no this isn't going to be my religious rant, nor is it going to be about jesus. instead its about having our goodbye dinner with sammy and julie. horace and i treated them to bbq at our favorite place. it had been over a month since we were last there. we were greeted with handshakes and hellos from our favorite bbq lady. it was good to be back. i forgot how good and fresh the food is there. by far its the best bbq in ansan. i can say that now because i've tried three other places. i did realize last night that i still not able to welcome soju back into my life. i tried drinking a little of it last night and it wasn't going down to well. i guess thats what happens when one over does it. hopefully in another months time i'll be able to return to my favorite korean beverage. in the meantime its back to beer. dinner was nice. it was kind of sad to realize that i won't be seeing sammy at school anymore. she's been so helpful and nice to us. hopefully we'll continue to keep in contact with her.
in school today the "little brenda" who was coloring a bunny decided to have the bunny called horace "a stupid, shithead" or something like that. of course it was in korean so he had sammy translate it. when he showed it to jk, jk sort of softened the whole thing up making light of the situation. i know i've never taught in america but i don't think our teachers and principals would make light of such a situation. at lunch sammy overheard "little brenda" whispering to lisa that she hates teacher horace. this little girl is definitely something. we now refer to her as "the omen" or "bad seed". the minute i see her head spin i'm out of there.
Monday, November 29, 2004
revolving door
today was a complete bummer of a day. everyone is up in arms about having to teach nine hours. they decided to combine one of the green a classes so now i get to teach that class. it wouldn't be so bad if the students were on the same level but they aren't. one is my student from before and the other two were horace's. well we were a lot farther along in my class and now these two girls are completely lost. their reading is fine but they don't really comprehend any of it and they are definitely not understanding prefixes. i will probably have to give them extra attention. i don't want to review everything we've done because ashley will be bored. hopefully it will all come together. to make things worse our part-time teacher julie quit today. this really sucks because she was good. i guess jk had made some promises to her and went back on his word. tomorrow's sammy last day too. now we are losing two good teachers. it's only been three months and the turnover there is unbelievable. i can't wait to what's going to happen in the next 9 months. on the plus side we did get a xerox machine. now that's fun. i can't wait to make copies.
i was in better form tonight during tae kwon do. i realized that if i eat a light meal beforehand i'm much better than when i eat something heavy like pasta. scrappy kept running his mouth all night about some korean girl he hooked up with on the weekend. sometimes i feel like i'm in a bad espisode of "saved by the bell". sometimes i wish he would just stupid up for five minutes.
we going out for drinks tomorrow night with sammy and julie. i'm sure horace and i are going to get an earful. i thought life here would be much simpler but it really isn't. its the same old bullshit just a different language.
during my buffy marathon this weekend i realized that she does tae kwon do. she made a few references about practicing her round house kicks. oh yeah. i'm learning the buffy moves. look at vampires here i come. time to unwind with a few more buffster epsidoes before turning in. later.
i was in better form tonight during tae kwon do. i realized that if i eat a light meal beforehand i'm much better than when i eat something heavy like pasta. scrappy kept running his mouth all night about some korean girl he hooked up with on the weekend. sometimes i feel like i'm in a bad espisode of "saved by the bell". sometimes i wish he would just stupid up for five minutes.
we going out for drinks tomorrow night with sammy and julie. i'm sure horace and i are going to get an earful. i thought life here would be much simpler but it really isn't. its the same old bullshit just a different language.
during my buffy marathon this weekend i realized that she does tae kwon do. she made a few references about practicing her round house kicks. oh yeah. i'm learning the buffy moves. look at vampires here i come. time to unwind with a few more buffster epsidoes before turning in. later.
Sunday, November 28, 2004
weekend update
this is going to be a combo and short entry seeing that i did absolutely nothing this weekend and i really don't have anything profound or otherwise to say.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27
today i ventured around old town ansan. i wanted to check it out again. the last i was there i wasn't in the best of moods. i went into 2001 outlet which is a giant department store. today it was packed with people. it was nice to see christmas decorations and hear christmas music. but after a few minutes it started to annoy me. it kind of felt like a giant flea market. i didn't really find anything of interest except for a maple story gang day planner. maple story gang is some anime kids. as tempted as i was to buy it i didn't. my venture through old town ansan was spent under the watchful eyes of everyone. i know people stare but usually i'm with horace so i don't notice it as much. that wasn't the case today. its a good thing i didn't have to pick my underwear out of my ass because everyone would have seen. there are a few good gift shops in the area which are worth returning to. thats always good to know. i did find one clothing store that had american superhero comics as wallpaper. very nice. unfortunately i didn't find any clothes i liked. there's always next time.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28
or otherwise known as lazy day 2. i did manage to go to carrefour for a few supplies. upon leaving the food store floor, i noticed that they had a pet chipmunk for sale. yes, i kid you not. there was a little chipmunk in a hamster cage spinning around in the wheel like a mad man. he was so cute. very hyper. he came over to me when i called him. that lasted about a second before he ran back to the wheel to do more laps. so now the debate begins: chipmunk or bunny. chipmunk or bunny. perhaps i'll get both. once downstairs i hit the food court for some good old mcdonalds. this time i got the big mac set. not only to do you get fries and coke but it comes with a vitamin drink too. how about that! as always it was very tastey. i hope this doesn't become a regular sunday habbit. i spent the rest of the day watching "buffy the vampire slayer." sometimes its good to do nothing.
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 27
today i ventured around old town ansan. i wanted to check it out again. the last i was there i wasn't in the best of moods. i went into 2001 outlet which is a giant department store. today it was packed with people. it was nice to see christmas decorations and hear christmas music. but after a few minutes it started to annoy me. it kind of felt like a giant flea market. i didn't really find anything of interest except for a maple story gang day planner. maple story gang is some anime kids. as tempted as i was to buy it i didn't. my venture through old town ansan was spent under the watchful eyes of everyone. i know people stare but usually i'm with horace so i don't notice it as much. that wasn't the case today. its a good thing i didn't have to pick my underwear out of my ass because everyone would have seen. there are a few good gift shops in the area which are worth returning to. thats always good to know. i did find one clothing store that had american superhero comics as wallpaper. very nice. unfortunately i didn't find any clothes i liked. there's always next time.
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 28
or otherwise known as lazy day 2. i did manage to go to carrefour for a few supplies. upon leaving the food store floor, i noticed that they had a pet chipmunk for sale. yes, i kid you not. there was a little chipmunk in a hamster cage spinning around in the wheel like a mad man. he was so cute. very hyper. he came over to me when i called him. that lasted about a second before he ran back to the wheel to do more laps. so now the debate begins: chipmunk or bunny. chipmunk or bunny. perhaps i'll get both. once downstairs i hit the food court for some good old mcdonalds. this time i got the big mac set. not only to do you get fries and coke but it comes with a vitamin drink too. how about that! as always it was very tastey. i hope this doesn't become a regular sunday habbit. i spent the rest of the day watching "buffy the vampire slayer." sometimes its good to do nothing.
Friday, November 26, 2004
and so winter begins…
this morning i awoke to the sound of rain. i opened up my window and a gust of cold air came rushing in. yes, winter is on its way to korea. today was a typical day at school. lisa cried because she lost in a game we played and told sammy she hates me. the other day she drew of picture of me and jenny. jenny had a sword and cut my head off. sara continues to not do any of her homework and everytime i ask her a question she stares at me. dave and eric continue to misbehave so today i made them put their heads down on the table for a majority of the class. don't you just love children some time.
around mid-afternoon the wind had picked up and it started to sleet. however, it didn't last long. it sure was pretty to watch it fall over the fields while it lasted. we just might see snow some time next week.
in tae kwon do it was only jenny and i. i learned my second form. we also practiced some kicking. unfortunately i was having an off day. didn't really feel it for some reason. i guess that will happen. i'm not really too concerned. however, i do have the second form down. with a little practice this weekend who knows maybe i'll be a green belt before christmas.
tonight i'm going to spend my evening watching bad tv that i downloaded. let the good times role.
around mid-afternoon the wind had picked up and it started to sleet. however, it didn't last long. it sure was pretty to watch it fall over the fields while it lasted. we just might see snow some time next week.
in tae kwon do it was only jenny and i. i learned my second form. we also practiced some kicking. unfortunately i was having an off day. didn't really feel it for some reason. i guess that will happen. i'm not really too concerned. however, i do have the second form down. with a little practice this weekend who knows maybe i'll be a green belt before christmas.
tonight i'm going to spend my evening watching bad tv that i downloaded. let the good times role.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
well its that time of year again when friends, family, and others get together to stuff themselves with various delicious tasting sidedishes, a juicy turkey, and pumpkin pie. what more could anyone want. i hope all of you that happen to visit my blog today have a great thanksgiving and take some time to think about the things that you are thankful for. i know i did. boy, am i sounding all oprah like or what today. maybe i can have my own feel-good talk station when i return. you all would watch wouldn't you?
we were talking about the holidays today at school. i was remarking that its not necessarily the holiday itself that i miss but the gathering of friends and family. plus there's also that feeling one gets when they walk around their city and all the lights are out, store windows have christmas displays, and people just seem to be in a good mood. thats the feeling i miss. the anticipation of christmas coming. sammy teacher asked us if we had plans tonight. we told her we were thinking of going out to dinner but didn't have any set plans. thats when she said she wanted to treat us to a western dinner, so that we might feel a little at home. how sweet is that. of course our choices were bennigans and t.g.i fridays. she called both of them to see if they had any thanksgiving specials. they didn't. we decided on fridays since there was one in old ansan city and it was close to the subway station for sammy. yes, can you believe i actually had thanksgiving dinner at fridays. it kind of felt like that scene in "a christmas story" when ralphies family ended up going to the chinese resturant for christmas dinner. although there was no turkey to be found on the menu i settled for a nice juicy thanksgiving burger and two beers. it was the best burger i've had in a long time. while we were there enjoying the food and the company i felt like i wasn't missing anything at all. as i sit here and reflect on the evening i can't help to think how thankful i am to have a good friend here with me and for the people like sammy that i've met who are helping to make my time here all the more enjoyable. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
we were talking about the holidays today at school. i was remarking that its not necessarily the holiday itself that i miss but the gathering of friends and family. plus there's also that feeling one gets when they walk around their city and all the lights are out, store windows have christmas displays, and people just seem to be in a good mood. thats the feeling i miss. the anticipation of christmas coming. sammy teacher asked us if we had plans tonight. we told her we were thinking of going out to dinner but didn't have any set plans. thats when she said she wanted to treat us to a western dinner, so that we might feel a little at home. how sweet is that. of course our choices were bennigans and t.g.i fridays. she called both of them to see if they had any thanksgiving specials. they didn't. we decided on fridays since there was one in old ansan city and it was close to the subway station for sammy. yes, can you believe i actually had thanksgiving dinner at fridays. it kind of felt like that scene in "a christmas story" when ralphies family ended up going to the chinese resturant for christmas dinner. although there was no turkey to be found on the menu i settled for a nice juicy thanksgiving burger and two beers. it was the best burger i've had in a long time. while we were there enjoying the food and the company i felt like i wasn't missing anything at all. as i sit here and reflect on the evening i can't help to think how thankful i am to have a good friend here with me and for the people like sammy that i've met who are helping to make my time here all the more enjoyable. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Wednesday, November 24, 2004
combat baby
"no one here wants to fight me like you do. combat baby, combat baby." this is going to be my tae kwon do fighting song. i feel really good tonight. tkd went really well expect for jenny and i injured ourselves while sparring. we had direct foot to foot contact leaving us both we bruises. i'm now icing my foot. not sure if its because i've become a yellow belt or not but i'm feeling a lot more confident in class. i'm really glad i decided to stick it out. its things like this which make me glad i came to korea. i would have never tried tae kwon do back in the states. i'm going to be one kicking, killing machine upon my return. it really strange how going so far away can help one develop as a person. although there are plenty of things i miss like friends, family, my kitty, having a drink at the eagle, etc. i wouldn't change a thing. i would definitely do it all over again.
i've actually been reading the newspaper on a regular basis which is something i haven't done since j-school. i decided to start a scrap book of all the bizarre news that i read. they obsess about the strangest things here and report even the stranger. i did read today where the hyundai company have a tour of some mountain in north korea. they are even thinking about building two golf courses. the koreans sure love to golf. every other building seems to have one. they are also a big fans of the batting cage. there's one outside of jungang station and its always crowded. anyway, i'm thinking about taking this tour. i think it would be really interesting to be able to go into north korea. especially since all the over here is about nuke talks with nk. i still have to do the dmz tour which i'm probably do after the new years. the thailand trip is making a huge dent into my bank account but it's definitely going to be worth every penny. 9 days on a tropical beach. this will be my first real vacation ever. i'm so excited. one month and counting…
i've actually been reading the newspaper on a regular basis which is something i haven't done since j-school. i decided to start a scrap book of all the bizarre news that i read. they obsess about the strangest things here and report even the stranger. i did read today where the hyundai company have a tour of some mountain in north korea. they are even thinking about building two golf courses. the koreans sure love to golf. every other building seems to have one. they are also a big fans of the batting cage. there's one outside of jungang station and its always crowded. anyway, i'm thinking about taking this tour. i think it would be really interesting to be able to go into north korea. especially since all the over here is about nuke talks with nk. i still have to do the dmz tour which i'm probably do after the new years. the thailand trip is making a huge dent into my bank account but it's definitely going to be worth every penny. 9 days on a tropical beach. this will be my first real vacation ever. i'm so excited. one month and counting…
Tuesday, November 23, 2004
post office mayhem
the simplest tasks here are never simple. at the post office today it took me forever to try to mail a package. no one understood what i was asking and finally they called someone on the telephone who spoke english that i could talk to. i thought i'd never get out of there. before i left i tried to get more mailing forms so i could have them filled out before going to the post office. of course when i asked for them the lady kept telling me one week. i tried to tell her i wasn't asking how long it would take the packages but simply wanted some extra forms. once again they went for the phone where i had to speak to someone about it. finally i was able to leave with forms in my hand. when i got back to the office i realized one of my gloves were missing. i backtracked my steps back to the post office but i didn't see it. i even asked at the post office like that was going to help and still nothing. so now i only have one glove. i'm sad.
i found out today that little brenda now likes me. it seems that playing with her and lisa in the playroom paid off. although she was still giving out 'tude in horace's class. during one of the breaks lisa asked her to play and she said no. when we were in class lisa told me "no teacher play with jenny." these two are definitely something. i can say this it will never be a dull moment with them. we watched a dora the explorer video today. it's in korean, english, and spainish but at least the girls seem to enjoy to it. although the episode we watched today was exactly the same as the yesterdays. instead of a little blue bird that was trying to find it's mother we watched a little blue train trying to win a whistle against the big green and red trains. talk about good programing. yikes. i'm not sure how many more of these i can sit through.
i found out today that little brenda now likes me. it seems that playing with her and lisa in the playroom paid off. although she was still giving out 'tude in horace's class. during one of the breaks lisa asked her to play and she said no. when we were in class lisa told me "no teacher play with jenny." these two are definitely something. i can say this it will never be a dull moment with them. we watched a dora the explorer video today. it's in korean, english, and spainish but at least the girls seem to enjoy to it. although the episode we watched today was exactly the same as the yesterdays. instead of a little blue bird that was trying to find it's mother we watched a little blue train trying to win a whistle against the big green and red trains. talk about good programing. yikes. i'm not sure how many more of these i can sit through.
Monday, November 22, 2004
a little brenda
at school today jk told us that we were going to change the classes with jenny and lisa. for now on i would be teaching lisa for all 3 classes, horace would have jenny, and then we'd teach a class together. how happy was i to learn that i'd no longer be teacher jenny. i'm now referring to her as "little brenda" since she has the attitude of shannon dougherty's character on 90210. during the lunch period little brenda ran back into jk's office and refused to eat with all of us. it seems that she acted up in horace's class too. i guess i'm not the evil blue-eyed devil i thought i was. after lunch lisa asked little brenda if she wanted to play and she said no. this girl has some serious tude.
the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. i found a new way to teach the three boys which made the class a whole lot better. although today one of them ran out of my class to use the bathroom. he wanted to take the entire roll of toilet paper with him but i stopped him. apparently he almost had an accident in class. now that would have been fun.
we practiced kicking in tae kwon do today. i feel like i'm getting much better which makes me happy. for the last ten minutes or so we had to spar. sparring is hard and tiring but i held my own. that is until i had to spar tb. that guy definitely has some moves. i spent most of the time trying to dodge his high kicks.
i still can't believe thursday is thanksgiving. there's absolutely no sign of the holiday at all which is strange. julie, one of teachers, belongs to a church that is having a thanksgiving dinner on saturday. she invited horace and i to go but i'm not sure if i'm up for turkey and god. the two just don't go together for me. maybe i'll have a change of heart. who knows.
the rest of the day was pretty uneventful. i found a new way to teach the three boys which made the class a whole lot better. although today one of them ran out of my class to use the bathroom. he wanted to take the entire roll of toilet paper with him but i stopped him. apparently he almost had an accident in class. now that would have been fun.
we practiced kicking in tae kwon do today. i feel like i'm getting much better which makes me happy. for the last ten minutes or so we had to spar. sparring is hard and tiring but i held my own. that is until i had to spar tb. that guy definitely has some moves. i spent most of the time trying to dodge his high kicks.
i still can't believe thursday is thanksgiving. there's absolutely no sign of the holiday at all which is strange. julie, one of teachers, belongs to a church that is having a thanksgiving dinner on saturday. she invited horace and i to go but i'm not sure if i'm up for turkey and god. the two just don't go together for me. maybe i'll have a change of heart. who knows.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
chicken burger?
i took a journey to emart this morning thinking that it was open 24 hours like the other one. well i was wrong. i left early and got there at 9:15am and then found out it didn't open until 10am. of course being in ansan nothing was opened so i spent 45 mins. wondering around looking into all the vacant retail spaces waiting to be rented. i stumble upon a church. for a split second i thought about going in just to keep warm but decided against. after getting what i needed from emart i stopped home to unpack and then went to carrefour. yes today was marathon shopping. i couldn't buy alot at emart since its a 20 minute walk. at carrefour i ate at mcdonalds. i order what i thought was a chicken sandwich or chicken burger as they call it here. it actually ended up being a shanghi spicy chicken burger. it was still good though. being that this is korea it was cheaper for me to buy 30 regular size eggs as opposed to 10 big eggs. go figure. now i'll be eating eggs for the next month.
all that shopping wore me out so i decided to take a much needed nap. it felt so good to nap during the day. i haven't done that in ages. i did treat myself to a korean graphic novel that i've been eyeing. i can't read it but i'm going to use it as insentive to learn korean. i throwing away won like crazy lately. i aslo bought two more korean cds. i haven't listened to them yet but i'm sure they're going to be bad. i really need to stop this korean band obsession. i determined to find the next cutting edge korean band even if it kills me.
all that shopping wore me out so i decided to take a much needed nap. it felt so good to nap during the day. i haven't done that in ages. i did treat myself to a korean graphic novel that i've been eyeing. i can't read it but i'm going to use it as insentive to learn korean. i throwing away won like crazy lately. i aslo bought two more korean cds. i haven't listened to them yet but i'm sure they're going to be bad. i really need to stop this korean band obsession. i determined to find the next cutting edge korean band even if it kills me.
Saturday, November 20, 2004
costco in seoul
wow, today turned out to be the longest day ever. horace and i were late in meeting christine and jane. we still haven't figured out how long it actually takes from our house to subway station to destination. we were actually 30 minutes late. which also meant we were late for the ils teacher conference. and now lets talk about that conference. SNORE! we basically sat through two hours of a one year teacher telling us how he teaches his class. the whole thing was basically useless. it would have been much for informative had they had someone from the coporate office talking to us with some actual useful information. he really didn't say anything that i hadn't already figured out.
once that was done we had to wait an hour for jane and christine to finish with their meeting. while looking around the school we noticed that all the classrooms had teachers desks. of course before leaving horace showed jane and now i think we are getting desks. yeah.
jane treated us to lunch at kahunaville resturant where their motto is "new feel, new meal". i ordered bbq pork tenderloin which came with mashed potatoes, onion rings, and veggies. all i can say is sooo good. they had a little gift shop in the resturant with i found pez. how excited was i since this has been the first time i've seen pez here. the best thing about it was that i didn't have any of them. they had a line of hello kitty pez. i bought them all. jane and christine had never seen pez before so i opened one up and showed them how it works. i've also taken one step closer to being korean by purchasing a cell phone charm. it seems that everyone and their mother has something hanging from their phones and i didn't want to be left out. i got the little anime guy with spikey purple hair. he's wearing a blue mask that covers his face completely except for his right eye. he even came with a little book.
our final destination of the day was costco. yes, it's actually just like costco back home with everything written in english first then korean. it was a little bit overwhelming because there were so many people. i didn't buy anything for myself there but we did get dictionaries, books, and other supplies. jane did buy me some pepsi to drink at school. she is so thoughtful. again i couldn't have asked to work for better people. its such a nice break.
i'm going to spend the rest of my evening doing nothing. i'm so glad to be in my apartment right now. music blarring, lights out, and my new pez. goodtimes.
once that was done we had to wait an hour for jane and christine to finish with their meeting. while looking around the school we noticed that all the classrooms had teachers desks. of course before leaving horace showed jane and now i think we are getting desks. yeah.
jane treated us to lunch at kahunaville resturant where their motto is "new feel, new meal". i ordered bbq pork tenderloin which came with mashed potatoes, onion rings, and veggies. all i can say is sooo good. they had a little gift shop in the resturant with i found pez. how excited was i since this has been the first time i've seen pez here. the best thing about it was that i didn't have any of them. they had a line of hello kitty pez. i bought them all. jane and christine had never seen pez before so i opened one up and showed them how it works. i've also taken one step closer to being korean by purchasing a cell phone charm. it seems that everyone and their mother has something hanging from their phones and i didn't want to be left out. i got the little anime guy with spikey purple hair. he's wearing a blue mask that covers his face completely except for his right eye. he even came with a little book.
our final destination of the day was costco. yes, it's actually just like costco back home with everything written in english first then korean. it was a little bit overwhelming because there were so many people. i didn't buy anything for myself there but we did get dictionaries, books, and other supplies. jane did buy me some pepsi to drink at school. she is so thoughtful. again i couldn't have asked to work for better people. its such a nice break.
i'm going to spend the rest of my evening doing nothing. i'm so glad to be in my apartment right now. music blarring, lights out, and my new pez. goodtimes.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
test day
all day today i've been trying to pump myself up for the belt test. i pretty much know the form and have the basic kicks down. now i had to psych myself up and not worry about people watching me. i have a tendency to choke when i know i'm being watched. school went pretty well. little jenny is still afraid to enter the BLUE-EYED DEVIL'S class but at least she's looking at me now. jk did confirm what i thought from the beginning and thats that she doesn't know as much as she should. its definitely going to be a challenge but one that i'm ready for.
there's one girl at our school joy who i think is crushed out on me. yesterday she gave me a coin for a present. a couple of days ago she brought me some bread. and today in between classes she was hanging out in my room. she told jk that she wanted me to teach her. at least someone isn't afraid of BLUE-EYED DEVIL.
after school i tried to power nap. that lasted all of 20 minutes. i got up and did some tae kwon do practice. only 20 minutes left before i had to go to class. we spent the majority of the class doing warmup exercises, kicks, and then practiced our forms. then we all had to sit along the back wall so we could watch the testing. first up were the white belts. i felt a little better knowing we were going to do this together. we started off showing him various punches. next we had to do a side split. yeah, i'm not so good at that. from there we moved up and down the mats doing various kicks: frontkick, sidekick, roundhouse, backkick, etc. once the kicking was done we did form 1. heather and i got it right the first try. scrappy had to do it again by himself. as a little extra bonus but not really part of the test we tried breaking boards. let's just say that not a complete success for me. i volunteered to go first. the board that tb was holding was quite small. i was more concerned about not hitting his hand even though he had on gloves that is was hard to concentrate. both of my attempts to break the board failed but at least i was successful in not hitting tb's hand. scrappy went after me. his first kick landed on tb's hand. tb then changed boards which was twice as big as the one i tried to kick. scrappy failed on his second attempt too. thank god. i didn't want to be the only one. heather on the other hand broke it on her second try. now that we were done we returned to the wall to watch the others.
once everyone was done we took our position and were awarded with new belts. YES. I MADE IT TO YELLOW BELT. YEAH!!!! i was actually quite excited. after class we went out for beers. the one thing about going out with the koreans is one beer equals many and you never go hungry. while we were sitting around drinking someone had order some hotdog type things and then two plates of fried chicken which was actually really good. to top it off though they brought out a plate of french fries and tator tots. yummy. so that was my evening. pretty good if i must say so myself. and now i'm one step closer to being a black belt.
there's one girl at our school joy who i think is crushed out on me. yesterday she gave me a coin for a present. a couple of days ago she brought me some bread. and today in between classes she was hanging out in my room. she told jk that she wanted me to teach her. at least someone isn't afraid of BLUE-EYED DEVIL.
after school i tried to power nap. that lasted all of 20 minutes. i got up and did some tae kwon do practice. only 20 minutes left before i had to go to class. we spent the majority of the class doing warmup exercises, kicks, and then practiced our forms. then we all had to sit along the back wall so we could watch the testing. first up were the white belts. i felt a little better knowing we were going to do this together. we started off showing him various punches. next we had to do a side split. yeah, i'm not so good at that. from there we moved up and down the mats doing various kicks: frontkick, sidekick, roundhouse, backkick, etc. once the kicking was done we did form 1. heather and i got it right the first try. scrappy had to do it again by himself. as a little extra bonus but not really part of the test we tried breaking boards. let's just say that not a complete success for me. i volunteered to go first. the board that tb was holding was quite small. i was more concerned about not hitting his hand even though he had on gloves that is was hard to concentrate. both of my attempts to break the board failed but at least i was successful in not hitting tb's hand. scrappy went after me. his first kick landed on tb's hand. tb then changed boards which was twice as big as the one i tried to kick. scrappy failed on his second attempt too. thank god. i didn't want to be the only one. heather on the other hand broke it on her second try. now that we were done we returned to the wall to watch the others.
once everyone was done we took our position and were awarded with new belts. YES. I MADE IT TO YELLOW BELT. YEAH!!!! i was actually quite excited. after class we went out for beers. the one thing about going out with the koreans is one beer equals many and you never go hungry. while we were sitting around drinking someone had order some hotdog type things and then two plates of fried chicken which was actually really good. to top it off though they brought out a plate of french fries and tator tots. yummy. so that was my evening. pretty good if i must say so myself. and now i'm one step closer to being a black belt.
blue-eyed devil
it's official. after years of joking about being the blue-eyed devil it's finally come true. little jenny again did not want to partake in my class. instead she hid in jk's office and cried. earlier in the day her friend lisa told me that jenny didn't like my class. i asked if she was scared of me and lisa said no. then i asked if jenny thought the class was too easy and she said no. was it too hard i ask. again lisa said no. then she said "teacher look at jenny". i didn't quite understand what she meant. lisa then went to the chalkboard and drew a picture of me with big shoes and big eyes. jenny was drawn sitting at a table reading and i was looking down at her. again lisa repeated teacher look at jenny. jenny scared. jenny cry.
jk tried talking to jenny but still nothing. jenny's mom did tell jk that jenny said i had big blue eyes. apparently for some strange reason she's afraid of me. and it seems that alot of koreans get wigged out over the big round blue eyes. even jk said something the other night at dinner. have i really become the blue-eyed devil. do these people see something deep within me. i feel so bad that this little girl won't attend my class. i've never had a child be afraid of me. the more i think about it the more comical it becomes. after all "that is my hagwon". anytime she sees me whether its in the lunchroom or in the hallway she quickly turns away. you would think that once she saw me and lisa interacting she'd open up too. but no. jk thinks it might be because her pride is hurt. i guess jenny asked lisa what i was teacher her and found out that it was a little more advance. now they think that jenny is jealous and feels slighted by this. who would have thought teaching would be so complicated. it's definitely going to be interesting to see how this all pans out. i'm trying to think of a different approach with jenny. i'll break through somehow. even if it does take forever.
so i was reading the korean herald this morning. yesterday was the big college entrance exams for the students. well apparently in korea this is a huge deal. people were camping out to get a good spot to wish those taking the exam good luck. yes you read correctly. they were camping out. mothers were praying at temples. some of the students arrived via fire trucks because they were running late. one even came by ambulance. traffic was diverted, trains were running more frequently all to make sure that students got there on time. the best part was that both korean airlines and asiania airlines stopped flying over a certain area where test were being given between 12 and 1 because that was the time that students were taking the english part of the exam. i seriously could not believe this as i was reading it. no wonder these kids are so stressed out. when was the last time you saw a vigil set up for s.a.t test. never!
the best part of today was watching the anna nicole smith video from her ama appearance. umm. hello. what has she been smoking. she made farrah's letterman appearance look good. they also had a snippet from an interview with et where she said "one day. i was walking in the park and it felt like i was on stilts". horace and i were laughing so hard. you gotta love her. she is 100% trash.
i found out today that horace, jane, christine, and i have to attend some macgraw hill [that's our school program] convention on saturday. we get to meet other teachers and listen to lectures. oh joy. and here i thought i was going to have a nice peaceful weekend at home. i guess not.
jk tried talking to jenny but still nothing. jenny's mom did tell jk that jenny said i had big blue eyes. apparently for some strange reason she's afraid of me. and it seems that alot of koreans get wigged out over the big round blue eyes. even jk said something the other night at dinner. have i really become the blue-eyed devil. do these people see something deep within me. i feel so bad that this little girl won't attend my class. i've never had a child be afraid of me. the more i think about it the more comical it becomes. after all "that is my hagwon". anytime she sees me whether its in the lunchroom or in the hallway she quickly turns away. you would think that once she saw me and lisa interacting she'd open up too. but no. jk thinks it might be because her pride is hurt. i guess jenny asked lisa what i was teacher her and found out that it was a little more advance. now they think that jenny is jealous and feels slighted by this. who would have thought teaching would be so complicated. it's definitely going to be interesting to see how this all pans out. i'm trying to think of a different approach with jenny. i'll break through somehow. even if it does take forever.
so i was reading the korean herald this morning. yesterday was the big college entrance exams for the students. well apparently in korea this is a huge deal. people were camping out to get a good spot to wish those taking the exam good luck. yes you read correctly. they were camping out. mothers were praying at temples. some of the students arrived via fire trucks because they were running late. one even came by ambulance. traffic was diverted, trains were running more frequently all to make sure that students got there on time. the best part was that both korean airlines and asiania airlines stopped flying over a certain area where test were being given between 12 and 1 because that was the time that students were taking the english part of the exam. i seriously could not believe this as i was reading it. no wonder these kids are so stressed out. when was the last time you saw a vigil set up for s.a.t test. never!
the best part of today was watching the anna nicole smith video from her ama appearance. umm. hello. what has she been smoking. she made farrah's letterman appearance look good. they also had a snippet from an interview with et where she said "one day. i was walking in the park and it felt like i was on stilts". horace and i were laughing so hard. you gotta love her. she is 100% trash.
i found out today that horace, jane, christine, and i have to attend some macgraw hill [that's our school program] convention on saturday. we get to meet other teachers and listen to lectures. oh joy. and here i thought i was going to have a nice peaceful weekend at home. i guess not.
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
riots + monitors
here are snapshots of the riot police in insadong and video camera from various subway stations. yes i was entertaining myself on my long journey home.
Links
cableless in korea
it's getting cold here. i love that crisp cold air that comes with winter. it makes one feel alive. i felt really good after tae kwon do this evening. my knee is about 95% better and my kicks are getting good. i actually made it through class without falling. yeah me. on friday we get tested. hopefully i get that yellow belt.
my new student jenny is one tough cookie. she completely wears me out. trying to get her to talk is like pulling teeth. the two classes i have with her are like an interity. i tried to get her to say the abc's today and she started crying. i felt so bad. i had to have princess and jk come in to she what was the matter. of course she wouldn't talk to them either. in the second part of class we read and did exercises. its brutal i tell you. having a student that just stares at you is quite nerve racking.
i beginning to feel at home here. i'm starting to really enjoy what i'm doing. we finally started getting the korean herald at work which is an english newspaper. it great because now i can keep up with whats happening in the world. there was an article in it today about some beavers in louisiana that built a damn out of money. apparently their was a robery where 70,000-75,000 was stolen and i guess they tossed the bags. the beavers found it and built a damn out of it. the money was still intacted when it was found. how great is that. beavers.
i must confess. last week i mentioned how i was starting to work out again. of course i probably shouldn't have said anything because i only did it one day. lazy much. i'm going to try to get back into it this week. at least i still have tkd so i don't feel like a complete bum. on a sad note, i lost my free cable. no more "sex and the city". now i have to be more productive. oh well i should have known that it wouldn't last. it was a good run. the weeks are definitely going by much faster these days. i can't believe that thanksgiving is next week. thats definitely going to be strange. i don't think they have turkeys here. misty is going to have to somersize without me this year.
my new student jenny is one tough cookie. she completely wears me out. trying to get her to talk is like pulling teeth. the two classes i have with her are like an interity. i tried to get her to say the abc's today and she started crying. i felt so bad. i had to have princess and jk come in to she what was the matter. of course she wouldn't talk to them either. in the second part of class we read and did exercises. its brutal i tell you. having a student that just stares at you is quite nerve racking.
i beginning to feel at home here. i'm starting to really enjoy what i'm doing. we finally started getting the korean herald at work which is an english newspaper. it great because now i can keep up with whats happening in the world. there was an article in it today about some beavers in louisiana that built a damn out of money. apparently their was a robery where 70,000-75,000 was stolen and i guess they tossed the bags. the beavers found it and built a damn out of it. the money was still intacted when it was found. how great is that. beavers.
i must confess. last week i mentioned how i was starting to work out again. of course i probably shouldn't have said anything because i only did it one day. lazy much. i'm going to try to get back into it this week. at least i still have tkd so i don't feel like a complete bum. on a sad note, i lost my free cable. no more "sex and the city". now i have to be more productive. oh well i should have known that it wouldn't last. it was a good run. the weeks are definitely going by much faster these days. i can't believe that thanksgiving is next week. thats definitely going to be strange. i don't think they have turkeys here. misty is going to have to somersize without me this year.
Monday, November 15, 2004
christmas comes early to korea
have you ever received something that struck such a nerve within you that it almost made you cry. not a bad cry but a good kind of cry because it was very sentimental? if so then you'll know how i felt when i opened my mom's package. after pulling out the pieces of paper used for cushioning i uncovered my childhood christmas stocking. i was shocked. it never dawned on me that i would be receiving a christmas shocking let alone the one i used ever since i was a child. seeing that green crochet stocking with a fuzzy bearded santa made me realize i won't be home this year. i knew there would come a time when i wouldn't make it home for christmas. i always thought that i was prepared for that. i never imagined that seeing that stocking would provoke such feelings of home, but it does. it's funny because i've asked my mom for that stocking before when i was living in sf. instead she sent me a new. i never thought she'd part with it but i guess she too realized that i won't be home and that there was no use in keeping an empty stocking. it's for that reason i will cherish it even more. getting that stocking would have been enough for me. most people enjoy receiving gifts. my sister and i like the stockings the best. we always opened them last trying to be the first one done. even though i won't have her by my side this year i'll definitely be thining of her and my family as i uncover all the little treasures inside. thanks mom. you've totally made my christmas. i love you.
the christmas stocking, being too heavy to hang, is now resting on a shelf with the rest of my christmas booty. its going to take a lot of will power to try to wait until december 24. i'm actually surprised it didn't bust into it yet. besides the christmas stuff my mom also sent a variety of food like mac and cheese, instant potatoes, noodles, pudding (i love pudding), cookies, etc. all of which i can enjoy now. i probably have enough stuff to last me to christmas.
tonight we had dinner with jk and princess. he wanted to tell us some news which we already knew. sammy teacher quit today. what's it been two months and two teachers. three if you count the one that quit beofre i got there. it should be an interesting for weeks. but as we say here, "that's my hogwon."
the christmas stocking, being too heavy to hang, is now resting on a shelf with the rest of my christmas booty. its going to take a lot of will power to try to wait until december 24. i'm actually surprised it didn't bust into it yet. besides the christmas stuff my mom also sent a variety of food like mac and cheese, instant potatoes, noodles, pudding (i love pudding), cookies, etc. all of which i can enjoy now. i probably have enough stuff to last me to christmas.
tonight we had dinner with jk and princess. he wanted to tell us some news which we already knew. sammy teacher quit today. what's it been two months and two teachers. three if you count the one that quit beofre i got there. it should be an interesting for weeks. but as we say here, "that's my hogwon."
tension makes a tangle
tension was so thick in ils this morning it felt like being in the haight watching the fog ascend. not really sure what was happening nor did i bother to ask anyone. there was just a lot of silence and no sammy teacher until after lunch. we have yet another new school attending for 5 classes everyday. i now have classes from 10 to lunch time and then two after that. i think this is why sammy teacher is mad. my feeling is that this is what we're here for. yeah for two months is was nice having nothing to do in the morning except plan for classes but even that was getting kind of dull. at least this when the day goes by much faster.
i'm about to kill my orange b class. i can't get them to do their homework. i had to spend 15 mins. at the beginning of class telling them how important it is to do it. they just don't care. the biggest excuse they give me is "i was tired". i collected journals today. a vast majority turned however only two of them wrote every day. well they best get use to writing because they are doing this for the rest of the year. the little devil in my orange a class was actually very well behaved today. a lot of that had to do with the fact that i moved his partner in crime to horace's class. he's teaching a higher level and i felt that he should be in that class because he was looking a bit bored. hence his goofing off. i'm not sure who's placing these kids but someone's a bit off.
i got a package from my mom today. she wanted to be sure i got my christmas present on time. its not even thanksgiving and i've got christmas presents. yeah!! i haven't even opened the box yet because i wanted to make sure that the gifts were wrapped. i just got off the phone with my mom. they are. guess what i'm doing tonight. openning the box of goodies sinces there are other things besides the gifts. getting boxes of stuff is fun.
earlier today i was talking to jk about a holiday party. we were trying to find out if (a.) we were having on (b.) when would it be and (c.) are we doing a gift swap. i still don't really know what were doing. he has to check with princess. during this conversation he asked if we were leaving the country for christmas. i told him we were going to thailand. then he ask if i was going to the united states after korea. he took me a second to figure out what he was getting at. basically he was wondering if i'm going to return to the u.s. after my contract is done. i told him it depended on what was offered to me and also that i haven't really thought much about it. afterall i'm only two months into this contract. it got me thinking about it. at this point i'm not really sure what i plan to do. of course there are days where i just to get out of here then there are the times when is so peaceful and relaxing and i'm really enjoying myself. i've got a while until i make any final decisions. until then i'll keep riding the see saw.
i'm about to kill my orange b class. i can't get them to do their homework. i had to spend 15 mins. at the beginning of class telling them how important it is to do it. they just don't care. the biggest excuse they give me is "i was tired". i collected journals today. a vast majority turned however only two of them wrote every day. well they best get use to writing because they are doing this for the rest of the year. the little devil in my orange a class was actually very well behaved today. a lot of that had to do with the fact that i moved his partner in crime to horace's class. he's teaching a higher level and i felt that he should be in that class because he was looking a bit bored. hence his goofing off. i'm not sure who's placing these kids but someone's a bit off.
i got a package from my mom today. she wanted to be sure i got my christmas present on time. its not even thanksgiving and i've got christmas presents. yeah!! i haven't even opened the box yet because i wanted to make sure that the gifts were wrapped. i just got off the phone with my mom. they are. guess what i'm doing tonight. openning the box of goodies sinces there are other things besides the gifts. getting boxes of stuff is fun.
earlier today i was talking to jk about a holiday party. we were trying to find out if (a.) we were having on (b.) when would it be and (c.) are we doing a gift swap. i still don't really know what were doing. he has to check with princess. during this conversation he asked if we were leaving the country for christmas. i told him we were going to thailand. then he ask if i was going to the united states after korea. he took me a second to figure out what he was getting at. basically he was wondering if i'm going to return to the u.s. after my contract is done. i told him it depended on what was offered to me and also that i haven't really thought much about it. afterall i'm only two months into this contract. it got me thinking about it. at this point i'm not really sure what i plan to do. of course there are days where i just to get out of here then there are the times when is so peaceful and relaxing and i'm really enjoying myself. i've got a while until i make any final decisions. until then i'll keep riding the see saw.
Sunday, November 14, 2004
the dream police
today we headed off to insadong to finish up with our christmas shopping. when will it end. i feel like i've done more shopping in the last past two days than i ever did before. upon exiting the subway station there were lines of riot police along the sidewalk. it was very bizarre. apparently some kind of demonstration was happening. i'm not really sure what since i couldn't understand what was being said, nor could i read any of the signs. we walked around for a couple of hours buying this and buying that. had some lunch then decided to call it quits.
on our way back to the station we noticed all the riot police again so we decided to go a different way. not like it really matter because we didn't get ten steps until two large groups of them came running by was. once we made it to the main street it looked all hazy. as we got closer we noticed that the street had pile of ashes and the haze was smoke. further down the street there were fires still blazing. it was so surreal. especially since we had no clue as to what was going on. the street was littered with burning piles of paper and people.
not sure if i mentioned this before but the guys in korea are rockin the mullet. everywhere you look someone is sporting a mullet. and the scary thing is that they actually look cool. its not the good old redneck or lesbian mullet we've become so accostumed to seeing. these are hip alternative mullets. i gotta give them props. if i had straight hair like theirs i too would have a mullet.
it also seems that fur coats are big too. both the men and women are sporting all kinds of furs. there are coats lined with fur, full of fur coats, etc. i might just have to get me one of them too. not sure if they are real or not but they are definitely way cool.
time for me to go chill and relax. now that i have class at 10am i'm going to start having to go to bed earlier. until next time…
on our way back to the station we noticed all the riot police again so we decided to go a different way. not like it really matter because we didn't get ten steps until two large groups of them came running by was. once we made it to the main street it looked all hazy. as we got closer we noticed that the street had pile of ashes and the haze was smoke. further down the street there were fires still blazing. it was so surreal. especially since we had no clue as to what was going on. the street was littered with burning piles of paper and people.
not sure if i mentioned this before but the guys in korea are rockin the mullet. everywhere you look someone is sporting a mullet. and the scary thing is that they actually look cool. its not the good old redneck or lesbian mullet we've become so accostumed to seeing. these are hip alternative mullets. i gotta give them props. if i had straight hair like theirs i too would have a mullet.
it also seems that fur coats are big too. both the men and women are sporting all kinds of furs. there are coats lined with fur, full of fur coats, etc. i might just have to get me one of them too. not sure if they are real or not but they are definitely way cool.
time for me to go chill and relax. now that i have class at 10am i'm going to start having to go to bed earlier. until next time…
Friday, November 12, 2004
to market we shall go
i rolled out of bed this morning around noon. last night i went out with my tae kwon do class [see friday's blog "kiss club" which i just publish and should be after this one] and didn't get home until 4:30am. it was definitely a crazy night. i was suppose to meet horace at noon but had to push it back until 1pm. we headed to namdaemum market for more christmas shopping. it was like a giant flea market with clothes, food, and little gifts everywhere. even though it was cold out it didn't stop all the people. this is where one goes to find bargins. all the knockoff brands one could possible want fill the streets. i saw numerous men carry boxes on their backs with wooden-like backpacks. men were bringing in loads of fur coats dropping them off at the seller and the women were going through them like hungry wolves. it was crazy but definitely a sight. there alway various christmas shops which really put us in the mood. it funny that normally i hate christmas shopping with every store playing the same damn songs over and over again. however, it was actually nice to see fake christmas trees, giant santas dancing, and lights.
feeling slightly overwhelmed we left the market for awhile and walked to myeong-dong to get something to eat and then a vanilla latte. the latte was so tastey. the last time we were in myeong-dong i wouldn't even taste horace's vanilla latte because i didn't drink coffee and now i'm a latte junky. go figure. we stopped in a record store where i finally broke down and bought my first "flower handsome" [korean pop band] cd by tvfxq!. this is the same band that i mentioned before. i actually just finished listening to it. granted i wouldn't say it's the best thing ever but it's kind of like my new guilty pleasure. i mean come on. how could you not like a band where the members names are hero, micky, max, xiah, u-know. they sure beat the boy bands from the u.s. i can't actually believe i'm admitting all this but what the hell.
feeling we had enough of myeong-dong we heading back to namdaemum market. upon our return there were even more clothing booths filling the center of the street. it was like being in a whole new place with all these new booths. how great is that. we went down one alley which was filled with all these food booths. they had just about everything you could imagine. hamhocks, blood, live octopus, chicken, vegetebles, kimchee it was all there staring at us. one lady tried to grab my arm and bring me into the food text that had the live octopus and various other seafood to eat. i politely told her no thanks. horace had to people yell chicken at him and pointed to their food text. this is why i love korea. we also found a little black market area where horace spent $9 for a giant tub of oatmeal. then there was another underground shopping center that had a bunch of cool knit knats.
on the train heading home this little boy came walking up to me grunting and holding out his hand. i thought he wanted to shake my hand so i did. once i released it he stood there still holding out his hand grunted and motioned to my pocket. the little brat wanted money. i looked at horace who said "what are we in mexico or something". i told the boy no and he stood there a little longer grunted then left. that was first experience with begging in korea.
until next time… korean pop rules!!
feeling slightly overwhelmed we left the market for awhile and walked to myeong-dong to get something to eat and then a vanilla latte. the latte was so tastey. the last time we were in myeong-dong i wouldn't even taste horace's vanilla latte because i didn't drink coffee and now i'm a latte junky. go figure. we stopped in a record store where i finally broke down and bought my first "flower handsome" [korean pop band] cd by tvfxq!. this is the same band that i mentioned before. i actually just finished listening to it. granted i wouldn't say it's the best thing ever but it's kind of like my new guilty pleasure. i mean come on. how could you not like a band where the members names are hero, micky, max, xiah, u-know. they sure beat the boy bands from the u.s. i can't actually believe i'm admitting all this but what the hell.
feeling we had enough of myeong-dong we heading back to namdaemum market. upon our return there were even more clothing booths filling the center of the street. it was like being in a whole new place with all these new booths. how great is that. we went down one alley which was filled with all these food booths. they had just about everything you could imagine. hamhocks, blood, live octopus, chicken, vegetebles, kimchee it was all there staring at us. one lady tried to grab my arm and bring me into the food text that had the live octopus and various other seafood to eat. i politely told her no thanks. horace had to people yell chicken at him and pointed to their food text. this is why i love korea. we also found a little black market area where horace spent $9 for a giant tub of oatmeal. then there was another underground shopping center that had a bunch of cool knit knats.
on the train heading home this little boy came walking up to me grunting and holding out his hand. i thought he wanted to shake my hand so i did. once i released it he stood there still holding out his hand grunted and motioned to my pocket. the little brat wanted money. i looked at horace who said "what are we in mexico or something". i told the boy no and he stood there a little longer grunted then left. that was first experience with begging in korea.
until next time… korean pop rules!!
kiss club
where to even begin. this day was like a bad flashback to the days at haf. when petty gossip and jealous women feel the need to create office gossip and mayham. it was also the first day of my 10am class with lisa. she's about 5 and she's so smart and cute. she's fast becoming my new favorite. it was during class with her that i heard all this yelling out in the hallway. i opened my door to see what was up. sammy and princess [i've changed ferrets name to princess since she admitted that's her nickname] were at it like alexis and krystal from dynasty. if there had been a pool or mud they would have definitely been in there rolling around pulling each others hair. i told them to be quiet and shut my door. the yelling continued so i went back out and noticed horace had popped his head out too. i told him i had asked them to keep it down once already. he walked out and told them to be quiet. meanwhile lisa is at my legs listen to what's going on too. i went back into class and continued my lesson.
during the break between classes i went into horace's room to see what was up. now to go back in time a little. one day horace and i were joking around with sammy and asked if something was going on between jk and princess. unfortunately with all the lost in translation i'm not sure if she knew we were kidding around. at the time it seemed that she did. anyway back to the present. i'm in horace's class and he told me that this morning sammy came up to him and told him that jk and princess had gone out the other night and wondered what she should do about. he told he to do nothing. of course she didn't listen. instead she confronted princess and the whole blowout occurred. it really doesn't matter where one lives be it san francisco or korea office gossip is always lurking around the corner.
i decided to ask sammy directly what that was about and also to tell her that if this should happen again please take it outside or into a room with the door closed. her story consisted of the following details. she asked princess if we could be informed in the future of when a new student arrives if they have their books or not. this came about because half way through my class i realized that lisa didn't have a workbook and i had to leave class to copy 8 pages. princess replied by saying she's too busy dating jk to worry about actual school business. and that's when the fight broke out. sammy told her that horace and i thought somewhere was up. princess replied by saying she didn't care what us "foreigners" thought and made some other comment about us. this is what sammy told me but knowing that we only get half of the story i'm taking it all with a grain of salt. my feeling is that if its not said to me directly i'm not going to assume anything. princess apparently called jk and left the school for a period of time.
after lunch i got called into jk's office. princess had told him everything that went down with her and sammy. he brought up the "relationship" thing and asked me if i believe what he tells me. i said yes. he went on to tell me that there is no relationship going on with him and princess. he brought up the whole "i feel like we are family" and that he wants me to trust him. i told him i did and that whatever happens in his personal life is his own business. i mentioned how unfortunate it was that we even have to have this conversation because this was the last thing i wanted to have happen. i went to explain that i've already worked in an office environment where people were constanstly putting words in other peoples mouths and that horace and i were doing our best to stay out of it. but we have these people who are telling us half stories and mentioning are names when we really aren't involved and that gets frustrating. i told him that i'm here to do a job and that's teaching the children. having two women screaming at each other isn't good for business and is definitely something that the children don't need to hear. he told that he'd like both horace and i to come to him in the future if we needed to say anything. he also said that in the future he would let us know about any new student and other vital information we need to do our jobs. and then before leaving he asked me to tell horace everything we talked about. didn't we just have a whole conversation about talking directly to the person. i asked him if he thought it might be best if he told horace himself and he said he was too busy. welcome to korea.
i was a little pissed about being dragged into this mess. granted i realize that some of its our own fault for joking about princess and jk in the first place. at least now we realize we can only joke with each other. i kind of felt like he should have spoken to us directly. i went for a walk to clear my head. when i returned i told horace what went down. he went in to talk to jk anyway. he wanted to clear the air about some other gossip going around about horace and i not wanting jane, his wife, in the office. horace told me that jk realizes that we joke around and he mentioned how korean woman like to gossip and it was basically written off like that. no hard feelings on anyone's part except for the fact that princess has been ignoring us. oh well.
towards the end of the day things seemed to mellow out alot. i actually spent the last 40 minutes talking with both jk and princess. my new work method is now pretend that everything is all right. that's my hogwan afterall.
all day long i was trying to figure out an excuse to get of going out with the tae kwon do class. i couldn't think of anything. finally around 9:30 i decided to join them. what the hell i thought. one thing i did realize from the outing is that new student now known as scrappy doo drives me crazy. the whole car ride to over to ryan's apartment is was non-stop talking. he's goal in life is to find a rich wife so he can shop, watch tv, and do nothing. i wanted to push him out of the car.
from ryan's we walked over to emart to meet heather and her boyfriend. the whole gang was there even dr. no [frodo] as ryan refers to him. we went to this club called kiss. when we got out of the elevator we were greeted by korean men in gray suits. they spoke to tb and the other korean girl who works with heathere and then lead us to a table. this place was unbelievable. there were all these table and booths, a dance floor, and a stage. when we arrived there was a dj on stage. they have all these various performances throughout the night. djs, bands, dancers who strip down to bra and underwear, russian go-go dancers in cages. it was crazy. the table next to ours kept coming over pouring us more and more drinks. there was definitely lots of dancing and drinking happening with our group. the best part of the club is the uniforms. on the back of the coats they have "kiss" in big yellow letters just like how the band spells it with the lighten bolt like "ss". i want one. next time i'm going to try to steal one.
from the kiss club we made our way to a singing room. you know how i love those. there i did my rendition of "love hurts", sang "beautiful" with jenny, and then "white room" with ryan. it was pretty cool evening. master shin was actualy very low key the whole time. on our ride back to ansan tb had someone drive his car. in korea that have a service where someone will come out to drive your car if you had too much to drink. how great is that. since we had an extra person i got stuck riding in the hatch batch. on the way home scrappy was again non-stop talking. at one point the master asks him to be quiet. that was priceless. when we got to ansan i looked at my watch and it was 4:30 am. yikes. dr. no, the master, scrappy, and tb were going for hang-over soup although not the blood kind and tried to get me to go. i told them i needed to sleep. we said goodbye and off i went to find my bed. i slept so well.
during the break between classes i went into horace's room to see what was up. now to go back in time a little. one day horace and i were joking around with sammy and asked if something was going on between jk and princess. unfortunately with all the lost in translation i'm not sure if she knew we were kidding around. at the time it seemed that she did. anyway back to the present. i'm in horace's class and he told me that this morning sammy came up to him and told him that jk and princess had gone out the other night and wondered what she should do about. he told he to do nothing. of course she didn't listen. instead she confronted princess and the whole blowout occurred. it really doesn't matter where one lives be it san francisco or korea office gossip is always lurking around the corner.
i decided to ask sammy directly what that was about and also to tell her that if this should happen again please take it outside or into a room with the door closed. her story consisted of the following details. she asked princess if we could be informed in the future of when a new student arrives if they have their books or not. this came about because half way through my class i realized that lisa didn't have a workbook and i had to leave class to copy 8 pages. princess replied by saying she's too busy dating jk to worry about actual school business. and that's when the fight broke out. sammy told her that horace and i thought somewhere was up. princess replied by saying she didn't care what us "foreigners" thought and made some other comment about us. this is what sammy told me but knowing that we only get half of the story i'm taking it all with a grain of salt. my feeling is that if its not said to me directly i'm not going to assume anything. princess apparently called jk and left the school for a period of time.
after lunch i got called into jk's office. princess had told him everything that went down with her and sammy. he brought up the "relationship" thing and asked me if i believe what he tells me. i said yes. he went on to tell me that there is no relationship going on with him and princess. he brought up the whole "i feel like we are family" and that he wants me to trust him. i told him i did and that whatever happens in his personal life is his own business. i mentioned how unfortunate it was that we even have to have this conversation because this was the last thing i wanted to have happen. i went to explain that i've already worked in an office environment where people were constanstly putting words in other peoples mouths and that horace and i were doing our best to stay out of it. but we have these people who are telling us half stories and mentioning are names when we really aren't involved and that gets frustrating. i told him that i'm here to do a job and that's teaching the children. having two women screaming at each other isn't good for business and is definitely something that the children don't need to hear. he told that he'd like both horace and i to come to him in the future if we needed to say anything. he also said that in the future he would let us know about any new student and other vital information we need to do our jobs. and then before leaving he asked me to tell horace everything we talked about. didn't we just have a whole conversation about talking directly to the person. i asked him if he thought it might be best if he told horace himself and he said he was too busy. welcome to korea.
i was a little pissed about being dragged into this mess. granted i realize that some of its our own fault for joking about princess and jk in the first place. at least now we realize we can only joke with each other. i kind of felt like he should have spoken to us directly. i went for a walk to clear my head. when i returned i told horace what went down. he went in to talk to jk anyway. he wanted to clear the air about some other gossip going around about horace and i not wanting jane, his wife, in the office. horace told me that jk realizes that we joke around and he mentioned how korean woman like to gossip and it was basically written off like that. no hard feelings on anyone's part except for the fact that princess has been ignoring us. oh well.
towards the end of the day things seemed to mellow out alot. i actually spent the last 40 minutes talking with both jk and princess. my new work method is now pretend that everything is all right. that's my hogwan afterall.
all day long i was trying to figure out an excuse to get of going out with the tae kwon do class. i couldn't think of anything. finally around 9:30 i decided to join them. what the hell i thought. one thing i did realize from the outing is that new student now known as scrappy doo drives me crazy. the whole car ride to over to ryan's apartment is was non-stop talking. he's goal in life is to find a rich wife so he can shop, watch tv, and do nothing. i wanted to push him out of the car.
from ryan's we walked over to emart to meet heather and her boyfriend. the whole gang was there even dr. no [frodo] as ryan refers to him. we went to this club called kiss. when we got out of the elevator we were greeted by korean men in gray suits. they spoke to tb and the other korean girl who works with heathere and then lead us to a table. this place was unbelievable. there were all these table and booths, a dance floor, and a stage. when we arrived there was a dj on stage. they have all these various performances throughout the night. djs, bands, dancers who strip down to bra and underwear, russian go-go dancers in cages. it was crazy. the table next to ours kept coming over pouring us more and more drinks. there was definitely lots of dancing and drinking happening with our group. the best part of the club is the uniforms. on the back of the coats they have "kiss" in big yellow letters just like how the band spells it with the lighten bolt like "ss". i want one. next time i'm going to try to steal one.
from the kiss club we made our way to a singing room. you know how i love those. there i did my rendition of "love hurts", sang "beautiful" with jenny, and then "white room" with ryan. it was pretty cool evening. master shin was actualy very low key the whole time. on our ride back to ansan tb had someone drive his car. in korea that have a service where someone will come out to drive your car if you had too much to drink. how great is that. since we had an extra person i got stuck riding in the hatch batch. on the way home scrappy was again non-stop talking. at one point the master asks him to be quiet. that was priceless. when we got to ansan i looked at my watch and it was 4:30 am. yikes. dr. no, the master, scrappy, and tb were going for hang-over soup although not the blood kind and tried to get me to go. i told them i needed to sleep. we said goodbye and off i went to find my bed. i slept so well.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
pepero day
happy pepero day everyone. it seems 11/11 in korea is pepero day. much like valentine's day kids in korea give out peperos to their friends and loved ones. just what is pepero you ask. well, peperos are those long, thin biscuits dipped in chocolate. i'm sure anyone who has been to japantown in san francisco or has visited a candy store or asian shop has seen these tastey little treats. last weekend while at the coex i saw tons of people buying these things and i couldn't figure out way. now i know. for those of you who love a little history here's a story i found online about pepero.
Pepero Day sweet for food retailers
November 06, 2004 ã…¡ Stores are stocking up on Pepero, a popular snack, and driving up the cookie maker's sales as Nov. 11, Pepero Day, draws near. Lotte Confectionary Co., which owns the Pepero brand, said yesterday that last month, it sold 13 billion won's ($11.7 million) worth of the snack to food retailers."As a single product, this is the highest sales we've seen, second only to Xylitol gum. Sales of Pepero have seen double-digit growth since 2000," said PR official Ahn Sung-keun.
The Pepero snack is a replica of Pocky, the Japanese treat of chocolate-dipped cookie sticks. The 11th of November is known as Pepero Day, because "11/11" looks like four sticks.Pepero Day supposedly started in 1994 at a girls' middle school in Busan, where students exchanged Pepero sticks, wishing each other to become as tall and slender as a Pepero. But some suspect that Pepero Day was actually dreamed up by Lotte's marketing team.
Today, it is an unofficial holiday celebrated mostly by children and couples, like Valentine's Day (another "holiday" some cynics say was created by a marketing team). Pepero Day became so popular that Japan had a similar day for Pocky in 1999.
Meanwhile, vendors, who are not so interested in the origin of the holiday as they are in promoting it, are beefing up on promotional events.
Pepero costs between 500 to 700 won a box, but for Pepero Day, retailers combine the choco-covered sticks with other goodies. Interpark, a large online shopping mall, has come up with special gift packages that include various flavors of Pepero and other sweets that range from 10,000 won to 30,000 won.
Minigold, a jewelry chain, is selling necklaces and earrings with Pepero-shaped charms, and the bakery Tous les Jour is featuring a chocolate-coated Pepero Baguette. Film promoters are also using the day to attract the young customers. "Hana and Alice," a teen film from Japan, is holding a special Pepero Day screening. The romantic comedy "Laws of Attraction" also has a Pepero Day screening and dinner event for couples.
you got to love a holiday that wishes young teenage girls to be tall and slender like the pepero. so if any of you know where to buy these tastey snacks i highly recommend you buy a box or two and give them to friends and loved ones. i know that once i return to the states i'll continue this new found holiday. forget valentine's day folks its all about the pepero.
two of my students today gave me some peperos. well actually i had to quilt sally into giving me one but my new student kevin gave both sammy and myself a box. looks like he'll receive an "a" this month. sometimes being a teacher is so great.
this morning i started my workout. i walked up and down 12 flights of stairs for a half hour. i not sure but i think there are at least 100 steps. i'm going to count them tomorrow. it was hard. and i think the cleaning ladies who i passed four times thought i was crazy. afterwards i walked around the roof for 10 minutes. it actually felt good to be exercising in the morning once again although it so hard getting up that early.
i transwired money into my american bank account this morning. how international does that sound. sammy came with since this was my first time doing it. some things are such a chore. i had to have my passport, pay stub, foreign card, bank address, etc. the whole process took about a half hour. hopefully everything will work out. i guess i'll know in a couple of days whether or not the funds end up in my account or if i accidentally sent them to someone else. wouldn't that be great. next time i'm going to try it on my own. that should be fun. the teller told me that i had to get some kind of special tax thing. i'm not really sure what she's talking about and trying to ask the people at work and getting a straignt answer is like talking to the door. but at least i got pepero. that makes everything worth it.
i literally got my ass kicked today in tae kwon do. for the last twenty minutes of class we spent it sparring. my first opponent was ryan who's a purple belt. he managed to hit me in the face three times. i don't think i made contact with him once. my next sparring partner was master shin. talk about an uneven match. i was too busy blocking and protecting myself the whole time i didn't even throw one punch or kick. that was tough. the best part of class however was when i fell on my ass twice while practicing kicking. i've got so much coordination it kills me. after class everyone was talking about going to the night club on friday. i tried my hardest to get out of it but somehow found myself agreeing to go. god help me. the last thing i want to do on friday is hang out with the master and classmates. the new student is driving me crazy. he's constanstly running his trap yet he has nothing interesting to say. as ryan said, "good thing he's not american."
i'll be sure to take my camera for friday nights outing with the tae kwon do group. i'm sure there will be plenty of good photo ops. time for this white belter to go to bed. until next time…
Pepero Day sweet for food retailers
November 06, 2004 ã…¡ Stores are stocking up on Pepero, a popular snack, and driving up the cookie maker's sales as Nov. 11, Pepero Day, draws near. Lotte Confectionary Co., which owns the Pepero brand, said yesterday that last month, it sold 13 billion won's ($11.7 million) worth of the snack to food retailers."As a single product, this is the highest sales we've seen, second only to Xylitol gum. Sales of Pepero have seen double-digit growth since 2000," said PR official Ahn Sung-keun.
The Pepero snack is a replica of Pocky, the Japanese treat of chocolate-dipped cookie sticks. The 11th of November is known as Pepero Day, because "11/11" looks like four sticks.Pepero Day supposedly started in 1994 at a girls' middle school in Busan, where students exchanged Pepero sticks, wishing each other to become as tall and slender as a Pepero. But some suspect that Pepero Day was actually dreamed up by Lotte's marketing team.
Today, it is an unofficial holiday celebrated mostly by children and couples, like Valentine's Day (another "holiday" some cynics say was created by a marketing team). Pepero Day became so popular that Japan had a similar day for Pocky in 1999.
Meanwhile, vendors, who are not so interested in the origin of the holiday as they are in promoting it, are beefing up on promotional events.
Pepero costs between 500 to 700 won a box, but for Pepero Day, retailers combine the choco-covered sticks with other goodies. Interpark, a large online shopping mall, has come up with special gift packages that include various flavors of Pepero and other sweets that range from 10,000 won to 30,000 won.
Minigold, a jewelry chain, is selling necklaces and earrings with Pepero-shaped charms, and the bakery Tous les Jour is featuring a chocolate-coated Pepero Baguette. Film promoters are also using the day to attract the young customers. "Hana and Alice," a teen film from Japan, is holding a special Pepero Day screening. The romantic comedy "Laws of Attraction" also has a Pepero Day screening and dinner event for couples.
you got to love a holiday that wishes young teenage girls to be tall and slender like the pepero. so if any of you know where to buy these tastey snacks i highly recommend you buy a box or two and give them to friends and loved ones. i know that once i return to the states i'll continue this new found holiday. forget valentine's day folks its all about the pepero.
two of my students today gave me some peperos. well actually i had to quilt sally into giving me one but my new student kevin gave both sammy and myself a box. looks like he'll receive an "a" this month. sometimes being a teacher is so great.
this morning i started my workout. i walked up and down 12 flights of stairs for a half hour. i not sure but i think there are at least 100 steps. i'm going to count them tomorrow. it was hard. and i think the cleaning ladies who i passed four times thought i was crazy. afterwards i walked around the roof for 10 minutes. it actually felt good to be exercising in the morning once again although it so hard getting up that early.
i transwired money into my american bank account this morning. how international does that sound. sammy came with since this was my first time doing it. some things are such a chore. i had to have my passport, pay stub, foreign card, bank address, etc. the whole process took about a half hour. hopefully everything will work out. i guess i'll know in a couple of days whether or not the funds end up in my account or if i accidentally sent them to someone else. wouldn't that be great. next time i'm going to try it on my own. that should be fun. the teller told me that i had to get some kind of special tax thing. i'm not really sure what she's talking about and trying to ask the people at work and getting a straignt answer is like talking to the door. but at least i got pepero. that makes everything worth it.
i literally got my ass kicked today in tae kwon do. for the last twenty minutes of class we spent it sparring. my first opponent was ryan who's a purple belt. he managed to hit me in the face three times. i don't think i made contact with him once. my next sparring partner was master shin. talk about an uneven match. i was too busy blocking and protecting myself the whole time i didn't even throw one punch or kick. that was tough. the best part of class however was when i fell on my ass twice while practicing kicking. i've got so much coordination it kills me. after class everyone was talking about going to the night club on friday. i tried my hardest to get out of it but somehow found myself agreeing to go. god help me. the last thing i want to do on friday is hang out with the master and classmates. the new student is driving me crazy. he's constanstly running his trap yet he has nothing interesting to say. as ryan said, "good thing he's not american."
i'll be sure to take my camera for friday nights outing with the tae kwon do group. i'm sure there will be plenty of good photo ops. time for this white belter to go to bed. until next time…
Wednesday, November 10, 2004
the inkman
the sky in ansan new city was gray today. it kind of looked liked one of those days where it might snow any minute. however,no snow fell only rain. it was cold inside the school. this would have been one of the great days where you bundle up in blankets watching bad tv or movies. instead i was prepping for classes drinking green tea like it was water. today i introduced the wonderful world of journal writing to my students. they aren't too happy with this ongoing assignment but i feel it will help that with both their writing and english. they were amazed when i wrote the world "diary" in korean on the board. now there was no way they could say they didn't understand what i was asking them to do. i'm actually looking forward to see the kind of things they write. sally was the only student that seemed excited about this assignment. she told me she was going to draw pictures as well as write. i can't wait to see what she comes up with.
the inkman came today. this is the guy we call to refill the ink for our printer. yes people there is no buying new printer cartridges. instead we call the inkman and he comes with his color palette to bring life back to our printer. when i walked into the lounge he was there working diligently. he greeted me with a "goodafternoon sir". i replied with a simple "hello" and a "how are you." he returned with a "fine thank you" and then added that i was "very handsome". i thanked him for the compliment and he asked me where i was from. when i told him san francisco he got a big grin on his face. he then proceeded to tell me that he and his wife were went to san francisco in 1987. he mentioned the golden gate bridge and how lovely it was. its conversations like this that really make my day. i chatted with him for a little while and then we both returned to what we were doing. i've never been away before where the people are so friendly. its definitely making my stay here all the more enjoyable.
tae kwon do was quite interesting to say the least. mister shin told us how he had a glass of wine beforehand and now was somewhat tipsy. this is what i'm paying for. a buzzed tae kwon do instructor. jenny lead the exercises while shin sat off to the side. the whole time he kept talking to me which made it hard for me to concentrate on what we were doing. it seems that one of his students in the afternoon class dropped out and he's feeling bad about it. i can't even remember half the stuff of what he was saying. although he kept saying how wine makes him feel honest. not really sure what he was getting at but this babbling kept on and on throughout the whole warmup. afterwards we practiced forms for the rest of the time. even during the forms he was completing talking nonsense. the other night the class went out for drinks and decided that everyone should go out on friday to the kiss club. its some kind of dance/singing room club. which means class is going to be held on thursday instead of friday. at one point shin told me that he really likes me even though he keeps asking me all these absurd questions. he new thing now is that he's not going on friday unless i go. are we in high school or something. i told shin and the others that i have tentative plans on friday but that i'd try to make it. this clas could definitely be its own sitcom. "the crazy world of master shin and friends" or something like that. i felt good about class. i think i have the first form down and now all i have to work on is my kicking. i found out that to get the yellow belt i need to know form 1, roundhouse kick, side kick, and front kick. i need to start practicing the kicks. i'm a little rusty on the roundhouse kick. keep you fingers crossed for me.
today marks the beginning of my crash dieting. i want to try to shed a few pounds before going to thailand. i had horace come up with a plan for me. the hardest thing is going to be cutting the carbs. especially since all the eat is rice and noodles. but if i can do this by vacation i'll be happy. i have six weeks to whip myself in sharp. after vacations i'll return to eating carbs but in very small amounts and only before 4 pm. we'll see how it goes. all i know is that as i'm sitting here typing i can here the chocolate calling my name. i so just want to cram a kitkat in my mouth but i won't. i'm determined to do this. tomorrow morning i'm going to force myself to get up early and do cardo for an hour. it's all about getting into good habits and what a better way to do then while living abroad. i feel like i have this opportunity to take charge of my life and my body and i'm going to give it my all while i'm here.
i'm off to bed now. i have an early morning. until next time…
the inkman came today. this is the guy we call to refill the ink for our printer. yes people there is no buying new printer cartridges. instead we call the inkman and he comes with his color palette to bring life back to our printer. when i walked into the lounge he was there working diligently. he greeted me with a "goodafternoon sir". i replied with a simple "hello" and a "how are you." he returned with a "fine thank you" and then added that i was "very handsome". i thanked him for the compliment and he asked me where i was from. when i told him san francisco he got a big grin on his face. he then proceeded to tell me that he and his wife were went to san francisco in 1987. he mentioned the golden gate bridge and how lovely it was. its conversations like this that really make my day. i chatted with him for a little while and then we both returned to what we were doing. i've never been away before where the people are so friendly. its definitely making my stay here all the more enjoyable.
tae kwon do was quite interesting to say the least. mister shin told us how he had a glass of wine beforehand and now was somewhat tipsy. this is what i'm paying for. a buzzed tae kwon do instructor. jenny lead the exercises while shin sat off to the side. the whole time he kept talking to me which made it hard for me to concentrate on what we were doing. it seems that one of his students in the afternoon class dropped out and he's feeling bad about it. i can't even remember half the stuff of what he was saying. although he kept saying how wine makes him feel honest. not really sure what he was getting at but this babbling kept on and on throughout the whole warmup. afterwards we practiced forms for the rest of the time. even during the forms he was completing talking nonsense. the other night the class went out for drinks and decided that everyone should go out on friday to the kiss club. its some kind of dance/singing room club. which means class is going to be held on thursday instead of friday. at one point shin told me that he really likes me even though he keeps asking me all these absurd questions. he new thing now is that he's not going on friday unless i go. are we in high school or something. i told shin and the others that i have tentative plans on friday but that i'd try to make it. this clas could definitely be its own sitcom. "the crazy world of master shin and friends" or something like that. i felt good about class. i think i have the first form down and now all i have to work on is my kicking. i found out that to get the yellow belt i need to know form 1, roundhouse kick, side kick, and front kick. i need to start practicing the kicks. i'm a little rusty on the roundhouse kick. keep you fingers crossed for me.
today marks the beginning of my crash dieting. i want to try to shed a few pounds before going to thailand. i had horace come up with a plan for me. the hardest thing is going to be cutting the carbs. especially since all the eat is rice and noodles. but if i can do this by vacation i'll be happy. i have six weeks to whip myself in sharp. after vacations i'll return to eating carbs but in very small amounts and only before 4 pm. we'll see how it goes. all i know is that as i'm sitting here typing i can here the chocolate calling my name. i so just want to cram a kitkat in my mouth but i won't. i'm determined to do this. tomorrow morning i'm going to force myself to get up early and do cardo for an hour. it's all about getting into good habits and what a better way to do then while living abroad. i feel like i have this opportunity to take charge of my life and my body and i'm going to give it my all while i'm here.
i'm off to bed now. i have an early morning. until next time…
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
a parent comes to class
with every day that passes i begin to feel more and more like home here. today when i was leaving carrefour i ran into the coffee shop guy. it was cool exchanging hellos with him. it makes me feel like i actually know people here. couldn't tell you his name but at least he recognized me. maybe oneday i'll actually be able to have a conversation with him that goes beyond hello, mocha, and thank you. thats my new plan. the biggest excitment is that "13 going on 30" is now playing at our movie theater. how sad is that. but you know i'm going to see. it also looks like "the incredibles" are there too. yeah. its the little things in life that seem to make me happy. another piece of exciting news is that i figured out how to get an "other" amount out of the atm. before i've been playing it safe by selecting one of the provided options. i'm getting all crazy now. look out.
on tuesday, i have to teach one of sammy's classes because of a time conflict. so i have these students once a week and i have to teach them from the korean book. well today jem's dad [yes we named one of the students jem] wanted to sit in on the class. of course i couldn't say no. of all the classes to sit in on it had to be this one. anyway i'm trying to teach them about writing an effective beginning sentence and a good ending. not the easiest thing to do. for the effective beginning exercise they had to change "there was a young boy" to be something more interesting. i asked jem to read what she wrote and she started laughing. it seems that she was a little embarrassed. here's what she wrote "there was a handsome young boy. he lived in the united states. he was tall and sexy." when i repeated tall and sexy both her and olivia started giggling. it was quite funny. at this time jem's dad wasn't in the class. we finished the effective beginnings and thats when jem's dad came in. so now i'm trying to get them to write a better ending to the supplied example about a boy and a box. it was kind of difficult to explain it to them. even jem's dad remarked about how hard it was for him to understand and he spoke english fairly well. the lesson took longing then i expected but in the end and with a bit of help from jem's dad who did some translated it seemed to go fairly well. i tried to explain to him how the korean teacher usually teaches this part. i'm not sure if he understood or not.
after the lesson i decided to have them read for a bit. we did some reading and i'd stop every once in a while to explain words and to see if jem and olivia knew what they were doing. that all went well. after class jem's dad made a comment about how he liked the books we were reading and liked how i stopped to explain things and to ask the girls questions about what happened in the story. i'll be curious to see what he had to say to jk. hopefully he won't pull his daughter from the school. there's nothing like a little pressure of having a students parent in the class.
its almost time for "sex and the city". until next time…
on tuesday, i have to teach one of sammy's classes because of a time conflict. so i have these students once a week and i have to teach them from the korean book. well today jem's dad [yes we named one of the students jem] wanted to sit in on the class. of course i couldn't say no. of all the classes to sit in on it had to be this one. anyway i'm trying to teach them about writing an effective beginning sentence and a good ending. not the easiest thing to do. for the effective beginning exercise they had to change "there was a young boy" to be something more interesting. i asked jem to read what she wrote and she started laughing. it seems that she was a little embarrassed. here's what she wrote "there was a handsome young boy. he lived in the united states. he was tall and sexy." when i repeated tall and sexy both her and olivia started giggling. it was quite funny. at this time jem's dad wasn't in the class. we finished the effective beginnings and thats when jem's dad came in. so now i'm trying to get them to write a better ending to the supplied example about a boy and a box. it was kind of difficult to explain it to them. even jem's dad remarked about how hard it was for him to understand and he spoke english fairly well. the lesson took longing then i expected but in the end and with a bit of help from jem's dad who did some translated it seemed to go fairly well. i tried to explain to him how the korean teacher usually teaches this part. i'm not sure if he understood or not.
after the lesson i decided to have them read for a bit. we did some reading and i'd stop every once in a while to explain words and to see if jem and olivia knew what they were doing. that all went well. after class jem's dad made a comment about how he liked the books we were reading and liked how i stopped to explain things and to ask the girls questions about what happened in the story. i'll be curious to see what he had to say to jk. hopefully he won't pull his daughter from the school. there's nothing like a little pressure of having a students parent in the class.
its almost time for "sex and the city". until next time…
Monday, November 08, 2004
subway nation
just like that the weekends are over. i'm sitting here now amazed that its monday night. what the hell happened to sunday? i feel like i spent most of the day traveling via subway. i got a late start on sunday. finally around 1ish i set out to meet horace in insadong. about 50 stops, 3 trains, and asking a cop for directions i finally made it. whew. it actually felt good to set out on my own. its been awhile. i met up with horace and immediately we were bombared by people wanting us to fill out a survey. and once the survey was done we had to get our picture taken with them. ok. whatever. seeing that i had not eaten all right we went to get lunch. while sitting in the resturant a small parade passed by. there were men in colorful outfits and fake beards carring a chair of sorts with someone in it. it was pretty good. after lunch we continued to shop. our whole purpose was to do some christmas shopping. i managed to get a few things which was good.
horace ran out of cash and decided to head back to ansan. i got a call from a friend joon and met him in appujeong. i figure why not i haven't see that part of town yet. it seems appujeong is were the rich come to shop. its kind of like being in the marina. the best part is that the main street is called rodeo and the have a sign that lights up going across the road. its all designer stuff. i didn't go into any shops but did a lot of window shopping. afterwards we stopped for some coffee and then walked around some more. now it was time to go home. i was done shopping.
monday was pretty routine. nothing really to talk about. classes were good and tae kwon do, well its tae kwon do. shin tonight asked me again if my hair was naturally curly. the man kills me. after class everyone went for beers but not feeling much like drinking i came home to watch sex and the city. i can't believe i'm addicted to that show now. the good thing is that i'm actually beginning to like sarah jessica parker now. who would have guess. until next time…
horace ran out of cash and decided to head back to ansan. i got a call from a friend joon and met him in appujeong. i figure why not i haven't see that part of town yet. it seems appujeong is were the rich come to shop. its kind of like being in the marina. the best part is that the main street is called rodeo and the have a sign that lights up going across the road. its all designer stuff. i didn't go into any shops but did a lot of window shopping. afterwards we stopped for some coffee and then walked around some more. now it was time to go home. i was done shopping.
monday was pretty routine. nothing really to talk about. classes were good and tae kwon do, well its tae kwon do. shin tonight asked me again if my hair was naturally curly. the man kills me. after class everyone went for beers but not feeling much like drinking i came home to watch sex and the city. i can't believe i'm addicted to that show now. the good thing is that i'm actually beginning to like sarah jessica parker now. who would have guess. until next time…
Saturday, November 06, 2004
mall madness
due to some posting difficulties last night and this morning, friday's post is finally up and ready to read. it should be right after this one and it's called "teaching = bribery". and now for saturday's post…
after two weeks of being ansan bound we decided to venture into seoul today. our designated stop being the coex. the giant underground mall. let's start off by saying that getting there was quite trying. when we got to sadang where we had to change lines we couldn't get from platform 1 to platform 2. after walking up and down the station looking for a way to get to platform 2 we decided to take the train one stop in the opposite direction to only reboard going the opposite way. the trouble one has to go through to get anyway.
finally we arrived at samseoung station along with half of korea. this is where the coex mall, the seoul world trade center, and aquarium all are. it was crazy packed. we were packed like cattle as we ascending the stairs to exit the station. going to a mall on the weekend. who's idea was this. oh well mine. it felt like christmas tiime in the states with evcryone and their mothers out shopping. the mall was huge, however, i wasn't as impressed by the theme walks as i thought i'd be. here are a few examples of how they advertise these walks: lake walk - with sunlight and a variety of plants, this them provides relaxing and serene atmosphere; summit walk - glass pillars symbolizing perpetual snow and walls finished with skyblue marbles make you imagine the magnificence of a mountain summit; millennium plaza - millennium plaza is the starting area of the fantastic journey of water. i'm not really sure who the pr genius was that came up with these description but it was basically like walking through different parts of a mall with different lighting and color. if i didn't know beforehand that these were supposes to be particular themes i would have never known the difference. overall the mall was like any other. you have your food court, giant movie theater, various stores. the best being the dalki store. although i only wish it was bigger.
the best part was area 6, the fashion walk. talk about bad fashion. there wasn't one thing that interested me. i did notice that every other girl was wearing uggs. blue ones, pink ones, ones with wool all around them. they must now be making their way to korea. another fashion trend i noticed was the white blazers/coats worn by both men and women. white seems to be the color here. i'm now on the quest to find a cool white coat. they have a bookstore there too which has a pretty good selection of foreign magazines [ones from the states in english], however, the prices range from $16 to $38. like i'm going to spend that kind of money when i can get it in the states for $5. no thanks. i was hoping that they might have some graphic novels but they didn't have any of the ones i read. oh well. at least i know the bookstore is there for when i need something to read. we found a food joint that makes chilly cheese fries and philly steaks. of course we ate there. i must say that the cheese steak was pretty damn good.
while walking around we stumbled upon the aquarium. we didn't go in. its pretty big so we'll probably do that another time. it looks pretty cool though. they have sharks. i think we'll save that for a cold winter day. after a few hours of walking around i remembered why i hate malls. way too many people. its like sensory overload.
outside in the main plaza area we noticed that jackie chan has a resturant there. if only we had known before. we'll eat there next time. we walked up to the street level to take a look around. the seoul world trade center is right outside. its so big. the archietecture around this area was pretty cool. it kind of reminded me of being in the financial district in sf. even though there were tons of people around it didn't feel like it. it actually felt kind of peaceful. we're going to walk around there some other time when were not so tired.
once back in ansan we decided to walk to home plus another carrefour/emart kind of place. talk about crazy. this place was more crowded than the mall. i don't think i'll be going back there. the only good thing about it is that we found blankets for under $20. of course they have flowers on them. everything in korea has flowers. but a blanket is a blanket so i bite the bullet and bought the flowered blanket. now at least i won't be cold. while walking home master shin pulled up in his van and offered us a ride home. i politely turned him down since we were only a block away. it funny too because i had just got done talking about me. i guess the old saying is true "speak of the devil and the devil appears".
tomorrow is going to be more shopping. there are some markets we want to check out. it should be fun. until next time…
after two weeks of being ansan bound we decided to venture into seoul today. our designated stop being the coex. the giant underground mall. let's start off by saying that getting there was quite trying. when we got to sadang where we had to change lines we couldn't get from platform 1 to platform 2. after walking up and down the station looking for a way to get to platform 2 we decided to take the train one stop in the opposite direction to only reboard going the opposite way. the trouble one has to go through to get anyway.
finally we arrived at samseoung station along with half of korea. this is where the coex mall, the seoul world trade center, and aquarium all are. it was crazy packed. we were packed like cattle as we ascending the stairs to exit the station. going to a mall on the weekend. who's idea was this. oh well mine. it felt like christmas tiime in the states with evcryone and their mothers out shopping. the mall was huge, however, i wasn't as impressed by the theme walks as i thought i'd be. here are a few examples of how they advertise these walks: lake walk - with sunlight and a variety of plants, this them provides relaxing and serene atmosphere; summit walk - glass pillars symbolizing perpetual snow and walls finished with skyblue marbles make you imagine the magnificence of a mountain summit; millennium plaza - millennium plaza is the starting area of the fantastic journey of water. i'm not really sure who the pr genius was that came up with these description but it was basically like walking through different parts of a mall with different lighting and color. if i didn't know beforehand that these were supposes to be particular themes i would have never known the difference. overall the mall was like any other. you have your food court, giant movie theater, various stores. the best being the dalki store. although i only wish it was bigger.
the best part was area 6, the fashion walk. talk about bad fashion. there wasn't one thing that interested me. i did notice that every other girl was wearing uggs. blue ones, pink ones, ones with wool all around them. they must now be making their way to korea. another fashion trend i noticed was the white blazers/coats worn by both men and women. white seems to be the color here. i'm now on the quest to find a cool white coat. they have a bookstore there too which has a pretty good selection of foreign magazines [ones from the states in english], however, the prices range from $16 to $38. like i'm going to spend that kind of money when i can get it in the states for $5. no thanks. i was hoping that they might have some graphic novels but they didn't have any of the ones i read. oh well. at least i know the bookstore is there for when i need something to read. we found a food joint that makes chilly cheese fries and philly steaks. of course we ate there. i must say that the cheese steak was pretty damn good.
while walking around we stumbled upon the aquarium. we didn't go in. its pretty big so we'll probably do that another time. it looks pretty cool though. they have sharks. i think we'll save that for a cold winter day. after a few hours of walking around i remembered why i hate malls. way too many people. its like sensory overload.
outside in the main plaza area we noticed that jackie chan has a resturant there. if only we had known before. we'll eat there next time. we walked up to the street level to take a look around. the seoul world trade center is right outside. its so big. the archietecture around this area was pretty cool. it kind of reminded me of being in the financial district in sf. even though there were tons of people around it didn't feel like it. it actually felt kind of peaceful. we're going to walk around there some other time when were not so tired.
once back in ansan we decided to walk to home plus another carrefour/emart kind of place. talk about crazy. this place was more crowded than the mall. i don't think i'll be going back there. the only good thing about it is that we found blankets for under $20. of course they have flowers on them. everything in korea has flowers. but a blanket is a blanket so i bite the bullet and bought the flowered blanket. now at least i won't be cold. while walking home master shin pulled up in his van and offered us a ride home. i politely turned him down since we were only a block away. it funny too because i had just got done talking about me. i guess the old saying is true "speak of the devil and the devil appears".
tomorrow is going to be more shopping. there are some markets we want to check out. it should be fun. until next time…
Friday, November 05, 2004
teaching = bribery
it rained off and on all day friday. for lunch i had my favorite bulgalge, which is a beef and onion soup. i think i actually wrote about it before. its so good. for now on its going to be my friday lunch.
classes today went really well. all week sally was telling me about how she is going to be singing at her school on friday. today during class i asked her to sing for me. she didn't want to because she said i didn't know korean. i told her that music is universal and that it didn't matter. she still shook her head. then i told her that if she sang for me there would be no reading today. as she sat there i could see the wheels in her head spinning. yes, i've resorted to bribery. she then told me that the song was about a chick that cried one tear and the the title was called clover. with that she started to hum it. i asked if there were any words. she said yes and began to sing the first verse. it was too damn cute. her performance today reinforces what i've been thinking for awhile now. she's a little adriana. no wonder i love her so much. she's got that same sassy attitude, good voice, and every time she tells me a story she makes me laugh. i love going to this class for that reason. its like have a little bit of home here in korea. now if i could only get the two of them in the same room. how wonderful would that be.
the bribery theme carried on into my class of boys. i told them today that i was going to have a point system. during our lessons they needed to raise their hand and wait to be called on. if they got the answer correct they got a point. if they started to misbehave i'd take a point away. at the end of class whoever had the most points got a prize. i must say it actually worked. this was the best behaved they've been so far. at the beginning of class i gave them a spelling test. not so good. the highest grade was a 50. we're definitely going to have to work on spelling. after finishing our lesson i gave them a handout on body parts and they had to spell out the different parts. we played it sort of like hangman. where the beginning letter was given to them and then they had to figure out the rest. they seemed to have fun with it which made me happy. it's so much more enjoyable when classes go well.
in tae kwon do we had to do the leap frog again. i told master shin that i didn't feel comfortable doing it since this was how i injured myself to begin with. he was cool with that and made me be the obstacle they jumped over. after the warmup exercises we practiced forms. there are 8 forms we need to learn to get various belts. i'm still on form 1. it was actually a good class. i know about 95% of form one. one step closer to a yellow belt. maybe by december i can trade in my white belt for the yellow one.
gotta motor. until next time…
classes today went really well. all week sally was telling me about how she is going to be singing at her school on friday. today during class i asked her to sing for me. she didn't want to because she said i didn't know korean. i told her that music is universal and that it didn't matter. she still shook her head. then i told her that if she sang for me there would be no reading today. as she sat there i could see the wheels in her head spinning. yes, i've resorted to bribery. she then told me that the song was about a chick that cried one tear and the the title was called clover. with that she started to hum it. i asked if there were any words. she said yes and began to sing the first verse. it was too damn cute. her performance today reinforces what i've been thinking for awhile now. she's a little adriana. no wonder i love her so much. she's got that same sassy attitude, good voice, and every time she tells me a story she makes me laugh. i love going to this class for that reason. its like have a little bit of home here in korea. now if i could only get the two of them in the same room. how wonderful would that be.
the bribery theme carried on into my class of boys. i told them today that i was going to have a point system. during our lessons they needed to raise their hand and wait to be called on. if they got the answer correct they got a point. if they started to misbehave i'd take a point away. at the end of class whoever had the most points got a prize. i must say it actually worked. this was the best behaved they've been so far. at the beginning of class i gave them a spelling test. not so good. the highest grade was a 50. we're definitely going to have to work on spelling. after finishing our lesson i gave them a handout on body parts and they had to spell out the different parts. we played it sort of like hangman. where the beginning letter was given to them and then they had to figure out the rest. they seemed to have fun with it which made me happy. it's so much more enjoyable when classes go well.
in tae kwon do we had to do the leap frog again. i told master shin that i didn't feel comfortable doing it since this was how i injured myself to begin with. he was cool with that and made me be the obstacle they jumped over. after the warmup exercises we practiced forms. there are 8 forms we need to learn to get various belts. i'm still on form 1. it was actually a good class. i know about 95% of form one. one step closer to a yellow belt. maybe by december i can trade in my white belt for the yellow one.
gotta motor. until next time…
Thursday, November 04, 2004
when dreams become reality
a very interesting thing happened the other day which only now am i able to actually write about it. i'm still in shock about the whole event. and even now as i'm about to write about i just want to laugh. it seems that one of my dreams which i mentioned in a previous blog has become true to some extent. the dream in question is the one about me, misty, kate, and the mysterious man in the bathroom. i'm sure you know where this is going.
a couple of days ago i was heading to the bathroom at work. there's public restrooms on each floor that everyone uses. so i'm casually walking down the hallway minding my own business. i turn to go into the men's room when right before my eyes i catch a glimpse of a bare assed man, pants around his ankles trying to go from one stall to another before he explodes. i managed to catch him just as he was walking into a new stall and the whole time he's either talking to himself or on the phone. its hard to tell because no matter what they're doing in the bathroom (#1 or #2) they always seem to be on the phone. before i can even get into the bathroom i hear this sound that immediatelly makes me want to turn right around. it was as if the heavens above had opened up and let everything out. i stood there in disbief. did this really just happen i thought. there was no way i could use the bathroom now because all i wanted to do was laugh. i don't think he say me but i was completely embarassed for him so i turned around and waited 10 minutes before heading back to the danger zone. upon my return he was gone. it does make one good story though. gotta love korea.
as the coffee place today horace and i ran into another westerner. he was basically a dopey white guy. you know the kind that comes to korea to get a wife. we tried talking to him but he didn't say anything to us. oh well. the mochas are getting better and better with each one. i love having my own little coffee place here. it makes me feel at home. plus i feel like i'm supporting a mom and pop shop. four more and then i get my free one.
now its time for me to say how sad i feel about the outcome of the election. of course deep down i knew that this would happen. however, there was a small part of me that held out hope for my fellow americans to see the light. alas they didn't. and now we have 4 more years. korea is looking sweeter and sweeter by the minute. i guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. that's all i really want to say on the matter. there's so much more i could say but i really don't feel like being depressed.
i got a new student the other day named diana. she's in my orange b class with the older kids. she's a lot younger than them and reads so much better. its amazing. jk told me today that yesterday her mom said i looked sharp. i'm sure it had to do with the fact i was wearing a tie but i'll take that compliment. little do they really know.
thats about it for tonight. until next time…
a couple of days ago i was heading to the bathroom at work. there's public restrooms on each floor that everyone uses. so i'm casually walking down the hallway minding my own business. i turn to go into the men's room when right before my eyes i catch a glimpse of a bare assed man, pants around his ankles trying to go from one stall to another before he explodes. i managed to catch him just as he was walking into a new stall and the whole time he's either talking to himself or on the phone. its hard to tell because no matter what they're doing in the bathroom (#1 or #2) they always seem to be on the phone. before i can even get into the bathroom i hear this sound that immediatelly makes me want to turn right around. it was as if the heavens above had opened up and let everything out. i stood there in disbief. did this really just happen i thought. there was no way i could use the bathroom now because all i wanted to do was laugh. i don't think he say me but i was completely embarassed for him so i turned around and waited 10 minutes before heading back to the danger zone. upon my return he was gone. it does make one good story though. gotta love korea.
as the coffee place today horace and i ran into another westerner. he was basically a dopey white guy. you know the kind that comes to korea to get a wife. we tried talking to him but he didn't say anything to us. oh well. the mochas are getting better and better with each one. i love having my own little coffee place here. it makes me feel at home. plus i feel like i'm supporting a mom and pop shop. four more and then i get my free one.
now its time for me to say how sad i feel about the outcome of the election. of course deep down i knew that this would happen. however, there was a small part of me that held out hope for my fellow americans to see the light. alas they didn't. and now we have 4 more years. korea is looking sweeter and sweeter by the minute. i guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens. that's all i really want to say on the matter. there's so much more i could say but i really don't feel like being depressed.
i got a new student the other day named diana. she's in my orange b class with the older kids. she's a lot younger than them and reads so much better. its amazing. jk told me today that yesterday her mom said i looked sharp. i'm sure it had to do with the fact i was wearing a tie but i'll take that compliment. little do they really know.
thats about it for tonight. until next time…
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
"cew"
it's almost nov. 4th here and still no president has been named. i though for sure by the time i returned from tae kwon do it would be over. at least its not florida holding things up this time. i'd have to disown it if it was. it's such as close race and that has me scared. i'm not really sure what four more years with gwb would be like and to be quite honest i really don't want to know. hopefully by morning it'll all be over.
so ever since horace quite tkd, i've been thinking about doing the same. part of me likes it but there's the other part that is so tired after class that all i want to do is sit. sometimes i think i'm so freakin lazy. have i always been like this. unfortunately i think i have. i'm just noticing it more here. i find it so hard to motivate myself to do things. and it's not because i'm in korea either. i was like this in sf. i was a little better at hiding it though. it's a weird feeling to know that you are acting in a certain mannor and no matter what you do it's hard to break it. that's why i'm not going to allow myself to quite tkd. this discipline 3 days a week will be good for me. i feel like i need some sort of jump start and perhaps this is the answer. i keep feeling that i have this great opportunity in front of me to do and learn new things but yet i'm reverted to old habits. i know they say old habits die hard but hopefully we a little patience and determinination i can change all that. is this making sense. i'm not even sure. sometimes i feel like i'm rambling on and on. my thoughts don't come as simple clear statements. instead i have all these random tidbits floating around saying write about me, write about me. all i can do is my best so i at times it seems like i'm jumpming from one topicd to another. i am. let's call it "crazy ethan writing" or "cew" for short.
school was good today. i felt really good about all my classes. later in the evening i had to give a speaking test to a new student. i was quite surprised because she understood about 95% of what i was asking her. a lot better than my orange b class on a good day. she told me her favorite american actor was leonardo dicarpiro, favorite female actor nicole kidman. brittany spears and madonna are two musicians she likes. she doesn't read but likes to play games with her friends. and she had kimchee stew for dinner. i had fun talking with her. this morning i went to the bakery and got some kind of bread, onion, ham, and egg thing. it was quite tastey. i also got some pumpkin pastry thing which i just got done eating. D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. it kind of like a strudel of sorts. i love that bakery. the lady is also so nice. she gave me two pieces of pumpkin carmel candy too. love here.
tkd class was good, too.i always feel so energized after it. the only bad thing about that is that i stay up way to late. there was a new guy today. well actually he wasn't new because he started while i was on hiatus. he seems pretty cool. actually everyone in the class is super cool. i'm starting to not worry about making an ass of myself. although i do think i look quite ridiculous in the outfit. almost like a ghost with hair. my leg is feeling better every day which is qreat. i can't believe tomorrow is thursday. the days are actually going by much faster now. yeah.
pleasent dreams everyone. until next time…
so ever since horace quite tkd, i've been thinking about doing the same. part of me likes it but there's the other part that is so tired after class that all i want to do is sit. sometimes i think i'm so freakin lazy. have i always been like this. unfortunately i think i have. i'm just noticing it more here. i find it so hard to motivate myself to do things. and it's not because i'm in korea either. i was like this in sf. i was a little better at hiding it though. it's a weird feeling to know that you are acting in a certain mannor and no matter what you do it's hard to break it. that's why i'm not going to allow myself to quite tkd. this discipline 3 days a week will be good for me. i feel like i need some sort of jump start and perhaps this is the answer. i keep feeling that i have this great opportunity in front of me to do and learn new things but yet i'm reverted to old habits. i know they say old habits die hard but hopefully we a little patience and determinination i can change all that. is this making sense. i'm not even sure. sometimes i feel like i'm rambling on and on. my thoughts don't come as simple clear statements. instead i have all these random tidbits floating around saying write about me, write about me. all i can do is my best so i at times it seems like i'm jumpming from one topicd to another. i am. let's call it "crazy ethan writing" or "cew" for short.
school was good today. i felt really good about all my classes. later in the evening i had to give a speaking test to a new student. i was quite surprised because she understood about 95% of what i was asking her. a lot better than my orange b class on a good day. she told me her favorite american actor was leonardo dicarpiro, favorite female actor nicole kidman. brittany spears and madonna are two musicians she likes. she doesn't read but likes to play games with her friends. and she had kimchee stew for dinner. i had fun talking with her. this morning i went to the bakery and got some kind of bread, onion, ham, and egg thing. it was quite tastey. i also got some pumpkin pastry thing which i just got done eating. D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. it kind of like a strudel of sorts. i love that bakery. the lady is also so nice. she gave me two pieces of pumpkin carmel candy too. love here.
tkd class was good, too.i always feel so energized after it. the only bad thing about that is that i stay up way to late. there was a new guy today. well actually he wasn't new because he started while i was on hiatus. he seems pretty cool. actually everyone in the class is super cool. i'm starting to not worry about making an ass of myself. although i do think i look quite ridiculous in the outfit. almost like a ghost with hair. my leg is feeling better every day which is qreat. i can't believe tomorrow is thursday. the days are actually going by much faster now. yeah.
pleasent dreams everyone. until next time…
Tuesday, November 02, 2004
cheese sticks?
as most of you probably know i'm not one to be real policital but i wanted to start today's blog with telling you all to get out and vote. if i was able to cast my vote from korea there's no excuse for any of you back home. the outcome could just determine where i'll spend my next 4 years. let's make a difference!
today i had my final acupuncture. it kind of makes me sad that i won't be going back until another problems arises. i was actually enjoying those 10 minutes of relaxing with pins in my body. there's definitely something to be said about it. for any of you have thought about doing it but hasn't i'd definitely recommend it. it's an experience unlike any other. the best part about the whole thing is that it actually worked.
there's one thing about being in korea especially when walking through the supermarket. things that look like similar products in america often aren't what they seem. case in point. the other other day when shopping for halloween stuff we bought some cheese sticks to use as fingers. they were never use so the other other i was having a snack attack and remembered that they were in the fridge. how excited was i to realize we had cheese sticks left. i tore into the box and grabbed on out. it took two seconds to peel the wrapping off and stick half of it in my mouth. as i chomped down on this cheese stick that was packaged in cute anime [like just about everything here) it tasted like no other cheese i tasted before. in fact it didn't taste like cheese at all. it tasted like fish. i immediately started to gag and swallowed it down. i frantically searched the room for something to kill the taste and finally settled on some ginger candy. it had to be the grossest thing i've ever tasted. worse then the fish jerky from manhatten bar. i went to look for horace to have him taste it. when i ran into him i noticed that he had one of the cheese stick things in his hand as well as facial expression said it all. he too got suckered into thinking it was a tastey cheese treat. after we both discussed how nasty that stuff was christine told us that it was indeed a fish snack. hello, they should not make fish snacks look like cheese sticks. how cruel is that. this why i'm always afraid to buy things becasue you never know what it's going to be. the worst thing about it is that the korean kids love that stuff. just thinking about them makes me sick. i'm sure this won't be the first nor the last of misleading packaging. next time i'll have to ask before i eat.
it's been chilly and rainy the last couple of days. it feels and looks like fall with the leaves changing. the colors are beautiful. i forgot what it was like to experience a real fall. if the weather permits we are going to go hiking to see the trees and all the color. and if its raining then we are going to check out the coex which is one of the largest underground shopping complexes in asia. the seoul world trade center and the aquarium are both there so that should be cool. they also have all these theme walks like the forest walk and water walk there. i can't wait to check that all out. it sounds cool.
its almost time for "sex and the city." until next time…
today i had my final acupuncture. it kind of makes me sad that i won't be going back until another problems arises. i was actually enjoying those 10 minutes of relaxing with pins in my body. there's definitely something to be said about it. for any of you have thought about doing it but hasn't i'd definitely recommend it. it's an experience unlike any other. the best part about the whole thing is that it actually worked.
there's one thing about being in korea especially when walking through the supermarket. things that look like similar products in america often aren't what they seem. case in point. the other other day when shopping for halloween stuff we bought some cheese sticks to use as fingers. they were never use so the other other i was having a snack attack and remembered that they were in the fridge. how excited was i to realize we had cheese sticks left. i tore into the box and grabbed on out. it took two seconds to peel the wrapping off and stick half of it in my mouth. as i chomped down on this cheese stick that was packaged in cute anime [like just about everything here) it tasted like no other cheese i tasted before. in fact it didn't taste like cheese at all. it tasted like fish. i immediately started to gag and swallowed it down. i frantically searched the room for something to kill the taste and finally settled on some ginger candy. it had to be the grossest thing i've ever tasted. worse then the fish jerky from manhatten bar. i went to look for horace to have him taste it. when i ran into him i noticed that he had one of the cheese stick things in his hand as well as facial expression said it all. he too got suckered into thinking it was a tastey cheese treat. after we both discussed how nasty that stuff was christine told us that it was indeed a fish snack. hello, they should not make fish snacks look like cheese sticks. how cruel is that. this why i'm always afraid to buy things becasue you never know what it's going to be. the worst thing about it is that the korean kids love that stuff. just thinking about them makes me sick. i'm sure this won't be the first nor the last of misleading packaging. next time i'll have to ask before i eat.
it's been chilly and rainy the last couple of days. it feels and looks like fall with the leaves changing. the colors are beautiful. i forgot what it was like to experience a real fall. if the weather permits we are going to go hiking to see the trees and all the color. and if its raining then we are going to check out the coex which is one of the largest underground shopping complexes in asia. the seoul world trade center and the aquarium are both there so that should be cool. they also have all these theme walks like the forest walk and water walk there. i can't wait to check that all out. it sounds cool.
its almost time for "sex and the city." until next time…
Monday, November 01, 2004
mocha, movies, and master shin…
today is my two month anniversary. it's hard to believe that i've only here that long. it feels like forever. after another weekend of doing nothing i've decided i need to get back into touristy mode and sight see. i think next week i'll do just that. i've been getting lazy and a lot of that is due to the fact that i'm going to be here til september 2005. i did find a dalki store in the coex which is this giant multiplex of sorts. i think thats where i'll venutre to this weekend. i need to spend money. our christmas vacation is shaping up. we have the hotel on koh chang reserved and tomorrow we'll reserve our flight. i can't wait for this trip. its going to be a blast.
this morning at school was spent taking down the decorations. i can't believe how trashed the school got. i must have scraped several mushed pieces of candy corn off the floor. it actually felt good to give the school a good cleaning. everyone was pretty quiet about fridays craziness. noone really wants to remember it. although christine did mention she had several scrapes on her legs. could that be because someone couldn't stand. i wonder. after our mid-day mocha run we went into the movie theater to check out what was playing. when are they going to get rid of "princess diaries 2". come on people. there's still nothing but crap. before heading up to our floor we stopped on the third floor to check out the new school. one word. huge. i still can't believe there's going to be another english institute in the building.
all my classes went well expect for the three boys. i had to take dave out to talk to jk. it actually did no good. once we were back in the room he was just the same. and then they wanted me to play hangman. as if. i've got to figure out a new strategy with these guys. somethings got to make them want to learn. i'll have to sleep on that. if any one out there has a great idea let me know. these three are killing me.
today also marked my first day back in tae kwon do. the class went really well. there were a few moves that i didn't know but i think i caught on fairly well. the best part of the class was using the numbchucks. how fun was that. i felt like a ninja really for action. i want to get me some of those. numbchucks are fun. looking at the word i think i totally misspelled it. maybe someone should send me a dictionary. my spelling is so bad lately. back to my story. so the nc's were fun. after that we learn another defense move that was pretty cool too. but of course the class couldn't end on a high note. master shin always has a way of making you think "why am i taking this class with him". of course tonight was no different. so class is over and everyone is changing. i was putting on a button down shirt when shin says laughing "look at your stomach." i stood there stunned for a second then replied with "what". and he says that i should do some sit ups. i asked him if insults were extra for the class. however, he didn't realize i was being sarcastic. in his office while waiting for everyone else he made another comment about being surprised i came back. i told him we'll see what happens after i make up my two weeks i missed. if he would just keep his mouth shut the class would be really great. the next couple of days should be interesting to say the least.
until next time…
this morning at school was spent taking down the decorations. i can't believe how trashed the school got. i must have scraped several mushed pieces of candy corn off the floor. it actually felt good to give the school a good cleaning. everyone was pretty quiet about fridays craziness. noone really wants to remember it. although christine did mention she had several scrapes on her legs. could that be because someone couldn't stand. i wonder. after our mid-day mocha run we went into the movie theater to check out what was playing. when are they going to get rid of "princess diaries 2". come on people. there's still nothing but crap. before heading up to our floor we stopped on the third floor to check out the new school. one word. huge. i still can't believe there's going to be another english institute in the building.
all my classes went well expect for the three boys. i had to take dave out to talk to jk. it actually did no good. once we were back in the room he was just the same. and then they wanted me to play hangman. as if. i've got to figure out a new strategy with these guys. somethings got to make them want to learn. i'll have to sleep on that. if any one out there has a great idea let me know. these three are killing me.
today also marked my first day back in tae kwon do. the class went really well. there were a few moves that i didn't know but i think i caught on fairly well. the best part of the class was using the numbchucks. how fun was that. i felt like a ninja really for action. i want to get me some of those. numbchucks are fun. looking at the word i think i totally misspelled it. maybe someone should send me a dictionary. my spelling is so bad lately. back to my story. so the nc's were fun. after that we learn another defense move that was pretty cool too. but of course the class couldn't end on a high note. master shin always has a way of making you think "why am i taking this class with him". of course tonight was no different. so class is over and everyone is changing. i was putting on a button down shirt when shin says laughing "look at your stomach." i stood there stunned for a second then replied with "what". and he says that i should do some sit ups. i asked him if insults were extra for the class. however, he didn't realize i was being sarcastic. in his office while waiting for everyone else he made another comment about being surprised i came back. i told him we'll see what happens after i make up my two weeks i missed. if he would just keep his mouth shut the class would be really great. the next couple of days should be interesting to say the least.
until next time…
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