they said I am a true free spirit a man with no direction). I am actually quite fond of the name, it's much better than many of my fellow PP hashers handles (Milky Discharge, STD, Festering Chronic Masterbater). It will also always remind me of Cambodia. I look forward to hashing where ever I a may roam in the future, and I cannot wait until the day I come back to PP and run as a returnee.

The boys are in town

gregorboyd — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:36:00 GMT

Since getting back to Phnom Penh a lot has happened. The biggest thing was that I bought a one way plane ticket to LA. I decided that I would go home for the holidays. I will be leaving Phnom Penh in less than a month and I am already bummed that I will be leaving. I came to Cambodia because it was my favorite country I ever visited. I wasn’t sure if staying in Cambodia for a longer period of time would reinforce this belief or shatter it. It was definitely the former. I am excited to go home and see my friends and family, but I am already sentimental about leaving Cambodia. When I came here I didn’t know how long I would stay, but I figured it would have been longer. I know I will be back someday, but I’m not sure when. I’m still trying to figure out where I will go will go after the holidays.

Since getting back I have been really busy with my TEFL class. My daily schedule is class in the morning from 9-4:00 with about an hour for lunch. From 4:00-6:00pm I have a break and then I teach or observe other teachers in the evening from 6-8:00. I’m really glad that I decided to take the course, I’m only about half way through with it and I have learned so much already. I can’t wait to get my next teaching job and apply some of the knowledge that I have learned.

Last week was the water festival which is a pretty big deal in Cambodia, I had a one week break from my class. The festival is to celebrate the end of the rainy season, at this time the Tonle Sap River also changes the direction it flows. In the river in front of the royal palace dragon boat races are held. I had never been here for the festival and it was pretty interesting. The boats were beautiful, the racers costumes were nice, and the whole city was chaotic. About 1 million people from the rural Cambodia come into Phnom Penh for the festival. The whole area around riverside is a mess of human traffic. Everyone I know that has lived in PP for a while, says that the water festival is great to see, one time. I would have to agree, if I were sticking around for another year I would probably leave the city during the festival.

Another big thing that happened was that Davey, Ray, Ben and John came out to visit. Their trip is kind of a crazy one. They are traveling for about 2 weeks and visiting 5 countries. I was really glad to have them visit. It is weird seeing some of my best friends in Phnom Penh. They were only here for a couple of days, but we had a lot of fun. They arrived on Thursday the last day of the water festival, so after meeting them at the airport we went down to the riverside and checked out the madness. After a while we hit up happy hour at FCC where we could see the fireworks and the lighted boats from the balcony. After a couple drink at FCC we decided to head to Revolution Bar. the human traffic was intense. Street 51 was so backed up it took us about 30 minutes to walk 50 meters. Thursday is live music night at Revolution we got to the bar and watched Charlie jam. Charlie was awesome.

On Friday I had class so the guys hit up all the tourist spots in the city. We met up after class grabbed some street food from the night market and went up to my pad to eat and drink a few beers. We met up with some past and present CWF volunteers at Equinox and had a couple more drinks. I had to call it an early night because I was meeting up with Blah Blah in the morning to set the trail for the Hash.

At 6:00am on Saturday I met up with Blah Blah and we set my first hash trail in a village about 30 minutes outside of Phnom Penh. It was a lot of fun walking through the village. You can tell that not too many white faces walk through their village because almost everyone we saw said ‘hello’ to us. A lot of people were curious because we had spray paint and were making some marks on their land. They might have feared that we were developers who were going to evict them from their land (land grabbing is one of the biggest problems in Corrupt Cambodia) fortunately Blah Blah’s Khmer is much better than mine and he was able to tell the locals that we were just marking a trail for a run.

After I finished marking the trail, I went over the Intercontinental Hotel where the guys were staying. We went out to the army base where Ben and John shot a few fully automatic guns, including a belt fed machine gun like the one Rambo uses. We went back into the city, had some cheap Indian food on the Lakeside, then went to Wat Phnom and the Russian Market. Ben and Ray got some fake luxury watches Davey and John bought some bootleg DVDs. We dropped off their purchases at my place and grabbed a couple brews for the tuk tuk ride to Olympic Stadium. We watched the crazy Khmer Aerobic classes at the staduim and were hoping to see a kick boxing match but there wasn’t one so we decided to get massages instead. I haven’t had a massage in a while and this was one of the best ones I’ve had. After the massage we went to the only Lebanese restaurant in Phnom Penh Le Cedre. The food was great but the service was terrible.

It was the guys last night in PP so I wanted to show them a good night out. We started at the Rock. One of the biggest Cambodian clubs in Phnom Penh. It was pretty dead and we weren’t really digging the scene that much so we went to the other popular Cambodia night club Spark. There were more people at Spark. I had been to Spark before it is pretty weird they have live performers, and dance groups that switch after each song. For some reason people only dance during certain songs. It is funny watching everyone go on the dance floor for certain songs and rush of when they are over. We had a few tigers and quickly got sick of Spark so we took off.

I wanted to take the guys to Heart of Darkness, the most popular expat club in Phnom Penh, but it was only about 11:00pm and I heard that the Heart isn’t very good before midnight. So I took the guys to one of the many hostess karaoke bars for a few cheap beers before going the Heart. I had only been to one of these places one other time, and we didn’t have any hostesses sit with us when I went before. This time a few young Khmer girls sat with us. They didn’t speak much English, so the conversation wasn’t all that great as I‘m sure you could imagine. We got bored quickly and took our tuk-tuk deep into the belly of the beast the legendary Heart of Darkness. I had been to the Heart on my first visit to Cambodia back in 2005, but we went early and it was dead we ended up staying about 30 minutes. This time the place was packed. I saw a bunch of the current CWF volunteers there, they are regulars there. It’s a weird scene at the Heart, I could never become a regular there. The heart is popular with dodgy expats, Vietnam vets, Khmer gangsters, working Khmer girls, lady boys, Khmer girls looking for a Western boyfriend and old overweight Western men looking for young Khmer girlfriends. We stayed for a little over an hour and I actually had fun, but I don’t see myself going back anytime soon.

After the Heart we went back to our respective residences. The next morning I went back to the guys hotel to see them off to the airport. It was great to see my friends, even though I will be back in OC in about a month I was glad that I had some of my friends come and visit me before leaving. It’s hard too explain but it was also a little weird seeing some of my best friends in PP. It was like two worlds meeting, PP is my city and my life here is a lot different than my life in OC. Seeing my friends here was great. Hope you enjoyed Phnom Penh guys, and thanks for coming out.