Urban Exploring: Gayaland Adventure.

First and foremost, apologies for the long delay in getting this post out there. I've had a busy week and a half what with catching up on my sleep and Gaelic tournaments, but more on that later! 

I've mentioned before how, as a waygook (foreigner), you get some leeway with rules, regulations and the bounds of society in general. In order to take advantage of this a group of us decided to explore an abandoned amusement park in the neighboring city of Gimhae. Getting a taxi to drop us at the entrance prooved easier than we expected as we had anticipated having to make up some nonsense place we were actually visiting that was definitely not an abandoned amusement park. However, never baffled by the strange requests of a waygook, the driver obliged and left us right at the gate. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Gayaland.

Pretty sure it was us and the Griswolds at the gates for this one.

As you can see there's still quite a lot of the park standing, if looking a touch run down. What better enticement to trespass and explore (finally I understand the line in the 'Our Father', I, at last, have trespasses to be forgiven). As we looked at the entrance we began to wonder if there was a back way we had to sneak in, as going through the gates seemed too bold, even for seasoned explorers such as ourselves. After a quick reconnaissance mission to scope out entry-ways we notices two things: 1. It's main entrance or no entrance and 2. There were workmen on the site next-door. It was only then that I thought about any repercussions being found in Gayaland might have seeing as I am a guest in this wonderful country. What if the workmen called the police? And hell we don't have two trailer park girls to go round the outside to find us another way in. However, given the lack of interest the workmen showed in the group of 8 foreigners hanging out by the turnstiles, we decided to brave the passage beyond the gates. Did anyone hear them calling us back? No?We're in!

Through the arch is the lair of the ferocious
beasts!

Once through the gates, we crossed a bridge leading to the real entrance to the amusements. As we approached the steps up to the park proper we saw the 'guard dogs' waiting at the top, daring us to come even one step closer. Or, perhaps begging us to come one step closer and rub their bellies and loosen the ropes which had begun to dig into their shoulders. But, to be on the safe side we skirted around the dogs for now.

Many other posts about Gayaland that I've read have noted the creepy atmosphere and unusual feeling in the park, due to the dilapidation. However, I'm not sure I would agree. Perhaps because of the larger group of us there, or maybe the afternoon sunlight beaming down from above dispelled the ghosts of fair-goers past, but for me the overwhelming atmosphere was mystery and nature taking back its land. One thing I will note is the fact that in spite of the ruin of the rest of the park there is one building which remains locked, and through a window on the second floor you can see an office which looks to but operational still. Unusual, sure, maybe even suspicious if I were theatrically inclined, which, as I'm sure you know, I am not! 

150cm seemed pretty tall given the
average height of a man here!

Apparently the theme park was at least somewhat active up until three years ago, according to a Reddit thread I found while trying to figure out exactly how much trouble I was risking getting myself into by venturing to Gayaland. But there's a surprising amount of growth back in the place given how thoroughly the Koreans usually cover everything in nature-resistant concrete. Just check out the entrance to the roller coaster here. This was probably the most used ride for the active years of Gayaland and now it looks like a prop from the new Jurassic World movie. Being the curious soul that I am I went through the barriers to get to the tracks in the hopes that I could get access to the maintenance stairs which runs along by the tracks of the coaster, however, the overgrowth was too dense to beat through and I gave it up for a bad job. I will post the rest of my pictures on imgur as there are far too many for one post.

Before coming to the roller coaster we explored the rocking pirate ship, which, was the first of the hydraulic rides we came to after taking a quick right at the bottom of the steps of the dogs. The whole boat section is mostly intact, if a bit covered in cobwebs and dust. Naturally I jumped into the boat to grab a fun snap sitting in the ride, not thinking that the brakes were probably broke (or that the whole thing could come down around my ears at any moment). Of course at the motion the boat gave a small rock, hinting at the vaulting swings of its past, following which I let out a shout, or a squeak of surprise and leapt out of the hanging carriage. 

The main square has certainly seen better days!

Following up a slight incline was the main square of the park towards the big wheel and the roller coaster. This area kind of gives the impression that the park was pretty small given the standards of today and also rocks a very 80s or 90s vibe with weird metallic merry-go-rounds and neon hand rails. Unfortunately, it was just out of frame that the biggest of the guard dogs was tied up. The dog was more of a deterrent than sentry as when approached he licked our hands and let us pet him, although from the look of him he was starved of human affection, among other bare necessities like shelter and water. It was both one of the highlights and lowlights of the trip as +1 for dogs but animal cruelty is not high on the list of things that float my boat. After seeing the abused dogs it was time to shape up and ship out without seeing the water slide section of the park, but I'll definitely be back for that soon!

What really happened to Natalie Portman at the end of Black Swan

Overall, Gayaland was definitely an amazing place to visit, especially given that usually anything that closes down is torn down and rebuilt as a GS25 or 7/11 in a matter of hours. So, I have finally become one of the new 'Urban Explorers' that have sprung up around the net. Speaking of nets, stay tuned for the next post on my foibles and fumblings in and around the nets of a Gaelic pitch.

Culture Shot: Making Friends.

This post is hopefully going to be the first of many "Culture Shots" which I will use to detail things which have left me reeling. This week's shot focuses on making friends.

Making friends here, as a foreigner, has been possibly one of the easiest experiences I've had with making friends. Mostly because my first time meeting and speaking to another foreigner here was basically the exact same as the first day in school: "Hey dude, I have no friends. Wanna be friends?". The only differences being of course that when I was 3 and a half I didn't actually know the word "dude" and the fact that this time I uttered the phrase in a supermarket next to some watermelons. But overall the result was the same: I made a friend. Done and dusted.

"I'm only friends with you because we're both 8"..."and cartoons".
KicksterAsh

However, my native counter-parts may not have it so easy. Here in Korea being friends is either a whole lot harder or somewhat simpler depending on how one looks at it. I have been informed by my co-workers who are all Korean natives that the word "friend" in Korean is more or less the same as the word for "peer" or someone who is the same age. I had noticed this in some of my classes when I told students to look at their friend's work and they would repeatedly insist "But he's not my friend, I older!!"

This didn't surprise me. Oftentimes I was the one playing the "I'm older than he is" to avoid dealing with bratty relatives (no, not you, but all the others!) and being confused with being their "friend" how much street cred could I keep being friends with someone one full year younger than me? But then when I grew up it stopped being a big deal. This is not the same for the average Korean to whom image and social standing mean quite a lot.

Therefore, by and large, Koreans are not friends with people older or younger than themselves unless there are mitigating circumstances such as one of the pair to become friends is a foreigner. This is, I am told, due to the fact that westerners are just exempt from certain social graces. And thank god for that! My mind was literally blown when my co-workers marveled at the fact that some of my friends are even five years older than me, even more so that I have friends even older than that. Now I know this is often not the case and people usually hang around in similar age-groups back home but it is not unheard of to have friends from work or college who happen to have that bit more life experience. Over here, that would probably not happen and if it did there would still be honorifics and specifics and all manner of other "-ifics" which impede the development of a real friendship. To me this seems somewhat horrific.

This has been your first Culture Shot. Thanks for reading!

The Grand Tour

In my haste to post last time it seems I forgot to include any explanation as to why I have decided to call my "studio" (pronounced "bedsit") 'The Love House'. It is not, as some might assume, that I intend to make this a love shack, baby, love shack but rather it is in reference to the roller-blind over my window. 

This somewhat inexplicable addition to the studio was instantly my favourite part of the whole place as it adds the touch of oddity toward which I am quite partial.

The fact that the "Beautiful Life" excerpt it almost entirely irrelevant and somewhat morose, insofar as it encourages you to revel in the misfortunes of others, and yet has somehow been included on this cutesy design. This is not even the best example of misused or misplaced text I've seen. I'm sure many English teachers here have taken a moment to read the notebooks of their students which are plastered in unusual and out-of-place quotes and in a lot of instances misquotes. I'm sure I'll snap a pic of a journal or two in the coming days for you guys.

To the left you can see the office which has everything one could need in an office: an ergonomic swivel chair, a writing desk (please notice the journal, it was placed especially for the photoshoot), and a wall of bookcases, which in this instance is just one bookcase which masquerades as a wall between my bedroom and the office. 

Here we have the sitting/dining room which adjoins the office. The Bronx hardwood flooring is underlaid with gas heating to keep the tooshie toasty while entertaining or eating. Joking aside, this truly is the space where Koreans would entertain guests. This is traditional as the Western idea of sofas and couches never really gained traction over here. This seems utterly bizarre to a proud Irishman like myself who has perfected the art of lounging on any form of sofa be it upholstered, leather or even a futon!

Moving on we have the kitchen, or more accurately, kitchenette. This is the only aspect which has disappointed as there are a number of key features of a true kitchen missing. These absences include a kettle, a toaster, a grill and/or oven. However, given how often I eat in this is perhaps mostly a non-issue. Bar the kettle. Kettles are essential. This is a lesson I hope to sneak into many many classes throughout my time here. 

The kitchen does however, come with this magnificent piece of confounding equipment which provided endless hours of random button-pushing, beeping and eventually somewhat alarming washing noises before signalling the end of my first load of washing on my first weekend here. Later, I asked my coworkers to translate the Hangul into English for somewhat easier use in the future. Thus you see my pink post-it held up by sticky-plasters like a cheat sheet of laundry. However there are many settings which are labelled in unusual phrasing such as "baby clothes", "blankets", and  strangest of all one of the spin settings is labelled "dry like river" the intent of which is anyone's guess. On the one hand I can see it meaning drying the clothes as if they've been in a river or will produce a river worth of water, however, on the other hand I could see it meaning leaving the clothes as if they've been in the river. Someday when I'm bored and it's hot enough I'll try it out and solve this age-old mystery. I'll keep you posted.

And that folks is where I spend those hours when I am not in the norebang or the academy, however few and far between they may be!

The Neon Republic

So here we are: a new year, a new blog. Don't even start with the "But Emmet it's not even January" because technically every day is the start of a new year, the end point is just slightly different. But enough philosophy, I'm sure there'll be time for that when we're dead... Or at least something like that, I digress. 

Moving on to where exactly "here" is. I have recently upped sticks and moved my life, or at least what has passed for one since I left college (and then came home from Spain), and took it to Korea. South Korea naturally, I don't have the right kind of credentials or mettle required for the lands further North. This isn't to say I was unhappy in my life at home but I was becoming that bit too comfortable in the rut I was slowly etching there. Therefore, on somewhat of a whim I jumped on board the TEFL train: destination Busan (or Pusan depending on who you're speaking to).

These guys must have been told I was coming.

My journey began exactly one month ago, on the day before my 22nd birthday, when I said goodbye to my family and "see you soon" to J at the airport and boarded the first on three flights which eventually bore me to Gimhae airport. Although it could be remarked I was bored all the way to Korea on these aircraft but we won't trouble ourselves with that now. When I arrived I was met by my recruiter who found me the job here in the Neon Republic. She packed me into a taxi and brought me to meet my Director, that's boss to you and I, at The Love House where I now reside. Hence the name of the blog. I wanted to go with Neon Republic but these guys beat me to the name! 

This is the Neon Strip of 'Motels' in my neighbourhood.

I'm not sure how to describe to you, my faithful readers who have read all my posts thus far, how the blog will go on but I will try to keep you posted on how life is here and maybe even answer those questions you wanted to ask about Korea. But if you're anything like me your first one probably was "So where exactly is this place??" which I discovered as my last flight displayed the flight-path on my personal TV screen. 

DISCLAIMER: This post is not to be confused with Neon Republic, They are a neon advertising company and I, evidently, am not!