Sweat Monster

It's really hot and sweaty right now in Korea. I took this photo this morning at 7:50 after I returned from my run. here is complete sweat coverage of my T-shirt. It's something I'm proud of and I always feel like I've accomplished something when I can attain full coverage. Ideally I would take my shirt off, or not even start with it on, but, this Korea, where showing such skin would be considered highly offensive. I'd get stared at like I was Mel Gibson walking down Hollywood Boulevard.

I'm guessing it was around 80 degrees when i departed at 6:45 this morning, with the dew point pretty high as well. In some ways not being able to leave my school right now is a blessing. All I'd do is sweat, or stay in my apartment with the A/C on. Instead I plan on taking a little nap and planning my vacation..and gazing out the window at the beautiful blue sky.

"Worst comes to worst, we'll get some prostitutes and call it a night."

That was the quote of the weekend overheard at Mudfest this past weekend, out on the west coast of the Korean peninsula. I'm fairly sure it was said by some US military guys I passed by them at around 2 AM. And it summed up the weekend pretty nicely.

What Mudfest is, is a gathering of Koreans and mainly foreigners in a small town on the coast. It is centerd around the healing and health properties of the areas mud. But what it actually is a poormans spring break, where Korea meets the Jersey Shore. It's a place where thousands of Military and teachers descend for a weekend of drinking and debauchery. For a weekend of losing their minds and catching up with friends from around the country. I have a few pictures of this weekend. But due to the environmental condidtions and my proclivity to lose things and or damage them I only have a small collection of photos. The rest of the time I was in the ocean, on the beach, in the mud, in the rain or trying to give myself alcohol poisoning. All of which don't mix with a 500 dollar camera

On Saturday night, the festival put on a fireworks show, then afterwords our buddy Rufus put on a fire show of his own. Previously on Saturday Rufus lost his glasses in the ocean and needed to borrow mine in order see. He said the biggest disappointment of his afternoon without sight was not being able to check out the ladies. Poor guy.

Here's a list of other things lost at Mudfest:
1. An Ipod (not mine...I lost mine a year ago and refuse to buy another piece of technology I will loose eventually.)
2. A drybag with money, ID card and 3 bank cards (which we found out were turned into the police and nothing was taken.)
3. Rufus' glasses
4. Dignity
5. Braincells.

It wouldn't be a Ben Koss blog with out a couple pictures of some of the local ladies. On Sunday afternoon the skies cleared up and the Mudfest organizers were kind enough to grace us with the presence of some random girl group which are so prevalent and popular in South Korea.



It's called Mudfest for a reason. There's mudpainting, mud slides of various sizes, mud wresting, mud prison, mud slinging, mud swimming, mud obstacle courses.


The place was packed. Not only with foreigners, but with Koreans, especially on Sunday. Koreans really like to play in the ocean and wear lots of clothes, since the sun is the devil. They also like to stay as close to each other possible. On any popular Korean beach you aren't allowed to swim out more that 40 feet, or you're headed back into the shallows, like a Japanese dolphin.

What I don't have pictures of is the day before when there were solid waves that were perfect for body surfing. Saturdays activities went like this: Drink, mud, swim, drink, mud swim. Until you were too cold or too drunk to function anymore and needed a hot shower and some food in your stomach to make you feel human again.


There were dozens of Korean Paparazzi around. I'm not sure if they were media or just hobbiests. But there were dozens of them. all with cameras worth thousands of dollars. My theory is they are Korean secret service and are being paid by the government to spy on foreigners.

Random girls exiting the obstacle course.

If you think I'm the only one with this photo, think again. There were about 15 people with a camera in this girls face. It was like seeing a Bear in Yellowstone....or seeing Brittney Spears get out of a car.
A couple of my favorite ladies on the beach. Koreans really don't like the sun, and they don't sweat either. These were a couple of secret service/photographers I befriended while they were cruising the beach looking people to photograph. Or they were bee keepers, I'm really not sure.

But all in all, it was a great weekend spent with some great friends. It was a great experience that I'm glad only comes around once a year. Right now my liver needs a break, I could use a some fruits and vegetables, and maybe a night or two in a temple to clean up my mind and body.

In other news I'm currently warming my desk like a pro. it's summer camp time in Korea. I teach from 9-12, then I'm required to stay at the school, even though there are no students or teachers. (This is the part where I should should bitch and moan about Korea, and I may dedicate a brief blog entry to this later this week...Lord knows I have the free time. ) This will go on for 3 weeks. Then I' off to Mongolia for 2 weeks of vacation. Then 3 weeks of teaching normal classes, then 1 week in Japan. I guess I have to take the good with the bad.

Birthdays, Tangents and Dong envy.

Finally, an update of this blog. There are three reasons why I haven't done so more frequently. One, I haven't taken many photos lately. Two, I haven't been doing a ton of interesting things. And 3, overall apathy towards doing things, writing and taking photos.

But I guess, on the other hand I've been busy. I had a 30th birthday. There was the 4th of July which required celebrating. The World Cup has kept me up to all hours of the night. Either to watch Korea or America play in the conveniently timed 3:30 AM Korean time kickoff. I also have this thing called a job, where I have to show up, be polite, smile and be an ambassador of the English language.

Here's the first of a couple tangents. watching the USA-Algeria game was just as exciting as being in the US. We all had the same reaction as I saw in some of the videos being passed around the Internet. A build up as they charged down the field in the 91st minute. Then a yell as the first shot was blocked, then a 2 second silent pause as the ball floated in the Goalie box, then pure mayhem and pandemonium as Donavon pounded it into the back of the net. Tangent Alert: This was followed by one of the US fans getting "Iced." Where you get on one knee and shotgun a Smirnoff Ice. I missed the boat on getting "Iced." But once in a while I see someone doing it in a picture on Facebook. (Cousin Matt, I'm talking to you.) I know it's all in good fun, but I don't feel like I'm missing out on anything by not doing it.

Tangent of a tangent Alert: What's wrong with drinking Smirnoff Ice in the first place fellas? It comes in a wide variety of flavors. It has a solid alcohol content, plus lots of sugar so it gives you a nice, quick buzz. And it tastes better than cheap beers like Coors or Miller Lite. I say drink up and enjoy the Smirnoff. There shouldn't be any silly marketing gimmicks involved. Any confident man can pull it off.

Returning to the above picture. I thought it summed up my 30th birthday quite nicely: A little blurry and out of focus. I had a nice gathering at one of the bars in one of my favorite "dong's." And had a few of my favorite shots: whiskey.


This blog is a little scattered today. But I figure all my scattered blog posts should have an attractive Korean girl or two. Last weekend we were cruising through one of the college areas in Busan. We came upon a crosswalk at a busy intersection. My buddy Jake said, "check that out." And pointed to the wall of 10 girls waiting to cross the street. We just stood there as they all passed in front of us. I felt like Brett Michaels on the first day of "Rock of Love." Minus the heart attack.

I thought I'd throw in a few more photos of my area, otherwise known as Goejeong-dong. This is the street that passes in front of my home, taken at night with a 4 second shutter speed. My home is located directly under the first white street light on the right hand side of the street. Yes, it's noisy. But I've gotten used to my bed shaking at night as the semi trucks rumble buy, and the constant honking during rush hours.


This is the view from my school of the scrap yard. The harbor is called Gamcheon Harbor and it's used for ship building and fish processing. As well as steel making. There are plenty of Russians around, as I've mentioned before. There are few scrapyards in my area. Sometimes I do a run where I pass 4 or 5 of them. I call it the scrap yard shuffle.



The weather has certainly changed in the past few weeks. Gone are the crisp, sunny evenings where I could see all the way to Haeundae Beach from the mountain above my "Dong." it's now the rainy season. (Though only on the weekends.) The rest of the time it's cloudy and humid. I think the humidity ranges from 75% to about 400%. Which is a real treat for running. I now try to run before 7 AM or after 7 PM.

These two photos above are a good example of the haziness. They were taken from the same vantage point and of nearly the same place; the downtown Busan harbor. The second one is in sepia. Yep, there's not a hole hell of a lot to look at.


Here's another photo of one of the neighborhoods...I mean "dong's" surrounding my home. When I think of a Korean home,I don't think of home like this. I think of massive apartment buildings which tower over Busan's never ending skyline. All looking the same, off white, small windows, numbers on the side, 203, 301, etc.

If I showed you this picture and gave you a multiple choice test. What would you choose:
A. India
B.Mexico
C. Ecuador
D. Korea
E. Italy

I guarantee you wouldn't choose South Korea. I would pick India. With bright colored homes, narrow streets barely wide enough for a car...or cow and blue water tanks on the roof, it brings be back to traveling around Rajastan.
In some ways I like living in a neighborhood like this. It's real, authentic and genuine. The streets ans sidewalks are narrow and crooked, and blocked by rubbish and motorcycles. Sometimes it would be convenient to live in a more westernized neighborhood where I can get a philly cheese steak and a Dr. Pepper just around the corner. But I like the rough edges of my "dong."


One big difference from living in the states is where the nice houses are. As you travel away from the city and into the hills, you don't find mansions and estates with security fences and Land Rovers. All those people live in the city, in an anonymous Lotte tower. Up in the hills are the working class, the farmer, the slums almost. One of my favorite places to run though is a little section of town above Gudeok-dong, where this photo was taken. This little shack of scrap metal is above a little plot of farmland. In the distance I can hear dogs barking, most likely being raised to be eaten. They do have great views though of the Nakdong River.

Finally, the 4th of July was on Sunday. It capped off another great weekend of free drinks at a casino, night clubbing, hiking, temples, World Cup and going to the beach. In America it's customary to cook some meet and drink some beer for this holiday. In Korea that's called going on to dinner. It always nice to end Sundays with Korean BBQ and hanging with some friends. Unfortunately for me, this tasty dinner was followed by a 1 hour bus ride across town, back to crooked sidewalks and rough edges of Goejeong-dong.