Well -- I just wanted to add a quick food update.
Last night, at the market I bought some potatoes and some beautiful multi-cultural bell peppers. So, tonight, I found out that my gym membership is expired. And I could just renew it, of course, but there are complications. 3 months is cheaper than 1 month, but I'm going to be out of town for a while within the next 3 months, so I need to find out if I register for the 3-month membership, if there's any way of putting that subscription on hold during the time I'll be away. Anwyay, I didn't go to the gym today, is the point.
So, I came home instead, took a good long look at the veggies I'd recently purchased and decided to go to my old friend the internet for some advice on what to do next. Upon browsing the results of a handy-dandy google search for "easiest fried potatoes ever," I hit upon a plan. I'd make the easiest fried potatoes ever! But with a twist! So, I diced a potato, threw it into a pan with some oil, and let 'er go. About halfway done, I hit it with some sliced onion. And then, a couple minutes later, a beautiful orange bell pepper I picked up from this wandering minstrel. It may have had magical powers, I'm not sure. Anyway, I fried all of that up, and then as I was draining it onto a paper towel, I tossed an over-easy egg into the leftover oil! And there ya go, folks, a beautiful breakfast-for-dinner hash! And god, was it good! I left the yolk all runny, and let it drip over the potato and onion and pepper... mm-mm-hmm! And that's my post for th'evenin'.
Until next time, remember... The only thing worse than death is that you keep using that word, but I do not think it means what you think it means. Peace!
And that's it for today. I've still got plenty of potatoes. See what I cook up tomorrow!
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
2 tickets to Uijeongbu, please
What a weekend! Here it is, for your vicarious-living pleasure. =Þ
Thursday, went out for dinner with the teachers to have an early Teachers' Day celebration. We hit up this tofu restaurant over the river in Gamgok. This place, obviously, specializes in tofu! I realize that sounds... shall we say, less than exciting, but it actually was quite satisfying. We got 3 different kinds of jjigae, or... tofu/bean paste soup. Also appearing were tofu in other various guises, grilled pork and duck, several kinds of kimchi, braised cabbage (I'm really guessing on that one, but that's what it tasted like) and lots of soy sauce and chili paste. Naturally, this being Korea and all, two other things that almost always happen, well... happened. We ate the meat and toppings on individual lettuce leaves, all wrapped up like a mini lettuce burrito; and we also drank quite a bit. Soju, beer, and homemade makeorri out of a little ceramic pot, but drunk from little (obviously homemade, as they all varied in shape) ceramic mugs. I'm not a huge fan of the makeorri, or dongdongju as it's also called, but I had a bit just to be sociable. Good times.
Friday, after school we played games against some of the students' parents. The women played kickball! I totally wanted to play, but I guess that wasn't in the cards... oh, and the teachers got their asses handed to them by the moms. I mean, it was ridiculous. I think there's some kind of underground maternity kickball league going on or something, because those little Korean ladies could kick the shit out of the ball. It was awesome. Then the male teachers played choh-gu against the dads. We lost too, but it was close. We played best 2-out-of-3, each game to 15. It was a back-and-forth struggle, but in the end we lost the 3rd game 15-11. I started out in the back, receiving serves and trying to set up the people in the front. Turns out, I'm no good at that. So, during the 2nd game I moved up to the front row and things went much better from there. Not good enough, I guess, because we still lost... but fun was had by me. Yeah, I just used a ridiculous passive voice, and I ain't changing it.
After the games were over, we had a huge samgyeopsal cookout, with lots of candy, watermelon, and Korean treats... but the highlight was the (I'm just guessing here, but still) 25~ pounds of meat they threw down. I mean, just... awe-inspiring. Again, soju and beer played a big role, and it was fun getting to meet the parents and ... well, not so much chat really, but at least shake their hands and smile. I imagine it's fun for them to get to see their kids speaking English with me. I hope so, anwyay. After that, Mi Jin and I went out to HooLaLa for drinks. Now, she was a little nervous about this (we were waiting for Mi Sun, who usually helps to facilitate/translate our conversations) but we actually spent about an hour chatting pretty easily. It was way cooler than I thought she thought it would be. And nope, I ain't changing that sentence either. That's exactly what I wanted to say. Anyway, I'm sure the booze helped: it always seemed to make my Spanish conversations flow a little more smoothly... you know, when that inhibitive part of your brain shuts down and stops reminding you that you can't speak the language, wondrous things will happen.
Well, Mi Sun finally arrived and we had a really fun time at the bar. Left there and went across the street to the noraebang. I know I've said it before on here, but Mi Jin has an absolutely amazing voice. It's jaw-dropping. Literally... at one point both Mi Sun and I were just staring at her in disbelief. She could totally be on American Idol (ha! really, sean? not korean idol, maybe? anyway) if she wanted to. Really. It's that good. So, after a good hour and a half of singing, we parted ways, and I made fun of Mi Sun because it was now approaching 2am and she had to work the next morning. Unfortunately, I guess the joke was on me because I woke up for no discernible reason around 8 the next morning. Boo.
Actually, it turned out to be a good thing that I did, because I had really screwed up the alarm-setting attempt the night before. I was supposed to meet Moy in Icheon at 10. It's an hour-long busride on the (cheaper) city bus. And yet, for some reason, I set my alarm for 9:40. Not too sure what my thought process was (like, I wouldn't even have had time to make the 10:00 bus at that rate...) but I know there had to be one. It was late. Whatever.
Saturday, went to Icheon, then on to Seoul. Bought some new books: the sequel to that Genghis Khan novel I liked so much (Genghis: Lords of the Bow, by Conn Iggulden) and also Red Dragon -- the original Hannibal Lector story. Had lunch at Gecko's in Itaewon: an honest-to-god all beef cheeseburger. Dripping with grease. Crinkle cut fries. Real ketchup, lots of salt, and a dash of Tabasco. Dear lord in heaven, was I happy. But not as happy as I'd be later.
We eventually made our way up to Uijeongbu and Moy dropped off her computer for repairs. We went back to the Veterans' club, had a beer, and met up with Elena, our ticket onto the Army Base. She signed us on post and we went to a restaurant called Mitchell's. I had a ribeye. Medium rare. With corn and a baked potato. Butter, and sour cream. And a big ole salad, with ranch dressing. I realize these things don't have the same effect on most of my readers that they do on me, but when you haven't seen a steak in over 6 months, well... anyway, it was glorious. I had to make a conscious effort not to just pick that thing up and gnaw on it like a caveman, and I succeeded. But barely.
Later, more drinks... met up with Elena's friends Maria and Chris, and went to a massive succession of different bars and clubs. Vegas Bar: lots of "juicy girls." Attired in miniskirts, fishnets, spiky heels and not much else, they try to flirt with you and get you to buy them "drinks": $15-20 glasses of juice. Hence the name, right? Am I right? Ha... ok. No, no juicy girls for me. I can't even say I was tempted. I mean, come on, looking's free, right? After that... hell, I'm not even sure. We walked around barhopping (in the rain, might I add) for hours. Ended up, after hitting probably 6 or 7 other places, at a Korean bar called Tom's. It's worth mentioning that Tom's was the first place we went to that didn't play the song "Beautiful" by Akon. It thus became my favorite. We ordered some anju: dried squid jerky, served with mayonnaise, peanuts, and what I can only describe as Korean M&M's. And yes, I did try the dried squid. It's not terrible, but uh, how did I phrase it at the time? I don't hate it, I'm just choosing not to put it in my mouth ever again. Something like that. Once you chew on it a bit, it sort of rehydrates itself into this extremely fishy-tasting mush with the texture of a wet napkin. Although, everyone else at the table liked it, so maybe I'm the odd one out.
I'm not sure what time I actually went to sleep, but I'm positive the sun was coming out by the time I got back to my hotel. A brief nap, a hot shower, then back out to greet the day. Sunday was more relaxing. A cup of coffee, a spot of shopping, a bite of lunch, another cup of coffee, a stop by the library on base, yet another cup of coffee, a bus ride, a brief walk through town, a tuna salad sandwich, an hour of reading Steven King's "Desperation," an episode or two of "Party Down" (one of a handful of new TV shows I'm trying out, and pretty damn funny actually), and a whole lot of sleep. And that, my friends, is what we call a weekend.
Thursday, went out for dinner with the teachers to have an early Teachers' Day celebration. We hit up this tofu restaurant over the river in Gamgok. This place, obviously, specializes in tofu! I realize that sounds... shall we say, less than exciting, but it actually was quite satisfying. We got 3 different kinds of jjigae, or... tofu/bean paste soup. Also appearing were tofu in other various guises, grilled pork and duck, several kinds of kimchi, braised cabbage (I'm really guessing on that one, but that's what it tasted like) and lots of soy sauce and chili paste. Naturally, this being Korea and all, two other things that almost always happen, well... happened. We ate the meat and toppings on individual lettuce leaves, all wrapped up like a mini lettuce burrito; and we also drank quite a bit. Soju, beer, and homemade makeorri out of a little ceramic pot, but drunk from little (obviously homemade, as they all varied in shape) ceramic mugs. I'm not a huge fan of the makeorri, or dongdongju as it's also called, but I had a bit just to be sociable. Good times.
Friday, after school we played games against some of the students' parents. The women played kickball! I totally wanted to play, but I guess that wasn't in the cards... oh, and the teachers got their asses handed to them by the moms. I mean, it was ridiculous. I think there's some kind of underground maternity kickball league going on or something, because those little Korean ladies could kick the shit out of the ball. It was awesome. Then the male teachers played choh-gu against the dads. We lost too, but it was close. We played best 2-out-of-3, each game to 15. It was a back-and-forth struggle, but in the end we lost the 3rd game 15-11. I started out in the back, receiving serves and trying to set up the people in the front. Turns out, I'm no good at that. So, during the 2nd game I moved up to the front row and things went much better from there. Not good enough, I guess, because we still lost... but fun was had by me. Yeah, I just used a ridiculous passive voice, and I ain't changing it.
After the games were over, we had a huge samgyeopsal cookout, with lots of candy, watermelon, and Korean treats... but the highlight was the (I'm just guessing here, but still) 25~ pounds of meat they threw down. I mean, just... awe-inspiring. Again, soju and beer played a big role, and it was fun getting to meet the parents and ... well, not so much chat really, but at least shake their hands and smile. I imagine it's fun for them to get to see their kids speaking English with me. I hope so, anwyay. After that, Mi Jin and I went out to HooLaLa for drinks. Now, she was a little nervous about this (we were waiting for Mi Sun, who usually helps to facilitate/translate our conversations) but we actually spent about an hour chatting pretty easily. It was way cooler than I thought she thought it would be. And nope, I ain't changing that sentence either. That's exactly what I wanted to say. Anyway, I'm sure the booze helped: it always seemed to make my Spanish conversations flow a little more smoothly... you know, when that inhibitive part of your brain shuts down and stops reminding you that you can't speak the language, wondrous things will happen.
Well, Mi Sun finally arrived and we had a really fun time at the bar. Left there and went across the street to the noraebang. I know I've said it before on here, but Mi Jin has an absolutely amazing voice. It's jaw-dropping. Literally... at one point both Mi Sun and I were just staring at her in disbelief. She could totally be on American Idol (ha! really, sean? not korean idol, maybe? anyway) if she wanted to. Really. It's that good. So, after a good hour and a half of singing, we parted ways, and I made fun of Mi Sun because it was now approaching 2am and she had to work the next morning. Unfortunately, I guess the joke was on me because I woke up for no discernible reason around 8 the next morning. Boo.
Actually, it turned out to be a good thing that I did, because I had really screwed up the alarm-setting attempt the night before. I was supposed to meet Moy in Icheon at 10. It's an hour-long busride on the (cheaper) city bus. And yet, for some reason, I set my alarm for 9:40. Not too sure what my thought process was (like, I wouldn't even have had time to make the 10:00 bus at that rate...) but I know there had to be one. It was late. Whatever.
Saturday, went to Icheon, then on to Seoul. Bought some new books: the sequel to that Genghis Khan novel I liked so much (Genghis: Lords of the Bow, by Conn Iggulden) and also Red Dragon -- the original Hannibal Lector story. Had lunch at Gecko's in Itaewon: an honest-to-god all beef cheeseburger. Dripping with grease. Crinkle cut fries. Real ketchup, lots of salt, and a dash of Tabasco. Dear lord in heaven, was I happy. But not as happy as I'd be later.
We eventually made our way up to Uijeongbu and Moy dropped off her computer for repairs. We went back to the Veterans' club, had a beer, and met up with Elena, our ticket onto the Army Base. She signed us on post and we went to a restaurant called Mitchell's. I had a ribeye. Medium rare. With corn and a baked potato. Butter, and sour cream. And a big ole salad, with ranch dressing. I realize these things don't have the same effect on most of my readers that they do on me, but when you haven't seen a steak in over 6 months, well... anyway, it was glorious. I had to make a conscious effort not to just pick that thing up and gnaw on it like a caveman, and I succeeded. But barely.
Later, more drinks... met up with Elena's friends Maria and Chris, and went to a massive succession of different bars and clubs. Vegas Bar: lots of "juicy girls." Attired in miniskirts, fishnets, spiky heels and not much else, they try to flirt with you and get you to buy them "drinks": $15-20 glasses of juice. Hence the name, right? Am I right? Ha... ok. No, no juicy girls for me. I can't even say I was tempted. I mean, come on, looking's free, right? After that... hell, I'm not even sure. We walked around barhopping (in the rain, might I add) for hours. Ended up, after hitting probably 6 or 7 other places, at a Korean bar called Tom's. It's worth mentioning that Tom's was the first place we went to that didn't play the song "Beautiful" by Akon. It thus became my favorite. We ordered some anju: dried squid jerky, served with mayonnaise, peanuts, and what I can only describe as Korean M&M's. And yes, I did try the dried squid. It's not terrible, but uh, how did I phrase it at the time? I don't hate it, I'm just choosing not to put it in my mouth ever again. Something like that. Once you chew on it a bit, it sort of rehydrates itself into this extremely fishy-tasting mush with the texture of a wet napkin. Although, everyone else at the table liked it, so maybe I'm the odd one out.
I'm not sure what time I actually went to sleep, but I'm positive the sun was coming out by the time I got back to my hotel. A brief nap, a hot shower, then back out to greet the day. Sunday was more relaxing. A cup of coffee, a spot of shopping, a bite of lunch, another cup of coffee, a stop by the library on base, yet another cup of coffee, a bus ride, a brief walk through town, a tuna salad sandwich, an hour of reading Steven King's "Desperation," an episode or two of "Party Down" (one of a handful of new TV shows I'm trying out, and pretty damn funny actually), and a whole lot of sleep. And that, my friends, is what we call a weekend.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
If we left it up to chance...
I didn't have breakfast this morning. And I don't have any classes to distract me from the gnawing hunger and unseemly growling noises in my belly. On the plus side, Mi Sun is sitting next to me and her tummy is growling way louder than mine. So that's funny. On the other hand, it's still an hour and a half till lunch. Boo.
I'm bored. I'm taking the day off from studying the Korean to kinda let the knowledge gel in my brain... I think if I keep adding new stuff it'll just push out all the old stuff that hasn't yet taken root. So, instead, I'm watching the Nuggets/Mavs game online... I really wish I could care about this game, but I just don't. I'm not a fan of Dirk "Stop calling me a Nazi" Nowitzki, or Jason "I only beat my wife when she deserves it" Kidd, or anybody else on that team really. As for the Nuggets and Carmelo "So what if I smoked a little pot" Anthony and Kenyon "Stay away from my mom" Martin... meh. I am a Chauncey Billups fan, in a small mostly-meaningless way. Really, the most interesting thing about this game is that whenever I watch Billups play, it always makes me think of one of my favorite fictional characters, Chauncey Gardiner.
First of all, if you've never seen the movie "Being There" starring Peter Sellers in his penultimate performance, stop whatever useless thing it is you're doing right now (get it? 'cause what could be more useless than reading this nonsense?!) and go scrounge up a copy. They might have it at the video store... I'm sure you can find it online if you look hard enough. Anyway, the story goes that after Jerzy Kosinski published his novel of the same name, he received a telegram from the main character, Chance the gardener. Probably after freaking out for a while and questioning his sanity, he opened to find a message from his (completely fictional) leading man, saying that he was "available, in my garden or out of it." When Kosinski called the number on the telegram, Peter Sellers answered the phone. Now, I've always loved Peter Sellers; his Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies is brilliant comedy. Do I sound British enough for ya? Anyway, he felt that Chance was the role he was put on earth to play.
The premise is simple: Chance the gardener is a man who has spent his entire life isolated. From everything. He's lived, always, in the same house, working in the same garden. With no knowledge of the outside world apart from the TV he loves so much, he is basically a blank slate. He is enchanted by the constantly moving images of the television, and he seems equally captivated no matter what is going on around him. He is a perfect representation of Martin Heidegger's concept of the Dasein, a complex and more-or-less incomprehensible philosophical notion. But the gist of it can be understood simply by the name itself, or (ha!) at least by its translation into English: being there. Heidegger went on from there into all sorts of mental gymnastics about Being-in-Time vs. Being-in-the-World, most of which I have almost no understanding of whatsoever, but Kosinski's main character Chance the gardener (later to be known as Chauncey Gardiner) is a wonderfully understated and beautiful portrait of the power and novelty of simply existing in the here-and-now, of letting all the phenomena of appearance and existence wash over you.
When Chance's (for lack of a better word) caretaker dies, he is forced to leave the house that was his whole world. His first experiences in the outside world are filled with a kind of sublime horrible cluelessness, as the audience realizes his precarious grasp on the situation while he remains blissfully unaware. He eventually ingratiates himself into the inner circles of political power in Washington, as time and again his passive acceptance and reflection of the personalities of the people he talks to leads them to misintepret the interaction. Every person he meets projects their own values and ideals onto him, and he never does anything to disabuse them of their own entrenched notions. Rather, he simply agrees with everything he hears. A better way to say it may be that acts as a mirror, letting everyone see and hear exactly what they want to, and what they want to hear of course is that they're right, they're smart, they're worthwhile. Chance (or Chauncey, as he comes to be known in the political circuit) eventually becomes so well-respected that he receives offers for a book deal, television appearances (I think -- I haven't seen it in a while) and a chance to become an advisor to the president. His views on economic turmoil especially struck me. If I remember correctly, it ran something like this (I'm paraphrasing, so bear with me): "In the spring we have many beautiful flowers, and in the fall we have delicious fruit. But we know that in the winter, there will be no flowers and no fruit. We just have faith that spring will come again with beautiful flowers, and later we'll have delicious fruit." Naturally, the economic thinkers are won over by his simple yet profound assertion of confidence in the economic system for which they're responsible, and Chauncey becomes known as a brilliant yet easy-to-understand authority on the economic climate. And so it goes...
Now, please understand that I've neither read nor seen this work since probably 2003, so I'm a little rusty on the details, and it's entirely possible that nothing I've said above is even remotely true. I may, in fact, have made the whole thing up. But the simple fact is that my imagination's just not that good, so you can come away from this with reasonable confidence that many of the things noted above are actually contained in either the book or the movie. Maybe both. Who knows?
Oh, and by the way, the Nuggets are up 8 in the 3rd quarter right now, and I almost care. Slightly less than an hour till lunch. A watched clock never ticks, or something.
I'm bored. I'm taking the day off from studying the Korean to kinda let the knowledge gel in my brain... I think if I keep adding new stuff it'll just push out all the old stuff that hasn't yet taken root. So, instead, I'm watching the Nuggets/Mavs game online... I really wish I could care about this game, but I just don't. I'm not a fan of Dirk "Stop calling me a Nazi" Nowitzki, or Jason "I only beat my wife when she deserves it" Kidd, or anybody else on that team really. As for the Nuggets and Carmelo "So what if I smoked a little pot" Anthony and Kenyon "Stay away from my mom" Martin... meh. I am a Chauncey Billups fan, in a small mostly-meaningless way. Really, the most interesting thing about this game is that whenever I watch Billups play, it always makes me think of one of my favorite fictional characters, Chauncey Gardiner.
First of all, if you've never seen the movie "Being There" starring Peter Sellers in his penultimate performance, stop whatever useless thing it is you're doing right now (get it? 'cause what could be more useless than reading this nonsense?!) and go scrounge up a copy. They might have it at the video store... I'm sure you can find it online if you look hard enough. Anyway, the story goes that after Jerzy Kosinski published his novel of the same name, he received a telegram from the main character, Chance the gardener. Probably after freaking out for a while and questioning his sanity, he opened to find a message from his (completely fictional) leading man, saying that he was "available, in my garden or out of it." When Kosinski called the number on the telegram, Peter Sellers answered the phone. Now, I've always loved Peter Sellers; his Inspector Clouseau in the Pink Panther movies is brilliant comedy. Do I sound British enough for ya? Anyway, he felt that Chance was the role he was put on earth to play.
The premise is simple: Chance the gardener is a man who has spent his entire life isolated. From everything. He's lived, always, in the same house, working in the same garden. With no knowledge of the outside world apart from the TV he loves so much, he is basically a blank slate. He is enchanted by the constantly moving images of the television, and he seems equally captivated no matter what is going on around him. He is a perfect representation of Martin Heidegger's concept of the Dasein, a complex and more-or-less incomprehensible philosophical notion. But the gist of it can be understood simply by the name itself, or (ha!) at least by its translation into English: being there. Heidegger went on from there into all sorts of mental gymnastics about Being-in-Time vs. Being-in-the-World, most of which I have almost no understanding of whatsoever, but Kosinski's main character Chance the gardener (later to be known as Chauncey Gardiner) is a wonderfully understated and beautiful portrait of the power and novelty of simply existing in the here-and-now, of letting all the phenomena of appearance and existence wash over you.
When Chance's (for lack of a better word) caretaker dies, he is forced to leave the house that was his whole world. His first experiences in the outside world are filled with a kind of sublime horrible cluelessness, as the audience realizes his precarious grasp on the situation while he remains blissfully unaware. He eventually ingratiates himself into the inner circles of political power in Washington, as time and again his passive acceptance and reflection of the personalities of the people he talks to leads them to misintepret the interaction. Every person he meets projects their own values and ideals onto him, and he never does anything to disabuse them of their own entrenched notions. Rather, he simply agrees with everything he hears. A better way to say it may be that acts as a mirror, letting everyone see and hear exactly what they want to, and what they want to hear of course is that they're right, they're smart, they're worthwhile. Chance (or Chauncey, as he comes to be known in the political circuit) eventually becomes so well-respected that he receives offers for a book deal, television appearances (I think -- I haven't seen it in a while) and a chance to become an advisor to the president. His views on economic turmoil especially struck me. If I remember correctly, it ran something like this (I'm paraphrasing, so bear with me): "In the spring we have many beautiful flowers, and in the fall we have delicious fruit. But we know that in the winter, there will be no flowers and no fruit. We just have faith that spring will come again with beautiful flowers, and later we'll have delicious fruit." Naturally, the economic thinkers are won over by his simple yet profound assertion of confidence in the economic system for which they're responsible, and Chauncey becomes known as a brilliant yet easy-to-understand authority on the economic climate. And so it goes...
Now, please understand that I've neither read nor seen this work since probably 2003, so I'm a little rusty on the details, and it's entirely possible that nothing I've said above is even remotely true. I may, in fact, have made the whole thing up. But the simple fact is that my imagination's just not that good, so you can come away from this with reasonable confidence that many of the things noted above are actually contained in either the book or the movie. Maybe both. Who knows?
Oh, and by the way, the Nuggets are up 8 in the 3rd quarter right now, and I almost care. Slightly less than an hour till lunch. A watched clock never ticks, or something.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
You try making a title that sums up what I just wrote!
Last Friday at school, we had sports day for the students. This Friday it's the teachers' turn. I have volunteered to play soccer and volleyball, I think. I'm not entirely sure who we're playing against, seeing as how there's only like 10 of us. I heard that maybe some of the kids' parents will be there and we can play them. We'll see, I guess. I'm a little scared about that... I mean, I used to have some kinda mad (or maybe... agitated? contrary? sarcastic? anyway...) tennis skills. And even though I hadn't played in years, I still at least knew what I was doing. But I was never that great at soccer, although I did play intramurals in college (and took a 1 credit hour soccer class junior year). And volleyball... well, that should be fun. Ha... Oh! And naturally, afterwards all the teachers are going to get their feast and drink on, so that should be actually fun. Yay!
I finally found a Korean language pack for that software I like so much! So, for the past 48 hours I've been non-stop studying my Korean. I really, truly, madly, deeply wish I had been able to find this about 6 months ago. I think by now I would be speaking Korean. Certainly not fluent or anything, you know, but I'd be competent, I guess. Well, there's only one way to find out, right? Grab my trusty time machine out from under the bed, dust it off, and fire that bad boy up! November 2008, here we come! ... That's not what you were thinking, huh? Whatever... that's how I roll. But seriously, I've got 6 months left here -- I'd like to be able to carry on a conversation, even a simple one, by the time I leave. And yeah... what good's it gonna do me once I leave, right? It'll make me feel like more of a man. That a good enough reason for ya? Jeez, get off my ass... I'm trying to better myself here just for the sake of it, and you're all hurling these practical rational glass-half-empty invectives at me... Screw it!!!
Wow... getting some demons out there Sean? Jesus... Oh, I'm laughing out loud now. Teehee...
So yeah, I'm uh, practicing Korean. Ha... that was the main thesis of the essay there.
So anyway, that's my week -- no class, sports day, study Korean. Weekend -- sports day drinking party, and then I'm hoping to go back to Uijeongbu and hang out at that bar with the cool Americans again. In case you've forgotten, we were hanging out at the "veterans" bar, so it's mostly older Army guys and some civilians, contractors and the like. Way more mellow and cool than all the rowdiness of the enlisted guys in Itaewon. So, maybe doing that Saturday! And that's the plan, stan. I'ma get on the bus, gus, so get out the way, ray.
Why do these so often dissolve into random tourette's-like rhyming nonsense? I do think that's my cue to wrap up the writing for the evening though. And like they always say, if you're using more than 3 pieces of tape to wrap it, your mother's a hamster. Or something...
I finally found a Korean language pack for that software I like so much! So, for the past 48 hours I've been non-stop studying my Korean. I really, truly, madly, deeply wish I had been able to find this about 6 months ago. I think by now I would be speaking Korean. Certainly not fluent or anything, you know, but I'd be competent, I guess. Well, there's only one way to find out, right? Grab my trusty time machine out from under the bed, dust it off, and fire that bad boy up! November 2008, here we come! ... That's not what you were thinking, huh? Whatever... that's how I roll. But seriously, I've got 6 months left here -- I'd like to be able to carry on a conversation, even a simple one, by the time I leave. And yeah... what good's it gonna do me once I leave, right? It'll make me feel like more of a man. That a good enough reason for ya? Jeez, get off my ass... I'm trying to better myself here just for the sake of it, and you're all hurling these practical rational glass-half-empty invectives at me... Screw it!!!
Wow... getting some demons out there Sean? Jesus... Oh, I'm laughing out loud now. Teehee...
So yeah, I'm uh, practicing Korean. Ha... that was the main thesis of the essay there.
So anyway, that's my week -- no class, sports day, study Korean. Weekend -- sports day drinking party, and then I'm hoping to go back to Uijeongbu and hang out at that bar with the cool Americans again. In case you've forgotten, we were hanging out at the "veterans" bar, so it's mostly older Army guys and some civilians, contractors and the like. Way more mellow and cool than all the rowdiness of the enlisted guys in Itaewon. So, maybe doing that Saturday! And that's the plan, stan. I'ma get on the bus, gus, so get out the way, ray.
Why do these so often dissolve into random tourette's-like rhyming nonsense? I do think that's my cue to wrap up the writing for the evening though. And like they always say, if you're using more than 3 pieces of tape to wrap it, your mother's a hamster. Or something...
Saturday, May 9, 2009
Market Day!
Well, it's Saturday, and it's beautiful outside. I've just been doing my chores around the house, but now it's time to hit the gym and then the market on the way back. Need to pick up some fresh veggies, eggs, anything else I can find that looks interesting.
So, I guess there are a lot of pine trees in the surrounding area here. Like, all the little mountains, which pretty much crisscross all over Korea (and completely encircle our little farming valley) are covered in them. And I figure I've never really been around enough of them to notice how absolutely pervasive and annoying their pollen (is that what you call it? ha, botany. right...) is. I vacuumed our classroom out on Wednesday, right? Then, it was so nice out, we opened up the windows on Thursday during class, and after a couple hours the floor was coated in this thin dusting of yellow pine-tree mess. So, apparently opening up the windows in springtime isn't such a good idea?
Well, naturally i'd forgotten all about this by this morning when I went to hang up a load of laundry out on my terrace... window's open, sun's shining in, clothes are hanging up -- sounds like a happy and effective set of circumstances right? Well, that would be true, and gloriously so, if it weren't for the stupid pine-smegma floating all over the place, so now my freshly-cleaned clothes all have weird little patterns of yellow-stripes where they were hanging or pelted by wind gusts or whatever. Oops. I mean, it's not a huge deal. I'll just wait for them to dry and ya know, brush them off... it's just kind of a pain in the ass.
Brief nightlife recap: Wednesday night I went out with Brigitte, who found me via (google => this blog! awesome) the internet in janghowon. We met up after she got done at the hogwon, or private school, and had a few beers. It was fun yo -- let's do it again soon! Thursday night my coteacher took me out for a traditional Korean meal. I'm blanking on the name (it was pretty long), but roughly translated it comes out to "spicy little octopus grilled on a flat metal tray." With veggies of course -- onions, spinach (or more probably some sort of seaweed), garlic, and the leaves from some sort of daisy which get tossed on after everything else is mostly cooked and add a nice fresh herby bitterness to all the spice. It was really yummy actually, the grilled octopus has that chewy consistency but tastes amazing. I'd definitely go back. Oh, and of course we had soju with the meal and went out for a couple beers afterwards! Ended up talking about a lot of linguistics and educational theories and whatnot, but that was cool because I'm a huge nerd who likes that kinda shit. Shocking, right? Ha...
Last night I stayed in and finished reading Ken Follett's sequel to "Pillars of the Earth" (which is one of my very few favorite books... top 3, at least), "World Without End." I'd always felt a little sceptical about wanting to read a sequel. Well, it's complicated -- the first was so amazing that even though I've managed to lose myself in that world several times, I kinda just thought there'd be no way he could create something worthy of that book. It seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of epic creation. I'm happy (or thrilled... no -- ecstatic) to say I was wrong. Freaking awesome. Stop-what-you're-doing-and-go-buy-it-right-now kind of awesome. Anyway, that was me last night. And I've already told you about today, so I guess we're caught up.
Now, in future news, we don't have any classes coming to the Global Center for the next couple of weeks! Which means I'll have lots of time to ... um, knit, or something. I mean, no, certainly not that, but I should find something more productive to do than screw around online all day. We'll see. Monday I still have classes at the elementary school, and Tuesday I have the after school classes. But Wed-Thur nothing, and Friday is sports day (Again?! Didn't we just do that? Anyway) and apparently I'm playing soccer and volleyball with the teachers. Or something. I'll have to check and get back to ya.
Finally, in more distant future news, the Cubs make the playoffs again but somehow manage to get swept out of the best-of-5 opening round series in only 2 games, setting a new standard in playoff ineptitude and all-around chokiness.
Wow, cheap shot to end it? Really Sean?
So, I guess there are a lot of pine trees in the surrounding area here. Like, all the little mountains, which pretty much crisscross all over Korea (and completely encircle our little farming valley) are covered in them. And I figure I've never really been around enough of them to notice how absolutely pervasive and annoying their pollen (is that what you call it? ha, botany. right...) is. I vacuumed our classroom out on Wednesday, right? Then, it was so nice out, we opened up the windows on Thursday during class, and after a couple hours the floor was coated in this thin dusting of yellow pine-tree mess. So, apparently opening up the windows in springtime isn't such a good idea?
Well, naturally i'd forgotten all about this by this morning when I went to hang up a load of laundry out on my terrace... window's open, sun's shining in, clothes are hanging up -- sounds like a happy and effective set of circumstances right? Well, that would be true, and gloriously so, if it weren't for the stupid pine-smegma floating all over the place, so now my freshly-cleaned clothes all have weird little patterns of yellow-stripes where they were hanging or pelted by wind gusts or whatever. Oops. I mean, it's not a huge deal. I'll just wait for them to dry and ya know, brush them off... it's just kind of a pain in the ass.
Brief nightlife recap: Wednesday night I went out with Brigitte, who found me via (google => this blog! awesome) the internet in janghowon. We met up after she got done at the hogwon, or private school, and had a few beers. It was fun yo -- let's do it again soon! Thursday night my coteacher took me out for a traditional Korean meal. I'm blanking on the name (it was pretty long), but roughly translated it comes out to "spicy little octopus grilled on a flat metal tray." With veggies of course -- onions, spinach (or more probably some sort of seaweed), garlic, and the leaves from some sort of daisy which get tossed on after everything else is mostly cooked and add a nice fresh herby bitterness to all the spice. It was really yummy actually, the grilled octopus has that chewy consistency but tastes amazing. I'd definitely go back. Oh, and of course we had soju with the meal and went out for a couple beers afterwards! Ended up talking about a lot of linguistics and educational theories and whatnot, but that was cool because I'm a huge nerd who likes that kinda shit. Shocking, right? Ha...
Last night I stayed in and finished reading Ken Follett's sequel to "Pillars of the Earth" (which is one of my very few favorite books... top 3, at least), "World Without End." I'd always felt a little sceptical about wanting to read a sequel. Well, it's complicated -- the first was so amazing that even though I've managed to lose myself in that world several times, I kinda just thought there'd be no way he could create something worthy of that book. It seemed like a once-in-a-lifetime kind of epic creation. I'm happy (or thrilled... no -- ecstatic) to say I was wrong. Freaking awesome. Stop-what-you're-doing-and-go-buy-it-right-now kind of awesome. Anyway, that was me last night. And I've already told you about today, so I guess we're caught up.
Now, in future news, we don't have any classes coming to the Global Center for the next couple of weeks! Which means I'll have lots of time to ... um, knit, or something. I mean, no, certainly not that, but I should find something more productive to do than screw around online all day. We'll see. Monday I still have classes at the elementary school, and Tuesday I have the after school classes. But Wed-Thur nothing, and Friday is sports day (Again?! Didn't we just do that? Anyway) and apparently I'm playing soccer and volleyball with the teachers. Or something. I'll have to check and get back to ya.
Finally, in more distant future news, the Cubs make the playoffs again but somehow manage to get swept out of the best-of-5 opening round series in only 2 games, setting a new standard in playoff ineptitude and all-around chokiness.
Wow, cheap shot to end it? Really Sean?
Monday, May 4, 2009
Ceramics rock my world? Ha... no
To begin with, I wanted to respond to a couple of recent comments. Brigitte, if you see this, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the blog. Also, email me at seanmfrye@gmail.com -- I'd like to chat or hang out sometime... you know, there being a dearth of English-speakers around here. Plus, one of my best friends here left last week and another is leaving on Friday, so that kinda sucks. Anyway, let's chat sometime. Thanks. =)
Also, Emily, who claims that it sounds like "I'm being repressed" by real life... that's not exactly how she put it, but the Monty Python scene jumped into my head right then for some reason: "Help! Help! I'm bein repressed!" Anyway, yeah, I guess I am settling into a routine. Real life blows. =Þ
So today I went to the World Ceramics Festival in Icheon. At first, I was absolutely blown away by the number of cars and people there. I was with Mi Sun, and we drove around Seolbong Park looking for a parking spot for like 20 minutes! Finally, we find one near a shuttle bus pickup. And then, right after she parks, we look up to see a line of well... several hundred maybe? A whole helluva lot of people anyway, waiting for this bus to arrive to take them into the festival. So she made a call and I made a call, both of us looking for someone who lived close who maybe had a parking spot available at their apartment complex. My friend Laura did, it turned out, but since we were in a moving car and the traffic was awful, I wasn't really able to direct us to her apartment with any degree of success. On the way there (or, at least, on the way somewhere) we did find a free spot and relatively close to the entrance, so that worked out ok.
We walked into the festival, which was free by the way. I think that's part of the problem. Maybe if they charged a hefty entrance fee they wouldn't be so overcrowded... haha. Um, so we walked in and immediately saw Laura and her friend Ryan, and then soon after were joined by a couple other people, Travis and Scarlet. So, we started to walk around, walking into some of the ceramic stalls which were grouped together under giant pavilion tents and whatnot. Now, even though Mi Sun grew up just a few miles down the road, this was her first time actually going to the festival, so she didn't know what to expect either. After about 15 minutes, we came to the conclusion that is absolutely positively the most boring festival in the history of festivals. I mean... it's just people selling ceramics. Lots of different people, lots of different ceramics. But... the overriding concern for me here is: who freakin cares?! I mean... they're ceramics. A festival -- really? I always thought festivals had lots of live bands, or different foods from all over the world, or maybe a bunch of drugs. Who knows? But ceramics... that ain't a festival, sorry guys.
We did get some food, and it was ok. They did have a place for kids to practice spinning (or throwing? is that the right word?) pottery on the wheels, and painting things I think. But for an adult with no kids (or alcohol or drugs) it was really quite lame. So we walked around for a bit, mostly just people watching and chatting. There were lots of groups of absolutely adorable children, all wearing little polo shirts and carrying matching backpacks, and holding hands with their field trip buddies. Some of these kids must have been 4 or 5 years old, and they were really, absurdly cute. And uh... yeah. That was pretty much the highlight of the festival for me, believe it or not.
So, we bailed out and Mi Sun and I went to E-Mart to pick up her watch that she sent away for repairs back in December, and then I helped her shop for a present for her nephew for Children's Day tomorrow. We ended up getting him this kick ass Lego crazy sword-wielding robot/alien halfbreed that I would have loved to play with, so I imagine her 6-year-old nephew will probably like it. Then we attempted to go see a movie but there was nothing good on, so instead she dropped me off at the bus terminal near her sister's house and I came on home. I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich with (let's see if you can guess... haha) mustard, tomato I picked up at the market on the way home, mayo, Doritos, and dill pickles. And yes, those last two things started out separate and eventually ended up right there on the sandwich with everything else. It's just more fun that way, what can I say? Also, a big frosty glass of delicious calcium-enriched chocolate milk. I effin' love chocolate milk, and I don't care who knows it. What?
And that was my Monday. Off again tomorrow, so check back soon to read up on my latest adventures. Real life, schmeal life.
Also, Emily, who claims that it sounds like "I'm being repressed" by real life... that's not exactly how she put it, but the Monty Python scene jumped into my head right then for some reason: "Help! Help! I'm bein repressed!" Anyway, yeah, I guess I am settling into a routine. Real life blows. =Þ
So today I went to the World Ceramics Festival in Icheon. At first, I was absolutely blown away by the number of cars and people there. I was with Mi Sun, and we drove around Seolbong Park looking for a parking spot for like 20 minutes! Finally, we find one near a shuttle bus pickup. And then, right after she parks, we look up to see a line of well... several hundred maybe? A whole helluva lot of people anyway, waiting for this bus to arrive to take them into the festival. So she made a call and I made a call, both of us looking for someone who lived close who maybe had a parking spot available at their apartment complex. My friend Laura did, it turned out, but since we were in a moving car and the traffic was awful, I wasn't really able to direct us to her apartment with any degree of success. On the way there (or, at least, on the way somewhere) we did find a free spot and relatively close to the entrance, so that worked out ok.
We walked into the festival, which was free by the way. I think that's part of the problem. Maybe if they charged a hefty entrance fee they wouldn't be so overcrowded... haha. Um, so we walked in and immediately saw Laura and her friend Ryan, and then soon after were joined by a couple other people, Travis and Scarlet. So, we started to walk around, walking into some of the ceramic stalls which were grouped together under giant pavilion tents and whatnot. Now, even though Mi Sun grew up just a few miles down the road, this was her first time actually going to the festival, so she didn't know what to expect either. After about 15 minutes, we came to the conclusion that is absolutely positively the most boring festival in the history of festivals. I mean... it's just people selling ceramics. Lots of different people, lots of different ceramics. But... the overriding concern for me here is: who freakin cares?! I mean... they're ceramics. A festival -- really? I always thought festivals had lots of live bands, or different foods from all over the world, or maybe a bunch of drugs. Who knows? But ceramics... that ain't a festival, sorry guys.
We did get some food, and it was ok. They did have a place for kids to practice spinning (or throwing? is that the right word?) pottery on the wheels, and painting things I think. But for an adult with no kids (or alcohol or drugs) it was really quite lame. So we walked around for a bit, mostly just people watching and chatting. There were lots of groups of absolutely adorable children, all wearing little polo shirts and carrying matching backpacks, and holding hands with their field trip buddies. Some of these kids must have been 4 or 5 years old, and they were really, absurdly cute. And uh... yeah. That was pretty much the highlight of the festival for me, believe it or not.
So, we bailed out and Mi Sun and I went to E-Mart to pick up her watch that she sent away for repairs back in December, and then I helped her shop for a present for her nephew for Children's Day tomorrow. We ended up getting him this kick ass Lego crazy sword-wielding robot/alien halfbreed that I would have loved to play with, so I imagine her 6-year-old nephew will probably like it. Then we attempted to go see a movie but there was nothing good on, so instead she dropped me off at the bus terminal near her sister's house and I came on home. I made myself a ham and cheese sandwich with (let's see if you can guess... haha) mustard, tomato I picked up at the market on the way home, mayo, Doritos, and dill pickles. And yes, those last two things started out separate and eventually ended up right there on the sandwich with everything else. It's just more fun that way, what can I say? Also, a big frosty glass of delicious calcium-enriched chocolate milk. I effin' love chocolate milk, and I don't care who knows it. What?
And that was my Monday. Off again tomorrow, so check back soon to read up on my latest adventures. Real life, schmeal life.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Weekend update
As usual, I don't have anything really riveting or mind-blowing to report. Last week we had class on Wednesday and Thursday and only after-school classes on Friday. It was all just fine; as good as can be expected I guess.
No class on Monday or Tuesday of this coming week though, which rocks. It's "Children's Day" on Tuesday, which apparently merits a 4-day (or even 5, in some cases) long weekend. Hell, I ain't complainin.
I went to Uijeongbu on Friday night with this lady Moy that I met at the teacher training. I'm purposely using the word "lady" here, because she's probably in her... 50's? Maybe older, I dunno. Anywho, she's pretty cool, and apparently she used to live up there near an American Army base, and she was going to go out drinking with some of her friends and thought maybe I'd like to hang out with some Americans. So, I figured, yeah... why not, right? We missed the bus that goes directly to Uijeongbu and ended up going to Seoul (which took a while: traffic was bad) and then a train up north and finally a cab to the bar. It was mostly older people when we arrived... which, I suppose, was to be expected at a bar called "Veterans." Ha... anyway, they had Budweiser, Jaeger (and yeah, I did go down that road, a coupla times... yeesh), and an actual honest-to-god pool table. I drank a few beers, chatted with some folks, shot some pool. Good times were had by all. Moy ended up getting kinda really drunk, and disappeared at some point... so I just hopped in a cab and found a little motel, and crashed out.
Yesterday, I slept in. A lot. I think I finally got up around 11:30, met up with Moy and we got on the train to Itaewon. I'm not sure why ... something about a bookstore I think. Yeah, that's the ticket... also, the foreign food grocery store! I bought authentic "nacho cheese" doritos! I rock... Also, dill pickles, yellow mustard, hot salsa... and something else. Oh! Nesquick chocolate syrup! All the milk here just tastes a bit funny. It's not terrible, just not ideal. Anyway, now I can make it chocolatey.
Also, in Itaewon, we decided to eat lunch. I chose Mexican food. Damn right. Now, the place we went to looked about right, well, minus the prices. And the chips and salsa were pretty spot-on, but the burrito was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, let me put that in context. It totally hit the spot, especially being the first Mexican-resembling meal I've had since probably October, but it just wasn't quite right. The burrito was drenched, both inside and out, by some kind of veggie-dominant chili. Like, actual Chili. Kinda tasted like Wendy's chili, in fact, just without the meat. It wasn't an ideal combination, by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm certainly not complaining. It did wonders for the hangover too, I must admit.
Today it's been beautiful, but lazy. I got up this morning and watched the Bulls-Celtics game... that was a bad way to start day. Talked to my mom on the phone; parents are back safely from Vegas and it sounds like they had a really nice time, all things considered. Took a walk, enjoyed the sun and warmth a bit. Now I'm contemplating what to cook for dinner. I just want to go buy some lunchmeat and bread and make sandwiches with real yellow mustard and then mash real doritos in the middle and eat like 5 of them. With dill pickles on the side. And a big tall frosty glass of chocolate milk. In fact, I just talked myself into it. That's it... the glass is going in the freezer right now and I'm off to the store. Sorry for the boring-ness of today's post, but I'm just not feelin the groove this evening. I'll try again soon, though, don't worry.
No class on Monday or Tuesday of this coming week though, which rocks. It's "Children's Day" on Tuesday, which apparently merits a 4-day (or even 5, in some cases) long weekend. Hell, I ain't complainin.
I went to Uijeongbu on Friday night with this lady Moy that I met at the teacher training. I'm purposely using the word "lady" here, because she's probably in her... 50's? Maybe older, I dunno. Anywho, she's pretty cool, and apparently she used to live up there near an American Army base, and she was going to go out drinking with some of her friends and thought maybe I'd like to hang out with some Americans. So, I figured, yeah... why not, right? We missed the bus that goes directly to Uijeongbu and ended up going to Seoul (which took a while: traffic was bad) and then a train up north and finally a cab to the bar. It was mostly older people when we arrived... which, I suppose, was to be expected at a bar called "Veterans." Ha... anyway, they had Budweiser, Jaeger (and yeah, I did go down that road, a coupla times... yeesh), and an actual honest-to-god pool table. I drank a few beers, chatted with some folks, shot some pool. Good times were had by all. Moy ended up getting kinda really drunk, and disappeared at some point... so I just hopped in a cab and found a little motel, and crashed out.
Yesterday, I slept in. A lot. I think I finally got up around 11:30, met up with Moy and we got on the train to Itaewon. I'm not sure why ... something about a bookstore I think. Yeah, that's the ticket... also, the foreign food grocery store! I bought authentic "nacho cheese" doritos! I rock... Also, dill pickles, yellow mustard, hot salsa... and something else. Oh! Nesquick chocolate syrup! All the milk here just tastes a bit funny. It's not terrible, just not ideal. Anyway, now I can make it chocolatey.
Also, in Itaewon, we decided to eat lunch. I chose Mexican food. Damn right. Now, the place we went to looked about right, well, minus the prices. And the chips and salsa were pretty spot-on, but the burrito was a bit of a disappointment. I mean, let me put that in context. It totally hit the spot, especially being the first Mexican-resembling meal I've had since probably October, but it just wasn't quite right. The burrito was drenched, both inside and out, by some kind of veggie-dominant chili. Like, actual Chili. Kinda tasted like Wendy's chili, in fact, just without the meat. It wasn't an ideal combination, by any stretch of the imagination, but I'm certainly not complaining. It did wonders for the hangover too, I must admit.
Today it's been beautiful, but lazy. I got up this morning and watched the Bulls-Celtics game... that was a bad way to start day. Talked to my mom on the phone; parents are back safely from Vegas and it sounds like they had a really nice time, all things considered. Took a walk, enjoyed the sun and warmth a bit. Now I'm contemplating what to cook for dinner. I just want to go buy some lunchmeat and bread and make sandwiches with real yellow mustard and then mash real doritos in the middle and eat like 5 of them. With dill pickles on the side. And a big tall frosty glass of chocolate milk. In fact, I just talked myself into it. That's it... the glass is going in the freezer right now and I'm off to the store. Sorry for the boring-ness of today's post, but I'm just not feelin the groove this evening. I'll try again soon, though, don't worry.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Ceramics... thrilling
I promised to update ya'll on the recent cultural seminar I had to attend. It turns out there's not much to tell. If you read my prior blog you'll know basically what went down. Actually, this one was a bit less useful, as it was only a few hours long and we didn't get to make kimchi. We did, however, get to watch videos about Korean culture and make (more) ceramic pottery.
The really cool part of this (and yes, the only cool part) was that apparently, the practice of the first time paid off! Because not only did I pound flat into a base, roll out into evenly-shaped sides, and smooth down into something resembling clay able to be spun properly on a wheel, but when I took it to the guy doing the spinning, he said "oh, very nice!" And I giggled like a schoolgirl. Actually, I didn't, but I thought about it. Whatever. So, I'm guessing that in another couple of months I'll have another little vessel to bring home and show off to the grandkids. The first one, in case you've forgotten, turned out really well, and is currently home to a bamboo plant that I got from Jill.
Shifting gears for a bit, let me just throw this out there. Go Cards! 2nd best record in the majors... El Hombre, Thudwick, and Franklin (6 saves in as many chances) all kickin ass... hell yes! And the Bullies -- playing a freaking epic series against Boston right now in the NBA playoffs... sure the C's are without their best player (and leader, and best defender) but still, the baby Bulls are growin up before our eyes. I like it. Also, congrats to the Blackhawks, winning a playoff series for the first time in more than a decade.
And that's all I've got to say about that. Just a little light reading for ya'll today... but come back real soon, ya hear?
The really cool part of this (and yes, the only cool part) was that apparently, the practice of the first time paid off! Because not only did I pound flat into a base, roll out into evenly-shaped sides, and smooth down into something resembling clay able to be spun properly on a wheel, but when I took it to the guy doing the spinning, he said "oh, very nice!" And I giggled like a schoolgirl. Actually, I didn't, but I thought about it. Whatever. So, I'm guessing that in another couple of months I'll have another little vessel to bring home and show off to the grandkids. The first one, in case you've forgotten, turned out really well, and is currently home to a bamboo plant that I got from Jill.
Shifting gears for a bit, let me just throw this out there. Go Cards! 2nd best record in the majors... El Hombre, Thudwick, and Franklin (6 saves in as many chances) all kickin ass... hell yes! And the Bullies -- playing a freaking epic series against Boston right now in the NBA playoffs... sure the C's are without their best player (and leader, and best defender) but still, the baby Bulls are growin up before our eyes. I like it. Also, congrats to the Blackhawks, winning a playoff series for the first time in more than a decade.
And that's all I've got to say about that. Just a little light reading for ya'll today... but come back real soon, ya hear?
Monday, April 27, 2009
I'm a Seoul Man!
On Saturday, I had to work for a couple hours in the morning. I'm not sure why exactly, but we had a group of about 60 3rd-graders come to the Global Center, just to check it out. Now, normally we have the 5th and 6th graders read through different dialogues in small groups, but clearly that wouldn't work, since (most of, anyway) the younger kids couldn't read. So, basically, I just kind of explained the airport thing, my co-teacher Mrs. Yun translated, and we let them play with the metal detector. We had them doing some (very) basic dialogues, helping them to read and talk and stuff, but yeah. It was actually pretty fun, I gotta say.
In the afternoon, I met up with Laura in Icheon and after a quick bite of lunch, we went to Seoul to hang out with a couple other foreign teachers. The plan was to go with this guy Francois to a South African cultural thingamajig, but our bus was running late with the traffic and he was coming from somewhere else in Seoul... By the time we all met up, we decided to bail on the cultural thing and just walk around for a bit. Laura wanted to do some shopping, so we went to Myeongdong, which is a pretty rockin little neighborhood. She did end up buying some shoes, eventually, but the real highlights were elsewhere. First, we watched these two Koreans making ... aw hell, I don't know the name. They take strands of something white, and roll them and twist them out, breaking and doubling them over each time. The whole time they kept up this running count (2, 4, 8, 16, 32...) and in between they had this really hilarious little dialogue that did. It was punctuated several times by "Englishy, oh my god!" and was a really fun performance. Well, after they got up to 16,384, they cut the strands into small sections and put spoonfuls of almonds, walnuts, and peanuts in there. We decided after all that work, we'd buy a little tray of them. I wasn't really expecting much in the way of flavor, cause they looked pretty plain and bland. Imagine my surprise when I took a bite and found I had just purchased a homemade Korean Butterfinger. I mean, no effin joke, this thing, despite having neither peanuts nor chocolate, tasted identical (even had the same texture) to a Butterfinger bar. Score one for impulsive buys and kick-ass marketing, I guess.
Second highlight was the western buffet we ate at. I say "buffet," although it was actually billed as a salad bar. But this salad bar had all kinds of stuff on it, including pasta, pizza, tandoori chicken, curried vegetables... plus greek, caesar, chicken, pasta, sweet potato and probably a few other kinds of salads I can't remember right now. It was flippin expensive, but damn was it good.
Then Travis bailed to head home and Laura and I went over to Hongdae to party it up. First we hit the vodka-in-a-bag lady for some tequila sunrises (and vodka cran, a few minutes later, for me) and then walked around for a bit. We walked into a jazz bar, at least according to the name. Even though it was like 11:00 on a Saturday night by this time, there was no one in there, but we had a drink because it was a really nice little place. Now, the reason we went to Seoul in the first place was for "Kimchibilly" night at this little club. Yeah, that's right: Korean rockabilly. And it was great! Actually, when we first got there it was this Korean heavy metal group playing, but they finished up a few minutes later and we settled in for some, well, rockabilly. I danced my white little ass off through 3 different bands, while Laura drooled over the Korean guys in leather with Elvis-hair playing upright bass. Yes, all 3 of the guys playing upright bass were dressed in leather and had cool slicked-back hair. So, you know, fun for her. I was feeling a little left out until the 3rd band busted out this totally smoking hot little Korean punk girl singing lead. So, good times were had by all.
After the gig Laura took me to this really chill lounge, where you have to take your shoes off before you enter and it's like walking through this giant cave, except everything's painted white. There's no seats; you sit on cushions on the floor with pieces of tree stumps for tables, and everything is real secluded with drapes and whatnot, and you end up tucked away under a curving white rocky-looking ceiling that's only 4 feet high and you have to crawl around and it's just weird. Also, the path has a little trench running along beside it that looked like it ought to have water in it but didn't; there were a couple of bridges and stuff too... not sure if that was just for the night or if they had some kind of problem with it or what. I mean, you can't really have a lot of drunk people climbing around and using bridges (with no rails) if you've got running water, I guess. I mean, maybe in Korea you can... who knows?
Finally, around 4am, jimjilbang, sleep, wake up, steam room, ice room, mineral baths, shower, and back to Janghowon. Relaxation.
It was a nice send-off for Laura, who's leaving next week to go back to her family and boyfriend and her nice little town in the English countryside. Actually, I don't have the foggiest idea where her town is (I mean, it is in England, just don't know where) but I like the thought of it being a quiet little hamlet nestled among some rolling hills. Perhaps with a meadow, and a little brook running alongside it. Although I guess the odds of her town existing in the 13th century are pretty minimal. Anyway, bye Laura! We'll miss you!
Coming up next time: return of the "Icheon Cultural Experience," featuring "Ceramics: Round 2! This time it's personal!"
In the afternoon, I met up with Laura in Icheon and after a quick bite of lunch, we went to Seoul to hang out with a couple other foreign teachers. The plan was to go with this guy Francois to a South African cultural thingamajig, but our bus was running late with the traffic and he was coming from somewhere else in Seoul... By the time we all met up, we decided to bail on the cultural thing and just walk around for a bit. Laura wanted to do some shopping, so we went to Myeongdong, which is a pretty rockin little neighborhood. She did end up buying some shoes, eventually, but the real highlights were elsewhere. First, we watched these two Koreans making ... aw hell, I don't know the name. They take strands of something white, and roll them and twist them out, breaking and doubling them over each time. The whole time they kept up this running count (2, 4, 8, 16, 32...) and in between they had this really hilarious little dialogue that did. It was punctuated several times by "Englishy, oh my god!" and was a really fun performance. Well, after they got up to 16,384, they cut the strands into small sections and put spoonfuls of almonds, walnuts, and peanuts in there. We decided after all that work, we'd buy a little tray of them. I wasn't really expecting much in the way of flavor, cause they looked pretty plain and bland. Imagine my surprise when I took a bite and found I had just purchased a homemade Korean Butterfinger. I mean, no effin joke, this thing, despite having neither peanuts nor chocolate, tasted identical (even had the same texture) to a Butterfinger bar. Score one for impulsive buys and kick-ass marketing, I guess.
Second highlight was the western buffet we ate at. I say "buffet," although it was actually billed as a salad bar. But this salad bar had all kinds of stuff on it, including pasta, pizza, tandoori chicken, curried vegetables... plus greek, caesar, chicken, pasta, sweet potato and probably a few other kinds of salads I can't remember right now. It was flippin expensive, but damn was it good.
Then Travis bailed to head home and Laura and I went over to Hongdae to party it up. First we hit the vodka-in-a-bag lady for some tequila sunrises (and vodka cran, a few minutes later, for me) and then walked around for a bit. We walked into a jazz bar, at least according to the name. Even though it was like 11:00 on a Saturday night by this time, there was no one in there, but we had a drink because it was a really nice little place. Now, the reason we went to Seoul in the first place was for "Kimchibilly" night at this little club. Yeah, that's right: Korean rockabilly. And it was great! Actually, when we first got there it was this Korean heavy metal group playing, but they finished up a few minutes later and we settled in for some, well, rockabilly. I danced my white little ass off through 3 different bands, while Laura drooled over the Korean guys in leather with Elvis-hair playing upright bass. Yes, all 3 of the guys playing upright bass were dressed in leather and had cool slicked-back hair. So, you know, fun for her. I was feeling a little left out until the 3rd band busted out this totally smoking hot little Korean punk girl singing lead. So, good times were had by all.
After the gig Laura took me to this really chill lounge, where you have to take your shoes off before you enter and it's like walking through this giant cave, except everything's painted white. There's no seats; you sit on cushions on the floor with pieces of tree stumps for tables, and everything is real secluded with drapes and whatnot, and you end up tucked away under a curving white rocky-looking ceiling that's only 4 feet high and you have to crawl around and it's just weird. Also, the path has a little trench running along beside it that looked like it ought to have water in it but didn't; there were a couple of bridges and stuff too... not sure if that was just for the night or if they had some kind of problem with it or what. I mean, you can't really have a lot of drunk people climbing around and using bridges (with no rails) if you've got running water, I guess. I mean, maybe in Korea you can... who knows?
Finally, around 4am, jimjilbang, sleep, wake up, steam room, ice room, mineral baths, shower, and back to Janghowon. Relaxation.
It was a nice send-off for Laura, who's leaving next week to go back to her family and boyfriend and her nice little town in the English countryside. Actually, I don't have the foggiest idea where her town is (I mean, it is in England, just don't know where) but I like the thought of it being a quiet little hamlet nestled among some rolling hills. Perhaps with a meadow, and a little brook running alongside it. Although I guess the odds of her town existing in the 13th century are pretty minimal. Anyway, bye Laura! We'll miss you!
Coming up next time: return of the "Icheon Cultural Experience," featuring "Ceramics: Round 2! This time it's personal!"
Friday, April 24, 2009
My eyebrow hurts
Yeah. You read that right. It's really bizarre, and I have absolutely no idea what's going on. It's not like, a sharp pain, but the skin there is just overly sensitive, all of a sudden. It's just the left one, I mean... I dunno, and like, even touching my eyebrow hair kinda hurts. Anyone ever have this sudden stinging eyebrow pain? Got any suggestions? Should I pluck it or shave it? Rub some kind of salve or balm on it? Not that I have those things here in my apartment, ye ken... Well, as always, your thoughts are welcome.
In high school, I accidentally hit my girlfriend in the face with a can of "A Taste of Thai" coconut milk, and it made this fairly large and impressive bleeding gash right smack in the middle of her eyebrow. I felt terrible, but it turned out ok in the end. The coconut milk ended up being a birthday present, many times over, and went on to have lots and lots of wonderful adventures. These were chronicled in pictures (of him playing tennis, going to church, having a picnic, driving a car, you get the idea) and tales of lost love, bitterness, desperation and redemption. Yes, the story was written, and illustrated, and bound. It even had Cliff's Notes. Also, I believe the coconut milk acquired (or possibly produced on his own through some kind of substantive-ideation power like in Michael Crichton's "Sphere") a set of instructions for getting the most enjoyment out of him... note that the instructions specifically requested that you not consume him in any way. I often wonder what ever happened to that violent yet lovable little guy. I think he was gifted to an out of town friend and went west to seek his fortune.
No, I am absolutely not making any of this up. I had some interesting friends in high school, yo. Every single statement in that last paragraph is factually accurate, set my watch and warrant on it.
Well, maybe the eyebrow tingling is the coconut milk's way of telling me through his as-yet-undetected tele-psycho-kinesis, that he misses me too. And he's thinking about me. And that, even though we've parted ways and each had our trials and tribulations, our successes and failures, our loves and losses, that we've never really lost each other. True friendship, he says, transcends borders, mountains, and oceans. It bridges time. It takes the best parts of each of you and holds them connected in the ether, recognizing no limits or physical laws of distance or separation. You know, like the internet.
In high school, I accidentally hit my girlfriend in the face with a can of "A Taste of Thai" coconut milk, and it made this fairly large and impressive bleeding gash right smack in the middle of her eyebrow. I felt terrible, but it turned out ok in the end. The coconut milk ended up being a birthday present, many times over, and went on to have lots and lots of wonderful adventures. These were chronicled in pictures (of him playing tennis, going to church, having a picnic, driving a car, you get the idea) and tales of lost love, bitterness, desperation and redemption. Yes, the story was written, and illustrated, and bound. It even had Cliff's Notes. Also, I believe the coconut milk acquired (or possibly produced on his own through some kind of substantive-ideation power like in Michael Crichton's "Sphere") a set of instructions for getting the most enjoyment out of him... note that the instructions specifically requested that you not consume him in any way. I often wonder what ever happened to that violent yet lovable little guy. I think he was gifted to an out of town friend and went west to seek his fortune.
No, I am absolutely not making any of this up. I had some interesting friends in high school, yo. Every single statement in that last paragraph is factually accurate, set my watch and warrant on it.
Well, maybe the eyebrow tingling is the coconut milk's way of telling me through his as-yet-undetected tele-psycho-kinesis, that he misses me too. And he's thinking about me. And that, even though we've parted ways and each had our trials and tribulations, our successes and failures, our loves and losses, that we've never really lost each other. True friendship, he says, transcends borders, mountains, and oceans. It bridges time. It takes the best parts of each of you and holds them connected in the ether, recognizing no limits or physical laws of distance or separation. You know, like the internet.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
And the winner is...
Not me. Boo...
Just got home not too long ago from the tennis tournament -- I played doubles with Mr. Bae, who is really freaking good. We got 2nd place! =) And before you get too excited for me, let me assure you that we got 2nd place in spite of my contribution, not because of it. We ended up playing 4 sets against different doubles teams... and that's about twice the number of sets I've played in the last... let's say, 7 years combined. So yeah... I'm pretty beat. The serve quit on me at some point in the 3rd match, and with the foot blisters, the thumb blister, and general out-of-shapeness, I was fairly useless in the championship. I did have fun though.
After the awards ceremony (I got a wristband, 2 pairs of sport socks, and some tape to go on the grip of my [non-existent] racket), most of us went out for sam gyeop sal... and this restaurant was really good too.... So we ate, and had soju and beer of course, for a couple of hours. And now I'm home, and I'm tired.
But congrats to the Ihwang school team! 2nd Place! Yea! =)
It was cold today, too. And windy. If I had a tub, I'd soak in it. Oh well... life is full of small disappointments. Right then... I'm off to bed.
Just got home not too long ago from the tennis tournament -- I played doubles with Mr. Bae, who is really freaking good. We got 2nd place! =) And before you get too excited for me, let me assure you that we got 2nd place in spite of my contribution, not because of it. We ended up playing 4 sets against different doubles teams... and that's about twice the number of sets I've played in the last... let's say, 7 years combined. So yeah... I'm pretty beat. The serve quit on me at some point in the 3rd match, and with the foot blisters, the thumb blister, and general out-of-shapeness, I was fairly useless in the championship. I did have fun though.
After the awards ceremony (I got a wristband, 2 pairs of sport socks, and some tape to go on the grip of my [non-existent] racket), most of us went out for sam gyeop sal... and this restaurant was really good too.... So we ate, and had soju and beer of course, for a couple of hours. And now I'm home, and I'm tired.
But congrats to the Ihwang school team! 2nd Place! Yea! =)
It was cold today, too. And windy. If I had a tub, I'd soak in it. Oh well... life is full of small disappointments. Right then... I'm off to bed.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
A whole lotta nothin...
Well, not much to report, actually. I feel like I always open up this page thinking that and then type a freakin novel, but really this time.
Let's see -- Jill's gone. She hopped a plane to Bali this morning. I haven't heard of any horrific fiery (or watery) plane crashes, so I'm assuming she made it alright. She gave me a bunch of stuff before she left. Here's a list. I like lists.
I got 4kgs of rice, minus 2 cups which we ate at her house this weekend. Also, some tea, glasses, coffee mugs, bowls, a mixing bowl, an awesome bamboo cutting board, a little pot (ha... not that kind), some black pepper, vanilla, flour, spaghetti, 2 bamboo plants, dish soap, hand soap, laundry soap, and some chewing gum. I feel like I'm missing some things, even... safe to say she's awesome.
Also, we went to Seolbeong park on Saturday afternoon to hang out with Laura, who's also leaving in a couple of weeks. Laura doesn't drink, unless a) it's a special occasion and b) she's outdoors. So she suggested we get some soju and go sit in the park and drink. So, we did! And it was good... beautiful day, good booze. We even had a group of Korean kids come up and hang out with us for a while. The conversation was a little slow, but they were trying with the English, and we were using our very limited Korean, so it was fun. Oh, and Laura gave me her wireless router! That's good. The router setup page is in Korean. That's bad.
It's been raining for most of the last two days here. Well, to be specific, it started raining about 3 minutes after I left the house (sans umbrella) on Monday, and then continued this weird sort of persistent drizzle all day and night and most of the morning. Since then it's just been kinda grey and cloudy. I'm not sure what's the status of the tennis tournament tomorrow, what with the playing on clay and all and it probably being more of a muddy quagmire than a tennis court right now, but I guess I'll bring my tennis apparel just in case. For the record, my tennis apparel includes some 8-year-old adidas casual shoes I bought in Spain, a Seabrook Middle School tennis t-shirt I got from Shan with the sleeves cut off, and some green pants where the pant legs zip off into shorts. And I'm mostly using those because they have pockets. Yeah, I'm prepared, alright.
Light week this week at the Global Center. I had regular school classes yesterday, only my after-school classes today (I mean, you know, nothing until after 2pm), normal days tomorrow and Thursday, and then nothing on Friday. No school, no Global Center, no after school classes. Mi Sun mentioned that we might not have to come in at all on Friday, which would rock.
Randomness: Every time I go to type the words "Global Center," I always type a capital B first, for some reason, then have to delete it and very deliberately hit the G key. This has happened to me before, where I get a mental block about typing some word and almost always screw it up. If I remember correctly, it happened when I was writing my thesis. On some word that was fairly crucial and I used a lot. I'll try to think about what that was... hm. A pain in the ass, is what it was. Anyway. I also took this typing test online today, and found out that I can type 76 words per minute with 95% accuracy. I didn't have to type "Global Center" at all, so that helped.
Mom -- I hope your foot's doing ok! Actually, it's like almost 9am there, so I think I'm going to call you right now. Hi!
Emily -- Thanks for the postcard sweetie! That's awesome, and I'm glad you had such a good time in Austin. I promise, one day, I will send you a postcard from somewhere. Believe me? ;)
Shan -- Keep your head up, honey! Only a few more weeks and then you'll be relaxin in the Caymans, not worrying about statistics!
Jill -- Hope you had a safe trip, yo. Email me when you get a chance, yeah? Have fun in Indonesia!
Adam -- What's up, ho? Hope things are good with Felicia, the family, school, everything... Let's chat this weekend.
And as it turns out, I did forget at least one thing in the mad haul from Jill's -- Persimmon ice wine! Or, as it reads on the internet, eiswein! Haven't opened her up yet, but I'm excited. I did a search for this online, as you may have guessed. There's not a lot of persimmon ice wine to be found, apparently. Seems as though it's a local delicacy... so I'll probably try to save it for a special occasion and let ya'll know how it goes.
Ha... I knew it. "Not much to report," my ass... but I think I'm done now. You stay classy, planet Earth.
Let's see -- Jill's gone. She hopped a plane to Bali this morning. I haven't heard of any horrific fiery (or watery) plane crashes, so I'm assuming she made it alright. She gave me a bunch of stuff before she left. Here's a list. I like lists.
I got 4kgs of rice, minus 2 cups which we ate at her house this weekend. Also, some tea, glasses, coffee mugs, bowls, a mixing bowl, an awesome bamboo cutting board, a little pot (ha... not that kind), some black pepper, vanilla, flour, spaghetti, 2 bamboo plants, dish soap, hand soap, laundry soap, and some chewing gum. I feel like I'm missing some things, even... safe to say she's awesome.
Also, we went to Seolbeong park on Saturday afternoon to hang out with Laura, who's also leaving in a couple of weeks. Laura doesn't drink, unless a) it's a special occasion and b) she's outdoors. So she suggested we get some soju and go sit in the park and drink. So, we did! And it was good... beautiful day, good booze. We even had a group of Korean kids come up and hang out with us for a while. The conversation was a little slow, but they were trying with the English, and we were using our very limited Korean, so it was fun. Oh, and Laura gave me her wireless router! That's good. The router setup page is in Korean. That's bad.
It's been raining for most of the last two days here. Well, to be specific, it started raining about 3 minutes after I left the house (sans umbrella) on Monday, and then continued this weird sort of persistent drizzle all day and night and most of the morning. Since then it's just been kinda grey and cloudy. I'm not sure what's the status of the tennis tournament tomorrow, what with the playing on clay and all and it probably being more of a muddy quagmire than a tennis court right now, but I guess I'll bring my tennis apparel just in case. For the record, my tennis apparel includes some 8-year-old adidas casual shoes I bought in Spain, a Seabrook Middle School tennis t-shirt I got from Shan with the sleeves cut off, and some green pants where the pant legs zip off into shorts. And I'm mostly using those because they have pockets. Yeah, I'm prepared, alright.
Light week this week at the Global Center. I had regular school classes yesterday, only my after-school classes today (I mean, you know, nothing until after 2pm), normal days tomorrow and Thursday, and then nothing on Friday. No school, no Global Center, no after school classes. Mi Sun mentioned that we might not have to come in at all on Friday, which would rock.
Randomness: Every time I go to type the words "Global Center," I always type a capital B first, for some reason, then have to delete it and very deliberately hit the G key. This has happened to me before, where I get a mental block about typing some word and almost always screw it up. If I remember correctly, it happened when I was writing my thesis. On some word that was fairly crucial and I used a lot. I'll try to think about what that was... hm. A pain in the ass, is what it was. Anyway. I also took this typing test online today, and found out that I can type 76 words per minute with 95% accuracy. I didn't have to type "Global Center" at all, so that helped.
Mom -- I hope your foot's doing ok! Actually, it's like almost 9am there, so I think I'm going to call you right now. Hi!
Emily -- Thanks for the postcard sweetie! That's awesome, and I'm glad you had such a good time in Austin. I promise, one day, I will send you a postcard from somewhere. Believe me? ;)
Shan -- Keep your head up, honey! Only a few more weeks and then you'll be relaxin in the Caymans, not worrying about statistics!
Jill -- Hope you had a safe trip, yo. Email me when you get a chance, yeah? Have fun in Indonesia!
Adam -- What's up, ho? Hope things are good with Felicia, the family, school, everything... Let's chat this weekend.
And as it turns out, I did forget at least one thing in the mad haul from Jill's -- Persimmon ice wine! Or, as it reads on the internet, eiswein! Haven't opened her up yet, but I'm excited. I did a search for this online, as you may have guessed. There's not a lot of persimmon ice wine to be found, apparently. Seems as though it's a local delicacy... so I'll probably try to save it for a special occasion and let ya'll know how it goes.
Ha... I knew it. "Not much to report," my ass... but I think I'm done now. You stay classy, planet Earth.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Linguisticalism... and the NBA playoffs
So, Mi Sun and I were talking today about the ridiculousness of spoken, idiomatic, actually-used English phrases. Why, she demands, do we have 25 different phrases for "I agree"!? Or "Let's leave"? I mean, really, what is the point of that?
Why should she have to learn to recognize bounce, roll, head, jet, hit it, bail, skedaddle, get, scoot, run, skip, and the list goes on? And even worse... damn straight, right on, for sure, fuckin' a, totally, you bet, for real, i know, that's what i'm sayin, preach on brotha, absolutely, giddy up, book it, i gotcha, no doubt, i hear that, i feel you, yeah yeah, uh-huh, got that right... I could go on, but you get the picture. Ya feel me?
I suggested that part of the reason for this proliferation of American slang might be due to our culture's value on individuality. Sure, we're saying the same thing that everyone else says most of the time, but if we can find a new way to say it, something that's not "played out" or stale, then we score those all-important "originality" or "uniqueness" points. And so, large numbers of phrases all carrying roughly the same meaning find their way into mainstream usage. Naturally, this helps keep our language fresh and flexible (or destroys its time-honored heritage, depending on whom you talk to) but it also makes it a nightmare for anyone studying English to have any hope of going out to a random bar in America and actually being able to follow the conversations taking place around them. Another factor might be our cultural xenophobia, our tendency to exclude anyone different: rapidly changing diction/idioms are a way to determine who's "in" our crowd, and who's an outsider. Related to this, of course, is that we also have a ready means of declaring our inclusion and position in a social group... i.e. we can talk the talk. And yeah, I realize how ridiculous it is that we require being seen as both "unique, beautiful snowflakes" and as part of the blizzard, but hey! the American heart wants what it wants, am I right? Damn skippy.
I compare this to the Korean language that I hear most of the day at work, and anytime I go out. Agreement takes one of 2 forms: Neh/Deh/Yea (yes -- all the same word, really, just with slight differences in pronunciation), and keu-re-o (that's right/is that right?) Also, when Koreans ask for confirmation of what was just said, again, you hear 2 questions: Chincha? (really?) and keu-re-o? (is that right?) They just don't seem to have the proliferation of slang/informal uses that we do, and it makes conversations a whole helluva lot easier to follow. I mean, come on... one more list of English nonsense, then I'm done: for real? no shit? seriously? no way! straight up? is that right? you don't say! come again? really?
Ok, that's enough of that bs. I have a really strange week coming up.
Also, my Cards beat the Cubbies yesterday at Wrigley, spoiling the Cubs' home opener. That feels good, I gotta say. On the other hand, the Blues lost their first playoff game and the Bullies somehow lost to the Toronto freaking Raptors, at home, on the last day of the season. Combine that with the Cav's somehow failing to set the all-time home wins record (while losing to the 6ers) and now, all of a sudden, we're playing the Celtics in the 1st round instead of the struggling Magic. Boo. Although KG is hurt, I don't think that'll help much in the grand scheme of things. They've still got the Truth and Ray-Ray, not to mention Rondo, Powe, Big Baby, and that solid bench. I'm not feeling nearly as good about this. Seriously, Bulls, you lost at home to Toronto. You deserve what you get from here on out. Go Cards! Blow Cubs blow!
Why should she have to learn to recognize bounce, roll, head, jet, hit it, bail, skedaddle, get, scoot, run, skip, and the list goes on? And even worse... damn straight, right on, for sure, fuckin' a, totally, you bet, for real, i know, that's what i'm sayin, preach on brotha, absolutely, giddy up, book it, i gotcha, no doubt, i hear that, i feel you, yeah yeah, uh-huh, got that right... I could go on, but you get the picture. Ya feel me?
I suggested that part of the reason for this proliferation of American slang might be due to our culture's value on individuality. Sure, we're saying the same thing that everyone else says most of the time, but if we can find a new way to say it, something that's not "played out" or stale, then we score those all-important "originality" or "uniqueness" points. And so, large numbers of phrases all carrying roughly the same meaning find their way into mainstream usage. Naturally, this helps keep our language fresh and flexible (or destroys its time-honored heritage, depending on whom you talk to) but it also makes it a nightmare for anyone studying English to have any hope of going out to a random bar in America and actually being able to follow the conversations taking place around them. Another factor might be our cultural xenophobia, our tendency to exclude anyone different: rapidly changing diction/idioms are a way to determine who's "in" our crowd, and who's an outsider. Related to this, of course, is that we also have a ready means of declaring our inclusion and position in a social group... i.e. we can talk the talk. And yeah, I realize how ridiculous it is that we require being seen as both "unique, beautiful snowflakes" and as part of the blizzard, but hey! the American heart wants what it wants, am I right? Damn skippy.
I compare this to the Korean language that I hear most of the day at work, and anytime I go out. Agreement takes one of 2 forms: Neh/Deh/Yea (yes -- all the same word, really, just with slight differences in pronunciation), and keu-re-o (that's right/is that right?) Also, when Koreans ask for confirmation of what was just said, again, you hear 2 questions: Chincha? (really?) and keu-re-o? (is that right?) They just don't seem to have the proliferation of slang/informal uses that we do, and it makes conversations a whole helluva lot easier to follow. I mean, come on... one more list of English nonsense, then I'm done: for real? no shit? seriously? no way! straight up? is that right? you don't say! come again? really?
Ok, that's enough of that bs. I have a really strange week coming up.
- Jill's leaving. =( Going to Bali for a few weeks to visit her dad, then heading back to the states. She's like, my best friend here, so that sucks. But Jill, if you're reading this, I know you'll be happier once you get out of here, so I wish you well! =) Thanks for the dinnerware and soap.
- I have 1 day of school classes, 2 days of Global Center classes, 2 days of after-school classes, and 1 day of special class. And they all fall on different days. So yeah, I do have to work six days next week. Boo. But, it's only 3 full days of work and 3 days of ~2 hours, plus I do get paid overtime for the Saturday hours and the after-school program, so Yea! =)
- I get to play in that tennis tourney next Wednesday! It's after school, so uh, no missing class. But... whoo-ee! Wish me luck -- I'll probably need it.
Also, my Cards beat the Cubbies yesterday at Wrigley, spoiling the Cubs' home opener. That feels good, I gotta say. On the other hand, the Blues lost their first playoff game and the Bullies somehow lost to the Toronto freaking Raptors, at home, on the last day of the season. Combine that with the Cav's somehow failing to set the all-time home wins record (while losing to the 6ers) and now, all of a sudden, we're playing the Celtics in the 1st round instead of the struggling Magic. Boo. Although KG is hurt, I don't think that'll help much in the grand scheme of things. They've still got the Truth and Ray-Ray, not to mention Rondo, Powe, Big Baby, and that solid bench. I'm not feeling nearly as good about this. Seriously, Bulls, you lost at home to Toronto. You deserve what you get from here on out. Go Cards! Blow Cubs blow!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Sporting News
I played tennis yesterday! I think that's probably the first time in say... a year? Maybe not quite; I know Erik and I played some in Chicago last summer, but anyway, a long time. I'm actually pretty sore today, which is weird because tennis isn't really a sport that requires using a whole lot of muscle. I guess I was actually hitting the ball pretty well after I got warmed up a bit. I played with the 6th grade teacher, who's not bad. At first we just hit the ball around for a while, so I could get the feel for it again. The major issues are twain: I don't have my racket here, so that makes it rough. I haven't hit with any other since I bought that one, sometime in the 90's, I think. Each racket has its own feel that you have to find... sweet spot, tension, length, weight, handle thickness, everything. Which all affects how hard you can swing, how much spin you can put on the ball, how the ball flies coming off the strings. But anyway... the 2nd issue is the court. They play on clay here! Which is cool, don't get me wrong. I love watching the pros slide around Roland Garros at the French Open. But damn is it tough to play on. It's basically just heavy, manicured dirt... which makes it um, dirty to play on (obvious enough for ya? ha...). But more importantly, it requires completely different footwork. Which I've never learned.
When you play on hardcourts, which is probably 99.5% of the time in the US (I've seen a clay court, but I don't remember where), it's really easy to stop and start, push off, change directions, all that stuff. The courts have a bit of texture that give you a lot of grip... so it's a pretty simple matter to get around the court. On clay, however, the key component of good footwork is the slide. Instead of running through the shot, hitting it, and then stopping and getting back into position, you take away that last step before impact and turn it into a slide. You use that momentum (instead of the step) to hit the shot, and then finish the slide before pushing off to go the other direction. Well, that's the theory anyway, but it's not an easy thing to pull off, especially when you're so used to taking that final step before the swing. And thinking about where you want to hit the shot. And where your opponent is, and where he's going, and what direction the wind is blowing, and everything else. So yeah... we'll see how it goes.
The first set I think I double-faulted probably 15 times... maybe more. Serve just wasn't working, and I lost 6-2. Although I did have one game with 3 aces... I just kept alternating between ace and double fault, which doesn't add up to success. The second set I won 6-4, and I was finally finding my groove a bit, on the second serve at least. I was really just trying to "spin it in," as they say, but even that's rough when you keep hitting the ball with everything but the middle of the racket. I did manage to catch one clean on the top of the frame -- hit it directly up in the air, probably a good 40 feet, and it landed about 8 inches from my right foot. Uh, yeah. Fault.
The reason this all matters is that I apparently volunteered to help represent our school in a tennis tournament in Icheon next Wednesday. I get to leave school early and go to some high school to play against other elementary school teachers. When they initially asked me if I wanted to play, it sounded like a friendly little match between the teachers at our school. So sure! Count me in. Only yesterday did I found out that it's sort of a big deal. Hm... well, wish me luck! I've got time to get a few more practice sessions in, I think, but I'm a little worried about the thumb blister that both developed and ripped open on the same shot last night. So now I've got a pretty substantial piece of thumb-skin missing... but whatcha gonna do? I've had worse, that's for sure. It was funny at lunch today -- my forearm muscles were so tender I could barely hold the chopsticks to eat. I kept dropping food everywhere. Well, not everywhere -- I mean, not on the floor or other people or anything. Just mostly back onto the tray/other food. But yeah, it was still fairly amusing. Just picture the first primates trying to use tools, and you'll have an idea of how well lunch went.
And that's my story for the day. My extra classes were... meh. So-so. Could've been worse. I finally got the textbooks that I ordered. The ones for the younger kids are fine, but I severely overestimated my "advanced" class's level of advanced-ness. So now I've gotta backtrack and fill in a bunch of gaps just to get them to the point where we can actually use the books. Oopsie. On the plus side, at least I have an idea what they need to be learning, so I have some direction for my classes from now on.
I need to fold laundry and I'm not in the mood. I think it's gonna stay hanging up on the "terrace" for another day. Why do it now when there's always tomorrow, right? Also, my ethernet cord is broken -- not the cord, but the little latch that keeps it in the computer. I've got it rigged up now with the lanyard I use for my thumb drives, but it keeps slipping out. My friend Laura is leaving in a couple weeks to go back home, and I think she's gonna give me her wireless router, so hopefully I can just plug that in and not have to worry about it anymore. And finally -- what a great week for my sports teams! Cardinals off to a 6-2 start, Pujols knocking the cover off the ball, Carpenter and Lohse pitching lights out! Blues went on a tear the last 2 months to move into the 6th seed in the playoffs! And the Bulls, coincidentally, went on a tear the last month or so behind Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose to move into (for now at least) the 6th seed in the playoffs! One more win, hope Boston and/or Cleveland TCOB against the 6ers and we've got a shot at an injury-ridden Orlando team and maybe making it out of the first round! Whoo-ee! Oh, and the Cubs suck. =)
OK -- that ended up being a much longer entry than I had originally planned, so I'm cutting it off here. Hasta luego!
When you play on hardcourts, which is probably 99.5% of the time in the US (I've seen a clay court, but I don't remember where), it's really easy to stop and start, push off, change directions, all that stuff. The courts have a bit of texture that give you a lot of grip... so it's a pretty simple matter to get around the court. On clay, however, the key component of good footwork is the slide. Instead of running through the shot, hitting it, and then stopping and getting back into position, you take away that last step before impact and turn it into a slide. You use that momentum (instead of the step) to hit the shot, and then finish the slide before pushing off to go the other direction. Well, that's the theory anyway, but it's not an easy thing to pull off, especially when you're so used to taking that final step before the swing. And thinking about where you want to hit the shot. And where your opponent is, and where he's going, and what direction the wind is blowing, and everything else. So yeah... we'll see how it goes.
The first set I think I double-faulted probably 15 times... maybe more. Serve just wasn't working, and I lost 6-2. Although I did have one game with 3 aces... I just kept alternating between ace and double fault, which doesn't add up to success. The second set I won 6-4, and I was finally finding my groove a bit, on the second serve at least. I was really just trying to "spin it in," as they say, but even that's rough when you keep hitting the ball with everything but the middle of the racket. I did manage to catch one clean on the top of the frame -- hit it directly up in the air, probably a good 40 feet, and it landed about 8 inches from my right foot. Uh, yeah. Fault.
The reason this all matters is that I apparently volunteered to help represent our school in a tennis tournament in Icheon next Wednesday. I get to leave school early and go to some high school to play against other elementary school teachers. When they initially asked me if I wanted to play, it sounded like a friendly little match between the teachers at our school. So sure! Count me in. Only yesterday did I found out that it's sort of a big deal. Hm... well, wish me luck! I've got time to get a few more practice sessions in, I think, but I'm a little worried about the thumb blister that both developed and ripped open on the same shot last night. So now I've got a pretty substantial piece of thumb-skin missing... but whatcha gonna do? I've had worse, that's for sure. It was funny at lunch today -- my forearm muscles were so tender I could barely hold the chopsticks to eat. I kept dropping food everywhere. Well, not everywhere -- I mean, not on the floor or other people or anything. Just mostly back onto the tray/other food. But yeah, it was still fairly amusing. Just picture the first primates trying to use tools, and you'll have an idea of how well lunch went.
And that's my story for the day. My extra classes were... meh. So-so. Could've been worse. I finally got the textbooks that I ordered. The ones for the younger kids are fine, but I severely overestimated my "advanced" class's level of advanced-ness. So now I've gotta backtrack and fill in a bunch of gaps just to get them to the point where we can actually use the books. Oopsie. On the plus side, at least I have an idea what they need to be learning, so I have some direction for my classes from now on.
I need to fold laundry and I'm not in the mood. I think it's gonna stay hanging up on the "terrace" for another day. Why do it now when there's always tomorrow, right? Also, my ethernet cord is broken -- not the cord, but the little latch that keeps it in the computer. I've got it rigged up now with the lanyard I use for my thumb drives, but it keeps slipping out. My friend Laura is leaving in a couple weeks to go back home, and I think she's gonna give me her wireless router, so hopefully I can just plug that in and not have to worry about it anymore. And finally -- what a great week for my sports teams! Cardinals off to a 6-2 start, Pujols knocking the cover off the ball, Carpenter and Lohse pitching lights out! Blues went on a tear the last 2 months to move into the 6th seed in the playoffs! And the Bulls, coincidentally, went on a tear the last month or so behind Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose to move into (for now at least) the 6th seed in the playoffs! One more win, hope Boston and/or Cleveland TCOB against the 6ers and we've got a shot at an injury-ridden Orlando team and maybe making it out of the first round! Whoo-ee! Oh, and the Cubs suck. =)
OK -- that ended up being a much longer entry than I had originally planned, so I'm cutting it off here. Hasta luego!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Easter Sunday failure
I mean, not like the Romans' failure or anything... we're not talking that grand a scale, but still. I was going to get up and go to church this morning. It would've been my first church visit here, and I was actually looking forward to it. I went to bed pretty early. Good start. I woke up around 8:15, so we were still on target. I heated up the water for coffee and turned on the streaming program so I could catch the first half or so of the Bulls game. Laid back down and waited for the kettle to shut off.
Next thing I know, I wake up and there's 5 minutes left to go in the game. The Bulls are neck-and-neck with a team they should be beating, and my water's cold again. =( Of course, this isn't the worst part: I didn't make it anywhere near a church this morning... boo. So... I mean, sorry Mom! I'll try to go next weekend (even though it probably won't be as cool ) so I can at least tell you what it's like at a Korean Presbyterian Church... which apparently does exist and is relatively close to here.
On a more positive note, the Cardinals and Bulls both won today, so that makes me happy.
On a more negative note, now I need to put my ear to the grindstone and knock out 16 weeks worth of lesson plans today. Should've worked on this yesterday, but it was really nice outside so instead I went for a walk, had a cheeseburger, got my hair cut and went to the gym. But uh, not in that order. I know, I know, that's not really like a full day of activities, but I've become totally engrossed in the Douglas Adams books again. I read them all in high school, but haven't picked them up since. Well, I also finished Hitchhiker, read the whole 2nd one ("Restaurant at the End of the Universe") and am halfway through "Life, the Universe, and Everything." So at least I'm not being totally mindless and useless... or maybe I am. I dunno... who can say, really?
I also found a decent website for studying Korean, so I've been doing a bit more practicing on that as well. I learned the simple past tense yesterday... so that's cool. Now I can say things like "I went to the gym, then I ate a cheeseburger, and it was delicious." Haha... slowly but surely, ya'll, that's the way this is gonna work. Check this site out if you're interested. It's fun, I promise.
Other than apologizing for dropping the ball today, I don't really have much to say. Same ole, same ole, I guess... I mean, as much as you can call living in Korea "the same..." It really is starting to feel that way though, at least a little bit. Things don't seem so strange to me anymore, in general. The strangest thing recently was today: not going to church with my Mom on Easter. It's the holidays that really carry a sense of tradition and comfort, ya know? The rest of the time, I guess, work's work, food's food, sleep's sleep. Not being with my family on Thansgiving and Christmas was definitely harder than today, though. I dunno, either I'm settling in a bit more (which is true, by the way) or Easter doesn't have as strong a family feeling for me as the winter holidays (which is also true, by the way). Wow. That last sentence shouldn't have been an either/or proposition at all, huh? I just lol'ed. Not sure why it started that way in my head, but whatever. The human mind works in mysterious ways sometimes.
OK, enough stalling, time to get down to brass tacks here. So (because I have no desire to start doing lesson plans), I just looked up the etymology of that phrase, realizing that I had just about zero idea what it actually meant. And wikipedia, though interesting, isn't entirely helpful. It did lead me on to this discussion of Cockney rhyming slang, however, which is pretty entertaining. Ok, can you tell that I'm really just stalling now? It's getting out of hand. I gotta wrap this up, and get to work. Until next time then.
Next thing I know, I wake up and there's 5 minutes left to go in the game. The Bulls are neck-and-neck with a team they should be beating, and my water's cold again. =( Of course, this isn't the worst part: I didn't make it anywhere near a church this morning... boo. So... I mean, sorry Mom! I'll try to go next weekend (even though it probably won't be as cool ) so I can at least tell you what it's like at a Korean Presbyterian Church... which apparently does exist and is relatively close to here.
On a more positive note, the Cardinals and Bulls both won today, so that makes me happy.
On a more negative note, now I need to put my ear to the grindstone and knock out 16 weeks worth of lesson plans today. Should've worked on this yesterday, but it was really nice outside so instead I went for a walk, had a cheeseburger, got my hair cut and went to the gym. But uh, not in that order. I know, I know, that's not really like a full day of activities, but I've become totally engrossed in the Douglas Adams books again. I read them all in high school, but haven't picked them up since. Well, I also finished Hitchhiker, read the whole 2nd one ("Restaurant at the End of the Universe") and am halfway through "Life, the Universe, and Everything." So at least I'm not being totally mindless and useless... or maybe I am. I dunno... who can say, really?
I also found a decent website for studying Korean, so I've been doing a bit more practicing on that as well. I learned the simple past tense yesterday... so that's cool. Now I can say things like "I went to the gym, then I ate a cheeseburger, and it was delicious." Haha... slowly but surely, ya'll, that's the way this is gonna work. Check this site out if you're interested. It's fun, I promise.
Other than apologizing for dropping the ball today, I don't really have much to say. Same ole, same ole, I guess... I mean, as much as you can call living in Korea "the same..." It really is starting to feel that way though, at least a little bit. Things don't seem so strange to me anymore, in general. The strangest thing recently was today: not going to church with my Mom on Easter. It's the holidays that really carry a sense of tradition and comfort, ya know? The rest of the time, I guess, work's work, food's food, sleep's sleep. Not being with my family on Thansgiving and Christmas was definitely harder than today, though. I dunno, either I'm settling in a bit more (which is true, by the way) or Easter doesn't have as strong a family feeling for me as the winter holidays (which is also true, by the way). Wow. That last sentence shouldn't have been an either/or proposition at all, huh? I just lol'ed. Not sure why it started that way in my head, but whatever. The human mind works in mysterious ways sometimes.
OK, enough stalling, time to get down to brass tacks here. So (because I have no desire to start doing lesson plans), I just looked up the etymology of that phrase, realizing that I had just about zero idea what it actually meant. And wikipedia, though interesting, isn't entirely helpful. It did lead me on to this discussion of Cockney rhyming slang, however, which is pretty entertaining. Ok, can you tell that I'm really just stalling now? It's getting out of hand. I gotta wrap this up, and get to work. Until next time then.
Friday, April 10, 2009
What a Good Friday! (um... yeah. get it?)
Did I have a great day today, or what?! YES!!! Yes I did... You wanna hear about it? Alright!
First of all, I woke up early so's I could plan my lessons for the extra classes this afternoon. Well, the getting up early part was nice -- I had a chance to cook breakfast, take a nice long shower, shave, all that good stuff. Aaaaand, read randomness on the internet. So I didn't get anything really "planned," per se, and I almost missed the bus to school. Now I know what you're thinking: this is not the start of a great day. And in general, you're probably right. But this story is the penguin that shivers, the thirsty camel, the Asian kid who can't do math. You know, the exception that proves the rule, or something.
So I made the bus, even though I had to jog to the bus station this morning. That kinda sucked, but when you see the bus pulling up and you're still 100 yards or so away but then you see 20 people lining up to get on and you know you can make it on time... yeah, that's a good feeling.
I got to school and (this is always the case on Tue-Fri, but still...) I had about an hour of free time before I have to actually do anything. This is usually when I catch up on my sports scores, blogs I like, grab a cup of coffee, and relax before I just jump right into the day. Now, today of course, I'd already done all that, so I actually got some work done. Flashcards arranged, bingo cards printed, worksheets copied, a battle plan drawn up. I decided to go with the basic premise I laid out earlier, regarding reward and punishment. And let me tell you somethin. I'm a goddamn genius.
***Side note: I took an online IQ test the other day... it seemed fairly genuine... took about an hour and had the same types of questions I remember from when I took an actual one for a high school Psych class... and uh, it went well. I scored higher than I ever had before, in fact. If you wanna know the score you'll have to ask. I'd hate to sound like I'm bragging. HA! Anyone who knows me knows that's not true, but still. I ain't putting it up on here. Side note over. We know return you to your regularly scheduled blogging***
So yeah... I put the fear of god into these little kids. We've got this free-standing AirCon unit in the classroom... wait. Sorry. Did I just say AirCon? Ha... been in Korea too long. A/C unit, is what I meant. Anyway, I did the whole writing their names on the board thing, gave them each two stars, and told them that for every activity they participated in and actually tried, I'd give them another one. For every time they pissed me off (although not in those specific words) I'd take one away. If they got down to zero, they were getting stuck in the corner behind the A/C, and I'd tell their homeroom teacher what had happened, and we'd make up extra homework together for them. Worked like a freakin charm. This one 2nd-grader, Tommy, got up and started wandering around aimlessly (which he does fairly often, usually) about 10 minutes into class. As soon as I erased one of his stars though, his ass was back in that chair like it was magnetized. Awesome. Turns out, he was the only one in my first class who didn't earn a sticker today, which puts him behind the 8ball in the running for the end-of-month prize. (I still don't know exactly what these prizes will be yet. Any suggestions? Nothin too expensive -- I've gotta do something like this all year, but yeah, thanks.)
Anyway, bottom line is, both classes went great today. Kids were engaged, we were having fun, and it was just a really nice afternoon. My advanced class -- 8 kids, 8 stars. No screwing around. Good stuff.
I also got a contract from the school today regarding the extra classes. It turns out, these bad boys are gonna net me an extra $400 a month, which totally comes in handy.
Then, after work I hit up the gym, had a good workout, and popped by the kimbap place on my way home and picked up some chamchi kimbap -- like a tuna salad maki roll with rice and carrot and some other things all mixed in there together. Now, clearly, I'm home blogging. I think I'm gonna read the rest of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and get some sleep.
One more recommendation request, and then I'm done, I promise! I finished "The Wire" and now I need some new TV to watch. I'm not usually into like, network dramas... but comedies, HBO/Showtime type stuff (though I've seen most of that already), anything off-the-wall or relatively obscure, feel free to shoot it my way. Thanks! Happy Anniversary-of-Jesus'-Crucifixion!
First of all, I woke up early so's I could plan my lessons for the extra classes this afternoon. Well, the getting up early part was nice -- I had a chance to cook breakfast, take a nice long shower, shave, all that good stuff. Aaaaand, read randomness on the internet. So I didn't get anything really "planned," per se, and I almost missed the bus to school. Now I know what you're thinking: this is not the start of a great day. And in general, you're probably right. But this story is the penguin that shivers, the thirsty camel, the Asian kid who can't do math. You know, the exception that proves the rule, or something.
So I made the bus, even though I had to jog to the bus station this morning. That kinda sucked, but when you see the bus pulling up and you're still 100 yards or so away but then you see 20 people lining up to get on and you know you can make it on time... yeah, that's a good feeling.
I got to school and (this is always the case on Tue-Fri, but still...) I had about an hour of free time before I have to actually do anything. This is usually when I catch up on my sports scores, blogs I like, grab a cup of coffee, and relax before I just jump right into the day. Now, today of course, I'd already done all that, so I actually got some work done. Flashcards arranged, bingo cards printed, worksheets copied, a battle plan drawn up. I decided to go with the basic premise I laid out earlier, regarding reward and punishment. And let me tell you somethin. I'm a goddamn genius.
***Side note: I took an online IQ test the other day... it seemed fairly genuine... took about an hour and had the same types of questions I remember from when I took an actual one for a high school Psych class... and uh, it went well. I scored higher than I ever had before, in fact. If you wanna know the score you'll have to ask. I'd hate to sound like I'm bragging. HA! Anyone who knows me knows that's not true, but still. I ain't putting it up on here. Side note over. We know return you to your regularly scheduled blogging***
So yeah... I put the fear of god into these little kids. We've got this free-standing AirCon unit in the classroom... wait. Sorry. Did I just say AirCon? Ha... been in Korea too long. A/C unit, is what I meant. Anyway, I did the whole writing their names on the board thing, gave them each two stars, and told them that for every activity they participated in and actually tried, I'd give them another one. For every time they pissed me off (although not in those specific words) I'd take one away. If they got down to zero, they were getting stuck in the corner behind the A/C, and I'd tell their homeroom teacher what had happened, and we'd make up extra homework together for them. Worked like a freakin charm. This one 2nd-grader, Tommy, got up and started wandering around aimlessly (which he does fairly often, usually) about 10 minutes into class. As soon as I erased one of his stars though, his ass was back in that chair like it was magnetized. Awesome. Turns out, he was the only one in my first class who didn't earn a sticker today, which puts him behind the 8ball in the running for the end-of-month prize. (I still don't know exactly what these prizes will be yet. Any suggestions? Nothin too expensive -- I've gotta do something like this all year, but yeah, thanks.)
Anyway, bottom line is, both classes went great today. Kids were engaged, we were having fun, and it was just a really nice afternoon. My advanced class -- 8 kids, 8 stars. No screwing around. Good stuff.
I also got a contract from the school today regarding the extra classes. It turns out, these bad boys are gonna net me an extra $400 a month, which totally comes in handy.
Then, after work I hit up the gym, had a good workout, and popped by the kimbap place on my way home and picked up some chamchi kimbap -- like a tuna salad maki roll with rice and carrot and some other things all mixed in there together. Now, clearly, I'm home blogging. I think I'm gonna read the rest of "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and get some sleep.
One more recommendation request, and then I'm done, I promise! I finished "The Wire" and now I need some new TV to watch. I'm not usually into like, network dramas... but comedies, HBO/Showtime type stuff (though I've seen most of that already), anything off-the-wall or relatively obscure, feel free to shoot it my way. Thanks! Happy Anniversary-of-Jesus'-Crucifixion!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Movin up in the world...
I've been added to the Korean Blog List. Thanks, guys. If you're anxious to read more about this magical place, go check it out sometime. They've asked me to link back to their page, since they're now linking to mine, so it's over there ==> on the right side somewhere. It's mostly just other foreign teachers living here and writing about life, as far as I can tell. Some of their lives are much more interesting than mine though. If you're here trying to live vicariously through someone else, you could probably do better than me... I'm just sayin.
I think there's also a section for foreign language exchanges, if anyone would like to start learning Korean. You know, from a hot Korean girl. Or guy, I guess. Whichever... I ain't here to judge.
It's another beautiful day here -- sunny, probably around 70 degrees! Perfect for some outdoor shopping in downtown Icheon... so I gotta go get ready. Mi Sun will be here any minute now. Peace out, homies.
I think there's also a section for foreign language exchanges, if anyone would like to start learning Korean. You know, from a hot Korean girl. Or guy, I guess. Whichever... I ain't here to judge.
It's another beautiful day here -- sunny, probably around 70 degrees! Perfect for some outdoor shopping in downtown Icheon... so I gotta go get ready. Mi Sun will be here any minute now. Peace out, homies.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Spontaneous Holiday?
I just found out today that we don't have class tomorrow! I'm not sure why, but I think it's a state-wide holiday, and not national. Gyeonggi-Do something or other Honor and Celebration for Make Glory the Beautiful... wait, what was I talking about?
So, I'm going to try to make the most of the day and go shopping in Icheon. I'm not really sure what there is to buy there, but Mi Sun suggested it, and I guess she's going to show me around, since, well, she works with me and thus has tomorrow off too. 2 things I'm definitely looking for: maple syrup and oatmeal. I really like eating breakfast, it turns out -- not least because I have to leave my apartment around 8am and I don't get lunch till after 12. 5 hours of getting ready and dealing with ankle-biters is hungry work, ya'll. Believe that.
I don't really think I'll be able to buy much else, like, American-y. I've heard that for decently priced meat and cheeses and normal stuff like Dinty Moore Beef Stew and Hormel Chili that you have to go to a) the Army Base or b) Costco. That Canadian guy Dave has a car and offered to take me to Costco some weekend but I just haven't taken him up on it yet. Although, I'd really like to buy some steaks. I mean, this is costco, so I'll probably end up with 12 pounds of steaks, but that's why I have a ginormous freezer, right? And no, I don't think I'll buy either beef stew or canned chili, in case you were wondering.
So my extra classes didn't go so well today. I was kind of disappointed, bein as how I just got back from job training and all, but hey! things never go the way you expect them to. I realized that I need some sort of coherent reward/punishment system. I'm thinking each day I'll start with their names on the side of the board and 2 stars next to each one. Participating in an activity and being good will earn you a mark. Talking when I'm talking, being disruptive, or not participating will get them taken away. If you get to zero, then there'll be some sort of consequence, based on your behavior. A time out or what have you... I don't have the details all worked out yet, but I feel like I'm losing them. Part of the problem is that my class doesn't matter -- there's no grade, no reason to try unless they just like English. Which some of them do, and they're awesome. But the ones that don't make it very difficult to spend any amount of quality time with the ones that do. Anyway, I need to find a way to make them accountable for their perfomance and behavior in my class. I think I'll talk to my coteacher and see if we can set up some kind of reporting system that will go back to their homeroom teachers, so they'll know if their kids are being little hellians. I gotta ask about that... so we'll see. Oh, and obviously, the reward part of the system: each student who finishes class with 5 stars (out of a possible 6 or 7: 2 to start plus ~4 activities) gets a sticker for the day. And the 2 with the most stickers at the end of the month get a little prize. Candy or maybe some American treat, or a pencil case. They like pencil cases here.
What do you think? Got any suggestions for me? I'm all ears on this one.
I kicked my own ass at the gym yesterday. I think it was taking several days off for that teacher training that did me in. My arms don't wanna work today. Good stuff.
Oh! Get this! I (finally) successfully ordered pizza. In Korean. For delivery. To my house. I'm the man with the master plan... no school tomorrow and potato pizza coming my way. What a great night! And on that note, I need to put on some pants.
So, I'm going to try to make the most of the day and go shopping in Icheon. I'm not really sure what there is to buy there, but Mi Sun suggested it, and I guess she's going to show me around, since, well, she works with me and thus has tomorrow off too. 2 things I'm definitely looking for: maple syrup and oatmeal. I really like eating breakfast, it turns out -- not least because I have to leave my apartment around 8am and I don't get lunch till after 12. 5 hours of getting ready and dealing with ankle-biters is hungry work, ya'll. Believe that.
I don't really think I'll be able to buy much else, like, American-y. I've heard that for decently priced meat and cheeses and normal stuff like Dinty Moore Beef Stew and Hormel Chili that you have to go to a) the Army Base or b) Costco. That Canadian guy Dave has a car and offered to take me to Costco some weekend but I just haven't taken him up on it yet. Although, I'd really like to buy some steaks. I mean, this is costco, so I'll probably end up with 12 pounds of steaks, but that's why I have a ginormous freezer, right? And no, I don't think I'll buy either beef stew or canned chili, in case you were wondering.
So my extra classes didn't go so well today. I was kind of disappointed, bein as how I just got back from job training and all, but hey! things never go the way you expect them to. I realized that I need some sort of coherent reward/punishment system. I'm thinking each day I'll start with their names on the side of the board and 2 stars next to each one. Participating in an activity and being good will earn you a mark. Talking when I'm talking, being disruptive, or not participating will get them taken away. If you get to zero, then there'll be some sort of consequence, based on your behavior. A time out or what have you... I don't have the details all worked out yet, but I feel like I'm losing them. Part of the problem is that my class doesn't matter -- there's no grade, no reason to try unless they just like English. Which some of them do, and they're awesome. But the ones that don't make it very difficult to spend any amount of quality time with the ones that do. Anyway, I need to find a way to make them accountable for their perfomance and behavior in my class. I think I'll talk to my coteacher and see if we can set up some kind of reporting system that will go back to their homeroom teachers, so they'll know if their kids are being little hellians. I gotta ask about that... so we'll see. Oh, and obviously, the reward part of the system: each student who finishes class with 5 stars (out of a possible 6 or 7: 2 to start plus ~4 activities) gets a sticker for the day. And the 2 with the most stickers at the end of the month get a little prize. Candy or maybe some American treat, or a pencil case. They like pencil cases here.
What do you think? Got any suggestions for me? I'm all ears on this one.
I kicked my own ass at the gym yesterday. I think it was taking several days off for that teacher training that did me in. My arms don't wanna work today. Good stuff.
Oh! Get this! I (finally) successfully ordered pizza. In Korean. For delivery. To my house. I'm the man with the master plan... no school tomorrow and potato pizza coming my way. What a great night! And on that note, I need to put on some pants.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Please don't cry...
One of my "advanced" students yesterday was kind of a brat. I said "was," but the truth is that she IS kind of a brat. She's difficult to deal with, speaks very little English, and has a real penchant for the dramatic. One little thing sets her off, and then she shuts down, becomes impossible to deal with. She cries, pouts, and becomes unresponsive to everything.
Yesterday during class, I was trying to play this game... it involved passing an eraser. My "hot potato," actually. We were practicing "what's your name?" and "how are you?" When it was her turn to take it, she refused. Ignored the person next to her. Defiance written all over her. I tapped the eraser on her shoulder to get her attention, and oopsie! dry erase marker junk leaves a spot on her shoulder. I could see the emotions on her face: first disbelief, then anger, then the beginnings of a plot as she started to plan how she could get her revenge against me for getting her sweatshirt dirty. I didn't mean to mess up her shirt, I was just trying to get her involved in the classroom activity. Anyway, I'd seen this before, and I didn't really want to get started down this road.
Then it hit me -- what does this girl need to happen in order to feel better? Well, like I said, she's a bit vindictive. I pointed at her shoulder and then apologized, miming that I didn't know that would happen. She couldn't care less. Then I took the marker and tapped it on my own shoulder, rubbing it into my shirt for good measure. Again I made that "Sorry, who knew?" face at her, and she giggled. I went over and tried to brush off the spot on her shirt -- it wasn't gonna work. Then I looked at her and did the same to mine, shrugged, and smiled at her. She laughed. She played the game. Problem solved, I guess.
Kids are somethin else, I tell ya. Anyway, I feel a bit better knowing that I figured out how to deal with this girl. I'm fairly certain she'll present more problems (unlike Flounder), but at least now I have a starting point for dealing with her shit when it happens during class. I really believe that no one learns more than a teacher. Whether it involves how to handle unruly 10-year-olds or directing towards some form of utility the disparate thoughts of a PhD-level economics class, no one has to deal with more different personalities and opinions and figure out how to use them for the good of a group quicker than a teacher. It's amazing what you learn at this job, both about the students' mentalities and your own.
Yesterday during class, I was trying to play this game... it involved passing an eraser. My "hot potato," actually. We were practicing "what's your name?" and "how are you?" When it was her turn to take it, she refused. Ignored the person next to her. Defiance written all over her. I tapped the eraser on her shoulder to get her attention, and oopsie! dry erase marker junk leaves a spot on her shoulder. I could see the emotions on her face: first disbelief, then anger, then the beginnings of a plot as she started to plan how she could get her revenge against me for getting her sweatshirt dirty. I didn't mean to mess up her shirt, I was just trying to get her involved in the classroom activity. Anyway, I'd seen this before, and I didn't really want to get started down this road.
Then it hit me -- what does this girl need to happen in order to feel better? Well, like I said, she's a bit vindictive. I pointed at her shoulder and then apologized, miming that I didn't know that would happen. She couldn't care less. Then I took the marker and tapped it on my own shoulder, rubbing it into my shirt for good measure. Again I made that "Sorry, who knew?" face at her, and she giggled. I went over and tried to brush off the spot on her shirt -- it wasn't gonna work. Then I looked at her and did the same to mine, shrugged, and smiled at her. She laughed. She played the game. Problem solved, I guess.
Kids are somethin else, I tell ya. Anyway, I feel a bit better knowing that I figured out how to deal with this girl. I'm fairly certain she'll present more problems (unlike Flounder), but at least now I have a starting point for dealing with her shit when it happens during class. I really believe that no one learns more than a teacher. Whether it involves how to handle unruly 10-year-olds or directing towards some form of utility the disparate thoughts of a PhD-level economics class, no one has to deal with more different personalities and opinions and figure out how to use them for the good of a group quicker than a teacher. It's amazing what you learn at this job, both about the students' mentalities and your own.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Bedtime Stories, B-Boys, Bulgogi
OK, picking up from last time...
Wednesday morning's presentation went really well! Our little "How Many Cows?" thing went off without a hitch. I thought there were a couple in our group that were better, but apparently I'm no good at judging teaching talent. I'll never be a major league educator scout, is what I'm saying... because my demo lesson was one of 3 chosen to be presented on Thursday morning to the whole conference! I was actually pretty proud of myself... =) The details of the thing aren't that mind-blowing or anything, but we did successfully create a lesson for 8 year-olds that had an attention-getting hook:
Teacher: Raise your hand! (demonstrating)... Now, raise your other hand! (demonstrating again)... Now, put them down! Now, raise your hands! Hello everyone! (cause they're hands are up already, so now we're waving hello! Plus, it ties into that whole using the -s for more than one of something. Good stuff, right?)
Then we made a poster with cows on it to present the material. "How many cows?" / "1 cow." / "How many cows?" / "2 cow." / "Close, but listen again. How many cowzzzzz?" / "2 cowzzzzzzz." haha...
Then we played a counting game where different groups of people had to pretend to be different zoo animals and we practiced counting them. Then we wrapped it up with this little gem: "Hold up 1 thumb. (demonstrating, of course)... Now hold up 2 thumbs. Did you enjoy the lesson?" Get it, cause they've got their thumbs up already... nothin like a captive audience.
Unfortunately, there was some kind of insanity that happened in Sarah's room Wednesday night. Not sure, exactly, but I guess her roommate kinda snapped, flipped out, broke down, whatever you wanna call it. I'm told she was like, literally walking into walls, muttering nonsense and shaking like a fiend. Then she told Sarah that she ate a whole bottle of xanax. So Sarah had to find the coordinators and get her in an ambulance and so she asked if she could cancel the presentation Thursday morning. It would have been kinda fun to do it for everyone, but it was nice just to be selected. No worries.
Wednesday night, after dinner (jajang bap -- chinese black bean sauce over rice!) we had what was listed on the schedule as a "B Boy Performance" from 7 - 9. So we thought, cool... sounds like fun. Let's hit that up. Turned out, however, that the word "performance" was a little misleading, and "demonstration" would have been more accurate. That's right ya'll... for the first time ever, I got to breakdance. I actually did pick up a few steps pretty quickly. I'm not sure what I looked like doing them, although I'd venture a guess that "cool" and "smooth" and "badass" are not words used to describe me. I did have fun though. I can now sidestep, backstep, 8-step, and 6-step... well, you know, in theory. I mean, I know how to do them, let's just leave it at that. I also learned that it's freakin hard... I was sweating like a sonofabitch after like 20 minutes of this shit... craziness, man...
After that, a few of the boys and I headed back to the bar. It was N Korea v. S Korea in soccer, and no way we were passing up a chance to catch that one on the big screen at a bar. With real live Koreans to cheer with. We ended up winning 1-0 on a late goal that I didn't see coming... it looked like a nil-nil tie for sure, but damn did that place raise up. I ended up chatting and drinking with these 2 Korean guys for a while before we headed back to the noraebang. No cop threats, no angry owner this time... just some good clean karaoke fun. And bonus: when I got back to the place (learning center, they call it... doesn't really work for me), I went downstairs to find 2 guys just sitting there in the little lounge, with 2 giant unopened bottles of beer on the table. I said hey, and they asked if I wanted them, seeing as how their boy just left them there and they didn't want any more. So I said, hellz yeah. At this point like 3 more of the guys I had been out with walked in, so we picked up round 3 right there and rolled with it. Went to bed soon after and got up ready to rock out on my presentation. Then got the call at breakfast that it was off. So, I just hope that girl's alright. It sounded serious.
The other new thing I tried this week for the first time (other than break dancing, natch) was this weird hybrid sport they play here. It's called choh-gu (or something like that) and it's like a mix between volley tennis and soccer. I don't know if anybody else even knows what the hell volleytennis is, but we used to play it in junior high. Well, long story short, choh-gu is played on a court about the size of a volleyball court. The net is about as high as a tennis net. You play with a soccer ball. No hands, arms, you know, just like soccer. Other than that, the rules are the same as volleytennis. It bounces once; person A can hit it up in the air, or over the net. It bounces again, person B can hit it up in the air, or over the net; It bounces again, person A or a new person has to hit it over the net. Rinse, repeat. I've seen Koreans playing it before but this was my first time... and it's harder than it looks. But these Koreans will set it, up by the net. Just like in volleyball. Then... well, you kinda have to see it, but they do this taekwondo crazy spinning flying kicks to spike the damn ball. Also just like volleyball, but way freakin cooler. I didn't really try to get into all that noise, since half the point for us was trying not to hurt ourselves, but I'll keep practicing, you know... in case there's some horrible genetic disease here and I have to end up representing Korea at the Asia Games in volleysoccertennis ball.
And, finally -- went back to work today. Had 2 pretty good lessons, after school trying to put into practice the things I learned at orientation. I know, that whole sentence had the potential for sarcasm, I'm noticing. But that's totally not the case -- I really did learn shit, and then use it.
After work, Mi Sun and Mi Jin and I went shopping for the 2nd course of our dinner extravaganza. This time it was Mi Sun's turn, and she opted for the one thing she knows how to cook, apparently: bulgogi! Pronounced bool-go-ghee (rhymes with key, ya see?). It's thinly sliced Korean beef, cooked with a certain type of mushroom, and onion and bulgogi sauce, simmered and served with rice, or you can wrap it in lettuce leaves, which are naturally the two main ways to eat most meats here. Anyway, it was freakin good... we had kimchi with it (of course), and then after we had eaten quite a bit of bulgogi on lettuce, added the rest of the rice to the pan and mixed it all together, giving us this nice saucy rice-y beefy desert. Koreans aren't big on desert foods (sweet ones, I mean) but if you let them throw rice or noodles onto a skillet of meat you've got yourself a solid end to a Korean meal. Plus we bought some traditional Korean drink to go with it -- Makeorri, I think, is the name. It's different... I'm not even sure how to go about explaining the different tastes involved with this thing. A little sweet, a little tangy, a little starchy, I wanna say... and it makes you feel kinda warm and fuzzy. Strange, but not bad. I'll give it a C+. Now, Mi Sun's cooking, on the other hand... she gets an A! Cause A is for Awesome. Next time it's Mi Jin's turn, and I'm excited already!
And that's where the other shoe drops. Off my foot. And then the bed. And then, in an ideal world, it jumps up, runs over and hits the light switch so I don't have to move before I can crash. That's telekinesis, Kyle...
Wednesday morning's presentation went really well! Our little "How Many Cows?" thing went off without a hitch. I thought there were a couple in our group that were better, but apparently I'm no good at judging teaching talent. I'll never be a major league educator scout, is what I'm saying... because my demo lesson was one of 3 chosen to be presented on Thursday morning to the whole conference! I was actually pretty proud of myself... =) The details of the thing aren't that mind-blowing or anything, but we did successfully create a lesson for 8 year-olds that had an attention-getting hook:
Teacher: Raise your hand! (demonstrating)... Now, raise your other hand! (demonstrating again)... Now, put them down! Now, raise your hands! Hello everyone! (cause they're hands are up already, so now we're waving hello! Plus, it ties into that whole using the -s for more than one of something. Good stuff, right?)
Then we made a poster with cows on it to present the material. "How many cows?" / "1 cow." / "How many cows?" / "2 cow." / "Close, but listen again. How many cowzzzzz?" / "2 cowzzzzzzz." haha...
Then we played a counting game where different groups of people had to pretend to be different zoo animals and we practiced counting them. Then we wrapped it up with this little gem: "Hold up 1 thumb. (demonstrating, of course)... Now hold up 2 thumbs. Did you enjoy the lesson?" Get it, cause they've got their thumbs up already... nothin like a captive audience.
Unfortunately, there was some kind of insanity that happened in Sarah's room Wednesday night. Not sure, exactly, but I guess her roommate kinda snapped, flipped out, broke down, whatever you wanna call it. I'm told she was like, literally walking into walls, muttering nonsense and shaking like a fiend. Then she told Sarah that she ate a whole bottle of xanax. So Sarah had to find the coordinators and get her in an ambulance and so she asked if she could cancel the presentation Thursday morning. It would have been kinda fun to do it for everyone, but it was nice just to be selected. No worries.
Wednesday night, after dinner (jajang bap -- chinese black bean sauce over rice!) we had what was listed on the schedule as a "B Boy Performance" from 7 - 9. So we thought, cool... sounds like fun. Let's hit that up. Turned out, however, that the word "performance" was a little misleading, and "demonstration" would have been more accurate. That's right ya'll... for the first time ever, I got to breakdance. I actually did pick up a few steps pretty quickly. I'm not sure what I looked like doing them, although I'd venture a guess that "cool" and "smooth" and "badass" are not words used to describe me. I did have fun though. I can now sidestep, backstep, 8-step, and 6-step... well, you know, in theory. I mean, I know how to do them, let's just leave it at that. I also learned that it's freakin hard... I was sweating like a sonofabitch after like 20 minutes of this shit... craziness, man...
After that, a few of the boys and I headed back to the bar. It was N Korea v. S Korea in soccer, and no way we were passing up a chance to catch that one on the big screen at a bar. With real live Koreans to cheer with. We ended up winning 1-0 on a late goal that I didn't see coming... it looked like a nil-nil tie for sure, but damn did that place raise up. I ended up chatting and drinking with these 2 Korean guys for a while before we headed back to the noraebang. No cop threats, no angry owner this time... just some good clean karaoke fun. And bonus: when I got back to the place (learning center, they call it... doesn't really work for me), I went downstairs to find 2 guys just sitting there in the little lounge, with 2 giant unopened bottles of beer on the table. I said hey, and they asked if I wanted them, seeing as how their boy just left them there and they didn't want any more. So I said, hellz yeah. At this point like 3 more of the guys I had been out with walked in, so we picked up round 3 right there and rolled with it. Went to bed soon after and got up ready to rock out on my presentation. Then got the call at breakfast that it was off. So, I just hope that girl's alright. It sounded serious.
The other new thing I tried this week for the first time (other than break dancing, natch) was this weird hybrid sport they play here. It's called choh-gu (or something like that) and it's like a mix between volley tennis and soccer. I don't know if anybody else even knows what the hell volleytennis is, but we used to play it in junior high. Well, long story short, choh-gu is played on a court about the size of a volleyball court. The net is about as high as a tennis net. You play with a soccer ball. No hands, arms, you know, just like soccer. Other than that, the rules are the same as volleytennis. It bounces once; person A can hit it up in the air, or over the net. It bounces again, person B can hit it up in the air, or over the net; It bounces again, person A or a new person has to hit it over the net. Rinse, repeat. I've seen Koreans playing it before but this was my first time... and it's harder than it looks. But these Koreans will set it, up by the net. Just like in volleyball. Then... well, you kinda have to see it, but they do this taekwondo crazy spinning flying kicks to spike the damn ball. Also just like volleyball, but way freakin cooler. I didn't really try to get into all that noise, since half the point for us was trying not to hurt ourselves, but I'll keep practicing, you know... in case there's some horrible genetic disease here and I have to end up representing Korea at the Asia Games in volleysoccertennis ball.
And, finally -- went back to work today. Had 2 pretty good lessons, after school trying to put into practice the things I learned at orientation. I know, that whole sentence had the potential for sarcasm, I'm noticing. But that's totally not the case -- I really did learn shit, and then use it.
After work, Mi Sun and Mi Jin and I went shopping for the 2nd course of our dinner extravaganza. This time it was Mi Sun's turn, and she opted for the one thing she knows how to cook, apparently: bulgogi! Pronounced bool-go-ghee (rhymes with key, ya see?). It's thinly sliced Korean beef, cooked with a certain type of mushroom, and onion and bulgogi sauce, simmered and served with rice, or you can wrap it in lettuce leaves, which are naturally the two main ways to eat most meats here. Anyway, it was freakin good... we had kimchi with it (of course), and then after we had eaten quite a bit of bulgogi on lettuce, added the rest of the rice to the pan and mixed it all together, giving us this nice saucy rice-y beefy desert. Koreans aren't big on desert foods (sweet ones, I mean) but if you let them throw rice or noodles onto a skillet of meat you've got yourself a solid end to a Korean meal. Plus we bought some traditional Korean drink to go with it -- Makeorri, I think, is the name. It's different... I'm not even sure how to go about explaining the different tastes involved with this thing. A little sweet, a little tangy, a little starchy, I wanna say... and it makes you feel kinda warm and fuzzy. Strange, but not bad. I'll give it a C+. Now, Mi Sun's cooking, on the other hand... she gets an A! Cause A is for Awesome. Next time it's Mi Jin's turn, and I'm excited already!
And that's where the other shoe drops. Off my foot. And then the bed. And then, in an ideal world, it jumps up, runs over and hits the light switch so I don't have to move before I can crash. That's telekinesis, Kyle...
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