"Sto Lat!"

Happy Birthday to my little sister Lauren who is turning 26! Also, Happy Birthday to my Dad on his 60th birthday!

"Sons of War"

It's been a fun few days.

After work Friday, there was a retirement party for the janitor held at an amazing, expensive Japanese restaurant. (Mike you would have LOVED the sashimi!) The whole school showed up (about 60 people!). I had a really good time getting to know other teachers, doing shots of soju, and did a lot of laughing with some other staff members. It was such a great time. I almost didn't go because I didn't think I was invited, and never met the janitor. However, it's considered rude not to attend. Jordan didn't go because he had other plans, and all the teachers were wondering where he was (not good!). But they were thrilled that I attended and supposedly it makes you look good to the administration and other teachers. I was told a lot of the teachers respect me for it and think highly of me for attending (as well as because I have teacher certification back home! - it makes you more "dignified").

I discovered a couple Korean customs. One of the teachers got married and part of the custom is to give all the co-workers a gift. She gave us all these sticky rice cakes. (which looked really good!). Sticky rice cakes suck! They are the most foul tasting dessert ever! Lesson: If it looks like a nice cake, and smells like a nice cake, still be wary. The other custom was for the janitor retirement - he too is obliged to give gifts to the co-workers. He gave this:
That's right (1) The JANITOR gave us a towel. (2). It's called a Luxury Romance Towel. (I didn't know he had such a crush on me and I had never met him before yesterday!)


Later that night I met up with Jordan and Ivan and we went to Bar 19, where we played some darts (I won the first game and got creamed the 2nd game). We had some drinks, and talked with a Korean girl we met last week. She's a physics teacher at a hagwon in town, but gets out of work at 10pm, and had just gone to the hospital because she wasn't feeling well. We found out she gets out of work 10pm, studies and surfs the internet until 5am, goes to bed, and wakes up at 7am. Apparently that's all the sleep she gets everyday according to her. Who sleeps 2 hours a day???! No wonder she was at the hospital, the poor girl is dying of exhaustion!

Today I went solo on the subway (it was simpler this time) and took a trip to the War Memorial of Korea. This place was simply amazing and has a ton of information and some great monuments. It's a history buff's dream! I highly recommend it to anyone who travels to Korea. Plus, I figured I better see it now before they have to put some of the equipment back in service to fight the North!

The album can be found here.

Enjoy!

"Fame! I'm Gonna Live Forever..."

It has been an interesting week in the news.

There have been 3 celebrity deaths this week. Ed McMahon died at the age of 86 on Tuesday, and today Farrah Fawcett died after a long battle with cancer. As usual, not to be upstaged, Michael Jackson, that sometimes wacky King of Pop, was found in his home unconscious apparently from cardiac arrest and later "died at the hospital". He really died at home and was kept 'alive' in an ambulance and at the hospital until officially pronounced dead. (I kind of feel bad about my Michael Jackson post a while back).


As for world news, the Iranian Elections have taken place with much discord due to alleged ballot rigging (not really surprised about that in that interesting theocratic country). A big story has been the "accidental murder" of Neda Soltan, a young Iranian woman who was killed as she was supposedly thought to be another person who is a member of a terrorist group. I am not too clear on the details, but it all is pretty fascinating. Her death was captured and placed on YouTube, which I will not be posting.

In local Korean news, North Korea is being that pain in the butt again. I think the news in the US is actually a lot more hyped up than here in Korea, as they have live with threats from the North on a daily basis for the last 50 years. The DPRK (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea aka North Korea - don't be fooled by the whole "Democratic" part of the name) has been threatening to nuke the US if provoked and considers anything the US does an act of war. This is mainly a bolstering move to push Kim Jung Il's son into power. I don't worry about it that much. I figured, if they are going to nuke SK, they are basically nuking themselves -- literally. The DPRK capitol of Pyongyang isn't far from Seoul. Maybe they will just hope the wind blows the right way?

On the home front has been interesting as well - mainly in the dramatic world of infidelity. Jon & Kate of Jon & Kate Plus Eight, have filed for divorce. Wow. Shocker. But still are planning on documenting it on their "reality show" starring their 8 kids. I have so many issues with this. (1) It is not reality TV. Like most "reality shows" everything is planned or re-shot to make it look or sound better, cuter, or more dramatic. (2) The 'big announcement' just happened to coincide with a hype up to their season premiere? I don't think so, this is something that has been going on for quite some time now. (3) The show is completely fake, and every thing the family does is basically an effort by the parents to get stuff for their kids or themselves so they show will pay for it (family trips, hair transplant, tummy tuck, etc). All of this done through clever product placement or mentioning the doctor's practice and other free advertising. (4) Enough is enough. Stop the show and focus on the kids - not your wealth, book signings, TV appearances and your personal popularity. (Especially Kate - I can't stand her and her doofus hair-do!) I could care less about their marriage, but don't put the kids through a televised divorce and all the drama that it is sure to entail. Those poor kids are going to have some big issues when they're grown.



Also, in keeping with the infidelity topic, there have been a lot of politicians in the news coming out about recent affairs - mostly Republicans, who are all righteous, family oriented people, right? Gov. Mark Sanford of S.C. came out about his affair with a woman in Argentina. Also, Sen. John Ensign of N.V. reportedly cheated on his wife. This was the man that called on Bill Clinton to resign for his infidelity, but as of today isn't resigning his seat.



As for me, things are going well. I've had some fun classes and some...., well let's call them "interesting" ones. My 2nd graders (8th) seem to be smarter and more awake than my 3rd (9th) graders. The 2nd graders love playing games and are really interested in my lessons. My lesson this week has been About Me and they have learned where I am from and the things I enjoy. They all have been taught what Marching Band is, and I even showed them a 2002 DCI Championships clip of the Cavaliers show Frameworks (only one of the best shows ever).
They thought it was really cool! You're welcome DCI for the free international publicity!



I've had some funny quotes I felt like I have to share from 2 of my classes though:

Nick: (showing a picture of a tractor on a farm) "Does anyone know what this is called?"
Student: "A Transformer!?"

also...

Nick: (explaining to the class the Indian Casino's near my house) "Near my house are Indian Casinos. They are big casinos that are owned by Indian tribes"
Co-Teacher: "The Indians own the casino?"
Nick: "Yes"
Co-Teacher: "Why do they own them?"
Nick: "It's a long story, but basically, they lived on a reservation and the state told them it was ok to build the casinos"
Co-Teacher: "Really? I thought the Jews owned everything."

Wow.

"Money, Money, Money (Mon-nay!)"

Today was my first teaching day, and it went fairly well. I had the 3rd graders (9th graders), and they were pretty fun. My early early morning class was mainly a period of playing Simon Says and Hangman. They seemed to roughly enjoy it, but were half asleep (as was I). My other classes were fine, and they seemed to enjoy learning about me, my hometown, and my interests. They like to ask "How old are you?" and "Are you married?" when I said I wasn't married they asked "Do you have a girlfriend?" I told them I had 10 of them - that got a nice laugh.

Around lunch time a cute little 3rd grader who is the editor of the school paper asked if she could interview me. Her English was pretty decent, and apparently she is one of the schools top students. I also got my ARC card (Alien Registration Card), so I could now get a debit/cash card from Woori Bank. After school I went down to the bank and got the card, which is great now that I don't have to carry so much cash with me and can now get a cell phone. I also got my reimbursement for my airfare $1.1 million won! Who wants to me a millionaire??? - Not me, I already am!

I think I might be getting sick though, either that or those damn seasonal allergies are kicking in. It's a good thing I stopped by Kim's Club and picked up some OJ!

"This Train Don't Stop There Anymore"

Well folks it has been a pretty eventful week. I still haven't started teaching (I start Monday), but I'm glad I wasn't in a classroom this week. Why? Well, for one, the students were participating in parents day on Tuesday and the school was hosting "open class" Wednesday. Open class is when other English teachers from other schools in the district come and observe you teach and give you feedback. I met some nice teachers who live locally and are from parts of Canada, Florida, and New Mexico. They had some decent suggestions for me as a newer teacher and what to expect, avoid doing, and provided some interesting recommendations. Another reason I'm glad I wasn't in the classroom is that it has been super hot and humid this week (and the AC being broken isn't helping the situation). I don't think I have sweat more than this in my life. I literally feel like I am slicing through a fog of hot moisture when I walk to and from school. Just sitting at my desk has been unbearable at times. The Koreans might say it is hot as well, but they don't sweat at all (must be a genetic thing).

I know I had mentioned teaching at the Education Office on Fridays and possibly doing web-based broadcasted lessons. Turns out I don't have to go to this anymore (who knows if this will change, because my schedule seems to get randomized every other day at this point). Instead I am teaching 3-4 classes a week before and after school. Mondays and Tuesdays I have to be at school by 7:30 (ugh!). I don't know if this is the same kids every day, or once a week like the normal classes, but I'm not fretting about it right now. My first day is going to be playing games like Simon Says and Hangman. The rest of my normal day classes are getting some powerpoint presentations that I have been preparing for the past few weeks. (Hopefully I can use those with the am/pm classes too.

Friday Jordan and I met up with another friend of ours Chuck. We were going to go into Seoul at first and then the plan changed about 3 more times until we eventually went back to Pirate Bar. We got some drinks and there was a nice foreign turn out. I met some more people which was nice. Later we hit up Cass Bar. Cass is a name of a beer here. We hung out and I played darts with some Koreans (who were really bad at it). We met a couple Korean girls and they taught me some Korean words. I learned how to count to 10 which will come in handy in class when I need the kids attention.

Saturday night was my first trip on the subway and my first trip to Seoul! The subways are very clean, but very crowded (especially on a Saturday night). I found it a little confusing, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. It is dirt cheap though, and only costs about $3 round trip.

A bunch of us met up in Hongdae (Seoul's party central) for dinner and drinks. A guy named Brent was going back to Canada and had been in Korea for about 4 years I think. So we met up and had some sort of Bulgoki (grilled beef, which is always good). Afterward we walked (in the rain - as it had been raining all day) to a cozy bar/lounge called BricxX. It's a hooka bar where the drinks were only so-so. Not the greatest, but the atmosphere was cool. It was in a dark basement with a Jungle theme (I think they were having a Jungle Party theme that week and it's not normally like that). The waiters wore tarzan outfits (which the ladies liked). about 20 foreign teachers converged on this bar and they only have us 2 tables at first that we crammed around. Eventually we got them to give us a 3rd though. A bunch of people were heading out to a club afterwards, but I was already falling asleep. I can't stay up drinking unti 3am too often. A couple of us took the subway home - but it turned out we missed the last train and had to end up getting a cab to stop in Anyang to drop of Ivan's girlfriend and then the two of us took it back to Sanbon. Cabs aren't that expensive though which is great, as it was at least a 30 minute ride and only cost about 25000won ($20) for 3 people.

I'm still trying to go to the Palace near Anguk station, and might go next weekend. Maybe I can meet some cute girl at Hana International Club (a language exchange bar where you can meet people who want to talk with you) and maybe she'll be willing to bring me around parts of Seoul.
We shall see!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad! (you've always been like a father to me) hahaha.

"Runaround"

Today was a pretty long day. I got to work and sat around and basically did nothing. I am way ahead in my lesson planning, and will probably try to pump out another week or two of lessons based on American Holidays just so I don't have to do them later in the year. It's pretty easy to do a PowerPoint presentation on Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.

Instead, I spend a whole 30 minutes this morning editing audio and video for YouTube. I found out about a couple of music companies that do movie trailer music. One, X-Ray Dog, and another which is amazing called Two Steps from Hell. There are a few more you can preview on YouTube such as GRV music and some others. (note: I didn't edit the original video, which was done for PBS - I just added the music and did some video cropping.) Hey, it's my first attempt at using Final Cut Express - I have to start somewhere!

Anyways, here is the video I did this morning. The information can be found in the info section. (Lauren please don't let DCI sue me!) - I hope you enjoy!



Later in the afternoon I was supposed to accompany my co-teacher Sarah to the immigration office to apply for my ARC (Alien Registration Card). She came to the office a couple hours before we left to make sure I had all the paperwork. Apparently, I needed to bring my hospital exam test results, but I was told to pick them up after 4pm. Sarah called the hospital so they could have them ready for me within the hour - and they did. (Sorry, I didn't get to see the cute nurses again - just the nerdy male receptionist.)

Around 3:00 Sarah drove me to the immigration office and we sat around for about a half hour even though she made an appointment (I think we were early). I think she thought she would get lost and was frantically trying to get me there on time. By the way - her version of GPS is honking at people after every mile and asking them to point the way. They all just stared at the big white dude in her tiny car.

After my paperwork was done she wanted to drive to her mechanic that was nearby. I wasn't looking forward to this as I know how long it takes to go to mechanics in the States - usually you end up leaving your car overnight and paying hundreds of dollars. She only needed her door handle replaced and we were the only customer, so we were done in a half hour and she only paid 10,000won ($8) - I wish!! In the states that would take an hour and cost you at least $50 just for the labor, the part would cost you another $60 easy.

While we were waiting we watched a televised game of what she translated into "foot and ball" - it was nothing like football. The game is played on a narrower tennis court with a mid-level net, and the teams have to either head or kick a soccer ball over the net. It's basically tennis, soccer, and volleyball all rolled into one.

After the repair she asked me if I wanted a nice dinner of cold noodles (sure, why not?). She said she wanted to walk from her apartment though (about 1/2 mile -- ok, I only am lugging around my backpack with a laptop - but sure, why not). Turns out the place is in downtown Sanbon, so it's close to my apartment at least. On the walk she wanted to discuss her ailments and her knee surgery and why she needed to walk everyday. Then threw in how her knee was better because her reverend prayed for her. Then mentioned "did you get the sermon of Daniel I sent you in an e-mail?" (I hadn't) - good thing I knew which one it was because I felt that she would probably go on to tell me the story. (It was about Daniel and the furnance - I related it to myself and how hot I was in her car which doesn't have A/C).

Dinner was ok. I wouldn't recommend it. It was a soup (surprise surprise) that was served cold with crushed ice on top to make it colder. It had cucumber shavings, chili paste, half a hard-boiled egg, a slice of pear, and some root-based noodle that was chewy and kept choking me. Needless to say, I didn't finish it on the basis of I wanted to live at least another day.


I can see myself at the pearly gates now:
St. Peter: "Hey Nicka, how's it going? So dude, how did you kick the bucket so early?"
Me: "Hey Petey - choked on some Korean noodles that I couldn't swallow."
St. Peter: "Man, that's pretty lame."
Me: "Tell me about it...wanna open those gates bro?"
St. Peter: "Nah, ever since Bush choked on that pretzle a few years back we felt we had to change the ruling on choking deaths."

"Sorry, Sorry"

A quick little note today:

I got to finally open a bank account, and also got my 300,000 won settlement to deposit into it. However, the banks are only open Mon-Fri 9-4, further proving bank hours are universally moronic. At least I get to leave work to walk down the hill if I need to go during a period off.You can also deposit cash or checks through the ATM's as well as pay your bills with the ATM's, but I heard it isn't easy to figure out, especially if you can't read Hangul.

I met the principal and vice principal, who were both very nice. The vice principal told me I was "cute" and had "good facial expressions" (further showing that Koreans base alot on appearance). After work we had a faculty meeting. I only needed to attend the first 5 minutes in which I was introduced and gave a little "It is nice to meet you speech", even though by this time I already have met or seen a lot of staff (and still have no clue to 99% of their names).

I might have mentioned playing rock-paper-scissors in another post. Here it is called "Kai-Bai-Bo", or "Muk-chi-ba" as there are different variations depending on how many people or rounds you do. I saw kids doing this a lot today; during a game of handball, and some girls on deciding who was going to have to sort the teacher's lounge garbage. The kids all do it.

They also love Korean Pop music (K-Pop) which frankly can get annoying, because it is played everywhere - however it is starting to grow on me a little as some of the tunes are catchy. Particularly this one below, as they say "Naega" (translated: I or I am) which sounds like "Nicka" (how Koreans say my name - as they add vowels to the end of everything).