a pretty good 36 hours

SO I proved I can still stay up all night. I wasn't sure I still had it in me.
It all started Friday night. I knew the Korea game wasn't til 4am and I knew I wanted to see it. I had a couple of choices. Eat dinner in Bongguk, go home and go to sleep, wake up and meet friends for the 4am game.
OR what actually happened. Have a drink with Christa, slowly b/c I assumed this would be the path I would take, then go eat gimbop. Back to Greg and Bryan's for a couple more slow drinks and to decide where we would watch the game. Christa and I were leaning towards downtown but the rest of the crew wanted the stadium. Since I hadn't seen a game at the stadium and since I did'nt know when I would have another chance to watch Korea in the world cup at a stadium in Korea...we went there. Walking in all you could see was a sea of red. Red horns, red shirts, red balloon bangy things. And lots of chanting and drumming. We were hemhawing over where to sit when I saw Greg being pulled up onto the balcony by 2 Korean men in flags. Beard was next so Alice and I decided to find some stairs up. Easy enough. Christa, Rory, Bryan and Tina came up a bit later. There was much drinking--me still at a medium pace--and cheering with the drummers who eventually made their way up.
We sat on the railing for a bit but sat down eventually. We were staring directly at the huge screen. One dude who drank too much kept leaning on Christa. Bryan came over to tell us that Rory had given him a shot of "the creature" and then decided to nickname him '20 minutes'. After seeing the condition he was in while leaning on Christa the name was changed to '5 minutes'.
The Bongguk crew left a little after Switzerland scored the second goal. Beard and I stuck it out til the end. Then it was time for the walk home. Beard was kind of pushing for a taxi but it was going to be difficult finding one and it was a beautfiul morning. We walked threw some back streets and then up a little hill that led us to some fields and paddys. Got to see some ajummas picking/tending their crops--and got plenty of stares from them too. How often do you see 2 waegooks in your garden at 6am? I would have stared, too. I even got to stand in a Korean corn field--if 6 stalks is considered a corn field.
We made it home and Beard put up the net and crashed. I drank my coffee in a can, made and ate an egg sandwich, took a shower, talked to Joan(Beard's mom, not here Joan) on the im. Around 840 I sent a text to Joan to make sure she was still leaving at 915. If she had decided to go later I was definitely going to bed. I was drinking mt. dew at this point and seeing Beard sleeping peacefully in the bed made me want to join him. She replied and I left the house with my backpack. I wasn't entirely sure what I had in it but it was a lot.
Met her, Rob, and Will at ss mart and were OFF. Got to the stdium and there were only 3 or 4 of our team members there. Not looking good. By the time the game started we had just enough for a game. Slowly the others arrived. They had stayed up to watch the game, too but had opted to sleep--suckers.
This was the tournament, there was a trophey at stake--and a bbq. There were other waegook teams from Seoul and one from perhaps Nigeria. I don't know. Joan had persuaded me to start drinking again--and was pushing beer but I resisted that much--so I don't know if Nigeria is correct. By the last game we were all hammered. Well, most of us anyway. There was a lot of cheering and general mayhem.(Shab, "so it's M-A-M-A?") We lost but we tried hard and drank harder.
After the games we stood/sat around talking. When it started to get dusky I hopped on the bike with Beard (he hadn't drank at all. He doesn't fancy the soju and with the no beer drinking he's not imbibing much these days) (AHH THESE DAYS I HATE THAT TERM) and Rob, Joan, and Christa in a taxi, Will on his bike and we headed for takgalbi--spicy chicken. YUM.
Came home after Will said we could all take short naps and he would call at 11 and we would meet at psycho. Got a text from him at 10something this morning, shortly after we had woken up saying he just woke up and is it too late to go to psycho. Christa made it though--GOOD JOB!!
And now--it's almost noon. I'm going to hop in the shower, eat some lunch, and go to Daegu with Christa and maybe Beard to get a travelbook. I can't wait to start planning our vacation.

day 5

shared a bottle of soju and 2% with Christa last night outside of e-time. she wanted beer but fought the urge. we are now cheap dates--grand total, with cups...2,400 won. half the price of a pitcher in her neck of the woods.
came home and watched world cup and played cards. went to bed. ho hum.
time to try pictures again!
wait! i almost forgot the most important part. beard and i stood side by side and its official--his belly is bigger than mine. YEE HAW! i was never worried but he seemed to think i had surpassed him. ha ha to you!
ok, back to trying pictures....

beard and i at anjopi pond near gyeongju


koreans in geese boats. on a lake in gyeongju.


cairns at buguksa temple, gyeongju. they were everywhere. well, in this one little area. if you can add a rock to the top w/o it falling, your wish comes true.

Day 4

Today starts day 4 without beer. WHAT WAS I THINKING? i LOVE beer! and its SUMMER! I'm an idiot. ok, not really. Giving up beer isn't that hard. But man oh man when i go to the mart after work, it's SO tempting. It's not like I'm giving up any special beer--it's only Korean lager. Beard, Will and I decided we should give up beer til the world cup final. On that night we can have a beer again. So far so good. Friday night we tested out which mixers went well with soju. My favorite is the 2% peach water. Lemonade comes in a close second, with Cider in third.
Woke up not as hungover as expected--even went to the gym after a ride with Beard.
Daeyoung picked us up at 7pm for a camping trip with his climbing club. Arrived at the destination around 9:30 and were fed shot after shot of the rotgut. Ate some good chicken and rice and tons of cherry tomatoes. Even tried a piece of pork b/c it smelled so good. By piece, I mean one the size of my thumbnail. Went to bed on a raised platform after unsuccessfully putting up the tent at 2:30. Woke up to dogs barking WAY too early--7:45. Were dragged to breakfast of soup and rice. Some of the climbers were trying to get us to drink "korean milk" and "korean water" with our breakfasts. the first is makali and the second is soju. not thanks, it's not even 8.
we were on the trail by 9. these guys know how to get going. up up up and there we are. i was at the stopping point twice but daeyoung kept shaking his head and beard grabbed my hand and pulled me along. we got to the top and after sitting for a bit i found a nice place in the shade and took a nap leaning against hte tree. it was a beautiful sight. when we first got there i felt a bit dizzy b/c we were pretty high up and surrounding us were all green peaks. amazing really. the nap treated me well.
beard didnt do as well as he had hoped climbing but he still had a good time. we threw leaves at a little kid for a while and i think he's beard's new best friend.
Beard and I left shortly after the first group headed down. I'm REALLY slow going down b/c of the faulty eyesight and just being unsure. we got down to the creek much faster than expected. walked along hte creek--wishing we had one near our apt in gumi--and then climbed the fence to get back to the road.
Back to the restuaurant and ate some delicious noodle soup and bibimbop and tofu with some greens. offered beer--refused. the pain, the agony. sat in the shade some more, drank a little makali, took pictures and time to go!
ended up sleeping in the van on the way home. got home, showered, called dad, ate chicken, and was in bed by 10. woke up at 4 for korea game. 1:1 vs france. WOO HOO. that means they go on to the next round--I think.
now--time for work. again no pictures. patience grasshoppers

I'm Back!

I was having some technical difficulties--still am--but I really should post again.
Last night I ordered a mac laptop. I have a feeling it's going to be one of the best things I've done electronics wise. We'll see. I am very excited. Jen is going to bring it here with her when she comes and is going ot take the old one home when she leaves. THANKS JEN!! I owe you. You will be handsomely rewarded.
Goings on here--not much. It rained all day yesterday. Korea Times says monsoon season (yes, I said monsoon season) will start next week and continue for about a month. That should be fun.
Last weekend we went to a mountain called juwangsan for a short hike. It was NICE. no people! well, 3 or 4 people, but dispersed! not in huge groups listening to their cellphone mp3s! happy day! even better is that it's in gumi and a short ride. downside, on the walk up you can hear the dog farms. i hate that.
I tried posting a picture--didn't work. I'll try again later.
We've been watching world cup. Psycho has the big screen which is nice. During the week we watch at home. First match begins at 10pm, last one starts at 4am. I'm usually asleep half way into the second and have to check the stats in the morning.
I've started going back to the gym. I really do like going, I just hit a lazy patch. I have also made 2 batches of potato salad. We could live off that stuff. I took some into the teachers, they weren't quite sure what it was but liked it. These were the same ladies who were surprised cauliflower tasted good raw.
I hate to see just writing but the pictures wouldn't load--it's not my fault!
More to come.

computer

I shipped my computer to Seoul today. A man came to my house in a samsung truck, filled out a form and took it away. All for 8 bucks. Most people would thinkg 8bucks! sweet! I'm worrying that it's not enough. Shouldn't I have had to sign something? What about insurance? Pak just says, yeah, it's ok. super.
yesterday we had off work. i was supposed to ride with beard and will to juwangsan park but my butt was still hurting a bit from the last time and i didnt think i was quite ready for anohter long ride. Beard's director's mother passed away. She had been ill for some time. Beard and the Prime crew went to her funeral, I slept in. He said there was some bowing, money giving, and then a lunch. all the the hospital. i guess they dont do funeral homes. he said no one was crying either. christa asked her kids about it and they said it's more of a celebration of the life, not the mourning of the death. i dig it.
i met up with christa for some rooftop sunbathing. however it was EXTREMELY hot on that roof so we headed into her airconditioned apt to shoot the shit for a while. we decided we needed out of the house so we made our way to etime to have a beer and think about what to do next. saw bryan, rory, and tina playing in the park. they have so much energy! it was all i could do to cross the street and theyre playing basketball and some sort of soccer, volleyball, tennis game.
next was gimbop where christa informed me she was ditching me to go to the gym! our our day off! i called joan and met her and beard and will at her apt. from there we went to lotte mart to pick up goodies for grilling.
joan and i made kabobs while the guys got the grills going. we sat out back and had a great time. we left the grills out htere to cool off thinking we would just get them this morning--but they're gone. ill have ot ask the guy in the box if he knows where they are. although i dont like inviting him to speak b/c then he wants to talk every time i walk by. it wouldnt be so bad but its always the same. hello! what's your name? where are you from? where is your apartuh? you like gumi? you teach english? over and over.
today is eungyungs birthday==30 korean age. still gorgeous as ever though. i was thinking of staying in tonight but if she wants to go out, ill definitely go with her.
ok--off to get a cake and talk to the guy in the box.

much better

last night was much better.
after teaching i met christa in bongguk, ate some gimbop and walked around the park. then beard came over and we sat down to have a beer out side of e-time. greg, bryan, tina, rory, and jason met us a bit later.
had a couple beers, chatted, and came home. very relaxing and enjoyable.
today--possibly shopping and a barbeque.

bad morning

I have to send in my laptop to get it fixed. I don't want to and have been putting it off for over a week. Beard took me to the post office--where I was told they would box it up and ship it. I went in, stood in the foreigners only line-i was hte only foreigner. The woman said it was dangerous and I shouldn't send it. She calls DHL, they won't ship it either. I try calling Angie--no answer. I try calling Eungyung--no answer but a text 2 seconds later just saying why. I was very frustrated and confused. I called Pak and he talked to the woman. Then to me--she can't understand your speaking. I can't understand her either, hence calling you. He talks to her again. Then back to me. I just keep saying my computer is broken, I need to send it to seoul. she said its too dangerous and tells me to go to another place but she isn't telling me where it is. He talks to her again. Back to me. you have to go to anohter place. um yes, i just told you that. do you know where the place is? does anyone know where this place is. pak says he will send it. i think he can sense my pending tears of frustration. the woman gives me a phone number--uselesss since i don't speak korean.

biking it again

does everyone really know neve campell? i know that spelling can't be right but if i hadnt seen her picture i wouldn't have known. we're watching a bio of THE kevin bacon. man i love him. and I KNEW there were dance doubles in footloose--we proved it with the toggle on jen's remote back in the day.

tomorrow we're on our way out on the bike again. this time to gyeongju. it's a much longer ride but we're giving ourselves much more time. and beard will remember to get gas more often this time. this time will will have joan on the back. its her first long ride. i hope shes not too nervous and i hope will rides slower for her. i'm sure he will.

im excited to go. its a cheap way to see the country. and it's MUCH nicer than the train, you can stop wherever you want, whenever you want to take pictures or whatnot.

as soon as i get my computer up, or beard's off his long enough, i'll post some pictures here.
patience people.

meh

I'm not a very happy camper. Odd b/c its FRIDAY, but 2 not good things have happened this week.

1. My computer refuses to work. It turns on for a sec and then clicks off. Called Toshiba--grounding or motherboard. grounding they'll fix for free, motherboard not so much. I purchased an extended warrantee but they don't have that on file and the receipt is in any number of boxes at my parents house on the other side of the world. I saved the websites in "my favorites" BUT my computer WON'T TURN ON, so I can't get to that. I have to send it to a service center in Seoul. I'm going there tomorrow but unlike all other Koreans, the folks at the service center will not be working. So I'll be shipping it. However, I found out from my friend JiHae that I can take the computer to the post office and they'll pack it for me. SWEET.

2. I messed up my right hip somehow. I was walking home and it started hurting really bad with each step. OW. I assumed it would feel better in the morning but NOPE. Eungyung went with me to the doctor and i had some physical therapy done on it. feels A LOT better today. I'm staying off it as much as possible and taking it slow. taking ibuprofen. if it hurts on monday ill go back to the physical therapist.
It's probably just a pinched nerve or something.

The head teacher at my school is trying very hard to get me to commit to next year. She said my boss would let me take a 3 month vacation and pay for my flight back la la la and i would get a raise. He even offered to find Beard a job with the same hours. But beard would still be going into an unknown situation, just like last year. At the school we want to work at we know hte people who work there now. we know exactly what they have to do and what hours they work and how the director is. and we know what the apartment is like. and we'd be done earlier, which is what we want. i've explained this over and over--2 times to Kate and now 2 times to Annie. Yesterday Annie said "because you make this director will have very hard time" translation---because I'm leaving, it will be difficult for the director to find another teacher. I don't think that's true. There are tons of people looking for jobs in Korea. My hogwan is great. If the hours were earlier, I'd stay on.

Tomorrow AM we're going to Seoul with a bunch of friends to the horsetrack and then splitting up--some to krista's for a cookout, some to the casino, and probably a couple to itaewon. We're opting for cookout and then who knows where that will lead. Sunday we're going to the Picasso exhibit at the seoul museum of art and to the electronics market to get beard a hard drive.
I hope everyone has a good weekend.

why do i do 8 things at once

I'm a bit scatterbrained. Beard and i were talking today and we've come to the conclusion that that is the reason why we can't keep our apartment clean. We both go from starting one project, then anohter, then another without cleaning up after or finishing the first. Right now I am cutting out pictures from a magazine to use in my class. Just before that I was going to take off eye make up but only got so far as to get the cleanser and the cotton doodads over to the table. I sat on my bed and saw my computer so I turned it on. Instead of taking the time it takes to start to continue with the makeup taking offing, my little eye spied the magazine, which led to me needing to find hte scissors which led me to put half hte dishes away in the kitchen. Upon finding the scissors, I came back to the computer, opened my email and in the 2 seconds it took to open that I started cutting. I have one picture so far.
I don't know how the blogging started.
Even while typing that I had the urge to cut out anohter picture. Perhaps it's ADD...
PLAN OF ACTION FOR THE WEEKEND.
1. tomorrow am-- go to gym and then to lotte mart.
2. buy crap we need, try to find short pants.
3. meet angie and see her exhibit, eat lunch.
4. teach children the ins and outs of the english language.
5. this where it's fuzzy. we might eat in bongguk or maybe not...

SATURDAY
1. go for long ride on motorcycle.
2. hopefully find mountain we are looking for.
3. eat lunch
4. HAVE FUN
5. get back to Gumi around 5 to go to new Ariana buffet in Gong dan.
6. drink a lot of brewery beer and eat some random food they have on buffet.
7. this could lead to anything really.

SUNDAY
1. sssslllleeeepppp in.
2. order pizza to cures what ails us.
3. possibly find a soccer game if one is going on.
4. chill til the next episode.

We got pictures of ROSALIE today!! For those that don't know we have the cutest god child in the WHOLE WORLD. and now we also have her 2 yr pictures. Her bday was in Dec but there's been some craziness happening in their neck of the woods.

Jen, Suzie, and I are putting hte finishing touches on their upcoming trip. So far we're going to go to Busan, Jeju-do, Gyeongju, and then up to Seoul for Vince's wedding. We even put in a "free" day in case we/they get too overwhelmed. It'll be my first time doing a trip without Beard here in Korea. I ain't squared, guido.

That's whats going on here. What about there in webworld? Anyone doing anything? Hmm?

notes from my schedule book

* kids eating flavor (i.e. MSG) packets straight. 11-16

* Ron informed me his house had a loo loo (fancy schmancy toilet lid)
* 13 year old doesnt know what drugs are 11-17

* crosswords=quiet
* there are probably many koreans who cannot tie their shoes 11-18

*teeth are pulled out and kids are sent to school with bloody gauze hanging out of their mouths immediately after. "teacher, robin talk no" 11-21

* tissue? no thanks. i prefer to suck my snot. 11-22

* i think he was "hit by a car" 11-23

* open window before NY 4:20, everyone eats kimchi at 4:15
* copyright? copyright, what? 11-24

*tic tac toe--i say word (clothes, food, etc) they ask question about it correctly, team gets to put x or o. 11-29

*silly sentences--phonics words switched around with other units. easy way to review words and switch up sounds 11-30

*1st time didnt bow to a student who bowed to me, felt pretentious
*slighted by stupid calendar guy 12-1

*quote from school supplies "Make some one happy--make just one someone happy"
*qfss "everything in the world is funny"
*at my wits end screamed "give me the god damned card!" i love teaching here 12-2

*qfss "would you like some cloud" 12-6

*realized my kids keep me informed more than the other teachers do
*getting paid late and only ONE day fo winter 'vacation'? WTF
*took paper out of garbage for girl w/o notebook, she'll never forget again 12-7

*here are your report cards--oh youre having class. im sure this wont disrupt things at all
*qfss "lovely gangster matoda fall from the heaven with mission but this mission is so, so difficult." 12-13

*styrofoam on a string--new fav toy
*slipped in asshole instead of students name--no prob. 12-15

*qfss--"it's always nice to meet a new world" 12-16

*student quote "i don't like waegookin" super 12-20

*James falls--grabs his butt "oooh, my head!' ha 12-23

*on a 10 yr old girls jacket "roem girls--easy and pretty"
*qfss--"I'd leave the place where the sunshine neve" 12-28

*qfss "I'm happy everyday because you make me fun" 1-3

*time for me to shoot myself 1-5

*new chair? fixed chair? 1-18

*qfss--"do you what chocolate cooky" 1-24

*qfss--"you and i have to love long long puppy momo" 1-25

*on cake box parent brought in; "the most gentel, fluid delicate of fabrice, lace enjoys a romantic repufation Being fresh is everything to nice cake, however fresh taste and scent are easily affected" 1-27

*qfss "thee play a more beautiful language than sounds" 2-20

*qfss--"dreams are my reality A wondrous world where I'd like to be" 3-23

* saw soldiers walking down the street in camo w/ large guns. last one bopping to his mp3, slapping his legs 3-29

*qfss--"so happy for serach a sunny day" 4-7

*qfss--"the heart must pause to breathe, and love itself has rest" 4-11

* make your own test (brillant idea) 4-27

* qfss--"Fragrant time: In this morning with you I open my eyes for the around."

There you have it. This is just want appears at my school. The Engrish is everywhere.

long weekend

we had a long weekend and it rained. of course. it would have been ok had we not decided to go a butterfly festival--butterflies do not like rain.
i sent a huge email about it and i dont feel like rehashing it here. perhaps ill edit and paste later.
i found out some shocking and tragic news from home and am not really in the typing mood...
maybe ill post some pictures.

my youngest class singing i have a car. it's sung to the tune of a jamacian song i think. perhaps youll recognize it. they werent big on the hand motions i gave them but they really belted out the song.


tried to load a pic from this weekend--wasnt happening. ill try again later.

Lotus Lantern Festival 4-29/4-30 2006 Seoul

old men dancing--favorite part is the time check


winter dance


buddha mascot--gotta love the cartoon aspect of EVERYTHING


spring dance


dragon


dancing mascot in insadong, seoul. we walked by him and he danced awful close--warranting a video.

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.