"Gold"

Kim Yuna wins the gold!

김연아!, 김연아!, 김연아!

Queen Yuna, a Gunpo native, was in perfect form, despite all the stresses placed upon her. She even reigned over all with a World Record score 228.56.

Sadly, I was the first one to inform my teachers that Kim Yuna won the gold. They even commented "how did Nick know before us?"

 

By Geoffrey Fowler 

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – South Korea's Kim Yu-Na proved unstoppable during her free skate program on Thursday, as she clinched the Olympic gold medal in figure skating.


South Korea's Kim Yu-Na performs during the women's free skating event.

Ms. Kim left no points behind on the ice, as she skated one flawless jump after another, including the triple flip, which had been the nemesis of both her and her coach, former Olympian Brian Orser. Her score of 228.56 set a new record in the sport.

A series of minute mistakes set her closest rivals far behind her in the final tally. Japan's Mao Asada took the silver, with 205.5 points, after a slight slip on one jump.

Canada's Joannie Rochette, who stole the hearts of the audience for continuing to skate after the recent death of her mother, won the bronze with 202.64 points.

It'll be interesting to see the reaction in the ROK, as she's been hyped-up by Koreans from the moment I stepped off the plane. Since she's from Gunpo, I wonder if the city will do anything special. She'll probably have some sort of ceremony in Seoul when she returns, and odds are that it will bring hundreds of thousands of people wanting to get a glimpse of her.

"Fireflies"

Quick post today - nothing exciting is happening this week besides the Olympics (which you can read about in the side bar: →

Here's a video from KurtHugoSchnider covering Owl City's "Fireflies"

He and Sam Tsui have gained YouTube popularity for some of their amazing renditions of popular songs. I'll post the others below: Sam Tsui has an amazing Broadway style voice. Enjoy!

Here are some other favorites of mine:

Michael Jackson Medley:



Don't Stop Believin' - Journey (Glee Version Cover)

"Goodbye To You"

I don't think I'll ever really enjoy this time of the year in Korea.

First off, it's the transition into a new school year. New school year means new teachers...foreign and domestic. Friday marked the end of our schools year, and I found out that about 10 teachers were leaving. Most teachers only stay at a school for a maximum of 4 years before having to teach at a new school. I really don't understand the reasons why, because they might have to change their commutes and sometimes their homes if the commute is too unbearable. For others it works for the best - the new school is closer to home. They do have choices though - and since it's the same for other schools, odds are they'll get a position within a 20 minute commute if they wish.

Our school held a going away party. 4 of my favorite teachers (the ones my age, and one who is older) all are leaving. These are the ones I talk to at lunch, and enjoy the most - yet, go figure, they are leaving while the ones I dislike the most are staying. Cruel world....
At dinner we enjoyed the typical grilled delights such as samgyeopsal and pork ribs, but also was treated to.....duck! It was amazingly delicious. (I'll admit, when they first said we were having "BBQ duck", I misheard the accent and thought they said BBQ dog!) I'm glad I was mistaken!

I'm also saying goodbye to some close foreign teachers as their contracts end in March. So that's sad, but I'm hoping to meet some new people, as I've seen some newer faces around. Hopefully they are the friendly open-minded kind unlike a lot of foreigners I've been running into or hearing about lately.

Side Note of Ranting: If you are reading this and planning on coming to Korea, please be courteous, respectful, and open-minded about things. The last thing people like me want to hear is constant complaining about Korea. If you dislike it -- LEAVE. Do it for the sake of the students, teachers, peers, and the general public. Don't come here if all you want to do is drink and party cheaply while maintaining a decent paying, relatively easy job. Korea doesn't need more "drunken frat boys" - that's what the U.S. military presence here feels like to the Koreans and it's not liked.

Another thing I'm not really enjoying this time of year is the weather. It's one thing that the weather is similar to New England (albeit not as nice), but similarly to back home it is temperamental. It can be blistering cold and windy one day, snowing or rain the next, and then days like today are unseasonably warm. If Forrest Gump was from Korea, he would say it's "like a box of chocolates - you never know what you're gunna get."

The worst thing about this is you can't really make plans to be outdoors during the winter. But, that's ok, because there's never anything to do in the winter. It's probably the worst time to come up with date ideas besides dinner and movies. (Yes, feel bad for my girlfriend that I can be completely unoriginal for date ideas).

Since we were going to be in Hongdae on Saturday evening for a friend's going away party, we decided to just spend time in the city before-hand. Hwayoung took me to a very famous noodle restaurant in Insadong. It was dirt cheap, but scrumptious! Homemade noodles, and mandu (dumplings)! Two of my favorite things here. They were so good - and it was worth waiting only 10 minutes in line for.

Afterward we walked more and got some really good coffee around Insadong and took the same route as our second date, remarking along the way about how we remember doing this before in October, but it felt like we've known one another for 2 years. ^^

After buying some treats to send back home (yes, Mom and Dad expect a package in about 15 days), we headed off to Hongdae early in hopes to maybe go bowling. Instead we played pocket-ball (pool). Hwayoung is becoming addicted to it and I'll admit I am as well. I think we're both improving greatly at the game.

That night we met up with our friends and enjoyed more galbi (grilled meat), some drinks, and then...NOREBANG! (Karaoke room).

We sang our lungs out for the rest of the evening - Just a fun Saturday all around.

Sunday was filled with watching the Olympics - we saw Korea win more medals in short track and speed skating - mostly won by high school students -- good for them, no problem.

When it comes to the Olympic spirit on Korea, I do have some gripes though.

 

I have no problem rooting for Korea, even if the US is competing against them. In cases such as Apolo Anton Ohno (Korea's arch-enemy next to Kim Il Jung) I can still cheer on Korea. (for some reason Ohno comes off as an egotistical jerk to me - and I can't really tell why).

However, here's my beef. The announcers on SBS (the Korea channel covering the Olympics) were saying (in Korean) that "Korea is the best" and no one can beat them. Sometime U.S. announcers wouldn't say as it sounds arrogant and unprofessional. The also were questioning Ohno's every move. They were saying things like "Look at Apolo, he just wants to touch the Korean skater in another illegal move like he did in the other race". Korea is dead set against him as they believed he cheated his way to the gold medal in 2002 by using "Hollywood acting" skills and causing the Korean skater to be DQ'd.

I don't know, you be the judge. 

The act in question is at the 4:13 mark, and then replayed

By the way - keep your eyes open for Kim Yuna! She's going to be great and possibly will bring Korea it's first gold medal in figure skating!

"We Can Make A Difference"

Please enjoy these videos of Taylor Mali. I had heard of him before, but recently saw that he was a guest at this years TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conferences normally held in Long Beach and Oxford.

By the way - TED is an amazing thing. 

You should check out the site through the link above if you get a chance.

Bio from his website:

Taylor Mali is one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the few people in the world to have no job other than that of poet. Eloquent, accessible, passionate, and often downright hilarious, Mali studied drama in Oxford with members of The Royal Shakespeare Company and puts those skills of presentation to work in all his performances. He was one of the original poets to appear on the HBO series Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry and was the "Armani-clad villain" of Paul Devlin's 1997 documentary film SlamNation.

 What Teachers Make:

The The Impotence of Proofreading

"Ring Ding Dong"

Ok boys and girls, today you'll get a treat....

More K-Pop!

Here are some of the most popular songs in the past few months:

SHINee - Ring Ding Dong

소녀시대(SNSD) aka Girls' Generation - Oh!

Big Bang - Let Me Hear Your Voice
 

2AM - Won't Let You Go Even if I Die
 

HyunA - Change

CNBlue - I'm A Loner

 

TVXQ/DBSK - Break Out

"Rocketman - Part 2"

I had posted in December on an ESL teacher and comic artist named Luke Martin who posts his creations about Korean culture from the eyes of just about every expat at his site: Roketship

Here are a few more favorites:

 

I love being immune to the effects of the annoying solicitors simply because I'm white. It's a nice perk not having to be approached. However, they sometimes seem to not pay attention, and I've had them jump in front of my creating small collisions just so they can give the flyer to the Korean next to me. The immunity seems to dissipate when I walk around with my girlfriend though. In fact, for some reason, I become a larger target for restaurant advertisements.

I live next to a University hospital, and during the warm weather (and sometimes cold) I see patients walking about like pictured above. Sometimes just to get some fresh air, smoke, or exercise. I'm used to it now, but in the summer when I first arrived I thought it was bizarre and that maybe they got out of the hospital without people knowing.

As a foreigner, I get stared at by older people. 

A lot.

You never really get used to that awkwardness.

I try not to laugh when I see women wearing heels in the snow and ice. The craziest is the women still trying to look sexy and wearing mini-skirts and heals in sub zero temperatures. Even crazier is students running in the snow with sandals. Ah, Korea!

It is a must-have to have attached to your cell-phone some sort of flair. Most of these are actually functional as well and serve as the subway pass, a USB, or the antenna for your cell phone to watch TV on it. I hate them and refuse to do it because I find them annoying and I usually like my phone to sit in my pocket comfortably.

All I can say is how true this is. Oh, and that if you are thinking about coming to Korea, you CAN get by on using charades. However, don't bother coming if you think this way: 

"I don't need to learn Korean, because I will never use it after I leave Korea." 

If you come to Korea, try to learn the language. If you're here just to make some money and not appreciate or try to understand the culture and people you'll be miserable and make people like me embarrassed to be associated with you.

I only know one person who isn't a teacher - and they're simply here because spouse is.

OK, last one for now...

I admit, I do this a lot. Sometimes I have a woman who is selling things door-to-door as well, and just ignore her. It's great to have the video intercom though to filter them out.
I just wish I could somehow hide from the other ultra-religious types in the ROK. Like some of my teachers, the guys on the streets that are super persistent, and the ones on the subway that are just plain annoying.

"Olympic Fanfare"

Around mid-February of every year the inevitable happens. I get sick.

I usually do not relate myself to a superhero, but when it comes to getting ill, I usually exhibit characteristics all too similar to Superman - nothing can hurt me.

February seems to be my kryptonite.

So, as I'm writing this, I have been curled up in bed for two days. So bear with me if I begin to sound delusional.

This weekend is overloaded with events. For one,  it's the national holiday of Lunar New Year until Monday, so businesses are closed, the subways are empty, and people are gathered at their parent's homes playing games, eating great food, and doing traditional Korean thing.

This weekend is also Valentine's Day. Korea celebrates Valentine's Day as well. But unlike the U.S., Valentine's Day is when women do the gift-giving. Men do it a month later on March 14th - also called "White Day". Which I'm sure I'll post about in a month!

On Friday Hwayoung wanted to meet me in Insadong, the highly artsy area of Seoul about an hour from my apartment. Even though I had been experiencing the beginning stages of my flu-like symptoms, I shrugged them off and agreed to join her. She had told me earlier this was her Valentine's Day plan for me.

But before I get to explaining the day, please allow me to ramble for a moment.

I don't like Valentine's Day. Not because of the pressures involved, the planning, gift shopping, etc. -- I can deal with that.  It's the fact that it's now a corporate holiday that's sole purpose is now intended for companies to force you to spend money between Christmas and Easter, during an other-wise dull shopping season. It originally was a holiday just to celebrate love and somewhere along the lines was mutated into what it is today. Sure, slap on the religious affiliation of "St. Valentine" and make women despise you for "not loving" them enough on that day if you see it for the fabrication it is today (or fail to buy them something "from the heart"). Frankly the whole thing is no longer meaningful especially when you apply the feelings of coercion and guilt if you don't conform to the masses. I don't need a special day that I'm "supposed" to tell someone I love them. I can do that any day. I'd rather be spontaneous and make any ol' day a romantic one. Valentine's Day becomes cliche in a sense, and instead of it being a day to express your love, it becomes a day you're being forced to or stigmatized for it.

Disclaimer: If you're angry with my opinion, I could care less. (also, you can attribute it to my current state of sickness which I will gladly use as my "get-out-of-jail" card with those angry ladies out there who I'm sure will beg to differ with my opinion and possibly use words like "unromantic" to describe me. ...in which case you are wrong).

Hwayoung understands I don't care for the holiday, but I have a feeling she (like most women) does. I do my best to make her happy...

Her surprise for me was that we go to a ceramics studio together and paint gifts for one another.
This is something I am totally for. I've been involved in ceramics for quite some years thanks to family (yes, that's you Natalie). We chose to make each other coffee mugs, however, I haven't painted in quite a while - especially not on rounded surfaces. These are not that easy to do when you are as bad as me when it comes to fine motor skills. Luckily, we could add outline decals that were offered, but they seemed to impersonal for me. Hwayoung seemed to use about 50 of them, while I only used 4! I tried to do my best by hand, but I didn't really like the outcome. She did though, which is all I can ask for.

They have to be fired, and we can pick them up next weekend. So I'll post more about them when I get the final product.

This weekend also starts off the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver. I didn't get to see the opening ceremonies, but laying in bed today I witnessed Korea take home a gold and silver medal in speed skating. Lee Jung Su beat out the USA to take home the gold. Korea almost swept the medals but 2 skaters crashed around the last bend of the final lap. It was heartbreaking to watch.

If Korea has an abundance of one thing it is national pride. I'm excited to be here during these games and find myself rooting for South Korea.

 I can also say that I was in Korea when they led the medal count! So what if it was after the first few events. They were still in the lead!

The biggest event will be women's figure skating. Korea's national treasure is Kim Yuna aka "Queen Yuna". She's a teenage idol, spokesperson for many Korean businesses, and all around goddess that everyone adores.

I posted about her back in October 2009 - click here to read it.

She's originally from Gunpo, so the city will be vibrant with energy should she win the gold. It would also be South Korea's first gold in figure skating.

I'll probably be posting more in the next few days, but for now I'll be resting in bed.

Remember to root for Korea and the USA!

Also, thank you to Stephen Colbert, who promoted sponsoring the U.S. Speed-skating team through viewer donations when they lost their primary sponsor.

"Fake Empire"

SPECIAL: VBS TV Guide to North Korea

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

"Last Goodbye"

My 3rd graders (middle school) have officially graduated as the 15th graduating class of Geumjeong Middle School. I can safely say they were by far my best (and only) Korean 3rd graders I have ever taught.

Before I left for work, I told myself "don't forget your camera". And what did I do? So I apologize for the lousy shot I took from my cell phone. I wish I had remembered the camera as they looked so happy to leave and move on to their respective high schools. A bunch wanted to take photos with me. Like most teachers, I am somewhat of a celebrity. Parents were pressuring their kids to talk to me, and take a photo with me. Maybe next year I should charge them per photo.

Since I mainly teach 3rd grade, and my office is on a floor with only 3rd grade, I'm kind of sad that I won't see some of these kids again. There were some really smart, outgoing, and wonderful kids in this class of about 400+ kids.

I just hope I made some sort of positive impression on them, and if anything, hoped they at least learned and will use one thing I taught them. Unfortunately, I think they mostly will remember the slang I taught them. They loved to yell down the hallways "Hey shorty, what's up!?", "Check out my bling-bling!" and "I'm a chocoholic!"

Congratulations to these kids, they work so hard (mostly in other classes).I wish them the best in high school.

(They'll need it with all their parents' expectations to get into the best universities).

"Superbowl Shuffle"

This will be a quick post today.

No, I did not watch the Superbowl. I couldn't anyways because I had to be at work. (It was Monday morning here - Sunday night back in the U.S.)

I didn't even care who would win

I guess I could have rooted for Indy because my sister lives there. But I'm a Boston sports fan so I root for the Patriots. Rooting for Indy? That's almost like rooting for the Yankees instead of the Red Sox.

 

Saints? I could care less. Ok, in high school we were the "Saints" so that might give it some merit. But it's a team from the south. I hate teams from the south. I hate a lot about the south (sorry, but it's true). Now, I usually root for the underdog, but it wasn't really clear who that was as both teams seemed evenly matched. I guess New Orleans deserved it seeing as they have sucked for all these years. I can understand their joy, especially if I look back to the Sox winning the World Series in 2004. (I guess the Saints edge the Colts merely on what I will call the "Boston Theory"). That if I can relate the team in some way more closely to the a Boston/New England based team, then I should support that team.

As I sat at my laptop at work, all I could really do is follow the score online, and saw a couple plays as they were posted to YouTube. Overall, I think I had the same mentality the rest of the people in New England. Ehhhh, whatever.

What I did do however, was watch the commercials. I haven't seen any good ones in years during the Superbowl, but I hoped this year would be better.

Wrong again this year.

They were awful. I only liked ONE.

The only commercial I could give any props to is the Google "Paris themed" one. It had nothing to do with the Superbowl, wasn't trying hard to impress, was straight forward, classy, and a little cute. Not to mention, that commercial could be made by one guy on a MacBook in an hour, so it must have been pretty cheap!

Every commercial seemed bent on making men look like idiots, or some sort of violence would happen to a celebrity (ie, Betty White and Pam Tebow) or actor. Pointless. These companies spend all this money just to secure the ad space, but then make the ad completely lame, or try too hard to make us laugh at something stupid.

The weirdest awards go to the Focus On The Family ad with Tim Tebow and his mom. Unless you understood the back-story to it before it aired, or understood it was supposed to be an anti-abortion ad, it made no sense. Even knowing that - it still was pointless as it didn't get any point across besides that Mrs. Tebow loves her son, and her son loves her too.

Also, am I the only one that thinks that Pam Tebow looks like Mary Steenburgen? I swear when I first saw the commercial I thought it was Steenburgen, until I looked closely.

Another weird award goes to Taco Bell's ad about the $5 box. I suppose it was intended to be lame, but really it just made everyone involved look pathetic. I know I'd be embarrassed to have my name attached to that. Charles Barkley should be. (I give you a big thumbs down Charlie!)

Lastly, let's touch on some Korean aspect: Hyundai. They had at least 2 commercials - 3 if I'm guessing right. They were all really boring as well and didn't even focus much on the vehicle. In fact, I don't recall even seeing the interior of the thing.

Anyways, that's it for today. I think some of you will agree with me, and some may not. But if any of those ads had you rolling on the floor in laughter, you seriously need to cut back on your alcohol and/or drug intake while watching sports.

And one more thing: How come this commercial was banned and made an uproar, but the Family First one made the cut? This one at least is a little humorous - but still lame...

 

"Try A Little Tenderness"

Due to there not being classes, and in part of my own laziness, I haven't been posting as often as I normally do. For that I apologize.

But you'll get over it, I'm sure.

This weekend was too short. I didn't really do much besides meet up with some friends near Ansan - a small city about 20 minutes southwest of Gunpo. Hwayoung and I had planned to go to Suwon to see a famous fortress, but we decided that it would be best to leave that until the spring when it would be warmer and more pleasant to walk around.

Sunday's activities consisted of trying some new foods. Hwayoung loves a specific dish and highly recommended it - but from what other Koreans told me, it could be a "hit or miss" meal, as it is not exactly up to everyone's tastes.

The dish is a gui dish called naejang-gui (내장구이). I was told it is some sort of intestine of pork (beef and lamb are also popular). It was served with grilled in vegetables (onion, garlic, bamboo, bean sprouts and paprika). It is rather chewy and looks sort of unappealing. However, it has a robust flavor, and isn't half bad. Naejang-gui not something I found myself falling in love with or would have a craving for like other Korean dishes.

We also decided to get some naejang-gui stew, which I actually enjoyed more since it was in a nice broth as well as contained sweet potato noodles.

The part of the meal I found the most frightening (and a little disgusting) was a certain side dish. Normally, side dishes are vegetables or cured vegetables like kimchi, bean sprouts, and sometimes you even get tofu or some sort of egg or radish dish.

With this dinner we not only were treated to those, but to this "lovely" looking dish:

I was told it is raw liver and stomach lining - but I can't be too sure.

After dinner Hwayoung wanted to clear up to me that the dishes we ate that she called "intestine" was in fact "asshole". Personally, I think it was a mix of the two, and if ever asked I'll just say I ate tripe.

The best part of the dinner was that now I can say that it literally "tasted like ass". (insert rolling eyes and groans here)

After dinner we (me, Hwayoung, our friends Domenick and Chang) shot some pool (or as Korean's call it "pocket ball") Hwayoung and I were murdered by these two pool sharks.

Tip: 

When someone says "Oh, I am not really good at pool" they just want to make you look like a moron.

We played for a couple hours, and treated ourselves to Baskin Robbins for a small snack. I had a "snow mochi" which is a take on regular mochi. (A rice cake snack with a sweet bean inside). Baskin Robbins snow mochi is a thin rice dough with green tea ice cream inside, and then in the middle of that is chocolate fudge. It was rather delectable (although one would be an idiot to try to eat it without letting defrost a little).

As a side note: I felt like an idiot when I realized that the sides of the "B" and "R" in Baskin Robbins logo made up a 31 - as in 31 flavors.

Did you ever notice it before? -- be honest!

You can find more photo's by clicking this link!

"In The Midnight Hour"

It's been a relaxing week. Since this was my last week of vacation, I decided to spend most of it lounging about. Sometimes it is enjoyable to be lazy.

By the way - here is a pic I forgot to upload about Japan. This is what I started out with.

I ended up with just the book, some change, and a stuffed backpack with gifts!

******

This weekend Hwayoung was away with her family for her mother's birthday.  I couldn't resist the opportunity when a group of friends invited me to go bowling in Hongdae (and to prove we're not attached at the hip).

On the way to the lanes, my friend Ashley was accosted in broad daylight by a rather peculiar Korean man (we couldn't decide if he was drunk or "special" - or a mixture of the two). He grabbed her arm and pressed his body against hers and wasn't letting go. People starred in shock as this happened, and nobody seemed to be doing anything. Ashley was stunned, and people walking about just starred. I quickly pushed him aside and put myself between the two of them. He then grabbed me and looked at Ashley with a surprised face and said... "Adjuma?" (which is a word for "older married woman"). As I pushed him aside, I waved to him and said "Goodbye!" and told Ashley to keep walking.

Ah, Korea!

But in the long run it turned out to be a fun story and an ongoing joke.  As we continued to the lanes we kept poking fun at her. "Hey Ashley, remember that time that you were assaulted by a crazy guy who thought you were an old woman?"
 
At the lanes we played boys vs. girls (and totally massacred them!) It felt good to boost the male ego by beating a bunch of girls, so of course we had to celebrate. We treated ourselves to pizza, and then a quick stop to a bar for the celebratory bottle of tequila. It was neither a quick stop, nor did we stop at just a bottle.

 

2 bars later, 3 plates of fried food, an ungodly amount of soju, and 6 hours later, we were all trashed and caught the trains home. The hangover was not fun. Good thing I wasn't meeting Hwayoung until later in the afternoon.

We got to see Sherlock Holmes. It was very well done. The action was great, the storyline was good, and the mystery was interesting. However, I am very good at predicting movies, (this one wasn't easy), but in the first 30 minutes of the film, I had already decided that they were setting up the audience for a sequel.

I totally recommend watching it if you want a good action/adventure movie.

As for work, I was supposed to start today, however only 2 teachers were in the building, the heat was off, and the internet was spotty. I figured I wouldn't be missed and scampered out of there before lunch. Who knows, maybe I wasn't even supposed to be back today. The information I get from my head teacher is never reliable and she rarely remembers what she tells me. Sometimes I think her memory is worse than that of a ball of lint.

Oh, and just for fun:

This is the mandu I pick up near Hwayoungs whenever I get a chance. It's 5000 won for a dozen and they're huge.  You can get kimchi filled or pork filled. Both are amazing. I could live off them for life.

Be sure to keep checking out the "It's All News to Me" links in the sidebar. Some of that stuff is interesting!