Sunday, December 27, 2009
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
alcoholism?
we have a liaison at school, tony, who's responsible, among other things, for helping us out with housing and generally living in korea as douchey foreigners. i'm finally getting signed up for health insurance with my school, and he was asking me some questions. it's rather important to note at this point that tony speaks pretty limited english.
t: how many drinks do you consume per week?
a: i don't know, seven?
t: no. how many drinks, not how many days.
t: how many drinks do you consume per week?
a: i don't know, seven?
t: no. how many drinks, not how many days.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
two amazing things!
thing one: I FINALLY HAVE A CHRISTMAS FLIGHT. cambodia is not happening for me due to severe douchebaggery on several fronts, but ryan and i (by which i mean julie, who will forever be my hero) managed to find a direct flight to manila for a mere 585,000 won, 100,000 less than what we would have spent on phnom penh, and also direct, and also the philippines !!! pancit, here i comeeeee.
thing two: on the way home from work tonight i made john and joanna duck into this new glasses store with me so i could look around. i almost instantly found pretty much the exact pair i'd been imagining, and they (with the prescription in) were only 50,000 - and they made them while i waited !! i haven't decided yet whether or not they messed up the prescription, but i'm really hope it's just my eyes adjusting because they're amaziiiing:
AND they came with a GIFT-WRAPPED service-uh: toothpaste!
and not a moment too soon. i am SO over all the calculus in this country.
thing two: on the way home from work tonight i made john and joanna duck into this new glasses store with me so i could look around. i almost instantly found pretty much the exact pair i'd been imagining, and they (with the prescription in) were only 50,000 - and they made them while i waited !! i haven't decided yet whether or not they messed up the prescription, but i'm really hope it's just my eyes adjusting because they're amaziiiing:
AND they came with a GIFT-WRAPPED service-uh: toothpaste!
and not a moment too soon. i am SO over all the calculus in this country.
Monday, November 30, 2009
a (series of) very korean thanksgiving(s)
thanksgiving part one occurred on saturday night, when our former coworker and legitimate human being friend richard invited us over to his massive apartment for dinner. this was awesome for several reasons: 1) free turkey, 2) free stuffing, 3) an actual family with kids to make it seem like a real holiday, and 4) koreans !!!
the koreans were from his wife mj's church, so they were all super nice and spoke varying degrees of english. before we ate, a lady from the church gave a really nice speech about her time living in the united states, and how difficult it is to be away from home for important holidays, especially those that aren't important where you are. at the end she asked us to become part of their "love story," and it was probably the cutest thing i have ever heard in my entire life.
oh yeah i forgot to mention reason 5) EATING CHIPS AND GUAC WITH CHOPSTICKS. i am awesome
after dinner we hung out with this awesome chinese girl, miley (chosen because of miley cyrus, seriously), who speaks fluent english and korean. also, richard's daughters brenda and nancy, ages eleven and nine, with whom i would like to be bff 4 lyphe. after they changed my ringtones to "i don't care" and "gee" with ease, we all played dress-up with a box of barrettes. best. thanksgiving. ever.
family portrait?
thanksgiving part two took place at our friend cindy's apartment in seohyeon. abby made the most fabulous turkey i have ever had, and there was plenty of stovetop and manischewitz to go around.
a super attractive view of the spread?
then we were super cool and watched timeline, even though cindy's tv is "locked" so we had to watch it at a just-audible volume and couldn't change the channel no matter how hard we wished. also, i gracefully lost a game of scrabble.
all in all, a successful thanksgiving. it was sad to not be home, but it was nice to share it with people who were in the same place as me. i felt like i was surrounded by family the whole weekend, though that might have just been the wine.
the koreans were from his wife mj's church, so they were all super nice and spoke varying degrees of english. before we ate, a lady from the church gave a really nice speech about her time living in the united states, and how difficult it is to be away from home for important holidays, especially those that aren't important where you are. at the end she asked us to become part of their "love story," and it was probably the cutest thing i have ever heard in my entire life.
oh yeah i forgot to mention reason 5) EATING CHIPS AND GUAC WITH CHOPSTICKS. i am awesome
after dinner we hung out with this awesome chinese girl, miley (chosen because of miley cyrus, seriously), who speaks fluent english and korean. also, richard's daughters brenda and nancy, ages eleven and nine, with whom i would like to be bff 4 lyphe. after they changed my ringtones to "i don't care" and "gee" with ease, we all played dress-up with a box of barrettes. best. thanksgiving. ever.
family portrait?
thanksgiving part two took place at our friend cindy's apartment in seohyeon. abby made the most fabulous turkey i have ever had, and there was plenty of stovetop and manischewitz to go around.
a super attractive view of the spread?
then we were super cool and watched timeline, even though cindy's tv is "locked" so we had to watch it at a just-audible volume and couldn't change the channel no matter how hard we wished. also, i gracefully lost a game of scrabble.
all in all, a successful thanksgiving. it was sad to not be home, but it was nice to share it with people who were in the same place as me. i felt like i was surrounded by family the whole weekend, though that might have just been the wine.
WHY ARE YOU HERE
it's a month after the fact, but i still feel compelled to document japan, so HERE IT IS:
to celebrate our lack of school and income due to swine flu, we jetsetted on over to japan, in my third spontaneous international trip of the year. unfortunately, in japan spontaneity is treated with extreme trepidation.
first up, traditional korean cultural experience zone at incheon:
(it had to be contained to the zone, lest the cultural experience interfere with air traffic control.)
we went to luxurious kita kyushu, japan. never heard of it, you say? nor had we. but oh, they had heard of us. sort of. after about six hours of transit, we finally arrive in japan. our flight had about twenty people on it, and we all headed to customs, where there were two lines. the japanese line had about four customers, but they were not about to allow any foreigners over there. when we finally got to the front, i went first. on my immigration form, i hadn't filled in "lodging," since our plan was to find something once we got to the airport. we quickly learned that this was not a good plan.
the agent asked me where we were staying, and i had to pull out my boarding pass and sound out "keeeeta kayushu?" "yes, but where?" "in a hotel?" "do you have one in mind?" "we were going to ... ask information?" "....... noooooo." after some back and forth with the other agents in japanese, we were asked to wait in the back of the room until they could deal with everyone else and devote more attention to these obvious terrorists in their midst. while we waited, an adorable female agent came over to ask us what exactly the fuck we were up to. she asked where we were trying to again, and we again stumbled over "kita kyushu." "yeah, but WHERE?" as it turns out, kita kyushu is a large district. i tried to say fukuoka, but she heard kuoka, and i agreed. "is it a cool place?" "..." she then asked what our battle plan was for accomodations, and we told her the information desk. "we ... don't really have one of those." "internet?" "yeah ... nooo." WHAT IS THIS PLACE.
finally the other six people on our flight were processed, and the entire airport staff of six people could investigate why there were white people in kita kyushu. through our makeshift translator, they asked us where we lived and why we were there. "because it was the cheapest international flight" didn't really fly with them, as that is clearly something a terrorist would do. after about fifteen minutes of discussion, they finally asked us what we did. turns out "english teacher" is the magic word at kita kyushu immigration, and we were suddenly each granted our own escort through the airport. first, though, i of course had to have my bag investigated in customs, where my two packs of cigarettes were met with extreme amusement (they're really expensive in japan, ok?!).
we finally made it into the country, only to find that THERE WAS INDEED AN INFORMATION COUNTER. they gave us a vague idea of where we could stay, and we shuffled onto a bus to kuoka, better known as pittsburgh, japan. (for reference, i discovered once i got home that kuoka is sister cities with norfolk. just consider that for a while.)
finding somewhere to stay was a crisis unto itself, as we had been in transit for roughly eight hours at that point and really really just wanted to bathe and start drinking. ryan had taken some decongestants on the plane, so we left her alone in a park to die while we searched for housing. after several tries, including a hostel that wanted to charge us 1800 yen a night to sleep on the floor, we finally stumbled upon a real hotel where we scored a double bed, and also these sponges:
they'll find you if you don't.
our actual experience in japan was not nearly as exciting as the airport. remember, pittsburgh. so, i present you with a photo essay to make this as painless as possible.
we went to japanese bars:
drank by the river and tried to document bright lights and malls:
we waltzed around the streets at midnight on a wednesday, wondering where the nightlife was (there isn't one):
we shopped for traditional japanese clothing and accessories:
we hung out at the 100 yen shop and saw a ferris wheel:
we went to a creepy pc 방 where it was pretty clear that facebook was not the most commonly visited website:
we hung out by water volcanoes:
we saw the local palace at night:
we chose to disregard open-air designated smoking areas:
we drank on the side of the road so we could people-watch and take myspace pictures:
we participated in the traditional japanese art of writing things on small pieces of paper and tying them to some twine:
we learned the art of the samurai:
lived our postmodern lives:
visited a ridiculously tiny but adorable japanese garden - complete with fish! (we had formerly been observing a collection of shrimp in the palace moat.):
attempted to navigate the escher-esque train station:
MADE IT BACK TO THE AIRPORT:
... and that is where things got a bit hairy. when we got to the airport, after a brief photoshoot, we said hay to our good friends at the information booth, and then headed upstairs. there were seven outgoing flights for the day. six were to tokyo, one to incheon. the door for international security wasn't even open - there was a note on the door that it would open twenty minutes before our flight boarded. upon our arrival at the jeju air desk, my duffel bag was intercepted by security, who threw it into an x-ray machine. somehow ryan and abby skated by, i guess because they were wearing backpacks. incidentally, i had purchased a set of three lighters at the 100 yen shop (featuring the japanese, american, and ... swedish flags?) and damned if i was going to lose them! when confronted, i told them that i had no idea where the lighters were (which, given my packing, was pretty accurate) but told them they were free to search. after completely disassembling my bag and running each item of clothing individually (a process which took no less than twenty minutes), i looked up and realized that all of our friends from immigration were staring at us. you know, the ones who thought we were completely incompetent due to our inability to even remember what city we were visiting. finally security tracked down the lighters, and i feigned utter surprise. they offered to check my bag, but i realized i would most definitely never see it again in that situation. then i asked if it was ok to have one lighter, and they said yes. i pointed out that there were three of us, and three lighters. they acquiesced.
THEN, clever dog that i am, i opted to hide all three inside a metal case i'd recently purchased (x-rays can't see through tin, right???) since abby didn't want to run the risk of losing any of the nineteen lighters she had brought along. unfortunately, when security did open up, they made a beeline for my lighters. fortunately, abby's were apparently cloaked in darkness, and i was able to pull my "but there are three of us!" argument again. because we all know that terrorists don't work in teams.
AND THEN! we made it on our plane!!!!!!
huzzah, best trip evar !! we even made it home in time for halloween:
to celebrate our lack of school and income due to swine flu, we jetsetted on over to japan, in my third spontaneous international trip of the year. unfortunately, in japan spontaneity is treated with extreme trepidation.
first up, traditional korean cultural experience zone at incheon:
(it had to be contained to the zone, lest the cultural experience interfere with air traffic control.)
we went to luxurious kita kyushu, japan. never heard of it, you say? nor had we. but oh, they had heard of us. sort of. after about six hours of transit, we finally arrive in japan. our flight had about twenty people on it, and we all headed to customs, where there were two lines. the japanese line had about four customers, but they were not about to allow any foreigners over there. when we finally got to the front, i went first. on my immigration form, i hadn't filled in "lodging," since our plan was to find something once we got to the airport. we quickly learned that this was not a good plan.
the agent asked me where we were staying, and i had to pull out my boarding pass and sound out "keeeeta kayushu?" "yes, but where?" "in a hotel?" "do you have one in mind?" "we were going to ... ask information?" "....... noooooo." after some back and forth with the other agents in japanese, we were asked to wait in the back of the room until they could deal with everyone else and devote more attention to these obvious terrorists in their midst. while we waited, an adorable female agent came over to ask us what exactly the fuck we were up to. she asked where we were trying to again, and we again stumbled over "kita kyushu." "yeah, but WHERE?" as it turns out, kita kyushu is a large district. i tried to say fukuoka, but she heard kuoka, and i agreed. "is it a cool place?" "..." she then asked what our battle plan was for accomodations, and we told her the information desk. "we ... don't really have one of those." "internet?" "yeah ... nooo." WHAT IS THIS PLACE.
finally the other six people on our flight were processed, and the entire airport staff of six people could investigate why there were white people in kita kyushu. through our makeshift translator, they asked us where we lived and why we were there. "because it was the cheapest international flight" didn't really fly with them, as that is clearly something a terrorist would do. after about fifteen minutes of discussion, they finally asked us what we did. turns out "english teacher" is the magic word at kita kyushu immigration, and we were suddenly each granted our own escort through the airport. first, though, i of course had to have my bag investigated in customs, where my two packs of cigarettes were met with extreme amusement (they're really expensive in japan, ok?!).
we finally made it into the country, only to find that THERE WAS INDEED AN INFORMATION COUNTER. they gave us a vague idea of where we could stay, and we shuffled onto a bus to kuoka, better known as pittsburgh, japan. (for reference, i discovered once i got home that kuoka is sister cities with norfolk. just consider that for a while.)
finding somewhere to stay was a crisis unto itself, as we had been in transit for roughly eight hours at that point and really really just wanted to bathe and start drinking. ryan had taken some decongestants on the plane, so we left her alone in a park to die while we searched for housing. after several tries, including a hostel that wanted to charge us 1800 yen a night to sleep on the floor, we finally stumbled upon a real hotel where we scored a double bed, and also these sponges:
they'll find you if you don't.
our actual experience in japan was not nearly as exciting as the airport. remember, pittsburgh. so, i present you with a photo essay to make this as painless as possible.
we went to japanese bars:
drank by the river and tried to document bright lights and malls:
we waltzed around the streets at midnight on a wednesday, wondering where the nightlife was (there isn't one):
we shopped for traditional japanese clothing and accessories:
we hung out at the 100 yen shop and saw a ferris wheel:
we went to a creepy pc 방 where it was pretty clear that facebook was not the most commonly visited website:
we hung out by water volcanoes:
we saw the local palace at night:
we chose to disregard open-air designated smoking areas:
we drank on the side of the road so we could people-watch and take myspace pictures:
we participated in the traditional japanese art of writing things on small pieces of paper and tying them to some twine:
we learned the art of the samurai:
lived our postmodern lives:
visited a ridiculously tiny but adorable japanese garden - complete with fish! (we had formerly been observing a collection of shrimp in the palace moat.):
attempted to navigate the escher-esque train station:
MADE IT BACK TO THE AIRPORT:
... and that is where things got a bit hairy. when we got to the airport, after a brief photoshoot, we said hay to our good friends at the information booth, and then headed upstairs. there were seven outgoing flights for the day. six were to tokyo, one to incheon. the door for international security wasn't even open - there was a note on the door that it would open twenty minutes before our flight boarded. upon our arrival at the jeju air desk, my duffel bag was intercepted by security, who threw it into an x-ray machine. somehow ryan and abby skated by, i guess because they were wearing backpacks. incidentally, i had purchased a set of three lighters at the 100 yen shop (featuring the japanese, american, and ... swedish flags?) and damned if i was going to lose them! when confronted, i told them that i had no idea where the lighters were (which, given my packing, was pretty accurate) but told them they were free to search. after completely disassembling my bag and running each item of clothing individually (a process which took no less than twenty minutes), i looked up and realized that all of our friends from immigration were staring at us. you know, the ones who thought we were completely incompetent due to our inability to even remember what city we were visiting. finally security tracked down the lighters, and i feigned utter surprise. they offered to check my bag, but i realized i would most definitely never see it again in that situation. then i asked if it was ok to have one lighter, and they said yes. i pointed out that there were three of us, and three lighters. they acquiesced.
THEN, clever dog that i am, i opted to hide all three inside a metal case i'd recently purchased (x-rays can't see through tin, right???) since abby didn't want to run the risk of losing any of the nineteen lighters she had brought along. unfortunately, when security did open up, they made a beeline for my lighters. fortunately, abby's were apparently cloaked in darkness, and i was able to pull my "but there are three of us!" argument again. because we all know that terrorists don't work in teams.
AND THEN! we made it on our plane!!!!!!
huzzah, best trip evar !! we even made it home in time for halloween:
Thursday, November 26, 2009
embarrassing
cool, now the mother of one of my kindergartners knows that i have a pink comforter and sleep with a stuffed animal. i am completely qualified for this position.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
success!!
today one of my elementary schoolers asked how to spell "hyundai" and i told him, and then i wrote it on the board in korean to make sure we were talking about the same thing. AND I DID IT TOTALLY RIGHT AND THEY WERE SO IMPRESSED.
(it's 현대, fyi.)
(it's 현대, fyi.)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
EPIDEMIC
i was running late to school yesterday morning, so i didn't think it was very odd that there weren't a lot of kids in the halls when i got there. as i walked towards my room, clara was in the hallway, and said, "i'm sick, i have a fever." i immediately told her to go to the desk, because they're all about checking temperatures and sending kids home because of ze swime flu. as i turned the corner into class, i saw that there were only four guys. i asked them where everyone else was, and all they could offer was "daniel is sick!" clara came back from the desk and announced that she was going home at lunch, which is absurd because after lunch they only have an hour of class left anyway. at that point craig came over to my room and informed me that he too was missing half his class. apparently over the weekend the moms were talking, and when they realized that some kids might have been sick, they all just decided not to send their kids in.
i was kind of pumped, because it meant less work, less running around in circles, and jin woo and i had time to bond (provided i offered enough stickers). the five of us (or four, after lunch when clara finally peaced) had a really good time, but the rest of the school fared not as well. abby's entire class was sent home before eleven, and she was sent to the hospital to be tested for the flus. unfortunately, apparently the rest of jukjeon was there too (including all of our students that had left, which by that point also included richard's class). she described a refugee scene of tents and lines wrapped around the building, and after four hours of hanging out with her class and waiting outside, she decided it was cold out and she would deal with testing later.
the elementary classes had slightly better attendance, but there were still a good number of kids missing. after school, we received some of the most simultaneously amazing and terrifying news ever. all school is cancelled for the rest of the week (snow day!), with the exception of today, which was used as an administrative day, so we could come in and clean/get our acts together. this seemed all well and good, until it came up that parents are thinking of pulling their kids out of the school for the month or indefinitely, as they apparently believe that we were breeding our own strain of the flu in the kitchen and spreading it through the school in the least efficient way possible (five of the hundred kindergarteners probably have it). this would mean a pretty severe cut in income, which would translate to a cut in pay for teachers (or something). today we were still paid regular wages (i worked an eight-hour day), and we're actually getting paid 30% for the rest of the week, which could be worse (though it kind of blows that we're not getting full wages, since they're not exactly personal days).
so today i went in and had to recopy both of my weekly lesson plans (to accommodate for the change of one day), clean my entire room (with baby wipes and windex, because nothing really matters as long as adults THINK you cleaned, i guess), and i finally got to change a lot of the layout of the room (ryan and john made me a giant pirate ship on my back wall and it is faaaaabulous!!).
at our meeting, we were informed that of john's eight-kid kindergarten class, only one is definitely planning on being in on monday (and she might have swine flu). we are very concerned.
so, where do we go to escape our fears about potential non-employment? obscure beach towns in japan, that's where!
i was kind of pumped, because it meant less work, less running around in circles, and jin woo and i had time to bond (provided i offered enough stickers). the five of us (or four, after lunch when clara finally peaced) had a really good time, but the rest of the school fared not as well. abby's entire class was sent home before eleven, and she was sent to the hospital to be tested for the flus. unfortunately, apparently the rest of jukjeon was there too (including all of our students that had left, which by that point also included richard's class). she described a refugee scene of tents and lines wrapped around the building, and after four hours of hanging out with her class and waiting outside, she decided it was cold out and she would deal with testing later.
the elementary classes had slightly better attendance, but there were still a good number of kids missing. after school, we received some of the most simultaneously amazing and terrifying news ever. all school is cancelled for the rest of the week (snow day!), with the exception of today, which was used as an administrative day, so we could come in and clean/get our acts together. this seemed all well and good, until it came up that parents are thinking of pulling their kids out of the school for the month or indefinitely, as they apparently believe that we were breeding our own strain of the flu in the kitchen and spreading it through the school in the least efficient way possible (five of the hundred kindergarteners probably have it). this would mean a pretty severe cut in income, which would translate to a cut in pay for teachers (or something). today we were still paid regular wages (i worked an eight-hour day), and we're actually getting paid 30% for the rest of the week, which could be worse (though it kind of blows that we're not getting full wages, since they're not exactly personal days).
so today i went in and had to recopy both of my weekly lesson plans (to accommodate for the change of one day), clean my entire room (with baby wipes and windex, because nothing really matters as long as adults THINK you cleaned, i guess), and i finally got to change a lot of the layout of the room (ryan and john made me a giant pirate ship on my back wall and it is faaaaabulous!!).
at our meeting, we were informed that of john's eight-kid kindergarten class, only one is definitely planning on being in on monday (and she might have swine flu). we are very concerned.
so, where do we go to escape our fears about potential non-employment? obscure beach towns in japan, that's where!
the hive
in light of anna cotter's counsel, i have chosen to break up these entries so as to not inundate the reader with awesomeness.
last week was full of dubu kimchi and beksaeju, as any good week is. "scott what the fuck you broke the bottl- john where did you just get that from?"
school was pretty awesome, also. tuesday and thursday i got to decorate my classroom for halloween with my kindergarteners (i neglected to take pictures) and they were so excited to do it that they worked really well together. also, after some mild emotional abuse/prodding, even jin woo became my best friend after we solved the issue of "TEACHER WHY NO SPIDER?!?" wednesday, i became responsible for mc-ing an entire event on recycling, for which i had only prepared by finding that musical spring cleaning episode of rocko's modern life (zanzibar).
on friday we spent about three hours at a massive awards ceremony slash birthday party for all october birthdays, wherein the kids were rewarded for apparently every success they've had in the past month, no matter how small. and i mean EVERY kid. at one point one of the seven-year-olds just looked at me, certificates and decorative pencils flying out of his hands, and said tragically, "teacher, TOO MANY presents."
AND, check out clara's baller sweatshirt:
and, because they're all attention whores, here's everyone else that had to jump on board:
daniel, marian, and andrew (who just started wearing that FABULOUS vest over his uniform this week).
eric (who needs a nap), marian, and jin woo (who is clearly plotting to make me feel like a bad teacher).
JIN WOO I LOVE YOU PLZ LOVE ME BACK
and while we're on the subject of school, the fantastic birthday card that my kids made for our kid in indonesia, which my korean teacher promptly folded like four times and shoved into an envelope:
over the weekend scott and mike and john and i had every intention of going to everland with andrew and angie on saturday because they could get us half-off admission. for this reason, we decided that we would have a low-key friday night, just a small book exchange at a bar in seohyeon. this place has darts, it'll be fun. well i guess while we're here, we might as well do shots. well, if we're doing shots, we should eat. well, if we're going to eat, we should get some beers. no don't worry i'll cover this tab. oh shit korean cards get turned off between midnight and two am, what the fuck is that shit? no it's cool i have cash to cover us. WHAT WHY ARE WE GOING TO THIS FIELD. are we really going to play capture the flag? ok we're on opposite teams but i'll just get myself in jail and we can just sit here and drink together.
suddenly we look up and this kid is on the ground and clearly in a lot of pain, insisting that his shoulder has been disconnected. after scott and junyoung investigated, they established that he had obliterated his clavicle and also that any sudden movement would result in an instantaneous puncture wound to the lungs. our medics then rushed him back over the river and through the woods (legitimately - there were stepping stones to get to where we were) and called an ambulance before realizing there was a cab in front of us. clavicle, his wife, junyoung (to translate), and scott hopped in the cab, leaving me and john high and dry with a disbanded game of capture the flag and nothing but our small strips of red ribbon hanging pathetically from our coats.
john and i managed to grab a cab back to civilization, and after some street food got in touch with scott, who reported that he and junyoung would head home to meet us at bargules (it was about three, and we were all still working on an early evening). unfortunately, immediately after arriving at home, scott and i spoke, and he reported that they were at mad dog's in seohyeon, and obviously they couldn't leave, they just ordered food. so john and i track down another cab, pile in, and i tell john to tell the driver where we're going. unfortch i didn't listen, and was utterly confused when we got to mad dog's and found it closed. "that's because we're in seohyeon and you're in ori." another cab. "you're at seohyeon yuk." "yeah but we're in the middle of a road under an overpass." "IT'S COOL WE CAN GET OUT HERE." another cab.W 2300 and i realize we were a block from where we needed to be. i manage to find scott and junyoung, the latter of which peaces immediately (after learning, i suppose, that we just were not going to work out) and john passes out in the booth. where he remained. until we left at five thirty. and after. because we can not carry him.
needless to say, no everland happened.
and thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn saturday night we had a "table" reserved in a "vip room" at a "club" where we got half-priced "bottles." i am not a bro. though maybe i am, because it turns out clubs are pretty lame. we went to hear this band (ensemble? dj/house musicians?) because we know some of the guys in it, but the whole experience was kind of odd. "soo ... do we just hang out with each other in this corner? how do we make friends? wtf, stop giving our alcohol to random dudes." i also gained and lost an immense amount of street cred in the period of about six seconds with this huge black dude that sat next to us.
s: where you from, man?
hbd: baltimore.
s: she lived there!
a: i went to hopkins!
hbd: ...
a: :(
this is what having fun in a club looks like, apparently:
"I GOTTA GO I'M ENJOYING MYSELF IMMENSELY"
"IF WE PRETEND TO BE DRINKING MAYBE WE'LL GET DRUNKER"
"THIS IS WORKING OUT SWIMMINGLY"
i DID successfully get everyone home (such a good mother hen!) and convince byung not to sleep in his car, though apparently did not successfully convince him not to drive it. i can only do so much.
last week was full of dubu kimchi and beksaeju, as any good week is. "scott what the fuck you broke the bottl- john where did you just get that from?"
school was pretty awesome, also. tuesday and thursday i got to decorate my classroom for halloween with my kindergarteners (i neglected to take pictures) and they were so excited to do it that they worked really well together. also, after some mild emotional abuse/prodding, even jin woo became my best friend after we solved the issue of "TEACHER WHY NO SPIDER?!?" wednesday, i became responsible for mc-ing an entire event on recycling, for which i had only prepared by finding that musical spring cleaning episode of rocko's modern life (zanzibar).
on friday we spent about three hours at a massive awards ceremony slash birthday party for all october birthdays, wherein the kids were rewarded for apparently every success they've had in the past month, no matter how small. and i mean EVERY kid. at one point one of the seven-year-olds just looked at me, certificates and decorative pencils flying out of his hands, and said tragically, "teacher, TOO MANY presents."
AND, check out clara's baller sweatshirt:
and, because they're all attention whores, here's everyone else that had to jump on board:
daniel, marian, and andrew (who just started wearing that FABULOUS vest over his uniform this week).
eric (who needs a nap), marian, and jin woo (who is clearly plotting to make me feel like a bad teacher).
JIN WOO I LOVE YOU PLZ LOVE ME BACKand while we're on the subject of school, the fantastic birthday card that my kids made for our kid in indonesia, which my korean teacher promptly folded like four times and shoved into an envelope:
over the weekend scott and mike and john and i had every intention of going to everland with andrew and angie on saturday because they could get us half-off admission. for this reason, we decided that we would have a low-key friday night, just a small book exchange at a bar in seohyeon. this place has darts, it'll be fun. well i guess while we're here, we might as well do shots. well, if we're doing shots, we should eat. well, if we're going to eat, we should get some beers. no don't worry i'll cover this tab. oh shit korean cards get turned off between midnight and two am, what the fuck is that shit? no it's cool i have cash to cover us. WHAT WHY ARE WE GOING TO THIS FIELD. are we really going to play capture the flag? ok we're on opposite teams but i'll just get myself in jail and we can just sit here and drink together.
suddenly we look up and this kid is on the ground and clearly in a lot of pain, insisting that his shoulder has been disconnected. after scott and junyoung investigated, they established that he had obliterated his clavicle and also that any sudden movement would result in an instantaneous puncture wound to the lungs. our medics then rushed him back over the river and through the woods (legitimately - there were stepping stones to get to where we were) and called an ambulance before realizing there was a cab in front of us. clavicle, his wife, junyoung (to translate), and scott hopped in the cab, leaving me and john high and dry with a disbanded game of capture the flag and nothing but our small strips of red ribbon hanging pathetically from our coats.
john and i managed to grab a cab back to civilization, and after some street food got in touch with scott, who reported that he and junyoung would head home to meet us at bargules (it was about three, and we were all still working on an early evening). unfortunately, immediately after arriving at home, scott and i spoke, and he reported that they were at mad dog's in seohyeon, and obviously they couldn't leave, they just ordered food. so john and i track down another cab, pile in, and i tell john to tell the driver where we're going. unfortch i didn't listen, and was utterly confused when we got to mad dog's and found it closed. "that's because we're in seohyeon and you're in ori." another cab. "you're at seohyeon yuk." "yeah but we're in the middle of a road under an overpass." "IT'S COOL WE CAN GET OUT HERE." another cab.
needless to say, no everland happened.
and thennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn saturday night we had a "table" reserved in a "vip room" at a "club" where we got half-priced "bottles." i am not a bro. though maybe i am, because it turns out clubs are pretty lame. we went to hear this band (ensemble? dj/house musicians?) because we know some of the guys in it, but the whole experience was kind of odd. "soo ... do we just hang out with each other in this corner? how do we make friends? wtf, stop giving our alcohol to random dudes." i also gained and lost an immense amount of street cred in the period of about six seconds with this huge black dude that sat next to us.
s: where you from, man?
hbd: baltimore.
s: she lived there!
a: i went to hopkins!
hbd: ...
a: :(
this is what having fun in a club looks like, apparently:
"I GOTTA GO I'M ENJOYING MYSELF IMMENSELY"
"IF WE PRETEND TO BE DRINKING MAYBE WE'LL GET DRUNKER"
"THIS IS WORKING OUT SWIMMINGLY"i DID successfully get everyone home (such a good mother hen!) and convince byung not to sleep in his car, though apparently did not successfully convince him not to drive it. i can only do so much.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
eric needs a nap
one of my less attentive kindergarteners, eric, has been particularly lethargic this week. whenever i've asked him what's wrong, he just says "eric needs a nap." apparently today he passed out on the table during speaking class. i should have listened.
i've had a pretty preposterous week or so. last saturday night i went to dongdaemoon with mike, john, and scott to go shopping, hoping it would be a low-key follow-up to friday night's fiasco. clearly, i have learned nothing since i've been here. after buying a sweet new sweatshirt and a shirt that reads "life in general ruins my nerves," we headed to itaewon for some mexican foods and planned on home. instead, scott managed to escape and john and mike and i ended up in hongdae (lol). it was early, so the bar we went to was almost empty, which was great because i could request all the bad music i wanted and we could play wii sports for free. these two girls, one mexican and one korean, approached us and asked if they could play with us, and we ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night. at some point we made a transfer to this super swanky and overpriced lounge, and upon our departure from the lounge (on our way back to the original bar), we misplaced john. he was determined to find a pc 방 (i'm pulling a shannon koh) to watch a football game, even though i tried to explain that the game had started at two am, and it was four thirty and probably over already and if it wasn't it would definitely be over by the time he found somewhere to watch it, as we were in the far reaches of hongdae. my arguments fell on deaf ears and we parted ways.
when we got back to the original bar, i was ready to put my moves on the mexican girl (regina), as she had seemed pretty cool. unfortunately, pretty much immediately after we got there, john started calling and asking where we had gone, and i spent the next forty-five minutes running up and down stairs at the bar to go outside and describe where we were (i cannot stress enough how ridiculous the lack of street names and addresses in this country is). when i finally lost contact with him, i went back downstairs to find regina making out with some dude. nice.
mike and i peaced, after a cursory search of the surrounding area. we found out the next day that the reason john stopped responding was not due to losing his phone, but rather because his foot was run over by a cab. nbd.
i've had a pretty preposterous week or so. last saturday night i went to dongdaemoon with mike, john, and scott to go shopping, hoping it would be a low-key follow-up to friday night's fiasco. clearly, i have learned nothing since i've been here. after buying a sweet new sweatshirt and a shirt that reads "life in general ruins my nerves," we headed to itaewon for some mexican foods and planned on home. instead, scott managed to escape and john and mike and i ended up in hongdae (lol). it was early, so the bar we went to was almost empty, which was great because i could request all the bad music i wanted and we could play wii sports for free. these two girls, one mexican and one korean, approached us and asked if they could play with us, and we ended up hanging out with them for the rest of the night. at some point we made a transfer to this super swanky and overpriced lounge, and upon our departure from the lounge (on our way back to the original bar), we misplaced john. he was determined to find a pc 방 (i'm pulling a shannon koh) to watch a football game, even though i tried to explain that the game had started at two am, and it was four thirty and probably over already and if it wasn't it would definitely be over by the time he found somewhere to watch it, as we were in the far reaches of hongdae. my arguments fell on deaf ears and we parted ways.
when we got back to the original bar, i was ready to put my moves on the mexican girl (regina), as she had seemed pretty cool. unfortunately, pretty much immediately after we got there, john started calling and asking where we had gone, and i spent the next forty-five minutes running up and down stairs at the bar to go outside and describe where we were (i cannot stress enough how ridiculous the lack of street names and addresses in this country is). when i finally lost contact with him, i went back downstairs to find regina making out with some dude. nice.
mike and i peaced, after a cursory search of the surrounding area. we found out the next day that the reason john stopped responding was not due to losing his phone, but rather because his foot was run over by a cab. nbd.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
relationship advice
i had this discussion with harry, one of my elementary school kids, yesterday:
h: who is your boyfriend at ils?
a: like ... who am i dating? no one?
h: oh ... it's because you got here late, isn't it.
h: who is your boyfriend at ils?
a: like ... who am i dating? no one?
h: oh ... it's because you got here late, isn't it.
Friday, October 16, 2009
curious
today during journal time i was leaning over charles' shoulder to help him write out a sentence. distracted, he turned around and jabbed me in the boob, asking, "what's this, teacher?"
Saturday, October 10, 2009
cafe marianne
we have discovered all-you-can-drink delicious red wine for W8500 a night. so. much. win.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
photographic evidence of chuseok's occurrence
woo, other people finally posted pictures so here they are !!
i look like a mother hen in my ill-fitting hanbok. i'm not convinced that this is a good thing.
I AM SO HELPFUL !! (making songpyeong)
group pitcha !!!
the only individual kid shot that abby posted. this is daniel. for some reason all my kids decided that saluting was the new peace sign that day?
i love being on boats !! (on the delightful ferry to deokjeok-do prior to inundation with ocean spray.)
WE ARE ALREADY COLD AND SALTY AND SMELLY AND WET AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN TO THE BEACH YET YESSSSS
"let's just sit in the doorway to our tent and watch everyone set up camp and drink vodka and mango juice. it's just like a stoop in baltimore!"
in almost every picture from this weekend i am in a reclining position working on my savage tan. tragically, the only sunscreen we had was spf 30 so i am still ghostly pale. :(
YOGIIIIIIIIIIII our puppy mascot in what is probably one of the greatest pictures, ever.
i look like a mother hen in my ill-fitting hanbok. i'm not convinced that this is a good thing.
I AM SO HELPFUL !! (making songpyeong)
group pitcha !!!
the only individual kid shot that abby posted. this is daniel. for some reason all my kids decided that saluting was the new peace sign that day?
i love being on boats !! (on the delightful ferry to deokjeok-do prior to inundation with ocean spray.)
WE ARE ALREADY COLD AND SALTY AND SMELLY AND WET AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN GOTTEN TO THE BEACH YET YESSSSS
"let's just sit in the doorway to our tent and watch everyone set up camp and drink vodka and mango juice. it's just like a stoop in baltimore!"
in almost every picture from this weekend i am in a reclining position working on my savage tan. tragically, the only sunscreen we had was spf 30 so i am still ghostly pale. :(
YOGIIIIIIIIIIII our puppy mascot in what is probably one of the greatest pictures, ever.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
happy chuseok!!
three weeks in this country and i'm yet to work a full week. so fabulous! we had a four-day weekend this week because of chuseok (korean thanksgiving). festivities began with korean day for the kindergarteners. here are my kids dressed in full hanbok:
(clockwise from left: eric, andrew, daniel, harry, marian, clara, lucy, charles, jin woo, and jason)
so wonderful!! we made delicious korean snacks and played korean games and generally ran around in circles while the korean teachers tried to get their shit together.
wednesday night john and scott and mike and i attempted to troll around seohyeon, presuming party party. unfortunately all found was open mic night at dublin, which was beyond tragic. i also had the opportunity to make out with our korean friend, who romantically unzipped his pants for me and waved his tongue around. koreans really know how to charm a lady. after scott and i dragged him home and possibly gave him a concussion, we all went back out for fucking delicious DUBU KIMCHI at four am. alcohol + cabbage + tofu + spicy = :) :) :) :) :)
early friday morning craig and abby and i left for camping for the weekend with five other kids. after a bus, metro, bus, cab, ferry, and cab, we arrived at our own adorable private beach (which i neglected to photograph but i will steal pictures once they are posted). it was absolutely beautiful and so warm and we could even swim !! it totally made up for not bathing all weekend and peeing on rocks. there's just something so magical about waking up in the morning, opening your door, having a hot dog, and laying out on the sand for ten hours. and having some more hot dogs.
oh yeah and there was a poodle with us! we got back this afternoon and i had the best shower, ever. it took several attempts to remove the ingrained sand from my scalp (our tent got super sandy within seconds of setting it up, so it ground in extra well during naps) but now i feel lovely.
best chuseok EVAR!!
(clockwise from left: eric, andrew, daniel, harry, marian, clara, lucy, charles, jin woo, and jason)
so wonderful!! we made delicious korean snacks and played korean games and generally ran around in circles while the korean teachers tried to get their shit together.
wednesday night john and scott and mike and i attempted to troll around seohyeon, presuming party party. unfortunately all found was open mic night at dublin, which was beyond tragic. i also had the opportunity to make out with our korean friend, who romantically unzipped his pants for me and waved his tongue around. koreans really know how to charm a lady. after scott and i dragged him home and possibly gave him a concussion, we all went back out for fucking delicious DUBU KIMCHI at four am. alcohol + cabbage + tofu + spicy = :) :) :) :) :)
early friday morning craig and abby and i left for camping for the weekend with five other kids. after a bus, metro, bus, cab, ferry, and cab, we arrived at our own adorable private beach (which i neglected to photograph but i will steal pictures once they are posted). it was absolutely beautiful and so warm and we could even swim !! it totally made up for not bathing all weekend and peeing on rocks. there's just something so magical about waking up in the morning, opening your door, having a hot dog, and laying out on the sand for ten hours. and having some more hot dogs.
oh yeah and there was a poodle with us! we got back this afternoon and i had the best shower, ever. it took several attempts to remove the ingrained sand from my scalp (our tent got super sandy within seconds of setting it up, so it ground in extra well during naps) but now i feel lovely.
best chuseok EVAR!!
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