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…