EPTSome background about me. I am actually from North Dakota (people who are from Europe or other areas, North Dakota is small as fuck.) The biggest city I have ever resided in before this has been Minneapolis, but other than that I am just your old 100,000 small city person.)
Why am I in Korea? Well, it all started out pretty much because of StarCraft, because I have played the damned game since I was 12 and I am currently 22. I was never really good, I think the highest I ever got was b5 on WGT and I was on Team LighT for a while, but that was only because I was a WGT admin for awhile. Currently, I go to Konkuk University. I also had the choice to go to Seoul National University, but people tried to tell me that it was the "Harvard of Korea" and I wanted to have the most mindless semester of school ever, and that is currently what I am experiencing. Nothing against the school, but I feel like it is very tuned
to make school and Korea enjoyable for students studying abroad so that they will have more students come over. The campus is beautiful, the teachers are for the most part okay, and it's very accommodating. I only live in a dorm, so I cannot explain living in apartments are to you, but if you're used to student living then apartments won't be too terrible for you. If you're coming here as a student and you live in a dorm, it fucking sucks. For the most part Universities here are very protective and make you sign in and out and they also are very strict about who come in. If you need to bring a girl home, forget it.. you're going to a fucking
love motel, which isn't always the worst, but it can also kick your wallet in the dick. Enough of this boring stuff though.
Korea is a beautiful country. Very green during the summer, rainy and humid (I guess), but it seems like for the most part they try to make Seoul look nice. If someone pukes someplace, you rarely see it the next time you walk by it. The people for the most part are very nice and polite, but I can't always be right about this, because I am very shitty at the language still. I've only had trouble with other people when a Korean guy called my black friend the "n-word", and also in "sh"Itaewon. I tend to stay out of Itaewon, because this is where all of the dumbass American soldiers hangout and also where a lot of the English teachers are. Before I came to Korea, I always thought I would go back and teach English if I ever had trouble finding a job in the USA, but after being here I can honestly say that there has only been 4 English teachers I have liked, and the amount of the ones I cant stand are easy above 50+. If you're an English teacher here, I respect that. I'm sure you're a nice person but I'm sick of talking to people who act like they are the shit when they are people I can't stand back home. This also goes for a lot of the American soldiers, too. They will sometimes just try and start shit at places, because they are so sexually frustrated and so I try and break up a fight and then I end up getting confronted. Like I said before, this is purely a bias with the shit that I have been faced with, and it can all change with what kind of background you have.
Now, since I don't want to bore you with shit that is boring, I'll get to the two things a fat dude like me enjoys.. food and drinking.
First off, the food. Korea is such a refreshing place for food. I honestly miss a nice burger and other food, but Korean food for the most part is very light and it doesn't make you feel like a piece of shit after. One thing I have not came to love, though, is most of the Kimchis. There is just something about it that I can't learn to love yet. For example, just now I just ate BBQ (everyone already knows about this) but it's not only the different types of meat that make it good, but the fixings that come with it. The leaf that you wrap around it is a type of sesame leaf and ssamjang (red sauce) are just something that I haven't had before so it makes the taste so refreshing. Also other meals that I have come to are the many different soups and bibimbap which is just a type of mix rice. The best thing about the food, is if you're eating just a regular Korean meal it is very affordable. Mostly everything is under 15,000 won which is probably about 13-14 dollars and most foods may cost only about 4,000-5,000 won. Another thing that is very great is the amount of street food everywhere. If you're just getting done with
drinking and you just want to go home, but you're really fucking hungry you can just pick up some Mandu and/or Tteokbokki or if you're really fucking hungry you can just go to any place usually, because everything is open so long. Too be honest, there are too many things to mention about the food here that I can explain.. the one thing is that I would stay away from Chinese food here, especially if you think you enjoy American Chinese food, because it is definitely not the same thing. (I've ate dog once. I wouldn't recommend it.) But now onto the thing that my Korean friends and I think I will miss the most. The drinking.
The drinking and partying in Korea is phenomenal. You wake up from your hangover at 2:00 p.m, go eat something, chill out, go eat again with a couple of beers and drinking then you're back out till 6-7 am again and you just repeat. Now let's go back to where I am from.. North Dakota. I'm usually not the club person because I mostly just go to bars when I am back in the US, but when I do go to one I always tend to have fun. This has not changed in Korea. Everywhere you go it seems like there is always someone drinking or ready to drink. As I'm walking on the streets I'm seeing various guys and girls being held up by their friends or I
see someone on the side of the road puking up a shit load of rice. God bless Soju. As soon as I wrote that, though, I say God curse soju. I am slowly starting to get used to it where it doesn't fuck me up quite as bad as it did before, but it will still get you pretty messed up and if you're drinking with Korean friends.. YOU WILL DIE. I've never seen someone so little slam down so many bottles of this light, no-taste alcohol.. but they're damn good at it. The bar scenes and the club scenes are also great. At first, I would always take a taxi or the metro to the Hondae area (Hongik University) because the clubs are more affordable for a student
like me, but lately the area has started to wear out on me. Lately, we have been checking out areas and bars in Apgujeong and it has seemed to become more fun for us. The bars/clubs will be a little more expensive to get in, but you always have a good time and the atmosphere is great. I would also say the women will be better looking in the Kangnam area, but you can always find good looking women in other areas.
In Korea it's really hit or miss. I am not some kind of model, but I've never been the guy whose dick gets more blood in it than a street food Sundae over Korean women, because they're all so different. Since I am in school, I have to deal with the types that act almost like they are still 14 years old and they get too awkwardly shy. These types are "cute", almost like a younger sister or a friends younger sister. Then there are the types that speak a lot of English and have been influenced too much by western culture. These types typically only hangout with foreigners and they hangout with too many dip shits that they think they are way
too hot for their own skin, but most of them liked to be controlled as shit, it sucks. I don't have a name for these other than I hate them. Then there will be the kind where they're very good looking, but they're English isn't so good or they won't even speak English to you and if you dance with them for awhile and try to spark a conversation with them, if you don't know Korean, you'll end up looking like a retard. I am not a woman expert by any means, but this is just what I have come to see. I don't really know what else to add about the party scene, because there is really too much to cover. If you come here, and you drink, you will have fun. Enough said.
Now the reason we're all here.. ESPORTS. WOW. To be honest, I wouldn't know. I came here because of StarCraft, but I have only been to two GSL matches. I saw Boxer lose and then I watched the GSL finals between Genius and DRG which were boring as hell. I was supposed to watch SKT1 and KT Rolster play but I was too fucking hungover from the night before and I kept getting lost and I was too fucking nasty to meet up with the other group. (Sorry guys and thanks for the ticket). I was also supposed to go see the most recent GSL final, because it was about a 5 minute cab away, but once again same story. If you're a League of Legends fan or StarCraft fan you really can't go wrong here. I remember the first night I was here, I met a guy teaching here and he was with his Korean girlfriend
(they were the coolest we've met yet. He's Canadian, go figure.) They were talking with me and my friend on why we came and I said I wanted something totally different then what I'm used to and then I had to throw in the "..and I used to play this game since I was 12.. it's called StarCraft". Right after that the Korean girl who spoke great English replied with "In the pipe, five by five." and I knew I was in the right fucking place for the next four months of my life. Also, there are PC Bangs literally EVERYWHERE. You can't miss one, so if you ever want to play a game it's always there, but I haven't been too hot into games lately, because I'm
just trying to live Seoul to the fullest.
Well, I've rambled for long enough. I know I missed a lot and I know if you live here, you will probably have different ideas about this place, but fuck it. This is what I've experienced. Also, if you're an English teacher or a soldier here.. sorry, just my experiences. I guess, if you have any questions I would probably be the worst person to ask, but I will try, and if I'm totally wrong.. someone will come in here and correct my dumb ass.
