Return to the Country of Toilet Seat Covers

This Sunday I traded one U.S. army stronghold for another- I traveled from Seoul to Guam in order to obtain a teaching visa from the Korean consulate there. I actually entered the country without a visa and have been teaching since the beginning of June without the proper status. Apparently this is not an altogether uncommon practice.

Fortunately, my academy paid for my flight. Unfortunately, that flight left at 8:20 pm and arrived at 2 am in Guam. Thus, in the midst of a summer storm, I managed to find the airport shuttle to take me from my goshitel to the airport and take my first flight out of the country since I arrived on June 4.

Reentering U.S. territory was strange, though not shockingly so. I was especially struck by the lack of bright, neon colors everywhere and the diminished amount of "cutesiness" I hadn't previously recognized was so integral to modern Korean culture. Being able to converse with restaurant and hotel workers was actually not as satisfying as I had imagined it would be- I think I've grown so used to not being able to hold conversations with workers that I've almost accepted it as normal.

I finally arrived in my hotel room around 2:30 am, slept, checked out, and headed over to the consulate at 11 am.

looking out the window

The consulate turned out to be a house behind a strip mall. There seemed to be a total of three people working there, and I spied a swimming pool in the backyard.

The Korean Consulate in Guam

Luckily, this meant that the turnaround time for my visa was about half a day. I eagerly found a hole-in-the-wall Chinese restaurant near the consulate and proceeded to order, then devour, the first beef dish I could find.


So intent was I on gorging myself on cow meat, however, that I failed to realize that a tropical storm had begun while I was eating my meal. Suddenly, my plans of spending my day in Guam relaxing on the beach were completely shot. Since it would be a very wet 40 minute walk back to the hotel area, I spent the afternoon in a mail services area, then wandered around an outlet mall. Finally, I procured my visa and returned to Tumon, the touristy area of Guam.

Guam reminded me of Hawaii, only less developed, slightly trashier, and with more Japanese and Korean tourists. Instead of being misidentified as a Korean, I was frequently asked "Japanese?" and, on one occasion "Doko made?" (Where to?)




My co-teacher Ben had spent a few months working at a resort in Saipan which happened to have another location in Guam. Ben got in touch with his old boss, who now works at the Guam resort, to get me into the waterpark there. Sadly, the storm prevented me from getting to the waterpark until evening, and by that time I had no luck reaching Ben's old boss.

the waterpark

For dinner I went to a buffet which was supposed to be $11 and delicious; it turned out to be $16.50 and only somewhat delicious. Still, I ate enough beef to make it worth it.

I was tempted to just stay in Guam and teach SAT there... not

My final stop was Guam's Kmart, which claims to be the largest Kmart in the world. I have my doubts.

The building only extends a little past the right edge of this picture

Among the goods I purchased here were a pillow, peanut butter, and spaghetti. Being roomless, I hung out in the hotel lobby until 12:30 am, then in the airport until 3:20 when my flight left. From the airport, I unloaded at my goshitel then rushed over to teach my 10 am class.


-----
Random Note:

I can only dream of being as good as these guys.