1 day until Japan! It was tough sleeping last night because I was excited about this Japan trip. We have all our transportation set up, but are just going to adventure out on our day trips. Anyways, woke up around 9:30, ate some breakfast and headed to the gym. Did a pretty rigorous workout because I won't be back until next Monday. Finished my workout, showered, and then walked to school. Today was very cold and was not fun walking to school. Made it to school dropped off my belongings and went to lunch. Apparently we had to pay our bills today and you can do it at the bank with this machine they have. Max and I head over to the bank wait in a 10 minute line, get the machine and have absolutely no clue what we are doing. Put the bills in and try to pay for it, but nothing happens. All the other teachers were busy so they coudlnt help us. We didnt have the patience or the time for it so we left the bank and headed to lunch. Ate went and went back to school.
I looked over some of my classes for the day and was not looking forward to teaching. I was tired and just wanted to go to Japan. First class went well. They are my youngest class so I always enjoy them. I am teaching them how to snap and one kids is actually getting it. Pretty cool thing to teach and watch someone learn. Go Benny boy. Next class went well as well, no stories except that they made me pick each one of them up for some reason. They are probably the most overweight class there.
Break.
5 classes in a row. No stories there. Break. Then my last class of the day. They always try to get a party out of me by making up some story that it is someone's last day of class. I almost believe them because it is that time of year when students stop coming, but I end up figuring it our and continue with class. That class ends and then walk home with Max. Stop and eat some dinner, get home and skype with my dad. Great talking to you! Able to talk to my doctor as well. Love you! Love everyone!
I miss and love everyone. Have a Happy New Year! Posts again in 2010!
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Night of 26th, Day of 27th
Went out Saturday night feeling good. Accomplished hiking up a mountain during the day and rewarding myself with going out. Max and I wanted to go this club called Posha. Just opened a week ago and we checked it out the other day and agreed to come back tonight. Got there and there was a little line, so we waited in it for a little. Finally got to the front and the doorman said 30,000 won for both of us. Max literally laughed in the guys face. We left and headed to MK club, which was only 10, however we could tell where the crowd had went when we stepped inside. Danced for a bit then headed out toward Go-Go, where the Americans were. Pretty fun, but I was in the mood to dance, so we went back to Posha and I told the guy that our writsts bands had fallen off, whether he cared or night, let us right in. Stepped in the club and it was insane to say the least. Tons of people dancing there ass off to probably one of the best DJ's Max and I have ever heard. We were dancing and having a great time with the Koreans, sweating my ass off. I was covered in sweat and when we left, the wetness made the night so much colder than it actually was. Stopped at an Orange place to eat some food and met some cool Korean dudes who spoke some English and ended uo buying our meal for us. Headed home and fell asleep.
Dec 27th.
Woke up around 1PM not feeling to bad and thinking what I should do today. First thing was to start thinking of places to see in Japan and translating key phrases that we need to know to Japanese. Then I remembered that Choi was going to show me his haircut place, because it was that time for me. Hair was getting a little out of control. Called him around 2 and told him that we should meet in front of the gym at 3:30. 2:40 comes and he calls me asking me where I was, a communication error. So I hustled to the gym and he was nowhere to be found. Called him and he told me he was in his car, saw him and got in. He took me to this haircut place right near my school. I started to get really nervous because who knows how this was going to turn. I even brought a picture in to give them some sort of guidance of what I wanted. Entered the salon, which was pretty small and had 2 middle-aged women cutting hair. Waited until it was my turn and when the time came said a little prayer. Showed the woman my picture and she literally took a 1 second glance at it and never wanted it again. She started my haircut, and with each minute passing by I was thinking how bad could this actually be. I have never seen a person take so much time to cut hair. Each cut had to be perfect and precise. It probably to about 45 minutes to cut/trim my hair. It was finally over and it didnt look too bad, I could actually work with this. The best part of all was that it was only 5 dollars, which included a shampoo wash. Compared to some of the hair cuts Ive had in the states and the price they charge, this ranks up there with some of the best, taking into account the price and how long and precise she was. Thanked them and Choi for showing me the place.
Got back in his car and went to pick up his son from the library. He really wanted me to meet him, so I agreed to go with. His son is 17 and about to enter high school in March. (There year ends in December and starts in March. Our summer vacation.) He was nice, but did not know much English or was very shy which Choi had mentioned to me. After we picked him up, Choi took me back to my apartment and wished me a healthy and safe trip to Japan. I told him thanks and will seem him in a week.
Home and now preparing more for Japan.
Dec 27th.
Woke up around 1PM not feeling to bad and thinking what I should do today. First thing was to start thinking of places to see in Japan and translating key phrases that we need to know to Japanese. Then I remembered that Choi was going to show me his haircut place, because it was that time for me. Hair was getting a little out of control. Called him around 2 and told him that we should meet in front of the gym at 3:30. 2:40 comes and he calls me asking me where I was, a communication error. So I hustled to the gym and he was nowhere to be found. Called him and he told me he was in his car, saw him and got in. He took me to this haircut place right near my school. I started to get really nervous because who knows how this was going to turn. I even brought a picture in to give them some sort of guidance of what I wanted. Entered the salon, which was pretty small and had 2 middle-aged women cutting hair. Waited until it was my turn and when the time came said a little prayer. Showed the woman my picture and she literally took a 1 second glance at it and never wanted it again. She started my haircut, and with each minute passing by I was thinking how bad could this actually be. I have never seen a person take so much time to cut hair. Each cut had to be perfect and precise. It probably to about 45 minutes to cut/trim my hair. It was finally over and it didnt look too bad, I could actually work with this. The best part of all was that it was only 5 dollars, which included a shampoo wash. Compared to some of the hair cuts Ive had in the states and the price they charge, this ranks up there with some of the best, taking into account the price and how long and precise she was. Thanked them and Choi for showing me the place.
Got back in his car and went to pick up his son from the library. He really wanted me to meet him, so I agreed to go with. His son is 17 and about to enter high school in March. (There year ends in December and starts in March. Our summer vacation.) He was nice, but did not know much English or was very shy which Choi had mentioned to me. After we picked him up, Choi took me back to my apartment and wished me a healthy and safe trip to Japan. I told him thanks and will seem him in a week.
Home and now preparing more for Japan.
Dec 26, Gatbawi
Woke up around 12. Finished watching Blazing Saddles, which was an Okay movie. Ate some lunch and then we headed toward Gatbawi. First, we got into a cab and headed downtown where we caught bus 401 to Gatbawi. It took us awhile to find which way we needed to go and which stop had bus 401. We finally found bus 401, but it was heading the opposite direction so the bus driver let us stay on until the next stop and pointed to where we needed to be to head in the right direction. So after a good 20-30 minutes just trying to get on the bus, it finally arrived and our journey there finally began. It took about 50 minutes to get there by bus, but by far the cheapest way to do it. We were at the base of the trail not knowing what we were in for. Started the hike, which by the way is all uphill and thought it would only take a half hour or so. We were completely wrong. It was a tough hike; uphill, cold air, uneven steps, and lots of people. We took many breaks, disrobing a couple times because we were sweating so much. We actually kept a good pace and I was proud of us both. There were two parts to the hike. The first part was a paved/dirt road that was straight uphill. Then you get to this Buddhist temple which is not even halfway and then the stairs start. These stairs suck and were a pain, but it felt good once we reached the top. We stopped a few times taking in the gorgeous views of the scerey around us taking pictures, etc. Finally reached Gatbawi and it was well worth it. A beautfiul Buddha, the only one like it. The views were emmacualte and it was cool seeing people coming up all this way to pray to this particular Buddha. Stayed up there for half hour or so and then headed back down the mountain. Reached the bottom, just in time to catch the bus. Took about an hour to get back downtown and then a cab to our place. Met our friends John and Jenn for BBQ. Great meal after an exhausting hike.
After dinner came back to the apartment took a shower, relaxed, and then out.
Have Fun
More info on Gatbawi click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatbawi
After dinner came back to the apartment took a shower, relaxed, and then out.
Have Fun
More info on Gatbawi click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatbawi
Dec 25, Christmas
First, Max and I decided to go out last night for a little bit because we had no school today. We had to do something and couldn't just sit at home. Went to Who's Bob, pretty empty and just played some pool. Then after awhile decided to leave and just walk around because there were thousands of Koreans just walking the street. Christmas is not a family holiday here, rather a couples holiday. All the couples were out and the guy buys a cake for them. So you see hundreds of people walking with cake boxes all over the place. The more interesting part not just about Thursday night, but every time we go downtown is that we see so many Koreans walking, but they never enter a place. It seems that they just walk around, because any bar we walk into it is never that crowded and for how many people we see on the street every bar should be filled. So after people watching for a little we decided to go home and sleep.
Dec 25th= Christmas, which means no school. Slept till noon and just hung out in my bed and relaxed talking to my mom. Didnt have anything to do until 4PM, where Max and I were invited to a pot luck. We bought some cheese and alcohol for the little party. Was able to talk to my bro and his gf for a little before I left. 4 came and Max and I headed out the door to meet Evan and his gf who just arrived a day or so ago to go to this party. Hopped in a cab and headed to these girls apartment apparently it is really nice. Got there and headed up the elevator and into their apartment and my expectations were exceeded. The place was beautiful and hard to explain. All I can say is that it was a 4 bedroom apartment on the 17th floor of a building with nice furniture and upgraded appliances. It was awesome. Started drinking around 4 and it didnt stop flowing. One of the girls who lived there made 2 hams that were delicious and that I carved as well as some pasta and a homemade sauce that she made. By the way she is in her 30's not a 22 year old doing this. Ate, drank, and enjoyed people's company. There were about 15 of us. The party continued downtown. First place we went to was called go-go. It was alright, not many people there. Stayed there for a bit, then to Sky bar where some of the people got a beer pong tourny going. When we got there though it was completely empty bear in mind it was only 12. A long day, and I started to get pretty tired, plus Max and I were going hiking tomorrow. So after an hour or so we decided to head home for a good night sleep.
Christmas finally ended thank G-d, however the festivities were awesome and met some really cool people.
Dec 25th= Christmas, which means no school. Slept till noon and just hung out in my bed and relaxed talking to my mom. Didnt have anything to do until 4PM, where Max and I were invited to a pot luck. We bought some cheese and alcohol for the little party. Was able to talk to my bro and his gf for a little before I left. 4 came and Max and I headed out the door to meet Evan and his gf who just arrived a day or so ago to go to this party. Hopped in a cab and headed to these girls apartment apparently it is really nice. Got there and headed up the elevator and into their apartment and my expectations were exceeded. The place was beautiful and hard to explain. All I can say is that it was a 4 bedroom apartment on the 17th floor of a building with nice furniture and upgraded appliances. It was awesome. Started drinking around 4 and it didnt stop flowing. One of the girls who lived there made 2 hams that were delicious and that I carved as well as some pasta and a homemade sauce that she made. By the way she is in her 30's not a 22 year old doing this. Ate, drank, and enjoyed people's company. There were about 15 of us. The party continued downtown. First place we went to was called go-go. It was alright, not many people there. Stayed there for a bit, then to Sky bar where some of the people got a beer pong tourny going. When we got there though it was completely empty bear in mind it was only 12. A long day, and I started to get pretty tired, plus Max and I were going hiking tomorrow. So after an hour or so we decided to head home for a good night sleep.
Christmas finally ended thank G-d, however the festivities were awesome and met some really cool people.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Dec 24th, Christmas Eve
After a good night of drinking, woke up around 11. The good news about today is that there is no preschool, but we still had to be there at 12:30 because of the Christmas party and of course, yours truly is Santa Clause! Took a shower, ate some breakfast, and headed to school with Max. Today, is a little warmer than the last few days, which is always nice when it is Winter. Got to school and anticipating when I was going to put the Santa outfit on. I was excited and a tiny bit nervous because I had no idea what I was doing. 1'oclock comes and Betty tells me to put the costume on and not to let any of the children see me. The teachers gathered all the children and moved them into the K-classroom (our biggest class, where Max and I have PE). They start singing Christmas songs with the children, while I start to put on Santa. Evan and Max help me, while also snapping photos. Dressed and still dont know what I am doing. Max and Evan go join the others to sing songs while I sit at my desk. I ask Sally a KT, what I was doing, she replied that I needed to be Jolly (of course) and that each kid was going to come sit on my lap and I hand them a present. Awesome! So a few minutes later Sally comes to me and tells me to go in, I hear the children chanting Santa, so I get real excited and run into the classroom yelling "ho, ho, ho,.... Merry Christmas!" It was great. However, Mary a student of mine, noticed my sandals and pointed out that I was J teacher. It was really funny and we still had a great time. I sat in my chair and started naming kids, handing them presents, let them sit on my lap and take a picture. I loved being Santa, the only problem is that suit is way too hot. I knew I had made an impact when it was all over and the kids where enjoying their snack parties, one of my student's Henry came up to me and said, "J teacher, I love you" and gave me a hug. It was so sweet.
After the party ended, I went to get some lunch and then started my easy day of four classes. Didn't feel like teaching because I was excited for the 3 day weekend. No school tomorrow!!! After my fourth class ended, left and headed to the gym to meet Choi. Worked out and talked to him for a bit. He wants to introduce me to a girl that he works with who is 23. We shall see how it goes. After working out got a quick bite to eat and then came home. Debating whether to go out or not. We shall see
After the party ended, I went to get some lunch and then started my easy day of four classes. Didn't feel like teaching because I was excited for the 3 day weekend. No school tomorrow!!! After my fourth class ended, left and headed to the gym to meet Choi. Worked out and talked to him for a bit. He wants to introduce me to a girl that he works with who is 23. We shall see how it goes. After working out got a quick bite to eat and then came home. Debating whether to go out or not. We shall see
Dec 23rd
Woke up and headed to the gym for my Wednesday work out. Had a really good work out and felt good heading to school. On my way to school ran into Evan and walked the rest of the way together. His girlfriend is making her way over and should get here by 2am. He is real excited for it. Got to school and did my usual routine. Then classes started; first period went well, had PE with Max and played are usual games but geared them toward Christmas. There is not a second that goes by that a Christmas song is not being sung. Can't wait for this holiday to be over! First class ended, then second period, which went smoothly as usual. Then break and ate some lunch and did some planning and reviewed for some of my classes. In addition, went to go buy a baseball and water bottle so I dont have to keep purchasing water. Break ended and then had 4 back to back. Classes went well and no good stories to tell. Break, finished my planning and telephone teaching. My next class is always a fun one and apparently I promised them a Christmas party and they brought snacks. Of course, I made sure we got some work done before we had our little party. After some work we had the party and they brought out their food. They kept trying to feed me chocolate when they knew I couldnt eat it, those little a**holes. Class ended and left school with Max.
Got home and made dinner, a BBQ chicken sandwich, with some sauteed onions. Pretty damn good for what we have to work with. After dinner a little relaxation and then Max and I headed downtown. The first bar we headed to was called Organ bar, that is known for a fire drink. All types of liquor poured into a wine glass, then the bartender lights it on fire, swishes the liquor around for a good 2 minutes and then pours the drink into a glass. It was a good act, however the drink was very strong, but also had a candy cane aftertaste that made me go back for more. Max and I finished our drink and headed out the door, thinking about our next move. We were right near this new club that just opened up so we decided to check it out, but there was a cover. So we decided maybe another night, when it will be actually crowded to check it out. As we were walking away, one of the bouncers told us we could come in for free. We accepted and headed in the club. Even though it was dead, the music was pumping and some Koreans were dancing. The place was very cool and looks like the new club that I will be going to, definitely over Frog! Stayed there for a bit, but then decided to go somewhere cheaper and might have more people, Who's Bob. Met some new people and had a pretty good time. Came home around 2:30am and was about to fall asleep when my computer started ringing and Korn was calling me. Spoke to him for a bit, until our connection got to choppy.
Goodnight!
Got home and made dinner, a BBQ chicken sandwich, with some sauteed onions. Pretty damn good for what we have to work with. After dinner a little relaxation and then Max and I headed downtown. The first bar we headed to was called Organ bar, that is known for a fire drink. All types of liquor poured into a wine glass, then the bartender lights it on fire, swishes the liquor around for a good 2 minutes and then pours the drink into a glass. It was a good act, however the drink was very strong, but also had a candy cane aftertaste that made me go back for more. Max and I finished our drink and headed out the door, thinking about our next move. We were right near this new club that just opened up so we decided to check it out, but there was a cover. So we decided maybe another night, when it will be actually crowded to check it out. As we were walking away, one of the bouncers told us we could come in for free. We accepted and headed in the club. Even though it was dead, the music was pumping and some Koreans were dancing. The place was very cool and looks like the new club that I will be going to, definitely over Frog! Stayed there for a bit, but then decided to go somewhere cheaper and might have more people, Who's Bob. Met some new people and had a pretty good time. Came home around 2:30am and was about to fall asleep when my computer started ringing and Korn was calling me. Spoke to him for a bit, until our connection got to choppy.
Goodnight!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Tues Dec 22nd
First off, I want to reply to the comment that my brother made. They do have Korean names, but when they come to English school their parents/teachers give them American names so it is easier for us to communicate with them and call on them while teaching. It would take more time for us to learn their Korean names than for us to teach the actual lesson. Josh, their names are like kim, lo, choi, lim, etc. They try to make it simpler for us, because it is hard as hell to pronounce their full names. It is like kim.......lo. So that is my response.
Anyways, woke up around 10:30, ate some breakfast, showered, and completed my usual routine, while watching a little bit of the Monday Night Football game. Headed to school with Max to around 11:30 to get to our 12'oclock Tuesday meeting. Get there and once again the meeting is pointless, until she asked who wanted to be Santa for the preschoolers on Thursday. I volunteered and am excited to dress up as Santa because we never had Christmas in our house. It is going to be real funny and I am going to make Max take lots of pictures. The meeting ended, I scarfed down my sandwich and get ready for class. The first two classes went smoothly, no stories to tell. Although, it seems that classes are getting smaller and smaller because most students are on break and I think their parents are taking them on trips. Had a break so ate a little snack and reviewed for my next set of classes. Break ends and go to A3, who were absolutely horrible and there were only 5 of them. Adam started cusing and saying 'Fuck you' to a girl who then replied with the finger. These children are only 10 or 11. I immediately stopped them and gave them my wrath. I told them if any of them did it again that they were going straight to Betty teacher. Of course, 10 minutes later, Adam is quietly repeating that same word again to his buddy, so I take him straight to Betty teacher and let her deal with him. 5 minutes later he comes back in the classroom and apologizes. After that class, the other 3 classes go smoothly. Break, finish my planning for Wednesday, then go to my final class. 3 students, easy, and am learning some sign language.
The day is done, Max and I walk home, but before we get home we try another BBQ place, that just recently opened. The side dishes were extremely different than any other BBQ place we have been to. They first brought us Oysters, shrimp, and diced corn. All very tasty. Then clams and other various types of veggies with the meat and it was only 7 dollars each. Crazy! Filled ourselves up and came back to the apartment.
Goodnight!
Anyways, woke up around 10:30, ate some breakfast, showered, and completed my usual routine, while watching a little bit of the Monday Night Football game. Headed to school with Max to around 11:30 to get to our 12'oclock Tuesday meeting. Get there and once again the meeting is pointless, until she asked who wanted to be Santa for the preschoolers on Thursday. I volunteered and am excited to dress up as Santa because we never had Christmas in our house. It is going to be real funny and I am going to make Max take lots of pictures. The meeting ended, I scarfed down my sandwich and get ready for class. The first two classes went smoothly, no stories to tell. Although, it seems that classes are getting smaller and smaller because most students are on break and I think their parents are taking them on trips. Had a break so ate a little snack and reviewed for my next set of classes. Break ends and go to A3, who were absolutely horrible and there were only 5 of them. Adam started cusing and saying 'Fuck you' to a girl who then replied with the finger. These children are only 10 or 11. I immediately stopped them and gave them my wrath. I told them if any of them did it again that they were going straight to Betty teacher. Of course, 10 minutes later, Adam is quietly repeating that same word again to his buddy, so I take him straight to Betty teacher and let her deal with him. 5 minutes later he comes back in the classroom and apologizes. After that class, the other 3 classes go smoothly. Break, finish my planning for Wednesday, then go to my final class. 3 students, easy, and am learning some sign language.
The day is done, Max and I walk home, but before we get home we try another BBQ place, that just recently opened. The side dishes were extremely different than any other BBQ place we have been to. They first brought us Oysters, shrimp, and diced corn. All very tasty. Then clams and other various types of veggies with the meat and it was only 7 dollars each. Crazy! Filled ourselves up and came back to the apartment.
Goodnight!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Dec 21, A Monday
9:30 alarm goes off and off to start the week! Make a bagel with jelly, a sandwich for lunch and head to the gym. A little warmer than than the past couple days, but still pretty chilly. Get to the gym, change and start working out. I always like the Monday work out because I feel that I am getting all the bad toxins out of my body from the weekend. Its all mental! Another great thing about this Monday workout is that it is leg day, and we all know that I love legs. Luckily, I was able to workout by myself with out any interruptions from anybody. It was great, but feel I could always use a personal trainer. Workout ends, head downstairs; shower, change, and head out the door towards school. Its great when those endorphins kick in on the walk to work. Put on some music and pass everyone with a smile on my face.
Get to school, review the first few classes for the day and go eat some kimbop with Max. Come back to school and start teaching. First two classes were easy, just one little comment about my first class. I noticed that my boy Brian was wearing a jacket and a runny nose so I asked him if everything was alright and before he could answer the KT told me that he had a fever, but to just let him stay. How backwards of a country is this? Why do they wear masks? I wish someone could explain their logic to me. After my second class, had a break. Did some planning and ate my sandwich. Break ends, then 5 classes in a row. My first two classes which are my trouble children, were pretty good today and didnt have to put anyone in the baby chair, although a kid in the second class brought a soft pellet gun to school and told him to put it away immediately. What the hell are these kids and parents thinking? In my fifth class, we were playing sticky ball game where you throw a sticky ball at point values on the board. I have the student who just threw pass it on to the next student. Today, Emma decides to hurl it to Grace and knocks her square in the face and she starts to cry. The director who is also a KT (her name is Betty) comes in because she taught them the previous class and had to finish up something in their communication books sees this and I have to explain what had happened. She told me not to let them throw it hard, and have them underhand it. I nodded and agreed. It was an accident and won't happen again. However, I can't stop playing this game, they love it and I love it!. Class ends. Break. Finish planning for Tuesday. Next class, went smooth, taught them about US money. Class ended and was about to go home until I saw some interesting food on one of the KT's desk, it so happened to be Betty. She told me it was pig intestines, liver, and lung. She asked if I wanted to try it and of course I did, because while in Korea I have to say yes or else won't experience anything. Tried it and it was actually pretty good. The intestines were filled with some rice noodle, so it was not bad at all. The liver was sort of dry, but would eat again. The lung was the most interesting, because it was slimy and very chewy, but had a good taste to it. I can't tell if I liked it or not, so I am going to try again eventually.
After the taste testing, walked home with Max. Got home and made chicken and pasta. Watched some TV caught up on the news and now going to bed.
* The dish containing pig intestines is called Sundae: To read more go to,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundae_%28Korean_food%29
Get to school, review the first few classes for the day and go eat some kimbop with Max. Come back to school and start teaching. First two classes were easy, just one little comment about my first class. I noticed that my boy Brian was wearing a jacket and a runny nose so I asked him if everything was alright and before he could answer the KT told me that he had a fever, but to just let him stay. How backwards of a country is this? Why do they wear masks? I wish someone could explain their logic to me. After my second class, had a break. Did some planning and ate my sandwich. Break ends, then 5 classes in a row. My first two classes which are my trouble children, were pretty good today and didnt have to put anyone in the baby chair, although a kid in the second class brought a soft pellet gun to school and told him to put it away immediately. What the hell are these kids and parents thinking? In my fifth class, we were playing sticky ball game where you throw a sticky ball at point values on the board. I have the student who just threw pass it on to the next student. Today, Emma decides to hurl it to Grace and knocks her square in the face and she starts to cry. The director who is also a KT (her name is Betty) comes in because she taught them the previous class and had to finish up something in their communication books sees this and I have to explain what had happened. She told me not to let them throw it hard, and have them underhand it. I nodded and agreed. It was an accident and won't happen again. However, I can't stop playing this game, they love it and I love it!. Class ends. Break. Finish planning for Tuesday. Next class, went smooth, taught them about US money. Class ended and was about to go home until I saw some interesting food on one of the KT's desk, it so happened to be Betty. She told me it was pig intestines, liver, and lung. She asked if I wanted to try it and of course I did, because while in Korea I have to say yes or else won't experience anything. Tried it and it was actually pretty good. The intestines were filled with some rice noodle, so it was not bad at all. The liver was sort of dry, but would eat again. The lung was the most interesting, because it was slimy and very chewy, but had a good taste to it. I can't tell if I liked it or not, so I am going to try again eventually.
After the taste testing, walked home with Max. Got home and made chicken and pasta. Watched some TV caught up on the news and now going to bed.
* The dish containing pig intestines is called Sundae: To read more go to,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundae_%28Korean_food%29
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Dec 20th, the day of travel
It twas a fun night last night going bar hopping and I toned down the drinking a bit. Woke up at 12 and realized it was already Sunday. The days are going by faster and faster and even though we are not taking anything for granted and are exploring as much as possible, the days need to slow down just a bit. As Max and I were eating PB&J’s (what would we do without out them?) we decided that we wanted to go somewhere, because it is Sunday and that is what we always do. We cant just hang around the apartment and do nothing, must explore as much of this city as possible no matter how cold it is. Daegu has so much to offer, not only nightlife, but historically, you just have to be willing to do it.
So we headed out the door toward Bullo-dong Tumuli (tomb) Park. The only problem was that we didn’t exactly know how to get there. Max knew that we had to take the number 1 bus, but had no idea where to get off. Got on the bus and stayed on it for a good 20-30 minutes and we didn’t know if it was taking us to the right place or not even though Max thought it should have. So we made a decision to get off at some random stop that looked cool and had lots of little markets. The markets had everything you could imagine ranging from meat to vegetables to seafood to spices. You name it and they probably had it and then some. In addition, we saw some interesting fish and other food that could not be identified. I bought 15 or so tangerines for 3 dollars and Max bought some fried Kim bop. After walking around for a half hour or so, we decided to get a cab and tell him where we wanted to go. It seemed like he understood and it was about a 5 minute cab ride until he started speaking Korean and said that we had arrived. Only problem, was that there was no park with tombs to be seen. Max tried to talk to him and I told him we will just walk around because we could not be far. As we get out of the cab we see the number one bus pass us by, pretty funny don’t you think? We start walking for less than a minute and I turn my head to the right and see the tomb park in the distance. We walk for about 5 minutes and arrive at this huge park with 200 plus tombs, more like little hills now that cover the area. It was awesome how these tombs were structured in a way that made them look like gigantic ant hills. Max thought the place was eerie, but I didn’t seem mind much. We walked around the whole park looking at the different mounds discussing why one is bigger than the other and it is Max’s job to find the answer to that. The one thing we do know is that they date back to the fourth or fifth century. Once we completed our walk we headed back to the main road to go back to the apartment.
The next journey of the day begins: We both think that the number one bus should take us back to our place, so we hop on the bus hoping that it will do so. We are on the bus for 30 minutes and we get downtown and figure it will make a loop and drop us off where we started. Twenty minutes later we do not recognize anything and ask a lady on the bus if this goes to suesong (where we live). She said no and at the next stop we get off the bus. Now we are in an area that we have never seen before and do not know how far we are from our apartment. We continue walking trying to find the subway station, but fail so we resort to hailing a cab. Max tells the cabbie where to go and he gives us a look of which he had never heard of such an area. He turned on his GPS and we were on our way. I believe the bus took us a half hour away because that is how long it took to get back to our apartment. We finally see familiar buildings and I am overwhelmed with joy that we are finally back. It was a long day of traveling so we make dinner, eat, and now about to go to bed.
Let the 4 day work week begin!
So we headed out the door toward Bullo-dong Tumuli (tomb) Park. The only problem was that we didn’t exactly know how to get there. Max knew that we had to take the number 1 bus, but had no idea where to get off. Got on the bus and stayed on it for a good 20-30 minutes and we didn’t know if it was taking us to the right place or not even though Max thought it should have. So we made a decision to get off at some random stop that looked cool and had lots of little markets. The markets had everything you could imagine ranging from meat to vegetables to seafood to spices. You name it and they probably had it and then some. In addition, we saw some interesting fish and other food that could not be identified. I bought 15 or so tangerines for 3 dollars and Max bought some fried Kim bop. After walking around for a half hour or so, we decided to get a cab and tell him where we wanted to go. It seemed like he understood and it was about a 5 minute cab ride until he started speaking Korean and said that we had arrived. Only problem, was that there was no park with tombs to be seen. Max tried to talk to him and I told him we will just walk around because we could not be far. As we get out of the cab we see the number one bus pass us by, pretty funny don’t you think? We start walking for less than a minute and I turn my head to the right and see the tomb park in the distance. We walk for about 5 minutes and arrive at this huge park with 200 plus tombs, more like little hills now that cover the area. It was awesome how these tombs were structured in a way that made them look like gigantic ant hills. Max thought the place was eerie, but I didn’t seem mind much. We walked around the whole park looking at the different mounds discussing why one is bigger than the other and it is Max’s job to find the answer to that. The one thing we do know is that they date back to the fourth or fifth century. Once we completed our walk we headed back to the main road to go back to the apartment.
The next journey of the day begins: We both think that the number one bus should take us back to our place, so we hop on the bus hoping that it will do so. We are on the bus for 30 minutes and we get downtown and figure it will make a loop and drop us off where we started. Twenty minutes later we do not recognize anything and ask a lady on the bus if this goes to suesong (where we live). She said no and at the next stop we get off the bus. Now we are in an area that we have never seen before and do not know how far we are from our apartment. We continue walking trying to find the subway station, but fail so we resort to hailing a cab. Max tells the cabbie where to go and he gives us a look of which he had never heard of such an area. He turned on his GPS and we were on our way. I believe the bus took us a half hour away because that is how long it took to get back to our apartment. We finally see familiar buildings and I am overwhelmed with joy that we are finally back. It was a long day of traveling so we make dinner, eat, and now about to go to bed.
Let the 4 day work week begin!
Dec 19th
Had a pretty tough time waking up. Went out pretty hard the night before, so I knew it was going to be one of those days. Made some breakfast and just relaxed for a long time before going to the gym to meet up with Choi. 4'oclock came and headed to the gym and worked out hard. Chest and back today, but when I got there, Choi was not to be found so I called him and he said he was running a little late. He finally showed up and told me that his back was hurting him and that he wanted to take it easy, which I didnt mind at all. I continued my workout while he took it easy. In addition, he cancelled the dinner plans, where I was supposed to eat with him and and his son. Something about his family already going out to dinner and we were going to reschedule.
After our work out ended he asked if I wanted to go to this Sauna place near by because the showers were not working at the moment at the gym. I of course agreed and we headed toward the sauna which is 5 minutes from my apartment. I asked Choi if I could call Max and invite him and he had no problem with it. So we get to this sketchy looking building pay 4,000 won each and head up to the second floor. Open the door to a bunch of naked Asian men coming in and out of this bath house. We headed in, undressed and put our belongings into a locker. Naked and all headed into the actual sauna area where there are just loads of Asian men giving Max and I the stares. First a shower is taken to clean the body, then Choi took us into this hot salt room. Mad amounts of salt, and you just rub it all over your body and let it soak it. After a few minutes in there we came out and rinsed off. My skin was silky smooth. Next we headed into a hot tub, where the water was scorching, but felt great after a hard work out. Spent another few minutes relaxing and then headed into this cold pool where it is said that the water is from a natural like spring some 300 m below the ground. I felt very relaxed. Next we went into an actual sauna and I could barely breathe. It was so dry and I had to get out after a couple minutes. Did some more hot tubbing and salt rubbing and then exited the bathouse to dry off. Wow, it was so relaxing and I just wanted to take a nap! Sat down on some couches and relaxed for a little bit eating some baked eggs. If I wanted to I could have gotten my hair cut in in this little barbershop that was in the locker room. Very neat place for only 4 bucks. Dressed up and said goodbye to Choi and headed home with Max, but before getting home we stopped off for some BBQ and filled ourselves up. Tried a different type of meat that looked like bacon strips. It was alright, not the greatest going in or coming out for that matter. Came home and took a little nap.
Woke up around 10pm and got ready to go out. Headed downtown and started off at a bar Max wanted to go to called Flower. Probably one of the most flamboyant bars I have ever been to. Flowers all over the place and I just wanted to have one drink and get out of there. A great date place, but just not for Max and I sitting together. Had our drink and left. Then went to this bar/club called Urban. It was real cool, not too crowded so we stuck around for awhile playing pool and drinking some beer. After that we wanted to check out this bar called Old School. This is where all the army dudes hang out. Just a bunch of them with their lady friends having a good time. Apparently, a lot of fights occur at this bar because they get out of hand. While we were heading out these two girls got into it. Don't know if I will be going back there. Next, we headed to Club Frog where it was crazy crowded to the point where we couldnt move. I could not show off my stuff like last time so we only stayed for about an hour or so. Our last stop was Who's Bob where we just got some water, jugged it and left. Headed back to the apartment, was able to chat with Preston for a bit and then went to bed.
After our work out ended he asked if I wanted to go to this Sauna place near by because the showers were not working at the moment at the gym. I of course agreed and we headed toward the sauna which is 5 minutes from my apartment. I asked Choi if I could call Max and invite him and he had no problem with it. So we get to this sketchy looking building pay 4,000 won each and head up to the second floor. Open the door to a bunch of naked Asian men coming in and out of this bath house. We headed in, undressed and put our belongings into a locker. Naked and all headed into the actual sauna area where there are just loads of Asian men giving Max and I the stares. First a shower is taken to clean the body, then Choi took us into this hot salt room. Mad amounts of salt, and you just rub it all over your body and let it soak it. After a few minutes in there we came out and rinsed off. My skin was silky smooth. Next we headed into a hot tub, where the water was scorching, but felt great after a hard work out. Spent another few minutes relaxing and then headed into this cold pool where it is said that the water is from a natural like spring some 300 m below the ground. I felt very relaxed. Next we went into an actual sauna and I could barely breathe. It was so dry and I had to get out after a couple minutes. Did some more hot tubbing and salt rubbing and then exited the bathouse to dry off. Wow, it was so relaxing and I just wanted to take a nap! Sat down on some couches and relaxed for a little bit eating some baked eggs. If I wanted to I could have gotten my hair cut in in this little barbershop that was in the locker room. Very neat place for only 4 bucks. Dressed up and said goodbye to Choi and headed home with Max, but before getting home we stopped off for some BBQ and filled ourselves up. Tried a different type of meat that looked like bacon strips. It was alright, not the greatest going in or coming out for that matter. Came home and took a little nap.
Woke up around 10pm and got ready to go out. Headed downtown and started off at a bar Max wanted to go to called Flower. Probably one of the most flamboyant bars I have ever been to. Flowers all over the place and I just wanted to have one drink and get out of there. A great date place, but just not for Max and I sitting together. Had our drink and left. Then went to this bar/club called Urban. It was real cool, not too crowded so we stuck around for awhile playing pool and drinking some beer. After that we wanted to check out this bar called Old School. This is where all the army dudes hang out. Just a bunch of them with their lady friends having a good time. Apparently, a lot of fights occur at this bar because they get out of hand. While we were heading out these two girls got into it. Don't know if I will be going back there. Next, we headed to Club Frog where it was crazy crowded to the point where we couldnt move. I could not show off my stuff like last time so we only stayed for about an hour or so. Our last stop was Who's Bob where we just got some water, jugged it and left. Headed back to the apartment, was able to chat with Preston for a bit and then went to bed.
Friday, December 18, 2009
Dec 18th, FridaYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Yes, its Friday so that means after a very long day of teaching the weekend! Woke up and the legs still feeling very sore. Pop some advil, take a shower, eat, talk to mom and head to school with Max. Walking to school was a pain not only because of the legs, but also because of how cold it is. Reminds me of a place I used to live and go to school. Get to school, do my routine of looking over classes and just chatting with the other teachers. Class starts and it is going well, until we start playing this jump game, where the students line up and I ask a question and they jump to the left if the answer is Yes and jump to the right if the answer is No. So one of the kids on a question either got pushed or jumped to far over, but in any event fell over onto the fire extinguisher, which is in an awful location, but never thought about. So he fell over and some how the pin came out and it went off and white crap went all over the floor and the room got a little smokey. We had to evacuate the room, but the part I like most was his facial expression, which was priceless. He was nervous, upset, and scared that he was going to get in trouble. I reassured him that it was an accident and he would not get in trouble, it was adorable and I felt bad for him. Of course, the one of the KT's questioned him, but I told her not to yell at him for it was an accident. Class ended, and then went to my next class. Went well no stories. Break. Ate my PB&J and planned a little bit for Monday. Break ended and now the worst part of the day comes with 5 back to back, where my first 2 classes are the bad children. A3 is first and I feel that every Friday they are just awful and so for one of the kids I had him sit in the baby chair stare at a dot on the board and made him balance a book on his head (thanks mom). Great idea! Yelled at him every time the book fell. That class ended and went to the next awful class, but they where actually pretty good. The next three were pretty painless and no good stories to tell. Break. Finished my planning for Monday and then had my last class of the day which went smoothly. The work day over!!!
Weekend starts, man these weeks go by fast. Evan and I went back to my place to drop of our bags and then headed downtown with Max who was already home. Ate downtown, which of course was some Korean BBQ. Then headed over to ice bar to meet up with some people before trivia. Had an ice beer and found out that my boy Tom quit. Headed over to the bar Common for trivia. Hard ass questions that a European made. Had a good time drinking beers and socializing and then headed to Who's Bob where there were mad amounts of people. Talked and met some fellow Westerners for a while and continued drinking. After a while, got tired so I decided to go home, but first Max and I stopped at Mcd's for some food. Not a good habit forming here, but so good. Headed home and fell asleep.
Weekend starts, man these weeks go by fast. Evan and I went back to my place to drop of our bags and then headed downtown with Max who was already home. Ate downtown, which of course was some Korean BBQ. Then headed over to ice bar to meet up with some people before trivia. Had an ice beer and found out that my boy Tom quit. Headed over to the bar Common for trivia. Hard ass questions that a European made. Had a good time drinking beers and socializing and then headed to Who's Bob where there were mad amounts of people. Talked and met some fellow Westerners for a while and continued drinking. After a while, got tired so I decided to go home, but first Max and I stopped at Mcd's for some food. Not a good habit forming here, but so good. Headed home and fell asleep.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Dec 17th, Sore!
Try to get out of bed this morning almost impossible. My legs are sore as they can be and dont know if they have ever felt like this. Each step there is an aching pain and I only wonder how I am going to walk to school and teach for 8 hours. Try to sit and then stand is like pulling teeth. Even though the soreness is painful it is a good pain that I enjoy, because that means for me that I worked the shit out of my legs. It also means that I won't be able to walk normally for the next couple days. Anyways, I hopped in the shower then ate some breakfast/lunch. Headed to school with Max at a pretty slow pace because of the legs. Finally got to school and started the day. I want to add that going down stairs is one of the hardest things to do when the legs are sore. I felt like I was going to fall over with each step. It was crazy, at least Thursday is my easiest day with only 6 hours of teaching.
Went to my first class, and started to have a stomachache and was not feeling good at all. Totally separate from the legs, and was trying to teach class and I tried to put on a warm face, but I guess it didnt work because one of my students asked if I was mad at them. I immediately told him no and started a game. It was so cute and I felt bad for him. Luckily this class ended 10 minutes early because they had a cooking class for Christmas so I got to rest a little longer before my next class. Still not feeling well headed to my 2nd class where we did some review of materials from the day before and then headed to PE with Danni Teacher and her class. Played four corners and musical chairs. One of my kids, Henry, slightly autistic we think and sensitive cries a lot and every time he got out started crying and ran up to me for comfort. It was so sad. Class ended and break time began. Had a a little lunch because I was still not feeling good. Break ended and had four classes back to back. No good stories in those classes, except in a class of just 5 girls, the head girl, Emma, who is way smarter than the other kids and acts like a second teacher got real mad today. She is usually awesome and well-behaved, but since she didnt win a game, like she usually does, she through a fit and stopped playing and some how got the rest of the crew to stop as well. I told them if that is the way they are going to act then no more games. So we didnt play any more games for the rest of the class and I did not include Emma in anything.
In addition, during those four classes my phone came and got really excited, opened it up and all that was there was the battery. I was freaking out and thought this would only happen to me. I asked the KT who helped me and she was sort of stand offish and wasnt really as helpful as she usually is. So I immediately thought that Max and Evan had something to do with it. Went to them and demanded my phone, they played it pretty well, but eventually gave it to me. They definetely got me. They did a fine job on retaping the package because I didnt notice at all.
After all that, my four classes ended and I was done for the day, which meant lots of time for me to plan and finish my telephone teaching. Did that for an hour and called Choi on my new phone to make sure we were still on for the gym. Met him at 7:30 and did biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Avoided legs completely. During our workout he invited me to dinner again on Saturday with him and his son. I am getting to think he is no longer married. We shall see. I finished working out and had some dinner by myself and went home. Took a shower in the apartment because the hot water was not working at the gym. Did a little shave action as well, and now about to go to sleep.
Tomorrow is Friday!!!! Goodnight
Went to my first class, and started to have a stomachache and was not feeling good at all. Totally separate from the legs, and was trying to teach class and I tried to put on a warm face, but I guess it didnt work because one of my students asked if I was mad at them. I immediately told him no and started a game. It was so cute and I felt bad for him. Luckily this class ended 10 minutes early because they had a cooking class for Christmas so I got to rest a little longer before my next class. Still not feeling well headed to my 2nd class where we did some review of materials from the day before and then headed to PE with Danni Teacher and her class. Played four corners and musical chairs. One of my kids, Henry, slightly autistic we think and sensitive cries a lot and every time he got out started crying and ran up to me for comfort. It was so sad. Class ended and break time began. Had a a little lunch because I was still not feeling good. Break ended and had four classes back to back. No good stories in those classes, except in a class of just 5 girls, the head girl, Emma, who is way smarter than the other kids and acts like a second teacher got real mad today. She is usually awesome and well-behaved, but since she didnt win a game, like she usually does, she through a fit and stopped playing and some how got the rest of the crew to stop as well. I told them if that is the way they are going to act then no more games. So we didnt play any more games for the rest of the class and I did not include Emma in anything.
In addition, during those four classes my phone came and got really excited, opened it up and all that was there was the battery. I was freaking out and thought this would only happen to me. I asked the KT who helped me and she was sort of stand offish and wasnt really as helpful as she usually is. So I immediately thought that Max and Evan had something to do with it. Went to them and demanded my phone, they played it pretty well, but eventually gave it to me. They definetely got me. They did a fine job on retaping the package because I didnt notice at all.
After all that, my four classes ended and I was done for the day, which meant lots of time for me to plan and finish my telephone teaching. Did that for an hour and called Choi on my new phone to make sure we were still on for the gym. Met him at 7:30 and did biceps, triceps, and shoulders. Avoided legs completely. During our workout he invited me to dinner again on Saturday with him and his son. I am getting to think he is no longer married. We shall see. I finished working out and had some dinner by myself and went home. Took a shower in the apartment because the hot water was not working at the gym. Did a little shave action as well, and now about to go to sleep.
Tomorrow is Friday!!!! Goodnight
Dec 16th
Ahh Wednesday, the middle of the week already. Woke up at 9:30 ate some breakfast and headed to the gym. It is definitely winter now for it is very cold. Got the gym, changed and headed up the weight room. Started on the treadmill and then headed over to do some legs. Ohh leg day, why do you have to be so cruel. Of course, during my second set the Trainer/worker comes over and starts to be my personal trainer. He added weights and with hand motions and little english he knew explained what he was trying to do and wanted me to do. I am not going to deny a free personal trainer, this guy kicked my ass on legs and when I was finished I could barely walk down the stairs to the locker room. Took a shower, dressed up and headed toward school. It was a very long walk because I could barely move and with each step though my legs were going to buckle.
Finally arrived at school, dropped my stuff off and went to get some bulgolgi (meat) and rice. Well needed after exercising. Went back to school and started my day of teaching. First period, Max and I had PE so we had our kids play four corners. Second period, easy. Then break, where I ordered a prepaid phone online. Max and I finally got our alien registration cards to keep so we officially can do what we want in this country! Did some more planning for Thursday and ate some more. Class began again with four in a row, the kids were actually good in all them, especially in B3. It was great because I was tired and could not really stand up much of the day. Then another break came, where I planned even more and did some telephone teaching and Max and Evan headed to Costco some 30 minutes away. I had one more class so I could not attend. Had my last class which is always entertaining because we learn a lot about each other by asking questions. The buzzer rang which meant that I was done for the day.
Headed home and ate a quick bite to eat because I knew Max would be calling me any minute for me to help him bring up the Costco stuff. Was able to talk to my dad for a little and then he called. Ran outside to help him carry in all the bulk goods and we started sorting everything out. In addition, we borrowed a vacuum cleaner from Danni who is our next door neighbor and co-worker of ours. So we did a mad clean session with the vacuum cleaner and the swifer Max bought. Our place was disgusting and think both our parents would be in horror looking at how much dust and cat hair we cleaned up. (A cat lived with the previous tenants). Finished cleaning and talked to my dad again for a little before Max and I headed out for the evening.
We went to Who's Bob and at first it was just us playing pool. The bar was empty. Had a few beers and the usual crowd started shuffling in. Started playing some beer pong and Max and I ran the table for a while until we decided that we wanted to lose and go home. Stayed out a little later than we wanted to, but had a good time in the process. Headed home around 2 and came back to the apartment and fell asleep.
Finally arrived at school, dropped my stuff off and went to get some bulgolgi (meat) and rice. Well needed after exercising. Went back to school and started my day of teaching. First period, Max and I had PE so we had our kids play four corners. Second period, easy. Then break, where I ordered a prepaid phone online. Max and I finally got our alien registration cards to keep so we officially can do what we want in this country! Did some more planning for Thursday and ate some more. Class began again with four in a row, the kids were actually good in all them, especially in B3. It was great because I was tired and could not really stand up much of the day. Then another break came, where I planned even more and did some telephone teaching and Max and Evan headed to Costco some 30 minutes away. I had one more class so I could not attend. Had my last class which is always entertaining because we learn a lot about each other by asking questions. The buzzer rang which meant that I was done for the day.
Headed home and ate a quick bite to eat because I knew Max would be calling me any minute for me to help him bring up the Costco stuff. Was able to talk to my dad for a little and then he called. Ran outside to help him carry in all the bulk goods and we started sorting everything out. In addition, we borrowed a vacuum cleaner from Danni who is our next door neighbor and co-worker of ours. So we did a mad clean session with the vacuum cleaner and the swifer Max bought. Our place was disgusting and think both our parents would be in horror looking at how much dust and cat hair we cleaned up. (A cat lived with the previous tenants). Finished cleaning and talked to my dad again for a little before Max and I headed out for the evening.
We went to Who's Bob and at first it was just us playing pool. The bar was empty. Had a few beers and the usual crowd started shuffling in. Started playing some beer pong and Max and I ran the table for a while until we decided that we wanted to lose and go home. Stayed out a little later than we wanted to, but had a good time in the process. Headed home around 2 and came back to the apartment and fell asleep.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Dec 15th, Payday
Woke up shivering from how cold my room was, I guess it is that time of year to turn the heat up a notch. I am only guessing that it is real cold outside while still laying in my bed. After laying in my bed for awhile get up take a shower and then skype with my brother. We talk about the weekend events and other bro stuff, then I head to school. Step outside and the gloves and hat go right on and know it is going to be a chilly walk to school, although not even close to the bitterness in Ann Arbor or Chi-town. After a nice 30 minute walk in the cold wind get to school and attend our usual Tuesday meeting for ENT's. Again, nothing important for me, but Max is adding a class during winter break for a month because he only has 33 classes where I have 36. The meeting ends and I get out my PB&J and chips for lunch. Ate my delicious sandwich and reviewed my classes for the day.
The buzzer rang and went to my first class, which was easy. Second class was much of the same. During one of our little 5 minute breaks between classes I was talking to Evan doing some crazy hand motion explaining something and managed to hit one of the Chinese teachers in the face. She walked right into it from behind me and there was no way I could have seen her or avoided, it was her fault, but the reason I am telling you this is because she is gorgeous and I felt horrible. So during my next long break Max and I went to get some Kimbop and then I stopped at a shop to buy her some chocolate. Returned to school and gave her the candy and she was thankful and all was good, even though there was no guilt from her to begin with I just wanted to get her something. I wish she didnt have a boyfriend!
Break ended and then had 4 classes back to back. Pretty easy 4 classes all went well. Then had a break and got our pay stub that gave us our information of how much we received in our bank account and what was deducted. Yayyyy!!!! Pay Day! Even though not much money still enough to celebrate!
Did some planning and then my last class began. Only 3 students in it so it is more of a discussion than anything else. Class ended, picked up some chicken and made dinner.
Night over.
I love having money!
The buzzer rang and went to my first class, which was easy. Second class was much of the same. During one of our little 5 minute breaks between classes I was talking to Evan doing some crazy hand motion explaining something and managed to hit one of the Chinese teachers in the face. She walked right into it from behind me and there was no way I could have seen her or avoided, it was her fault, but the reason I am telling you this is because she is gorgeous and I felt horrible. So during my next long break Max and I went to get some Kimbop and then I stopped at a shop to buy her some chocolate. Returned to school and gave her the candy and she was thankful and all was good, even though there was no guilt from her to begin with I just wanted to get her something. I wish she didnt have a boyfriend!
Break ended and then had 4 classes back to back. Pretty easy 4 classes all went well. Then had a break and got our pay stub that gave us our information of how much we received in our bank account and what was deducted. Yayyyy!!!! Pay Day! Even though not much money still enough to celebrate!
Did some planning and then my last class began. Only 3 students in it so it is more of a discussion than anything else. Class ended, picked up some chicken and made dinner.
Night over.
I love having money!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Dec 14th A typical Monday
Waking up on Monday is always harder than any other day of the week. Alarm went off around 9:30 and it was time to get ready and go the gym. Ate some breakfast and headed out the door for the gym. Arrived at Sevenfitness changed went upstairs and had this moment and instead of the bike went to the treadmill. Did that for a few minutes and then it was Chest and Back day. Started doing my routine and without fail one of the people who worked there started giving me advice on what I 'should' be doing according to them. It is really frustrating because I just want to do my own thing, but I let them help me and give me advice on what to do. Some of it old news, some I actually might use in my routine next time. I just really want to be able to workout without any interruption, hopefully in time they will stop and start helping the people who really need it. My writing might sound like a mean tone, but I know they are just trying to be nice to the foreigner and its all good and I give them a big smile and thank you when they do help.
Finished my workout took a shower then headed to school around 12. Got to school, put my things down, reviewed some of my planning for my next few classes, then went to lunch with Max. Had some meat and rice, which was well needed and filling. Headed back to school to start classes. On Monday's I have eight classes with two in a row. Break. Then five in a row. Break. Then one. Done. My first two classes were easy. During my break planned for Tuesday. After break ended had A3, who were actually pretty good today and had fun with them. Played a sticky ball game where I draw circles on the board with different points assigned to them. Most in the positives however one was subtract points and of course a girl hit that one and started to cry. I felt so bad and all the kids ran up to console her and of course I let her throw again. All is good. My next class is really starting to be a class where I am about to flip a shit on two of these kids. Just big brats who don't listen to a thing. So I do not play games with them if they are not good, I dont care. Had a little headache after that class, but my other classes went pretty smoothly. During my next break ran and got some kimbop cause I was starving! Came back and finished up my planning for tomorrow. Headed to my last class of the day and knew it was going to be easy. We have finished the level they are on so we just reviewed and played games. It was fun. Class ended and headed home with Max and Evan. Stopped at out Galbi (BBQ) place and ate some dinner. Delicious! Was going to stop and get a waffle at our woman's place, but the husband wasnt there to make them. Disappointing, but we will let it slide for now. Came back to the apartment talked to my dad and finished writing this blog.
Tomorrow is payday, although excited to get paid, not getting paid a full month because Koreans only pay you once a month. So we will only be getting 2 weeks worth and then subtracting some expenses from that. We shall see how it goes.
Goodnight!
Finished my workout took a shower then headed to school around 12. Got to school, put my things down, reviewed some of my planning for my next few classes, then went to lunch with Max. Had some meat and rice, which was well needed and filling. Headed back to school to start classes. On Monday's I have eight classes with two in a row. Break. Then five in a row. Break. Then one. Done. My first two classes were easy. During my break planned for Tuesday. After break ended had A3, who were actually pretty good today and had fun with them. Played a sticky ball game where I draw circles on the board with different points assigned to them. Most in the positives however one was subtract points and of course a girl hit that one and started to cry. I felt so bad and all the kids ran up to console her and of course I let her throw again. All is good. My next class is really starting to be a class where I am about to flip a shit on two of these kids. Just big brats who don't listen to a thing. So I do not play games with them if they are not good, I dont care. Had a little headache after that class, but my other classes went pretty smoothly. During my next break ran and got some kimbop cause I was starving! Came back and finished up my planning for tomorrow. Headed to my last class of the day and knew it was going to be easy. We have finished the level they are on so we just reviewed and played games. It was fun. Class ended and headed home with Max and Evan. Stopped at out Galbi (BBQ) place and ate some dinner. Delicious! Was going to stop and get a waffle at our woman's place, but the husband wasnt there to make them. Disappointing, but we will let it slide for now. Came back to the apartment talked to my dad and finished writing this blog.
Tomorrow is payday, although excited to get paid, not getting paid a full month because Koreans only pay you once a month. So we will only be getting 2 weeks worth and then subtracting some expenses from that. We shall see how it goes.
Goodnight!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Dec 13, Donghwasa
Very tired from the past few days and woke up around 1. For some reason my mom was on skype and I was able to talk to her and catch up with her. Happy Hanukkah to all, hope everyone is getting what they want! Brooke and an iPhone, needed indeed. After talking with my mom Max and I headed out to meet Evan because we were going hiking at Donghwasa which is about an 40 minutes from us. We met up with Evan, then proceeded to meet this guy Francis who has been here for almost 2 years and he was the one actually taking us there. Then we took another cab to meet up with this girl and finally got on a city bus to our destination. We walked around for bit, not really a hike because our destination which was a very tall Buddha was only fifteen minutes away. Before we headed to the giant Buddha, we walked around and saw some Buddhist temples and other interesting artifacts dating back to 493AD. The one big problem here that always gets under my skin is that the Swastika is everywhere including these beautiful Buddhist temples. For those of you who dont know, Hitler stole the symbol, which actually means eternity or universal harmony in the Tibetan culture. So it is on everything in South Korea and I see it everyday and it is hard to see the good in that symbol, at least for me.
Anyways, we saw some beautiful Buddhas and art then headed to the tall Buddha. This stone Buddha is breathtaking because it is so tall and surrounded by the mountains. Wonder around it for a bit, Max did his Buddhist bows because he is very into that sort of thing. After staying there for a while admiring the beauty we headed back because it started to get late and actually a lit bit chilly. Took the bus to the downtown area which took about an hour and headed back to the apartment. A pretty nice day after such a crazy couple of nights.
Anyways, we saw some beautiful Buddhas and art then headed to the tall Buddha. This stone Buddha is breathtaking because it is so tall and surrounded by the mountains. Wonder around it for a bit, Max did his Buddhist bows because he is very into that sort of thing. After staying there for a while admiring the beauty we headed back because it started to get late and actually a lit bit chilly. Took the bus to the downtown area which took about an hour and headed back to the apartment. A pretty nice day after such a crazy couple of nights.
Sat Dec 12
After a long night/morning woke up around 1:30. Evan, Max, and I made our usual weekend feast of eggs and toast and an episode of Seinfeld. Recuperated and talked about the night we just had and laughed about the fake phone number I received and how much dancing we did. Evan then left to go back to his place and crash and Max and I just hung out for a bit. I called my buddy Choi from the gym and made sure we were still on for 4PM. Left the apartment around 3:45 while Max stayed and relaxed, while reading some interesting news about the world. As I was walking toward the gym I noticed one of the guys that worked there was also walking to the gym. He lives somewhere in my neighborhood but the language barrier was to great to know exactly where he lived or to tell him where I lived. So we walked to the gym with little conversation and some body language to explain what we could with each other. I told him that I was an English teacher who taught children ages 4-12. I think he understood and respected it.
Entered the gym, dressed up in the locker room and headed upstairs to the weight room, where I already see Choi pumping iron. I get on the bike to start my routine, while he does his thing. After the bike I headed over to the weights and started chatting with him and told him what I did the night before. He laughed and then told me he was going to a nooribang (karoke) that night with some of his friends. I continued my workout of bi,tri, and shoulders with more conversation with Choi. If I havent mentioned this before he is a Judo master, so I asked him if he could teach me some moves. He told me to join a judo gym, but I told him that I wanted to learn from Master Choi, so he agreed to teach me one move every time we met. The move he taught me today was a swooping lift where he grabbed one of my arms and then he put his other arm under my groin where he preceded to lift me over the shoulders. He did it 4 or 5 times and I laughed every time he picked me up. Then it was my turn and after the third or fourth try I got it right and lifted him up. After an hour or so I finished my workout and headed back downstairs to take a shower and put my regular clothes back on. As we were heading out the door he invited me back to his apartment to grab a quick bite and talk. I agreed and walked to his house and conversing about my home town and what we were famous for and then he tried to translate it for me in Korean.; He taught me some Korean words, like tree, peach, car, etc. Got to his apartment building, which was one of many is this small little area. They build so much within a tiny amount of space, at least I think so.
Entered his home and knew right when I got in their that it was a totally different atmosphere and type of living than or other buddy Lim. No TV, not caught up on materialistic things, many books, and a white board in the living room where he studies English and such. He handed me a sweet potato and a drink and then called his parents who lived in the apartment building right across the parking lot. You could see them across the way. They invited me to dinner at their place, so we headed over their. I did not know if they knew any English or not, I assumed they didn't, because they had to be in their 70's and it would be very hard to learn the language. As we entered their apartment I was greeted with a warm American 'hello' and found out they knew some English. There apartment totally different than their son's and had a flat screen TV and nice sterling material. In addition, their family is very big into flowers so they have them all over their screen-in porch, both Choi and his parents. He showed me his favorite flower that I did not know existed, which was the Green Rose. Very cool, if I was into flowers. Dinner was ready and we sat down, just the men did. The mother served us and rarely sat down and did not eat while I was there. We had some beef, rice, kimchi, and other side dishes. Very good and unbelievably nice that they invited into their home for dinner. Sliced some fruit up and also made me tea and told me that anytime I wanted to come over that I was welcome to. A very generous offer that I hopefully will take because they were such nice people.
After dinner Choi drove me home and I told him thank you for dinner and that I will give him a call later. Headed up the stairs into our apartment and told Max about my day. He enjoyed the story and then told me about his day of reading and learning about lots of cool things. I then proceeded to my bed to take a nap for a few hours as did Max to his bed and then we woke up debating whether to go out or not. We decided to go out for a little and go to Ice Bar where we had a few beers and just talked about our experience thus far. Headed to McDonald's for a late night snack. Then came back to the apartment, where I then fell asleep.
Entered the gym, dressed up in the locker room and headed upstairs to the weight room, where I already see Choi pumping iron. I get on the bike to start my routine, while he does his thing. After the bike I headed over to the weights and started chatting with him and told him what I did the night before. He laughed and then told me he was going to a nooribang (karoke) that night with some of his friends. I continued my workout of bi,tri, and shoulders with more conversation with Choi. If I havent mentioned this before he is a Judo master, so I asked him if he could teach me some moves. He told me to join a judo gym, but I told him that I wanted to learn from Master Choi, so he agreed to teach me one move every time we met. The move he taught me today was a swooping lift where he grabbed one of my arms and then he put his other arm under my groin where he preceded to lift me over the shoulders. He did it 4 or 5 times and I laughed every time he picked me up. Then it was my turn and after the third or fourth try I got it right and lifted him up. After an hour or so I finished my workout and headed back downstairs to take a shower and put my regular clothes back on. As we were heading out the door he invited me back to his apartment to grab a quick bite and talk. I agreed and walked to his house and conversing about my home town and what we were famous for and then he tried to translate it for me in Korean.; He taught me some Korean words, like tree, peach, car, etc. Got to his apartment building, which was one of many is this small little area. They build so much within a tiny amount of space, at least I think so.
Entered his home and knew right when I got in their that it was a totally different atmosphere and type of living than or other buddy Lim. No TV, not caught up on materialistic things, many books, and a white board in the living room where he studies English and such. He handed me a sweet potato and a drink and then called his parents who lived in the apartment building right across the parking lot. You could see them across the way. They invited me to dinner at their place, so we headed over their. I did not know if they knew any English or not, I assumed they didn't, because they had to be in their 70's and it would be very hard to learn the language. As we entered their apartment I was greeted with a warm American 'hello' and found out they knew some English. There apartment totally different than their son's and had a flat screen TV and nice sterling material. In addition, their family is very big into flowers so they have them all over their screen-in porch, both Choi and his parents. He showed me his favorite flower that I did not know existed, which was the Green Rose. Very cool, if I was into flowers. Dinner was ready and we sat down, just the men did. The mother served us and rarely sat down and did not eat while I was there. We had some beef, rice, kimchi, and other side dishes. Very good and unbelievably nice that they invited into their home for dinner. Sliced some fruit up and also made me tea and told me that anytime I wanted to come over that I was welcome to. A very generous offer that I hopefully will take because they were such nice people.
After dinner Choi drove me home and I told him thank you for dinner and that I will give him a call later. Headed up the stairs into our apartment and told Max about my day. He enjoyed the story and then told me about his day of reading and learning about lots of cool things. I then proceeded to my bed to take a nap for a few hours as did Max to his bed and then we woke up debating whether to go out or not. We decided to go out for a little and go to Ice Bar where we had a few beers and just talked about our experience thus far. Headed to McDonald's for a late night snack. Then came back to the apartment, where I then fell asleep.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Dec 11 Koreans love to party
Ahhh, Friday, the weekend is in reach, but have a very long day ahead of me. Woke up sore and tired and knew it was going to be a tough one. You should know my routine by now, shower, eat, computer. Left the apartment and headed to school. It was a pretty warm day, warmer than usual. The rain stopped and the sun was out a good start to the day. Got to school and reviewed my planning for the day and made sure I had everything for each class. My first two classes went smoothly, we played more games than usual because I was in a good mood and pretty sore so wanted to sit while my students did the activities. Love that part of the job, get to do what you want and the children cant say anything. Those two classes ended had a break and ate my PB&J with some chips. Put my head down for a little and closed my eyes because I was still pretty tired and wanted to self prepare for my two worst classes coming up. The buzzer rang and headed to A3, I hope they can act appropriately for two days in a row. Is it possible? Nope, it is not. They were probably just as excited as I was for the weekend, but I couldnt take any of their crap today. This one kid Rooney is just a lost cause and the KT's agree there is no way to handle him. I even tried putting a little tierra on him that I found and he laughed as well as the other kids in the class. Well, that plan backfired. This other girl Annie I had to sit in the baby chair because she wouldn't shut up. It didnt seem to bother her that she was in the baby chair starring at a red dot on the white board. Next time I guess I am going to get a wooden spoon or just the back of my hand and slap them (not). That class eventually ended and then came my other bad class B3, where Thomas and Lauren are just awful. I make it a point to pick on them and have them stand with their hands above their head for a prolonged period of time. They told the KT teacher about it and she didnt really mind. She just told me to try to be fair and I said I was and that they are just bad students. Whew, that class over and now some fun classes and well behaved kids that I can control and teach. The next three classes went smoothly and finally had another break. With this break I did my planning for Monday and got that out of the way. My final class came and love ending with them. They teach me some Korean words, (good or bad ones) and I teach them some English. I have found another word that the students cant pronounce: Mrs. (misses). It is very hard for them and we spent 10 minutes going over Mr, Ms, and Mrs. I think they got it. Class came to an end and now the weekend can beging!
Evan and I walked back to our apartment where Max prepared dinner for us. What a guy, said the shabbat prayers and said Happy Hanukkah to each other (Evan not Jewish). Had a nice stir fry, drank some beer, and relaxed for a little. After dinner we started our epic night. We first headed to bowling around 11, brought our 54 ouncer with us and had a blast. Rolled two games and it was the first time I beat Max two in a row and he did not break 100 either game. I rolled a 125 and a 146, pretty good for not bowling for 4 or 5 months and the legs still being sore. After bowling we headed downtown and went to Billy Bowl for a little to meet up with some Westerners and chilled for a little bit. Now the night starts getting even better. Max, Evan, this girl Amanda, and I head to MK club. Pay the cover and head inside. It is about 1 and we just start going crazy. The music is blaring, Koreans dancing, and of course we join the crowd. We start dancing and dancing, and eventually get up on their little stage. Ev and I have a little dance battle, I will give the battle to him, but not next time. While we were dancing Amanda had to leave to catch a train back to her little remote town. I didnt really mind because I was dancing with some Korean girls who were very attractive. Danced for a long long time and finally took a break and went outside for a bit with one of the girls and tried to communicate with her. She told me I was her type and handsome, I believe they say that to every American. I asked for her number she gave it to me and got a little kiss. My first Korean kiss!!! Went back inside started dancing and before you know it she disappears. Haha, oh women. We leave around 3am and I see her leaving as well and she gives me the little call me signal. Who knows, what a tease.
We head to Who's Bob which is just Westerners and a totally different atmosphere and I was still in the dancing mood and wanted to leave. Convinced Max and Evan and we went to another club called Frog. This place a little bigger than MK and more people as well as more Westerners. Starting dancing again and found another group of Korean women and danced with them the rest of the night/morning. They go hard and dont stop dancing and either did I, however my legs started to get tired and I thing we were all ready to leave. We all made the signal to leave after a couple hours and headed out of the club. As we walked out I asked Max what time it was and he said 5AM and I was like hell yeah, that was awesome. The club was still packed when we left and apparently closes at 6. Started to head back, picked up some water and talked about the night and were wondering if Korean's enjoy our presence or they hate it because all American guy, especially Army guys are always there trying to pick them up. Who knows, but something to think about when we try to make a move on them.
Eventually got back to the apartment and I attempted to text that girl and the message failed to send. I tried calling the number and of course it was a fake number and I was played. Oh well, still had an unbelievable time! Around 5:30-6 and went to bed although my ears were ringing from the clubs. Finally fell asleep after an insane evening.
Evan and I walked back to our apartment where Max prepared dinner for us. What a guy, said the shabbat prayers and said Happy Hanukkah to each other (Evan not Jewish). Had a nice stir fry, drank some beer, and relaxed for a little. After dinner we started our epic night. We first headed to bowling around 11, brought our 54 ouncer with us and had a blast. Rolled two games and it was the first time I beat Max two in a row and he did not break 100 either game. I rolled a 125 and a 146, pretty good for not bowling for 4 or 5 months and the legs still being sore. After bowling we headed downtown and went to Billy Bowl for a little to meet up with some Westerners and chilled for a little bit. Now the night starts getting even better. Max, Evan, this girl Amanda, and I head to MK club. Pay the cover and head inside. It is about 1 and we just start going crazy. The music is blaring, Koreans dancing, and of course we join the crowd. We start dancing and dancing, and eventually get up on their little stage. Ev and I have a little dance battle, I will give the battle to him, but not next time. While we were dancing Amanda had to leave to catch a train back to her little remote town. I didnt really mind because I was dancing with some Korean girls who were very attractive. Danced for a long long time and finally took a break and went outside for a bit with one of the girls and tried to communicate with her. She told me I was her type and handsome, I believe they say that to every American. I asked for her number she gave it to me and got a little kiss. My first Korean kiss!!! Went back inside started dancing and before you know it she disappears. Haha, oh women. We leave around 3am and I see her leaving as well and she gives me the little call me signal. Who knows, what a tease.
We head to Who's Bob which is just Westerners and a totally different atmosphere and I was still in the dancing mood and wanted to leave. Convinced Max and Evan and we went to another club called Frog. This place a little bigger than MK and more people as well as more Westerners. Starting dancing again and found another group of Korean women and danced with them the rest of the night/morning. They go hard and dont stop dancing and either did I, however my legs started to get tired and I thing we were all ready to leave. We all made the signal to leave after a couple hours and headed out of the club. As we walked out I asked Max what time it was and he said 5AM and I was like hell yeah, that was awesome. The club was still packed when we left and apparently closes at 6. Started to head back, picked up some water and talked about the night and were wondering if Korean's enjoy our presence or they hate it because all American guy, especially Army guys are always there trying to pick them up. Who knows, but something to think about when we try to make a move on them.
Eventually got back to the apartment and I attempted to text that girl and the message failed to send. I tried calling the number and of course it was a fake number and I was played. Oh well, still had an unbelievable time! Around 5:30-6 and went to bed although my ears were ringing from the clubs. Finally fell asleep after an insane evening.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Dec 10 A rainy day
Thursday, just another day in Korea. Still can't believe I am doing this. Woke up around 10:30 looked outside and saw it was really cloudy and rainy. Checked weather.com and it said it was going to rain all day. Uggg, what a shitty day. I also remembered that I was supposed to skype with my aunt and uncle. Got on skype and they werent on, however my brother was on so we talked and caught up. Took a shower and still no Barbara. Emailed my dad to get in contact with them and I guess it worked because they got on in the next few minutes, although no Barb. Talked to Uncle Mike and Sarah for a little bit, it was great talking to them. Brought me up to date with some US news and other things. Hung up with them and saw my mom was on so we chatted for a bit. Got to see and say hello to Brooke and Emma. I always love talking to family and seeing what they are up to. After we spoke for a bit I was about to head to school and Barb called so we ended up chatting for a little. Loved seeing and talking to all of you.
Headed to school with Max and since we were running a little late we took a cab. It was the first woman cab driver I have seen and been in. Was a little nervous, but she got us there. Woo!
Thursday is my shortest day with only six classes. My first two are always the same. However, on Thursday it is Y1 with PE. Attended PE and played leap frog, triangle game, and four corners. They love it too! After that class ended break and went to go get a quick bite to eat with Max. I had this short rib soup that was so damn hot temperature wise that I had to sit there for 10 minutes before I even attempted to eat it. Max was almost done with his food by the time I took my first bite. They love bringing out soups while they are still boiling, it is crazy. Lunch done and went back to school. If you do not recall, the next class I have (A3) is the worst class in the school and I had a heart to heart with them last time and was hoping they acted decently. Walked in the classroom and I felt that they were going to be a better class today. Started teaching and then the secratary interrupted us because today was the day all the students were able to trade in their points for prizes. So they did that for 10 minutes and then I continued teaching. The class went really well, without any problems. I felt so good and told them that they were all excellent and this is how it should be every class. Hopefully that sticks with them, we will see tomorrow if they go back to the old way. Other than that my other classes were not to exciting. Did some teaching here and there and ended at 6. Stayed at school for awhile and did my planning for Friday and tried to do some telephone teaching, but none of the students were home. Have to try again tomorrow. Finished what I needed to get done and headed to the gym in the rain.
Got to the gym and who do I see in the locker room...Choi! My man, how you doing lets go workout. Went upstairs, I got on the bike and he started doing his own thing. Today was leg day, I hate leg day, but very necessary. Choi and I had brief conversations here and there about music, family, me being a short American, and my beautiful face. I guess they are only used to seeing really tall Americans, because I thought I was tall...not. After a hard work out went back to the locker room, showered up and he took me for a quick bite to eat. He ate dinner before hand so he literally just bought me dinner and talked to me while I ate. Some Koreans are just so nice. Would Americans do that for other foreigners? We parted ways, but not before planning a Saturday work out get together. Walked home and started writing this blog.
Goodnight!
Headed to school with Max and since we were running a little late we took a cab. It was the first woman cab driver I have seen and been in. Was a little nervous, but she got us there. Woo!
Thursday is my shortest day with only six classes. My first two are always the same. However, on Thursday it is Y1 with PE. Attended PE and played leap frog, triangle game, and four corners. They love it too! After that class ended break and went to go get a quick bite to eat with Max. I had this short rib soup that was so damn hot temperature wise that I had to sit there for 10 minutes before I even attempted to eat it. Max was almost done with his food by the time I took my first bite. They love bringing out soups while they are still boiling, it is crazy. Lunch done and went back to school. If you do not recall, the next class I have (A3) is the worst class in the school and I had a heart to heart with them last time and was hoping they acted decently. Walked in the classroom and I felt that they were going to be a better class today. Started teaching and then the secratary interrupted us because today was the day all the students were able to trade in their points for prizes. So they did that for 10 minutes and then I continued teaching. The class went really well, without any problems. I felt so good and told them that they were all excellent and this is how it should be every class. Hopefully that sticks with them, we will see tomorrow if they go back to the old way. Other than that my other classes were not to exciting. Did some teaching here and there and ended at 6. Stayed at school for awhile and did my planning for Friday and tried to do some telephone teaching, but none of the students were home. Have to try again tomorrow. Finished what I needed to get done and headed to the gym in the rain.
Got to the gym and who do I see in the locker room...Choi! My man, how you doing lets go workout. Went upstairs, I got on the bike and he started doing his own thing. Today was leg day, I hate leg day, but very necessary. Choi and I had brief conversations here and there about music, family, me being a short American, and my beautiful face. I guess they are only used to seeing really tall Americans, because I thought I was tall...not. After a hard work out went back to the locker room, showered up and he took me for a quick bite to eat. He ate dinner before hand so he literally just bought me dinner and talked to me while I ate. Some Koreans are just so nice. Would Americans do that for other foreigners? We parted ways, but not before planning a Saturday work out get together. Walked home and started writing this blog.
Goodnight!
Dec 9th
Ahh, Wednesday, the middle of the week! One more day closer to the weekend, so exciting. I wake up a little sore from my workout the day before and jump in the shower, eat, and mess around on the computer for a little. I head to school a little earlier than normal to finish up my recordings for the students. They are tedious and time consuming. Like I said before you can barely hear the student speak so you just have to make up the comments and grades. Good grades= better success for the business. In addition, did some more planning and also had another birthday for one of my students in Y1 (my second class of the day). Her name is Stephanie and her parents brought a Pink cake, (looked like a fruit cake, I dont know. She also brought goody-bags for the students in our class and I asked her if she had one for me and she handed me oranges and a banana. I laughed and graciously accepted. We sang happy birthday in all three languages and took pictures. For some reason none of the other teachers were there so I was the only one in the picture. After the little party it was time to start teaching.
Headed to my first class (Y3) taught for a little bit, but then we had PE with Max's class. Went to PE where we again played four corners. The students love that game, I am glad I introduced it to them. However, I might try to bring in another one soon, just got think of one. After PE, class was over and then headed to my next class (Y1). They were in a great mood except for this one girl who was jealous of the birthday girl because she got a present from one of her friends and I let her go first in most things, because she was the bday girl. I just ignored her and went on with my lesson. Class came to an end and break time began for me.
Ate my lunch, which was a PB&J sandwich and chips. After I finished, one of the KT's took Max and I to set up our bank account because we finally received our alien registration cards and the school just wires our paycheck into the account. Completed that and headed back to school and finished some more planning for Thursday. My break ended, which means more teaching, four in a row. Not to bad, classes came and went and another break after the fourth class. Most people are done but I always have 1 late class from 7:30 to 8:15 Mon, Wed, Fri. It sucks, but the class is 5 students who are a joy to be around. Taught them and the day was over.
Left school with Evan and Max and decided to get our new favorite thing from the woman right near us, a waffle. They are so good and do not think there is dairy in them. Haven't been affected yet (fingers crossed). After our waffle we were still hungry and went to the BBQ place right next store and ordered some galbi (fire meat). It was delicious as always and very cheap. We figured out the more people you have the cheaper it is. We had a good time eating and chatting about our students. Evan departed and we went back to our apartment.
Wednesday is usually a night of going out, but it was raining and I was very full, so I was hesitant. As we were hanging the phone rang and it was Lim! He wanted us to come to his house and hang out. We said yes, and headed over there. Hopped in the cab and 10 minutes later we were there. Got lost on the way there so we had the cabby call Lim and he found it quickly. Lim and his friend were waiting outside on the corner for us. We say our hello's and he says are you ready to drink. Hell yeah I say!. We enter his house and it is beautiful. The first thing you see walking in is his living room that has a 50+ flat screen TV. Nice furniture and all. This house is awesome. We go upstairs and meet his wife, who seems very nice. Next, we head into 'his' room, which has an incredible set up. The theme is music and everything is low to the ground. A 30 inch flat screen that is used for his computer, a turn table and great speakers. He brought in Soju, beer (Budweiser mind you), apples, and oranges. Love it! Then he says that he ordered food for us, some fried chicken. Awesome, but wait I am so full. I am sure I can eat a little bit more, dont want to be rude. So we just hang out, listen to different styles of music, youtube videos, drink, eat, music, drink, eat. The food comes so we eat more. Beer runs out, we drink more. It was a great relaxing night hanging out at a house. It was funny that his wife respected his room and didnt bother us once. Crazy! So 3am comes around and we decide to head out and go home because we do have work sometime the next day. We walk out with his friend, get a cab and go home. Damn his house was sweet! Got back to our place and fell asleep.
Headed to my first class (Y3) taught for a little bit, but then we had PE with Max's class. Went to PE where we again played four corners. The students love that game, I am glad I introduced it to them. However, I might try to bring in another one soon, just got think of one. After PE, class was over and then headed to my next class (Y1). They were in a great mood except for this one girl who was jealous of the birthday girl because she got a present from one of her friends and I let her go first in most things, because she was the bday girl. I just ignored her and went on with my lesson. Class came to an end and break time began for me.
Ate my lunch, which was a PB&J sandwich and chips. After I finished, one of the KT's took Max and I to set up our bank account because we finally received our alien registration cards and the school just wires our paycheck into the account. Completed that and headed back to school and finished some more planning for Thursday. My break ended, which means more teaching, four in a row. Not to bad, classes came and went and another break after the fourth class. Most people are done but I always have 1 late class from 7:30 to 8:15 Mon, Wed, Fri. It sucks, but the class is 5 students who are a joy to be around. Taught them and the day was over.
Left school with Evan and Max and decided to get our new favorite thing from the woman right near us, a waffle. They are so good and do not think there is dairy in them. Haven't been affected yet (fingers crossed). After our waffle we were still hungry and went to the BBQ place right next store and ordered some galbi (fire meat). It was delicious as always and very cheap. We figured out the more people you have the cheaper it is. We had a good time eating and chatting about our students. Evan departed and we went back to our apartment.
Wednesday is usually a night of going out, but it was raining and I was very full, so I was hesitant. As we were hanging the phone rang and it was Lim! He wanted us to come to his house and hang out. We said yes, and headed over there. Hopped in the cab and 10 minutes later we were there. Got lost on the way there so we had the cabby call Lim and he found it quickly. Lim and his friend were waiting outside on the corner for us. We say our hello's and he says are you ready to drink. Hell yeah I say!. We enter his house and it is beautiful. The first thing you see walking in is his living room that has a 50+ flat screen TV. Nice furniture and all. This house is awesome. We go upstairs and meet his wife, who seems very nice. Next, we head into 'his' room, which has an incredible set up. The theme is music and everything is low to the ground. A 30 inch flat screen that is used for his computer, a turn table and great speakers. He brought in Soju, beer (Budweiser mind you), apples, and oranges. Love it! Then he says that he ordered food for us, some fried chicken. Awesome, but wait I am so full. I am sure I can eat a little bit more, dont want to be rude. So we just hang out, listen to different styles of music, youtube videos, drink, eat, music, drink, eat. The food comes so we eat more. Beer runs out, we drink more. It was a great relaxing night hanging out at a house. It was funny that his wife respected his room and didnt bother us once. Crazy! So 3am comes around and we decide to head out and go home because we do have work sometime the next day. We walk out with his friend, get a cab and go home. Damn his house was sweet! Got back to our place and fell asleep.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Dec 8, What what
Tuesday, almost half way through the week. Today I had my ipod, which means that I had an alarm clock! I set it for 9:30, so I could wake up and go to the gym. 9:30 came and my alarm went off and although not wanting to get out of bed I did and made breakfast and got ready to go. I do not have to bring gym shorts or a t-shirt because the gym provides a uniform each time you go. The only things I took were my gym shoes, extra underwear and socks, and soap for the shower. When arrived at the gym I went to the weight room because I still needed to get my personal locker and combination. It was a different guy than last time because I doubt the same guy works at 10pm works at 10am. So this guy was very confused and luckily I remembered to bring my registration form so the confusion was minimal. We took a few minutes to look for my members card and decided to write mine in English so I could find it from now on. After I swiped my card he took me down to the locker room and showed me my locker and locker combo. I put all my valuables in my little personal locker and my clothes in a regular locker with no lock. Got dressed and went to work upstairs to workout. As I was heading toward the bike, the guy took me over this machine and told me to stand on it for 3 minutes. It was considered a 'warm up' for a warm up. All it did was vibrate and shake under my feet, which in turn vibrated my legs, in result jiggled my ass and whole body. Each minute he made it faster and faster. I was laughing because my ass had never jiggled so much and never knew it could do that. Maybe I will do this every time before I work out. After the three minute were up headed to the bike and then did the rest of my workout which consisted of chest and back exercises. After my workout took two Korean towels and headed toward the hot room where I spent a minute or two in there and had a non-conversation with this Korean woman who just kept talking to me even though I told her I didnt understand in Korean. Left the hot room to go to the shower and after I got out of the shower there was a Korean man who started talking to me and once again continued even though I told him I didnt understand. I guess they dont care like Americans dont and will just keep talking and they hope we might pick up something and that we should understand. However, I have only been here 4 weeks, Im working on it slowly but surely. Got dressed and left the gym towards school.
I felt very good after my workout and was happy that I did it. Hopefully I can make this into a routine. Entered school around 12:00 and remembered it was Tuesday and that we had an ENT meeting, woohoo. Went over some more information that was not important and could be sent over email to save everyone time, but whatever it only took 10 minutes. After that went to grab some lunch (kimbop and meat). Headed back to school and started teaching. My 12:50 class is one of the hardest to teach because they are young and it is right after lunch so they are still energetic from lunch/playtime. So half the time I am getting them to settle down and the other half I am teaching them. One of the kids, Brian who is one of the coolest kids (in a pic on facebook of him eating) was just bad today. Would not pay attention and I could not get him to do anything so I had to put him in the baby chair for 5-10 min. Of course when I do this his mom shows up and sees this and after class is very upset. The Korean Teacher for that class came up to me and asked me why I did it and I told her and would have done it again. Apparently his mother was very upset and was about to cry. Well, hopefully he will be better next time. So that class ended and I went to the next and that went a lot smoother. Had a break and did some planning and other school work.
My next hardest class is after this break and like I have said before is the worst class in the school. Today, they were especially bad and I was also very stern and would not take crap from them today. They kept fooling around so at the end of class I gave them an ultimatum, which was that this could be a fun class or the most boring class ever and on Thursday they better show me some respect. I dont know if they cared, but it felt good saying. If this one kid was not in this class I think it would be a lot better, he just make it a point to piss of any teacher. My other classes went well after that and I ended at 7:45. Stayed around for a bit because I learned besides having to do telephone teaching I also have to listen to a recording of students' reading a book and grade them. Very tedious and hard to do because most of the recordings are fuzzy and real quite so you cant hear anything they say. So you just have to make up the grades and comments. Did that for a little and then left to head downtown because we were craving a burger from this place called Gorilla Burger that every Westerner has recommended. Sally the KT offered to drive us there and I was reluctant at first because all Korean women are awful drivers. They dont get their license till there late 20's early 30's for some reason. When we got to her car the car was diagonal in the parking spot and the bumper was way over the curb. We got in the car and the automatic shift lever thing (cant think of the word) was in drive instead of park somehow. So she thought the battery was dead because the car wouldnt start, but in reality the lever just had to be put in park and Max told her to do so. I do not know how it is even possible to leave your car like that let alone get the keys out of the ignition. Women! She had a valid excuse of running late to school and was in a rush, which we have all been in at some point and make silly mistakes. So I was very worried about the 10 minute drive downtown and was even considering the 4 dollars for a taxi. In any event she got us there and actually brought us right in front of the restaurant somehow in the middle of downtown. Ate the juicy burgers, they were good for Korean standards. One of the first filling meals I have had in a while. Then went to the hookah bar for a little and just chilled.
After half hour or so left and went back to the apartment. Started unpacking my backpack and realized that I forgot my ipod again at school! Got to start remembering that sucker. Of course, the alarm will go off at like 9:30 there blasting and someone will have to turn it off. Oh well, I will get it tomorrow and hopefully will remember to bring it back with me.
Goodnight
I felt very good after my workout and was happy that I did it. Hopefully I can make this into a routine. Entered school around 12:00 and remembered it was Tuesday and that we had an ENT meeting, woohoo. Went over some more information that was not important and could be sent over email to save everyone time, but whatever it only took 10 minutes. After that went to grab some lunch (kimbop and meat). Headed back to school and started teaching. My 12:50 class is one of the hardest to teach because they are young and it is right after lunch so they are still energetic from lunch/playtime. So half the time I am getting them to settle down and the other half I am teaching them. One of the kids, Brian who is one of the coolest kids (in a pic on facebook of him eating) was just bad today. Would not pay attention and I could not get him to do anything so I had to put him in the baby chair for 5-10 min. Of course when I do this his mom shows up and sees this and after class is very upset. The Korean Teacher for that class came up to me and asked me why I did it and I told her and would have done it again. Apparently his mother was very upset and was about to cry. Well, hopefully he will be better next time. So that class ended and I went to the next and that went a lot smoother. Had a break and did some planning and other school work.
My next hardest class is after this break and like I have said before is the worst class in the school. Today, they were especially bad and I was also very stern and would not take crap from them today. They kept fooling around so at the end of class I gave them an ultimatum, which was that this could be a fun class or the most boring class ever and on Thursday they better show me some respect. I dont know if they cared, but it felt good saying. If this one kid was not in this class I think it would be a lot better, he just make it a point to piss of any teacher. My other classes went well after that and I ended at 7:45. Stayed around for a bit because I learned besides having to do telephone teaching I also have to listen to a recording of students' reading a book and grade them. Very tedious and hard to do because most of the recordings are fuzzy and real quite so you cant hear anything they say. So you just have to make up the grades and comments. Did that for a little and then left to head downtown because we were craving a burger from this place called Gorilla Burger that every Westerner has recommended. Sally the KT offered to drive us there and I was reluctant at first because all Korean women are awful drivers. They dont get their license till there late 20's early 30's for some reason. When we got to her car the car was diagonal in the parking spot and the bumper was way over the curb. We got in the car and the automatic shift lever thing (cant think of the word) was in drive instead of park somehow. So she thought the battery was dead because the car wouldnt start, but in reality the lever just had to be put in park and Max told her to do so. I do not know how it is even possible to leave your car like that let alone get the keys out of the ignition. Women! She had a valid excuse of running late to school and was in a rush, which we have all been in at some point and make silly mistakes. So I was very worried about the 10 minute drive downtown and was even considering the 4 dollars for a taxi. In any event she got us there and actually brought us right in front of the restaurant somehow in the middle of downtown. Ate the juicy burgers, they were good for Korean standards. One of the first filling meals I have had in a while. Then went to the hookah bar for a little and just chilled.
After half hour or so left and went back to the apartment. Started unpacking my backpack and realized that I forgot my ipod again at school! Got to start remembering that sucker. Of course, the alarm will go off at like 9:30 there blasting and someone will have to turn it off. Oh well, I will get it tomorrow and hopefully will remember to bring it back with me.
Goodnight
Monday, December 7, 2009
Dec 7th, Man I hate Mondays!
After a great weekend with activities during the day and night have to get back to the nitty gritty. I was planning to wake up early go to the gym and work out but I did not have an alarm therefore I wasn't forced out of my bed and stayed in it for an extended period of time falling in and out of sleep mode. Finally had the will to stand up and get in the shower. For some reason the past few days our shower has been acting funny and can never tell if I am going to have an extremely hot shower or luke warm one.
(If I have not mentioned already, every time we want to use hot water we have to turn a knob in our living room to some random number and press a button so the water becomes hot. If that is not done than we would not have hot water, even if you turned the sink knob all the way to the left. In addition, our heat is run through our floors, so anything left on the floor is warm and feet are constantly warm as long as the heat is on. Pretty cool)
Back to today I had a luke warm shower with the knob all the way to the left. So not a very good shower to start off the day. Ate some breakfast, checked my email, and headed out the door to school. Nothing interesting happened on the way to school and did not have an ipod because it was left at school. Arrived at school, reviewing my material for the first few classes and then 12:50 came so time for class. Went to class and had a great time with my first 2 classes. Had a break and ate my PB&J and chips. Planned a few more classes and transferred some cash to one of our KT teachers who booked our ferries for our Japan trip. Wow this is really happening. So excited for this jam packed vacation. Next, went on my 5 class sprint, with my first 3 very energetic and my last 2 pretty relaxing. Had a break where we sung Happy birthday to one of the KT's Sally. Very nice lady and we had dumplings and tapoki (the rice noodle in red sauce) which was awesome because I was so hungry. Ate a lot and finished up my planning for tomorrow. Went to my last class, which consists of 5 children who are around 12 years old, but below average in the English language.They are fun and very chill and a great class to end the day with. Always have a good time with them. Ended class and left school with Max. Walked home and had a deep conversation about the rights of the black man in America. Made a quick stop in a store to buy some shampoo and soap for the gym, then went to our favorite lady for food. She made us homemade Kimchi for us to take home. So nice! Had a good conversation with her and the family while eating Waffles, Dunkus, tapoki, and sun dried tomatoes that she dried out herself. They were okay. After dinner, went home and started working on our Japan trip even more. We are planning our travel from Hakata to Tokyo and back. If any of you have a cheap way of doing that please let us know, because this trip is expensive. Also, we are starting a donation fund for this trip, so if you would like to donate please let me know! Every penny or won counts! Well headed to bed to hopefully wake up early and go to the gym. Another post coming soon.
P.S. the donation fund was a joke, but any suggestions for travel or anyone you know in Japan please let me know.
Much love,
J&M
(If I have not mentioned already, every time we want to use hot water we have to turn a knob in our living room to some random number and press a button so the water becomes hot. If that is not done than we would not have hot water, even if you turned the sink knob all the way to the left. In addition, our heat is run through our floors, so anything left on the floor is warm and feet are constantly warm as long as the heat is on. Pretty cool)
Back to today I had a luke warm shower with the knob all the way to the left. So not a very good shower to start off the day. Ate some breakfast, checked my email, and headed out the door to school. Nothing interesting happened on the way to school and did not have an ipod because it was left at school. Arrived at school, reviewing my material for the first few classes and then 12:50 came so time for class. Went to class and had a great time with my first 2 classes. Had a break and ate my PB&J and chips. Planned a few more classes and transferred some cash to one of our KT teachers who booked our ferries for our Japan trip. Wow this is really happening. So excited for this jam packed vacation. Next, went on my 5 class sprint, with my first 3 very energetic and my last 2 pretty relaxing. Had a break where we sung Happy birthday to one of the KT's Sally. Very nice lady and we had dumplings and tapoki (the rice noodle in red sauce) which was awesome because I was so hungry. Ate a lot and finished up my planning for tomorrow. Went to my last class, which consists of 5 children who are around 12 years old, but below average in the English language.They are fun and very chill and a great class to end the day with. Always have a good time with them. Ended class and left school with Max. Walked home and had a deep conversation about the rights of the black man in America. Made a quick stop in a store to buy some shampoo and soap for the gym, then went to our favorite lady for food. She made us homemade Kimchi for us to take home. So nice! Had a good conversation with her and the family while eating Waffles, Dunkus, tapoki, and sun dried tomatoes that she dried out herself. They were okay. After dinner, went home and started working on our Japan trip even more. We are planning our travel from Hakata to Tokyo and back. If any of you have a cheap way of doing that please let us know, because this trip is expensive. Also, we are starting a donation fund for this trip, so if you would like to donate please let me know! Every penny or won counts! Well headed to bed to hopefully wake up early and go to the gym. Another post coming soon.
P.S. the donation fund was a joke, but any suggestions for travel or anyone you know in Japan please let me know.
Much love,
J&M
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Dec 6
Another day off, Crazy!!! Love it! So woke up around 12 still tired and thinking what we were going to do today. While thinking and relaxing, made some eggs and toast from brunch and watched a Seinfeld episode. A great way to wake up on a Sunday morning in Korea. As we continued to sit on our couch we came up with the idea of just hopping on the train and getting off at a random stop and see whats out there. So after a couple hours playing around on the computer, writing blogs, and posting pics, we left our apartment around 3PM. Headed toward the train station thinking of which stop we wanted to get off at. It is getting a lot colder here, although I hear Atlanta is pretty cold and it is supposed to snow there, weird! We got to the train station and decided to get off at Daegu Grand Park, we had no idea if there was an actual park or the name of the place. Got on the train and headed toward our destination. Six stops later we arrived at our destination and got off the train. Headed toward the exit and with all train stations there is more than one way to go out. Four to be exact. We first Rock, scissor, papered for which side we wanted to be on then for which way to go. Headed up the escalator toward the crisp air. *side note- the escalators are sensored so if no one has been using them for a while they turn off.
Max and I thought they were not working, so I decided to still go up them and he went up the stairs, as I stepped on the escalator it started moving. Pretty funny, and very energy efficient. Got to love the thinking of these people.
Once we got off the escalator we looked around and we were in the middle of no where. We really had no idea where we were going except for a sign that said Daegu Stadium, so we headed towards that. We walked and walked...and walked and finally saw the stadium, but it was still a good 2-3 miles away. So after looking at the scenery and seeing that we were in sort of the slums of Daegu, we turned around and kept heading the opposite direction of the train station hoping that there was another stop somewhere around us. Saw our first cow and small farms, which was pretty neat. Part of the adventure is just wondering around not knowing where you are going to end up. So we kept walking and walking and finally saw another stop so we knew we didnt have to walk all the way back. Stopped at a little shanty place for some food and ate some gumandu, which wasnt fried this time. A great snack. After eating, we headed back to the train and headed home. On our walk back to the apartment, Max wanted to go study Korean at a coffee shop near our apartment and I wanted to go to the gym. We walked toward our apartment and I went up to the gym and he continued to the coffee shop. I get to the gym and realize it was closed, so I chased after Max and we decided to stop and get some grocery's real quick. Accomplished that. He went to the coffee shop and I carried the groceries home and did some crunches and other little exercises. After an hour or so Max came back and then we decided to go get some dinner. Nothing to exciting happened after that.
Another great weekend in Daegu!
Max and I thought they were not working, so I decided to still go up them and he went up the stairs, as I stepped on the escalator it started moving. Pretty funny, and very energy efficient. Got to love the thinking of these people.
Once we got off the escalator we looked around and we were in the middle of no where. We really had no idea where we were going except for a sign that said Daegu Stadium, so we headed towards that. We walked and walked...and walked and finally saw the stadium, but it was still a good 2-3 miles away. So after looking at the scenery and seeing that we were in sort of the slums of Daegu, we turned around and kept heading the opposite direction of the train station hoping that there was another stop somewhere around us. Saw our first cow and small farms, which was pretty neat. Part of the adventure is just wondering around not knowing where you are going to end up. So we kept walking and walking and finally saw another stop so we knew we didnt have to walk all the way back. Stopped at a little shanty place for some food and ate some gumandu, which wasnt fried this time. A great snack. After eating, we headed back to the train and headed home. On our walk back to the apartment, Max wanted to go study Korean at a coffee shop near our apartment and I wanted to go to the gym. We walked toward our apartment and I went up to the gym and he continued to the coffee shop. I get to the gym and realize it was closed, so I chased after Max and we decided to stop and get some grocery's real quick. Accomplished that. He went to the coffee shop and I carried the groceries home and did some crunches and other little exercises. After an hour or so Max came back and then we decided to go get some dinner. Nothing to exciting happened after that.
Another great weekend in Daegu!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Dec 5 Night TIme
Headed out the door around 9PM to get some food from the lady and her family that is a block away from our house. We told her that we went to Apsan and talked to her son who is very shy and probably hates it every time we come in because he has to use his english and be the translator. After dinner we went to the GS mart to pick up soju and powerade the cheap way to get the night starter. Hailed a taxi and went downtown where we were meeting Josh and his friends at 10. A few minutes of waiting we saw him and his friends and started to head to the hookah bar.
The hookah bar was really cool, relaxing music, and an interesting way to start off the evening. In my opinion, it should have been the last place we stopped because everyone started to get tired. So after an hour or so of meeting more people and having the introduction conversations we headed out the door to get bag drinks. Yummy, another great purchase! As we sipped on our bag drinks, a few of us started playing jenga, but the game was actually called Funge. Pretty funny name, and made a drinking game out of it. After a little while there, we then headed to snow bar, which the name is a little cooler than the actual place. All it is, is a circular table with a bunch beers in the middle covered in shaved ice. From the top, snow starts falling and covers the beer and keeps them cold, but you dont really take that beer, you order from the waitress. However, you can take it if you want, but they charge you of course. Anyways, I got the bright idea of playing a game where we all stick our hand in the ice and the first people who take their hand out have to keep drinking until the last person is left. Everyone loved the idea, so we played and the Americans got out quickly, while the Canadians just stayed in their and said they could go all day. So we had to end it the Korean way, with Rock, Scissors, Paper. Great game! Time goes by, and when you have Westerners who are drinking with a bunch snow around them, guess what happens? A snow ball fight! Yeah it got pretty out of hand where one snowball hit a Korean table and the war quickly ended. We had to apologize, but the good thing was that we were leaving anyway. Good times! Left snow bar, and headed to a nooribong, which is a place with a bunch of private Karaoke rooms. There were 10 of us, so it was pretty cheap. Sang our hearts out for an hour and then ended our night at McDonalds. Thought I was getting a hamburger, but I think it was pork. Not very satisfying and probably the last time I have it...not! Although, did not feel very well on the cab ride home, went to bed and ended a great night at 4:30am
The hookah bar was really cool, relaxing music, and an interesting way to start off the evening. In my opinion, it should have been the last place we stopped because everyone started to get tired. So after an hour or so of meeting more people and having the introduction conversations we headed out the door to get bag drinks. Yummy, another great purchase! As we sipped on our bag drinks, a few of us started playing jenga, but the game was actually called Funge. Pretty funny name, and made a drinking game out of it. After a little while there, we then headed to snow bar, which the name is a little cooler than the actual place. All it is, is a circular table with a bunch beers in the middle covered in shaved ice. From the top, snow starts falling and covers the beer and keeps them cold, but you dont really take that beer, you order from the waitress. However, you can take it if you want, but they charge you of course. Anyways, I got the bright idea of playing a game where we all stick our hand in the ice and the first people who take their hand out have to keep drinking until the last person is left. Everyone loved the idea, so we played and the Americans got out quickly, while the Canadians just stayed in their and said they could go all day. So we had to end it the Korean way, with Rock, Scissors, Paper. Great game! Time goes by, and when you have Westerners who are drinking with a bunch snow around them, guess what happens? A snow ball fight! Yeah it got pretty out of hand where one snowball hit a Korean table and the war quickly ended. We had to apologize, but the good thing was that we were leaving anyway. Good times! Left snow bar, and headed to a nooribong, which is a place with a bunch of private Karaoke rooms. There were 10 of us, so it was pretty cheap. Sang our hearts out for an hour and then ended our night at McDonalds. Thought I was getting a hamburger, but I think it was pork. Not very satisfying and probably the last time I have it...not! Although, did not feel very well on the cab ride home, went to bed and ended a great night at 4:30am
Apsan Mountain Dec 5
Saturday, how can you complain about a day off work, I know I can't. Waking up is still weird for me because I do not have a clock in my room and always think I am oversleeping for school during the week or just wasting the day over the weekend. I think I need to find a cheap alarm click for my room. Moving on, got up around 11 and was moving pretty slow and still pretty sore from the gym. What to do today? I looked out the window and it seemed sunny with a little bit of overcast. I asked Max if he wanted to go hiking and he was like 'hell yeah'. We decided to head to Apsan Mountain after we ate our I think new and becoming ritual of the weekend of eggs and toast. He had a cheese omelet and I had my sunny side up eggs with an orange. It was delicious and was ready to get this day going. We hopped in a cab and headed to the mountain not knowing what to expect. We also realized while in the cab we forgot our lonely planet guide to help us around the mountain, oh well this should be an experience. Everything is an experience here, because you are all the way across the world.
Get to the mountain, and it just looks beautiful. We start walking toward the cable cars because we assume that is where we are supposed to go. On the way up we saw this war memormial, a monestary, and some other statues. It was really neat and I couldn't wait to get up the actual mountain. As we arrive to the building for the cable cars I noticed there is an out door gym that is equipped with everything one needs to work out. Free weights, machines, bench presses, and the what not. It was 40 degrees out with a strong wind and old men were still working out, that was great. We bought our lift tickets and got on the cable car. Max, afraid of heights was holding on to a hand bar for dear life. I of course cracked some jokes at him for being afraid of heights. As we were waiting for the car to move I start walking around the thing because it is only 5 of us and am wondering why we arent moving. Didnt realize there was a set time for it to go, so we found out by one of the Koreans pointing at his watch to us. As I moved toward the opposite direction of Max I sit down and this Korean guy starts talking to me in English. I was amazed how good is English was, better than Choi at the gym. This man went by the name of Lim, 30 years old and a doctor. He apparently, was getting away from his wife and stress and just wanted some 'ventilation'. We talked all the way up the cable car and as we got off he offered us to show us around. He immediately accepted and once again made a new friend for the day and hopefully longer. He told us about his career and that he is working for the army now and that him and his wife are fighting and he struggles with her. It was pretty funny and sad at the same time. Everywhere you go, you find someone struggling with their relationship. Moving on, the scenery was breathtaking. We were so high and could get a real sense of how big Daegu actually is. It is huge, and the mountains surrounding it are unbelievable. We kept walking higher and higher and the building got smaller and smaller to the point that they looked like leg gos. It was awesome! The only downside to the day was that it was real windy and damn cold, but that did not stop us from having an amazing day. As we sat at the highest point on the mountain, just talking and enjoying the view, Lim pointed out where we lived and also pointed out some other locations to us. After spending a couple hours on the mountain we headed down because he had to be at work soon and it was getting really cold. Heading back down on the cable car Lim offered to take us to lunch near his house. We of course accepted and headed toward his house for him to pick up his work gear and car. He told us to wait in the car because he did not want us to come in the 'war zone', and so we did. His house looked beautiful and later came to find out that his wife's dad gave it to them so he hates it and wants to be able to buy a house on his own. Respectable. So we headed to lunch and of course it was galbi. He order some special pork for us and it was a lot tastier than the same old stuff we always get. I would say top 3 since I've been here. After a nice conversation and lunch, Lim had to get to work, so we exchanged email info and he gave us his cell phone number. We do not have ours yet, so we were unable to do so. We said goodbye and hopped in a cab toward our apartment. The cab driver seemed confused to where we were headed and was talking to us like we knew perfect Korean. I was laughing the whole time and we eventually made it to our apartment. Exhausted from the day, took a nap and now getting ready to go out.
Get to the mountain, and it just looks beautiful. We start walking toward the cable cars because we assume that is where we are supposed to go. On the way up we saw this war memormial, a monestary, and some other statues. It was really neat and I couldn't wait to get up the actual mountain. As we arrive to the building for the cable cars I noticed there is an out door gym that is equipped with everything one needs to work out. Free weights, machines, bench presses, and the what not. It was 40 degrees out with a strong wind and old men were still working out, that was great. We bought our lift tickets and got on the cable car. Max, afraid of heights was holding on to a hand bar for dear life. I of course cracked some jokes at him for being afraid of heights. As we were waiting for the car to move I start walking around the thing because it is only 5 of us and am wondering why we arent moving. Didnt realize there was a set time for it to go, so we found out by one of the Koreans pointing at his watch to us. As I moved toward the opposite direction of Max I sit down and this Korean guy starts talking to me in English. I was amazed how good is English was, better than Choi at the gym. This man went by the name of Lim, 30 years old and a doctor. He apparently, was getting away from his wife and stress and just wanted some 'ventilation'. We talked all the way up the cable car and as we got off he offered us to show us around. He immediately accepted and once again made a new friend for the day and hopefully longer. He told us about his career and that he is working for the army now and that him and his wife are fighting and he struggles with her. It was pretty funny and sad at the same time. Everywhere you go, you find someone struggling with their relationship. Moving on, the scenery was breathtaking. We were so high and could get a real sense of how big Daegu actually is. It is huge, and the mountains surrounding it are unbelievable. We kept walking higher and higher and the building got smaller and smaller to the point that they looked like leg gos. It was awesome! The only downside to the day was that it was real windy and damn cold, but that did not stop us from having an amazing day. As we sat at the highest point on the mountain, just talking and enjoying the view, Lim pointed out where we lived and also pointed out some other locations to us. After spending a couple hours on the mountain we headed down because he had to be at work soon and it was getting really cold. Heading back down on the cable car Lim offered to take us to lunch near his house. We of course accepted and headed toward his house for him to pick up his work gear and car. He told us to wait in the car because he did not want us to come in the 'war zone', and so we did. His house looked beautiful and later came to find out that his wife's dad gave it to them so he hates it and wants to be able to buy a house on his own. Respectable. So we headed to lunch and of course it was galbi. He order some special pork for us and it was a lot tastier than the same old stuff we always get. I would say top 3 since I've been here. After a nice conversation and lunch, Lim had to get to work, so we exchanged email info and he gave us his cell phone number. We do not have ours yet, so we were unable to do so. We said goodbye and hopped in a cab toward our apartment. The cab driver seemed confused to where we were headed and was talking to us like we knew perfect Korean. I was laughing the whole time and we eventually made it to our apartment. Exhausted from the day, took a nap and now getting ready to go out.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Dec 4
Ahhh, the day of waking up sore from working out, wouldnt have it any other way. My arms, legs, back, and chest, sore from the Korean work out from the night before. Took a hot shower, ate breakfast, and skyped with my bro. After that headed to school. The weather here is still pretty nice, I would say in the mid to low 40's. I am guessing that beats Michigan weather, whatever that is right now, probably 6 inches of snow on the ground and minus 10. However, people say it gets pretty cold here, but I doubt it is any worse than what I experienced for 4 years in Ann Arbor. Oh, how I miss that place.
Got to school around 12 and started doing planning some planning for Monday. Even though I am happy it is Friday, it is my longest and hardest day of the week besides Monday. 12:50-8:15 with seven classes. So my first class of the day one of my students had a birthday, so we had a little birthday party. It was really fun and funny. It was David Wi's son, so he brought in lots of food for our class, all stuff I couldn't eat. Its okay, because I have gotten used to that by now, snacks unable to be eaten by me, because of the dairy and goodness of whats inside of them. So we decorated the room and kids, sang happy birthday in Korean, Chinese, and English, then cut the cake and took pictures. Definitely took time out of my teaching for that period (yes). After the party, tried to settle down the children, but rather hard because they were all hopped up on sugar. So that class was pretty unsuccessful in the learning aspect, but fun because I got to experience my first Korean birthday! Once that class ended headed to my next, and taught them some English.
Those two classes came and went then comes break time, where I did some more planning and ate some lunch. This is were my day becomes very long and exhausting. 5 classes back to back, where the first three are students who are hard to handle. It is Friday, so I get through it knowing the weekend is near. The next two are a lot better and finally another break! Finished my telephone teaching and planning for Monday and then headed to my last class of the day. One of my favorite classes because they are so relaxed, fun, and pretty stupid. They are fun to teach and we get along great. (I forgot to mention that for some reason every student had lots of exams today for actual school so they were all exhausted and did not want to learn. They had like 4 or 5 tests in a row. It is crazy, so I tried to be a little lighter on them and some of them didnt even show up). The last class ended and started to get a move on for the door. Left school with Max and took a cab to Restaurant street. Overwhelmed with restaurants and prices we really couldnt decide which one to pick. We went in and out of restaurants seeing which one we wanted and ended up picking a mediocre Korean BBQ place. Very hard to choose and have to get recommendations from someone, because there are over 200 restaurants. Still feeling hungry we stopped at our favorite persons place, right near our house. It is a family of three that run this tapoki place which is a rice noodle. They are so nice and their little boy used to go to Ding DIng Dang so he knows some English and we all communicate through him. It was great and when we order something they always add more and bring us extra and call it service which means free. So we filled up on some cheap food, everything was for a dollar. They also make these waffles, that look absolutely delicious and we had a 20 minute conversation going back and forth if it had dairy in it. They said it had no milk or butter and even called the people who made the batter! They said it didnt have any dairy, so I took my chances and took a bite. Yummmmy! Ate the rest and hoped nothing would come of it. We thanked them and said our goodbyes and as we were leaving she handed us apples. What generous people! Once we left, headed back to our apartment and I sort of waited and observed to see if anything was going to happen. In my mind I for sure thought something was going to happen, but in the end nothing. Was it luck, or was there really no dairy? I guess I am going to have to go for round two! Sat around for a bit and then we decided to go to these people's apartment we just met last week to hang out and have a few drinks. We played some drinking games and met some of their friends. They seem pretty cool and thing we will be hanging out with them more often. After a few games, we decided to come back to the apartment and head to sleep.
Another day in Korea!
Got to school around 12 and started doing planning some planning for Monday. Even though I am happy it is Friday, it is my longest and hardest day of the week besides Monday. 12:50-8:15 with seven classes. So my first class of the day one of my students had a birthday, so we had a little birthday party. It was really fun and funny. It was David Wi's son, so he brought in lots of food for our class, all stuff I couldn't eat. Its okay, because I have gotten used to that by now, snacks unable to be eaten by me, because of the dairy and goodness of whats inside of them. So we decorated the room and kids, sang happy birthday in Korean, Chinese, and English, then cut the cake and took pictures. Definitely took time out of my teaching for that period (yes). After the party, tried to settle down the children, but rather hard because they were all hopped up on sugar. So that class was pretty unsuccessful in the learning aspect, but fun because I got to experience my first Korean birthday! Once that class ended headed to my next, and taught them some English.
Those two classes came and went then comes break time, where I did some more planning and ate some lunch. This is were my day becomes very long and exhausting. 5 classes back to back, where the first three are students who are hard to handle. It is Friday, so I get through it knowing the weekend is near. The next two are a lot better and finally another break! Finished my telephone teaching and planning for Monday and then headed to my last class of the day. One of my favorite classes because they are so relaxed, fun, and pretty stupid. They are fun to teach and we get along great. (I forgot to mention that for some reason every student had lots of exams today for actual school so they were all exhausted and did not want to learn. They had like 4 or 5 tests in a row. It is crazy, so I tried to be a little lighter on them and some of them didnt even show up). The last class ended and started to get a move on for the door. Left school with Max and took a cab to Restaurant street. Overwhelmed with restaurants and prices we really couldnt decide which one to pick. We went in and out of restaurants seeing which one we wanted and ended up picking a mediocre Korean BBQ place. Very hard to choose and have to get recommendations from someone, because there are over 200 restaurants. Still feeling hungry we stopped at our favorite persons place, right near our house. It is a family of three that run this tapoki place which is a rice noodle. They are so nice and their little boy used to go to Ding DIng Dang so he knows some English and we all communicate through him. It was great and when we order something they always add more and bring us extra and call it service which means free. So we filled up on some cheap food, everything was for a dollar. They also make these waffles, that look absolutely delicious and we had a 20 minute conversation going back and forth if it had dairy in it. They said it had no milk or butter and even called the people who made the batter! They said it didnt have any dairy, so I took my chances and took a bite. Yummmmy! Ate the rest and hoped nothing would come of it. We thanked them and said our goodbyes and as we were leaving she handed us apples. What generous people! Once we left, headed back to our apartment and I sort of waited and observed to see if anything was going to happen. In my mind I for sure thought something was going to happen, but in the end nothing. Was it luck, or was there really no dairy? I guess I am going to have to go for round two! Sat around for a bit and then we decided to go to these people's apartment we just met last week to hang out and have a few drinks. We played some drinking games and met some of their friends. They seem pretty cool and thing we will be hanging out with them more often. After a few games, we decided to come back to the apartment and head to sleep.
Another day in Korea!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Joined a gym Dec 3
After a good night of drinking woke up on the later side this morning, but still had plenty of time before class. Ate some breakfast, took my shower, and was able to talk to my brother on skype. He always puts a smile on my face because of the things he says. Met his girlfriend over skype, which is sort of odd and said hello to Evan and Ashley. What a great way to start off the day! Once our conversation was over, packed up for school and made myself a PB&J sandwich. Trying to live a little bit cheaper for the next week or so until I get paid. Headed to school with Max and had a nice talk during our 30 minute walk. Always better to walk with somebody than alone, just makes it go by quicker. Got to school about 10 minutes before class started, so I quickly checked that I had everything ready to go.
Headed to my first class which all of you should know by now is at 12:50. Started incorporating the advice Analisa gave me and it worked. I was a little bit stricter and made them be 'good students' which is when they all shut up and put their hands in their lap and sit up straight. It is really funny to see. So that class went smoother, but you have to remember they are only six, so they have to have some fun. That class ended and headed to my next one. These children a tiny bit older, but still very young. Had snack time (first time since I've been here), and ate a lovely orange. Every thursday for this class we have P.E., so didnt really teach them anything because we only had 20 minutes and it took them awhile to peel those oranges. Went to PE where the other co-teacher controlled the games. None of the children really understood, but I guess they had a good time. Class ended and now had break time where I took out my sandwich and chips and scarfed it down. Sandwich complete and began some planning for the next day. Once break time ended headed to my next class and had 4 back to back. The last class came and went and now I was done for the day. I get done at 6 on Thursday, so I did some more planning and met with one of my other Korean Teachers to talk about our class.
*side note- I dont know if I mentioned this yesterday, but in one of my classes there is an it and thought for these first few weeks it was a girl, but while talking to the Korean teacher about it and she keep referring to it as a him I had to stop her and ask whether it was a girl or a boy. It is a boy and I told her I thought it was a girl. She laughed and said it has happened before. The boy is named Rex (a guys name I guess). Long straight hair moved to the left side of his face. Girl glasses, body type small, sat with the girls and talked like one. Give me a break, it was funny.
Back to today after talking with her about a class did some telephone teaching. Everyone answered except one, damn that kid.
Once that was finished, I asked one of the Korean Teachers (KT is what i am abbreviating it from now on) to translate some questions for me that I had for the gym I wanted to sign up for. She translated, "can I pay monthly, can you show me around, what are the hours, and is there a uniform? Like I said before everyone in there was wearing the same thing. After she translated that I thanked her said goodbye to everyone and headed out the door with my earphones on.
The Gym!
Headed up the stairs towards the gym which is on the fourfth floor of this random building. While walking up the stairs there are pictures of just American body builders men and women. This is going to be an experience. Opened the door and saw the guy(guessing the owner) I spoked to yesterday. Whipped out my sheet of paper with the translations on it and tried to communicate with him. He understood some english, but could tell this was not going to be easy. He wrote down the answers in Korean and knew that wasn't going to be any help. I understood the times and him willing to show me around, but payment was key. Luckily a man by the name of choi came to save the day. Even though he did not know English very well at all, he knew enough to be our mediator. Everyone was very nice and we finally got the price worked out. 200,000 won for six months which is dirt cheap, even by American standards. I was happy and ready to leave, but then Choi insisted on me working out with him, so of course I agreed. He took me down the stairs to the locker room. I dont know if we have to wear this uniform or not, but for now I am going to, it consists of a gray t-shirt that says Seven Fitness on it and blue shorts. Don't know the material, but not very breathable. After getting dressed went back upstairs to workout. Rode the bike, and then started lifting some weights. I didn't want to be there long, but felt obligated because Choi was so nice and also enjoyed hanging out with him. To note he is 46 years old, but ages nicely. Did not think he was that old. He already invited me to his house for dinner and wants me to teach him english and he would teach me Korean. We will see if that happens. Also, during the workout he pointed out that I had a beautiful nose, which I immediately knew what he meant; I have a huge nose to the korean standard. It was pretty funny and we laughed about it. After our workout, we went back downstairs to the locker room where we sat in this sauna room for briefly a minute. He says it is a must in Korean culture, so I agreed. Once that was over, he handed me to small ass towels, which are Korean bath towels (b/c they are short, I guess) and had a shower. What a great experience! Got dressed and headed out with him, he went left and I went right back home. I enjoyed meeting him and greatly appreciated his help and hopefully will see him soon. The nicest Korean I have met thus far! Came home and made some pasta.
The end!
Headed to my first class which all of you should know by now is at 12:50. Started incorporating the advice Analisa gave me and it worked. I was a little bit stricter and made them be 'good students' which is when they all shut up and put their hands in their lap and sit up straight. It is really funny to see. So that class went smoother, but you have to remember they are only six, so they have to have some fun. That class ended and headed to my next one. These children a tiny bit older, but still very young. Had snack time (first time since I've been here), and ate a lovely orange. Every thursday for this class we have P.E., so didnt really teach them anything because we only had 20 minutes and it took them awhile to peel those oranges. Went to PE where the other co-teacher controlled the games. None of the children really understood, but I guess they had a good time. Class ended and now had break time where I took out my sandwich and chips and scarfed it down. Sandwich complete and began some planning for the next day. Once break time ended headed to my next class and had 4 back to back. The last class came and went and now I was done for the day. I get done at 6 on Thursday, so I did some more planning and met with one of my other Korean Teachers to talk about our class.
*side note- I dont know if I mentioned this yesterday, but in one of my classes there is an it and thought for these first few weeks it was a girl, but while talking to the Korean teacher about it and she keep referring to it as a him I had to stop her and ask whether it was a girl or a boy. It is a boy and I told her I thought it was a girl. She laughed and said it has happened before. The boy is named Rex (a guys name I guess). Long straight hair moved to the left side of his face. Girl glasses, body type small, sat with the girls and talked like one. Give me a break, it was funny.
Back to today after talking with her about a class did some telephone teaching. Everyone answered except one, damn that kid.
Once that was finished, I asked one of the Korean Teachers (KT is what i am abbreviating it from now on) to translate some questions for me that I had for the gym I wanted to sign up for. She translated, "can I pay monthly, can you show me around, what are the hours, and is there a uniform? Like I said before everyone in there was wearing the same thing. After she translated that I thanked her said goodbye to everyone and headed out the door with my earphones on.
The Gym!
Headed up the stairs towards the gym which is on the fourfth floor of this random building. While walking up the stairs there are pictures of just American body builders men and women. This is going to be an experience. Opened the door and saw the guy(guessing the owner) I spoked to yesterday. Whipped out my sheet of paper with the translations on it and tried to communicate with him. He understood some english, but could tell this was not going to be easy. He wrote down the answers in Korean and knew that wasn't going to be any help. I understood the times and him willing to show me around, but payment was key. Luckily a man by the name of choi came to save the day. Even though he did not know English very well at all, he knew enough to be our mediator. Everyone was very nice and we finally got the price worked out. 200,000 won for six months which is dirt cheap, even by American standards. I was happy and ready to leave, but then Choi insisted on me working out with him, so of course I agreed. He took me down the stairs to the locker room. I dont know if we have to wear this uniform or not, but for now I am going to, it consists of a gray t-shirt that says Seven Fitness on it and blue shorts. Don't know the material, but not very breathable. After getting dressed went back upstairs to workout. Rode the bike, and then started lifting some weights. I didn't want to be there long, but felt obligated because Choi was so nice and also enjoyed hanging out with him. To note he is 46 years old, but ages nicely. Did not think he was that old. He already invited me to his house for dinner and wants me to teach him english and he would teach me Korean. We will see if that happens. Also, during the workout he pointed out that I had a beautiful nose, which I immediately knew what he meant; I have a huge nose to the korean standard. It was pretty funny and we laughed about it. After our workout, we went back downstairs to the locker room where we sat in this sauna room for briefly a minute. He says it is a must in Korean culture, so I agreed. Once that was over, he handed me to small ass towels, which are Korean bath towels (b/c they are short, I guess) and had a shower. What a great experience! Got dressed and headed out with him, he went left and I went right back home. I enjoyed meeting him and greatly appreciated his help and hopefully will see him soon. The nicest Korean I have met thus far! Came home and made some pasta.
The end!
An Olympian Dec 2
Waking up before the ipod alarm is a good thing I guess. Hopped in the shower, ate breakfast, and was able to talk to my mom. I was very happy to be able to skype with her and talk about the cruise she went on. It seemed like everyone had a great time. After talking with her, I headed to school and on the way to school saw a swarm of fire trucks and ambulances surrounding this one particular area. Many Koreans were out and observing, so I took my camera out and started taking photos, because it was the first time I had seen anything like that here. Even though Koreans were watching the scene, they didn’t seem to like that I was taking pictures and were giving me weird looks. But, as they were looking at me I thought about how many times I have seen them in America taking pictures or videotaping the most simplest of things, like be seated at a restaurant. Anyways, after that little happening, got to school and started to plan and do some work. Had a bite to eat and then started teaching. Nothing out of the ordinary in teaching today, but I have gotten stricketer with some of my classes. I guess it is necessary to do so in order to have a successful class period. Show them who’s boss first, and then lighten up. Hopefully I will succeed.
I finished up my last class and was excited to go out and have some drinks. First, walked home with Max and as we were coming home stopped and took pictures of the beautiful Christmas lights at Daegu bank. They had been working on them for the past couple of weeks, and they turned out beautiful. Once we had enough of that we continued walking and Max of course had to stop at his favorite street food vendor to get his dairy filled pancake. It looked delicious and my mouth started to water, however, as we were standing there I started talking to this Korean man and he asked where I was from and told him USA, Atlanta Georgia, 1996 Olympics. He kept asking me questions, I kept answering ‘Ne’ (Yes) and stuff got lost in translation and he thought I was an Olympian. Felt, bad and told him the truth as well as I could and he actually called me a liar, which was pretty funny. Max and I continued walking home and I spotted a gym that my Korean Teachers were telling me about and I had to step in. It seemed like a decent price, but wanted more information on it, so I will go back tomorrow. The gym I stopped at a few nights ago were asking 110,000 won a month this one was asking 60,000 won a month. Very big price difference. Once we left the gym we ended up eating at an orange place near us and then finally made it home. Hung out for a little bit, was able to talk to my dad on skype, which is always a pleasure, and then headed downtown.
Made it downtown and of course had to try our first bag drink. The place is called Vinaroo and they make any drink for you however weak or strong you want it and put it into a ziplock looking bag. Pretty cool idea and a good deal for the amount of alcohol. They let you try it and if you think it needs more alcohol they will add more for no additional cost. So I didn’t even really taste it and said give me more, because why the hell not. Drank our bags while we were waking down the street to Who’s Bob. We were actually allowed to drink them in there which was awesome, met up with our friends and played some pool and what not. Had a fun night and came back to our apartment around 2 and fell asleep.
I finished up my last class and was excited to go out and have some drinks. First, walked home with Max and as we were coming home stopped and took pictures of the beautiful Christmas lights at Daegu bank. They had been working on them for the past couple of weeks, and they turned out beautiful. Once we had enough of that we continued walking and Max of course had to stop at his favorite street food vendor to get his dairy filled pancake. It looked delicious and my mouth started to water, however, as we were standing there I started talking to this Korean man and he asked where I was from and told him USA, Atlanta Georgia, 1996 Olympics. He kept asking me questions, I kept answering ‘Ne’ (Yes) and stuff got lost in translation and he thought I was an Olympian. Felt, bad and told him the truth as well as I could and he actually called me a liar, which was pretty funny. Max and I continued walking home and I spotted a gym that my Korean Teachers were telling me about and I had to step in. It seemed like a decent price, but wanted more information on it, so I will go back tomorrow. The gym I stopped at a few nights ago were asking 110,000 won a month this one was asking 60,000 won a month. Very big price difference. Once we left the gym we ended up eating at an orange place near us and then finally made it home. Hung out for a little bit, was able to talk to my dad on skype, which is always a pleasure, and then headed downtown.
Made it downtown and of course had to try our first bag drink. The place is called Vinaroo and they make any drink for you however weak or strong you want it and put it into a ziplock looking bag. Pretty cool idea and a good deal for the amount of alcohol. They let you try it and if you think it needs more alcohol they will add more for no additional cost. So I didn’t even really taste it and said give me more, because why the hell not. Drank our bags while we were waking down the street to Who’s Bob. We were actually allowed to drink them in there which was awesome, met up with our friends and played some pool and what not. Had a fun night and came back to our apartment around 2 and fell asleep.
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