woo

So, I finished my first term here! Wooo! I can't believe how fast time has gone by. In a few days, it will be 4 months, and that is 1/3 of the way finished. I have some pictures of the last day of my first term. We had a bit of a party, and it was fun. My kids brought in 8 pizzas, 3 boxes of chicken, and 30 bags of chips (or more) and boy was it a good time. Okay!

This is Robert. He is insane, and is at CDI every single day, even when he isn't in class. He likes me because I like Nintendo.

Here we have Chandler, in the back left, then MM (Minnie Mouse) and then Mike, and then Jennifer

Jennifer and MM eating "potato pizza" (pizza with french fries for topping!!!)

This is Sharon! Yes, with a (!). Her name was Anna first. She wanted a change. So I made it Sharon! She wasn't happy.

Judy, Annabelle, and Bryan

Bryan, Paul, and Eric. No, I don't know whats going on.

Sally^^^

My main man Eric

So solly

Its been a long time, I know! Sorry, solly! I've been extremely busy/wounded and its been tough to do this. First, the wound! I cut myself with a knife a while back and had to get stitches on my finger. This made it hard to type anything that isn't just a few words. I got the stitches out, however I am still experiencing a strange tingling pain when I apply any sort of force with my index finger, so its still annoying.

Second, the kids are off for their month of summer vacation, so naturally they are going to school even MORE at their private academies. So I've been busting it pretty hard at work.

Third! This guy was here for the week!

Thats right! Bren came and we have had a blast. I was sad to see him leave last night. We hit up Itaewon for a little jaunt, got into a whole mess of trouble eating this:

Ambulance Burger

Thats right. It has a fried egg, three slices of bacon, a hashbrown, an inch-thick burger, cheddar cheese, and bbq sauce. Whooooooodaddy. It was good! Its from Smokey's, which I guess has the most healthy and delicious burgers in all of Seoul.

Wait....what?

Anyways, we played tons of darts! We went to a bar called Nashville and played a few rounds of regular darts. Then we created this masterpiece:

Thats right. Every single number and no bullseye. It was ruthless, we played 4 times, and yes, I won every single time. Take that, Bren!

Also, I need to call attention to another bizarre bathroom trend I have observed in Korea. And that is that there will be one main restroom, with a separate stall for men and women, and then one urinal just out in the middle. I did my best to take a picture of it. I think its awfully strange.

So, thats been my life so far in July. Didn't do anything too special at all. I'm going to see UP tomorrow with Laura in Seoul, which is exciting for me. Other than that, I will try my best to have some sort of more common postings on here. Bye for now!

This post is rippin'

So I have this thing in class now where I am buying bonding time/friendship with my children by having them draw me pictures and I give them 50 bonus points in return. Not only is it a good way to get my walls decorated, but they all crack up at the pictures, and for some reason think its funny they give them to me. Well anyways, I got the first batch in of them today. I think I have a bit of a grand scheme of things when it comes to them, but I'll keep that as a secret until the time comes.

^^ that devilish wonder is done by Nick

^^thats Minnie Mouse...awkward.

^^Jennifer

^^Grace

This one is my personal favorite so far. I love the "Lazy!" part. What does that even mean? Clazy Koreans. Im not sure you can tell but she actually took a ton of time cutting out some of the letters in the words. Its pretty awesome. Thats Anna, btw. I can tell she is a total nerd.

So I suppose thats all the excitement I've had going on in my life. I had to teach in front of parents today. That was a stressfest to the max. I still haven't passed the course on how to judge Korean facial expressions, so I was pretty nervous the entire time. Couldn't tell if they were happy or sad. But then after my school owner came in and introduced me to most and said they were so happy with how I taught and that and I think it might have turned my branch manager away from the path of possibly hating me and towards the path of being really pleased with me. But like I said, I still fail at Expressions 101.

Also, I have a Korean friend. I mean for real, too. He is awesome. His name is Jake and he has been most helpful in life. Plus he is awesome, when he isn't keeping me out till 3am every night he gets the chance. Oh well. One more pic of me, Jake, and his Korean girl-something-or-another. I forget her name. I'm awful with names.

ps check out her eye. It looks like its about to pop out of her head! wtf!

What the Picture Post??

Holy cow I've finally done it. I did touristy stuff! And it was pretty great, if I do say so myself. I set out on my journey bright and early at 11am (lol) and met my homegirl Jasmine and our friend Baseer at Sinchon Station at noon. On the bus on the way to the subway I met this really nice old man named Hyun. He was around 70 years old, I believe and we talked for a while and he helped me make it to my subway destination quite well. We exchanged numbers and he was kind enough to invite me to his house to cook me dinner sometime. I hope he calls, it was great meeting him.

So after we get to z trainstation, Jaz and Baseer and myself head off to Yongson. I love it there, its a huge huge huge mall and there is tons of food and good stuff and also I am going back there Wed. to get some electronics but I digress! The point of this is that we were meeting one of Jasmine's friends, Fiona, there. Anyways, I can tell I am getting a little long-winded with this but there is a lot to tell! While waiting for her, we went to an airsoft shooting range and shot at some targets. I hit the most of them! I guess all that gaming paid off! They also had a most glorious wall of xboxes and tvs to play on!

Check it:

So anyways, that was a pretty nice treat to behold. After we met Fiona, we decided that being hungry wasn't even close to the best thing we could be, so we ate! And we ate Thai, at that! It was good good good. I love all this asian food more than should be allowed. So after eating and meeting up with Mike and Sarah, we headed out for our first spot - Changyeonggung Temple. On our walk there, however, we passed a women's university who had been arting it up and changed the outside of their building intoooo.....

A gigantic wall of doors!

I know, I know, makes you dream of a real-life Monsters, Inc., doesn't it! Well, thats what I was thinking, at least. It was really a pretty cool sight to behold though. Going anywhere in Korea always has its interesting things to view along the way. Its like getting there is as exciting as being there. But now for the grand finale of the afternoon portion of the posting!

temple time!

I'm fairly certain that my tiny little camera isn't going to be able to convey the true size and awesomeness of this place, but trust me when I say it was huge, and awesome. Especially the fact that its in the middle of one of the biggest cities in the world. You are sitting there in these massive fields or centuries-old buildings, but you can see skyscrapers looming in the background. I'm not sure if its a good or bad thing, but it really makes you forget where you are for a while.

Baseer and yours truly in front of the throne room

Throne!

Heres the ladies glamin it up in front of the pond

GQ

more temple

So after our templing experience, we decided to hit the track again and take the subway into the heart of Seoul to check out Tower 63, which is the tallest building in Seoul and one of the tallest in all of Asia. Guess what. Its tall. Huge, even. 63 stories and the observation deck was quite amazing. It also has an imax and a sea world inside it! We didn't go to imax but did hit up sea world and I'll spare you all but the best of the aquarium pics.

First up is this little guy, who greeted us as soon as we walked in:

Next up is a cute little bugger who I think stayed up playing a bit to late past his bedtime!

And this would be a big fat frog

After the aquarium we went upstairs to the SkyArt Gallery/Observation Deck to see what Seoul looks like from the heavens. The elevator was pretty cool, you could look outside as you were going up and see the entire city. It would probably be so unpleasant for that elevator to fall down while you're in it. I have some videos of it at night but they are on my camcorder but I they are hd and it would take a year and a day for them to upload, so you can just live with seeing the daytime versions!

So those are all pretty neat! There was lots of art too, but I didn't feel like posting any of the pictures for them. So sorry.

And that has been my life outside of teaching! I finally get a real paycheck on Tuesday which has me buzzing with excitement and the money is already starting to burn a hole in my pocket. I'm gonna get some much-needed items on Wed and we'll see what else is going on next weekend too. Oh! How silly of me to forget such an important acquisition! I got a couch that was being thrown out and I found in a huge dumpster full of many other couches. My apartment is starting to become home, I think. I spent a while cleaning tonight, too, which wasn't fun but definitely needed. I'm going to go do some prepping now and then probably watch a little bit of the Braves Sox game if I'm still up.

ps. I nearly forgot one more extremely important thing!!

I ATE BUGS

They didn't taste awful. Kinda nutty I guess. Definitely wasn't the best tasting thing and I definitely won't eat it again. The worst part was the texture. If you can imagine smushy yes still somehow crunchy, and then add warm and wet to it, you'll start to get an idea. Mike and I were the only ones who tried them. We make it rain.

Finally, the best picture of me in Korea yet:

I was mad because David took 4 tries to take the picture, and I think I was about to yell at him when he finally figured out how to do it. Oh well.

edit: wow! another ps. that makes this pss, right? pps? I can't remember. But thats beside the point. I forgot to show you THIS:

Thats right. Giant Gandalf in the house. Don't even mess with him. Possibly the greatest thing I have ever randomly stumbled upon.

You've got ta do what they toldja!

Okay okay I'm here up late again so I am going to write again! I just took some melatonin so hopefully that will start kicking in sometime soon. I'm finally getting pretty comfortable in my own skin, and with the addition of a cell phone, I am feeling much more satisfied with life.

What have I been up to? Well I'll tell you just that! Lots! We'll start with my phone. I went to around 4 different stores and was quickly shuffled right out. No selling phones to nick teechuh, I guess. Just as I was about to give up hope, I tried a final store that was a bit larger than the others and I walked right in and they spoke engrish to me and it was perfect. So I got a phone! Its pretty neat, minus the fact that going from an iPhone to a phone that doesn't even have t9 makes my brain hurt in ways I can't explain, but believe me when I say I'm doing you a favor by not enlightening you. Oh, I'll also mention that my phone is named the Slim Panda. Are Panda's ever slim??

So I have finally gone to a new part of the country I hadn't been to and that part was Jamsil, which is basically east east Seoul. I met up with Mike and a few of his friends from Mok Dong and we went to an authentic Spanish restaurant. Why Spanish? I'll tell you! Mike is friends with a guy named Santi who is from Spain and he went so far as to go to the Spanish embassy to get recommendations for good Spanish cuisine. So we went. And guess what. It was good! It was 5 courses, even! And I had a glass of wine, as well.

Here is a picture in Jamsil. I'm annoyed at how blurry it is but whatever. I think its funny. They also had what seemed like a huge disney land type thing that might be a pretty fun place to visit sometime!

Also I would like to show you a picture of one of the bathrooms in the bar/dance place we were at! Ladies, you'll love this.

Thats right! A hole in the ground! I am thinking its the same in the girls room, too, but I'm not positive. Anyways, a word for the wise: stay out of these places. They stink. But the bar was cool! I'll show you a video below just so you know! I would upload some from other dancing spots but it takes me too long to do and i'm not in the mood!

So also I am finally getting paid some real monies on the 30th and I am so excited! I think I am going to go half n half with my friend here to get a vacuum because its just crucial to have them. I also would like a wireless router and maybe a shirt or two. Oh! By the way! I got some neat socks. They look like a pair of all-stars but they are socks. Oh what a world. Hopefully with my addition of money I will also be going to visit some neat places around here. I want to see the war memorial / museum and some other museums and go to the dmz and check out lots of cool things. Also I think i'll show you a little snack from one of my favorite places to grab food from before work. Its a place called Tomato Kimbop and here:

It is a warm ball of rice with tuna inside and then sesame seeds and some kinda spicys on top. Can't beat it for 2 bucks. My friend told me about a smoothie place next door also that will give you them for a buck, so woo! I'm hitting it up tomorrow.

So hopefully I'll finally have something more than food and my lack of doing anything other than going out to bars and dancing next time. It should be a pretty smooth week so I don't expect much exciting news. If there is, you'll be the first to know! Till then!

dancing, drinking, challenging a taekawndo master to a death fight, etc.

^^^awesome quote from a cool dude here named Talmage. And so true.

So, with my deepest regrets to Trevor, who would prefer my blog to be a picture book without any words, I have no pictures this time! But with good reason. Well maybe not good reason, but I think maybe a decent enough excuse. And that excuse is that I went out this weekend, camera in tow, but tragedy struck when I discovered I had left my sd card on my table, thus rendering my camera nothing more than an expensive liability. Whatever, I have a lot to say!

I've successfully completed two whole weeks of school and am cascading through my third with little more than a speed bump here and there. A short list of annoyances would be 1) Middle school kids. 'Nuff said. 2) "Encouragement messages" - stuff I'm supposed to write that the parents read and is individualized for each student. While my desire is to say "if you don't shut your mouth you'll find the next trip you take is via Nick Teacher Air right out my 7th story window," I instead say "I think it would be really helpful if you participated more in class and focused more on the lesson than the distractions around you." and 3) My apparent inability to organize even 1 piece of paper, let alone 1,000. I'll figure it out, maybe.

I took an adventure to Mok Dong and Hongdae this weekend, which was pretty darn fun. My friend Mike, whom I roomed with in the hotel my first week, lives in Mok Dong and after a short jaunt on the subway I was in his stomping ground. The comparison between our two apartments was discouraging, as he seemed to score a 15th floor mansion, while I dwell in a fifth floor squatter's hole, but its a good thing I was only there for a few minutes before hopping in the cab for Hongdae. For those of you who don't know, Hongdae is a quant little university town with endless streets filled with endless bars and clubs and fried chicken restaurants and you don't leave until 6:30am. At least .

Sunday I played soccer! For 3 hours! Gracious, it was intense. But fun. I scored, too! "Goooaaaallllllllllllllll!" Except, all I got were a couple claps from my teammates. Better than nothing, right? I am invited back every Sunday, but I'm not sure how often I'll make it. I mean, more often than not, I hope, but we'll see how it goes.

Here is my current to-do list (my only method of surviving here is making a list and then making said list happen):

• check bank account for monies
• get cell phone
• get power chord for xbox
• find room decorations and clean room(!!!)
• go to post office
• figure out how to sleep at night

Boring, I know. Whatever, you're doing the same thing! Admit it!

Teacher I'm so tired I don't even know what I'm writing!

Okay! So! These folk here are Mike and Sarah. They were in my training group in Seoul, and I've also gone out with them a couple times around town. Really cool friends. That was in a bar called BubbleCats, which is a fun little place where they bring you beer towers (think ru sans!) and really expensive french fries. Either way, I have a video (taken under much duress from the "security" at BubbleCats) but I think you'll get the idea when I show you a little further down. Anyways, the neat thing about the bars here are that instead of having matches, most of them actually have lighters. So I plan on collecting as many as I can and smuggling them home. My collection consists of 4 lighters and 2 matches so far. Woo!

This is my classroom! I thought I might give you a little look into my personal hell/paradise. I say hell because when those kids don't want to speak to you, it can seem like complete and utter torture. Like pulling teeth, even. And when it comes to the middle schoolers, I think they would much rather be in the pc bang or local cell phone store than sitting in English class. But who can blame them? Anyways, when it is your younger students or the fun older ones, it is a total blast! They love to speak to you if you can relate to them and joke around, and when you talk about their favorite music or things that are just native to Korea, they get SO excited. Like "ZOMG U KNO ABOUT BIG BANG!!!1 O_O"

A view from my throne:

This is Market Day below:

Basically, if the kids are good or bad or do well on tests or badly on homework, we can give or take away points. At the end of each semester, they exchange those points for "money" and are able to buy stuff like pencils, books, foods, candies, slushies, etc. It was my first paid time at work, and it was really fun to get to interact with the kids. 

This little girl here ---^^--- thought it might be funny to snap a picture of Erik while he wasn't looking. She didn't seem to enjoy me returning the favor. Notice in the background Ross in his green chef hat. Yup. I had one on too. No pics of me though. I may have also been forced to wear a flowery apron. Maybe not though...you'll never know!

Anyways, I have successfully completed my first week and I think I have done a pretty decent job of working out the kinks. I enjoy it quite a bit. As a reward I went out and bought myself some speakers for my room so I didn't have to keep listening to my laptop speakers all the time. As maybe a reward for not waiting until I had more money, my speakers I bought kinda suck. Sigh. 

Regardless of audiophile angst, I think I am going in to Seoul on Wed to mail some stuff home FINALLY. I am not sure where a post office or anything is here, but I am sure that there is a fedex at the stop that I get off at, so I'll go there, and maybe get myself lost a little bit exploring. Take the tourist pics and stuff like that. Friday I'm going to my other friend Mike's apartment in Mok Dong for an unholy throwdown, and coming up on the 20th I am going to a HUGE water fight in Ilsan which I am quite excited for! Any other updates that transpire I'll be sure to post. I'm back in the mood now after my first week of stressing out. But without further procrastination, I had better go get my lessons ready for tomorrow!