Tijuana & San Diego
March 20, 2003
Still in San Diego. Had a good friend from my 1996-1997 Busan Korea days stop by here on his way back to Colombia. He's been on the road for nearly seven years and this is first time back to his hometown of San Diego. I met him in Busan during that year (96-97) and he stayed for another year I believe.. then he took a boat to China.. and bought a bycycle and rode it along the Chinese coast all the way down through Vietnam.. then I think he just overland traveled it throughout the rest of Southeast Asia and flew to Australia to pick apples. From there he took a ticket to South Africa and another ticket to South America, where in a roundabout way he ended up teaching and living in Bogota, Colombia the last couple years. Now he has a fiance, visiting his family and friends in the USA and he went back down to Bogota. Very interesting guy. I had to admit I was just about ready to move to Colombia myself!
As for me, well, things are about the same in San Diego. I did have another friend visit me from New York City though. Her and her friend wanted to check out Southern California. The New York economy does not sound good though, and part of her visit was to check it out for a possible move and for the jobs. Unfortunately I didn't think the job market was good here or anywhere in the USA for that matter. It certainly didn't seem to be the case for New York City at this time. Lots of my old friends have steadily been losing their jobs and unable to find anything else. Hmm.. sounds like my fate with San Francisco.
Anyhow, of course both of their visits, I brought them down to Mexico. Tijuana has some ripping little areas. There is a great place called "Plaza Fiesta" which has almost zero foreigners, all Mexicans, and all live music, partying, dancing, drinking, etc. Very middle class and upper middle class. Lots of people being hip and wearing black. It almost felt like I was in New York momentarily.
Another nice area of Tijuana is "Puebla Amigo" which has Senor Frogs. Its also fairly close to the border, and also very middle-class and upper middle class. In fact, I just don't understand why all the foreigners only to Avenida Revolucion and the redlight district? There is so much cooler places and they are absolutely safe!! So many people are so scared to death of Tijuana, but now I know why.. its because they go directly and only to the redlight district!! No wonder it scares them! I don't know where the seediest most disgusting part of San Diego is at, but if it was a major tourist attraction and everyone in the world went to San Diego and directly to its seediest ugliest part of the city.. then I could see how and why Tijuana gets its name! But really, there is SO MUCH more there than that.. world class symphonies (not that I'd go), but world class everything there.. some nice streets.. even a statue of Abraham Lincoln.. which was a shocker to me!
Okay, enough ranting and raving about Tijuana and Mexico. Other news. My apartment time and my time in San Diego is just about finished. I'm leaving... yes.. again!! I'm leaving again!! Where? well.. back to Korea of course.. I have to keep writing "SEOUL JOURNALS" as isn't that the purpose of this journal?? Not only that, but I found a pretty cool job there!! I haven't signed a contract yet, so I will keep it a secret as to what its all about for now. But I'm excited about it. Its along the lines of teaching English, so don't question it too much!! Anyhow, I am definetely excited to get back to my beloved city Seoul... plus I am even more forward to getting back to my teacher/traveler lifestyle that makes me a very very happy man!! So next time, you'll see the SEOUL JOURNALS back in full-force!!
However, first I gotta once again drive my car back across country.. etc, etc, etc.. so don't expect any immediate update.. give me about two weeks before I get myself back over there! Actually, I've purchased the flight ticket already and I leave Seoul in just slightly less than 2 weeks from today's date.
While I'm busy packing, driving across country, unpacking, and packing again. I've finished a few new journals for you to look at. Check out this page Pre-Seoul Journals. I've just written about my years living in Yellowstone National Park, Grand Canyon National Park, Minneapolis Minnesota, Portland Oregon, Busan Korea, Thailand, and Nepal. Ones that will be shortly worked on as well will me past journals on Hungary, Turkey, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and New York City. So I STRONGLY encourage you to check it out!! The web page again is Pre-Seoul Journals.
Okay, I'll be writing to you next from Seoul.. and in addition I'm thinking of setting up a blogging website.. more interactive. a good way to start the NEXT Seoul Journals.. let me know what you think about that.. just send an email if you'd like.. I'm particularly interested to find out from others what all I can do with blogging.. it definetely seems the way to go.. I've given a small attempt at Seoul Blogging. Keep watching here though, as I'm not even close to making any transition to blogging yet. My hopes for it is to make an intertactive site regarding Korean culture, politics, economics, North Korean relations, US protests/involvements, daily life, tensions on the Peninsula, etc. That is the goal - please help me out with any insights, expertise, or otherwise you can share.
Seoul, Korea:
April 15, 2003
You can email me at:
Wintermoon2@yahoo.com