Macau

On my fourth trip to Hong Kong I finally took the 70 minute ferry ride out to Macau to see Portugal's version of Hong Kong. I was pleasantly surprised.

Macau is famous as a sort of Chinese Las Vegas, but that comparison is unfair. Las Vegas was essentially thrown together in the 1940's and 50's by real life versions of the Corleone family. Everything there is artificial. Vegas is just a place to gamble, eat and swim, but it is fun. In the 21st century it is even family friendly. 

Macau casino's are not fun at all. It is a game of spot the nouveau-riche mainlanders (not hard, the men with their suits out of the mid 80's and long, greasy hair and excessive jewellery next to their wives with their shiny track suits, less than subtle plastic surgeries, over-sized sunglasses and Louis Vuitton bags that are bigger than they are) gamble and gamble some more. No drinks, no buffets, no pools. Just gamble. It is also not a place for kids. We left at 8 for Hong Kong but even then the working girls were already noticeable. 

However, unlike Las Vegas, Macau has a real history. It was a Portuguese colony for five hundred years and that mix of Portugal and southern Chinese cultures has left a real legacy. There are actual sights to see, not just replica's of famous things. A walk across the peninsula will get you a real park and colonial lighthouse, ruins, a shopping district that gives Hong Kong a run for its money, several amazing seaside walks and Macau tower, where you can sit and watch Macau light up at night (the best part of the casino's is the light show they give). In fact the casino's are only one area of Macau, the rest is residential or tourist related. You can easily spend a day in Macau and not even visit a casino (though walking through one is amazing for people watching). In fact, were I to visit Macau again I would eat and visit a few lesser places we didn't have time to see. I doubt I would visit a casino at all. Try going to Vegas without hitting a casino.

Anyway, for our visit we took an 11am ferry from Sheung Wan in Hong Kong and were in Macau before 1. We walked across the south of the peninsula, up to a Potuguese fort to get views of the city. The residential areas were very telling, where there were new, ultra-modern high rises next to buildings that would be condemned in the west. To the south was the main downtown area. We then headed through town to the ruins of St. Paul's Cathedral. At one point the largest Catholic Church in Asia, it was abandoned when Jesuits were banned by the church and suffered a fire years later. Today only the main entrance exists but it is still spectacular. Next was a walk through a very crowded downtown area to the casino district and from there south to Macau Tower. You can see from there just how close mainland China is to Macau. In Hong Kong you could forget that the mainland exists but not in Macau. Anyway, at the top of Macau Tower we sat down for a couple of beers and watched Macau light up. Then it was off to the casino's, dinner, and Hong Kong.

Macau Ferry Terminal

Colonial Era Street

Many People

Old and New Macau

Residential Area

Ruins of St. Paul

The Near Side of the River is Macau, the far

side is Mainland China

The Bridges to Taipa and Coloane

The Casinos at Night

Nice Beer

Christmas Tree is Up

Well it might be a day early, but on Nov 30th the tree went up, all four feet of it. Last year I almost forgot about Christmas but this year I am already in to Christmas films and music.

I think with winter blues so prevalent in Korea I need a more proactive approach, so getting in to Christmas is my solution..... and going to Hong Kong on Wednesday, that will help too.

Anyway Yen and I set it up and I like it.

Paper Two Done

and submitted.

My second of six papers is finally off and I am very happy to see the last of it.

Our topic choices this time were very broad and, I think, too much for the 4000 words allotted. I have decided to take the paper and apply it directly to what I do, both because it made all that academia relevant, and because it gave me a focus for such a short paper.

Overall I was happy with it, but in a month or so I'll know if it was good. Anyway, a week of relative rest and then on Tues or Wed I head to Seoul and Hong Kong!

Daddy David

I saw my friend David on skype this morning, went to say hi. He wrote back:

"can't talk, baby just born :)"
"chat later."


So a big congrats to David and his lovely wife Em who are now a proud mom and dad. Great to see life in Beijing working out so well for two such amazing people.

I hope I can see the little one when I finally make it to Beijing.

Congrats bro.

Orientation, It Was Better Than I Expected

Man these orientations are always amazing, and this one didn't disappoint.

It started with a woman who runs KOTESOL is Daegu. She was giving a speech on ESL instruction that was, in reality, a sales pitch for her husband's books. While she actually had some great ideas the simple fact is that 99% of us would be unable to implement them solely because we work at private companies with set curricula. Also, well lets be honest, 90% of people in that room were not actually certified EFL teachers. Korea shops bargain basement for its instructors and while there are many that are actually quite good, many would not have the skills to do what she is suggesting or even the interest in doing so. Well meaning but not useful.

Then we had a western guy talking to us about Korean etiquette. His sole qualification seemed to be that he had lived here for twelve years. His presentation, entitled "Life in the Gu" was a fantastic start (Gu means administrative district, and while a few newcomers like to call Daegu 'the Gu' they quickly figure out how dumb it sounds to call their home 'the municipality'). Twelve years, I can learn nothing from him. He started by telling us about the research he had to do to find non-drinking activities in Daegu (I know what he does every weekend). He scrolled through such great organizations as the Daegu sports clubs, theater troupe and language exchange groups in about a minute (there were more but he scrolled through too quickly to read them). He then presented a video, clearly made as a comedy by some local expats on Daegu's foreign friendly bars (which is a misnomer as every bar is friendly to non-GI's, they are just not western style). I felt bad for people featured in that video as I am sure they would never have agreed to do it if they knew they would wind up there. Plus we all look like drunk idiots to the Koreans in attendance. Twelve years he has been here. Then I get to hear about how important it is to make inroads in the foreigner community. Go out with them lots. Introverts, explorers and people who want down time need not live here. So at this point I know that there are lots of bars to drink in and something else and it is all white people. Great. Then comes Korean interaction. First, don't show up to work drunk. I have never done that, nor would most people. If they do they should be fired immediately. Though he assured us all that he wasn't being patronizing, so that was nice. Second, his buddy had two Koreans lie and say he beat them up in a bar so he paid a bunch of money to them and had legal problems, be careful of those Koreans or you'll end up like his buddy. Third, learn Korean. He reads and speaks hangeul well (hangeul being the Korean alphabet, he speaks alphabet well. I'd say it was an honest slip of the tongue that I have made as well except he said it three times and never corrected himself).
The end.
What I took away from this was:
-drink lots, but only with westerners.
-In fact, make sure you go out every night you can with foreigners.
-Koreans are scary.
-Learn to speak the Korean alphabet.
-sober up enough for work.
-There are other things to do but you'll be too hungover to do them.

Well if I took his advice I wouldn't have my current and wonderful girlfriend, friends such as Kwangho and his family, other Korean or any non-western friends in general. I would also be unable to do an MA or Moonkkang stories and editing cause I'd be hungover all the time. Plus all the great food, exploring etc. that his game plan would make impossible. These include most of my fondest memories in Korea.

To be fair, people who know him said they were surprised, that he is actually a very nice guy and that speech didn't reflect him at all. I am sure that is true, and in another context he may very well be a decent guy. In fact I bet it is hard to do that and he tried to make something that a new person may find useful. The problem is that it was just such bad advice.



Anyway after those wonderful speeches I left and had a great afternoon downtown with Eddie, Jarrod and Hayley. We had sushi and coffee and hung out until we had to go to work. Jarrod is working with us this week so we all jumped in a cab. Actually that afternoon made the whole seminar worthwhile I guess, though I could have used the time far more productively or just spent it all downtown eating and drinking coffee.

Anyway, I just laugh and put the whole orientation experience under that file of absurd stories that can only happen if you live abroad. Twenty-four hours later and I am joking with Mike about it. Life in the Gu I guess.

So Many Papers! A Little Free Time.

Well I am swimming in work this month. It is not enjoyable.

I was able to get out a bit on Saturday night as Matt, a coworker of Mike's and his girlfriend Cate were in Daegu for the weekend to hike the local mountains and see the temples. Yen and I went to meet them.

We met Saturday night for BBQ and a couple beers but Cate and Yen were ready to sleep by around 10. We did manage to eat Obama BBQ, which is pork strips in black pepper sauce (black pepper, Obama, get it?). Despite the minor racism it was a great meal. However, travel/hiking or work after four hours sleep will knock you out and it was an early night. It was still a lot of fun though and Matt is a very interesting guy with a lot of great stories. The next day Yen and I went to see Thor 2. I was surprisingly impressed, especially after the moderate disappointment of Iron Man 3. I am by and large sick of these comic book films but I do admit I have a soft spot for the Avengers... or Thor and Iron Man anyway. Especially after Chris Nolan's Godfather 3 finish to his Batman trilogy....

Anyway, that aside it is second paper crunch time and more Moonkkang stories. Should keep me busy this week.

Orientation

Well Daegu's yearly "orientation" for hagwon teachers is upon us and I have been unable to dodge the bullet this time.

It is basically an introduction to Korea with helpful tips such as how to get up a bank account and how to be polite in Korea. Now if I had been here for thirty days or so this might be very useful, but I am going on five years here and going with people who have been here as long, or longer, than me.

Some folks are already complaining about the 930am start as most of us work evenings, but I think they are kids whining. I was up at 8am today, get your fat, lazy asses out of bed! But seriously it isn't the time so much as the fact that it will be utterly useless to 90% of the people there.

Now an orientation for new people might be a good idea, in fact it would be. A booklet on "how to_______" would help newbies out immensely I am sure. But at this point it is rather ridiculous for me. I am on my Korean back nine for sure and whether I leave to do my dissertation (Feb 2015) or after my dissertation (Oct 2015) I will be gone by one of those dates, if I haven't figured out Daegu by now I never will now will I?

Finally, the last half is an "introduction to Korean culture" lecture and, I believe, a Tae Kwon do show. Now I get that my fictional handbook should have a few do's and don't's for Korean society, but we are not cultural ambassadors. I have been hired to do a job, that is all. Now I can CHOOSE to get out and explore a bit, but if some guy wants to come here and spend two years getting drunk at pajama parties and scavenger hunts at MF Bar and Thursday Party that is his choice/loss. If you choose to be adventurous great, if you choose to learn a few things about Korean great, but it is not a responsibility nor the governments job to enforce you doing that.

Anyway, I'll be up at the usual time tomorrow :D to be off to learn how to open a Korean bank and that kimchi is very famous in Korea.