twangtown meets korea

Tower this

2008-11-03T18:01:00.001-08:00

So for those of you who may be wondering why there isn't a post here anymore don't worry. Check this one out: www.towerthis.blogspot.com

have fun

Update on life (while sitting in a Japan airport)

2008-09-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

So at this time I sit in an airport in Tokyo (or in the BFE part of it called Narita) to update you all about my newest happenings. September 3rd of course was my last day at Kid's College. I got to go to Thailand for a week right after the last day and it was wonderful. Bangkok was really cool for a big city. The people were great. Foreigners are also accepted really well by everybody too. I was amazed at how many interracial couples there were.

You do have to be aware of a few minor dangers along the way though in Bangkok. People try to rip you off with a super expensive taxi-ride or perhaps they try to take your money. I kept my eyes open the whole time. It doesn't hurt being 6'2 and 200 lbs though either. I stayed in a wonderful new hotel in Bangkok with some really good management. The security man was probably the coolest of all though. He would stand up and announce "good evening sir", even if he had just seen me five minutes before and done the same thing then.

Bangkok lasted from Thursday- Monday and then on Monday afternoon it was on to Phuket. Phuket was beautiful, but the weather was pretty rough. I hadn't seen that much rain in a four day period in a long time. I somehow still managed to get sunburned though on the first few days. I enjoyed the hotel in Phuket more than anything. It was nice and relaxing, but far away from everything else in the town. Transportation in Bangkok was so much cheaper than it was in Phuket. I did get to ride an elephant for an hour and that was a wonderful experience.

To finish my last weekend in Korea, Jenny showed up to greet me at the airport on Friday morning. I got to take a red-eye flight from Bangkok back to Seoul, which was kind of nice. I went with Jenny to the school for a few minutes, and was persuaded to teach about four or five classes that day. There were some complicated things going on at the 'ole Kid's College so I gladly gave them a good five hours of my time. I was pretty beat by the end of the day.

The mom's of some of my little ones took myself and Mary out for dinner though. Mary was brought over from TX, to take my place and teach the little ones in Saturn class. We went out with Gracie, Scarlett, Nora, and Rhett along with their moms. It was a very interesting time. It got more interesting when the mom's suggested we go to Beer Cabin. We all drank and drank and ate lots of fried foods for about an hour or so. It was a really fun time and I almost cried when I had to give the kids one last hug goodbye.

Saturday and Sunday were very unexciting, due to the Cheosok Holiday (Korea's Thanksgiving). Jenny and I did meet her friend Kathryn for lunch on Sunday. Kathryn has spent a lot of her time in LA during her life. She shares dual-citizenship in both countries. She was fun to be around, but just pegged me and pegged me with questions, then later told Jenny that I really loved myself.

Monday, was a slow day for us. We just let the day go by as slowly as possible. I enjoyed some of my last Korean dishes for a while, and pulled gobs of money from the ATM to bring back with me to the states. Jenny managed to keep her composure, although she cried a few times. I explained to her repeatedly that I wasn't dying, going to jail or rehab, and that she would see me soon. This just made her laugh, and she probably thought it was stupid that I say such things.

Anyway, right now I am sitting in an airport in Narita, Japan with four more hours to go until I depart for Dallas, TX. After a short layover in Dallas, I will proceed on to make my way to Nashvegas.

pictures from my last night as a Kid's College teacher

2008-09-06T09:52:00.001-07:00

Dalk Galbi !!

With some of my first students

Dan, CJ, Kitt, Myself and Kelly

Yes, that is me !!

My last group of adult students

The Teaching is over

2008-09-06T09:36:00.000-07:00

So about three days ago, I ended my contract at Kid's College. Actually, I should say that I finished my contract. It wasn't much of a sad for me at all, but I learn some things that pissed me off on my last day.

Number one. I tried to explain on Tuesday (sep2) that it was my next to last day teaching my little ones. They didn't understand, which was totally cool. They have a new teacher now named Ms. Mary Williams from Texas. Anyway, I told them again on Wednesday that it was my last day and that I would buy them lunch. They didn't understand again. I told Yoon that I told the kids, and she said the parents did not know. So this wonderful boss of mine (or lady that just pays me every month) named Mrs. Lee did not bother telling the parents that Mr. Tower was leaving.

I am not sure how the parents felt, but from what I could sense, it was not good. Poor Scarlett did everything she could to not cry in class Wednesday. I know that she wasn't happy though. Nora's mom came and brought me two extremely nice gifts after Yoon teacher made a number of phone calls on Wednesday morning. I knew something was not good, when her mom sat in Mrs. Lee's office for almost thirty minutes or so waiting to speak with the lady. Then Scarlett's mom came in to have a conference as well. So what happened?

John and Mrs. Lee as organized as they are, had Flora type up a letter explaining that Mr. Tower would no longer be the teacher, and that he was leaving Korea on September 16th. I did get a message that the parents wanted to take me out for a nice meal before I leave the country, which is very meaningful to me.

Number 2. So Koreans freak out over the smallest things in the world. So on Wednesday there were reports of demonstrations and protests and blah blah blah about this political crisis in Thailand. The next day I was supposed to fly into Thailand. Well, Jenny freaks out, (mostly because Koreans are weird like that)and gets pissed off at me because I keep telling her that I will still go. The Korean foreign counsel was urging people not to go either. Yoon was telling me that flights were cancelled and that Koreans could not leave Thailand that they were stuck in the country. So what did I do? I got on our wonderful US Embassy's website in Bangkok, which just said be careful and don't go near areas of demonstrations. Since we pretty much rule the world (yeah, I said America rules) I would go with what my people tell me instead of what Koreans tell me.

I mean we suffered terrorist attacks, hurricanes, and many other catastrophies that a country like Korea could only dream of going through.

Back to the rest of my classes on my last day. The afternoon classes went by smoothly. I enjoyed teaching my MRI-K kids. Really all I did was watch Mary teach them first, and then I bought them ice cream. Christy's mom (who works at the school), even bought me a t-shirt, which was very nice of her. A few of my AB2 students got me gifts on Monday. Andy, Bill, and Willy had all brought gifts to class, which surprised me a lot.

After signing away my last pay stubs, I introduced my adult class to Dan. Dan took over for me, and our class only lasted until 8:50, since we were all going out for dinner. John knocked on the door and said to just leave early and enjoy dinner with my students . It was quite a fun time. Kitt, CJ, Dan, and I along with Jenny and our adult students ate Dalk Galbi. It was awesome.

My last full week at Kid's College

2008-09-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

So last week was the last full week of my teaching at Kid's College. There were some ups and downs to that week for sure. It started on Tuesday with our weekly staff meeting. We explained to John, our manager that we didn't feel very appreciated by Mrs. Lee. We always see other schools treat their new teachers to dinner, and feel that we don't even get a thank you from the lady for bustin' our asses.

The main reason we were upset was because we don't hear a thank you, or even get a smile from her most of the time. Then we explained to John that he is very unprofessional when it comes to the way he determines our schedules every week. Of course the man got on the defensive and stated that he is only human, and sometimes he can't do everything.

On Tuesday after the meeting Kitt stated that "shit hit the fan". That's a nice way to put it. Mrs. Lee evidently found out that we complained about her and didn't like one bit. On Wednesday we had a "special lunch meeting". Kira, one of my little ones had a birthday party, so of course the meeting started a little late. The meeting pretty much stated how badly John did not understand what we said the previous night. Mrs. Lee almost told us everything including that we were owned by her. She said we have such a wonderful life making money for her, and that she did at one time think that we were at the one of the best schools in Korea. So here's what happened: John told Mrs. Lee we were upset because we didn't get dinner as often as we should. That's mostly wrong. We were upset because we don't feel appreciated.

So Wednesday passed somewhat normally with some of us pissed off about some things for the rest of the day. On Thursday, I can of told John what I thought, though it was a small thing. I had a very easy afternoon, but some of my co-workers had to work five straight classes. I told him it was completely unfair for two of the girls to have to work like that. He said it would be better for the ladies on Friday.

Friday kind of sucked because Mrs. Lee and John let Kitt leave and go to the hospital because he got sick from working out at the gym. Sometimes Mr. Kitt is a big baby, and can't gather up the energy to want to work. We did have a field trip with the little ones though to a place called Jungle Land. Jungle Land is basically a big version of McDonald's play land. It was fun but tiring. Things got warm at times especially for us big people running and playing with the children. Walker's mom made me a wonderful lunch. He told some of the Koreans that he wanted to go to America with me, which was kind of cute.

Field Trip and Butterfingers Pancakes

2008-08-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

My week last week was nothing really great to write about. I really got through the week really well, by just thinking about how many days were left until I left for Thailand. I did happen to get my flight information for my return trip back home, which was nice.

As for the weekend, it was good but simple. On Saturday, we all woke up early to be at the school for a field trip. The field trip wasn't really a field trip. It was a cooking class. Dan was in charge of moderating it. So the idea was to teach some of our Summer Special class students how to make different spaghetti sauces. It was very unorganized, courtesy of our Korean staff(our mostly our boss, John).

The kids seemed to enjoy just watching the food bubble on the little burners. We had to use burners (like you would use at a campsite) because many kitches in Korea don't have stove burners. This was even a kitchen in a local high school outside of our city, where we were cooking. Another great thing was the fact that there wasn't any sort of hot water in the kitchen. I find it hard to believe that many people will wash dishes without hot water, but it happens in Korea.

The three spaghetti sauces that were tomato sauce, garlic sauce, and some kind of tuna sauce, that Dan had never really made. The kids really just wanted to cut stuff up and eat the food more than anything.

When the cooking was over, the Koreans left us with the children to take outside and entertain on the soccer fields at this high school. Jenny, Claire, Mrs. Lee and one of the students stayed back and cleaned everything. It sucked for Jenny because she doesn't get paid for extra things such as these little trips or Saturdays at work.

Playing with the kids was fun. I carried many of them on my shoulders and came close to seriously injuring some of them too. They turned out to not be hurt, which was good. We got back at 2:30. Jenny and I came back to the apartment and took the rest of the day easy. Dinner was dalk galbi, which always tears my stomach up (but I have still technically not gotten sick in this country), and watching Korea beat Cuba to win the gold in baseball. After dinner Jenny and I watched Wall-E on dvd. It was a really cute movie, with some great animation.

On Sunday, I met up with Jenny at a subway stop around 2pm. While I was waiting for her, I somehow ran into one of my old adult students. Running into someone you know in Seoul, Korea is like running into someone you know from the other side of the world, almost. It was real nice to see him, and he was excited too. He explained to me that he was accepted into a very prestigious Korean university.

When I met up with Jenny, our intentions were to eat at a place called Butterfinger Pancakes. It is a small western-style restaurant in the Apgujeoung area, which is famous for being the most expensive place in Seoul to live. We didn't manage to find the place very easily. First of all, all I knew from reading other blogs was to take a certain exit outside the subway station and go towards a Burger King. However, we went to the wrong BK. So we went to a PC Bong (places where Koreans always play their computer games when they are skipping school. Or a place to use the internet when you need to find your way somewhere.)

Proof that there is good, but expensive breakfast food in Korea

(courtesy of Google, because I don't take that fancy camera everywhere)

We did find the right location, after a short taxi ride and a little bit of walking. Thankfully I have a Korean girlfriend, so she called and got directions. The wait was terrible, because the place is small for its popularity. We waited almost 45 minutes and were maybe number four on the list when we got there. The food was good once we got it. At least the food doesn't take as long as the wait.

We ate Banana nut pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. This reminded me of a fancy IHOP, with everything being healthier than normal. It even tasted healthy too.

When the meal was finally over, we went for a walk and found Rodeo street. This is supposed to be patterned after Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The stores really weren't all that expensive though. Jenny found me a pair of camoflauge flip-flops for about twenty bucks. There were a few Porsches and even a Ferrari in the area, where we were walking.

After Rodeo Street, we just walked the area and ended up at this large complex known as Coex. We just walked around mostly and did some people-watching. We were pretty worn out from too much walking and window shopping though, that we ended the evening quite early, after a short dinner.

Sunday morning at the beach (Sockcho 3 of 3)

2008-08-24T06:57:00.000-07:00

Jenny and I at a pier by the beach

Day 3 was short, but still enjoyable. Jenny and I woke up to find ourselves eating breakfast downstairs in the kitchen all alone. It was nice and peaceful, but the day belonged to my journeying to the beach. At 10 am we caught a bus ride to the Sockcho beach area. The water was crystal clear and the Koreans were all out with long sleeves which was funny to see. Koreans think that the sun is extremely dangerous so they go outside with umbrellas, visors, and anything else that would keep the sun from touching their skin. It's so amusing. Thankfully my lady isn't like that though.

Jenny (the water was a little cool for her)

The beach was nice, but Jenny was getting a little warm. I let her sit at a park alone few minutes, so I could play in the water. She took numerous pictures of the area which was very nice of her to do. For lunch we ate along this boardwalk area near the beach and had some wonderful seafood. I was even lucky enough to catch Michael Phelps win gold medal number eight. The owner of the restaurant where we ate pulled the race up on his computer so I didn't have to walk very far inside to watch it. It was pretty cool to finally watch one of the races live.

Yes, I was excited to see water

Lunch !!

The rest of the day just consisting of a five hour bus ride back to Seoul. Most of the bus ride just consisted of frequent naps for the lady and myself. Overall the trip was wonderful, despite the rough Friday travel, and the rain that showed itself a little too much. Jenny and I did very well traveling together, which was very good for us.

Hostel where we stayed

Day 2 in Sockcho

2008-08-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

Day 2 in Sockcho was a pleasant and somewhat rainy one. Jenny and I got a good night's rest, adn woke up in time for breakfast downstairs. The breakfast consisted of some cereal, egg whites, and toast. Perfect for me. I was pretty happy about it.

Next on the agenda was a beautiful national park. This is known as Mt. Seorakasan. The weather was not so great, but at random times things would clear up for a few minutes. First, Jenny and I wanted to take a cable car to the top of one peak, but the wait was about 90 minutes. Instead, we hiked for a little while, and then had lunch in another part of the park. The lunch was light, but it was still good.

Mt. Seorak

At Ground level of the park

The cable car was a nice ride. Once we got off the cable car we made a wonderful hike near the top of the mountain. If it didn't rain, then we would have gone to the very peak. At the top is a Korean flag, which is probably representative of the Olympic spirit that the Koreans have right now. There are many, many flags around the cities and towns here. They will spend days watching the same person win the same medal too.
Jenny and I at the top of Mt. Seorak
Anyway, back to this trip (because I get too lazy to type about it). When the fun time was over at Mt. Seorak, we headed over to a resort complex to receive our tickets to this place called Waterpia. We then headed back into town and rested for a little bit, before our night adventure at Waterpia.

Waterpia is a somewhat overpriced (overpriced if you don't have a certain bank card, or discount card; Koreans are crazy about discount cards) waterpark in the Sockcho area. It was a very interesting experience though. This place has wave pools, both inside and out, with beach settings on the outside. It also has warm waters spas in both of the indoor buildings too. Another aspect of the outdoors was the many themed spas and saunas too. That was pretty impressive. It was really cool sitting in the spas. Jenny and I enjoyed that part the most, because it was very relaxing.

Waterpia on the inside

Jenny and I before swimming

The interesting thing about this waterpark were some of the rules. For instance, nobody, I mean nobody can go swimming with out a cap on their heads. This means you have to wear a swimming cap, baseball cap, bandana, or anything with the sole purpose of keeping your hair from touching the water where people swim. You also have to wear a life vest, or have a tube if you go past a certain part of the wave pools too.

just being cool

There were some other cool things too. For instance, you get this key that you have to wrap around your wrist, or your feet. The key is to your clothes locker in the changing room. The key is also used buy or rent things too. So when I got our dinner (which consisted of good BBQ sandwiches) my key was scanned with the prices of our meal. At the end of the night my key was scanned and I paid for all of the food that we ate. The buses don't run late in this town, so we took a short taxi ride back to our hostel.

Sockcho (1 of 3)

2008-08-20T07:59:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend, Jenny and I took a little vacation together. In Korean culture boyfriend and girlfriend don't take little trips together though. So when Jenny and I boarded a very nice bus for our journey to Sockcho (a very beautiful town), she informed me that her mom thought we were taking a group trip with other teachers.

Yes, my girl who is the sweetest that I know lied about something. Shhhhh !!! Don't tell anyone please !!

Back to the post for now. We boarded our bus at 10:30 am, for what should have been a four-five hour bus ride. Well, there was a few problems. First of all, Koreans don't ever travel unless there is a holiday weekend. That's because taking off work when it's not a holiday is almost forbidden. I call that crazy !!! So with all that, you will have lots of traffic with a holiday weekend. Then the torrential downpour that was off and on did not help the cause at all.

Jenny and I did get a few naps in, by the time our nine hour bus ride had ended. I took some generic Dramamine, to help me sleep. I felt bad for the bus driver, because we only got to stop twice. Jenny and I arrived at the bus station in Sockcho (that looks like what you would think a bus station looks like) at 7:30, hungry and eager to find our lodging.

The man from our hostel met us outside the station. He was a young guy who had moved to Sockcho from Seoul. He was really cool, and walked us over to where we were staying. We got to check out the place and see our small room. The place was hidden in an alley right by one of the ports in Sockcho. This port was mainly a fishing area, but it was still enjoyable for a late night walk.

Once we got settled in, we found a place to eat some pork, that wasn't all that great. Plus, the lady running the show a slight case of the ADD. We went for a walk after dinner, and just got familiar with the area where we were staying. We did manage to catch up on some of the Olympics that night for a little bit too.

The short week in review

2008-08-17T05:57:00.001-07:00

The work week was a short one, but it was a tough one. I have been using multiple countdowns as ways to stay optimistic about teaching this month. Things have gotten difficult at times, but I have to realize that Thailand is getting closer and closer.

I don't really know what to say besides the fact that our Summer School curriculum sucks. In Korea kids go to hagwons or schools even on their summer breaks. In other words the lives of young children in Korea sucks. At least they are eating every day though (even if it is kimchi and rice).

I was informed that my plane ticket to the states will be bought very soon. Now it seems that I won't be home until September 16th. The few days before belongs to the Korean Thanksgiving holiday, so flights are too expensive right after I return from Thailand.

There are only 13 days left of teaching here, and that's an exciting fact.

Celebrating 100 days !!

2008-08-12T07:05:00.000-07:00

Jenny and I listening to some music

So in Korea when it comes to relationships, there are these random special days that the women and sometimes men love to celebrate. Last Friday, 8/8/08 (ironic enough) was 100 days for Jenny and I. Usually the couple buys each other something similar to a promise ring. We settled on small gifts for each other instead. I tried to explain that I didn't deserve anything.

That idea was largely ignored by her buying me a beautiful leather Calvin Klein wallet. She got a pretty Jade ring from China. She loved it, and the other Koreans at work said it was very pretty. Many times the couples will celebrate and all that jazz, but we just kind of hung out at the apartment and settled for going out Saturday afternoon instead.

Jenny shocked that I am taking a picture

We went to this place called Seoul Forrest, which was supposed to be patterned after Central Park. At the subway station there was a terrible downpour. For some reason all the rain just decided to stop a few minutes after we bought a big umbrella to shield ourselves with. It's much, much smaller, and not quite as cool as Central Park. We did enjoy it a good bit though. We rented this two person bike, and it was interesting trying to turn and pedal that thing. I asked Jenny to just hang out while I steered it for most of the time. For some reason Koreans are obsessed with having deer fenced in little areas. I think we should eat deer personally.

Tough guy on a little bike

Toward the end of the night we got to watch some Korean bands perform at the park. They were interesting to listen to and we even heard "Ra Ra Bamba". Yes, many Koreans have this problem where either their R's are like L's are the other way around. It was very funny to hear these guys singing that way.
On a slide making many kids upset !!

The rest of the weekend was pretty bland. Sunday morning was a big time, because we had a few Canadian friends at the apartment to watch UFC. The fights were great and we had a great time together as well. Jenny came over and hung out with me a little while later which was enjoyable as always.

Close to sunset

Summer Special (my ass)

2008-08-11T07:04:00.000-07:00

So from August 4 until August 22 we have what is known as Summer Special classes. This means that the kids who are out of school for a few weeks spend their free time learning at this pace that is unheard of for them. These kids are between 8-15, and we alternate teaching them in between the times that we teach our kindergarten classes. This really sucks. One reason for the sucking part, is that the kids don't understand many of these concepts and I have only 45 minutes at the most to explain.

On Mondays and Fridays I am teaching about ten hours worth of classes during this time frame. That means that I get an hour break and lunch time for myself between 10 am - 9pm. It's rough, but that last paycheck will be good. Last week was interesting because I also received two new kindergarten students. One is smart but acts like she could be autistic at times, and the other is just off in her one little world. So my kindergarten class is now six girls and two boys.

Last week was rough, but those 44 hours were nice. I was so tired and our building is so hot (because Koreans believe that when it's hot outside the air conditioning gets worse), that working in the afternoons is draining. I almost had a dizzy spell last Thursday at work, but I did get to sleep ten hours or so on Thursday night which was good.

China Rocked !! part 4 (THE WALL)

2008-08-09T07:12:00.000-07:00

A beautiful line of verse has twelve feet, and two wings.
Jules Renard

Andy and Lisa at the Forbidden City

So Day four (Saturday) was one heck of a time. It was a tiring one, because of course we had to wake up early. This time though, we only had one other person on the tour with us. We had Dave, a gentleman from Canada who was a really good guy. We started off our tour with Tiannenmen Square, which was very impressive. It was closed off, because of a parade later on that night, but it was nice to see it up close too.

Yours Truly F.C.

Next on the agenda was the Forbidden City. This place was marvelous. It did seem to be quite hot though during the walk. We started our tour so early that we were almost finished there before 10 am. Our guide Thomas, was very informative and would stop at each important area and give us as much info as possible about the different places inside the Forbidden City. I was already imagining what lunch would be like, but first we were in the van on the to The Great Wall.

Group shot before the Wall

The Wall

Lunch would be before The Wall, but we were at least on the road headed in that direction. Since the drive would take a while, I decided to spend my time studying my Korean. Our next stop was a very popular Jade factory. They spend maybe twenty minutes explaining how the jade is made. We also got to see the different medals and how jade is used in them for the Olympics. That was pretty cool to see. After that is the time where we spend money on the jade I was waiting for this place, because I had to find Jenny's 100 day gift (I'll fill you in soon) and souvenir. I got some good deals especially since the dollar was pretty strong that week.

Lisa and Jordan at the Wall (note: Jordan might be one of the youngest American kids to ever climb The Wall, via four methods Tower's back, walking, his Mom's arms, and Andy's back.

Thomas, our guide took us down the road in the bus to a restaurant to eat a fatty little lunch. The meal was good, but very greasy of course. Outside the restaurant was a place where one could spend more money, but I was alone in the non-spender department there.

There was only one more destination left for the trip: The Wall. I could go on and on about how I carried Jordan on my back for a long part of it. Or I could complain about the heat. Or I could say that it was just simply amazing. One of the most dazzling beauties I have ever seen in my life. Very, very impressive.

Andy at the Wall posing like always

The walk was a little rough, and I didn't believe that there were enough fluids to save me at the end, but I made it. I did the Wall. Or the Wall did me !! Regardless I was there. That pretty much sums up our trip. Yeah, we ate a few more meals maybe, but we really didn't leave the hotel area after the tour on Saturday.

Relaxing at The Wall after climbing it

Group shot with Thomas the Tour Guide at the end of the day

The flight home did happen to be a little rough, because there was so much traffic on the runway. We sat on the plane for 90 minutes before we would get to take off. Jenny had to wait at the airport for me for probably 90 minutes. She didn't seem to disappointed though, once she saw my face.

China Rocked !! part 3

2008-08-08T07:44:00.000-07:00

Walter Benjamin:"Counsel woven into the fabric of real life is wisdom."

I hope to finish this sometime soon. Friday of the trip to China was relatively slow. We woke up late compared to Thursday and Saturday. Breakfast wasn't even finished until 10:30, and that was a relief. When we finished we got in a taxi with a very rude Chinese man. He was upset because Jordan put his footprints on his damn seat covers. The guy was 100% asshole, if wasn't 100% anything else in my mind. We got dropped off away from where we wanted to be, but that was ok. We walked over to a shopping mall, where Andy dropped a few dimes on some fancy designer shirt and then I made an exchange for Lisa at a bank so she could have more Chinese money.

Lunch was furnished by Hooters of Beijing. The women there went crazy over Jordan also. The food was actually kind of good. The wings and curly fries were especially good as well. Afterwards we went to a market called You Show, i think. I can very well be wrong, but it was quite the experience. All one does at this market is spend ten minutes bargaining Chinese folks down from 100 dollars to 20 dollars (or even less). It was very impressive watching Andy and Lisa bargain. A bunch of the clothes, and purses were all black market items too. It was kind of interesting.

We spent a few hours doing that, and I even picked up a few bargained souvenirs also. We took a taxi back to the hotel and just kind of took it easy at the hotel for a little bit. I went downstairs to the gym and worked out, while Andy and Lisa enjoyed dinner. When my workout was over, and went upstairs and took a shower and then walked out on the street for a little bit. My mission was to find a cheap massage parlor at the end of the evening.

First, I managed to get dinner. It was some kind of braised salmon with eggplant and a side of dumplings. The meal was good, but quite greasy (imagine that). Next, I searched the area for a few minutes and managed to find the place next to our hotel to get my massage. I got a foot massage for ten bucks (30 min), and full body massage for less than 15 bucks (45 min). It was pretty nice and relaxing to say the least.

China Rocked !! part 2

2008-08-06T07:39:00.000-07:00

So now we are on to day two of the China trip.

Thursday July 31. We were awake at 7:30 am and ready for our big day of tours. Our tour guide (I already forgot her name) called and said that she would be running behind about twenty minutes. We didn't mind, even though we thought we had to rush through our wonderful "western style" breakfast downstairs.

The Gray Line tour bus picked us up at 8:20 and we were on our way to the Panda Garden portion of the Beijing Zoo. Our tour group consisted of two ladies from Texas, a history teacher from Indiana and a couple from Manchester, England. Pretty much all we did was view some pandas but they were pretty cute. I bought a tie for like five bucks, and took a bunch of pictures of the cute little guys.

The next part of the tour took us to a silk factory. It really was kind of interesting. They did show us how silk was made from these silkworms and their pupas ( I think). Then of course the main point for taking you there is so you will buy lots of silk sheets and cool stuff for your house. Well, I didn't get sucked into it, but Lisa and Andy definitely did. The exchange rate worked out pretty well for them though.

After spending a little too much time at the silk place, we went to the Summer Palace. This was probably one of the biggest things to me. The landscape was amazing, and it was a very sunny day. I had Jordan on my back with this "daddle " that Lisa's friend bought for her. It was a convenient was of carrying the little guy around. We even rode around in a dragon boat. Honestly, I don't have enough space on this blog to post all the pictures I took, but telling you about it just doesn't help.

Lunch was finally coming next though. The lunch was wonderful. I pigged out, because I was very hungry from all the heat and the lack of fluids in the outdoors. The only problem with the Chinese food is that it can make one fat or unhealthy quite quickly. They use plenty of oil and grease when they cook.

The next part of the tour took us to another damn place to spend money. It was a oyster pearl factory, which wasn't all that interesting. The sales people had no personality, and one of the women running the show nearly kidnapped Jordan. The pearls were cool to look at, but not cool enough to buy for my dear Jenny !!

Next and the last part of the tour took us to the Lama Temple. This place was nice, and a little too Buddhist for me. They do happen to have the biggest Buddha in the world. Guinness Book of World Records even has a plaque dedicated to it. We did get a little bit of inconsistent rain during this part of the tour. The interesting part of the Lama Temple was seeing the big things (whatever they are) of incense that were burned everywhere.

Our first tour of the trip ended Thursday around 4 pm or so. I even tried to take another nap, but Jordan's energy wasn't allowing me to do so. I did eventually fall asleep, once Lisa gave him a bath. When I woke up, I went to the downstairs part of the hotel and got in a good workout. Andy ended up going out and socializing with folks, while Lisa and I went to Sizzler and enjoyed the salad bar for 7 or 8 bucks each. We walked around and found a cheap, cheap convenience store and just took it easy for the night.

China Rocked !! part 1

2008-08-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

Jean Giraudoux:"Only the mediocre are always at their best."

So China was awesome to put it into simple words.

Day 1 (Wednesday, July 30th)

The first day was pretty bland. We woke up early ( that is Andy, Lisa, Jordan and I) and made it to Incheon airport around 7:40 to catch our 9:45 flight to Beijing. The flight was wonderful. There was even a nice lunch on the flight, which lasted maybe an hour plus at the most. There was plenty of space for us to lay out, since the flight was on a Wednesday. We arrived in Beijing at 10:45 am China time. We had to go through the usual international flight stuff when we arrived too. Two of the Olympic mascots were at the airport greeting people, so we had to get pictures of them and Jordan together.

Once we got our taxi to the hotel, it was lazy time for me. The hotel was a Holiday Inn in the downtown area of Beijing. It seemed to be a really nice hotel with a workout area and a sauna. I decided to get in a nice two hour nap in the afternoon, because I didn't sleep much the night before. Honestly I had planned to not do much since two of our days were going to be packed with day-long tours.

In the evening, we managed to go out to a pretty good duck restaurant. The duck wasn't all that great, but between three of us, it was ten bucks each. The sides were great though. The soup which I didn't know the name of was wonderful as was the dish with eggs. This was our most expensive meal of the week, I think. It cost maybe 16 bucks US for each of us. After dinner we just took a walk around the area and managed to catch a taxi back to our hotel. The taxi driver kind of got lost and even took a big circle around the area once. Then again the ride was only 3 bucks total, so that wasn't a bad thing.

Another month is over

2008-07-29T07:35:00.000-07:00

Well, July isn't officially over yet, but in terms of teaching it was officially over at 6:30 this evening. I am pretty excited to say that I only have 22 more days of teaching left to go here. First things first though. Tomorrow, I will take off for a five day journey to Beijing. This is very exciting, because I haven't been outside of Korea since I left the states.

Now for the week since I last posted. Not much has really gone on lately. The rain went off and on for at least ten days in a row. It did stop Sunday morning. Friday afternoon I attempted to walk with a fifteen pound box over to the post office. Carrying the box wasn't the problem, but carrying the damn box in the rain sure was a problem though. I paid 24 bucks to send the package via ground, which means it will arrive in 6-10 weeks back in the states. My closet here looks very close to empty already, which I love to see.

Things are still going great with Jenny also. We had a fun evening in Insadong on Saturday and spent our Sunday in the Bucheon area. Bucheon or however it is spelled is a cool city outside of Seoul. We went to the bus terminal to buy tickets for our upcoming journey to Sockho, which is a very famous area for its national park and beach. Sunday afternoon was spent taking a two hour nap, which was very much needed.

Monday was a wonderful day, because we had no Kindergarten classes. That was the same today. Monday I taught at 4:30, 5:30, and 7:30 which was very pleasant. I took another box to the post office with all of my free time, and really didn't accomplish anything at work during the day. Today(Tuesday) was spent accomplishing quite a bit though. It was nice to get a lot of work done, since next week will be the start of our Summer Special classes (aka waste of money, im my opinion). These classes are taught during our Kindergarten times for three weeks, because the older students don't spend their time at home for their summer vacation in Korea. Instead they spend it learning. How exciting !!

Anyway, that's it for now. I will take off for Beijing in about ten hours, and may leave updates on here, but it is highly unlikely. I will be sure to leave a report on here as soon as I can on Sunday though.

Til' then!!

Damn This Rain !!

2008-07-23T07:38:00.000-07:00

Dale Carnegie:"Success is getting what you want. Happiness is wanting what you get."

So in the great country of Korea we experience a tremendous amount of rain, and some wonderful humid weather. The humid thing is also known as sarcasm by the way. It gets so bad that I can't fall asleep very easily at night. You see in Korea apartments don't have the whole central heating and air thing like we do back in the USA. It's frustrating because I even slept on the living room floor two nights in a row last week by the box known as our AC !!

Saturday was fun, though it rained terribly all day. I met with a gentleman named Nick, who happens to be the son in law of Hank and Judy from my church back in Twangtown, (Nashville) TN. I had never met Nick before, but Hank asked if I had a day to maybe show him around and of course I obliged to do so. The only problem is that in Korea most of the good stuff to see is outdoors. So I quickly had an alternative prepared in case of the rain: The War Museum (or whatever its official name is).

I had to wake up at 7:30, because I emailed Nick to say that I would meet him at his hotel at 9:30 for a quick breakfast before we left for the city. So I found the hotel with a slight bit of ease and noticed him holding some hand sanitizer that I requested his wife get for my dear Jenny. We got on the elevator and went to the 19th floor of the Hilton, where he was staying. Nick had already enjoyed his breakfast so I took part in my first non-McDonald's Western style breakfast. I didn't eat anything but eggs with ketchup, bacon and a banana, but the bacon was a pivotal actor in making my day a good one.

From the hotel we got a cab to the War Museum in the downpour. I had already seen the museum once, but enjoyed it even more the second time, because there were some things that I didn't previously see. We spent a few hours there, and then got a taxi to Itaewon, where we had lunch at Gecko's. Nick graciously treated me to a great lunch courtesy of the United States Government (rock and roll baby!!).

The lunch was scrumptious Steak and Guinnes Pie with mashed 'taters. Nick loves cigars, so we both smoked Cubans (because it is Korea and not America) and drink some good beer too. When lunch was over, we walked around Itaewon and I got to be entertained by Nick wheelin' and dealin' with some of the shop owners. He wanted to buy some custom-made shirts and have them shipped back to the states. We went back and forth to one man's shop a few times, but he did give Nick a wonderful deal on some nice shirts with embroidered cuffs. It was great fun to watch more than anything.

The day ended with me going back to Gimpo in the rain a little early. Tourism in the rain is not exciting when there's a typhoon in a neighboring country. So I met up with Jenny, since she had to spend her Saturday afternoon teaching at the school. She only has to do it once a month, but it's not a very exciting thing to her.

We did spend part of our evening watching Forrest Gump which was fun !! Jenny loves that movie, and who doesn't. It was a nice and relaxing weekend all around. On Sunday I really didn't leave the apartment but to eat two meals. It rained pretty DAMN hard when I was going to get my dinner from ISAAC Toast on Sunday night. I was not very excited about.

As of this point (Wednesday night), I still have not had that "meeting" with John Mrs. Lee. It was supposed to be last Thursday or Friday, or wait this Monday. The point is, is that it hasn't occurred, and that's fine with me. Rachel returned safely a few days ago, so we are all glad to have an hour or two less of work in the afternoon. Walker, my smallest of students and the youngest in the whole school turned Korean age 4 yesterday. That means his American age is finally three. To me it still means he needs help from a Korean helper to use the bathroom every day.

Last but not least, in less than a week now, I will be in China.

Ten days until China !!

2008-07-19T23:06:00.000-07:00

Abu Bakr:"Knowledge is the life of the mind."

So I have six more working days this month. That's pretty nice.

Now for a week in review: There really wasn't anything exciting at work this week. There are a few notes to add here though. Andy and Arabeth both resigned contracts to come back and work another year this week. Walker my little baby got his ass tore up by Miss Lee for writing on the table. She didn't touch him, but she did manage to call the little guy an idiot a few times. My AB2 class has really turned themselves around quite a bit these days. They all managed to do their homework on Wednesday, and almost all of them did it on Friday. The main point is that they have become more and more respectful to me too.

My MRI K class is getting much better at reading too. Some of them don't read good at all, but they are definitely making some good progress. The other classes that I am teaching are Rachel's classes, but I am still enjoying teaching them. When I teach more and more classes, I also get paid more money too. That helps when I am traveling a little bit these days.

The adult class I teach is awesome again. It's mostly women with either one or two men as well. One of the women loves to ask all kinds of personal questions which I really don't mind too much. She made me dinner on Wednesday night of this week, which Kitt and I tore up in a matter of minutes. They enjoy learning and actually ask me quite a few questions, which is pretty important too me.

One other thing I should mention was something that didn't happen. John chased me down after he and Mrs. Lee had a "talk" with Arabeth about coming back. He said "Mrs. Lee and I want to have a talk with you tomorrow". Well tomorrow was supposed to be Thursday, which turned into Friday and now might be Monday for all that I know. The talk has to do with me coming back and teaching again in a few months.

Meeting the Family (sort of)

2008-07-13T16:36:00.000-07:00

Robert Bulwer-Lytton:"Talent does what it can; genius does what it must."

I have almost given up writing about my weeks at the school. We do have a new teacher named Dan, who is from around the Boston area. He seems to be a pretty decent yank though. He's been teaching Rachel's class until she gets back next week. He took over my evening AB4 class which gives me some time before my adult class gets started in the evenings too. The guys enjoy having someone else around who enjoys drinking too.

The week did start with us watching another UFC fight. Rampage Jackson lost his light heavyweight title to Forrest Griffin. Rampage was the Sportsman of the Year for the Commercial Appeal newspaper last year. Last weekend I stayed in Gimpo and really did not do anything. Jenny and I aggreed that we both needed some PT (personal time) and so getting rest was very nice.

As for this past weekend, I did have some excitement. My new camera came in from Best Buy, which was very exciting. I got a Sony alpha 200, which is a DSLR with 10.2 MP. I have to spend some time learning how to use it, before my upcoming trip to China. Receiving the camera even involved a weird situation that I won't discuss out of respect for my boy Andy. I did go to the clinic where Andy, Lisa, and Kitt get their weekly fat shots. My purpose was to get a body composition test done.

My weight was .2 kg high which is really good. According to the machine that I stood on, I have 72.7 kg of muscle on my body. That means that there is 160 lbs of muscle on me, while there is 36 lbs or less of fat I guess that's good. The lady that was giving me the test was under the impression that I wanted the shots, but I had to tell her a few times, that I just wanted to get the test. She was a little disappointed, but that's ok.

When we finished there, we went into Itaewon for a wonderful lunch. We ate a place called KRAZE BURGER. This place had the best burgers in Korea. For 10 bucks we got a draft beer, and a huge burger, that had fried egg, onion, bacon, cheese and a few other toppings. It was nice for me to have my one beer for the week, since my drinking level is very low these days. When lunch was over, I went on my own way to What the Book? to find a new muscle magazine for the apartment.

Next on the agenda was to meet Jenny at Yongsan at 4 pm. With my new camera in a box, along with hers, I was off to the station. I read my FLEX, while I waited for her. She arrived and was shocked to see her new pink Sony Cybershot camera. It's ten times easier to use than mine is, and it's cute for a girlish camera too. At 6 pm, we got on the subway for what seemed like an eternity to go meet her aunt and uncle. They live in an officetel, which is similar to a condo. It was very nice, a little small, but well maintained.

We talked for a little while, with Jenny doing the translating. After a little conversation we went to a wonderful galbi restaurant. The aunt and uncle just kept telling the lady to bring more and more food out. The food was excellent, and I am sure the meat came from a wonderful cow as well. So I am obsessed with some good meat sometimes and that's ok. Afterwards we went to the Nouribong (karaoke style room) and sang songs for about an hour. It was pretty fun and Jenny's uncle was quite entertaining.

The night was fun and her aunt and uncle seemed like very cool people. We left in the pouring rain back to the subway station at 10:15, for a long, long ride back into the city. I finally arrived at the Songjeong station around 11:45 or so. That meant that I was home at 12:15. I took my camera out of the box after carrying it around for almost ten hours to put it together. The battery didn't have any power, so I couldn't practice with it just yet.

Open House is over and I am past Ten Months

2008-07-06T06:26:00.000-07:00

Will Durant:"To say nothing, especially when speaking, is half the art of diplomacy."

On Thursday of this past week, I experienced my first open house. Technically speaking it was my second one, but my first that I actually taught through. So here's the deal: All the mom's came and sat against the walls of my room. The kids were in their usual places. The time was about 11 am. John gave a brief introduction since it was also the first time for my students and their parents. Mrs. Lee sat on one side of the room as well.

So my "performance" was about 25 or 30 minutes long. We started the open house with the kids standing up and singing "head and shoulders". Then we said "What is Today"?, "What is Yesterday"? and "What will tomorrow be"?. Walker was already crying his eyes out when head and shoulders began. So I really only had five participating, because one wouldn't move his lips in front of Mommy.

After the day stuff, we talk about the weather and feelings. Then the kids sing the days of the week, and the months of the year. Next, we talk about food, because that's our theme for July. The kids said "it is a fish", or "it is corn". Then I would say "Is it good or bad?" Then they would asnwer and I would give them a high five. Next, was alphabet stuff. We sang the ABCs first. Then I gave each kid two letters. For example, Nora would say F for fish, flower, five, frog, etc. Then we would go to the next person. Once each student did one letter, they would do another. We only did 12 letters since there was six kids.

When the alphabet stuff was over, we did numbers. In between each segment to keep their attention, I would have the kids sing a song. This time they sang "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star". For the numbers I would hold pencils and say "How many pencils are there?". The kids would then say "There are 3 pencils". When each kid did this once, we then played the number game. This consisted of counting to 20. First, Nora would say 1, Kira 2, Scarlett 3, and so on. It was practiced all the to 30, but one of the students got kind of silly and they all lost focus, so we stopped at 20.

The next and final thing was shapes. The students would say "It is a yellow triangle", or "It is a orange hexagon". The students went through 11 total shapes. This consisted of triangle, pentagon, circle, hexagon, octagon, star, square, rectangle, oval, diamond and cone. It's pretty impressive that some Korean four and five year old students could do this. When we finished the shapes we did a wonderful rendition of "Hokey Pokey". All the students bowed together at the end and all of the parents clapped.

I then had to talk about each student in front of the parents after my students exited the room for a short time. It was weird because I pretty much just had to think of something good to say about each student, regardless of if they were good kids or not.

Thursday was also ten months for me in Korea. It was pretty nice to think that my teaching days are winding down for year 1. There is this chance, because of a few reasons that I will be back here in 2009 sometime.

I probably shouldn't post this one here, but I feel it is a great reason for me not to come back to work for Mrs. Lee. Before our staff meeting that was moved to Thursday night started Mrs. Lee had the damn nerve to pull Jenny into her office. She then took it upon herself to show Jenny something going around the internet that has nothing to do with her. Evidently in Kangnam (two hours from our neck of the woods in Gimpo), there are Korean girls having sex parties with foreign men. Mrs. Lee told Jenny that she knows she's not like that. The next thing really pissed me off though. She told Jenny that when we are walking around Gimpo, that we shouldn't hold hands or display affection to each other.

I can honestly say it's difficult to even find this on the internet. According to a few things I have read, that area of the city is "a place for rich girls to dress up and look sexy". I don't care much about cultural differences. It doesn't matter what country I am in a boss should not pull an employee into her office for a reason such is that. Anyone have some input on that issue?

A Saturday with my Woman (after a field trip)

2008-07-02T05:50:00.000-07:00

Rita Mae Brown:"Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment."

So last Saturday was an interesting day. C.J. and I went to the hospital for a monthly field trip with kids whose parents work there. Some of the kids are just rude and spoiled brats. The girls are usually the sweet ones. This time there was 21 kids. Thankfully there were more adults with us this time though. The field trip was fun. We went to a place that makes dyes. We all go to make little towels. C.J. made what almost looked like a Confederate Flag. This was not planned, as C.J. is from California of course. I made a towel with a heart on it, for Jenny. I was just there for the money and the lunch more than anything.

The lunch was bibimbap. It is a great Korean dish with lots of rice and vegetables. This one even had egg, and beef in it too. The place where we ate this food serves dog. One of the parents that was on this trip was able to explain this to us in English. Many Koreans say that dog is delicious. I don't know if I could really eat it or not.

Later in the afternoon I met Jenny in Seoul. I bought a book last month and I needed to exchange it for something else. The bookstore didn't have any Muscle and Fitness or Flex Magazines, so I was a little disappointed. I ended up with two small bestsellers that I hope to read sometime in the next few months. Perhaps I can read them on my vacations sometime this year.

When that was finished we went into the Chunggyeocheon area. That word is probably misspelled quite well. It pretty much just looks like a small riverwalk, without the restaurants or shops around the water. The area is nice, but nothing exciting to a foreigner to myself. We did go down to the City Hall area after that. This was interesting because there were quite a bit of protests going on. Korea has had many demonstrations against the re-importation of American beef. American beef imports were halted earlier in this decade due to one or two cases of mad cow disease. Now many Koreans are going nuts over this ordeal. I got some rude looks, mostly because I was laughing about the protests.

Dinner was good. It was just an ordinary Korean meal. That means to most Americans it something good and spicy. When dinner was over we went to the Hongdae area. We were supposed to meet some friends, which didn't happen later on. Jenny and I went to Hongik University to sit and just talk for a little bit, but I got tempted to play some ball. I joined some young Korean guys in playing a short fifteen minute game of basketball.

The game was fun, and I played pretty well for the skill level I was playing against. My little Gap shirt happened to develop a small oval worth of sweat on it though. We found a shirt vendor selling some t-shirts for about 8 bucks. I found a maroon colored shirt with a mini-cooper on it. It was a cool shirt to wear for the night.

I did reach a milestone with my girlfriend though. Jenny danced a slow dance for the first time in her life. She's not very big into the whole dancing thing ( because she is a very conservative Korean lady). I informed her that in American weddings the first dance is a big deal. Now you folks are thinking I am going to marry this girl. Well, not so soon, but there is the tempation of it one day. Anyway, we dance a few times, and she claimed that she enjoyed it. I even waltzed with her for about thirty seconds too.

Sunday was a lot more casual. It consisted of three hours of unpaid work at the office of all things. Jenny came by after that for a little while to hang out with me. Anyway, the weekend was a good one. However, I just didn't get much rest.

some pictures

2008-06-28T20:03:00.000-07:00

Left to right Teaching class in the gym because it's easier sometimes than the classroom. Rhett to your far right !!

Left to Right
Gracie and Nora, Gracie again !!

left to right Kira, Walker and Scarlett

Almost Ten Months

2008-06-28T18:39:00.000-07:00

Muhammad Ali:"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life."

So it's been another rough week of work and workouts. I am a healthy 202-205 lbs these days. According to my girlfriend I need bigger legs to keep up with my upper body, so this morning my legs don't feel so good. That is because I had my second brutal leg workout of the week yesterday.

The work week was similar to the week before. Long, long days on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. A few extra hours Tuesday and Thursday, which was no big deal. In a few days that paycheck of mine will look a little bit better because of those extra hours I have been working. My kindergarten class has been preparing for open house, which occurs on my favorite day of the month: payday. The kids are doing very well with the exception of Walker, the little baby of the class, who still has to have help using the bathroom. On Thursday we had a practice with John and Jenny sitting and watching. Let's just say it was rough.

The AC is minimal so I was sweating profusely. Rhett didn't want to do anything because he was worried about drinking some damn water. Kira was asleep, because she never sleeps much at home. Walker was just being Walker. To say the least I was feeling a little humiliated about the whole deal. I left the school for a little while upset, not really wanting to smile. Jenny tried to cheer me up, but I just couldn't be cheered up at that time.

I came back to school, only to prepare my kids for the fourth period of the day. Mrs. Lee came in and said she wanted to sit in on the practice. Let's just say that it was nearly perfect. It was so much better and everbody participated very well. She even enjoyed the hokey pokey that we did too. My dad was much better after that. Teaching my MRI Kindy class has been rough though, so I blew up on them in the afternoon like usually do. It's very hard for these kids to stay focused for their age during those hours of the day.

We have a new teacher coming in to start this-coming Monday. He's good friends with Mrs. Lee's daughter, which I think is pretty interesting. We think he may be babied. It's really not much of a big deal either way. At least when he gets into the full swing of things, he'll pick up some classes that some of us have been teaching. Rachel will return in about two weeks as well from her vacation which makes a big difference. It has been rather tough teaching the extra classes, but the more I eat, and sleep the better I feel.

I will post something else in just a few more hours with some pictures of teaching during the week.

Blah Blah Blah

2008-06-21T23:43:00.000-07:00

Vince Lombardi:"Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is."

The more I work for Kid's College in Gimpo, the crankier I get. I learn more and more how money hungry my owner is these days. I won't list any more reasons why she is, but it's easy to see, when one sees how big our classes are.

Mrs. Lee did happen to find out about myself and Jenny dating about a week ago. According to John, my manager she called him after seeing the two of us walking the streets of Gimpo holding hands with one another. I could care less if she knows. Mrs. Lee told Jenny that I was a great guy and that when people at Kid's College date, they end up being married. Too bad for Mrs. Lee that won't help in me staying there for another term.

I bought a new Sony digital camera through Best Buy last week, and got Jenny a little one too. My new camera that will arrive soon is one of the best low end Digital SLR cameras. It even comes with a remote and some fancy lens too. I got it for 500 bucks, so I was pretty happy. It's 10.2 megapixels and has gotten some amazing ratings from Best Buy and Circuit City customers.

My weekend has been pretty low-key. I did spend some good time with Jenny yesterday (Saturday). I woke up at 8, to go into the city to meet my friend Steve for a few hours of basketball at Yeoiudo Park. It was a blast playing with Korean guys that were actually pretty good. Steve had to warn me once or twice to play "soft", because I end up hurting people whenever I play. During my time playing, I took a knee to the calf, tweaked my ankle, and tweaked my knee. These were all on the left leg, thankfully.

Jenny met up with me, and we made our way to Gimpo after I was finished at noon. She had to teach from 2-5, so I went to the school and stayed busy for those few hours.

When she was finished we came over to the apartment because I was very sweaty and needed a shower. We ate some mandoo for a before dinner meal. Dinner was the ever so wonderful dalk galbi. Since I am on this high powered weightlifting supplement, I am constantly eating to please my body's feelings.

A rough weekend

2008-06-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

Never fight an inanimate object.P. J. O'Rourke

So my weekend was a little out of the ordinary compared to usual. Saturday C.J. and I met up with Andy, Lisa, and Kitt after they received their "fat shots". We met up in Itaewon and went to Poncho's. Let's just say that I was glad to drink as much water and eat as much food as I did. At Poncho's they have a menu just for shots of alcohol. I was pretty hammered at about 4 in the afternoon. It was fun, and I even ate a good hamburger too. The others were a little drunk too. The bill for the five of us was very, very high. I'm not going to mention how much it was. Let's just say I am glad that it was my first time this year drinking that much.

When my time was over with the Samsung Blue Wings (aka roommates + Lisa), I met up with Jenny. We ate dinner with Carrie, Yoon, and a few old teachers from Kid's College. We ate a "hole in the wall" type of restaurant in the Yongsan area which is always very good. It's as close as you get to good American pork. The food was amazing and yet I still drank another beer or two. Jenny was a little upset, but she handled it pretty well. I told her I needed a day like this, because I had very well up that point this year. She agreed with me, which was nice.

By the time I returned home at midnight, I already had a small hangover. Thank goodness I drank as much water as I did, because I could have felt a lot worse. I did go to sleep very easily.

Sunday, was a very wonderful and useless day. First of all, I slept eight or nine good hours to begin things. Then I ordered two pizzas, and ate about twelve slices in the span of an hour. I overdid myself on this obsessively high protein diet last week, so my body was hungry for bad food. At 2:30, I decided it was time for a nap. I slept until 6:15. Then I went to the spa, and met up with Kitt and C.J. I sweated off a little bit of water weight, which felt really, really good. I finished my night, by working on lesson plans at the school for an hour or so. Needless to say, it was great to get some rest and greasy food in me for once.

Preparing for a few rough weeks at work !!

2008-06-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

Immanuel Kant:"To be is to do."

So this week is going to be my last "easy week" of work for a little while. We are preparing for Rachel to leave for one month, and Carrie will be finished as of tomorrow. There is a little tension in the office, because it means we all will pick up somewhere between four-seven more hours of work in the afternoon. I will pick up seven new classes for the next few weeks. It will tire me out a little bit, but the money in the end will be nice too. According to John our boss, we will have some new teachers coming in the next few weeks. The only problem with that is he didn't really give us a real answer in terms of when they are coming.

Besides work, things are really looking up for me. Jenny bought a really nice watch for no real reason at all. During one of my break periods I bought her a nice pair of silver earrings in exchange. She actually bought a watch for herself that almost matches the one she bought me. I am also in the process of finalizing some vacations too. At the end of July I will go with Andy, Lisa, and Jordan to Beijing for five days. We will go the week before the Olympics start, which means there should be a lot of people there. At the end of my contract I will be going to Thailand for a week. That means that three months from today (Friday for me) or tomorrow, I will land back in the states.

Pictures from last weekend

2008-06-12T07:43:00.000-07:00

These two poses were quite difficult to make here!!

These two pictures are from the "bear farm" that we visisted. VERY DEPRESSING for animal people.

A really cool temple (up).

So Sunday was just a day for leaving at 8:45 on another long six hour train ride. Here are some pictures that I took from the trip finally.

As you can see there is a small variety here. Some pictures were taken at the green tea plantation (ok many were). Others were taken at the beach near our motel, the bear farm, and the temple that we saw.

The weekend trip (part 2)

2008-06-09T16:58:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs:"I want to put a ding in the universe."

So Saturday was an interesting day. I woke up an hour or so earlier than the girls and got out of the room for a few hours. First I went to the local jimjibang or spa to bathe in green tea for a little while. It was kind of a fun experience and I got a few looks for being the only foreigner there. Next, I just kind of walked up and down the shore for a little while watching fishing boats and little ones running around with their parents. Before heading back to the hotel, I also walked up the road that led to Boseong just to see if there was a place that would worth visiting for dinner.

Finally all of the group minus Rachel and Tyson was ready to eat at noon-time. Rachel and Tyson took another hour to get moving. The girls and I had a very good lunch with almost too much food being delivered to us. When we got done with our lunch there was a bus outside that circles around the area. I told the girls to just get on, because I didn't want to wait for Rachel and Tyson. Sure enough they made it outside at the time the bus was picking us up, so they joined us anyway.

The bus dropped us off at Daewhon Green Tea Plantation. This place was beautiful. Admission was only a buck and a half, and the scenery was wonderful. I took numerous pictures and then ate two servings of Green Tea ice cream before we left the area. There were many people there and even a big group of Russian men were touring the area too. Arabeth was pretty excited about this since she speaks some good Russian.

Next we decided to get a taxi to a "bear farm". Let's just say that PETA would go nuts over this place. All you see is bears caged up this piece of property. The number I think it about 230 bears. Some of are even pretty old, like the grizzly that was in the back area. The man told us that young ones are sent to live in the mountains after they are raised there and the older ones are killed for food. It was hard to believe what the man was saying though. He even has some breeding going on with white huskies. To top it off he has some deer, moose, and chickens as well. It was kind of hard for some of the girls to stomach what they saw.

After the depressing part of our trip was over, we took a beautiful ride to a Tibet Museum. That place wasn't very exciting just because I could care less about the Dalia Llama or whatever that guy is called. There was a beautiful temple right next to the museum that I thoroughly enjoyed looking at. It was hidden back in the mountains and very wonderful to see.

Some of us were tired and hungry, so we decided we would take the taxi back to the motel for the evening. We ate some wonderful bbq chicken right next to the motel for dinner. Arabeth, Cary, and I went for a beach stroll which was very nice . I found a big bamboo stick to play with, and I loved the bamboo stick. I wanted to bring it home with me, but that meant getting on the train and a bus with a bamboo stick, so I decided to leave it at the motel.

I'll post pics later !!

The weekend trip (part 1)

2008-06-08T16:25:00.000-07:00

Samuel Smiles:"The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once."

So I will slowly be posting my weekend trip on here. Right now I will start with Friday's fun. It started with a little panic due to some slow women getting coffee and donuts outside the subway station. We had to go from Songjeong station to Yongsan, but we also needed to transfer as well. At the transfer we speed-walked to make it to the platform, where we would catch the subway to Yongsan. The panic ended up being useless because we arrived with 20 minutes to spare. The seven of us (five girls, Rachel's Korean boyfriend and myself) all got some snacks before we boarded the Korean Rail train for a six hour ride.

The train was long, and too long. I did get some needed rest, because Jenny had been over the night before later than I expected. My Ipod was charged up long enough and I brought along Flex Magazine and my very interesting book that I will offer a review on soon.

The train arrived at our destination in Boseong 3:45 pm (six hours later). First we had to figure out where lodging was located. Instead we got a taxi to the green tea plantation . The girls weren't down with this because they had their bags to handle. The taxis came back and ended up taking us to Yulpo Beach where we found a cheap motel for the next two nights. There was a little bitty lady with the whole arched back thing who ran the hotel. I was in a room with four girls which proved to be a little interesting, since I am used to being around the guys I lived with.

Next, we decided we needed to eat. We were all very hungry. We ate a wonderful pork meal. The pigs that you eat in this area are actually fed with grains from the green tea plants. The food was great, and we even ate green tea noodles as well. After dinner we went for a pleasant little walk on the beach. The beach wasn't all that great compared to what I would envision as a beach. But it was pleasant and very serene. The girls enjoyed playing with the little crabs that would peep in and out of the sand. I mainly enjoyed the breeze.

The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. We played card games and the girls all drank a good bit, as we watched the CSI Miami marathon. I enjoyed getting to watch my CSI Miami more than anything. Around 11 pm or so the girls went out to one of the karaoke places and I stayed in the room and slept, since I had a small headache.

NOTICE !!!

2008-06-05T15:07:00.000-07:00

I will be back in a few days. It is Friday morning at the moment, which means it is Memorial Day in Korea. I am heading to the southern most part (well, almost) of Korea today to visit a green tea plantation, and then I am not sure what happens after that.

Look for an update on Sunday afternoon (Korean time that is).

Week is almost over

2008-06-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

Modesty is the conscience of the body.
Honore de Balzac

The week at work is almost over. There hasn't been too much excitement other than my damn sunburn still settling in. Monday just seemed like a regular day, even though my adult class seems to be getting better though. I have been averaging almost ten students every day, and my new books seem to excite my students as well.

Tuesday was a little bit of a tough day though. I had trouble sleeping, because of the sunburn so I was a little tired all day. My little ones haven't been very good to me so far, but Thursday is like a Friday so that's ok. Yesterday (Tuesday) was also the day that marked nine months for me.

Nine months meant another pay day. Today means less than three months to go. Excitement and nerves generate whenever I think about my time shrinking now. Yesterday's weekly Tuesday meeting was pretty disappointing. John mentioned to us that the school was hiring three more teachers. That means that when Carrie is gone there will be ten teachers total. That also means that the school will also add more classes (perhaps) or the teachers will get less hours. Either way I will still get paid for working 120 hours even if I don't work it. I kind of came to Korea to work some good hours, and get paid for working overtime.

Anyway, happy nine months and one day to me. I will be home in somewhere around 100 days now. I'll be on vacation after the contract is over in Asia, or it would be less than that otherwise.

Sunburn, wakeboarding, and Livin' good

2008-06-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

In my swim trunks I have owned since I was 17

Kickin' it with Shawn who is American age 38 (doesn't show it though)

The Han River (where we were wakeboarding)

Tadao Ando:"If you give people nothingness, they can ponder what can be achieved from that nothingness."

On Sunday I woke up fairly early, but there was some fun in the plans. I woke up to Jenny calling me around 8:30, to say she was coming to meet me at the bus stop in Gimpo fairly early. I met up with her at 9:15, and we caught some quick breakfast, before meeting my friend Shawn from the gym and his family. We met them at a coffee shop down from the school at 10 am. Shawn pulled up in a very fancy Audi Quattro. The ride was super nice. He works as a buyer with some of the fancy clothing companies in Italy.

We went to the Han River, to a a dockside club where we went wakeboarding. Actually I watched Shawn show me how very experienced he was. I was a little nervous, because I had never really attempted to do so before. It was quite a struggle, to even get off the water, but I did eventually. I didn't really do so well, many people share these two or three little boats, so my time was limited. Shawn's wife was super, super good as well. They bought Jenny and I lunch which was wonderful Korean food. Jenny and I bought some snacks after lunch for Shawn's son, and friend.

Though we didn't spend much time in the sun, I was already burnt on the arms and shoulders. I didn't think the sun was that strong, but I guess that I was wrong. Shawn and I spent some time upstairs on the deck tanning and having some man to man talk for a little bit. Shawn wakeboarded a little bit more, and offered me a chance to go at it again. The combination of skin infection medicine, sunburn, and bouncing dock made me feel a little sick in my head. I decided my body wouldn't let me have another try so we packed up and drove to McDonald's before going back to Gimpo.

We got to see the Apgujeong area, which is one of the fanciest parts of Seoul. Across the street from the drive-thru, we saw a man and woman getting inside of a very fancy Lamborghini. I also noticed a Hooters right down the street from the Mickey D's as well. The time with Shawn and his family was great, but Jenny and I felt some guilt from not paying for much of the fun. It was also interesting to spend time with a Korean family outside of the school that was one that I didn't know from work.

Jenny and I were dropped off at the apartment around 6 and laid around for a little while. I was in some pain from the sunburn so I spent some time putting lotion on body for a little while. The day was great, and it ended with Jenny buying me dinner before she left to go back to her "neck of the woods". I did have to spend an hour or two at work finishing up lesson plans for my weekly classes though.

A Weird Movie and a near Disaster

2008-06-01T07:27:00.000-07:00

Wisdom comes by disillusionment.
George Santayana

On Friday evening I chose to lay low instead of go out and do something. I stayed at home and watched the movie Awake. Let's just say I didn't know much about it before I watched it. It was quite interesting at first with the story line, and then it just plain freaked me out. It didn't cause me any nightmares, but it left me wondering why I wasted my time watching it. My boy T. Howard didn't dissaspoint though. I do give him credit for that one.

Saturday wasn't too active of a day, but I had a near disaster. Before I took a nap, I left a candle burning in the bathroom. Of course, two hours later I went to the gym, and the thing was still burning. It somehow ended up burning itself into the little soap dish holder it was sitting on. When I came home from the gym there was ash everywhere. Some of the doors in the house were open which meant the wind was blowing in the apartment. I think that's reason why nothing burned more than just the soap dish.

Yesterday I spent a good amount of time cleaning floors and people's rooms because the wind blew ash everywhere. I went out last night to meet my friend Gloria for dinner and to catch up for a bit. She bought me a shirt and deodorant when she was in the states, which was very kind of her. I found a bookstore and bought some books for teaching my adult class. I also bought a book titled The coming Economic Collapse. I started reading it on the subway ride home. Be sure to check back for a review on it soon.

When I got home last night, I cleaned up some more of my mess before I went to sleep. I was pleased to be cleaning, but it was my mess to clean.

Skin Infection

2008-05-30T01:53:00.000-07:00

One may be humble out of pride.
Michel de Montaigne

So today (Friday) I had to use my first break at work to see a doctor. I have this weird looking thing on my inner thigh, and at Jenny's command, I decided to see a skin doc. So Jenny went with me, so she could help with translating for me. I took my pants off in front of Jenny and the doctor and in two minutes the thing was diagnosed as a skin infection from some sort of bacteria.

I want you all to realize that I saw this doctor at 11:40 or maybe a minute or so later. Then, I got a shot, and prescription two or three minutes after that. The shot was in the buttocks and it didn't feel too good when I was walking back to school. By the time Jenny and I left the pharmacy only twenty minutes had passed.

Let's review this again:

Arrive at the Doc's at 11:40 (maybe a minute or so later)
See the man three or four minutes later
Leave his office after two minutes with a diagnosis
Get a prescription, a pain shot, and pay 13500 won (the equiv. of maybe 12 bucks)
Arrive at pharmacy about 11:55
Pay 18000 won (equiv. of maybe 16 bucks) and leave the place around 12:02
Arrive back at school at 12:10 having spent the equiv. of 31 bucks if that, for a Skin Doctor visit, diagnosis, pain shot, and medicine

Think that happens in America ?? highly doutbful !!

The end of another month !!

2008-05-29T06:51:00.000-07:00

Toleration is the best religion.Victor Hugo

In all reality this month can't end any sooner. This week has just been rough, because I feel mentally drained. The week before last I was physically drained. It's amazing how great I can feel at the gym, but when I get to work and a kid gets testy with me, it's over. I think I just need to sleep, sleep, sleep, or just call in sick for one day. Neither one may help, but feeling re-energized about work would also be good. One more thing to get on my soapdish about. Mrs. Lee -- the lady is super nice to me, but not really anyone of the other teachers. At least it doesn't seem like it.

Here's some of the reasons why I don't like her much either though

No hot water in the school
Limited AC, which means lots of tired teachers and cranky kids
Lack of disciplining bad kids ("oh they don't understand, that is why they don't do homework")
No real vacation time
Too cheap to pay us what we deserve
Our OT is less than our base
Plays favorites too much
Treats her school as a business

Ok, so there we go for now. These are reasons why I don't like the lady that claims to be my Korean mother !! Andy, or some of my other co-workers would be glad to chip on some other items to list also.

There really hasn't been too much besides the norm this week. Jenny hooked me up with some great medicine to rid me of this very bad cough I have been having. It was nice to feel good today, because I even stayed at work for three hours doing busy stuff on my own. I love days like this when I am so productive, even if I am not getting paid for any of the work I am doing. My classroom does look much better though.

Things are going well as usual between the two of us. She came over tonight and we ate some octopus, rice, kimchi, and corn. Scarlett's (one of my little ones) mom prepared the food minus the rice and corn for me and it was wonderful. We attempted to watch the movie Cinderella Man again, but we were later joined by my other roommates who were quite loud. Jenny couldn't concentrate for part of the movie, but it was no big deal.

So that's pretty much it for now. I'll try to keep this thing updated a little bit more when I get on my soapdish about something . . . . Til' next time !

A Very Productive Sunday

2008-05-27T06:17:00.000-07:00

Walt Disney:"All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them."

I am not sure how a day can be so productive when it is mostly spent in the comfort of my own home. Somehow, this past Sunday was a great day. I didn't wake up until 11 am, just in time for the live telecast of UFC 84. C.J. and I had our two - three hours of bonding UFC style in the living room. Some of the fights were surprising, but some were very exciting too.

I spent most of the day being domesticated though. I boiled almost two dozen eggs, because CJ and I are into the egg whites a lot lately for protein. I also cooked some cheese eggs for myself as a late breakfast too. I noticed some sweet potatoes in the fridge that I recently bought and cooked them too. They were covered in brown sugar and cinnamon, and were quite sweet.

It was tough debating whether to take a nap or go to work, but I chose the latter. I spent almost a full three hours at work, getting lessons plans finished as well as my June book. This was wonderful, because once again I was alone at the job, which is a very comfortable settting. When I was finished, I trekked over to Won Land, and bought some groceries. So my next few hours consisted of cooking a steak, boiling part of the two dozen eggs I already mentioned, then I cooked eight chicken breasts, for Monday and Tuesday's lunch. I did manage to squeeze in a waffle for a healthy dessert to end the night as well.

That's what I call getting a lot accomplished right there !!

Another field trip

2008-05-25T17:00:00.000-07:00

Calvin Coolidge:"It takes a great man to be a good listener."

On Saturday C.J. and I woke up earlier than normal for a different kind of field trip. We walked to Woori (that means our) Hospital to go on a field trip this time. Every month two teachers from Kid's College are asked to take a Saturday to go on a field trip with sons and daughters of hospital workers.

This trip was to a Biological Institute. So of course, we got to read about all kinds of living things in the world. It was pretty interesting and the place was very nice. We had 16 kids with us, that were all from 6-13 years old. Many of them did not know very much English, but we managed to have fun with them either way. When the educational part of the trip was over, we went back to Gimpo for Mr. Pizza. These kids always eat good on the field trips to top their day off. Mr. Pizza seems to be much more expensive than the average pizza place. Then again they do top their pizzas with shrimp, chicken, and other exciting things.

Since we were close to our apartment, we chose to walk back, instead of riding the little bus back to the hospital. We were paid 100 bucks for 4 1/2 hours worth of making funny faces, holding hands, and lifting up little bodies. It was a fun time, and the day was a pretty one.

I hung around the apartment for about an hour before I left to meet Jenny in Seoul. We met at a transfer subway station, and then went to Namdaemun. When I was there I got some gifts for my Uncle Tom, and former choir director David, because he just bought a new house. I tried to find some protein bars but was very unsuccessful in my attempt.

From Namdaemun we went to Itaewon. Most importantly, I needed a muscle and fitness magazine, which I couldn't find. Instead, I got Flex magazine, which does have quite a bit of good information and research in it. We kind of walked around for a good bit, before meeting up with Rachel and some others to celebrate her birthday. Her birthday wasn't until Monday, but she wanted to go out and have a nice meal. We went to a Morroccan restaurant, which was really good, but the food was VERY slow getting brought out to us.

Since this place is family owned it's very hard for sixteen people to be served very quickly. Some of us were already experiencing a good alcohol buzz before even getting our food. I had some Jack on the rocks, but only because I rarely drink. I was pretty pumped about life for about twenty minutes or so. Jenny drank a glass of wine and was almost passed out on my shoulders while I ate my dinner. Since Jenny was struggling to stay awake, I decided to get us going out the door around 10:45, so we could both get home by subway.

At the subway station Jenny's mom called her. Evidently her brother was hungry. (Note: her brother is 29) Her mom called and said since Jenny was out still that she needed to get him some food. She wasn't going to even be home for another 90 minutes. I know that might some cultural difference we experience, but I would tell the SOB to get off his lazy ass and get his own damn food.

Anyway, I got home to and email from my Dad, saying Grandma passed away Friday afternoon. She did live to be 89, and no matter what happened between my Dad and I she was always happy to call me her Grandson. As an only adult Grandson, I do feel the need to be there, but am not sure if I can be there or not.

Friday Field Trip

2008-05-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

Orison Swett Marden:"A will finds a way."

On Friday we went on a field trip with our little ones. All we were told was that we would be going to a park to play some games. None of the teachers knew where we were going or what the itinerary was.

Since my last post was Thursday afternoon, I should mention that I did have Jenny over for dinner hat night. I decided I would cook her breakfast for dinner, since I personally like that concept myself. I cooked her cheese eggs, steak and waffles. This was mostly an effortless meal and then she did the cleaning, as she was so adamant about it. Kitt's girlfriend from New Zealand arrived that evening too.

Back to the field trip. On Friday morning I left the gym and went to the bus stop to wait with some of the kids for bus number 5. So the bus took us up a hill past City Hall to the park. The ark was actually very nice. It was something of historical significance too. There were various tombs available for public viewing in the distance.

First we found a spot in the shade to sit the kids down for a little bit. Then John decided that we would have the kids to some exercises to have the kids warm up. All of the teachers did their own exercises with their classes. Even though my kids were the youngest I was the most intense in terms of getting mine stretched out. They even responded pretty well to me.

We really didn't to much besides take some pictures in front of the tomb and play some silly little relay game and teach the kids how to play tug of war. Scarlett's mom prepared me a wonderful lunch with kimchi and kimbap. There was enough kimbap for an extra person or two, but I almost ate the entire box.

We were finished at 1 and then made our way back to the school. I stayed around for a few minutes and then came home and changed clothes because I wore shorts on the field trip. I came back to the school and did some busy work and then went to the gym for workout number two. There wasn't much else going on, besides my usual classes on Friday afternoons. I did make one of my AB2 girls cry forever during class because she is mostly just stupid. The adult class did have ten students which is awesome for a Friday night.

Just a damn cold

2008-05-22T00:34:00.000-07:00

"If you are injured you can't play, if you are hurt then you can play"
from the movie The Program

So this week really hasn't seen much excitement. As you can tell, I have not written in this thing for almost four days. My work week has been the same as usual. There is one exception. This freakin' cold I have had since ten days ago is still lingering. Energy-wise, I am rockin' and rolllin' like usual. It's just that my throat wants to stop being a throat and just be a tunnel for protein shakes and other various liquids that my body takes in on a daily basis.

The only other thing I can think about to tell you all is that of my girlfriend. It seems that Korean women have to have a heart to heart conversation way too many times for me. I have tried explaining that I am not down with this stuff, but it doesn't seem to work. Anyway, Koreans take dating much more seriously than us folks back in the USA. I am at work on the girlfriend's computer right now, so I have to get back to work. I just wanted to update you guys on how I am doing, and what's going on in this city of Gimpo Si.

Til' next time !!

A lazy weekend with shopping, and horrible weather

2008-05-18T06:05:00.000-07:00

"I don't conquer I tower"
Anonymous

So this weekend has been a little low key with the exception of shopping yesterday night. I woke up yesterday still feeling pretty rough, but was talked into man galbi with the roommates around noon. I joined in, and the food was wonderful of course. Then I came home and took a wonderful Saturday afternoon nap. I slept from almost 2-4, and then woke up to clean my room for a few minutes. I had to meet Jenny at the school since I did feel much better after my nap.

We met at school, since she has to teach for a few hours every other Saturday. We were both hungry so went to the sushi restaurant and had a late meal. Then we got on a bus to go shopping at Shinsegae, where my gift certificate was from. We decided that I would spent what I wanted on it first. On the fifth floor was the men's dress section, and I decided to get some pants and other dress clothes for work. Buying pants with Jenny is an experience I don't want to go through very often. Now, I just hope the dress pants weren't altered too much.

After the pants we picked two shirts, and that was hard, because my size wasn't available in many designs. Of course she didn't like one of the designs I liked, until it was one of the only things available in my size. So we bought two shirts, and next were the ties. I made sure this part of the shopping went fast. The Korean ties are kind of awful in some ways, and have ugly bright designs too. So I found a wonderful design in blue and red, and of course Jenny didn't like the fact that I was buying red. She said "how could you like red, when you don't like pink". "Well, darlin' pink and red are a little different !!"

As I had previously told her, I let Jenny pick something out with the remaining 70 bucks or so on the gift cert. She found this real fancy cosmetic set that she wanted, and she was so excited. It was actually kind of fun buying something like that for a lady. I don't know if I had ever done something like that for a girl. Well, I did buy a plane ticket for a girl once. I guess that counts.

One other thing about this department store is that there is always someone bowing to you. It's kind of uncomfortable, because I'm just me, and not some special customer or anything. We walked around some of the other floors because we were waiting on my pants to get altered. The alteration only cost 3 bucks, and Jenny was so adamant about the alteration that she even paid the money. On one of the other floors was sporty clothing, and I found these cute little women's hats that this one lady was selling. They kind of reminded me of hats that middle-age Southern women would wear to church in the Spring or Summer. So we found one she liked and I bought it for her, mostly because I liked it on her.

I got treated to dinner in exchange for the gifts I bought her. We had something that was like spicy brisket and it was very delicious. It was at a Korean BBQ Fusion restaurant. The meal was great, although there was too much of it. When dinner was over, we just walked around the area of town we were in, before departing our separate ways. I was lucky to be in an area where I could pick up a bus to take me back to Gimpo, instead of transferring subway lines, and then taking a bus.

Today (Sunday) was as low key as yesterday, except I really didn't do anything. I woke up at 11, because I was unable to fall asleep until 3. I did cook some eggs for a late breakfast, but mostly stayed in my room and check old emails and even replied to some. At 4 pm I went to the school and got ahead on some stuff. It's kind of nice to be there for two hours all by myself, because it's so peaceful and relaxing. When I was finished, I got an early dinner, and then came back home.

So now, I am going to bed, because I hope some rest and some warm weather (which hasn't been seen lately) will make me feel better.

Teacher's Day

2008-05-16T06:30:00.000-07:00

Hannah Arendt:"Forgiveness is the key to action and freedom."

Yesterday (Thursday) was Teacher's Day. I was a little excited to see if I would get anything, but I really didn't care too much if I did get something or not. Some of the girls were really excited about this day. I struggled to wake up, since this cold had been beating me up all week.

As the day started to begin, Yoon Teacher brought some of the kids to the teacher's room and they brought me little pots of flowers. Nora's mom brought a little thing that had a dozen pink and violet roses in it. It was very pretty. Scarlett came in late with my fourth basket of flowers. I was actually feeling a bit down, thinking that all I got was some damn flowers for Teacher's Day. However, during my second period Yoon knocked on my door. She said she wanted me to come into Mrs. Lee's office, because Nora's (my perfect child) mom was waiting for me.

I walked into the office kind of feeling that I was just being put on the spot. When I walked in her mom stood up and handed me an envelope, that said Shinsegae on the front. Mrs. Lee explained that it's a popular department store in Korea. I thanked her mom very much for the gift and walked back to my classroom. As I was walking back I peered into the envelope for just a minute.

The value of this gift certificate was 200 bucks. I was quite astounded that my parents pitched in to give me this great gift. The department store happens to be very, very nice. When my next break came, I told Jenny that we would go shopping this weekend, and I would find her something nice. I don't fancy gift certificates very much at clothing places.

Lunch was furnished by Scarlett's mom and it was good. Since I have been feeling sick all week, i didn't eat much of it. The afternoon was fairly nice, because Thursdays are short days for me. I went to the doctor to get another shot in my knee in the afternoon. It was nice, because I also got some therapy too with it. The only downfall of it was that I couldn't walk very well last night.

Rhett's mom made me some dakpoki, which was wonderful like usual. Yoon Teacher came over to meet her downstairs, and Rhett was running circles around her car. He was so amusing to watch. Yoon, Andy and I went upstairs to enjoy the wonderful meal. Soon after, I met Jenny at the bus stop to walk her over to enjoy the food as well. She came over and "kicked it" with us for a little while. She didn't seem uncomfortable, but having Yoon Teacher with us made a big difference.

The first sick week

2008-05-14T07:11:00.000-07:00

Before all else, be armed.
Niccolo Machiavelli

So this week is the first week that I have really been sick in this country. I still wasn't sick enough to want to stay home. Yesterday, I did get a little mean towards my kids. When I feel bad I get frustrated and mean. I am sure some that happens to the best of us though.

Since Tuesday was a short day, things weren't too hard to deal with. I did somehow muster the energy to go to the gym, which was felt good at the time. I had one of those moments where I felt so great. I leg-pressed 796 lbs 10 times and was on top of the world. Of course a little while later, that sick feeling came back to me sometime during the night. Jenny and I were walking to the bus stop, when she decided that she should eat dinner with me. Koreans have this habit of not letting other people eat by themselves.

We ate a traditional Korean porridge restaurant. I love the place, because the servings are so big, that I can't even finish the meal sometimes. My meal consisted of Alaskan Pollack with herbs and spices mixed in it. Jenny had the beef and mushroom which was pretty good too. Koreans love everything they eat to be very hot (temperature-wise).

Today was a little bit better but my nasal passages felt rough when I woke up. Coughing-wise was great for part of the day. Wednesday is my really long day, but I handled it very, very well. I thought I was going fall asleep after my Ab2 class, so I kept myself awake by grading some papers for Jenny. I slowly regained enough energy to teach my last two classes of the night.

The further into the night I got, my bad cough kept creeping back. I had to excuse myself from adult class once or twice, to take care of my little coughing issue. Jenny was waiting for me after adult class, so we had a late dinner together tonight, before I walked her to the bus stop. Tomorrow is Teacher's Day. I have heard through previous teachers that the gifts the parents give us are extremely nice. I'm not sure I really care too much for it, but what the heck. It is nice to be appreciated!!

Buddha's Birthday

2008-05-14T06:53:00.000-07:00

Herbert Hoover:"About the time we can make the ends meet, somebody moves the ends."

So Monday was our second week in a row with that opening day of the week off. This time we were off of work because of Buddha's Birthday. Apparently Buddhism is kind of an important thing in this country. I really didn't do much of anything to celebrate it. I did manage to go to the gym, but I was very weak from coughing so much the night before. I didn't help my body out by putting it through a workout, but you live and you learn numerous times in life.

I had to come home and get into the city to meet Jenny in the Gangnam subway station. She attended a friend's wedding in the area and she wanted to meet with me after that was over. When I caught up with her, we transferred over to another line and went into the Seoul Grand Park area. The weather was not so pretty, but we managed without getting rained for the most part of our afternoon. We went to the zoo and walked around for a while. We also attended the dolphin show which was somewht amusing. The dolphins did all kinds of tricks with the specially trained divers that work with the zoo. I was coughing so much, that I wasn't enjoying the show.

In the evening we went into an area that I can't remember now. It is the area where Jenny went to college. By that time is was cool and rainy outside. We ate some wonderful beef at a galbi restaurant outside of her university. The food was great and there were three drunk women just yelling at each other hysterically the whole time we were in this small joint.

When dinner was over, we walked into a convenience store to get an umbrella. In Korea if there seems to be a chance of rain stores will put umbrellas out in the front. You can always find them for about four or five bucks also. I got us an umbrella, and then we went to a bus stop. At the bus stop, Jenny noticed a pharmacy so she made sure to drag me in for some medicine. The lady bought two or three days worth of cold medicine, that was meant to help my cough and my throat. I offered to pay, but my money wasn't good to her.

We hopped on a bus back to the subway station. During one of our transfers, there was a very obnoxious drunk man trying to start a fight. Some big security guy shoved him into a corner though and would not let go. I wanted to stop and watch just for the humor of it, but the lady insisted that we kept going.

I got home around 11 pm, with just enough time to cough myself to sleep a little more.

Finally getting sick !!

2008-05-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

Charles Kettering:"The world hates change, yet it is the only thing that has brought progress."

Sunday I woke up and felt pretty sick in the morning. I mustered the energy to get lunch with the guys though and they head into Seoul a little while later. One of my adult students works at the health club inside one of Korea's nicest hotels. It's the Lotte Hotel, where you can stay for a minimum of 400 bucks a night.

I was a few minutes late, because I stopped to view the Festival that was going on at City Hall. Since yesterday (Monday) was Buddha's Birthday there was much celebrating going on in the big city. I arrived at the hotel and went up to the third floor, where Kelly was waiting for me with a key in hand. She said for me to go upstairs and find some clothes that would fit me. All the members of this health club have their own Lotte Health Club shirts and shorts that they where when they work out. I couldn't find myself a shirt, but I did manage to find some shorts.

I found an elliptical machine, which my gym doesn't have and spent twenty minutes on it. Then I did a lot of ab work, since that area needs the most work these days. When my workout was over I walked over to the pool, where I was instructed to wear a swim cap (I'm not sure why, but it is one of the rules). I only stayed in the pool for a few minutes. Then I put a robe on and headed over to the sauna and spa area. The sauna was fully carpeted with a TV inside as well.

Overall I had a wonderful experience at this place. It was well worth the dollar and sixty cent bus ride, since I didn't pay anything for the visit. The hotel itself is way out of my league, since I consider myself a simple man.

I left feeling better than I did before I started the day. I went to Hongdae and met up with Kitt, C.J. and some other teachers for some Dos Tacos. I hadn't been there in a while, and I needed my fix of Mexican food, so the timing was right on. When the meal was over, I headed back home to Gimpo, since I was feeling pretty rough. The cold or whatever it was started climbing back into my system.

I had quite a few coughing spells, but did manage to go to bed by 11 pm which was nice.

My Saturday with a Korean Tour Group

2008-05-11T04:23:00.000-07:00

These things are symbols of peace at this park in Paju

Norman Vincent Peale:"Change your thoughts and you change your world."

My Fridays are so off and on that I don't care to really write much about them. With my little ones I only had three classes. The first two were rough, because would not do their work. They didn't get up and run around, they just wouldn't listen. So when I got angry they would give me sad looks and say " I love you Teacher". I just kind of nodded back. In the afternoon they were much better for the one period I had them. The rest of the day was pretty easy, because not all of my students for my early afternoon class were there.

Freedom Bridge (where the last North Koreans came into S. Korea)

Saturday was an interesting day, which is probably why I am feeling so low on energy right now. I woke up at 6:58 (actually I woke up a lot before that too) to Jenny calling me to wake me up. I had to be at the bus stop at 7:40 am so I could get into the city. I met her at Hapjeong station at 8:35, where we were to meet a bus at 8:50.

We were going on a little Korean adventure with a group called Good Tours. I was the only foreigner on the bus, because this group is only advertised to Koreans, but Jenny wanted us to do this together. Once we got on the bus, the tour guide begin telling all the Koreans about what we were going to see during our little journey. Jenny had bought us breakfast at McDonald's because she woke up at 6 am to get ready for our day.

As far as my camera will zoom into N. Korea from the observatory

The first place we went to was Paju, the closest Koreans can get to the DMZ or North Korean border. There is a peace pond, a freedom bridge, observatory, a few other interesting things there. We spent an hour there walking around and seeing the place where the last North Korean refugees came in to South Korea. You could read about some of the history involving the separation of the two countries. There is also a peace bell that rings every hour of the day too. At the observatory you can look through a view finder and see across to North Korea. I was able to see a soldier on the other side as well. There was even some sculpture on the grounds at this park donated by students at an Israel universitty.

Jenny sitting on a bench at Provence

Just a nice picture I took at Provence

The next stop on our tour was an area called Provence. This was very interesting. It looked like a Korean built a town because they loved small town Italy or France a lot. It's not very big at all, but it's interesting to see all the little shops and restaurants pained in colors such pink, yellow, green and even some purple. The scenery was pretty and I was able to take some great photos of Jenny while we were there.

Next, and last on our tour was the English Village. This was a little interesting, because it all kinds of English themed activities but most of it was meant for kids. The further you walked outside the "compound" you would find little bitty art shops, or bookstores, and even a place that sold all kinds of cartoon memoribilia as well. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and spent most of our time there walking. This was the place where we ate lunch as well.

That signs means bathroon in Korean, but the picture is hilarious

Eating something that resembles those Icee things back home

When our tour bus brought us back into Seoul, we walked over to the Hongdae area. I messed up the back part of my head a little bit shaving my hair last week. Jenny was determined that she was going to take me to a hairshop to make it look right again. But her heels weren't in good shape from walking so much, so we had to get those fixed too.

Jenny and I outside of the English Village

This girl wears heels with everything, but she is comfortable in them somehow. We found a shoe place and the guy fixed her shoes within three minutes for three dollars and we were done. Then she found a hair place, and she just talked to the women in Korean and they shaved away at the back of my head and fixed my little problem. I even got a little shampooing too. So thirty minutes later and twelve bucks later (out of Jenny's pocket) my hair looked perfectly even again. She was determined to take care of the problem, so she insisted on paying. I have almost promised her that I would let my hair grow again too. Let's see how well that one goes !!

I am reunited with an old friend again (ha ha!!)

For dinner we went into Itaewon a little early. We ate a wonderful meal at a place called La Tavola. I had some birthday money to spend, and I decided it would be used on a nice dinner for the two of us. We even had a glass of red wine to go along with it. Poor Jenny got a little sleepy from it though. When dinner was over it was time for dessert. Coldstone Creamery was the choice this time. We just split one of their "healthy menu" choices that had blueberries, strawberries and raspberries in it.

Our night ended fairly early since the two of us woke up very early for a Saturday morning. I was home and asleep by 11:15 pm.

The weekend is here

2008-05-08T06:09:00.000-07:00

Jack Welch:"Change before you have to."

I can really get used to these short weeks, but I only have eleven weeks left if I am thinking correct. Then in 2009, I could be doing this all over again. Don't ask me any questions about that (there is a girl involved if you want to know).

Tuesday was fairly nice. It kind of started with Jenny and I really hitting the week off well. She showed me her Cyworld page, which is Korea's advanced version of Myspace or Facebook. She had some really interesting pictures of us from Monday evening's activities. The day went by very quickly, since I was finished at 4:30 with my classes. I honestly don't even remember what I did with my remaining time until our staff meeting. I think I may have gone to the Spa with that time. It may help if I keep up with things a little bit better.

Yesterday was a good day, because it was long, and I had lots of energy the whole time. I did have a little conflict with Rhett and Gracie, because Rhett tore something off of her backpack. Rhett and Gracie were both bawling their eyes out, so I played mediator. I made Rhett tell Gracie he was sorry, and then I made them hug each other after that. It helped a little bit, but not very much.

My adult class was a little smaller than usual, as there were only six students. Jenny didn't come to class, but she waited downstairs until I was finished with the class. I have this routine going that started on Tuesday where I walk her to the bus stop, when our days are finished. I don't know when the last time was that I dated a girl that was so excited to be my girlfriend. It kind of gives me a great sense of self-pride.

Now on to today. Today is Thursday, which means I really don't work very hard in terms of teaching. The kids were good, but not as good as they should have been. Scarlett was absent and she usually runs things when she is there. I did manage to make Walker cry once or twice during the day, because he wasn't behaving worth a damn. The afternoon was a breeze. I went to the Post Office after my only MRI class, and then came back to work to get some busy work done. I went to the gym after walking Jenny to the bus stop. I helped Arabeth learn some exercises to get herself toned up. The gym got a new piece of equipment and I was so excited. It's a decline bench, which I haven't seen since last August of course. It was so nice, I even did ten sets on it tonight.

Guess what? Tomorrow is Friday? Then there is another three day weekend in Gimpo !!

Children's Day in Korea

2008-05-07T06:21:00.000-07:00

With Pooh Bear and Pikachu

Amelia Earhart:"Better do a good deed near at home than go far away to burn incense."

I spent Monday sleeping a little bit this week. Monday was Children's Day, so we had the day off at work. It was so nice. I got some laundry done, and even cleaned my room a little bit. Then I joined C.J., and Kitt at the gym around noon-time. I tried to test out my bench press, but my shoulder is feeling out of whack again, so I didn't exactly do very well.

I came back home from the gym around 1:45, because I had a big date with Jenny. It was to be our first date together. I had to leave Gimpo around 2:45, in order to meet her at Yongsan station by 4. I did make it ten minutes early, which was so nice, because she thought she was running late. When I met her she grabbed my hand and didn't let go for the entire evening. It was kind of weird because most Korean girls are too damn shy to even hold an American man's hand on a date. She held on pretty well though, and I thought she wouldn't be down with that. Guess I was wrong !!!

I took this one, Jenny has a few more pics that are better

We spent most of the time walking around the IPark area because of their Children's Day activities that were going on. We bought tickets for the movie Iron Man, but we had quite a few hours to kill before it started. I found us a small eletronics store that had some really good movies that I love that were pretty cheap. I bought Cinderella Man for ten bucks. They had Good Will Hunting, and Greatest Game Ever Played, but I settled on Russell Crowe and Renee Zellwegger instead.

Dinner was nice, but small. The good thing about eating at the different restaurants in Korea is that the portions are almost always small. Even if it's Italian or some other kind of food. The Italian food that we ate was ok, but these people love to overdue the cheeses and sauces. I let Jenny lead me around the Mall area for a few minutes, just in case she wanted to do any sort of shopping but she didn't seem to be in that kind of mood. Instead we ate at Red mango for dessert. She treated me since I bought dinner and the movie tickets, and it was awesome.

One more of my pics

The movie Iron Man was incredible. It had some really good music in it, but the technology that they use is incredible too. I think that Mr. Downey Jr, might have revitalized his career with this movie. The only downfall was that this movie was so popular that we had to buy bad seats four hours before. The interesting thing with movie tickets here, is that you get assigned seats. I don't know if I have ever been to a movie theater that is as incredibly comfortable as Korean movie theaters. By the way my lovely roommate Andy says "Hello World".

When the movie was over, we sat outside the subway station talking for a few minutes. At 10:30 we boarded the subway together. I got some strange looks from a drunk Korean man, and it really got me fired up for a few minutes. I had to transfer a few minutes later, but Jenny walked me all the down to where I caught my transfer; then she walked herself back to the subway that she just got off of. I felt kind of bad that she went so far out of her way for me, but it was very awesome that she did it.

The ride back to Seoul

2008-05-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

This stuff was actually pretty good

Bobby Knight:"Most people have the will to win, few have the will to prepare to win."

Our Sunday morning was relatively easy. We all woke up to make an attempt at a super-low pressured shower, which was no fun. Then we found a kimbap restaurant to eat and I ate a boiling pot of tuna chi-gay. Koreans love to eat everything very hot, but this dish also came out with some real fish, which were probably recently dead.

Then it was all gone !!

When our very cheap meal was over, we went to the bus station next door. The ride back to the city was very nice and smooth. We had the whole back of the bus to ourselves. My Ipod mysteriously turned itself on before the ride, so my battery was dead. That meant that all I did for most of the ride was sleep. I did get some good rest though on the ride back. We got back to the Bucheon bus terminal after a little more than three hours of riding.

C.J. with the fish that got Towered

C.J. and Kitt were hungry so I went with them to Pizza Hut. Pizza Huts in Korea are super nice and super clean though. I only ate from the salad bar, which was pretty good. Then we walked around the Bucheon area for the next few hours, before making our way back to Gimpo for the night.

Tea Bowl Festival in Myeoungong

2008-05-04T19:35:00.000-07:00

Part of the fish catchin' derby at the Tea Bowl Festival

Humility is attentive patience.Simone Weil

On Saturday Kitt, C.J., and myself were all up before 8 :00. What a shock !! We needed be at the bus stop early so that is the reason we were up so early. I hustled to the school real quick to get some stuff and met them at 8:15. We took the 1004 bus to what is called the Bucheon Bus Terminal. This is the nicest bus terminal I have ever seen. We paid about 15 bucks for a one way ticket to Myeoungong. The bus ride would end up lasting almost five hours, because it was a holiday weekend, and traffic was rough.

We arrived at our destination around 3:15, and wandered this little bitty town (even smaller than Deadwood!!) to find their local town office. There, some men helped us and gave us a town map (in Korean), and explained to us where we could find some lodging. Ten minutes later we found us a snazzy little motel. The room cost 35000 won (abt 34 dollars) between the three of us, and the floor was just big enough for us all to sleep on. The lady who ran the place even brought in some additional blankets and pillows since this was one of those sleep on the floor deals.

The view of the man !!

Once we put our bags down, we found a taxi out to the Tea Bowl Festival which is actually internationally known. You will get pictures to see later, as I am typing in a hurry this morning. The festival was very fun. We were the only American visitors there, so the Korean girls and kids went nuts. The food they had was excellent too. I didn't pack a t-shirt, so I found an adidas t for five bucks, and I changed at the little place where I bought the shirt. Kitt and C.J. got slightly hammered and it was only 5 or 6 in the evening when it happened.

Part of the scenery

We got back to the hotel and changed, so we could go to the next town over, for a night "on the town". This night on the town ended very soon. In this area the scenery is very pretty, but there is absolutely no nightlife whatsoever. The most fun we had was at the local batting cage of all places. We ended up paying 40 bucks both ways in terms of our taxi ride. The three of us were all asleep before 11 pm. It was kind of a weird thing, but it was kind of pleasant too.

Who is this cool guy ?? I don't know !!

Friday

2008-05-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

William Christopher Handy:"Life is like a trumpet - if you don't put anything into it, you don't get anything out of it."

Friday was really uneventful at work. My Fridays are always relatively easy compared to Monday and Wednesday. This day was especially easy because I had to give tests to my two afternoon classes. Adult class was not as fun as usual, because my numbers were down, but I still taught like I usually would.

When adult class was over, I met Rachel for a walk over to Galbi Castle. On our way Yoon Teacher found us walking, and persuaded us to hang out with all the Korean women from work for a few minutes. Of course, the Koreans were giving me a hard time with Jenny being there too. We took a "love shot", which was a little rough for her. I took a few more shots of soju and then left with Rachel to meet Carrie, Arabeth, Ben (Carrie's boyfriend) for Galbi Castle.

This is some of the best meat ever, so I was excited. We only eat at this place once every few months, because it does require a reservation too. I had a few smal glasses of Korean wine, and I was feeling really good. Luckily, I had to wake up early on Saturday morning for a little weekend trip I was taking with Kitt and C.J. or else I would have been really drink for the first time in a few months.

Birthday fun -- with Koreans !!

2008-05-02T07:30:00.000-07:00

The first hat the Koreans made me wear

My first cake of the day with my little ones

William Christopher Handy:"Life is like a trumpet - if you don't put anything into it, you don't get anything out of it."

Yesterday (Thursday ) was my birthday. May Day is always a great day in my world. It started with me not getting much sleep at all, because I let mom take the bed for her last night. I woke up so damn early, that I was a little upset with myself at the start. As time for school grew closer I became more and more awake. Mom and I walked to the school early, since I had to leave my little ones with Claire for about twenty minutes. Mom said her goodbyes to everyone at the school around 10:15 as Jenny escorted us to the elevator. Jenny even bought Mom a small gift for the plane ride to China. Yoon bought Mom a really nice set of Korean coasters as well.

Posing with my little ones. Yes, I had a Hello Kitty birthday !!

When I got back to class, Claire was almost finished teaching the lesson to my kids. As I relieved her, Scarlett said "Happy Birthday Teacher". It was such a sweet thing coming from my little manipulator's mouth. The others then felt obligated to repeat the same words too. After our Orda class with Flora we went to my classroom where I was greeted by four of the parents with a feast on our table. The cake was amazing. I had to sit through Mrs. Lee taking her many pictures as she does at these little parties.

The food was very impressive and very delicious too. With the exception of all the fruit, all the food was Korean. Nora's mother also brought a gift for Nora to give me. It was a very nice box with lotion, face cream, and bathing foam too. It was from the Face Shop, so of course it was good stuff. Rhett made me a little home gift with a balloon on top of a cup with a heart and some bows on it.

Since my afternoon was so short, I bought my MRI-K kids ice cream that we started off the period with. They were pretty excited and for the most part they were also well behaved too. When the class was over, I stayed around the school for a few minutes and then decided to go home and get some workout clothes. I wanted to take a quick power nap that ended up doubling in length. I felt pretty good after the nap. I went back to school for a small amount of time, and started preparing for next week's lesson plans.

As I walked out, Jenny had a gift to give me. Women just don't understand sometimes that when a guy says he doesn't want a gift, he is just really testing her out. I told her not to get me anything, but as wonderful as she is, she got me two ties that both contained hints of blue in them. She hit the spot, so I was glad for that.

I went to the gym to test myself out, since I hadn't worked out all week. Even though I didn't eat good, I still felt pretty good mentally. So I rocked the gym with a 397 lb deadlift, barely, barely missing 407 on the next go around. The Korean men were flashing the thumbs or looking at me as if I was crazy. My bench press was slightly assisted a few times at 318. I was pretty beat, but still proud of the effort I gave.

I finished at the gym to meet Jenny, Claire and Flora for dak galbi. I hadn't eaten it in almost a month, and it was exactly what I wanted for my birthday. Jenny brought a cake, because Mom gave her money to get me a cake with strawberries before she left in the morning. The food was good, even if I did make a little bit of a mess eating it.

When dinner was over, we went to a place called Style Bar for drinks. I ordered some Chivas Regal for old times sake, but they were out. Instead, I went for the Ballantine's which was just as smooth. Claire and Flora had this little gift to give me. It was a little charm thingy that you put on your phone. In Korea instead of the fancy keychains, people decorate their "handphones" better known to Americans as cell phones. It turns out this little thingy came in a pair; one for my phone and one for Jenny's phone. It had this little design on it that said "love virus". Talk about strange but somewhat cute !!
Sitting at a bar with Jenny as I am calling my mens group back home

The second cake of the night

When the night was over I walked Jenny over to the bus stop, and we discussed some of the feelings we had for each other. Uh OH !! Yeah, I rarely do that with women. When I got home, I met Andy's family who had just previously arrived in Korea a few hours before. His mom, dad, sister, and aunt all came for the visit. The aunt and sister were a little unexpected to him, but they all seemed like good people to be around.

Sitting with Jenny for drinks

Claire and Flora the other pretty Korean women that I work with

Three Beautiful Days of Work

2008-04-30T07:48:00.001-07:00

Jean Rostand:"To love an idea is to love it a little more than one should."

The last three days with Mom here in Korea have been wonderful in many ways. Monday was a good day, because my kids were all behaving pretty decently. AB2 was a little rough, but what else is new these days. The weather outside was wonderful. Mom went with me to Sajan's for lunch and I ordered her bimbimbap, which I think she liked. She hasn't been too fond of this Korean food, which is perfectly ok.

When I was finished having my kids do their journal pages, I sent them to computer class and walked around Gimpo with Mom for a little bit. I showed her where one of the spas was, so she could try it out when she got the chance. We went to a store and got some bananas that she could share with Lisa's mom, and then she found herself some ice cream as well. Since I taught for most of the afternoon, she joined Lisa and her mom for a very pleasant walk around Gimpo with Jordan in stroller.

She didn't make it to adult class which was fine with me. I was ten students strong, because I had another addition to the class. A young woman who recently joined the gym where I work out was my newest member of Adult class. I got home with some ISAAC toast, not knowing that Mom had eaten that for dinner also.

Tuesday was wonderful, because my day was very short. Mrs. Lee granted me the afternoon off to spend with mom. I only have two afternoon classes on Tuesday, but Arabeth taught my MRI kids first and then John taught them second. Mom and I had a fun filled day, full of lots of walking. We first went to Namdaemun Market, just so I could show her how huge it really is. I picked up some protein powder since we were already running low, and found a lady selling it cheaper than the others. Next, we made a very treacherous climb to Namsan Park ( a very beautiful park, where many people run). Our goal was to locate Namsan Tower, but first we found the cable car to take us to the base of the tower. The cable car was neat, because of the different views you got of Seoul.

Nothing compared to the many different views we got of Seoul via the Namsan (or Seoul) Tower. This was wonderful There were names of different cities all over the place and it showed how many km's we were from those different places around the world. The view was amazing, even though the windows were pretty dirty. Mom and I just kind of sat on the bench and looked out and got a few pictures with her camera. I was too damn lazy to pack my camera in my backpack. Then again five pounds of protein powder does take up a good bit of space.

When we made our return trip back from the cable car, we decided a taxi would be a great way of not having to walk for a little bit. We got the taxi to take us to Myeoung-dong street. This street is filled with all kinds of shopping and all kinds of people. It appears to be famous for all of its shopping, though it doesn't mean a damn thing to me !! We went through the little area and then managed to find a Subway ( the place that has the Jared commercials for you folks back home). It was such a delicious meal. When our "dinner" was over, we hopped on a subway back home. The subways were of course very packed because of the time of day. This was the first time I had ever been on the subway during a week day that was not a holiday-related day.

Today (Wednesday that is) has been a pretty productive, yet long day. The morning started with me losing me cool at work with the copy machine. I got to work early so I could get my books finished for the little ones for may, but the copier got jammed too many times. Instead, I was able to only be half-way done.

I was disappointed to find that a cake Nora's mom had given me was gone this morning. I asked Claire (one of the Korean teachers) what happened to it. I had offered her, Jenny and Flora the cake and they didn't want it yesterday. Well, when I left they took advantage of the offer and devoured it. I didn't mind at all, but I sort of wanted a small bite when I got to work. Jenny did manage to leave me a bag with some breads after I came back from my first class. It was almost like eating monkey bread which was good.

The afternoon started off well, because I got to play with the little ones in the ball pit. My MRI kids just worked and worked on review stuff for the alphabet, and they were mostly good to me for both periods. I did promise them some ice cream as my birthday gift to them for just being in class on the appropriate day. The AB2 kids were even showing some great behavior. Oh wait, they were so good, because they were being tested the whole period. My AB4 class has been short this week, because the high schools have exams all week this week, so some of our students aren't in class.

Mom did manage to join me for the adult class tonight. Kitt only had one students so she joined me and Kitt went home. CJ did not have to teach his high schoolers tonight, so it was just myself and Jenny leaving the building with Mom at closing time. Mom did enjoy the adults very much. Some of them were even brave enough to ask a few questions during our time together. We stoppped by ISAAC Toast after class, so I could get some dinner, and then we made it home.

Mom trimmed my shaved head a little bit, since my little ones' parents were coming tomorrow for my birthday feast. I decided to go back to the school late tonight to finish those damn books, to allow myself some extra rest in the morning. I enjoy working late at the school on stuff like that, especially when I have my IPOD with me.

So now it's after midnight on May 1 the first, so I will drink a protein shake and be thankful I am now beginning year no. 27 officially now.

Palace viewing and Itaewon

2008-04-29T05:37:00.000-07:00

We got to witness the changing of the guard at the palace !!

Truth sits upon the lips of dying men. Matthew Arnold

Sunday was a little more exciting in terms of weather and site-seeing, compared to Saturday. On Sunday, Mom and I went to Gyeonngbokgung Palace, one of the nicest sites in all of Seoul. The weather was wonderful, and even the subway station outside of the palace was amazing too. I had never even known the subway was there, because it is so new. There is even an art gallery in the subway station which had some wonderful exhibits on display.

posing with the rooster -- animal of my birthyear

The palace was great. I had been there twice before, but this time I actually walked around a bit more. On the site is also the National Folk Museum which is great for learning about the history of Korean culture. The sun stayed out for part of the time we were walking around the palace. Since it was a Sunday around noon, there were very few people visiting.

flexing beside a drum outside the palace

When we finished our self-guided tour of the palace, we went to Itaewon for an early dinner. Itaewon was just as busy as usual on a Sunday, because all of the foreigners make it a hotspot on the weekends. We ate at a restaurant called La Tavola. This was wonderful Italian food. Mom had a brick oven pizza that was delicious. I had a rigatoni with a wonderful sauce and slices of beef filet. The meal was great, especially because I didn't eat as much as usual.
What I call a beautiful picture !!

After the meal we walked around the Itaewon area. I found some awesome camofluage crocs in the croc store, but there were none in my size. Then a Korean man told me he could custom design me some "Western style" boots. I explained to him that I wasn't so sure of the quality of the boots and kept walking. We made our way around the area in and out of a few stores, and then got some good stuff at Coldstone Creamery. It was of course very satisfying.

We were pretty worn out when we got home, and Mom passed out before 10 pm. I eventually fell asleep at a decent time too. The walk kind of brought bedtime to us a little sooner than usual.

Fun at the Garden Party

2008-04-28T05:49:00.000-07:00

Mom, myself, Mrs. Lee (Korean mom as she prefers) and Mr. Lee

W. C. Fields:"Hell, I never vote for anybody, I always vote against."

On Saturday we didn't really do anything early. We sat around being lazy in the morning. I did take mom on an early afternoon walk around the city. I introduced her to Skin Food. I bought some things mostly so she could get some samples.

At 2 pm, we all went to the school to meet bus number five. All of the teachers and some of the Koreans were headed to Mrs. Lee's house way out in the country. She had been planning for a long time to have this very nice "garden party", as she called it.

The event was pretty nice. There was enough food to feed fifty people, yet twenty of us were eating this massive buffet. Most of the food was Korea, but Mr. and Mrs. Lee took turns cooking the pork, and beef, which were both excellent. I ate plenty, and watched my co-workers do the same with the alcohol that was available. Mr. Lee even gave me this really cool hat that you see in the picture with Andy. I just wanted to try it on, and he said to me "you can have". I was pretty stoked, because Mom brought these really cool sunglasses from home, that the hat goes well with.

Kickin' it with my boy Andy at the party (in my new hat and shades)

The garden party crowd at the Lee's house

When most of the eating was over, Mr. Lee had me carry his golf clubs over to the hitting net that he has at their house. So for a little bit I practiced rejuvinating my golf swing, which hadn't been used in a long time. Of course, some of my associates had to mentioned that everything I do athletic, I do very aggressively. With golf, I just call it the "grip and rip" mentality. Soon after Mr. Lee allowed me to hit with his driver toward the back part of some of their land. It was so nice, and I felt like Kevin Costner in Tin Cup. I was wearing a white T-shirt, with my boots and blue jeans.

The party was a wonderful time. Mom enjoyed herself a lot, and she also got hang around with Lisa's mom who is visiting in Korea for a little bit too. The Lees were wonderful hosts, and kept us all pretty happy throughout the day. The weather had been so rough the day before, that it was so exciting to have some sunny weather. The temperature wasn't all that great though, because most of the women were shivering at various times due to the wind and chills.

When the party was over, all of us boarded the bus and went back to Gimpo. Mom and I got off with all of the Koreans and then made our way to the bus stop. Jenny joined us for a fun trip into Seoul for a few hours Saturday night. We went into the Insadong area which is fun, because of all the little stores, and the interesting people that can be seen too. It's one of my favorite parts of Seoul, and even knew it better than Jenny (a cute Korean teacher that I work with).

Mom and I were finally getting some hunger in us around 9:30. I walked us toward the Gwanghamun area and found an Indian restaurant that I had eaten at previously. The food was good, but as not good as the other Indian place I prefer in Itaewon. Jenny shocked Mom and I buy paying for our meal. She was pretty adamant about doing so. I think it just means that she has a thing for me (ha ha to that one). She just hugged Mom and said this was just part of welcoming her to Korea. Since it was already getting late, we got on the subway and parted ways.

Mom and I made our way back to Gimpo via subway and bus. She almost passed out on the subway once or twice. We did have quite a busy day though with the party and the late trip into the city.
e

Mom's First Day

2008-04-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

L-R Yoon Teacher, myself, and Rhett's mom with the flowers she brought my mom

Momma T's first full day in Korea was a pretty big one. We started off the morning by visiting one of the local bakeries which she enjoyed. Of course bakeries are everywhere here in this country. Then we went to school, so I could prepare for the day. The first person Mom met was John, our supervisor who had a world of praise on my behalf to share with my mom. It made me feel good for her to hear all of these great things first hand though.

Mom pretty much met all the Koreans available except Mrs. Lee before school started. Next up was my kindergarten class. My kids were a little shy at first but Yoon tried to explain to them that it was my mother with me. I made them sing some songs and that helped a little bit. Of course first period ended with Scarlett saying something very mean to Rhett and making him cry. So Scarlett was in one of her random "bitchy" moods that she gets in from time to time. Rhett did come to class late, because he visited the doctor, so his mom did come in to class and tell Mom what a "wonderful man " I was, and that she so excited to meet her.

Rhett getting ready to show us how he draws his shapes

She was so excited for mom coming to Korea, that she came back to school twenty minutes later with a massive cake, and very nice bouquet of flowers. I was very very impressed, with the gifts that she brought.

My kids posing for Mom as I do my little thing with my pecs.

Third period was one of my breaks, so I just introduced Mom to Mrs. Lee for a few minutes and then walked her around the school. My kids were in the ball pit, so I took her over there, to watch my kids act crazy for a few minutes. Rachel's class had a birthday so we stayed around for lunch and just ate the food there. The pizza they had was excellent. It was Dominoe's think crust with shrimp and assorted other things on it too. Fourth period consisted of watching how good my kids can write. I would call this period watching perfect little Nora finish writing her ABCs twice before anyone else could write them once. Mrs. Lee did some "ass kissing" on my fifth period break to my mom. She explained how much she wanted my to stay at the school after my contract is up, and also told her how much she loved my personality too.

In the afternoon I had two hours before my next class. I finished some lesson plans first. Then I took mom on a short walked around Gimpo, and then took her over to the apartment so she could rest from some of her jetlag. I gave my AB2 kids most of the cake that Rhett's mom gave to my mom. She had some of the cake, but really didn't care to have much more. They had a heck of a sugar spike from the cake and they went nuts for the last few minutes of class. My AB4 class reviewed with my for their test.

Adult class was very interesting. Mom sat through our assignment for the first hour or so pitching in when she wanted to at times. The last thirty minutes was spent with her and my adults conversing back and forth. They asked her many questions, and she asked them some questions as well. When class was over we joined the class for some piggy for dinner. Gregory one of older students even treated us for the meal, which was very delicious.

Momma T's arrival

2008-04-25T07:17:00.000-07:00

Bernard Baruch:"Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why."

So Thursday was a very exciting day for me. I had never really gotten so much accomplished in one day as I did yesterday. Most of the accomplishments were due to me being prepared for my mother to arrive late Thursday evening. In the afternoon, I spent some time working on lesson plans, and getting a good workout in. Yoon, Jenny and myself all ate at VIPS before going to the bus stop. VIPS is one of the most expensive restaurants in Gimpo. It's very good. I ate a Prime Rib, and enjoyed their wonderful buffet. Yoon had the T-bone, and Jenny just ate some of our beef and also got the full buffet too. The buffet is amazingly good.

When Yoon and I were waiting there was Korean girl that would constantly look back and smile at me every two or three minutes. This girl was probably close to my age. She was with her sister or someone a slight bit older. From the time we waited to the time we sat at our table, her eyes were almost in a set position, even turning around to glance. I don't mind these women smiling, because of course most of them are beautiful to begin with. It just bothers me sometimes, because I don't even stare at a woman that persistently. Once Jenny arrived the stare downs were complete. Jenny even brought a rose for me to give to my mom, which was super nice of her.

At 9 pm, the three of us boarded bus 308, and paid 5 bucks each for an almost hour long ride to the Incheon airport. The bus was warm at times, but the ladies had the bus driver turn the heat off for me. We arrivced at the airport and mom's plane was actually a few minutes early, but it still took a little while for her to go through all the steps before we greeted her. At 10:20 she came out, and I was very excited. We talked with Jenny and Yoon, then Jenny had to take a bus back to her "neck of the woods". Yoon, Mom and myself boarded the 308 back to Gimpo at 10:40.

We arrived back at Samsung apartment a little before midnight, and we got settled in very easily. I got to sleep at 1 am on the couch, as mom took my room over for the night, and probably for the next few days.

Momma Tower comes to Korea in less than 24 hours

2008-04-23T07:05:00.000-07:00

Niccolo Machiavelli:"Whosoever desires constant success must change his conduct with the times."

So there's not a whole lot to write about so far this week. I haven't been sleeping really well, and I think that is due to the change in weather here. The kids have worn me down, but honestly they are better than usual this week. My little ones were tough the last few days, but that's because my mental state has been toward rock bottom. I haven't really felt depressed in a long time. This week has been the toughest for me so far. I think it's mainly because I just haven't been sleeping well though.

Otherwise the classes have been going really well. We did get a Korean bitchin' by John on Tuesday night, due to our lesson plan books not being done very professionally. He truly wasn't bitching at all of us, but I can talk fault in a half-ass effort in one of the classes that I teach. Today, I went ahead and got next week's lesson plans done already though.

Most importantly, my mother will be here in less than 23 hours. Yoon, and one of the Koreans may be joining me in welcoming her to the country. I am exciting, but I still need to get my room ready tomorrow morning, and get some Kindergarten lesson plans finished too. So my easy day tomorrow, will still be easy, it will just be busy as well. By the way folks, I do turn 27 in 8 days. I never care much about birthdays, but since the Koreans overdo it compared to me, I might as well mention it now. May 1 if you really need to know the date too. Cowboy up and send me a card just to say hello, if you so dare. =)

More fun at Yeouido Park

2008-04-20T06:08:00.000-07:00

Peter Drucker:"The only thing we know about the future is that it will be different."

Yesterday was a fun and relaxing day, that ended with a few pains and a weary body. Due to some folks having long Friday nights, our afternoon excursion actually started later than usual. Yoon Teacher came over at 11:30. We were originally going to leave for Yeouido Park around that time, but Andy, Brandon, Yoon and myself ended up meeting Lisa at 1:30, which worked out kind of nice.

We all took a bus and subway ride into the "Manhattan" part of Seoul. At Yeouido we enjoyed a little picnic that consisted of some fruits, Lisa's homemade 'tater salad (which was delicious) and some DipN'Joy chicken. I took little Jordan for a walk while the others ate, and we got mobbed by a group of Koreans who wanted a big group photo taken. After the photo they upset Jordan, because he's not into the big Korean crowd thing I got him some ice cream, which didn't stay together so well, due to his young handling skills.

Jordan enjoying his ice cream that kind of missed his mouth some.
I found a basketball court, and played ball my shoes that are LL Bean's version of crocs. I had a fun time, but playing in those things was a stupid idea. When I was finished playing Gloria came to meet up with me. I introduced her to the group, and then we rented bikes together for an hour which was fun. The others left and it was just the two of us for a little while. The first bike I rented ended up having a rear flat tire, which was not fun. I had to carry the damn thing back almost half of a mile, and my shoulders were worn out from it.

Gloria at a pretty street corner we found

As the sun went down, we found an Italian restaurant called Il Mare. The meal was very delicious and moderatle priced. I ate some Risoto with seafood in it that was great. Gloria had spaghetti with salmon in cream sauce which looked good, except the cream sauce was like the Tennessee River on a rainy day. We walked around and enjoyed the evening at the park, before heading into the Insadong area for a little while. Once there we just walked a little bit. I did pop some balloons with darts to win a little stuffed thing for Gloria, on the sidewalk. My body was wore out so we parted ways around 10:15. I just couldn't manage much more walking after playing ball in those shoes of mine.

Gloria demanded that I take this picture at a subway station

SUNDAY

While I am at it, I might as well document today too. We all woke up at 11 in the apartment to watch UFC 83. The fights were pretty good, with the exception of one, because the idiot was running away from punches most of the time. Kitt made tuna salad yesterday, so I didn't have the apartment to eat, until tonight. I took a nap this afternoon, because my body instructed me to do so.

When the nap was over, CJ and I went and played some basketball with Korean kids behind our apartment. It was fun, but I was a little too errant at times with my white kid basketball skills. We came home soon after, so I could clean up and go to work for a little bit. I am trying to get some things finished early for when Mom comes on Thursday, so I have less work to do at the end of this month. The roommates are watching Rambo 4 right now, and it is entertainingly gruesome. I don't think have ever seen anything that rough.

Another weekend arrives

2008-04-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

James Russell Lowell:"Fate loves the fearless."

Since Thursday is a very short day there wasn't much going on in terms of work. I had another wonderful music class with my little ones though. I made them gather around the CD player and sit in their chairs and we sing the songs together as a close-knit group now. It actually works pretty well too. My MRI-Kindergarten class was the only class I had and they were a little rough on me, but I bought them ice cream before class. This helped out a lot, because time goes by as children eat their ice cream. I was heartbroken to find out that our laminator was working very well, because I busted my ass coloring tulips to decorate their lockers with for the Spring season.

Since I did get some good work done in the afternoon I waited til late in the afternoon to go to the gym. I ran into my student Scarlett and her wonderful parents sitting outside eating ice cream. I did something almost unimaginable at the gym. Thursdays are my days for shoulder workouts, and my current workout calls for barbell shrugs (I can explain later if you want) at the end. It also tells you to do six reps, where your last rep is very hard to complete. I had been doing 460 lbs two weeks before, but decided to take things a little further. I went from 483 to 504, which I only did five times. According to Kitt and CJ though, the bar did start bending a little bit.

For dinner we went to the Angry Man, because it's an every Thursday ritual. We also ate some sausage with the meat this time though. When dinner was over, we walked around some stores trying to find clothes that may fit us for this beautiful spring weather. I ended up running into Yoon Teacher and another Korean helper at Wonland, and they helped me in finding some shorts and two shirts. I spent about 70 bucks, which is the way I like to shop.

Friday was long and I was worn out for most of it. My body is requesting more sleep than I give it. This weekend I will do my best to fulfill the request then. Walker struggled to stay awake not only once, but twice this time too. His sister was sick, so she was sleeping in the lunch room during the day. The kids were fairly good, but then again I only teach them three times on Fridays. Most of the day was just as normal as it gets.

The adult class was pretty exciting though. Having Jenny (one of our Korean teachers) as a student helps, because she can translate for some of the Koreans who don't understand very much at all. We did have a good lesson. For the last fifteen minutes of the class we were discussing vocabulary in relation to a lesson we are starting next month. The word was pessimist, and I gave as good of an example as anyone ever could. I explained to them that before I came to Korea my father told me I had no business being here, and did not deserve to be a teacher. I told them "well look at me now", with a big grin on my face. I think some of them were shocked to hear me use that, but in a way it made me feel better too. It's like Toby Keith's song "How Do You Like Me Now".

Anyway my weekend is here, so I am excited to rest and enjoy this beautiful weather !!

Field Trip

2008-04-17T16:16:00.000-07:00

Scarlett, Nora (in pink), Gracie and Kira

Franklin D. Roosevelt:
"Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds."

Walker wondering why I am taking his picture

On Wednesday we got to take a field trip. It was nice because teaching the kids in the classroom does wear you down from time to time. Also not having to play "dress up" once during the week is pleasant as well. We met the bus near our apartment at 9:45 to take us to this park down the street from the local hospital.
Nora holding her pot with Kira looking on
The park was extremely nice for being away from the population. We all organized and met up with each of our classes first. Then we all lined up and each kid was sent with a pot and some seeds. Kitt and I had to wait because our kids are the youngest, so we had to go last. Across from the playground potting soil was laid on to sheets. When it was our turn we took our kids over and organized a circle. Kitt and I both gave our kids a crash course in planting seeds. One of our students even brought sunflower seeds so Kitt and I ate one of them. Even though there were spoons and scoopers, I preferred to just use my hands to help my kids with the potting soil.

Rhett and one of C.J.'s students in the background

When that part was finished Mrs. Lee instructed us to take the kids on a walk to the fountain. This was on the other side of the park though. My kids behaved themselves really well during the few hours we were there. We took a group photo in front of the fountain and of course it shut off right before we could take a second one. When this part was over, we went over to the playground, and I ran around with my little "babies" for a little while. Lunch was soon to follow, and it was very delicious. For the teachers there was all kind of fresh fruits, and bagel sandwiches made by one of the parents. I also took some of the food that my students brought, because I was certain they wouldn't finish it.

When my kids were finished with their lunches, I took them back over to the playground and they had a blast. I even had a little fun with some of my old students too. At 12:50 we loaded the buses. Kitt and I even got dropped off across from the apartment so we could get our dress clothes on and get back to the school. I just went straight over to the school, and got ready for the afternoon.

When the evening classes were over Kitt and I went to the spa again to relax. I was so beat that I couldn't handle much of the sauna this time. I did appear to have a v-neck outline of sunburn on me though. It was kind of funny looking.
With Walker

P is for Pentagon !!

2008-04-16T08:03:00.000-07:00

To hold a pen is to be at war.

Voltaire

My week has rather quick so far. I have not really had any exciting news to report either. On Monday, I only had five students in my Kindergarten class, which was kind of nice. Rhett was absent from school, which made teaching a little easier than usual. Monday was journal time too, and the kids did much better than usual.

The AB2 class that I teach two periods on Monday afternoon really upset me quite a bit. I even had do more writing that usual too. I just couldn't handle them very much, so the more they wrote the happier I was. The AB4 class and my adult class were both pretty good to me. My adult class was at seven which is great. The more students I have at the middle and end of the month, the more likely I will still teach that class the next month.

Tuesday, April 15

So my Tuesday was a little bit better and my kids were still good. Even with Rhett back the kids performed really good, and didn't get into too much trouble. I have found one thing that these kids really love. Saying the word pentagon. When I start drawing shapes on the board they will yell "pentagon", even if it is not written up there. With the exception of little Walker, these kids almost have ten different shapes down, which is awesome. As usual we had our Tuesday music time which was a blast. We kind of goofed around the last period, because that is supposed to be story time, which is still hard for them to understand.

My only other class was my MRI-K class for two periods. These kids were somewhat well behaved. I tried to bribe them by telling them if they were good they would get ice cream. Let's just say they didn't get the ice cream. Perhaps they will earn it soon. They are getting a little too comfortable with me, so I am using various methods to keep their attention at all times.

Before our staff meeting, I made my way over to the gym. My knees seemed to be in pretty good shape. I have taken squats off of my routines for the next month or two. Instead, I decide to push myself harder during the other leg exercises. I even pushed 836 pounds on the leg press a few times, which I had never done before. Our meeting went by rather fast and I was at home by 8:15 as usual for a Tuesday night.

Cherry Blossoms and some B-ball with Koreans

2008-04-15T05:19:00.000-07:00

Jordan, myself and some Asian cartoon character

Jordan getting a whiff of the tulips

"I invented the cordless extension cord". Steven Wright

Sunday was a pretty fun day. I woke up a little early, but I met Jordan and Lisa at McDonald's at 9:45 for some breakfast before going into the city. We went to an area of Seoul called Yeouido. This is referred to by many as the "Manhattan of Korea". It is a very nice area. Many office buildings and small cafes occupy this area. There is also the Yeoido Park too. This park reminded me a little bit of Central Park. It is much smaller, but also very crowded.

A little ways past the work, the city blocks off a few streets for two weeks at the beginning of April. This is done for the annual Cherry Blossom Festival. I am not sure how it compares to that of Washington D.C., but it was quite spectacular to see. Since we were out before noon, there were not many people there, but the crowds were beginning to pour in as we left. Lisa, and Jordan had to leave at 12:30 to meet a friend for church. Along the festival route, many Korean artists were making many by drawing portaits of folks. Snacks, and beverages were aplenty as well.

When Lisa and Jordan departed, I stayed at the park to shoot some basketball. I didn't bring a ball with me, so I payed 3000 won to rent a ball for an hour. I only used the ball for about thirty minutes, because I played some one-on-one with a Korean guy who was close to my age for a while. We then joined some others who were slightly younger for some three-on-three. The day continuously got a little warmer, and I began to notice how out of shape I was. I may be a tough guy, but running up and down a basketball court on five or six hours sleep, just doesn't cut it for me right now.

At 2:45, I stopped playing and just walked around the park some more. Mostly I was just looking for some single women, which was hard to find at this place. So I go to a huge park in Korea and don't even meet a single woman? I got over that one fast, because I was pretty worn down, and I didn't eat much either, except almost a whole can of peanuts. I did manage to down a gatorade or too as well.

I left the city at 4 pm and made my way back to Gimpo. I was pretty wore out, so I really just wanted to get home and get some food in me. Let's just say I got home ate a lot of food, checked some emails and was soon in bed. To put it simple, I got in bed right at 7 pm. I was worn out, and started noticing that my head and face were a little burnt from playing at the park. I did manage to wake up for a little bit around 1 am, but I got right back to bed, and so my sleep total was a little over 12 hours. I was so excited for the wonderful sleep.

Fun Times in the City

2008-04-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

This guy was ripping stuff with an old sword

The Center stage area.

Thomas Paine:"That government is best which governs least."

On Saturday I was supposed to see the doctor again, but I was a little leary of that needle. Yoon called me and I told her maybe I could go during the week. She was on the way to see her family, so she said she would get me a time on Tuesday afternoon. I finish early on Tuesdays so I could go then.

I stayed around the apartment for a while to start my morning. Around 12:30, I got on a bus and made my way into the city. I met a Korean friend for lunch at Bennigan's (yes the same thing they have in America). Bennigans resturaunts in Korea for some reason are always packed too. The best thing about eating there is that I get a 20% discount with my Shinhan check card. The meal was pretty big, but it was also fairly good too.

When lunch was over, we headed over to Insadong and caught some little event on the street there. We were treated to Korean men in "old school" type uniforms riding horses with bow and arrows, as well as daggers. These guys were interesting to see in their outfits, but not really impressive in their exhibitions. Their sword displays were kind of fun to watch though. When these guys were finished there was another group that was five or six men and one woman.

This group was pretty entertaining to watch. They did all sorts of little martial arts routines. Some of the routines were even with swords or daggers too. They would dance or do their little thing, and then chop some bamboo or haystacks with the swords. They were pretty exciting to see. The woman was amazing to watch also.

After a brief walk through Insadong, I needed to get to the"underground" as they call it in Namdaemun. As it turns out they have my favorite kind of whey protein, and it didn't cost too much more than my discount websites so I was pretty satisfied with that. I eventually made it back home in time to get some of Kitt's wonderful cooking. Since he had broken two of his toes a few days ago, he didn't get to go to the city on Saturday. He cooked some wonderful beer battered cajun style shrimp. Also included in the batch was potatoes, sausage and corn. This was a wonderful meal !!

The end to a short week

2008-04-12T08:27:00.000-07:00

Edward Bulwer-Lytton:"Talent does what it can; genius does what it must."

So Thursday and Friday kind of feel like they went together hand in hand. Thursday was a short day as usual, but even better, because we had Wednesday off. We celebrated Lisa's birthday with her class (also known as my old class). Many of my old parents were there which was very nice. There was a ton of food, so I didn't have to leave the building to eat my lunch. I really don't think there was much excitement in my day on Thursday, with the exception of a trip to Angry Man. Angry Man is what we call a resturaunt that is behind our school. It is very good, and all the Koreans actually think that it pork that you eat there. If I ever eat pork that red, I would probably be sick for a long time. C.J. and I split more than 1 kg of meat. Yes, we did eat good.

When our meal was over, I went over to Wonland in search of the right light bulb for my room. I lucked up and found a bulb that was a letter or too off, but it still worked just fine. I didn't manage to go to bed as early as the night before, which was 9:45, but I still got eight hours of good sleep.

Friday, I woke up not as ready to face the world as usual. I was a little groggy, but that didn't stop me from getting a bunch of recycling down to the street (or to the corner of the parking lot). Since I had some oatmeal, I didn't have to worry about buying a bagel for breakfast this AM.

My little ones were a little rough, but I have failed to previously mention that Anna (Walker's sister) was removed from my class. She was placed in Kitt's class, in hopes that Walker and Anna both will behave much better from now on. I did send a message to these poor kids though. I put two of them in the corner for losing their stars, and Rhett (who was one of them) bawled his eyes out like crazy. I kind of felt bad, but I have a job, and it's not babysitting. My job is to teach these kids, and if they have to be sent to the corner for not behaving, then so be it. One of Rachel's students had a birthday, and the parent brought a gargantuous amount of sushi, that all of the teachers ate. It was really excellent stuff that was hard to put down. In the afternoon, my kids practiced their journals, before they had time with the computer teacher.

During my gym time one of the older Korean men spent his time admiring my "blue-collar tough" workout which was kind of funny. As I did an exercise, he would stand over me, or stand behind and just persuade the others in the place to watch me too. It was quite funny, but bothered me at times. He was trying to step into Towerville, which is not allowed at the gym.

The rest of the day went by like a breeze. The classes before my adult class were very on top of things, and I even played word bingo with my younger afternoon class. The adult class was full for a Friday night. I had seven students, and I hardly ever have seven students on a Monday or Wednesday, much less a Friday. The rest of the evening was spent at home, rounded out the week that was by reading more KU articles !!

Day off (election day)

2008-04-10T06:35:00.000-07:00

My life is my message.
Mohandas Gandhi

Wednesday we had a rare day off. It was election day all around the country. Most of this was city elections in the different provinces, I believe. I couldn't file my papers for mayor of Gimpo on time, so I was screwed.

The day was rather uneventful, but Kitt, C.J. and myself took a trip to the city. We went to the Hongdae area just to eat at a place called Dos Tacos. As you would imagine this was Mexican food and it was pretty good food too. We all ate what is known as the "triple threat". They were sizable soft tacos with pork, beef and chicken respectively. The meal was good, but as always I was still hungry.

When we finished lunch, we hopped in a taxi and went to Itaewon. The guys wanted to go to What the Book?, and I wanted to get some oatmeal from the foreign food place. When we were there the rain started coming down even harder, so we really didn't care to do anything else for the day. We ran into Arabeth and Rachel at the subway station in Itaewon, and rode all the way back to Gimpo with them. The day really didn't consist of anything else.

I managed to spend an hour or more cleaning and rearranging my bedroom, and doing laundry and dishes as well. Rainy days off just get to be useless, mainly because they are rainy. I'm just not excited about these weekends or days off when it rains a lot.

Pics from Donkus Day

2008-04-10T06:18:00.000-07:00

Ice noodles

Kitt playing PSP on the subway

Scarlett and her Mom

the DONKUS

Scarlett and myself

The overpass near my apartment

Great season Tigers but ROCK CHALK JAYHAWKS !!

2008-04-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

"If music be the food of love, play on."
William Shakespeare

Prepare yourelf, because most of this entry is about one thing : The big game !! I came to school with my computer already on CBSsports.com, so I would be able to have the game on as soon as it started, regardless of if I was in class or not. My kids were extremely crazy for the first two periods I was teaching them though. It got so bad, that Anna was removed from my class, and Mrs. Lee made Walker almost cry. The good thing about Anna being out of there is that she doesn't see her brother across the table every day now. I think she will do just fine in Kitt's class, though she may be a little behind.

At lunchtime I ran back into the teacher's room, and there were less than five minutes left in the game. Of course Kansas was losing by four or five points at this time too. Memphis was leading by eight with two minutes left, and I called my boy Jeff and left a message that sounded like this "I concede to you now, congrats Memphis". Shockingly the game wasn't over though. This Mario Chalmers guy shot a 3 that will go down in Finals history, to send the game to overtime. In overtime it was all Jayhawks. Things worked out so well, that as the final buzzer sounded on the game, the bell for our lunch break being over went off as well. Twenty years ago KU won the title, and I remember that day as an eight year old becoming a fan. Now, twenty years later, I am on cloud nine, remembering the many heartbreaking losses, and now witnessing a wonderful group of players and coaches celebrating a big win.

For Memphis and all you folks in Memphis who cheered the Tigers on: Congrats on a big season for the city of Memphis. You had a great team and some incredible players this year.
Get this: 2008 KU Self
1998 UK Smith
1988 KU Brown
1978 UK Rupp Notice the ending year is an 8, the coaches last names all have on syllable and the schools are either KU or UK. Please feel free to give your opinion on this theory !!

The rest of my day was rough, because the kids were crazy no matter who they were. They day was over at 4:30 and I was relieved. I still spent another hour or two reading about the big win. I even set my background to some KU cheerleaders celebrating afterwards.

Waiting Patiently for Tuesday !!

2008-04-08T18:45:00.000-07:00

"My reputation grows with every failure"
George Bernard Shaw

Honestly, I can tell you that Monday was mostly a blur in my week already. I was anticipating Tuesday a little too much. I had a pretty decent day at work. My stomach felt all tied up in knots, because I didn't eat as much as usual. During my workout, I felt really bad, but I pulled through and all my strength somehow came back to me. The afternoon really flew by after that. I had two more new students in adult class as well.

I came home on Monday night, reading every possible article about the National Championship game that I could find. I was still considering being sick from work for an hour or two to watch the game. This sounded a little stupid, but I did know for sure that I would watch the game during my lunch break; it would just be the last few minutes though.

Watching the Final Four

2008-04-08T08:44:00.000-07:00

Sigmund Freud:"Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness."

I never imagined a reason for doing this, but I woke up Sunday at 6:45 AM. I was certain we would not be able to watch the Final Four games on TV, so I made sure my computer was ready. C.J. was awake a few minutes later and sure enough the UCLA vs. Memphis game was on Korean TV. The big reason it was on, I think was because Koreans have many ties to LA in general.

It was pretty exciting knowing that Memphis was blowing UCLA away, but I was very nervous about the upcoming KU vs. UNC game. When the Memphis game was over, the Korean Sports station switched to Korean baseball and I thought I was doomed. So imagine this: Braveheart in the background, a roommate playing guitar, and a very big final four game on a 15.4 monitor (aka notebook).

I never imagined the game would turn out like it would. The Jayhawks whooped UNC all over the place for the first 20 minutes or so. Then the Tar Heels managed a come back, of historic note, and then they got a little worn down from coming back. I was so exciting I got to see the end of the game. The police could have been called to our apartment for as loud as I was. I called my boy Jeff to tell him how great it was that our favorite teams would play each other for the first time in 21 years.

When the game was over, I went to Gangnam for Sunday church with Gloria. This time, because of the game, we went to a 2pm service. The service was excellent because the very good pastor was preaching, and the other guy would have put me to sleep. I was dragging a little in the afternoon, due to my lack of sleep the night before. Gloria and I did have an interesting lunch. We had Vietnamese food, which wasn't very good, but it was food to me. When lunch was over, we went to Kyobo, the very cool Korean bookstore that is ginormous. After that fun, we walked to the bus terminal where she gets a bus back to her hometown. This area has many resturaunts, and department stores, and many other stores that them women-folk would like. I was kind of bored by it, but I don't dig shopping a whole lot.

When I got home, I couldn't help but read about twenty different articles about KU's beating of UNC.

The Donkus Day

2008-04-08T04:14:00.000-07:00

"Let's get Towered"
J Tower

So Saturday with Kitt and C.J. was pretty uneventful last weekend. We woke up late in the morning and just piddled around for a little while We left the apartment at 1 pm, to meet Yoon Teacher for a wonderful adventure. We hopped on a bus, that seemed like an eternity of a ride. We went to Masong, which is thirty minutes North of Gimpo, I think.

We visited a resturaunt owned by Scarlett's mom. Scarlett is one of my really cute little babies, as I call them. The food served there is Donkus, which is like Chicken Fried Steak, and this stuff called bread chigey, or something like that. We all devoured our meals, and even ate Namyeon, after that. This is cold noodles that you cut with scissors and eat with a hard boiled egg. They are very good, and her mom even brought us some watermelon too.

My little Scarlett even came and sat with me for a while during our meal and fun times. She is so much cuter when she is not driving me crazy in class. She did manage to put stickers all over my head too. Her mom gave us the complete meal for free. Thankfully Yoon Teacher bought me a rose plant that I paid her for in exchange for the meal. The bus ride back to Gimpo took forever, but after that we crashed for the rest of the afternoon and evening. I did not eat another meal for seven hours; I was that stuffed. Meanwhile, I did have to get to bed early, to prepare for a few very important basketball games that were coming on Sunday morning in Korea.

Friday Pay Day

2008-04-05T06:23:00.000-07:00

Henry A. Kissinger:
"Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation."

I spent my whole week working for this one day. Fridays can be tough, but they can also be a piece of cake. Three classes with my little babies, makes the day so much easier to handle. As usual I didn't work from 2:15 - 4:30, so Kitt and I went to the gym. I even got to play personal trainer for Rachel and assist her in developing a Friday workout routine.

In the afternoon, I gave my AB2 kids a test, which they received the previous week. Some of them bombed it last week, and this time all but one of them did really, really good. I was very proud of them for doing well on the test. I got through some of their speaking tests, but I will finish them on Monday. One of the student's parents brought a huge box of Dunkin' Donuts that I presumed was for the students and myself. However, Mrs. Lee explained that it was all of the teachers at the school instead. I stuck the donuts in the classroom, and did give some to the students anyway. After class, all the teachers dug in and finished the box off. I managed to not even eat a single bite of one. Talk about a damn health freak !!

The rest of my Friday evening was pretty unexciting. My AB4 teens finished up their speaking tests, with some of them just performing horribly and others performing well. In adult class, we started something new, but it really didn't work so good. I tried to get a movie that was popular to Korea a few months ago, and watch it during class, but it was too difficult to understand. I honestly didn't prepare the students well for it either. I just popped the movie in the computer and went from there. For Monday, we are just going to watch an animated movie in English instead. If anyone happens to have Forrest Gump please feel free to send it. I think it would be easy for them to learn English by, because Forrest speaks nice and slow throughout the movie.

The latter part of the evening was spent at the spa once more. With my roommates not drinking this month, they have to find an alternative, which is a good choice to me as well.

7 months

2008-04-05T06:15:00.000-07:00

"Getting Towered is a privilege "
J Tower

Thursday marked seven months for me in Korea. There wasn't really much excitement about the day. Thursday is my shortest day. Aside from my kids driving me nuts, the day was over very fast. I spent some time ordering items that I was going to have Mom bring me in a few weeks, and just sat around the office until 5:30. When Kitt's last class was over, we made our way over to the gym. I needed his assistance on an exercise that is difficult to master at the gym, with what equipment they do have.

The rest of the evening was pretty quiet, I got some ISAAC Toast and took a walk around Gimpo for a little bit. I attempted to go to sleep very early (such as 10:30, or 11), but it just didn't happen. For some reason the fact that Thursday marked number 7, I just couldn't get much sleep.

Anticipating a game five years in the making

2008-04-02T07:29:00.001-07:00

R. Buckminster Fuller:
"Don't fight forces, use them."

I really can't tell you much about my week so far and Wednesday is already over. Monday I woke up very early just to watch my favorite college basketball team barely get into the final four. The Jayhawks played one of the best small schools to ever play in the NCAA tournament. Davidson was just flat out tough.

My Monday was pretty slow. My kids bugged me quite a bit, but they were well behaved most of the time. Instead of working out, I paid all of our apartment bills and went to the spa. The rest of my Monday went by with ease.

Tuesday wasn't nearly as exciting, but I didn't get enough sleep either. My kids were nuts, and I was very exciting when our school day was over. The MRI kids were a little bad, but I look forward to seeing their faces every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I did make it to the gym more than once yesterday to begin a new workout program. I went once before our staff meeting, and then Rachel wanted someone to go with her so I did my legs and chest during different times, but on the same day. We ate some delicious beef afterwards for dinner.

Today has been a little rough, but only because Wednesday is my busiest day. I did cut myself shaving, and it wasn't on my face either. I shave my chest to see my bulkiness once a week, and I cut a nipple. It stung all damn day, and was not fun. The good fact is that next Wednesday is a day off, because of the local elections here in Gimpo. My kids were very rough on me today, and I wanted to blow up but I handled myself with pride. The afternoon classes were actually much better on me than usual, but I think it's because I was in a good mood.

The adult class was slim with only three students tonight. We did decide to watch movies twice a week to help enhance their listening skills a little bit. So I will search our library at the apartment tomorrow and see what will work the best for Friday/Monday classes. When class was over tonight, I went with the guys for a relaxing hour at the spa once more. We have gotten slightly obsessed with this spa thing, but it's helping me quite a bit, both mentally and physically.

As for now, I am talking to my wonderful Korean lady friend Gloria If anything very exciting occurs in the next few days, you all will be the first to know. Tomorrow does mark seven months, since I arrived here. My mother will also be here in 22 days as well. How exciting things get when time starts flying by. I'll even be in the Badlands again in less than six months also.

Sunday Fun with Gloria

2008-03-31T16:45:00.000-07:00

Josh Billings:
"Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute."

Sunday was a much prettier day weather-wise in the country of Korea. I decided I couldn't handle waking up super early to meet Gloria for the traditional church service we attended last week. Instead, we met at 11:40 for the contemporary service in the Gangnam area of Seoul. I was actually a minute or two late, because I walked out of the wrong exit. The contemporary service was actually almost as exciting as the traditional service. The only problem was that this pastor speaks in monotone, so it's really hard to stay interested in what he is saying. The message was good that he spoke about though.

When the service was over, we went for dak galbi, which I love so much. It was a little different than the restaurant in Gimpo. The company was more important than the food on this day. Poor Gloria watched as I started feeling very sick midway through lunch. I didn't think I would be able to last through lunch, but I ordered some cider (a carbonated beverage here), and that took care of things. I gladly finished the meal, and we went on our merry way elsewhere. We went and just sat at a park beside a local school for a little while, watching the kids and just talking with each other. The next thing we did was very exciting, until I started wearing down.

We went to this Samsung Sportsplex and went bowling. The bowling alley was so cool, that they even have cameras that record your even shot. It was exciting for a few minutes, but I didn't want to see myself anymore. I bowled a 191, and then a 153 the next game. The last game was horrific. I didn't even break 100. I think I was just a little wore out after that maybe. Regardless of how bad the score was, we had a really good time together. On the way back to the subway station, we stopped at a batting cage so I could hit some balls for a little bit. This batting cage was kind of inconsistent in terms of where it threw the balls though. Gloria even sent me off as we went our separate ways at the subway station. It was an exciting day, and I think we both enjoyed each other's company very much.

When I got back to Gimpo, I ate some supper, and then went to work at the school. I wanted to finish my books, because I did not want to have to do it Monday at work. I was only there for an hour and fifteen minutes, and the books were finished. Then I tried to go home and go to sleep, but Gloria and I talked online for about an hour watching The Terminal together. I got to sleep at midnight, ready for an early wake up call from my alarm to watch KU play for the right to get back to the Final Four.

A Day of Interesting Events

2008-03-31T06:34:00.000-07:00

" Courtesy is as much a mark of a gentleman as courage.”

Teddy Roosevelt

So Saturday was quite the active day for me. I woke up around 8:30 and Yoon Teacher called to say she would be over to get me in a taxi at 9:30 for a trip to the doctor. We went to visit the father of one of our young students at his office. My left knee acted up a few weeks ago, and I just wanted some reassurance that it was not in rough shape. I brought my computer along, just so I could watch the NCAA tournament too.

During my visit I got half a dozen x-rays performed. It seems as though through squatting and all of the obsessive running I did when was younger, that my knees have been wore out a little bit. I was instructed to take it easy for a little bit, so I am going to lay off of the squats for now. I was injected with hyaluronic acid, which did not feel good on my knee. Walking was not an easy thing for the rest of the day. When I was finished consulting with the doc, I went a little physical therapy area for a variety of treatments on my knee. I was also put on some mild antibiotics of some sort too. During all of the treatment on my knee I was still watching the KU vs. Villanova basketball game. The total cost for all of this work was zero dollars. The man takes care of teachers quite a bit at our school and I was very grateful for that.

The afternoon adventures were even more exciting though. Arabeth, Yoon and myself went to the Harley shop in Seoul. It was freaking awesome. I enjoyed just walking around and looking at all of the expensive items there. Things are very expensive since they are imported from the USA. Arabeth bought some items for some of the Harley enthusiasts in her family. I did manage to get a shot glass that said Korea and Harley on it.
Displaying one of my guns at the Harley shop.

When we finished our fun at the Harley shop, we got on the subway for a very long, but fast ride. The next adventure was to Ilsan, where one of our student's mothers owns a really neat restaurant. It is called Can More. They have smoothies, juices, sandwiches, salads and these interesting ice flake treats too. We split many dishes including: pasta salad with chicken, spaghetti, some pineapple peach juice, and a wonderful bagel sandwich. During our time there we also took the student and his sister to a local arcade for some fun times. The whole day was rainy, but that didn't deter from the great day that all of us had. The father even drove us back to Gimpo, which was so much nicer than being on a bus.

With Alvin (one of Arabeth's students)

Just being a badass (yeah right) !!

Friday and a visit to the Sauna

2008-03-30T05:40:00.000-07:00

"Somebody's getting Towered today"
Yours truly

Our joyous Friday at Kid's College consisted mostly of my concern with my alma mater, WKU. I brought my computer to the school once again, to catch a glimpse of some of the games that were on back home. The games were on Thursday night for you visitors back in the states. Sadly enough my WKU Hilltoppers did not defeat UCLA, but they played their heart out in the end.

The school day was a little rough, but I did get a wonderful nine hours of sleep on Thursday night. Scarlett in my class celebrated her birthday and her mom brought us quite the spread to eat. The party started very late, because she was preparing the food. We played in the ball pit until about 12:40. Lunch is usually over at 12:50, so our time for the party was actually extended quite a bit later than usual.

In my afternoon there really wasn't a whole lot of excitement going on. My adult class was late getting started as usual. I had only four students and they all showed up at least 10 -15 minutes late too. I did meet two more students that I will have starting next week before my class.

Kitt and I did take a little excursion to the local spa, which was very nice. You pay the lady on floor 3 five bucks, and then head to the men's area on floor 5. You have the option of getting one of the little outfits, but we declined. The sauna room was about 95 degrees Celsius. That translates to almost 200 degrees I think. I drained about 2 lbs of water weight off of me during the hour that we were there. We also found these really nice hot tubs, that had various massaging jets for different parts of the body. I was really wiped out after the adventure, but it was well worth the five bucks that we paid for it.

Anxiously Awaiting the Sweet 16

2008-03-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

Depression is rage spread thin.
George Santayana

Thursday was Mrs. Lee's birthday, which was interesting. When our first period was over, we went to the gym and all the students gathered around this big section of the gym. Mrs. Lee got in the middle and all of the students sang her happy birthday. All of us teachers sat in the back and sang as well. At the end of second period we got our turn to have pictures with our boss. Carrie bought some flowers which were very nice and only cost about twenty bucks. It was a good idea, because we didn't have to pitch but two or three bucks a piece for the bouquet.

I did make some progress with my babies toward the end of the day. We sat through a whole period of music time, without me having to do something non-music related. We sang Twinkle, Twinkle about a dozen times. We also sang some How is the Weather Today? song and a rocking ABC song, with my leading on air guitar. The kids were super pumped after that.

I was pretty beat, because I had been worn down all week. After my class were over, I stayed at the school and got a lot of work done. I went to the gym at 5:30 and then went home after and cooked some dinner. I even got to bed at 10, so I could wake up feeling like a new man on Friday.

Just surviving through the day

2008-03-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

Henri Frederic Amiel:
"Order is power."

My kids have been hell all week. Maybe the moon is full. Whatever it is, I hope it doesn't continue on until next week. On Wednesdays I get two break. One is my last period of the KC day and the other is midway through my long afternoon. There was not much excitement during the school day. My kids were a little tough to deal with, but we survived each other really well.

My MRI kids were even a little rough on me during the beginning of my afternoon. I was so beat down from the combination of both Kindergarten classes, that I was relieved to have my other afternoon classes, because they don't talk so much. I did go and pay my phone bills for the last two months at the bank during my lunch hour. In Korea you go to the bank to pay all of your bills and really takes no time at all, unless you go during busy times. Next Monday will be used getting the apartment bills taken care of. I don't always look forward to paying them, but somebody needs to keep things paid around the apartment, and I don't mind the responsibility.

One other note from the day. I carried an early birthday present of Mrs. Lee's down to the basement for her. This present was a huge tree, that was going in the backseat of her Lexus. She meanwhile made it a point to tell me she didn't like my hair again. I even tried to explain that I had even been on a few dates in the last month, which was a big thing for me.

Tuesday (a tough day in many ways)

2008-03-26T07:10:00.001-07:00

My Momma's sweet little Lucy. Oh how mom will miss you running that household full of boys and a big black dog !!

My pride fell with my fortunes.
William Shakespeare

So I woke up feeling a little rough for a Tuesday. The movie lasted longer than expected and thus, I got a little less than eight hours of sleep. During my sleep, I somehow managed to hit my head on the damn wall by my bed once or twice. That was quite the uncomfortable feeling. I got to chat with my sister and my little nephew Ethan, which was a pleasant surprise for a week day.

My school day was a little rough, for as it short as it was. My kids were pretty restless. Even my little Nora got up and ran around a few times. I was feeling these random pains in my head from my sleep-related collisions. The pains did manage to go away by the time the little ones went home for the day. I spent almost an entire period teaching my MRI-Kindergarten class conversation. They were even misbehaving at times, which they don't do very much. I was even a little relieved when they left, and I adore these kids quite a bit.

My school day was over, though we did have a staff meeting at 7:30, which was very short. John did tell us after the meeting that he wanted to have drinks with us on Tuesday, so we all went to the beer cabin. Everyone was having a merry time, and even I had one drink. There was quite a bit of fried chicken and alcohol that went around that table.

I came home at 9:30 and talked to Gloria online for a little bit, before talking with mom. She had to have Lucy put to sleep, which was unexpected following her being hit by a car on Sunday or Monday. Lucy was one of the only female cats she has had in that house, but mom loved her like she does all of her kids (human included here). I was a sad for 'ole ma after hearing about this last night.

When I tried to lay down to sleep, I was interrupted by a drunken roommate who was very very loud. He even got a little obnoxious at random times with our wooden samurai sword that we have. I can't count how many times I heard that damn thing hit the floor, but it was too many. Finally, I fell asleep right before midnight.

Monday

2008-03-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

Samuel Goldwyn:
"The harder I work, the luckier I get."

I have been a little tired, and perhaps even a little too lazy to keep the world updated on things this week. There really hasn't been much excitement going here. Most of my excitement has been on March Madness and my two favorite universities that are still in the big dance. Of course my alma mater, WKU has surprised many, and my favorite basketball KU is doing what they should be doing.

After the long day on Sunday I woke up on Monday somewhat well rested. I can't think of anything of great significance that went on. I don't consider my high resonating grunts at the gym to be of high regard. My afternoon on Monday went by very quickly, even though I did teach from 4:30 straight to 9. Monday was so great that I hardly remember what I ate. We did watch an interesting movie at the apartment, that was written by Ben Affleck. It is called Gone Baby Gone. Casey Affleck plays the main role, and it has to do with a kidnapping of a young girl that takes place in Boston.

The Beauty of Easter Sunday (though it was raining)

2008-03-23T16:45:00.001-07:00

War is fear cloaked in courage.
Gen William C. Westmoreland (this has to be a new favorite quote of mine)

So my Easter Sunday was wonderful !!!! I woke up at 7:30 and attempted to check on some more NCAA scores as I was showering, getting dressed, talking to Mom, and trying to eat breakfast. There were so many people watching the games online, that I only caught about three minutes of the KU game. Thanks to my good 'ole Mom for keeping me updated though as I rode the subway into the Gangnam area of Seoul.

Sadly for me, I was very late meeting my new friend Gloria for to walk to the 10 AM Easter service, but we did make it into the church a few minutes after 10. The service was beautiful. I got to take communion for the first time in a long time (seven or so months), listen to a wonderful choir, and I even got a good sermon. The most important thing was feeling that inner peace that Sunday church brings to me though. I reflected on many things during the service, mostly thinking about my mom and sister and how I miss them and my church family very much sometimes.

When church was over, Gloria and I went to a new member's orientation class that was very interesting. We met many people who had been visitors like myself. I was the only one in the group who was there for the first time though. This little thing lasted a little too long for me, because I was super duper hungry by this point.

For lunch, Gloria and I visited Sorrento's. It is a very good place to go for pasta. Sometimes the pasta is too saucy though. We ordered a set, which means we shared a beautiful mandarin chicken salad, beverages (non-alcoholic of course), and two entrees. I ordered some kind of chili shrimp pasta, which means it was spiced with many chili peppers. It was alright, but it could have been better. The time we had together was wonderful though. We spent lunch time talking and sharing very much about ourselves. I felt bad because I was so jittery (blame my morning protein shake for that) that I couldn't shut the heck up. Gloria apparently didn't mind too much though.

When lunch was over, we spent a good deal of time walking around Kyobo and just talking. Kyobo is just very interesting because it is a huge bookstore that has all kinds of other things too. Many of those other things are tempting to buy at times as well. We got back in the rain a little later, looking for a movie theater, because Amazing Grace was re-released for the Easter season. In the meantime we found a gelato bar, which I was super excited about. We sat in the corner area and just talked a little longer. I discovered something very ironic. During the lunch conversation, I showed Gloria many pictures of family, friends and my big South Dakota trip.

As I looked through the windows of this gelato bar, I noticed the words "Wild Bill". Above it said No. 10, and below it said 1876. Who would know what that means besides me? I will tell you what it means. No.10 is the saloon where Wild Bill was shot in Deadwood, 1876 was the year that it occurred. I even had the picture on my IPOD to show Gloria.

Yes, they know who Wild Bill is in Korea too !!

After gelato we went and saw a very weird movie. It is called Lars and The Real World Girl. I won't try to describe it but it was very strange. When the movie was over, we made our way back to the subway station and parted ways after one stop. We had a wonderful time together and will be spending the day together next Sunday as well. I even got a text message from her that said "you are fun to be around" and "thanks for lunch and the movie". Evidently I left a good impression on her.

When I got back to Gimpo I went and ate some dak galbi, something I had been craving for quite a while. I did get to talk to Pastor Heidi who has been undergoing some hard times lately with breast cancer, so it made my night to hear her voice. Happy Late Easter to you folks back in the USA!!!

Saturday of Surprises

2008-03-23T16:30:00.000-07:00

Shorth is better than length.
Dr. Seuss

So as of the last post I went to sleep before the second half of my WKU game on Friday or for me, early in the morning on Saturday. I did something kind of typical of me. I woke up at 7:45 am Korea time, to get back into the swing of the NCAA game watching. I was extremely excited to see that my Hilltoppers(who I shamefully didn't pick to win) won with a very exciting buzzer beating. The other excitement I got was knowing that Davidson College won also. They have a really good team that is underrated.

So my whole Saturday morning was spend watching the rest of the first round games. That went on until almost 1 pm, since University of Memphis played a late game. Most of my time was spent cleaning because I got bored of watching blowouts after the upsets. I cleaned my room some more, cleaned our bathroom, vacuumed the apartment, and did a lot of dishes. Kitt and C.J. were entertaining some lady friends later that night, so I thought I would assist in making the place look good.

When I finished doing my part, I got in bed and took a nice long nap. When I woke up, I went to the school and started working on next month's book for an hour. At 7:15, I met Rachel, Arabeth and eight other girls from Kimpo for a night out in Hongdae. We went to eat dinner at Tiki-Ti. The meal was great, but it took a little too long for us to get our entire meal. We were there for almost two hours, which was no fun, because I didn't get to spend much time out after that.

When dinner was finally over, we got to go to my favorite place of all. The 80s Studio Club. It was almost 11 though, so I danced for a whole twenty minutes, and then had to leave. I did get out on the floor and entertain the whole place with a lip-sinking rendition of some old love song. I was completely sober which was the funny part about it. Since Sunday was Easter Sunday, I decided I would start going back to church. That also meant I couldn't stay out late on Saturday. Luckily, I made it home on the subway just in time to get back to Songjeong station. Outside the subway station it was pouring down rain so I let a young girl stand under my umbrella with me until her bus came. She was very appreciative of it.

I came home to a mess of liquor bottles due to my roommates and their lady friends who stayed over until almost 3:30 am. I probably fell asleep around 2:30, because I had to stay up and preview the Round 2 basketball games.

TGIF

2008-03-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Vince Lombardi:
"Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect."

For our Friday fun at school we did something a little interesting. We decorated eggs, in honor of the Easter holiday. In Korea all of the eggs are brown, so we used markers and stickers. The kids had fun, but many of the eggs cracked at various times. Some of the kids would accidentally drop them, while others just cracked them manually. I drew a picture of an American on an egg and let Walker have it. Yoon and I fed the cracked eggs to the kids. I think I ate about four hard boiled eggs during my second period. It was so nice, to do easter stuff during class, because I really only had to teach my little ones one class. Of course the class was music, but the kids are getting really good at it.

The rest of my day wasn't too exciting. I did bring my computer to school so I could watch many of the basketball games that were on Thursday night (that would be American time). I was sad to see my hometown Belmont Bruins lose to Duke by one point. They played their guts out and came up short. My Jayhawks did win like they should have though.

The rest of the day was nice as usual. In my adult class, Kelly, who keeps me on my toes had a great suggestion for me. For the first ten minutes nobody showed up, but four students showed up between 7:40 and 7:45. Back to Kelly's suggestion now. She decided that instead of study our selection that we should just have conversation. The others kindly agreed. I went downstairs and got my computer, so I showed the adults all kinds of pictures of myself, family, and various other events from my days back in the states.

I spent the rest of my night cleaning my room and patiently waiting for the NCAA games to come on. Of course it was almost 2 AM by the time I got to watch the first game. My alma mater WKU played so I stayed up and watched the first half of the game, along with a few others before going to bed. I did manage about five hours or so of sleep, before waking up to more NCAA action on Saturday.

Somewhat updated pictures of my kids !!

2008-03-20T06:14:00.001-07:00

So my boy Rhett was hiding in this one

Scarlett -- Future man-beater or beauty queen

The world's best trouble maker and sweetest kid at the same time Anna

My sweet little Gracie

The youngest kid at Kid's College -- Walker

My perfect kid -- Nora !!

Kira -- aka Cranky !!

The Madness is almost here !!!

2008-03-20T05:47:00.000-07:00

"There's no time of the year like this time. I mean who doesn't enjoy knowing that Easter and March Madness combine to make for some of the greatest moments of the year. Is that sacrilegious of me to say that?

J Tower (who else would say that??)

Is it sad that I have been thinking about the NCAA College Basketball Tournament all day, while I have been working?? I don't think so. I did get some good things accomplished today, in between reading as many previews as possible. I found a new way of keeping my little ones enticed during our second class. Lisa gave me some laminated sheets, that have ABCs on them. The kids then get a wet erase or dry erase marker and attempt to write the letters. Rhett and Walker wanted me to do it for them. Scarlett did her sheet and Rhett's. Gracie did some of her sheet. Anna did really well, which made me happy, and Nora got some assistance from me, because well Nora is perfect or darn close to it.

At lunchtime we celebrated Rhett's birthday, which was awesome. His mom wasn't sure how to react whenever Rhett would say "I love you MAN" to me. It was so funny, that he had Walker and Gracie even saying it too. His mom brought me one of my favorite Korean dishes which I was very excited about. The party was great fun, and it even lasted a few minutes into our next period. I did a theme activity with the kids, instead of a real journal activity. During the last period, I really struggled to keep them entertained. I had them do a little monkey see monkey do action which worked for a little bit. They were pretty restless, which I credit the b-day party food for. When it was time to go home, Walker and I spent some time bonding with each other. That kid gets funnier and funnier every day. He's American age 2 1/2, so of course he's already shorter than everybody to begin with.

My MRI-Kindergarten class was a little different today. One of the girls who I call Annie, had what I think was a panic attack, or something similar. All I know is that I looked back, and she was shaking and crying very frantically for two or three minutes. I didn't know what to do, so I found Mrs. Lee. Apparently she has some difficulties of some sort, so I need to sit with her everyday and try to help the kid write. I do have eleven other children to tend to though. I felt bad because my other students weren't sure what happened. None of them did anything to her, which I was glad to know.

I spent the rest of the day, fixing some chairs up on the sixth floor, and preparing for tomorrow, as well as next month. At 6 pm, I went to the gym for a rough, rough shoulder workout. My weight is up some more, but I'm not going to disclose any sort of number until this program is finished next Friday. I came home around 8, and ate my Korean meal that Rhett's mom so graciously prepared for me. My stomach has been acting up tonight, so I'm going to bed early, so I can feel like a champ on the greatest day of the week: Friday !!

Long Work Day but at least it was Wednesday !!

2008-03-20T05:03:00.000-07:00

Sanity is a cozy lie.
Susan Sontag

What a long day my Wednesday was. It could have been a lot worse if I had really bad students to teach, but it ended just fine. My little ones got have some gym time at the end of the day, and they were pretty excited to have it. I was happy, because that 30 minutes between 1:35 and 2:05 was the only thirty minutes I had to myself all day, besides lunchtime. Before gym the kids have arts and crafts, and I had them color Easter eggs, which they used to decorate the room. Some of them are very good at cutting things, given their age of three or four. Scarlett assisted Walker, because he doesn't do so well with scissors just yet.

I started my afternoon/late evening swing on a roll. I went from 2:30-9:00 without a break, but I survived very easily. Anna and Walker ran up to me and gave me hugs before I started the my pm adventure. Their mother comes to pick them up, so they wait separately from the other kids who ride the bus. It's so funny seeing how attached Walker is getting to me. Then again his sister thinks the world of me no matter how many stars she loses every day.

Their wasn't really much excitement in the afternoon classes. My MRI kids did their work, and even learned some conversation skills too. The AB 2 class got to go to the gym and work on conversation with Rachel's class and that worked good for about 35 minutes. The AB4 class was interesting, because one of the topics in my lesson was that of superheroes. This class is for teenagers, so it was quite humorous to talk with them about different superheroes. The adult class was a little difficult, because we did transitive and intransitive verbs, and some of them struggled with this a good bit, so I had to slow things down a notch or two.

A Tiring Tuesday !!

2008-03-20T04:55:00.000-07:00

Socrates:
"Wisdom begins in wonder."

What a rough day Tuesdays can be. Sometimes I am amazed at how I survive these rough days. The morning time is getting to be fine, except for when Anna does something stupid or annoys everybody else. The kids had Orda during the third period, which gave me a little bit of a break. Breaks from my little ones are always nice. The afternoon was tough though. Trying to teach music to these kids is becoming a big project. I try to just play the music and get them to dance for a little while. If I sing them something in a really love voice they do become quite amused. Story time is still tough though. Yoon Teacher had me attempt to read to the kids in the ball pit. It worked for about five minutes, and then they couldn't sit still at all. They enjoyed playing for quite a bit though. We do have this saying in our class that Rhett and Gracie love to just blurt out at times. I taught them to say " I love you MAN", like in the Bud Light commercials from a few years ago. It's great stuff to watch. Even Walker says it to me now.

The afternoon was a breeze. I enjoy my Tuesdays, since Wednesdays and Fridays are a good deal longer. I taught my wonderfully mannered MRI- Kindergarten class for two periods. When that was over, I went to the gym. I am on week three of this workout program, and I wore my legs out like crazy. The bad part was that I felt like something in my left knee was tweaked and had some pain walking for the rest of the evening.

Celebrating St. Pat's at Kid's College

2008-03-18T06:43:00.000-07:00

My shiny head now !!!

" I got the mentality of a rottweiler, and the heart of a hound dog. This means I'm a tough minded guy, who is faithful to those around him, no matter what the circumstances. "
J Tower

Yesterday at Kid's College was a great day. We posthumously celebrated St. Patrick's Day for some reason. I don't understand why we would celebrate an Irish holiday, but I'm not in charge. All of our kids came to school wearing green. During first period my kids colored a leprechaun. In our journal period they colored a hat with shamrocks in it. I posted their artwork along our white board. Right before home-time all of the classes went to the gym to get their green balloons. Mrs. Lee made all of the classes pose in their respective groups for pictures with the balloons. It was a corny idea in my opinion, but the kids were pumped about their balloons.

My afternoon was rather simple, which means my Wednesday will be rough. My AB2 class, along with other classes took a proficiency exam, so I got an extra period off. I did start week three of my March fitness program. It was a tough workout and I was beat at the end of the night. Instead of my night going from 4:30 -9, it went from 5:45 - 9. The time went by very fast, which I was grateful for.

I forgot to mention this item though. Mrs. Lee wasn't at all excited about my head almost being completely bald. Many of the other Koreans liked it, and some of the students went nuts over it. One of my teenage students said it was ugly, but I just laughed it off. I'll leave a photo for everyone to see.

An Adventurous Walk just for Oatmeal

2008-03-18T06:30:00.000-07:00

Yes, there is such thing as this place.

Les Brown:
"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars."

My Sunday is just as it regularly is. This time though, I woke up elsewhere, due to leaving myself locked out of my apartment. Thanks to the person who lent me the space to sleep on Saturday night by the way. The breakfast was great too. Just like my momma would prepare it for me too.

I got home and took a power nap and downed a high calorie protein shake to kick off my day. We watched the movie No Country for Old Men, and it was actually pretty good. I enjoyed watching it, although the ending was a little weird. Anyone have comments on this movie ??

In the late afternoon, I decided to make my way into the city. I found a new international market to buy some oatmeal, and other items that C.J. was wanting. It was kind of south of town at this area called Oksu-dong. Many of the smaller embassies are located here. I made a mistake on the way to this market though. I got off at Yaksu, instead of Oksu. It may be a little confusing, or the fact that I was so proud of my newly bald head. Whatever it was that made me do this, landed me an interesting discovery or two. I found Harley Davidson of Korea and a Polaris dealer on this walk.

I was pretty excited that I found these places, even if I didn't go inside and get a better look. The walk in the end was pretty rough. The right subway station, was only a 1/4 mile or more from the supermarket. I did get my damn oatmeal, and C.J.'s items as well though.

The rest of the night was fairly laid back, since I was beat from my long walk.

Saturday relaxation !!

2008-03-16T06:20:00.001-07:00

"As I have gotten older, I have gotten more competitive. I try to beat everybody at everything, and go home mad if I don't. At least, I got some fire in me."
J Tower

My Saturday was relatively easy and relaxing. I woke up early to get some cleaning done in my room, that was a little overdue. Kitt ordered some pizza for us, and I got beverages at Samsung Mart, to go with the food. I ate two slices, because I am working on dieting away from pizza for a while. We watched the last half of the movie The Matrix, and that was good. I ended up taking about a two hour nap after the movie.

At 6 pm, I went into Insadong for a little walking around the city, and had some dinner too. My dinner was Korean BBQ Beef, but it was boiling hot and the roof of my mouth took a little beating because of it. After eating, I made my way over the batting cage and spent a whole three bucks to hit 60 balls. I had a great time, but somehow strained a damn ab muscle in the process.

When that fun was over, I went and picked up some movies. We hadn't stocked up on bootlegs in a while. I got No Country for Old Men, and There Will be Blood, and six others for a total of 20 USD. That was quite a deal and it was pretty exciting to have new movies to take home. When I got back to our home subway station, I ran into Yoon and rode the subway back with her. It was nice to have someone to talk with on the ride back.

Friday Fun

2008-03-16T06:00:00.000-07:00

Malcolm Forbes:
"Failure is success if we learn from it."

Friday is becoming one of my longest, but one of my most productive days. I teach my little ones three times out of five, so it's nice to get some breaks from them. In the late afternoons, I teach my AB2 class once. They got some candy and a fun time from me. My AB4 class went by pretty well. Adult class was good too. Friday was white day too in Korea. White day goes along with Valentine's day. On V-Day the women buy items for the men. On White Day (march 14), the men buy items for the women. One of my adult students claimed she was a little depressed because of it, so I told her she had to smile for me the whole time.

For dinner, I went with the guys for sushi. It was about 15 bucks, but it was delicious. When dinner was finished we went to my favorite spot in Gimpo -- The Pirate Bar. I love this place because there are many Koreans there, and they enjoy foreigners when they come. After a while, we went over to Hudson Bar and I shot darts for half an hour while the others drank. I managed one beer for the whole week.

I figured I may not be able to stop drinking fully, but moderation is the key !!

Thursday (big date)

2008-03-15T17:55:00.000-07:00

Colin Powell:
"Perpetual optimism is a force multiplier."

As you know now, my Thursdays have become more conveniently easy since the new school year started. This Thursday was no different. I really didn't have to hard of a time keeping my kids entertained in the morning time. The hard part of keeping them entertained now comes in the afternoons. My kids now get really sleepy right after lunch. I have journal and story time with them in the afternoon, and my main task right now is keeping their attention until the day expires.

When that part of the day was over, I taught my MRI Kindergarten class for one period. They went nuts because I gave them stickers as we were reviewing what we learned from the previous few days. I worked out for a little while before coming back to the school and working on my lesson plans. At 5:30 I walked over to the bus stop, and made my way to the city for a rare Thursday outing.

At 7 pm, I had a date in Itaewon with Grace, a beautiful Korean girl that I met a few weeks ago on the Subway. I walked up to the subway steps and there she was waiting with a friend who walked with her to the station. We went over to a place called Gecko's for dinner. The meal was part Irish themed and part American themed. We both had a beer and I listened to some Christian songs that she was working on singing at her church. She wanted to know about my life back in the states so I tried to talk about me for a while. I hate talking about myself usually , so I changed the subject on her a few times. I paid for the dinner, as I should have. It ended up being almost the most money I have spent on food in a whole day, regardless of if it was for one or two people.

When the meal was over, we walked around Itaewon and just chatted for a little bit. We ended up at Coldstone Creamery for dessert. I have never eaten there before even in America, but it was something I wouldn't eat again. I didn't think that it was all that great. She was kind of shocked that I wanted to eat something that was low-fat. I had to explain that I don't eat sweet stuff very much at all. We listened to some music on my ipod for a little bit, and talked some more before she had to leave. We walked down the subway steps together, which happened to be a bit slick. I tried to be a gentleman and hold her arm, so she wouldn't slip. It turns out that she is one of these conservative types that doesn't want to be seen with an American like that. At least that's my opinion. When the night was over, she held out her hand for me to shake, which I proceeded to kiss. The look on her face was worth some money, because she was embarrassed about it.

The ride home was a little long, but I did get back in at a decent time of 11:15 and eventually made it to sleep by midnight. I did get to bed knowing that I did finally have a date with a beautiful Korean girl. I have had dates with Korean girls, but this was one at the top of the food chain. If I had pictures I would post them right away.

The Beautiful Hump Day

2008-03-13T16:30:00.000-07:00

Mary Wollstonecraft:
"The beginning is always today."

My hump day was just filled with the same routine as previously mentioned. By now one can understand how my kids are these days, so that's how it goes everyday just about. I spend half of my energy on that brother-sister combo known as Anna and Walker. The kids did get to have gym class for the last period, but there was no ball pit this time. I helped Jenny, one of our Korean teachers in getting them started and they did alright. She had to speak to them in Korean mostly though.

My afternoon was nice, because I taught quite a few classes. I am getting used to some of my MRI-Kindergarten parents bringing their kids, which is perfectly fine with me. These kids act so very well. I did make one boy cry though. He is pretty slow minded. His name is Tom, and he does everything but pay attention to me. I threatened him by sending him. At last I told him to get him because that's where he was going. He just sat there for two or three minutes balling his eyes out, so I think I made my point.

The AB 2 class I teach was very fun. I told them I had a date with a Korean girl and they went nuts. It was funny, and they are great kids too. The AB4 class got a lesson in clocks and grammar for me, since that's what the book told me to do. I got two gifts in my adult class. One of my students borrowed a movie from me, and gave me a very nice umbrella in return. Another student who is a pro golfer gave me a bottle of Starbucks Frapuccino, which I loved in the college days. I told him thanks, but it was a little late for me to be drinking caffeine.

Tuesday fun

2008-03-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

Charles Darwin:
"A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life."

My day was great on Tuesday. I was pretty energized for putting up with my little ones. Anna and little Walker pushed my buttons like usual. The others did pretty well for me. Rhett's mom brought him in, and he was in great spirits for the whole day. Kira is permanently cranky without a doubt. Scarlett, I have decided runs the show. Walker is just a baby, and that's all there is to that one. Nora is my little rock star, because she is super good. Anna is on the same level as her brother, except she really wants to get on your nerves, until you make her cry. Gracie is great until after lunch when she feels sleepy, or when Scarlett sways her to do what she wants her to do. Gracie does do this one thing every day. She manages to walk up whenever I am teaching at random times and coerce the others to give me this big group hug. It's kind of sweet, but I'm that damn sensitive anymore.

The other two periods of my day went by pretty well. The MRI kids have really shown my some good manners, for not being able to speak very good English. I have a full class with 12 beginner students for this new Kindergarten class, that I teach five hours a week. Besides a trip to the gym, I didn't really do anything else until 7:30. That was when we had our weekly staff meeting. John explained to us that we would be celebrating St. Patrick's Day next Monday at the school. It sounds exciting in a way, so we'll see how that goes. The Lees are also going to have a party at the school for us sometime in early April. This will just include American and Koren staff, and no dates included which is fine with me.

My wounded soldier

2008-03-11T06:15:00.000-07:00

A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.
John Barrymore

So Monday was a tough one to stomach at one moment in the day. The kids were a little calm at the start of the day. I even made it the first three periods before any of my kids had to use the restroom. Finally, during the period after lunch my kids were all getting squeamish so I took them to the bathroom, since Yoon was eating her lunch. The girls went their way and Rhett went into the boy's room. Rhett didn't make it out so well though. Many of the kids leave water on the floors when they wash their hands.

Rhett slipped and fell in the bathroom and almost busted his head open. He did have a scar on the side of his head. I was told to always get Yoon from now on, if one of the kids really, really has to go the bathroom. So if they start crying because they have to use the bathroom so bad, then I call Yoon. It's weird to do that, but whatever the Koreans say, I must do. Rhett's mom even came and had a chat with Mrs. Lee. I don't think Mrs. Lee actually acknowledged that the bathroom floor caused Rhett's accident, but John and the other Koreans understood right away. Rhett's mom was pretty understandable, and the little fellow even gave me a hug at the end of the school day.

My day was a little bit more relaxing and as it went further and further on. The gym was kind and quick to me. I came back and taught my AB2 class for two periods and they were so wonderful to me. I was pretty impressed that they behave so well for their ages. I gave them a spelling test, and some of the kids did pretty well. I was actually shocked that a few did as well as they did.

The rest of the night was as usual. I did very well with my AB4 teens, and my adult class was as receptive to my wonderful teaching ways as usual. I even let one of my students borrow my bootleg copy of the movie The Bucket List. She was pretty excited and I told her to keep the movie for as long as she needed too.

Sunday boredom

2008-03-11T04:59:00.000-07:00

George Will:
"The future has a way of arriving unannounced."

My day on Sunday was plain simple. Eat, drink a protein shake, eat, drink another shake, and well you get the point. Ever since I started this workout program last week my appetite has gone nuts. I made some waffles with cinnamon and ate them with some strawberry jam for my morning and afternoon excitement. I did happen to wake up and clean a mass full of dishes also. In the afternoon I hopped on a bus for Itaewon.

I went to the city and didn't do anything but buy a magazine. The magazine that was at Kyobo for 15000 won, only cost 10,200 won at the bookstore called What the Book?. I was pretty excited that Muscle and Fitness was cheaper and it was the April issue. It has some very interesting things about the 200 top foods for being lean and mean. It was not a fun ride bike, because I had to stand up on the subway the whole freakin' time. I did manage to read the magazine, though during the ride.

When I came back home, I stopped at Lotteria for some dinner. I got some sandwiches to bring home for dinner, and finished my dish cleaning. The day was good and short, and I slept mighty early too.

Just a mellow Saturday

2008-03-09T06:19:00.000-07:00

"I don't read books. This thing called the internet destroyed my motivation to open them."
J Tower

So my Saturday was very unexciting, and that's fine with me. I didn't wake up until almost 11 am, and it was quite nice. I cleaned up my room for a little bit, and I also cooked some breakfast too. This is kind of sad, but I hardly remember what I did in the afternoon. The reason for this is that I took a very nice nap in the afternoon. When my nap was over, I got a text message from Grace, the pretty Korean that I met on the subway last weekend. It said that she was sick, and would be unable to meet me (even though we decided on Friday night that we would meet the next day). I graciously replied back, and said that was fine, and that we could meet during the week.

This girl was so impressed with my patience that she sent me an email, telling me that she thought I was a nice man. I replied back and told her the proper term was gentleman. I gathered some clothes and went to the dry cleaners before heading off into Seoul on my own for a few hours. Apparently the Korean dry cleaner that I use messed up two pairs of my pants. I think it was them and not my own doing at least. I couldn't really raise hell with these folks since they speak another language so I dropped my other stuff and walked home to get my bag for the city.

I went into the area known as Gwanghamun, where this really big bookstore is located. I only went to see if they had Muscle and Fitness magazines and they did. The magazine was about five dollars more than What the Book?, so I decided to wait to buy it. I walked around, just to smile at the young Korean ladies working there, and then walked over to the Insadong area for a little bit. I found the local batting cage, and that was an interesting experience.

I have always batted left-handed for some reason, so I figured this would be like any other batting cage. I got in the thing, and it turns out the cage I was in was only for right-handed batters. It actually was kind of easy batting right, instead of left. When I found the left-handed cage, I ended up hitting worse, which upset me quite a bit. After spending a whole two dollars, I found a place to eat some good Korean food. My dinner was nice. I spent a whole nine dollars on myself for supper. It was bimbimbap, with beef and mushrooms in it. The only downfall of Korean dishes is that they don't fill me up very well.

I did manage to squeeze in a few late meals so I could make my belly happy at the end of the night.

My first birthday party with the new class

2008-03-09T05:52:00.000-07:00

Stanislaw Lec:
"Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art."

My Friday was quite entertaining. I enjoyed a wonderful time with the little ones. Only Walker fell asleep this time during the day. That kid is expected to fall asleep though. Gracie had her birthday party and it was fun. She was really excited about the chocolate cake. The chicken we had did upset a few stomachs during computer class. The kids had gym time again in the ball pit, and I even hung around and played with them again. The kids didn't learn as much as they could have, but I am trying different methods to keep their attention span in tact at all times. I did manage to take some good pictures of our fun times.

The afternoon was nice, because I worked a good bit, but worked out hard too. I taught from 4:30-9:00 pm, which I dearly love. Actually I got a break from 5:30-6:30, but I was still working during the break. My Fridays are much more enjoyable now that I am teaching more than one time in the afternoon.

When the night was over, Kitt and I met Yoon and some of the Korean staff over at Beer Cabin. Some of them had been drinking quite a bit, and they were pretty funny to watch. One of the women started throwing herself on me, and I kindly played along with it. We went to the nourebong and that was quite interesting. Back and forth we would go with the Koreans; they would sing, then we would sing. Andy, Brandon, Lisa, Kitt, C.J., and myself all joined in at various times singing the English songs.

I enjoyed some good conversation along with mac and cheese late at night with Lisa, then made my way home for the evening. I called my Uncle Tom when I was walking, since it was about 1:15 AM Gimpo time, and sometime in the morning for him back in the USA.

So I keep getting a server when I upload pictures. In the next few days I will have some more up of my little ones.

Thursday Fun

2008-03-07T18:50:00.000-08:00

Saint Francis de Sales:
"Be who you are and be that well."

So Thursday is now becoming what was formerly my Friday. It's a very short day. John even stopped by my Kindergarten class to offer me some good advice. My kids get a little bored because they are so young, so they get sleepy. I was advised in the last few minutes of each class to do something fun with the little ones. It really worked out well. Walker, who will maybe fall asleep every day, because he is American age 2 1/2 or so, I will ignore. The kids were pretty well behaved though, and I was happy for them. Gracie already knows to ask for chocolate from me at the end of the day. It's so cute, she follows me around and says "chocolate please", when I am helping the others get ready to go home.

My MRI K class gained a few more students, four to be exact. I know have twelve kids in there, but I think we will do fine. They all seem to behave themselves pretty well. One of the boys has trouble sitting still, and that's fine with me.

When the class was over at 3:30, my day was officially over. I went to the gym for a good 75 minutes. I attracted a small audience of Koreans as I shoulder shrugged 418 lbs. My strength seems to sky rocket more and more each week, but I keep myself pretty modest about it. The Koreans just think that I am some random phenomenon in there, which is good for my self-esteem.

I decided to come back to the school and do some busy work. This was free busy work donated to the school on my behalf. Upstairs on our sixth floor area there were many chairs and tables that were missing some screws or maybe some nuts and bolts. So all I did was find the toolbox, the proper pieces, a phillips-head screwdriver, and an 8mm socket wrench. One of the Korean helpers noticed my work upstairs and the custodian even found me some screws and gladly called me a good teacher. I teach her granddaughter Kira so it doesn't hurt to be seen doing something great.

When I was downstairs she notified me that one of the chairs in my old classroom needed some fixin'. Mrs. Lee happened to walk by as I was fixin' the chair and was pretty impressed. The ladies made me eat what was left over for dinner at the school and Mrs. Lee even came in and gave me a hug in appreciation for what I did.