ketchup

i hate my phone charger. i had one that came with my phone nad it was perfect. did what it was supposed to do--recharge my phone. but my director said he needed mine b/c his didnt work with his phone. it doesn't work with ANY phone! it starts off fine then the little red light starts blinking and that means it is no longer charging.
so back to catching up. last thursday morning beard wrecked his bike. he's ok--hurt his ankle abit. bike was not ok, fixing it would cost 730--he paid 800--so that didn't happen. he was on crutches so we nixed going to gyeongju and spent a very lazy day at home.
the whole week he was unhappy and mopey about the bike situation. we talked to frasier friday night and he was taking will into daegu saturday to get a bike--beard decided to go too. i think this new bike is nicer--looks more like a motorcycle. and it's red. i think hes going to actually register this one too-smart move.
krista was here this weekend. she got into seoul sometime last week and took the KTX down on saturday afternoon. she met us all at ariana for joe's birthday buffet.


that was a couple weeks ago. NOW i've bought a helmet. we went fora ride today and the only scary part was our intersection. just have to pay attention. last weekend christa and i went to seoul to the lotus lantern festival. videos are uploading now. we stayed at kristas in anyang on saturay night. she has a nice apt.

more ketchup in next blog...promise.

teaching

Today I taught times of the day. In the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, at night. why is it at night? i don't know. but it is. so i did a little sing songy deal for in the...and then at the end stomped my feet and yelled--AT NIGHT. They dug it. After the lesson when they were writing their sentences about what they do at various times of the day, i only heard one girl say in the night as she was writing it. she even caught herself and rewrote it. THEY CAN BE TAUGHT!
So the fight for Dokdo continues. I read today that Korea threatened Japan to stay away from the island. It's on the news all over. I really don't think it's the actual island they're fighting over, more like the water around it.
We are making plans for next year. I'm hoping everything will fall into place within the next month. We'd still be teaching at a hogwan but would make much more money and have a better schedule--and the same schedule. We'd have a month at home, too before we come back. No promises yet but it's in the works.
happy day.

What time is it?

This is New York 4:20 singing "What time is it?" It's a song from the Let's Go series, book 3. It's one of my favorites and gets stuck in my head ALL THE TIME.
As in someone asks--What time is it?--and in my head the song starts playing.

waiting

I'm not the most patient person, but I'm getting pretty good at it. Currently, I'm waiting for Beard to wake up so we can go have lunch. He's been sick (again) and needs to sleep. This morning he was feeling better. I could tell b/c he wasnt just staring off into space and actually joked a couple of times.
I've gone to the gym every day the past two weeks. I must say I've become somewhat of a gym junkie. I walk on the treadmill while flipping through the channels. Usually I just watch CNN, but that gets repetitive. Lately I've been watching the nanny and will and grace. yesterday I found that 70's show but I think it was a fluke. sometimes boston legal's on. I never saw that (or even heard of it) at home but it seems like a decent show. And it's in English and that's what counts. I usually walk for 50 mins (10 warm up 30 fast 10 cool down). Then I do a few of hte machines. I dont know what they're called. I tried a new machine today to try to get rid of underarm hangie (where do these things come from? i've never noticed it before). I might try to ask the guy tomorrow.
This weekend we're going to Gyeongju. It's where hte old shilla kingdom was located. It's supposedly beautiful and historic. Perfect. We're going to try to rent bicycles to get from place to place.
Ok, time to eat.

car accident

It was bound to happen really. No one was hurt. A bit stiff today but that's it.
My friends Eungyung and Angie (Eunminm, i think) were leaving Lotte mart to go to Angie's and have a couple beers and watch tv. We were at what I call a 3-way go--a T intersection with only yellow lights. Euyngyung waited and then pulled out and I don't think the guy even hit the brakes. As soon as she pulled out I knew we'd be hit. I even had time to grab the oh shit handle. He hit us on the driver's side--Euygyung couldn't open her door til he moved. Angie was in the back, I was in the passenger's seat--with seat belt.
I stayed in the car while Angie and Eungyung called the insurance guy, apparently theres no need to call the cops, and talked with the other driver. Really, I was afraid of getting hit again. People weren't even slowing down to go around us. What was odd is that 3 mins after it happened 3 tow trucks (hi cars) showed up. No one called them. And while we were waiting for the insurance guy, an ambulance came--also not called.
The insurance guy came and estimated that it was 70% Eungyung's fault and 30% the other guy's fault. What I thought was mighty odd is that it was Eungyung's insurance guy who determined who was at fault--his client. There was a lot of standing around. Of course I couldn't help or anything. First--don't speak the language. Second--not sure how things work around here. I've heard before of people who are in accidents and have to pay even though it wasn't their fault b/c the person who hit them was older.
At home, it would have been Eungyung's fault. She was making a left turn. However, there was no stop sign, no traffic signal. The yellow lights weren't even blinking.
Euygyung just started driving--even though she's 28. She felt really bad. The first time we were at Lotte mart together she forgot to turn on her lights and had to get a jump, now this time she gets hit. I kept saying this happens all the time. People get into accidents and I've heard the accident rate is much higher in Korea.
We ended up going to Angies and drinking beer and eating mondu and chicken. We met one of Eungyung's high school friends for a beer at 3am and I got home at 4. Angie called her friend and he said that if any of us went to the hospital the other guy would have to pay for it. I thought that was kid of odd too.
Today was a good day, besides the stiff muscles. I went to the gym at 11 and paid for 3 more months. Bought egg sandwiches for us at Zam and came home. Beard has another cold. He cancelled his morning class tomorrow. Zam is a great little restaurant. Egg sandwiches for a buck--fresh juice, kiwi, strawberry, etc for 1.50 and it's on the way home from the gym!
To recap--everyone's fine, beard might go to the dr tomorrow, zam is good.

sunday evening--just getting going

I love it when things are easy. Last night while I was IMing with Leah and Nicole (finally) our lightbulb burnt out. I didn't remember till about 20 mins ago when it started getting dark and I wanted to turn on the light. I assumed my local mart wouldn't have florescent bulbs but was mistaken. I walked in w/ my bulb, held it up to the lady and asked--issoyo? and she said neh. mind you I go to this mart everyday. sometimes twice a day. most times I wander aimlessly around just browsing before I buy my bottle of beer and I have NEVER seen the bulbs. ever. But there they were--in a box on the floor. super.
came home and with a minimal amount of frustration got the light to turn on. SUCCESS!
Beard has the Korea cold--again. Both of us have had more colds while here than anywhere else. I keep thinking it's b/c we're both teachers and kids are contagious all the time. And we live together so we're bound to pass it back and forth. He's at a sauna now trying to sweat it out.
Teaching's going great. This week flew by and that usually means my classes were responsive and well behaved. Even though I've taught most of these kids for 6 months, they still ask me the same quesions. How old are you, are you married, do you have a boyfriend, where are you from, when will you get married, do you like Korea, is your boyfriend in korea, where does he live, why aren't you married, do you have kids, when will you have kids, why don't you want kids, where is your mother, do you have any brothers or sisters, what do you like, do you like san gip sal (korean bacon), do you like gimbop?
They are always amazed that I'm not married and I don't want kids. (teacher, you no like family?) I explained to one class that I might adopt when I'm old. Then I had to explain adoption using mostly hand gestures and saying "other woman baby, I can't, me take baby".That's perfect Konglish for you folks. They understood after repeating it a few times and I saw one girl write 'adopt' in her book.
In another class I was teaching body parts. I wrote a different body part on post its and gave 2 to teach pair of students. They had to stick the body part on their partner. Then I went around and checked and had them say the name of the body part. Everyone switched post its a few times then they had to find the person that had the same body part post it. When they found that person they got a piece of candy. It was a lot of fun. To demonstrate I had two trouble makers come up and I put post its all over them. Then had them put them on each other, they kept falling off, everyone was laughing. It was fun.
Friday night we hung out in Shinpyeong w/ the Brits. When we got there they were playing a somewhat confusing drinking game. So much for having 2 beers...I had to leave earlier than Beard and after I got home there was a knock on the door and I assumed it was Beard not wanting to find his key so I opened it and there was a man sitting on the steps outside and I said hello (in korean) and he said hello and continuted to talk and I said hanguk mal molayo (I dont know korean) and he kept talking. It was pretty late and I wanted to go to bed so I said goodbye, closed and double locked the door and changed into pjs. After anohter 15 mins anohter knock on the door. This time I thought it had to be Beard and I said hello (in english) and there was a hello so I opened the door again. It was the same guy sitting on the steps. I said goodbye again and same locking procedure. Then I called Beard and told him what happened and he came home. Of course by that time the dude had left. I told my Korean friend about it the next day and she said he was probably just drunk and wanted to say hi to the waegook. That's fine but he didnt have to do it in a crazy stalker fashion.
It is true though, drunk men like to talk to us. And usually it's fine but I was alone this time.
It made me think why I assumed the worst. Probably b/c of growing up in america and being constantly bombarded by the news of horrible things happening. and being a woman and taught that all men are potential rapists.
Everything was fine and will continue to be fine. Lesson: don't open the door late at night unless you know for sure who it is--or you want to be freaked out.
Time for dinner.

Jinhae Weekend

a prize


pretty pillows


tent game. hit the target a whole bunch and win whiskey!


the walk up the hill--we went up the tower too. then hung out drinking beer for a couple hours in the rain.




Dancing dolls are Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival. These dolls are the kind that dance to sound. They are at every festival we go to. Usually with dancing salesmen.

thank you greg

WOO HOO!! Greg made it work! And--we're in Jinhae! This is Alex saying zero and it's cute--maybe only if you teach English.
The weekend has been great--but rainy. Personally I love it. I have missed rain and I don't see it as a downside at all. I had my umbrella--although it has recently disappeared--it may show up again.
We have been drinking a lot of beer--not much else to do in the rain. We've been under tents and playing games. By we--I mean the boys, I'm not caught up in all that. I realize it's a sham and don't try to beat it. What's up with boys, really?

Right now what's funny--for me--is that Bryan is trying to get Beard to move from his spot on the round bed (Beard and Greg are on the round bed where Bryan and Greg should be) and he doesn't understand than Beard cannot be moved once sleeping. HA. Good luck. Wait--he woke up and moved on his own--whoa.
OK then--good night all.