Work is going well, but Friday is "Sports Day." I'm not sure what the details are, but I have to run and play soccer. I'm fine with running. I hit the treadmill at the gym 3 times a week. My legs are in great shape, but soccer....hmmmm....I just hope I don't make an ass out of myself. Its teachers vs. 6th graders. Half the teachers team is women and the other half is wussy Korean guys and me. The kids are going to school us! Seriously, these kids play soccer everday. I WATCH soccer once a week(Arsenal is dominating this year with an insanely young/talented team). I just hope the game doesn't end in a fist fight.

The special subject teachers(me included) had to clean part of the school yard for sports day. I had to use a massive Korean broom and sweep up leaves for twenty minutes with my fellow teachers. I didn't complain once.

Also, I've recieved word that I can go home during Christmas. Lesson learned? Never listen to a single word "Elisha" says. I almost sent her an email just to double check. Make sure no one at my school made a mistake. I stopped myself. Why bother? Some people won't change. Racist Korean dickbags won't change, ignorant Canadian rednecks won't change, and "Elisha" won't change. Keep a seat warm for me on Zwirb's couch. I plan to plant my bony American ass there for a week. I might even chip in for rent. You'll know when I leave, the place will stink of kimchi, the tower of comic books will have fallen over and Sellers will have hung himself with the cord of his controller(wait 360 is cordless, he'll hang himself with the HD cables). Speaking of, I bought Madden, just so I can be prepared. It's a sick game.

I just found out that some teachers are being taken to Gwangju for additional training. I'm not among them. They haven't asked me and I'm not volunteering. I will douse myself with gasoline and hug the nearest match if they even suggest that I should go. After the "Pohang Experience" I never want to be a part of a DMOE training exercise again. I don't think I'd quit, but I'd at least stand around for a minute and think about it.

Today was Halloween in Korea. We did a Halloween lesson. I wore my devil horns and Mrs. Kim(the Good Fairy to LIKE's Evil Witch, that comparison is closer than you'll ever know) wore a tiara and a waved a fluffy pink wand. If I were a kid, and I were screwing around in class, the sight of my teacher yelling at me and waving something that I would expect Richard Simmons to use while giving a lecture, it would only further encourage me. Class went well. I handed out candy and taught the kids "Trick or Treat." This is going to bite me in the ass, I know it.

Just trust me on this video....



Wasn't that worth it?

Su-Jin's birthday card from mom and dad. She loved it.

My present for Su-Jin. Manjiro is convinced that all girls are cats now. She loves it.

Manjiro and his endless pursuit of apples.

Me rockin' a Max Prime at the game. It's the one Korean beer that's almost drinkable. That should be their corporate slogan.

The Samsung Lions cheering section. Normally the same, only half the people are dressed as green seats.

One of the Samsung Lions' mascots wearing a mask of their manager.

Sorry for the lack of updates, but it's been fairly boring in Daegu.

Su-Jin is doing very well, she's added a few more tutoring jobs and will be moving out soon. Her apartment will be closer to me so it will be easier for us to see each other.

Work is great. My coworkers have moved from tolerating my presence to actually liking me. Maybe. My two coteachers are great and some of the others in the office are slowly warming to me. The students are convinced that I am in fact a superhero. This has actually caused a few problems. I don't like having my picture taken during class and without being asked. I told the students, "One more picture and I take the phones." They took one more picture. I took the phones. They were surprised. They cried. I didn't care.

My apartment still has its quirks that I'm working out. The bathroom is freezing. I have to figure out a solution before we're in January and the toilet is frozen fucking solid.

This was the laziest weekend in the history of time. I was fairly worn down this week, my body can't adjust to the early schedule, and I just wanted to sleep. If I didn't have to meet Tae Sung for a Korean lesson today, I would've stayed in bed.

Quick update.

ABC Teach isn't THAT awful. The only problem is that I have to do this four days a week instead two. The kids are razor sharp, one even spent two months in Australia. Comprehension is not a problem. Interesting conversation is. Every phone call has the same awkward vibe of a guy calling a girl in middle school. "So, uh, what are your hobbies." "I like sleeping." Pause. "Me too." Pause. Pause. Pause. "So, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Zwirb would be in hell.

Another problem that has arisen is my schedule. I'm working 29 teaching hours with this ABC teach nonsense. My contract calls for 24. I asked the DMOE about overtime. I'd rather teach and get the money than sit on my ass. They responded by cutting 5 hours out of my schedule and none of them were the ABC Teach time. So, I should have more time for prep in the afternoon. I worry about the reaction of the vice principal. He was on a field trip when I asked DMOE and might see this as me going behind his back. I talked to him about my schedule this week and he told me that the special classes in the afternoon weren't actual lessons, but just for me to play with the kids. I was really confused by this. I swear I was told to prepare and had been preparing lessons for this. My co-teachers were as confused as I was.

It appears to be ironed out...for now.

KBO playoffs start today with the Lions facing the Hanhwa Eagles in a best of 3 series. Su-Jin and I will do our best to make it to the game tomorrow. I can't wait. KBO Fever! Catch it!

A pair of older pics from the weekend trip to Gapyeong. It was a great trip.

The first thought I had was that these are really cute. The second thought was, "Man, it would be really funny to strangle someone with these."

The "Original Bionic Energy Drink," I'm assuming "bionic" translates to "ass." Notice the Pretz in the background. I believe they were "Teriyaki Turd" flavor.

Deal.

Evidence that Manjiro has been to Japan before Su-Jin and I.

I don't know when the apocalypse will start, but this looks like a sign of it.

Me playing Time Crisis 4. I didn't know there was a Time Crisis 3.

The window at a dentists office. I'm no expert, but I don't think frogs have teeth.

My favorite part is that both holes go to the same place.

Canal City in the heart of Fukuoka. The best part was the massive Sonic the Hedgehog statue on top of the building.

They had famous hands set up outside the stadium for people to shake. I shook the Piano Man's hand. I also took a dump on Phil Collins hand because everyone knows that Phil Collins is a prick. I hear his fantasy football team sucks.

They might as well hang a sign that says, "No English here."

Peace? What? Have I gone soft?

Now, that's more fucking like it!

I just finished a massive update with pictures.....and pressed the wrong button. I want to cry.

So, pictures will go up this weekend, assuming I can press the right button. For now quick baseball update. I've had two interesting experiences.

First up, October baseball in Korea. I caught the Samsung Lions/Kia Tigers tilt on Monday. There were maybe 800 people in attendence. I counted 60 in the outfield section and maybe twenty in the section behind homeplate. KBO Fever catch it. It reminded me of White Sox games in the late 90's, except I didn't have a young, short-haired Magglio Ordonez to watch. Actually, the Kia Tigers have recently signed former mediocre MLB slugger Choi Hee-Seop to DH. I forgot how big this guy is. He's about 6'5, 250 lbs. He makes everyone else on the field look like children.

Baseball experience #2 was the Padres/Rockies game last night. I watched this morning at work(I had some free time, I always do on Tuesday) and it was one of the best non-White Sox games I've ever seen. Just from a pure entertainment standpoint, it was baseball at its finest and even culminated with an apropriate ending. I was happy to be watching online, 6,000 miles away. I even forget to stop myself from cheering in the office. Imagine the horror of my coworkers, they're generally milling around, chattering away and out of nowhere is my victory whoop. Followed by a fist pump. If they don't think I'm insane already, they probably do now. Either way, it was a great game and I really can't wait for baseball playoffs. I can watch, Korean, Japanese and American playoffs this year. Awesome.

We had a massive meeting today for all foreign teachers. It was about a program called ABC teach being headed by a Korean-American named "Scott." The program is that I have to call five students from my desk and engage them in a three minute phone conversation twice a week. It's only for two months and this program is doomed to fail miserably, so I'm going to go through the motions and do this until the kids stop answering my calls. Which should take about a week. Problem number one, the kids probably won't understand me. Problem number two, they probably won't care. Problem number three, I have no interest in actually doing this. It takes time away from my class preparation and dicking around. Problem four, this is no way to teach a language. Problem five, I don't have a phone in my office.

I think I have an out. I'm contracted to work 25 hours a week. I already do this, adding this extra "hour" to my schedule puts me into OT. They don't like to give OT. Either they'll drop my adults class or this. I'm betting they drop this.