September 2, 2003
Well I managed to pack up my life in under two hours. I don't know if that's a good thing or just really sad.
I made it to Bangkok with no hitches. Except that I started off the trip by dropping my camera on the marble floor of the Incheon airport. It was totally my carelessness, but the kid that was walking opposite me got in trouble for supposedly knocking the camera out of my hands. I tried to explain that it was all my fault, in my broken Korean, but I still think the boy was scolded. There were a lot of "sorry"s and bowing exchanged. I would normally feel guilty, however I just finished teaching "them" for a full year and have another year in the works.
So far here, I have checked into my hotel on Kao San Road(it's pretty much how I pictured it) and watched the end of T3 at a bar across the street and then some internet banking. Pretty exciting! Tomorrow will hopefully be golf for the first time in over a year.
August 17, 2003
Two updates in two days. Wow! Here's what's been going on during the past month in a nutshell.
Teaching incessantly, because Korean parents don't believe in giving their children a break in their studies even during summer vacation. Trying to find a new job in my spare time. I've had one on the leash for a while now but people keep changing their minds as to whether they are staying or leaving. I've had a knife pulled on me and got in the middle of a mild gangster dispute. All in the same night. Discovering that you can survive for 72 hours without any sleep. Thank goodness for the caffienated Mountain Dew here.
Anyways, there is a new song. But be forewarned that I have discovered the joys of effects, using my new computer and recording software.
August 16, 2003
Well, if anyone is even still checking out this site there are a bunch of new pictures that were taken quite a while ago.
I'm off to Thailand in a couple of weeks to check out the sun, surf, cheap golf, and ping pong ball shenanigans. Maybe make my way up to Cambodia.
Then it's back here for another year at a different school.
More pictures soon. Really.
July 11, 2003
A few new pictures up. On a final note to the children's stories, both of my students finished first in their respective speech competitions.
June 14, 2003
So I should probably explain the stories. They are for a couple of my students who are entering an english, memorized, speech competition. So I was given a couple of stories and asked to edit them. They are on the site because my email is really flaky and refuses to deliver to some addresses. It was bizarre to write a "crush" story for a nine year old and a pseudo-religious story about wheeled shoes.
I am busier than ever. I seem to have everyone fooled into thinking that I am a good teacher. I just found out that I have a reputation in my local neighbourhood and am in demand. I've even had to sub-contract out.
I gorged myself on some western food today. A Chili's was discovered and now ranks as the best american-style restaurant. Costco memberships have also been purchased and I got my first taste of sharp cheddar cheese in over half a year. The only problem is that I had to buy a 10 pound block...
I managed to go a whole year without seeing a full game of hockey. I think I was able to see five minutes of a Washington game. Pretty pathetic. If it's not world cup soccer or wrestling, it's not worth putting on TV.
June 10, 2003
Hey Tara,
Here's Anthony's story. When I have more time I could add a little more and maybe tie the beginning to the end a little better.
There are so many important and beautiful things in our life,that we would never be able to have all of them. What if God asked me to just choose one, then what would I do? I would probably do what most other people would choose, family.
There are five of us, Dad, Mom, two sisters and me. My father is tall, handsome, very well built, and above all, he is always encourging and supporting me.
Mom loves me so much, of course, and prays for me all the time. I really enjoy how she always takes the time to read to my sister and I every night
My older sister, who is a college student, is only concerned about how she looks in the latest fashions.
And then there is the trouble maker, my younger, seven year old sister. Even though she is so young, she has incredible strength. Her face reminds me of Shim Eun Ha and she is built like Kang Ho Dong. Our mother used to give us our snacks separately, otherwise my sister would take the majority of the treats.
The worst thing about my little sister is that I have to take her with me when I go outside, which makes it impossible to play with my friends.
Sometimes I wish that I could have been the youngest. Then they would pay more attention to me and have so little to worry about.
I would never want to not have my younger sibling, even though I complain so much about her. I love her very much and, in a way feel responsible for her well being. I especially enjoy the feeling of being looked up to by someone.
Now back to the important matters at hand. I just bought my very own Heely's a few days ago. My mother won't let me wear them though because she thinks that they are too dangerous, and she is probably right after seeing all my friends with their own Heely caused injuries. But I have struck a deal with her to allow my to wheel freely. I have promised to finish reading the Bible and she has accepted and suggested that the promise I have made is a very strong one as it is with God as well.
So now I am reading the good book as diligently as I can. Staying up late just to get through a few more pages. It won't be long before I am rolling down the street, feeling the rush of the wind across my face, as I perform amazing feats with my feet as my family watches in awe.
June 9, 2003
Hey Tara,
I hope this one works. I've added a few sentences here and there.
I'm always worried when Teacher's Day comes around because I have three teachers; school, piano and taekwondo.
Mom usually doesn't give me money, especially not when it comes to gifts for teachers. She says, "If you want to give a gift, then you will have to prepare it yourself." Well, I think that she is right. The only problem is that I don't ever have any money. I tried to save my allowance but it would never have been enough for all three presents.
So I decided to draw portraits of my teachers which cost nothing. I put in my best effort and the results were fantastic. Maybe Mom didn't give me money, but she may have passed down a talent or two.
Frankly speaking, I devoted more time to one of the drawings. That was for my taekwondo instructor. I even wrapped in it in a special pink ribbon.
I liked him, maybe even loved him at that time. He was the only reason that I attended my classes so diligently. He always looked so good in his black belted uniform, tall and handsome, so much different from the boys at school. I would try my best to get, and keep, his attention. I would always be the first to show up and the last to leave, hanging on every word he had to say.
My father always wondered what it was about taekwondo that I liked so much. I could never tell him the whole truth. My dream was to be known all around world for my taekwondo skills so that my instructor, my first love, would really notice me.
Last week brought down a huge obstacle across my path, for he gave himself to somebody else and they are away on their honeymoon at the moment. So now I am faced with a major decision. I either have to give up on my dream or change to another instructor. I could not bear to be in the class with my first love.
If he would apologize to me, maybe I would be able to forgive him for what he has done to my dream. I wonder if he has any clue about how he has affected my life. Anyways, they say that, "Your first love will never succeed."
And ....how right they are.
June 5, 2003
It's been awhile, but there are new pictures. I'm still working on the captions, but who reads those anyways...
Go to the See This link. Each picture will come up when you select it's title in the drop down box. Please be patient with the loading of the pictures. I had to keep some of the sizes higher to maintain a semblance of quality.
May 5, 2003
Just got back from Suraksan, which is a one of the largest mountains in Korea. You could actually see into North Korea from the summit if it wasn't so hazy.
The bus ride was a little on the long side. It took 6 hours to go under 300 km. It could have been worse, I was told that on most holidays it can take 10 hours.
I partook in the cheap and easily accesible fireworks. I can understand now why there are many controls on these back home, due to the stupidity of humans. Such as holding a roman candle horizontally because the first couple haven't shot that high in the air and it just missing a fellow pyro's head. The homebrewed fireworks shows were usually more exciting than most that I have seen back home.
Today is Children's Day. It appears Korea responded to all the kids' requests about "Where is Children's Day?" when faced with all the adult days. This Thursday is Buddha's birthday, so it has, and will be, a week of celebrations. Lots of lanterns, parades and such.
Apr 28, 2003
A few things that I have learned over the past week:
1.The politeness rule, in Korea, regarding always having to accept drinks offered to you, can lead to a very bad next day.
2.I have grown a inch since I have been here. Who says pollutants are bad for you? I'm hoping for six feet by the end of my tour...
3.I can't pick a winning horse to save my life, even with inside information.
4.Eight nacho chips just isn't worth $10 at TGIFs.
5.You can say anything in a different language to a native speaker and they will find whatever you say to be absolutlely hilarious. I'm thinking of doing the Korean stand-up circuit with my limited vocabulary.
6.There is a reason that the food at the casino is free. And it might have something to do with everything being refered to as porridge.
Apr 19, 2003
Just working my way through another break on a dreary Saturday afternoon. I've had two hellish classes so far today. I even made one of the kids cry. I might have gone too far when inscribing my name upon his forehead with a dry-erase marker...(It wipes off immediately) The other kids thought it was hilarious and he isn't writing on the desks anymore.
Tonight is supposed to be a big dance party at Dragon. The last I heard though, they didn't have any turntables so it will probably mean that the party will move elsewhere fairly quickly.
I broke down and finally bought a cellphone. Koreans aren't a multiple car family they are a multiple handphone family. I'm embarrased to show mine because it doesn't have any fancy gadgets or dealybops on it like everyone else. A cellphone here is like a personal statement as to who you are and should be decorated accordingly.
And there goes the bell to signal the final class of official work today.
Apr 9, 2003
Well, I figure I should put up a quick update. I just got back from a three day holiday on Jeju Island at the southern end of Korea. A very beautiful place and a good getaway from the rigors of Seoul. There should be pictures and stories going up in the next few days.
I've been looking for a used computer here, but Koreans aren't big on purchasing anything used, except clothes that have come from the States.
My roommate, Katie, just had her pocket picked this morning on the subway. It was really busy and she felt her jacket get tugged, but she just thought that it was the usual crowd bumps. When she went to go for her wallet a little later though nothing was there. Fortunately she is the most organized person I know when it comes to paperwork and she had all the numbers to call for cancellations and the such. I wouldn't even know where to start. In fact I would have probably just thought that I had misplaced all of my cards.
I've taken up the fantastic sport of squash for the past month. I have been an avid racquetball fanatic, but I am slowly being converted. I'm not quite at instructor level yet, but I put on a good show.
Time for work. My next class has at least five kids with the attention span of a gnat. So the whole class is me repeating "Sit Down (fill in name here) Now!", or "Stop spinning in circles", or "Get your head back in the window".
Mar 27, 2003
I can't take the PC rooms anymore and the computer at work can barely consider itself one. So I decided to write my website entries down during periods of forced boredom and then inflict that boredom upon anyone who decides to read further. Then I would just have to scan in my paper and post the image up here, keeping my time in front of a smoke-encompassed computer at a minimum. No problem, right? There are actually two problems. First the scanner at work is a piece of junk and secondly my handwriting doesn't help the matter...
Anyways, I will now copy, verbatim, what I had intended to scan. Nothing remotely exciting, but thoughts to fill up the void nonetheless.
(This was written on March 25,2003)
"Well, here I sit on a bus, trying to write in the unjerkiness of the infrequent, complete stops. I wish I could teach just one person the meaning of a constant accelerator.
I'm enroute to my abode after an early finish to work. It's now about 10:30pm. I feel like crap again. This was just after having made the inexcusable comment that I haven't been sick for a whole month. Whatever gods that I don't believe in must have a cruel sense of humour.
It's report card time again, so that may also be a contributing factor. Although, I haven't actually started them(due tomorrow), but just the thought makes my body ache for an excuse to procrastinate."
(this was written on March 26, 2003)
"Now I'm sitting in a packed lecture room at my school's head office. There is some guy giving a presentation on the "fabulous" new book that our school has bought. I feel like I'm back in university, sitting in the back of the class making snide comments and paying as little attention as possible. Unfortunately my manager is sitting beside me, so I sort of have to fake the whol attention thing; chuckle when everyone else does, and make it look like I'm taking notes by writing this. My fellow, entraped co-worker isn't fairing much better as she does the daily crossword hidden amongst her papers.
Here are the five R's of teaching a lesson:
1. Ready: make sure you spend at least two minutes preparing. looking at that day's page in the student book, before you are in the class, is optional.
2. Rev-up: drink lots of coffee or mountain dew(or the vodka in the bottom drawer...) before opening the door to the classroom.
3. Read: always bring the newspaper so that you have something to read while the kids are doing the word search.
4. Return: give back all the toys/food that you confiscated last class, unless it was really cool.
5. Respond: respond appropriately to the kids calling you "crazy teacher" or "gorilla", in Korean, by calling them "fools"(a little offensive) or "chicken heads"(very offensive), also in Korean for the full effect.
The one thing that keeps me going is that I get to have Subway for lunch today, as it's in the area."
So there you have it. Two pieces of writing totally inspired by boredom. Now I must remove myself from this disease-inspiring building and start on my report cards. Goodnight.
Mar 12, 2003
Sorry about the lack of response on the website and emails. I have had no desire to sit in front of a computer for the last couple of weeks. Even today I procrastinated getting on the computer by paying bills and cleaning the apartment.
The North Koreans have got to stop firing off their test missiles!!! It's killing the Won here. It just hit an all-time low yesterday against the US dollar and even the feeble Canadian dollar is making steady ground. It cost me an extra $100 to send money back this month as compared to last.
I ended up back at the casino again last weekend... It seemed like a good idea, to all of us, while sitting in Dragon Bar at four in the morning. The next night we went to the dance club area of Seoul and I found out that "dude" is still being used. Only by one person mind you. I couldn't believe how many times and ways it can be used in one sentence. It was like watching a one person enactment from "Baseketball" or "Dude,Where's My Car".
I read a really good book last week called the "Life of Pi". It's by a Canadian author by the name of Martel, I think. The story is very simple but it does make you think a little bit in the end.
I also found some Korean music that is worth listening to. He was a boy band idol back in the early 90's that came to the States and hooked up with heavier groups like Ministry. So now he, Seotaiji, is the Korean version of Limp Bizkit, Korn, and any other rap-metal band you can think of.
Another interesting group here is called the Bubble Girls. They are the usual four member girl pop group except for the fact that they paint themselves up Amos'n'Andy style complete with the afro wigs and pushed out lips. The bizarre thing is how little waves this is creating in the Korean media.
Finally, Korea has three days of color here. A Red day which is Valentine's Day. On this day the women are supposed to court the men. Then there is White Day which is sometime this week. This day is the reverse, where men court the women. And finally there is Black Day, which is sometime next month. This is for anyone who is still alone after the previous two months and they are supposed to eat black noodles of some sort. All in all it's really good for the cake, candy, flower, and noodle business.
And.... I'm spent.
Mar 2, 2003
That was a fast week. Last weekend my casino experience was kind of blah. I ended up breaking even, but then I became obsessed with the statistics of roulette and came up with a theory that needed to be tested out this weekend. Unfortunately the theory was really boring to play and I never stuck with it and thus lost a fair amount of cash. But I did purge my obsession and had a nice walk home...
I actually got a two day weekend this time around. Haven't really got up to much other then doing a bit of wandering. Tonight we're going to go see a culinary percussion performance called Nanta. It should be interesting.
Actually, I just lied about not doing anything interesting. On friday night there was a going away party for one of the Korean teachers and we ended up at a Korean version of the nightclub. The place is huge with tables lining the the floor and a medium sized dance floor. We were kind of late so no tables were to be had and we had to rent a room which comes with its own karaoke machine(Korean style). I did an excellent version of Sweet Caroline(bah bah bah).
The idea behind these clubs is to pay vast amounts of money to sit at a table or room with a complimentary plate of fruit and have the "waiters" introduce you to people by either dragging you to them or vice versa. Usually the girls. The word "dragging" is probably a little harsh. There is nothing forced. If you do not want to meet someone you don't have to. Maybe it is more of a persuading.
Katie and Joyce(the foreigners) were very hot commodities. As a foreigner in this place that is exactly how you feel, a commodity.
All in all, though, the night was very good. There was much dancing to music that had exactly the same beat no matter what the song. I have found out here that anything can be turned into bad techno.
They've extended the subway running times here, by a hour, on weekdays so that people can stay later at work. So much for cutting down on the work week. Korea is in the middle of switching to a five day work week.
Feb 22, 2003
Well another week has passed without too many bumps along the way. Now it's time to find something to do this weekend. Actually, a bunch of us are off to the one and only casino in Seoul tonight after a much anticipated dinner at the local Outback Steakhouse. It's actually illegal for any Korean citizen to casino gamble, so the place is supposedly filled with a bunch of foreigners, mostly Japanese. Unfortunately, the only game that I know how to play is Blackjack and that table is a $10 minimum bet. Things could get messy... I'll have to leave all means of attaining money at home.
The subway disaster here(In the city of Daegu, not Seoul) is still making headlines and is causing major questioning of the current safety in the whole transportation system. Most of the people died because the train driver panicked, removed the key, which caused all of the doors to lock closed, trapping everyone inside. The police presence has been noticably increased at all stations here in Seoul.
If anyone can find Korean movies on DVD, you should check out one called Joint Security Area or JSA. It's an excellent movie revolving around North and South Korean army relations.
Feb 18, 2003
I started a little workout routine the last couple of days, seeing as the only exercise I have been getting for the last five months has been running for the bus and lifting the pint to my mouth. I can't believe how out of shape that I have become! At the moment,it is hurting to type...
If you are looking to find some good music check out anything off the Saddle Creek record label starting with Bright Eyes and Rilo Kiley. Cat Powers also has a new album out with quite a few big name guest appearances.
Feb 17, 2003
Well, I figure I should put in another entry. The weekend was pretty typical. One night of drinking on the town followed by a night of drinking at home and playing the guitar with an actual songwriter(No.5 on the Australian charts). I do have a write-up on the typical weekend here in Seoul, but I am just ironing out the last few details. In other words, I just have the idea...
Well the bell has soundeth for the next class. I'll write more soon.
Feb 14, 2003
I AM SICK AGAIN!!!!! That is all.
Feb 11, 2003
Well, the pictures are finally up. Unfortunately,the quality is pretty bad and I'm too tired to do more indepth write-ups at this time. The upside is that they should load up fairly fast. I have more to say, but I'll save it for tomorrow or at least later today. The smoke and spitting in the PC room is getting to me.
Feb 7, 2003
Yay! It's payday and the weekend. Much fun will be had. Although everyone is sick. I just got over the mandatory four month sickness. And all that I learned from it was never go to a doctor that jabs things into your ears and laughs about it.
I miss hockey. We get one game a week here, if it isn't preempted by another boring NBA basketball game, and I am working at the time. I wanted to watch the All-Star game this past weekend so I woke up at 4am to do so, only to have the one true english channel blacked out. Boo! is all I have to say to that. I also miss Taco Bell and I don't even like the food there..
Anyways, now that I got the complaining out of the way I should be off to work so I can have something else to whine about. Pictures of my New Year's adventure should be up in the next few days. I'm thinking of just breaking down and buying my own scanner. Either that, or a digital camera.
Feb 4, 2003
I really meant to update this sooner but S.Korea seemed to have put a ban on the whole Lycos thing and I haven't been able to access my server.
It was Lunar New Year's this past weekend and we were blessed with a five day holiday. Five days in which to do my report cards and here I am procrastinating with less then 9 hours to go. Oh well, it was a good weekend anyway. I went and climbed around the Great Wall of Korea (that is only nine kilometers long), but it makes for an enjoyable hike with some good company and a couple bottles of wine. The rest of the weekend was spent revisiting sites around Seoul with a couple of the new teachers. I feel like such the veteran with my fifty word vocabulary and ability to get to the foreign bookstore...
But now the procrastination ends and the report writing must start: "Billy has participated well in class this month and progressed rapidly through the material given. He would show more improvement blah blah blah". 100 times! It's enough to drive you crazy!
Jan 23, 2003
I told you that I would update this site eventually. Not that there is any more content, but that might come tomorrow after I have finished drinking. (It's someones second going away party tonight or at least that is the excuse.) Although I doubt anyone will notice in that time as no one is probably checking the site anymore.
Talk again soon.
September 2, 2003