Well this is my last week teaching Grade 5 and 6 for a month. Thankfully I'll still see them in the halls. Now its on to the wacky off the wall Grade 3s and 4s. I'm very excited; my new CT is crazy organized and has mad scheduling skills and lesson plans for miles.
So this Tuesday was my first payday so I bought that fancy red bean rice cake for the entire staff. My new CT says it is good luck when you start something new, so if you open a new store you make/ order some red bean rice cake and everything should be smooth sailing afterwards. Fingers crossed. The whole staff was very courteous to me for the whole day and some of Thursday too. I wish I did more though. Since my Korean is limited to several words I was unable to a) find this rice cake store and b) order it. But, like always, the staff are more than willing to help me with this (I would too if cake was involved). So my broadcasting buddy orders the cake for my school which has around 70 staff, and it was all delivered the following day. The bill was just under 140,000 won, which seemed fair. At the end of the day my VP comes up to me as I'm walking out of the school, unzips my knap-sack without even asking and pours in a bunch of asain pears. I almost had a jizz in my pants moment - I haven't bought fruit since I've been here because the prices are absurd. This was a big deal. And then a teacher I have never seen before offers me a ride home with the other VP. Even though I don't break even from these gestures I still appreciate them. This staff feels very close to one another and now I feel I have been brought into their circle. Just goes to show, respect and follow traditions in a foreign land and you'll be treated as if your one of their own.
In celebration of this development I went out to half-price (and half-cooked) steak. Never again. I got the baseball cut of top sirloin, requested it to be medium, and the middle was like eating sushi, so bloody it could have mooed. To be fair, their salads were good but not worth mentioning beyond this.
The following day, Trivia Thursday, Ju and I went to get hair cuts, and of course a couple of drink,s at probably the sickest looking house I've seen in Korea. Very modern two story house, with an open concept cafe on the first floor and the hair saloon on the second. Resting on top of a hill it couldn't have looked anymore prestine. The stylist was a hip looking chap and had mostly Ex-pats for clientele. His English was really good and knew what he was doing. Very good conversationalist and well-travelled guy, I'd recommend him to anybody. It cost 20,000 but at home it could have been $80+ trim. I'll take it as a win. Trivia night was also a success, and because I have found this I no longer have an addiction to sporcle.
Now, Friday, I'm wrapping up my week at the office rocking my vacation vest (a sweet value village christmas themed vest) to celebrate the beginning of Chuseok, aka Korean Thanksgiving. The big bonus instead of 3 days off we have 5! Hopefully I'll survive the bender-palooza.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Sunday Morning Coming Down - Part 4 of 4 in the Weekend that started Wednesday
I awoke the following day with no visible scars or tattoos on my body. It felt like waking up from hibernation, or high sleep; completely rested, wide awake, and raring to go. When I struggled to get up I realized I was still drunk from the night before. Schweeeeet. Anyways I get out of bed butt-shuffle down my narrow stairs, turn on my laptop and begin scrounging for food and clues of how I got home. My clothes were everywhere, a full glass of water left on the counter, no food though. I make an omelet and begin chatting to figure out how I got home. Nothing other then friends calling a cab for me and sending me home alone. After joking about things that I vaguely remember, the self-appointed A-team (formerly canadian crew) plan to go for a hike, cleansing our bodies before we dirty them up again. To prepare for this hike I put a water bottle into my freezer, and that's where I found my drunk-food - to paper bowls packed with strawberry ice cream? Big change from pizza but no matter, it's still good.
This was my first time hiking in
This pre-drinking session was very exciting. I learned two new drinking games: Beer Baseball and Celebrities. I will never play Beer Baseball again, and I will advocate for Celebrities everytime I go out with a group of 5-10.
Then we crawled along the beach stopping in at several bars for a pint and then moving on to the next one. Eventually the bar scene got pretty weak so we sat on the beach and took some photos. At this point in time I learned a very valuable lesson; never wear a snap button shirt when you go out drinking, it will be ripped open at every opportunity. Because of my foolishness I spent half my night buttoning up my shirt. The rest of the team Gangnam-Styled behind unsuspecting Koreans and also shot fireworks at each other. Thankfully no one was hurt because I didn't need a buzz kill. As the night progressed people started to cab home. When only the Ju and I were left we found a band of Koreans who spoke adequate English. As we sat out on the beach admiring the bridge, I thought, no, I knew, this was going to be the first all-nighter. So I paced myself through it, the Ju went home, and I was alone with these complete strangers. However, the people in Korea who are up this late are not like the crack-packing, sleep deprived crazy, toothless lunatics you'd meet back home behind Wal-Mart or liquor store, but genuinely friendly and completely sane people. So me and my new friend, Mr. Kim, went to the nearest Mini-Stop and bought some Ramen noodles and a nice cold Hite. We sat on the bar stools looking out at the beach. As the light was coming over the horizon I was looking to see where the sun was but I couldn't see it. Of course, its behind those immaculate Hyatt apartments. So I told Mr. Kim we will meet again after Chuseok and we parted ways. I walked along the water until Shinshegae where I could finally see the sun rising over the apartment complex. I took the subway home from there. Once I was home, my lack of sleep caught up with me so I napped for about 4 hours and then got up to greet the day again.
There was only one thing left I wanted to do this weekend. Play some Ultimate Frisbee. Throughout high school and university playing frisbee was a top-three activity, and I feel without it there's a hole in me. So despite having less than 20 hours of sleep in the past 4 days I head out to run like hell. When I walked onto the field I felt rejuvenated. I was happy to see a wide range of talent so I wouldn't be the worst player. We circled up and divided into teams. Games went to 3, winner stays on. Since its pick-up everyone manned up, unfortunately I was paired up with a gazelle disguised as a human. It had been a long time since I've run full tilt, and by the 2nd point I thought I was going to die. Lungs pumping and legs throbbing I kept playing until the 3rd point at which point I didn't know if I would make it home unless it was in an ambulance. We lost the first game so I got to lie down for a good half-hour and at the end of that game I caught my second wind. I played another couple games and started to feel like I was 17 again, no beer gut, legs of a cheetah, and a push-it-to-the-limit attitude. I couldn't keep it up for as long as I wanted to so I left, because when I watch sports I find I need to play them.
I returned home feeling like the best weekend of my life was over. Now I can only wait for the next one (which is in 2 hours).
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Friday Night? Part 3 of 4 In the Weekend that started Wednesday
It's finally Friday! Even though my workload has been super slack it's nice to know I can sleep in tomorrow. Since my blogging is behind I'll just say school went well, to avoid having to edit something you'll skim anyways. I get home do some stuff yada yada make dinner yada yada - off to pre-drink. With the meeting place being one subway stop away I decide to walk over. With the money I saved I bought a bottle of Sojo, it wasn't the last. Once our collection of 20 or so NETs had arrived and purchased their drinks of choice we traveled over to an apartment. And that's where I saw her. A big, white, transformer: hello fully functional PS3! In celebration of this and the end of the week everyone got wasted. How wasted you ask? Andrew WK headbanging wasted. When someone pointed out it was midnight we all decided to leave. From here on life becomes blurry. The group travels to a renowned Ex-Pat bar where there's an Open Mic night, I only assume this because the band wasn't very good. I had a beer then apparently went home; its times like these in my life where I wish I was on reality TV, with a camera crew on me 24/7. I'd always know what happens on those nights that simply evaporate from my memory.
"Here's to the nights we'll never remember with the friends we'll never forget."
Sidebar:
As a matter of fact, I desperately
need constant surveillance. I'm
always losing things, forgetting
about important events and ignoring
very relevant information. but if
everything I do is recorded...
I can just watch it all later. Is this
laziess or narcissism? New life goal
set, and in motion.
Yet of course there are some nights where things are better left alone like Twilight in general. To ensure you I turned out okay, I awoke the following day with no visible scars or tattoos on my body.
"Here's to the nights we'll never remember with the friends we'll never forget."
FSL and Trivia: Part 2 of 4 in the Weekend that started on Wednesday
Thursday, Thursday, Thursday. Waking up feeling slightly groggy I decide to wear a tie to make seem like I was 100% with it. Today is the day I teach the grade sixes picked right out of the mortuary. We'll skip right to my first class of the day. As my CT discusses the schedule in Korean I admire the space the cadets admiring the playground, doodling, or looking at their hands. Next my CT plays a lovely song she found on Youtube, to put a purpose behind it she says, "Try to guess the title". The only odd thing I noticed was it was sung in French; there were no subtitles, just adorable pictures of toddlers dressed as Victorian adults. I found it quite interesting that we take our time teaching approximately ten words a lesson to these children only to completely screw them up by playing a song sung in the language of "cheese-eating surrender monkeys" as Groundskeeper Willie once put it. Did I mention I'm bilingual? For the rest of the class I looked completely lost. Afterwards I talked to my CT about this and she didn't seem concerned about incorporating a new language into an already struggling ESL class. Whatevs I guess. The rest of the class went on as expected, eventually I'll start opening with a "this is a repeat after me day." The next 4 classes went by just the same, French song, repeat after me, say cloudy 20 times, clear 30 times, and black belt 50 times. By the third class I started to enjoy the sound of 25+ students saying things in unison. As usual I watch Korean Shrek 3 and for a change have the plastics of grade 5 watch me tie my tie over and over. I asked them if they knew how and the brainiac of the bunch said, "I'm not man."
"Learn to tie a tie and boys will like you."
Then she air-vomited all over my feet. The rest of the afternoon sped by especially since Thursday is one of two days I need to prepare a topic for my Adult Conversation Class. Today we talked about how the army has consumed Korea as whole because its so hierarchical and ever-present in everyday life. I guess it only takes 2 years (the minimum service duty in the army) to brainwash somebody. To paint a picture, the alternative to serving in the army is jail time. It must be peaceful under that thumb.
The rest of the day was completely uneventful Shraham time dedicated to reading and Facebook. At punch-out time I perked up because Thursday night is Trivia Night!! I walk home change into something more comfortable (second-hand cardi and jeans) and try to remember as many random facts as I can on the way there. I was surprised to see a pretty packed house, including some American mouthpiece, when I got to the bar with the Canadian crew. We all ordered food from the mild-mannered Texan chef, and were all pleasantly surprised with the portion sizes. Specifically the Texas Philly cheese steak the size of a human head. So as a way to pass the time until trivia night begins we play Apples to Apples (if you've never heard of this game I suggest you test it out now) with some hilarious results. Eventually trivia started up, its run off a computer and you submit your answers with a remote. Tons of fun. I was leading after the first round off of educated guesses, and nothing else. Round 2 went a little worse and I found myself 300 points out of first. The final round was one 500 point question about 1960's golf. Thanks to hours and hours of sporcling I know a Gary Player or two from the 1960's golf circuit. For the victory, I was awarded a free sleeve of beer to go with the full one I already had. The second game of trivia was not the best, riding the confidence of winning the last round off of a fluke, wearing my knit cardigan and drinking copious amounts of beer I finished near the bottom of the list. It was an excellent evening of drinking, bean-spilling, and useless knowledge. Although it wasn't as lengthy of an adventure as Wednesday night I enjoyed the company of some fellow Canadian teachers. Although I knew I had school the following day, it was still a Friday, and the evening was a soft warm up for Friday.
"Learn to tie a tie and boys will like you."
Then she air-vomited all over my feet. The rest of the afternoon sped by especially since Thursday is one of two days I need to prepare a topic for my Adult Conversation Class. Today we talked about how the army has consumed Korea as whole because its so hierarchical and ever-present in everyday life. I guess it only takes 2 years (the minimum service duty in the army) to brainwash somebody. To paint a picture, the alternative to serving in the army is jail time. It must be peaceful under that thumb.
The rest of the day was completely uneventful Shraham time dedicated to reading and Facebook. At punch-out time I perked up because Thursday night is Trivia Night!! I walk home change into something more comfortable (second-hand cardi and jeans) and try to remember as many random facts as I can on the way there. I was surprised to see a pretty packed house, including some American mouthpiece, when I got to the bar with the Canadian crew. We all ordered food from the mild-mannered Texan chef, and were all pleasantly surprised with the portion sizes. Specifically the Texas Philly cheese steak the size of a human head. So as a way to pass the time until trivia night begins we play Apples to Apples (if you've never heard of this game I suggest you test it out now) with some hilarious results. Eventually trivia started up, its run off a computer and you submit your answers with a remote. Tons of fun. I was leading after the first round off of educated guesses, and nothing else. Round 2 went a little worse and I found myself 300 points out of first. The final round was one 500 point question about 1960's golf. Thanks to hours and hours of sporcling I know a Gary Player or two from the 1960's golf circuit. For the victory, I was awarded a free sleeve of beer to go with the full one I already had. The second game of trivia was not the best, riding the confidence of winning the last round off of a fluke, wearing my knit cardigan and drinking copious amounts of beer I finished near the bottom of the list. It was an excellent evening of drinking, bean-spilling, and useless knowledge. Although it wasn't as lengthy of an adventure as Wednesday night I enjoyed the company of some fellow Canadian teachers. Although I knew I had school the following day, it was still a Friday, and the evening was a soft warm up for Friday.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Sunshine - Part 1 of 4 in a Weekend that started on Wednesday.
It all started on Wednesday. I remember walking to school humming "You are my Sunshine" not because I liked the song but because I was performing it! Maybe I should explain; part of my job is doing English announcements, but they aren't announcements, they simply reinforce the fact that I speak English better than anyone else at the school. The woman I replaced read stories every week when she did broadcasts. When my co-teachers found out I was "musically inclined" they pressured me into playing a song on the guitar for my first broadcast. Yippee. So here I am walking to school, nervous as hell, but thankful that this broadcast is the first thing on the schedule. As I step into my office with my fellow specialist teachers, I am told by the only other male teacher, who barely speaks English, that I am invited to drink Sojo with him and the rest of the men on staff. Nothing better to break up the week. Back to the nervousness, I picked up the art teacher's guitar and continued to practice until I'm phoned to come down to the broadcasting room. As I putter into the small little broadcasting room I am greeted by my fellow broadcaster (aka translator) and some star-struck six graders surrounding the panel the size and complexity of a cockpit. They point me into the broadcasting booth which is about a 6'x6' room with 12 light bulbs. If nerves weren't making me sweat, the bulbs were. As I was incubating, one of the students, known as Chatchi, relaxed me a little complaining about how girls are crazy and he hates them. As Chatch and another student, who I have yet to nickname, set up the cameras I see myself on the screen, pale as a ghost waiting to be judged by everyone in the school. So I open with a little bio about myself, which is then translated long enough for me to notice the beginning signs of heat stroke as I almost nod off to sleep. Then she introduces the song, I pick up the guitar and play! Since I didn't have a pick I plucked the bass chord with my thumb and finger picked the bottom three strings, needless to say my rhythm fell apart during the first chorus (new record!). For some reason I stuck with it, even though it sounded awful, but then as the song closed I switch up the rhythm and gave them something a little more on-beat and up-tempo; at least I thought it was. The important thing was it was over.
As I walked back to my office I was congratulated on my performance, which was nice, but I didn't believe them. However, I'm still motivated to keep practicing and improving so hopefully, one day, I'll actually enjoy it performing sober too. On Wednesdays I only have 3 classes, and the first period is my "planning" time. While flipping in between Youtube, Facebook and random articles, my co-teacher comes and and explains that my third and fourth period classes are cancelled due to a word she didn't know in English. It seems the worst part of my day is over with. So I go through my only class of the day with ease and then I'm back to Youtube, Facebook, and random articles and finishing off The Hunger Games. I can't say I remember my lunch so it was probably the typical kimchi, spicy meet, rice, and soup. Back to the English library, or my second office, to waste away. Off and on students yell as they walk by "Teacha guitar - handsome," which is always a nice confidence boost. As usual my regular movie watcher comes in to watch Shrek 3 in Korean. Once 3:00 rolls around he grabs his knap-sack and puts on his shoes the size of your hand and leaves for the day. At this point I'm hot and more importantly, bored out of my brain. So I laid down on a bunch of soft benches pushed together and turned off my brain for long enough to feel rejuvenated. I got up and chatted with a couple people and was then pulled out early to get to the restaurant. Little did I know what else was coming.
I have only met of a few of these guys before, and the only one I see everyday can't really hold a conversation in English but bless his heart for trying. Upon arriving at the restaurant the savory smells hit my nose and my mouth begins to water. I sit down cross-legged on the floor with everyone else, and maintain my celebrity status and don't ask a single person their name. The only conversation worth repeating is the Korean tradition of buying everyone at the school some sort of cake thing as a way to celebrate my first payday. Be warned, this is no ordinary cake; the new Korean teacher got paid last week. It has beans, or something like them, on it, little to no sweetness, and apart from the beany taste was really bland. I'll let you know about that venture when it happens. Another interesting thing is the Vice Principal is bringing the "go dutch" philosophy to Korea; looks like I arrived just in time, luckily first-timers eat free.
After a dinner of soup, pork products, kimchi, and Sojo (a staple in every man's dinner) we head to bar kitty corner to the restaurant, for what I assume to be one beer and then back home. The bar tender places 10 large bottles of beer on the table for the 8 of us. After the first couple glasses of beer, I am shown the ways of the rich man. The difference is the rich man throws popcorn into his mouth and the poor man places it in his mouth. Who knew? So as we drink our beers they go on talking about everyone's age and all of them were shocking, 30 to 55 year old men that look like they're 25 with no sign of grey or wrinkles. Except for one, and I was sitting next to him, if I had to guess he looked death-bed-bound, then he proudly says, "I am sixty and my daughter is 33 and my grandson is eighty." Both the mistake and the shock this man was only 60 made me knit my eyebrows and cock my head. Then sycophant in me jumped right out to the rescue and replied, "60 no, 45!" He certainly liked that one, so I'm hopefully closer to the good books now.
Once the beers were gone the older guys were slowing down we left that bar. While walking back towards the school one of the hip, younger teachers pulls out his phone; he doesn't call a taxi though, he calls a driving agency. These agencies drive your car around for you while you're drinking, absolutely genius. I don't see this business doing particularly well in North America, specifically any ghetto areas known for GTA like Detroit, Brooklyn, and Liberty City. Either way, my youthful colleagues and I ride off to a Korean BBQ. Of course another two bottles of Sojo (along with some grub) are brought to the table, and we keep drinking like its a Friday. Now with just four of us remaining I begin to lose my edge. As the night progresses more and more people start filling up the restaurant and one teacher seems to meet his entire graduating class, meeting these people who are completely sauced gives me that second wind to keep going, even though its only 10. The big twist is despite knowing only one person out of 4 one clearly totaled classmate picks up our tab.
Finally, we decide to call it a night and the drunkest teacher walks me home, where his wife will pick him up. As we walk home he goes into the grocery store at which point I introduce him to the concept of a Roadie. Sadly he settles for coffee in a can. Once we get to my apartment I thank him for guiding me home as his wife pulls over to pick him up. Sauntering into the elevator, I realize I haven't been here since 7:30 that morning. Since I had the elevator to myself I happily whistle and sing "You are my Sunshine" all the way to my floor. It felt so much better to sing it with no fears about screwing it up. And it just hit me as I'm typing this, but they never once mentioned my broadcast the entire night. I can't think of a reason why... apart from the fact that grown men don't really care about songs meant for children. Whistling away I showered off the day's and night's events and fell asleep thinking of what tomorrow will bring.
As I walked back to my office I was congratulated on my performance, which was nice, but I didn't believe them. However, I'm still motivated to keep practicing and improving so hopefully, one day, I'll actually enjoy it performing sober too. On Wednesdays I only have 3 classes, and the first period is my "planning" time. While flipping in between Youtube, Facebook and random articles, my co-teacher comes and and explains that my third and fourth period classes are cancelled due to a word she didn't know in English. It seems the worst part of my day is over with. So I go through my only class of the day with ease and then I'm back to Youtube, Facebook, and random articles and finishing off The Hunger Games. I can't say I remember my lunch so it was probably the typical kimchi, spicy meet, rice, and soup. Back to the English library, or my second office, to waste away. Off and on students yell as they walk by "Teacha guitar - handsome," which is always a nice confidence boost. As usual my regular movie watcher comes in to watch Shrek 3 in Korean. Once 3:00 rolls around he grabs his knap-sack and puts on his shoes the size of your hand and leaves for the day. At this point I'm hot and more importantly, bored out of my brain. So I laid down on a bunch of soft benches pushed together and turned off my brain for long enough to feel rejuvenated. I got up and chatted with a couple people and was then pulled out early to get to the restaurant. Little did I know what else was coming.
I have only met of a few of these guys before, and the only one I see everyday can't really hold a conversation in English but bless his heart for trying. Upon arriving at the restaurant the savory smells hit my nose and my mouth begins to water. I sit down cross-legged on the floor with everyone else, and maintain my celebrity status and don't ask a single person their name. The only conversation worth repeating is the Korean tradition of buying everyone at the school some sort of cake thing as a way to celebrate my first payday. Be warned, this is no ordinary cake; the new Korean teacher got paid last week. It has beans, or something like them, on it, little to no sweetness, and apart from the beany taste was really bland. I'll let you know about that venture when it happens. Another interesting thing is the Vice Principal is bringing the "go dutch" philosophy to Korea; looks like I arrived just in time, luckily first-timers eat free.
After a dinner of soup, pork products, kimchi, and Sojo (a staple in every man's dinner) we head to bar kitty corner to the restaurant, for what I assume to be one beer and then back home. The bar tender places 10 large bottles of beer on the table for the 8 of us. After the first couple glasses of beer, I am shown the ways of the rich man. The difference is the rich man throws popcorn into his mouth and the poor man places it in his mouth. Who knew? So as we drink our beers they go on talking about everyone's age and all of them were shocking, 30 to 55 year old men that look like they're 25 with no sign of grey or wrinkles. Except for one, and I was sitting next to him, if I had to guess he looked death-bed-bound, then he proudly says, "I am sixty and my daughter is 33 and my grandson is eighty." Both the mistake and the shock this man was only 60 made me knit my eyebrows and cock my head. Then sycophant in me jumped right out to the rescue and replied, "60 no, 45!" He certainly liked that one, so I'm hopefully closer to the good books now.
Once the beers were gone the older guys were slowing down we left that bar. While walking back towards the school one of the hip, younger teachers pulls out his phone; he doesn't call a taxi though, he calls a driving agency. These agencies drive your car around for you while you're drinking, absolutely genius. I don't see this business doing particularly well in North America, specifically any ghetto areas known for GTA like Detroit, Brooklyn, and Liberty City. Either way, my youthful colleagues and I ride off to a Korean BBQ. Of course another two bottles of Sojo (along with some grub) are brought to the table, and we keep drinking like its a Friday. Now with just four of us remaining I begin to lose my edge. As the night progresses more and more people start filling up the restaurant and one teacher seems to meet his entire graduating class, meeting these people who are completely sauced gives me that second wind to keep going, even though its only 10. The big twist is despite knowing only one person out of 4 one clearly totaled classmate picks up our tab.
Finally, we decide to call it a night and the drunkest teacher walks me home, where his wife will pick him up. As we walk home he goes into the grocery store at which point I introduce him to the concept of a Roadie. Sadly he settles for coffee in a can. Once we get to my apartment I thank him for guiding me home as his wife pulls over to pick him up. Sauntering into the elevator, I realize I haven't been here since 7:30 that morning. Since I had the elevator to myself I happily whistle and sing "You are my Sunshine" all the way to my floor. It felt so much better to sing it with no fears about screwing it up. And it just hit me as I'm typing this, but they never once mentioned my broadcast the entire night. I can't think of a reason why... apart from the fact that grown men don't really care about songs meant for children. Whistling away I showered off the day's and night's events and fell asleep thinking of what tomorrow will bring.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Greetings!
Hello!
Welcome to my blog. Exciting, I know. Well just a little bit about myself before I get into the many trials and (mis)adventures of my adult life. I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada and graduated from Lakehead University with an English Degree and a Bachelor's in Education. Since teaching jobs are a rarity in the popular parts of Canada and I'm ball-and-chainless I decided to travel to South Korea for a one year stint as a NET (Native English Teacher). I arrived in late August of 2012. To all those who do read this blog I hope you enjoy it.
The names (including my own) in these stories will be made up to protect their well-being and potentially their dignity. So let's catch you up with the basics. I live in Busan, it is a city along the coast of the East Sea with beautiful beaches and plenty of mountains scattered throughout. The city has a very youthful and Western setup (apart from the toilets) and a killer nightlife. I am currently living in a beautiful apartment that the school has provided for me. Everything is white or off-white so it's next to impossible to keep this place looking clean. I love my school, everyone is always happy and there is a lot of spirit which is very contagious, and they have one actual toilet right beside my classroom. I have surrounded myself with a collection of Canadians who I met on the plane to Korea and over the past month we have developed a stellar dynamic. It seems as though the perfect situation has fallen into my lap; however, what would life be without mistakes?
I believe it was Robin Williams who said, "A man has a brain and a penis and only enough blood to work one of them." This is NOT a blog entirely based around sex (just 40% of it). I admit I have faults, but in this era where we celebrate the dim-witted and do-nothingers, I figured I could share some of my stories, because, after all, everyone enjoys hearing about bad things happening to other people.
Happy Reading,
Shraham
Welcome to my blog. Exciting, I know. Well just a little bit about myself before I get into the many trials and (mis)adventures of my adult life. I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada and graduated from Lakehead University with an English Degree and a Bachelor's in Education. Since teaching jobs are a rarity in the popular parts of Canada and I'm ball-and-chainless I decided to travel to South Korea for a one year stint as a NET (Native English Teacher). I arrived in late August of 2012. To all those who do read this blog I hope you enjoy it.
The names (including my own) in these stories will be made up to protect their well-being and potentially their dignity. So let's catch you up with the basics. I live in Busan, it is a city along the coast of the East Sea with beautiful beaches and plenty of mountains scattered throughout. The city has a very youthful and Western setup (apart from the toilets) and a killer nightlife. I am currently living in a beautiful apartment that the school has provided for me. Everything is white or off-white so it's next to impossible to keep this place looking clean. I love my school, everyone is always happy and there is a lot of spirit which is very contagious, and they have one actual toilet right beside my classroom. I have surrounded myself with a collection of Canadians who I met on the plane to Korea and over the past month we have developed a stellar dynamic. It seems as though the perfect situation has fallen into my lap; however, what would life be without mistakes?
I believe it was Robin Williams who said, "A man has a brain and a penis and only enough blood to work one of them." This is NOT a blog entirely based around sex (just 40% of it). I admit I have faults, but in this era where we celebrate the dim-witted and do-nothingers, I figured I could share some of my stories, because, after all, everyone enjoys hearing about bad things happening to other people.
Happy Reading,
Shraham
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