At night. Fall is in the air. And by fall I mean days in the high 60's and nights that are pretty chilly. I'll definitely take that over snow in October. I wear my windbreaker when I scooter to and from school and sometimes I feel like its time for gloves. A lot is coming up/already happened. More going away parties, new people to welcome, Halloween and much more.
Last weekend was a mess. A hot mess. It involved Long Island iced teas, completely making a mess of My Show Noraebang, pizza toast, drunk claw game, and fights with Korean prostitutes. Sounds like a pretty normal weekend to me.
I'm really looking forward to Halloween. Although costume shopping in a country that doesn't celebrate the holiday is proving to be pretty hard. In the two biggest department stores the Halloween displays are only about 10 square feet. There are 2 costume shops in Yeosu but what I need isn't something that I would find in a costume place. What I really need is a Savers. Never thought I would say that but I could definitely use one for my costumes. On Saturday morning Wendy and I are going to Shinae (town center) to find the rest of our costumes. I'll update with pictures after the Halloween party.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Best Purchase Ever.
What better way to tempt people to buy the healthier cereal than by attaching a free squirt gun.
You go, Korea.
You go, Korea.
Konglish.
Aside from English words being adopted into the Korean language, Konglish is also the gross misuse or misspelling of English words. All around town there are signs, packages, menus, the list goes on, of things that are supposed to be English, but fail miserably.
Some of my favorites are:
"Beer Scandal"- Who wouldn't you drink beer in a scandalous manner?
"Steak Festival"- Is that like the hot air balloon festival but with meat?
"Marine Products with rice capped"- I was really hoping for a ship's rudder and and anchor covered in rice. Not the assorted seafood with rice.
"Sandwich Scrubber"- On a brillo pad. Hey, I guess sandwiches need cleaning too.
"Fation"- It sounds right but not quite.
"Benisaf gives you happiness instead of the aroma of coffee."- The Benisaf slogan
The best Konglish comes on shirts and hats. While in Gwangju I found a shirt that looked like it had been spray painted every neon color and it said "Nylon Nylon". Or the shirt that just said I <3 Marc. The foreigners love Konglish so much that sometimes they're required dress at parties, and having the most ridiculous Konglish shirt is all but a status symbol.
Some of my favorites are:
"Beer Scandal"- Who wouldn't you drink beer in a scandalous manner?
"Steak Festival"- Is that like the hot air balloon festival but with meat?
"Marine Products with rice capped"- I was really hoping for a ship's rudder and and anchor covered in rice. Not the assorted seafood with rice.
"Sandwich Scrubber"- On a brillo pad. Hey, I guess sandwiches need cleaning too.
"Fation"- It sounds right but not quite.
"Benisaf gives you happiness instead of the aroma of coffee."- The Benisaf slogan
The best Konglish comes on shirts and hats. While in Gwangju I found a shirt that looked like it had been spray painted every neon color and it said "Nylon Nylon". Or the shirt that just said I <3 Marc. The foreigners love Konglish so much that sometimes they're required dress at parties, and having the most ridiculous Konglish shirt is all but a status symbol.
Monday, October 19, 2009
As much as I hate Mondays
I can't help but love going back to school. It may be the dozens of kids that walk by me that say hi to me and bow or the oooohs and aaaaahhhhhs that I get whenever I put up a picture they find cool. Maybe its the times when they have a few minutes left and the whole class breaks out into some random Korean song. I don't know, but it makes each day a new adventure, which is exactly the kind of job I need.
Being a teacher was never something that was high on my list. Or even on my list at all for that matter. It is, however, whats right for right now. I wake up each day to a new lineup, to a new ordeal, to a new laugh. Plus, what other job gives you the opportunity to travel like this while paying you decent money to do so?
I also like the difference I'm making...or at least I think I'm making. Korean students work study for excruciating hours. Homeroom starts at 8:15 and the last class gets out at 5:00. From there the students go to one or more academies or hogwans. They go for things like English, Math, Art, Music, and some go to Taekwondo on top of that! When that's through, the students go home to the hours of homework and studying that they have ahead of them. Throughout all of this, the students get (or seem to get) very little encouragement. Every class I walk by I see the students sitting there getting lectured or disciplined. Not that I can tell when a teacher says "good job", but you usually can see it in the body language. I see none of that. Every time a student picks up on what I'm trying to explain or answers a question correctly, I always encourage them in some way. A simple "good job" with a smile does wonders. You can really see it in their faces. One of my 1st graders (seventh grade, but this kid was definitely a little younger) wanted to hold my hand as he walked down the hall. I was caught off guard so I turned it into a hand shake and a high five.
When you walk into a room and 35 children jump up and scream HI I LOVE YOU you know you're doing something right.
Being a teacher was never something that was high on my list. Or even on my list at all for that matter. It is, however, whats right for right now. I wake up each day to a new lineup, to a new ordeal, to a new laugh. Plus, what other job gives you the opportunity to travel like this while paying you decent money to do so?
I also like the difference I'm making...or at least I think I'm making. Korean students work study for excruciating hours. Homeroom starts at 8:15 and the last class gets out at 5:00. From there the students go to one or more academies or hogwans. They go for things like English, Math, Art, Music, and some go to Taekwondo on top of that! When that's through, the students go home to the hours of homework and studying that they have ahead of them. Throughout all of this, the students get (or seem to get) very little encouragement. Every class I walk by I see the students sitting there getting lectured or disciplined. Not that I can tell when a teacher says "good job", but you usually can see it in the body language. I see none of that. Every time a student picks up on what I'm trying to explain or answers a question correctly, I always encourage them in some way. A simple "good job" with a smile does wonders. You can really see it in their faces. One of my 1st graders (seventh grade, but this kid was definitely a little younger) wanted to hold my hand as he walked down the hall. I was caught off guard so I turned it into a hand shake and a high five.
When you walk into a room and 35 children jump up and scream HI I LOVE YOU you know you're doing something right.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
I'm in love...
with the city of Busan. Busan is the second biggest city in Korea and the 5th largest port in the world. What an amazing city it is. With a population of more than 3.5 million, it is some serious urban sprawl. Its not just any urban sprawl, its a looooong one. Due to its being on the coast, Busan is an abnormally long and stretched out city. I could definitely see myself living in Busan. Walking on Haeundae and Gwangalli beaches it was clear that the city was my paradise. On my left I had the waves of the East Sea and on my right I had towering office and apartment buildings. Exactly the place I want to live. A major city on the ocean. Perfection.
A bunch of us went to Busan for the 14th annual Pusan International Film Festival and Jack's birthday. Busan used to be pronounced Pusan until 2000 when the Korean government revised the romanization of Hangul. When the film festival started, the city was called Pusan and so now even though the P has become a B, the festival's name stayed the same. In my typical fashion I didn't make the early bus that most people took. Fortunately Wendy took the same bus as I did. We were able to find the love motel that everyone was staying at fairly quickly. It was literally down a side street and less than 100 yards from Gwangalli beach. The hotel had round beds, a color changing mood light, and a shower that was built specifically for sex. Lots of room, jets pointing in all directions...you get the picture.
The festival area was really cool. There were tons of booths giving away free things. At one booth you wrote on a post it note what your life's dream was and at another you put a tag on a map of the world where you were from. Needless to say, I was the only one from Rhody. For dinner we got Indian food. I'm not normally a big fan of Indian, but the curry I had, more like a creamy tomato sauce, was delicious. After that we hit up the casino where i won 12,000 won! About 10 USD.
The next day Wendy and I set out to explore Busan. We had three things on our agenda. An English bookstore, Dr. Fish, and Mexican food. The bookstore was a piece of cake to find and we found out that a Dr. Fish and a Mexican place were only a few blocks away. Too bad the website that gave us our information neglected to tell us that the Mexican place closed down. Some other foreigners were nice enough to tell us and let us know that it wasn't very good anyway. Next came the Dr. Dr. Fish is a coffee shop/book lounge with a little something extra. For a mere 2,000 won (less than $2) you can put your feet in this big fish tank set in the floor and have the fish eat the dead skin off your feet. I know this sounds gross but it was actually pretty cool. Once you get past the severe ticklishness of it all, its pretty nice. Kind of like a psuedo foot massage. After it was all said and done, I inspected my feet and found that they were in pretty good shape. I recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to try it.
Wendy and I then hit up another PC bang (PC room) to find another Mexican restaurant. Turns out there was one just a few stops up on the metro, in the direction we needed to go in anyway. We stopped at Pusan National University and right down the street from the University's gates there was Tacopia. Now I'm not saying this was great Mexican food, but it was Korea good. Aka halfway decent. It wasn't that expensive either. A taco, quesadilla, and a margarita came to about 13,000 won each.
This weekend its over to Gwangju to find some more foreign food, Halloween costumes, and to see April and Lou get some ink done.
A bunch of us went to Busan for the 14th annual Pusan International Film Festival and Jack's birthday. Busan used to be pronounced Pusan until 2000 when the Korean government revised the romanization of Hangul. When the film festival started, the city was called Pusan and so now even though the P has become a B, the festival's name stayed the same. In my typical fashion I didn't make the early bus that most people took. Fortunately Wendy took the same bus as I did. We were able to find the love motel that everyone was staying at fairly quickly. It was literally down a side street and less than 100 yards from Gwangalli beach. The hotel had round beds, a color changing mood light, and a shower that was built specifically for sex. Lots of room, jets pointing in all directions...you get the picture.
The festival area was really cool. There were tons of booths giving away free things. At one booth you wrote on a post it note what your life's dream was and at another you put a tag on a map of the world where you were from. Needless to say, I was the only one from Rhody. For dinner we got Indian food. I'm not normally a big fan of Indian, but the curry I had, more like a creamy tomato sauce, was delicious. After that we hit up the casino where i won 12,000 won! About 10 USD.
The next day Wendy and I set out to explore Busan. We had three things on our agenda. An English bookstore, Dr. Fish, and Mexican food. The bookstore was a piece of cake to find and we found out that a Dr. Fish and a Mexican place were only a few blocks away. Too bad the website that gave us our information neglected to tell us that the Mexican place closed down. Some other foreigners were nice enough to tell us and let us know that it wasn't very good anyway. Next came the Dr. Dr. Fish is a coffee shop/book lounge with a little something extra. For a mere 2,000 won (less than $2) you can put your feet in this big fish tank set in the floor and have the fish eat the dead skin off your feet. I know this sounds gross but it was actually pretty cool. Once you get past the severe ticklishness of it all, its pretty nice. Kind of like a psuedo foot massage. After it was all said and done, I inspected my feet and found that they were in pretty good shape. I recommend it to anyone who gets the chance to try it.
Wendy and I then hit up another PC bang (PC room) to find another Mexican restaurant. Turns out there was one just a few stops up on the metro, in the direction we needed to go in anyway. We stopped at Pusan National University and right down the street from the University's gates there was Tacopia. Now I'm not saying this was great Mexican food, but it was Korea good. Aka halfway decent. It wasn't that expensive either. A taco, quesadilla, and a margarita came to about 13,000 won each.
This weekend its over to Gwangju to find some more foreign food, Halloween costumes, and to see April and Lou get some ink done.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Kind of contradictory...
Two weeks ago when I told my co-teachers that I bought a scooter, they were so excited for me. All I heard was "you have your wings", and "it must be nice to feel so free". Every day they'd ask me if I rode it to school and the conversation would go like this:
"Did you ride your scooter into school today?"
"No, I'm not ready to ride in traffic yet"
"Really? Its so easy!"
"Yeah, I know, I'm just not used to driving something like that yet"
Different variations of this occurred for the past two weeks. Before I got the scooter, I was toying with the idea of getting a motor bike instead. I heard (from my teachers) that a bike is much more dangerous than a scooter.
Flash forward to today. I braved the downtown traffic and successfully rode my scooter up the hill to school. As I'm walking up the final part of the hill carrying my helmet, I run into a few teachers who say "You have motor bike?!?! That's so dangerous!". When I walked into the teacher's office and set my helmet on the desk, Mrs. Lee informs me that the Vice Principal doesn't like that I have a scooter and that she had to convince him that I would be careful. My first thought was "Wow, that's nice. They're concerned about my safety." Then I realized...they don't want anything to happen to their investment. After all, private-public schools are a business.
Korean traffic definitely takes some getting used to. Its a lot of "survival of the fastest" and "my terms". Red lights are for the most part just a suggestion. Yielding? Absolutely not. The only time someone will ever yield to you is if you completely prevent them from going. Even then, they slowly roll forward as you make your move and give you a beep of the horn or two. The main thing I've learned is to act like I'm in charge and that my horn is my friend.
"Did you ride your scooter into school today?"
"No, I'm not ready to ride in traffic yet"
"Really? Its so easy!"
"Yeah, I know, I'm just not used to driving something like that yet"
Different variations of this occurred for the past two weeks. Before I got the scooter, I was toying with the idea of getting a motor bike instead. I heard (from my teachers) that a bike is much more dangerous than a scooter.
Flash forward to today. I braved the downtown traffic and successfully rode my scooter up the hill to school. As I'm walking up the final part of the hill carrying my helmet, I run into a few teachers who say "You have motor bike?!?! That's so dangerous!". When I walked into the teacher's office and set my helmet on the desk, Mrs. Lee informs me that the Vice Principal doesn't like that I have a scooter and that she had to convince him that I would be careful. My first thought was "Wow, that's nice. They're concerned about my safety." Then I realized...they don't want anything to happen to their investment. After all, private-public schools are a business.
Korean traffic definitely takes some getting used to. Its a lot of "survival of the fastest" and "my terms". Red lights are for the most part just a suggestion. Yielding? Absolutely not. The only time someone will ever yield to you is if you completely prevent them from going. Even then, they slowly roll forward as you make your move and give you a beep of the horn or two. The main thing I've learned is to act like I'm in charge and that my horn is my friend.
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