Where in the world is Uncle Josh?

It's been almost a year since my brother left to teach English in Seoul, South Korea. He has really settled in nicely and made a nice home for himself. His wit, charm and outgoing personality land him friends where ever he goes and this adventure has been no different. He's got a gaggle of friends he pals around with. He's met people from all over the place - the US, Canada and Great Britain. He's adapting to the culture and even learned the basics of the language.

He's enjoying his time teaching middle school kids English. They can't get enough of the American culture and love hearing how we celebrate holidays (they can't get over Halloween - you go to people's houses dressed in costume and they give you candy??. He has fun telling them about American traditions and often shows them pictures from my blog as examples. Who knew we were serving as a cultural reference!

Korean Calligraphy...

Halloween - Vampire Harry Potter or something? - got many looks on the subway as you can imagine.

Cooking classes...

The kids and their parents are very dedicated to education there. It's quite a change from the school he previously worked at. If a child scores poorly on a test, their parents are so embarrassed and profusely apologetic. The promise to make sure they help them work harder next time. The kids go to school from 8am-4pm every day. There is an optional extension where they will be in school until 7pm. The high schoolers until 9pm. Can you imagine this in the states? We complain about being at school until 3. No wonder our kids are behind!

He's still trying to adapt to some things. Apparently the deodorant is awful and he was rationing off the last stick he brought along, saving it only for "special occasions". The thought was too much to bare so I sent him a few more sticks. He's so tall, he has a hard time finding some things. My mom had to send him a couple of pairs of shoes. At 6'5", he's like a giant walking among the tiny Asian people. He sticks out like a sore thumb every where he goes. He eats Kim Chi for breakfast, this strange fermented cabbage vegetable mixture that Koreans love. He wasn't wild about it at first but he has acquired a taste for it now, even joking it makes him "smell like a Korean", whatever this means. Maybe it's the deodorant? He is much more adventurous that me and has eaten some very exotic foods, including scorpion and LIVE (shudder) octopus. You'll have to watch the video to see for yourself.

He has experienced this bizarre thing called a "silent disco", where there is no music. Everyone wears their headphones and plays their own music on their ipod. It's like walking into a giant warehouse where everyone is dancing around to the their own beat, but all you hear is the sound of shuffling feet. He tried skiing for the first time at a Korean ski resort. He was like a white giant, flying straight down the mountain. Apparently no one explained the concept of turning to him. Hey, we grew up on an island, cut us some slack. He lives in a miniscule apartment not much bigger than our bedroom. The "upstairs" loft area where he sleeps is not even tall enough to stand up in. But the tradeoff is he's right downtown in a high rise building with a subway stop in the basement of his building. He takes the train everywhere he goes. He ran a 5K race and rode in a bike race through the DMZ (the demilitarized zone that serves as a buffer between north and south Korea). It's the most secure border in the world so it was quite an experience, even more so since President Obama was visiting at the time.

The kids go to school year round, but they have the entire month of February off for "Winter Break". The teachers are required to either work or take vacation time if they want to take off. Josh opted to burn some vacation days and go on a few adventures with his friends. He spent a portion of his winter break traveling around Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia. He has a lot of friends who are always up for traveling and they've had some amazing adventures.

They're having some cut backs next year and they won't be needing as many teachers for middle school. They offered him a position teaching elementary, which he accepted. He was initially a little hestitant since he's feels younger children don't "get" his sarcastic humor, but the language barrier really takes care of that anyway. It will be a fun new experience for him.

We can't wait to see him in August when he's home for a visit. He's planning to fly to Pittsburgh when he's back in the states to see us in our new home. For now, we'll just live vicariously through all his crazy adventures!

Check out the live octopus video here (I couldn't figure out how to embed it). Just watching this video turned my stomach. Proceed at your own risk...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJIeMRu9Ipg&feature=colike

Have backpack, will travel..

You can take the boy out of Florida, but...

One of my favs. Can you spot the American in his photo??

I love that there is just a sink in the middle of the restaurant.

Snorkeling in Malaysia

His apartment...

The view...

Angkor Wat in Cambodia - the largest Hindu temple in the world.

Apparently you can have a PARTY in one of these insanely small apartments??

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

5K run and bike ride in the DMZ

Scorpion from a street vendor. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

He would later regret it...