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| ... the sad part is he wasn't the first one done. |
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Camp Update
We did a word search with a meat and dairy theme to start the day and then I defined new words like mutton, venison, veal and certain types of cheese and showed them pictures too. After that we watched a clip from Epic Meal Time where they made an excellent looking sandwich. Because the immensity of the super swine submarine sandwich is so profound we made our own sandwiches and the campers labelled what they but inside. The even layers the guys managed to get made it a really good example of what I wanted the kids to make. Some did really well others weren't motivated at all. I only have a few of the photos because some kids wanted to bring the home with them.
Muddy Feet: Ansan Part 1
I got on the bus to Ansan at 12:30 leaving summer camp early just to make it. Friends had already left and had tents set up for when myself and another Ultimate traveler got to Ansan. The bus took 7 hours to get up to entrance of the entrance to the concert. Unlike the party bus to Mudfest nothing happened on this bus. We hopped out grabbed our packs and walked ten minutes in the humid fog to get to the ticket booths. Once the wristband was on, we set out for the grounds.
This was the best way to walk towards a rock festival you could imagine. The road down to the grounds was a straight asphalt path with marshland on either side. There were buildings on one side but the fog covered up the civilization I was leaving for the next 2 and a half days. On the other side there were wind mills. Since the sun had set there was pink neon trim on the blades, contrasting with the lush greens and the steely fog of the marsh. The fact the XX was playing too made the journey down all the more surreal. When we arrived we threw our stuff into a bag check and went out to search for our friends at the XX. I was surprised how quickly we found them. Listening to the tranquil broken ballads of the XX put me at even more ease now that I had arrived. After the show ended we went on to go see the Cure who had a 3 hour set.
I was really bummed that I missed Vampire Weekend, one of my favorite bands at the moment and apparently they blew the show out of the water along with a band called Polyphonic Spree. Thankfully no one brought their performance until I had my own socks blown off Saturday.
To be honest I thought the Cure wasn't a half decent band and offering them a 3 hour set was the dumbest thing in the world. Here are the bullets.
We went back and saw some really up and at'em Korean bands that brought me back to the teenage years where Green Day, SUM 41 and Blink 182 CDs owned my ghetto blaster. At some unspecified time I went to bed peacefully waiting for the next day of madness.
This was the best way to walk towards a rock festival you could imagine. The road down to the grounds was a straight asphalt path with marshland on either side. There were buildings on one side but the fog covered up the civilization I was leaving for the next 2 and a half days. On the other side there were wind mills. Since the sun had set there was pink neon trim on the blades, contrasting with the lush greens and the steely fog of the marsh. The fact the XX was playing too made the journey down all the more surreal. When we arrived we threw our stuff into a bag check and went out to search for our friends at the XX. I was surprised how quickly we found them. Listening to the tranquil broken ballads of the XX put me at even more ease now that I had arrived. After the show ended we went on to go see the Cure who had a 3 hour set.
I was really bummed that I missed Vampire Weekend, one of my favorite bands at the moment and apparently they blew the show out of the water along with a band called Polyphonic Spree. Thankfully no one brought their performance until I had my own socks blown off Saturday.
To be honest I thought the Cure wasn't a half decent band and offering them a 3 hour set was the dumbest thing in the world. Here are the bullets.
- Robert Smith looks like shit: He's fattened up big time and looks like he's lived in a swamp for a while. His hair is just a thin stringy mess and he had some really emo/ ajuma garb on (loose black something other with sequins) and messy lip stick. At first glance I thought Marilyn Manson was up there melting.
- Maybe I'm not a connoisseur of their genre but when they started playing a new song I thought "Oh, I've heard this song before, no, wait, this sounds slightly different." For all of the songs I listened to intently.
- No one on stage made any attempt at communicating to the audience. It made the experience almost unmentionable.
- Got a foot rub from a stranger.
- Tested out a cheesy pick-up line, which could have worked (details later).
- Drank copious beers and some high-class water bottle rum.
- Met new and exciting people.
- Learned new things (Don't watch The Cure live: buy an album instead)
- Blankets and tarps are amazing at concerts, especially after heavy rains.
We went back and saw some really up and at'em Korean bands that brought me back to the teenage years where Green Day, SUM 41 and Blink 182 CDs owned my ghetto blaster. At some unspecified time I went to bed peacefully waiting for the next day of madness.
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Mudfest: A collection of Top Fives
This trip was a lot of fun, and extremely eventful. I bar-proofed my wallet before leaving so I only went there with 25,000 won and my transit card because I wouldn't be going to a bar and I had brought mix with me because there was a two for one deal on energy drinks at my convenience store and I bought 4 (which I spaced out over Saturday). It wasn't obviously enough because in the morning I stumbled along with the equivalent of 40 cents in my pocket. Thankfully, I have great friends who can sponsor me. As for the mudfest I was expecting something a little more elaborate like those savage races through the wilderness in a foot of mud back home. It was more of a rich kid's birthday party, everything was inflatable and there was a limited amount of mud. All of it was brought in from somewhere, I think, but when I think about where this is happening... I feel I built the fest up in my head waaay to much.
The drinks:
5. Beer with lunch on the Sunday: It was Cass I can't say it was bad but its the same old junk I've been drinking all year.
4. Draft beer at lunch on Saturday: It was a Heineken and it was really cold. I hadn't had a Heinie since the mini-keg was a fad and it was a nice change from the same old number 5.
3. Soju and mix during the day: There were a lot of mixes that day due to convenience, proximity, and sadly budget cuts. Convenience when I was sitting I usually just bought something at the closest convenience store. If someone else was going back to the room I'd tag along and snap another energy drink. When I ran out of money I was topped off with beer making the delectable SoMak (Soju and beer) à la friends.
2. Hair of the dog: Maybe it was the fact the party animal of our Busan clan was still drunk as ever and I was just on board for whatever we sat down with some people our tour guide was with and they gave us BREAKFAST JAGEBOMBS! It was a great start to the day and lead in to the nap on the bus ride home.
1. Soju and OJ served in a water gun: The ride to mudfest was the best bus ride I've ever been on. Drinking copious amounts of Korean Screwdrivers is always fun but it gets super rowdy when house music is playing, water guns full of booze are spraying in everybody's mouth, and the bus driver doesn't care how many people are dancing in the aisle. A great unforgettable time
The non-alcholic activities in the mud (drinking in the "mudzone" was not allowed).
5: The sesspool(s): There were these inflatable pools of mud in the little park. A person who went last year (and didn't go again) said it might as well be a bathroom. No thanks, didn't go in and never will. Especially after a friend posted that some people at mudfest caught bacterial meningitis!
4. The Line for the slide: Bathing in the sun was nice and I met some solid Korean Americans. I didn't bring a watch but the line felt like an eternity. That wasn't even the only line. Admission was stupid too because there were two unmarked lines that went to different parts of the park. In the end we hopped the fence with every other person. Horrible organization mud people.
3. The Slide: After being in line for long enough I looked up at the slide and realized this was going to suck. Crawl up, slide down. No bend no bumps, I guess its safe and drunk proof but geez it might as well be for a kid's birthday party.
2. The pull string race: This inflated thing had two rows where two pairs of people would race the person facing them into the middle and ring a bell. The catch was you were tied to an elastic rope so you had to book it to the middle. This was a great way to practice my layouts and I had lots of fun doing that. Get ready Ultimate.
1. Painting: This was outside of the park and there were containers of mud with paint brushes stringed to them and a bunch of us just painted each other with mud and modeled some new grayer hairstyles. Also drinks were allowed too, I have my priorities when you go somewhere that's supposed to be a party. Afterwards jumping into the ocean was a very refreshing experience as well, I found a pair of sunglasses and a fan after getting knocked on my butt from the waves. You can't get that in Busan, it's always just garbage.
The faux-pas: No particular order
Don't bring shoes: Some people lost shoes over the course of the weekend. I had a pair safely stowed in a friend's bag (bless their heart) and other people had really shitty ones, like myself, from the pension where the tops on them did a number on your big toe, chucked them the second I was reunited with my other ones.
Bringing a fixed amount of money: I have a new rule: always have extra, emergency money when you'll be away from home for more than 24 hours. Once you start drinking cravings multiply and that leads to relying on other people's generosity. The bus ride home led to a lot of gut rot because I didn't feel the need to eat until I got home.
Neglecting other top 5s: I swear by some Yahoo! Fantasy guru's "Top 5 things to have at all times": headphones, music player, pen, paper, cash. None of these were in my gym shorts. As a result, less food and no numbers or names.
Always bring a toothbrush: This was me just packing in a rush. The morning after my mouth tasted horrible. Thank the party gods for those breakfast Jagerbombs.
Shirts: On a separate occasion my shirt has been sawed in half twice. This time I did it myself because a friend said my shirt didn't have snap buttons, after ripping the front open it still doesn't have snap buttons and I can never wear it again unless I return to mudfest. I felt super manly doing it though, for the record. Also another shirt has a permanent mud stain on it: Never wear white when you know you'll get dirty.
Well that wraps up this blog. I would have done a food one too but I can't really remember the tastes. This place is a rite of passage for anyone passing through Korea that doesn't mind getting dirty and being surrounded by drunks. Mudfest is a great way to spend a weekend in the summer but you only need to experience it once. Even if I had brought more money going with a big group is super important.
The drinks:
5. Beer with lunch on the Sunday: It was Cass I can't say it was bad but its the same old junk I've been drinking all year.
4. Draft beer at lunch on Saturday: It was a Heineken and it was really cold. I hadn't had a Heinie since the mini-keg was a fad and it was a nice change from the same old number 5.
3. Soju and mix during the day: There were a lot of mixes that day due to convenience, proximity, and sadly budget cuts. Convenience when I was sitting I usually just bought something at the closest convenience store. If someone else was going back to the room I'd tag along and snap another energy drink. When I ran out of money I was topped off with beer making the delectable SoMak (Soju and beer) à la friends.
2. Hair of the dog: Maybe it was the fact the party animal of our Busan clan was still drunk as ever and I was just on board for whatever we sat down with some people our tour guide was with and they gave us BREAKFAST JAGEBOMBS! It was a great start to the day and lead in to the nap on the bus ride home.
1. Soju and OJ served in a water gun: The ride to mudfest was the best bus ride I've ever been on. Drinking copious amounts of Korean Screwdrivers is always fun but it gets super rowdy when house music is playing, water guns full of booze are spraying in everybody's mouth, and the bus driver doesn't care how many people are dancing in the aisle. A great unforgettable time
The non-alcholic activities in the mud (drinking in the "mudzone" was not allowed).
5: The sesspool(s): There were these inflatable pools of mud in the little park. A person who went last year (and didn't go again) said it might as well be a bathroom. No thanks, didn't go in and never will. Especially after a friend posted that some people at mudfest caught bacterial meningitis!
4. The Line for the slide: Bathing in the sun was nice and I met some solid Korean Americans. I didn't bring a watch but the line felt like an eternity. That wasn't even the only line. Admission was stupid too because there were two unmarked lines that went to different parts of the park. In the end we hopped the fence with every other person. Horrible organization mud people.
3. The Slide: After being in line for long enough I looked up at the slide and realized this was going to suck. Crawl up, slide down. No bend no bumps, I guess its safe and drunk proof but geez it might as well be for a kid's birthday party.
2. The pull string race: This inflated thing had two rows where two pairs of people would race the person facing them into the middle and ring a bell. The catch was you were tied to an elastic rope so you had to book it to the middle. This was a great way to practice my layouts and I had lots of fun doing that. Get ready Ultimate.
1. Painting: This was outside of the park and there were containers of mud with paint brushes stringed to them and a bunch of us just painted each other with mud and modeled some new grayer hairstyles. Also drinks were allowed too, I have my priorities when you go somewhere that's supposed to be a party. Afterwards jumping into the ocean was a very refreshing experience as well, I found a pair of sunglasses and a fan after getting knocked on my butt from the waves. You can't get that in Busan, it's always just garbage.
The faux-pas: No particular order
Don't bring shoes: Some people lost shoes over the course of the weekend. I had a pair safely stowed in a friend's bag (bless their heart) and other people had really shitty ones, like myself, from the pension where the tops on them did a number on your big toe, chucked them the second I was reunited with my other ones.
Bringing a fixed amount of money: I have a new rule: always have extra, emergency money when you'll be away from home for more than 24 hours. Once you start drinking cravings multiply and that leads to relying on other people's generosity. The bus ride home led to a lot of gut rot because I didn't feel the need to eat until I got home.
Neglecting other top 5s: I swear by some Yahoo! Fantasy guru's "Top 5 things to have at all times": headphones, music player, pen, paper, cash. None of these were in my gym shorts. As a result, less food and no numbers or names.
Always bring a toothbrush: This was me just packing in a rush. The morning after my mouth tasted horrible. Thank the party gods for those breakfast Jagerbombs.
Shirts: On a separate occasion my shirt has been sawed in half twice. This time I did it myself because a friend said my shirt didn't have snap buttons, after ripping the front open it still doesn't have snap buttons and I can never wear it again unless I return to mudfest. I felt super manly doing it though, for the record. Also another shirt has a permanent mud stain on it: Never wear white when you know you'll get dirty.
Well that wraps up this blog. I would have done a food one too but I can't really remember the tastes. This place is a rite of passage for anyone passing through Korea that doesn't mind getting dirty and being surrounded by drunks. Mudfest is a great way to spend a weekend in the summer but you only need to experience it once. Even if I had brought more money going with a big group is super important.
My New Helper
Working away in an empty library in an empty school leaves you talking to yourself a lot of the time about things even you find boring. Once summer camp is over at noon the halls are silent. For half an hour I'm just reflecting on lessons and preparing for the next day. After that the silence gets eerie until I decide to leave.
Today was different though. One of my students from my after school classes came by to see a friend in my camp. She's pretty with it English-wise and then she blew off her friend to hang out in the library with me. It was weird to say the least. I asked her about what she's been up to (mine aren't exactly elementary school appropriate) and she talked on and on for a good chunk of time while walking around the library flipping through picture books. Then she told me there's a game with too many dice in it. When I found out she was talking about Boggle (a new found way to entertain myself while deskwarming) I taught her how to play. She was impressed that I could see 5 letter words and decided by tomorrow she'll be a better Boggle player than me. I wouldn't be surprised she's got a knack for a lot of things. Currently she's taking care of her little brother after his camp stuff is over until her parents (a high school teacher and a doctor) come home. Apparently there's a dog in this place too. She's destined for some awesome achievements in life.
After 10 minutes she was bored with Boggle and started rummaging through the books I'm reorganizing. She's a really good talker but she doesn't catch inferences when she reads so she's on the verge of level 2 in my book ranking system. My ears perked up when I remembered her reading level. Now I have a pile of books that are easy for her to read with the correct sticker on them. Her last words before leaving were "See you tomorrow, teacher." This is big for two reasons: a) I have someone to talk and fill the silent school and sort books with me b) a LOT of Koreans just say "See you" including my co-teachers and its one of my foreigner pet peeves and I'm happy she's got that basic sentence down.
I remember helping my mom during a few summers in her office believing that my tedious chores were just a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. However, when there's a huge daunting task ahead of one person every bit of help from the outside counts. So there's my internet-wide shout-out to my new little helper.
Today was different though. One of my students from my after school classes came by to see a friend in my camp. She's pretty with it English-wise and then she blew off her friend to hang out in the library with me. It was weird to say the least. I asked her about what she's been up to (mine aren't exactly elementary school appropriate) and she talked on and on for a good chunk of time while walking around the library flipping through picture books. Then she told me there's a game with too many dice in it. When I found out she was talking about Boggle (a new found way to entertain myself while deskwarming) I taught her how to play. She was impressed that I could see 5 letter words and decided by tomorrow she'll be a better Boggle player than me. I wouldn't be surprised she's got a knack for a lot of things. Currently she's taking care of her little brother after his camp stuff is over until her parents (a high school teacher and a doctor) come home. Apparently there's a dog in this place too. She's destined for some awesome achievements in life.
After 10 minutes she was bored with Boggle and started rummaging through the books I'm reorganizing. She's a really good talker but she doesn't catch inferences when she reads so she's on the verge of level 2 in my book ranking system. My ears perked up when I remembered her reading level. Now I have a pile of books that are easy for her to read with the correct sticker on them. Her last words before leaving were "See you tomorrow, teacher." This is big for two reasons: a) I have someone to talk and fill the silent school and sort books with me b) a LOT of Koreans just say "See you" including my co-teachers and its one of my foreigner pet peeves and I'm happy she's got that basic sentence down.
I remember helping my mom during a few summers in her office believing that my tedious chores were just a drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. However, when there's a huge daunting task ahead of one person every bit of help from the outside counts. So there's my internet-wide shout-out to my new little helper.
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Dug out of the draft bin from... May
Earlier this year
Today I had an afternoon class where I teach grade 3 and 4. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but this is the most stressful class for me because the gap in between English capabilities is so wide spread and 50% of them are loons. There's this one girl who is in Grade 3 and she tries really hard and is very independent during work periods. She isn't the highest level and has a lot of pride in her work, which is why she doesn't ask for help ever. Today we looked at homonyms (see-sea, waist-waste, piece-peace, etc.) there were 10 words and you had to match them up, write the Korean definition, then pick 3 words and put them into a sentence.
However, today the levee fell apart with water spraying everywhere. Well not everywhere, or anywhere, but she was so loud. Obviously, I had no idea what was wrong and she couldn't tell me (that whole me not knowing Korean thing) so I took her into my co-teachers class room. She was there for about 5 minutes and when she came back into the class my co-teacher explained that she couldn't understand one of my instructions. And then she looks up at me with these tear-filled, puppy-dog eyes and I almost started crying myself. One of the grade 4 girls helped her through the rest of the class and once everyone had finished half the work I thought we could start the weekend a little earlier and watch the Aristocats, while I did my marking. I loved how they all loved J. Thomas O'Malley. This little girl was back to her happy self by the end of class so now I feel I can celebrate a half-decent day, and week for that matter, in moderation tonight.
July 18th 2013
And I probably did.
Today I had an afternoon class where I teach grade 3 and 4. I'm sure I've mentioned this before but this is the most stressful class for me because the gap in between English capabilities is so wide spread and 50% of them are loons. There's this one girl who is in Grade 3 and she tries really hard and is very independent during work periods. She isn't the highest level and has a lot of pride in her work, which is why she doesn't ask for help ever. Today we looked at homonyms (see-sea, waist-waste, piece-peace, etc.) there were 10 words and you had to match them up, write the Korean definition, then pick 3 words and put them into a sentence.
However, today the levee fell apart with water spraying everywhere. Well not everywhere, or anywhere, but she was so loud. Obviously, I had no idea what was wrong and she couldn't tell me (that whole me not knowing Korean thing) so I took her into my co-teachers class room. She was there for about 5 minutes and when she came back into the class my co-teacher explained that she couldn't understand one of my instructions. And then she looks up at me with these tear-filled, puppy-dog eyes and I almost started crying myself. One of the grade 4 girls helped her through the rest of the class and once everyone had finished half the work I thought we could start the weekend a little earlier and watch the Aristocats, while I did my marking. I loved how they all loved J. Thomas O'Malley. This little girl was back to her happy self by the end of class so now I feel I can celebrate a half-decent day, and week for that matter, in moderation tonight.
July 18th 2013
And I probably did.
Just happy to be here.
One of my co-teachers approached me today and told me that the contract is up for the apartment I'm living in now and asked if I wanted to renew it. She also told me where I could move to, if I wanted to move out. The apartment is a lot cheaper, my bills would be cut in half, and I could walk to and from school everyday and I would be in a more central location and there are 4 other English teachers who live in the building that has about 16 apartments. All of these things sounded great and its a principal-to-principal connection so it's completely safe. My CT asked if I was interested and I said sure and we went to look at it this afternoon. While I sat at my desk during these phone calls setting up a meeting place I started imagining what this apartment would look like and how I could walk to the beach everyday after school for a thirst-quenching beverage at one of the many foreigner friendly watering holes in Gwangan.
Now I've visited a number of apartments in Korea and I'll admit some are shoe boxes, some are the size of a bachelor's apartment back home, and some are awesome, like mine. So going into this visit I told myself If I can fit my couch somewhere, I could use two regular sized pots at one time on the elements and there was a view I'd consider it. Well my co-teacher and I walked there passing a lot of my students along the way. We cut through an auto shop and went down a narrow alley to meet this other principal who didn't even greet me. When we got inside the halls were air conditioned which was nice because there isn't an elevator and principal couldn't remember what room was vacant. His wife does most of the stuff for the building.
He tried phoning his wife to ask her what room was available but she didn't answer three times. We decided we would go and see it another day. The three of us piled into a luxury car with the AC blaring (it goes without saying that I was sweating profusely because midday in Busan is comparable to temperatures in Hell) and I found out a little bit about the apartment and the principal by talking through my co-teacher while we backed out of what I later discovered to be a road. I found out the apartment was less than 40 square meters which made me very skeptical. All of sudden, his wife calls back.
He gets the room number and password we march up to the third floor while I ponder how this couch can fit in these narrow hallways. It'd be a tight squeeze to say the least. When he opened the door there was a 4"x 5" foyer with some shelves for shoes and other things. Certainly no cowboy hats, a basketball or, more importantly, coats. After that we stepped into the main room, half of which was dedicated to a long dresser and a double bed. The bathroom was a typical Korean bathroom where there's no shower stall. The kitchen/ laundry room was a narrow 4" x 10" jut off of the main room. Knowing the furniture in my apartment the school owns and is required to bring in the move I would be climbing over everything to get in and out. It would really force me to sight see a lot of the time.
"Talk about the view!"
How could I forget, I had one window in the kitchen/ laundry room five feet away from another building. The furniture was really beautiful and well-kept but I didn't see a single upgrade from my current apartment a part from the location. From another perspective though living a 20 minute walk away from another beach, 4 minutes from a grocery store and department store, having a network of friends in the area, and just the sense of familiarity was enough to make the decision that I wouldn't downgrade at this point. However, If they had dropped me off here a year ago I wouldn't have complained because I wouldn't have known the sweet life.
I've lived in shoe boxes for five years in university and I'm really happy to have an open-concept loft to call home for the time being. The bills are a little ridiculous at times but I'm good at budgeting myself to and extent. This apartment has spoiled me and I think it's one of the major reasons why I wanted to renew along with doing something I love and gaining tons of new experiences along the way. It would have been nice to live closer to other things but while in the apartment I imagined myself sitting at my desk in the middle of winter, looking out at a grey brick wall, lamenting how I had a pretty awesome apartment with a splendid view, a couch, and just a really awesome vibe despite the off-white wall paper. So as I look out at the moon and the lights of other apartments drinking the juice I bought on sale, I'd have to say I'm really happy with where I've ended up.
Now I've visited a number of apartments in Korea and I'll admit some are shoe boxes, some are the size of a bachelor's apartment back home, and some are awesome, like mine. So going into this visit I told myself If I can fit my couch somewhere, I could use two regular sized pots at one time on the elements and there was a view I'd consider it. Well my co-teacher and I walked there passing a lot of my students along the way. We cut through an auto shop and went down a narrow alley to meet this other principal who didn't even greet me. When we got inside the halls were air conditioned which was nice because there isn't an elevator and principal couldn't remember what room was vacant. His wife does most of the stuff for the building.
He tried phoning his wife to ask her what room was available but she didn't answer three times. We decided we would go and see it another day. The three of us piled into a luxury car with the AC blaring (it goes without saying that I was sweating profusely because midday in Busan is comparable to temperatures in Hell) and I found out a little bit about the apartment and the principal by talking through my co-teacher while we backed out of what I later discovered to be a road. I found out the apartment was less than 40 square meters which made me very skeptical. All of sudden, his wife calls back.
He gets the room number and password we march up to the third floor while I ponder how this couch can fit in these narrow hallways. It'd be a tight squeeze to say the least. When he opened the door there was a 4"x 5" foyer with some shelves for shoes and other things. Certainly no cowboy hats, a basketball or, more importantly, coats. After that we stepped into the main room, half of which was dedicated to a long dresser and a double bed. The bathroom was a typical Korean bathroom where there's no shower stall. The kitchen/ laundry room was a narrow 4" x 10" jut off of the main room. Knowing the furniture in my apartment the school owns and is required to bring in the move I would be climbing over everything to get in and out. It would really force me to sight see a lot of the time.
"Talk about the view!"
How could I forget, I had one window in the kitchen/ laundry room five feet away from another building. The furniture was really beautiful and well-kept but I didn't see a single upgrade from my current apartment a part from the location. From another perspective though living a 20 minute walk away from another beach, 4 minutes from a grocery store and department store, having a network of friends in the area, and just the sense of familiarity was enough to make the decision that I wouldn't downgrade at this point. However, If they had dropped me off here a year ago I wouldn't have complained because I wouldn't have known the sweet life.
I've lived in shoe boxes for five years in university and I'm really happy to have an open-concept loft to call home for the time being. The bills are a little ridiculous at times but I'm good at budgeting myself to and extent. This apartment has spoiled me and I think it's one of the major reasons why I wanted to renew along with doing something I love and gaining tons of new experiences along the way. It would have been nice to live closer to other things but while in the apartment I imagined myself sitting at my desk in the middle of winter, looking out at a grey brick wall, lamenting how I had a pretty awesome apartment with a splendid view, a couch, and just a really awesome vibe despite the off-white wall paper. So as I look out at the moon and the lights of other apartments drinking the juice I bought on sale, I'd have to say I'm really happy with where I've ended up.
Another Year
Thursday July 11th 2013
Well today was the day. I have signed my new contract to stay in the lovely city of Busan for another year. I'm overly excited about this but at the same time you never know what's beyond the horizon. I have a feeling summer's going to be an amazing time and these are some upcoming blog posts titles.
- Mudfest
- Days 1-3 of the Ansan Valley Rock Festival
- Exploring Chiang Mai
- Petting an Elephant
- Summer Camp (ugh)
- Relapse at the puppy cafe.
- Through the Eyes of the Waygook: The Jimjibong
- And many more.
In other news today I found out this is not the last week of school. One of my office doors fell off the hinge and could killed somebody (its made of glass and about a quarter an inch thick) thankfully no one was hurt. I'm spending the rest of my afternoons putting stickers onto books because the ranking system "we" have now is awful and I'm obligated to draw the short straw for this menial task. Ice Mint Latte's are amazing and its still unbearably hot, however, friends have told me that there are schools without AirCon, and in one school each classroom had fans installed but there are no electrical outlets so none of them work. I had a conversation class today and we discussed an article about driverless cars. I asked them "If you didn't have to focus on driving what would you do while you're travelling in your car?" I might have been too wordy but they answered by talking about their favorite sci-fi movies.
All in all things are great looking forward to more sunshine and *fingers crossed* less humidity!
Well today was the day. I have signed my new contract to stay in the lovely city of Busan for another year. I'm overly excited about this but at the same time you never know what's beyond the horizon. I have a feeling summer's going to be an amazing time and these are some upcoming blog posts titles.
- Mudfest
- Days 1-3 of the Ansan Valley Rock Festival
- Exploring Chiang Mai
- Petting an Elephant
- Summer Camp (ugh)
- Relapse at the puppy cafe.
- Through the Eyes of the Waygook: The Jimjibong
- And many more.
In other news today I found out this is not the last week of school. One of my office doors fell off the hinge and could killed somebody (its made of glass and about a quarter an inch thick) thankfully no one was hurt. I'm spending the rest of my afternoons putting stickers onto books because the ranking system "we" have now is awful and I'm obligated to draw the short straw for this menial task. Ice Mint Latte's are amazing and its still unbearably hot, however, friends have told me that there are schools without AirCon, and in one school each classroom had fans installed but there are no electrical outlets so none of them work. I had a conversation class today and we discussed an article about driverless cars. I asked them "If you didn't have to focus on driving what would you do while you're travelling in your car?" I might have been too wordy but they answered by talking about their favorite sci-fi movies.
All in all things are great looking forward to more sunshine and *fingers crossed* less humidity!
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
The Heat
Today is the day that I have decided that my body is a curse in the summer. This is not beach-body related, or even about tanning. It's just I can't stand the heat. Even as I speak I am soaked in my own sweat.
"Turn on the AC you moron."
Here's my rebuttal for that little bit of advice: a) I'm super cheap especially b) my first month here of using the AC in moderation during the day and leaving it on at night to help me sleep my electric bill was almost 300,000 won. Which is what you would pay for a house, not an open concept apartment. It really rattled me so I've been using a fan more often then not. Going for walks is also a nice way to avoid turning on the AC or AirCon as the Koreans say. I also chose to settle with my second-hand fan.
Today I decided to walk home from school which takes a scenic hour and a half. I planned on doing this every afternoon after camp but after today I'm reconsidering. The front of my shirt had 3 sweat stains alone. Disgusting, I know. I almost took a picture then figured showering would feel much better.
I'm really hoping my body can adjust to this humidity if not I'm going to start keeping my underwear in the freezer and have deodorant and a tray of ice cubes on me at all times. I can't even get to school without getting a little sweaty. Life is literally shit. Another story. I could ring my shirt out after Ultimate pick-up last Sunday at least I know I'm hydrated.
So as you look at yourself in the mirror in your swim trunks or bikini making mental dotted lines around your love handles and pot-belly like a plastic surgeon be thankful you're not sweating too.
"Turn on the AC you moron."
Here's my rebuttal for that little bit of advice: a) I'm super cheap especially b) my first month here of using the AC in moderation during the day and leaving it on at night to help me sleep my electric bill was almost 300,000 won. Which is what you would pay for a house, not an open concept apartment. It really rattled me so I've been using a fan more often then not. Going for walks is also a nice way to avoid turning on the AC or AirCon as the Koreans say. I also chose to settle with my second-hand fan.
Today I decided to walk home from school which takes a scenic hour and a half. I planned on doing this every afternoon after camp but after today I'm reconsidering. The front of my shirt had 3 sweat stains alone. Disgusting, I know. I almost took a picture then figured showering would feel much better.
I'm really hoping my body can adjust to this humidity if not I'm going to start keeping my underwear in the freezer and have deodorant and a tray of ice cubes on me at all times. I can't even get to school without getting a little sweaty. Life is literally shit. Another story. I could ring my shirt out after Ultimate pick-up last Sunday at least I know I'm hydrated.
So as you look at yourself in the mirror in your swim trunks or bikini making mental dotted lines around your love handles and pot-belly like a plastic surgeon be thankful you're not sweating too.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
"Teacher, I have a new name"
Before we start I wanted gab about something I was thinking about earlier today.
I've heard that Buddy is a really common name for a dog because its what you start calling your dog before you come up with a real name and the name Buddy eventually sticks. So I was wondering in other parts of the world are their dogs with names like Homie, Essay, Braaah, Dude, Sir, Madam, Monsieur, Chingoo, Senor, Amigo et cetera?
Anyways here's what I really wanted to post about
"But I'm a girl."
"Well that's too bad, Fredrick."
This has actually happened. I haven't gotten all of the details in order to send a letter home on how changing your child's English name is completely idiotic. I'm sure her parents never call her by her English name anyway so it only inconveniences myself and her private school teachers.
Plus, Sally is a downgrade from Lily.
Apparently there's a lot of science (or fortune-teller-astrology-mumbo-jumbo) behind a Korean name. One of my co-teachers is really into this kind of stuff and was explaining it to me the other day and its really cool how parents have zero say in the child's name because its all produced by the universe. However, this is only the traditional approach to finding a name, and I think we all know that traditions are fading fast unless there's an app for it.
As I mentioned in a previous blog parents, English Academies, and sometimes the children themselves pick their English name. Obviously a combination of stars and a crystal ball cannot provide English names too because then life would be too easy. Now since there's little tradition and foundation surrounding English names they are not fixed and can be changed as frequently as a profile picture. All the power to them to change a kid's name to suit their personality but never go backwards with names, I've never met a Sally under 30 until coming to Korea. Better luck with the next name, kid's dad.
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