You have failed and now you must Daegu!

Wednesday, April 23, 2008



This didn't happen at my school. Not my fault. Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing here. Then I see shirts like this on ten year olds and everything becomes clear.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Saturday, April 19, 2008

This is is absolutely perfect for my 200th post. It started with the Sugarhill Gang, then it was passed on to RUN DMC. Then NWA with Dre and Cube. Then it was time for Snoop and Tupac. We've been searching for the new keeper of the rhyme. These guys are next. I can only hope the rest of the world is ready.

This Thursday was Kyung su's birthday. We went out. We drank too much. I'm not going to say this was the worst hangover of my life, but, dammit, it sure felt like it. Work on Friday wasn't so much about English, but about stopping myself from vomitting on the children. We didn't alter anything and I suffered through it. I'm a better man for it. I know that I won't possibly drink like that again on a school night.

It started out as a normal night for the two of us. Korean BBQ followed by rock music and drink at a local tap called U2. Around midnight, some of the bartenders friends showed up and we turned everything up a notch. His friends were three french contractors(not complete assholes) and a Korean guy that looked like he would sell my kidneys on the black market. The Korean guy is actually really friendly and speaks perfect English. He also thinks highly of me since I'm easy to understand in English(I've learned how to speak to people whose first language isn't English) and I always attempt Korean.

Work was an effort and my co-teachers were absolutely brutal. They knew I was hung over and did their best to make my day excruciating. Loud noises, clapping, laughing, asking me questions. The works. All on purpose. God bless them. I think you know you've arrived when people bust your chops all day long.

Other news...I might be meeting Su-jin's mom on the 10th. She has to confirm everything with her doctor first and then she'll get me out of the way. I'm not really nervous. I might even buy a new tie. Not that I can tie it, but maybe I can show up wearing it as a headband. That would be pretty sweet.

The baseball blog is going better than I could have hoped. I'm getting a fairly positive response from the five guys that read it. Score!

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

I'd like you to meet my local Assemblyman......

Korea had an election yesterday. Apparently less than half the country showed up. Voter turnout was only 46%. The area with the highest turnout was the vacation island of Jejudo. 53% of Jejudoians were able to make it to the polls. Democracy in action!

Sunday, April 06, 2008

Greetings!

I have allergies and I hate it. It's also the end of cherry blossom season here in Korea. Everything is beautiful and blossoming. Everything also makes me want to tear my nose off.

Baseball season is in full swing and I couldn't be happier about it. 5 games in and the White Sox are in first. 8 games into the KBO season and the Samsung Lions are in first. Yay!

I've stuck with the Korean lessons and I just started a new book. Book 2A. No more beginner 1A or 1B bullshit. I'm onto the 2 series. Yay!

Travel plans? I plan to go to Seoul to visit friends, but a personal issue is forcing me to keep delaying my trip. I want to meet Su-jin's mom. This is important to me. She met my parents and they live 6,000 miles away. I live in the same city as her mom and I haven't met her. We've been dating for almost 500 days. First I was supposed to meet her mom around Christmas, that fell through. Then I went on vacation for two weeks to the states. Apparently her mom has been in and out of hospitals for a variety of reasons. I still don't see why we can't set a date to meet. Su-jin keeps telling me, "everything's fine," and I can meet her, "soon." When exactly is soon? How many years will I have to stay here before I can meet her? Why is this still an issue. I confronted Su-jin about this a few weeks ago. Since that time, NOTHING has changed. If she called me, noticeably upset, I would probably do what she asked. She claimed she would take care of it. I'm about a week away from issuing an ultimatum. This is starting to get ridiculous.

What else? Our school just recieved some money to become an "English Center." I don't know what that means, but the days of my easy schedule might be over. There's been talk of an English room and office.

I had another school party on Wednesday. These parties are a lot of fun. This time we had duck for dinner. Delicious. Then we hung out and talked for a few hours. My coworkers are a lot of fun. I'm lucky to be at the school I'm at. Even if it's not in the best area.

My new coteachers are also getting used to me. One likes to run the show, the other is fairly indifferent, but likes to have fun in class. Things are going well in the classroom. If they are going badly, no ones talking.

We have a girl we're worried about in the 6th grade. She's hanging out with a rough crowd and supposedly smoked a cigarette in 5th grade. It's fairly obvious she doesn't like school very much. If I were in the states, I'd suspect abuse of some sort, but my coteachers claim that's not the case. Either way, the 6th grade English teacher had a talk with her. Nothing's changed. I guess we'll have to try extra hard to get through.