Long and busy week

Another week of classes has passed. My daily commute is starting to take an effect on me. I leave too early in the morning and arrive at home too late to get an adequate amount of rest. I am starting to check my options of moving, but all of them are resting on if I can get "key money" from Pagoda. Key money is necessary for most housing to either pay the whole cost up front or reduce the monthly payment. Housing in Seoul is very expensive. I am not sure how soon, but I can't take commuting forever, when it takes 45-70 minutes to work or socialize.

On Friday, Pagoda had an anniversary party at the Grand Inter-Continental Hotel. It was a day off from teaching, but a mandatory luncheon and conference for foreign SLE/PIP teachers. Fortunately, I am a PBA (business) teacher, so I didn't have to sit through an extra two hour speech. The party started with a religious prayer and sermon and followed with an update on Pagoda's future. They also had some music after that and finally lunch was served. They served a nice three course meal. For attending, everyone received a 1 Gb USB flash drive. It was interesting to see how much effort was put into the party when it seemed that no managers knew what was happening. Overall, it was an interesting day, but probably boring for anyone that has been to prior year parties.

On Saturday, I taught another session and had plans to meet my father. The plans were to meet at a subway station near Gyeongbokgung, which is a famous palace during the Joeson Dynasty. Initially, I figured that we would visit the palace and maybe find a place to eat afterwards. I was a little off on my assumption. My father planned to take a side trip before seeing the palace. First, we needed to climb Inwangsan, a small mountain. I came straight from teaching to meet my father, so I was really prepared for a trek. I was wearing a shirt, khakis, sport coat, and dress shoes. My father was wearing similar clothing. We started the journey, which was uncountable amounts of steps, granite footholes, and dirt trails. It take too long, but it wasn't an easy walk. Many sections had a railing or rope to hold onto while climbing. Now, I understand why so many people in the subway are dressed like they are on a trekking expedition with their walking sticks. My father thought that this is an easy 2 km climb, so it didn't matter what I was wearing or the fact that I hadn't eaten since 9AM. We reached the summit in about an hour and from the top, you could see most of Seoul. Later, I found out that he would climb this mountain with his mother, so it meant a lot for me to climb with him.

After climbing down, we went to Gyeongbokgung. This is an old palace location that has been rebuilt a few times due to Japanese invasions. It was interesting to see there was some Japanese and Chinese influences on certain buildings. They also have guards dressed in traditional clothing.

For dinner, we went to Itaewon, which is very close to a US military base and has many foreign people. Mr. Han, my father's friend, joined us. He can speak a little better English, so he did some translating. He has been friends with my father for many years and told me a few stories, but also told me that as my father's friend he couldn't tell me everything. He has some knowledge about my mother and father's relationship, but I will have to wait until my father is more comfortable dealing with the past. Mr. Han knew my grandfather, while the two were both working in Tokyo. I guess that my grandfather lived apart from my father and grandmother for most of his working life. I am not sure why, but I think that it had a great effect on my father and how he feels about my twin and me. In time, I will learn more, but I will need to learn Korean for easier telling of stories. It was an enjoyable meal of bulgoggi, side dishes, rice, and mandu guk. They worried about me eating dinner at a traditional table after challenging hike up the mountain. My body isn't accustomed to sitting for long periods of time and my legs and hips give me problems. Lately, my back has been feeling worse than usual, so sitting for a Korean meal can be a challenge.