Another Autumn Gone

Trash and I have had a great few months. We have been busy as usual but are also really enjoying our time here in Korea. We've realized that, according to our plans, we only have another year and a half here in East Asia so we're really trying to make the most of the time we have left.

Two weekends ago we had a much needed weekend off from our busy band schedule. We've been playing shows almost every weekend, but that Saturday, we spent hiking at Dobong Mountain. It was absolutely beautiful! The leaves were at the peak of their Fall colors, and we had perfect hiking weather, not too hot and not too cold. We spent the better part of 5 hours on our round trip to the highest peak and back. That included a nice picnic at the top with some traditional korean meat, kimchi, kimbab (rice/vegetable rolls) and makgalli (korean rice wine).

Then came Halloween. Trash and I organized a big Halloween punk rock show/costume party in the Hongdae neighborhood. There were 7 bands, and it started around 10pm. The music lasted until around 2:30am, and when we left at 3:30, there were still a few regulars hanging around. At the busiest time (which is also when we were on stage), there were about 100 people having a good time and some exceptional costumes; Kim Jung-Il sang for a local hardcore punk band. Dr. Manhattan (the version with a suit) was seen walking around for a while, and my whole band dressed up as Swine Flu (Alex and I in scrubs. Honggu in a shirt, tie and Doctor's coat. Trash as a sexy nurse...all of us with pig noses). It was the Trash's first ever Halloween party, and we really enjoyed it.

(outside before the show)

(Kim Jung-Il singing HARDCORE!)

(Bint Eastwood)

(...Whatever That Means)

(My lovely wife and I)

On the Radio

Life continues to go well in Korea. Trash and I have a regular routine. Between our jobs, friends, the band and just everyday life, we are really busy.

The most exciting thing to happen recently was having a song of ours played on the radio. Next month, we'll be playing in the Stomper's Battle of the Bands. It's a pretty big event in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul. qualifying rounds are on each of the first 3 Saturdays in November. The winner from each round, and the band deemed the best runner up from the three rounds, moves onto the final round on the November 28th. We'll be playing in round 3, and they expect about 200-300 people to attend every weekend.

Anyway, Summer Walker, the organizer of the event, went on the radio to talk about it. She talked about how the event is run, and then, started talking about the different bands that were gonna play. The first band mentioned, ...Whatever That Means. She talked about us a little and then, played our home recording of the song "Phase"

It was pretty exciting to hear my band on the radio and a DJ talking about how much she liked us. All in all, a great moment :)

The New Term Begins

It's been an interesting few weeks. As we were winding down the Summer Term, the school decided to replace the windows in our building. As they were doing it, they cracked the ceiling and discovered asbestos. That got us an unexpected 6 day weekend while the HazMat guys came in and cleaned out the building. Very nice.

This week, the term is officially over. We've finished our books, and the kids get their fun day of games and English videos. I'll be watching a lot of Wallace and Gromit in the coming periods. Monday, the new term begins which means another day of handing out books, introductions and games. Overall, it's been a good few weeks. There have been some hiccups along the way, but it's been okay.

Tonight is ...Whatever That Means' first real punk rock show. We're pretty excited. We'll be playing at Club Spot with 5 other bands. There's actually a bit of a mix. There are 4 punk bands, 1 indie rock band, and one hardcore band. Should be a good time.

Website Up

We have our website up HERE. As of now, there is only one live video on it. We're going to try to do some simple, live recording at practice this week. Hopefully, there will be more music up soon.

Our next show will be August 8th. It's a benefit for the local animal rescue organization. We're looking forward to it. We should have some new songs to play as well.

...Whatever That Means

After several months of practicing as a three piece, bothering everyone we know and putting up random advertisements online, our band "...Whatever That Means" has a lead guitar player. We've only been practicing with him, Alex, for two weeks, but we have out first show this weekend in a smaller city outside Seoul called DaeJeon (대전). We practiced a lot this week to get ready for the show and are pretty excited about it. Hopefully, all will go well, and we'll get offered some more shows in the near future.

2 Years and Running

I know my posts on here have been sparse at best. There are two main reasons for that. First, we are really busy. I work full time at the elementary school (of course, full time means 6 hours a day...sometimes 5), teach one on one lessons to businessmen in the mornings before school and do some private tutoring at night as well. Plus, we've been having band practice twice a week (we're hoping to have our first show soon!). The second reason, life here has become so normal to me that I don't feel the need to update nearly as much as when I first got here. That said, I have decided to do a better job in the future. Now onto the next thing.....

This Saturday, July 11th at 11:45pm Korea time (10:45am EST) will mark two years since my plane first landed in Korea. Trash and I will be celebrating the anniversary at the Boryeong Mud Festival again. It's amazing how much life has changed since then. I'm working at my third school, live in my third apartment, speak a little Korean, play in a local punk rock band, have been to Vietnam and Cambodia.....oh yeah, and I got married too! Amazing how much can change in two years. I never would've guessed things would be like this two years ago. I'm very happy with all these changes. It's been an amazing run, and it's not over yet!

Trash and I came back here three months ago planning to stay for about a year and a half to two years more. That remains the plan. We're doing our best to save money to ensure a good move home with as little stress as possible....especially since there will be SO much stress that just can't be avoided.

Anyway, that's where we stand for now. Life is good and we're very happy :)

The New Ride

Goodbye old, crappy, falling apart scooter. Hello new, awesome scooter!

*click to zoom in