Oct 19 - 25
Well thanks to the partying last weekend I was a bit sick this week. I guess the lack of sleep for a weekend can make it hard to stay away from the head colds that come with the off and on weather. Either way, this week was a pretty long and drawn out week. At school, I decided to crack down on the kids for not doing their homework and make them write essays in class instead of starting them in class and finishing for homework. It seemed like a good plan at the start until I realized I would have to mark 50 essays every week instead of the 8 - 10 that I would get from the kids who do their homework.
That aside, the week went by and by the end I was feeling alright. I stayed in on Friday night because I didn't want to aggravate situations and so I could rest up for Saturday. Then on Saturday I got up and tutored in Olympic Park before heading to Namhansanseong to go for a hike with Dave and Kate, Blake, Jameson, Brian, and Danielle. It was a great day for it and a fairly easy hike, that took just over a couple hours to go round trip, including a stop at the top for Soju. After the hike we went out for galbi and drinks, then headed home to shower up before going out to Kondae.
We all reconvened in Kondae around 9 and sat around playing games and drinking until around 3 am before calling it a night and heading home. Once back in my neighbourhood I grabbed another beer and then called it a night. Sunday afternoon after I got up and ready, I headed to the park to mark some essays and sit outside in the beautiful weather. This trip was different though. This time I took Goah. I put a leash on her, put her in her carrying case and took her to the park thinking she might want to play outside a bit. However, the scaredy cat that she is, she wouldn't come out of her case for a second. She just layed at the back of it while I marked essays and enjoyed the weather. As the sun started going down, we came home to eat and get ready for the coming week.
Another big thing I haven't mentioned yet, was that I got my bike restarted and running finally and took it for a spin. This was a chore in itself because I had to walk it about 15 blocks to the nearest bike shop to get it fixed and then had to remember how to ride it and get it back to my apartment. I am working on learning how to ride and am looking forward to riding it more in the future.
Well after this week, I am down to 2.5 more weeks before heading on vacation and then coming home. So, I will see you all soon.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
It's a Monkeyrific Birthday
Oct 12 - 18
Well I'm just going to get right down to it. The week was pretty good, and I was at the elementary school getting settled with the new kids. I didn't get up to too much during the week before or after work aside from doing some hanging out in the park and going over list of things that I need to do before I head out on my vacation in a few weeks. One of those things just so happened to be getting a travel visa from the Cambodian embassy. So since both Jameson and I need one and we both had some questions about getting them, I went on Monday to find it and ask our questions. It turned out, the apprehensions I was having about my passport's expiration date won't be a problem, and the date of issue and entry are valid for 3 months instead of just 20 days like Vietnam. Those questions answered, we went on Wednesday to drop off our papers, photos and passports to get the ball rolling.
The week finished up and on Friday Blake, Jameson, Margaret and I hung out at my place making t-shirts that we have been designing for the last few weeks. It was lots of fun, just sitting around having some beers and talking instead of going out like we usually do. Plus it allowed us to rest up for Saturday's big party.
On Saturday I got up and tutored then came home and rested for the nights festivities. We had a double birthday party planned for Jameson and Blake since both of their birthdays are in October within a couple weeks of each other. We started the night at 830 in Gangnam at Havana Monkey with some drinks and food, then took it to Apgujong around midnight for some dancing and bucket drinks at Monkey Beach. It was super busy and our party of 25 people didn't help the situation. We all had a great time, dancing and partying until around 430 in the morning at which point Jameson and I left and took a taxi to McDonald's near our houses to get breakfast. We ate and then walked opposite directions home around 5 am. Then to my surprise I got a call from Emily and Danielle who were locked out of Danielle's apartment and needed a place to crash, so I stayed up and waited for them to get a cab to my place and we all passed out after raiding my neighbours house for blankets to put on the floor.
Around noon we woke up and the girls headed out and left me to clean up my apartment. Then in the later afternoon I met Margaret and Hayley in Olympic Park to hangout and and read for a bit.
Well I am officially down to my last few weeks and it feels really weird, but I know I'm coming back so it's OK. Hope you are all doing well back home and enjoying the onset of fall; I know I am enjoying the dropping temperature here.
Well I'm just going to get right down to it. The week was pretty good, and I was at the elementary school getting settled with the new kids. I didn't get up to too much during the week before or after work aside from doing some hanging out in the park and going over list of things that I need to do before I head out on my vacation in a few weeks. One of those things just so happened to be getting a travel visa from the Cambodian embassy. So since both Jameson and I need one and we both had some questions about getting them, I went on Monday to find it and ask our questions. It turned out, the apprehensions I was having about my passport's expiration date won't be a problem, and the date of issue and entry are valid for 3 months instead of just 20 days like Vietnam. Those questions answered, we went on Wednesday to drop off our papers, photos and passports to get the ball rolling.
The week finished up and on Friday Blake, Jameson, Margaret and I hung out at my place making t-shirts that we have been designing for the last few weeks. It was lots of fun, just sitting around having some beers and talking instead of going out like we usually do. Plus it allowed us to rest up for Saturday's big party.
On Saturday I got up and tutored then came home and rested for the nights festivities. We had a double birthday party planned for Jameson and Blake since both of their birthdays are in October within a couple weeks of each other. We started the night at 830 in Gangnam at Havana Monkey with some drinks and food, then took it to Apgujong around midnight for some dancing and bucket drinks at Monkey Beach. It was super busy and our party of 25 people didn't help the situation. We all had a great time, dancing and partying until around 430 in the morning at which point Jameson and I left and took a taxi to McDonald's near our houses to get breakfast. We ate and then walked opposite directions home around 5 am. Then to my surprise I got a call from Emily and Danielle who were locked out of Danielle's apartment and needed a place to crash, so I stayed up and waited for them to get a cab to my place and we all passed out after raiding my neighbours house for blankets to put on the floor.
Around noon we woke up and the girls headed out and left me to clean up my apartment. Then in the later afternoon I met Margaret and Hayley in Olympic Park to hangout and and read for a bit.
Well I am officially down to my last few weeks and it feels really weird, but I know I'm coming back so it's OK. Hope you are all doing well back home and enjoying the onset of fall; I know I am enjoying the dropping temperature here.
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Are you Japanese?
Oct 5 - 11
Well this week was a twist from the usual. At the Nokchiwon we were back to full students who were all educationally tired out from their exams, then on top of that I started teaching classes at the elementary school as well. They just had 2 teachers finish and leave but only replaced one of them, for reasons that take too long and are too frustrating to explain. Either way I started teaching first period Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until I am finished here. It was pretty good thought because the younger children bring a whole new aspect to the classroom for me, and I can't wait to see how the rest of the year teaching both age groups turns out.
The week went by rather well. I had to force some kids to do their work and even had my first experience with a disgruntled student. He is new to the Nokchiwon and by all my accounts shouldn't have moved up from the lower middle school levels. He has severe anxiety issues and whenever you ask him to speak or give him work to do he panics like his head is going to explode, looks at his work over and over and just huffs. Well this week I was in no mood for it so when he began his huffing I told him he would have to work or leave class. When he proceeded to do nothing I asked him to leave then when he wouldn't I threw his stuff out in the hall, no so calm on my part, which prompted him to flip his desk over on his way out. A part of me wanted to break his jaw, but then I figured my job and this kid weren't worth it. In the end he knew it was his fault and talked to the Korean teachers about it. We will see how it plays out in the coming weeks.
The weekend came and I was planning a low key weekend. So, on Friday after work I went and had a couple beers with some friends from the elementary school near Bangi station and then came home around 1. On Saturday I woke up early and went to Olympic Park to do my weekly tutoring. After that I came home and waited until just after noon before going to meet Margaret to do some shopping in Myeongdong for some new clothes to wear to our co-workers wedding on Sunday. We were both pretty excited to be going to our first Korean wedding, and wanted some new clothes for the occasion. Once in Myeongdong we made a few stops at hat booths looking for some souvenir hats. This was when the title of this post comes in. While looking at hats, one of the booth operators came up and was really pushing his product on us. His English was OK but he didn't understand that we were looking for certain hats that he didn't have. So, to try and help his cause he turned to me and asked "Are you Japanese?", to which I replied no and then couldn't help but laugh and walk away confused. I eventually found a blue shirt and tie combo, but had to wait over 20 minutes for them to find a non-sample tie for me in the backroom. Unfortunately Margaret didn't have as much luck as me and decided to wear one of the dresses she had bought earlier this year to the wedding.
After shopping I came home to take a rest before going to meet with Danielle, Kate, and Dave for dinner and drinks in Gangnam. It was nice to see Kate and Dave again since they just got back from their vacation in Canada. We aught up over dinner and then went to Rainbow bar for some drinks and to see some other friends. Eventually I headed out at 1:30 so that I could get some sleep before Sunday.
I got up early on Sunday to get ready for the wedding. I started by tightening up some of my dreads then showered and put on my new clothes. I met Margaret around 11 and we headed to the wedding. We got their early enough to get a couple pictures with our coworker and then get a spot to watch the ceremony. Korean weddings are a lot different than North American weddings. There is no after party with dinner and speeches; it is simply a 25-30 ceremony announcing their joining as husband and wife and then a 30 minute lunch, after which you leave. We were in and out in less than two hours, which gave me time to get to Dongdaemun to do some souvenir shopping before coming home to relax before meeting with Blake, Emily and Danielle for our "Thanksgiving pizza dinner". It wasn't turkey but it did the job.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. See you soon.
Well this week was a twist from the usual. At the Nokchiwon we were back to full students who were all educationally tired out from their exams, then on top of that I started teaching classes at the elementary school as well. They just had 2 teachers finish and leave but only replaced one of them, for reasons that take too long and are too frustrating to explain. Either way I started teaching first period Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays until I am finished here. It was pretty good thought because the younger children bring a whole new aspect to the classroom for me, and I can't wait to see how the rest of the year teaching both age groups turns out.
The week went by rather well. I had to force some kids to do their work and even had my first experience with a disgruntled student. He is new to the Nokchiwon and by all my accounts shouldn't have moved up from the lower middle school levels. He has severe anxiety issues and whenever you ask him to speak or give him work to do he panics like his head is going to explode, looks at his work over and over and just huffs. Well this week I was in no mood for it so when he began his huffing I told him he would have to work or leave class. When he proceeded to do nothing I asked him to leave then when he wouldn't I threw his stuff out in the hall, no so calm on my part, which prompted him to flip his desk over on his way out. A part of me wanted to break his jaw, but then I figured my job and this kid weren't worth it. In the end he knew it was his fault and talked to the Korean teachers about it. We will see how it plays out in the coming weeks.
The weekend came and I was planning a low key weekend. So, on Friday after work I went and had a couple beers with some friends from the elementary school near Bangi station and then came home around 1. On Saturday I woke up early and went to Olympic Park to do my weekly tutoring. After that I came home and waited until just after noon before going to meet Margaret to do some shopping in Myeongdong for some new clothes to wear to our co-workers wedding on Sunday. We were both pretty excited to be going to our first Korean wedding, and wanted some new clothes for the occasion. Once in Myeongdong we made a few stops at hat booths looking for some souvenir hats. This was when the title of this post comes in. While looking at hats, one of the booth operators came up and was really pushing his product on us. His English was OK but he didn't understand that we were looking for certain hats that he didn't have. So, to try and help his cause he turned to me and asked "Are you Japanese?", to which I replied no and then couldn't help but laugh and walk away confused. I eventually found a blue shirt and tie combo, but had to wait over 20 minutes for them to find a non-sample tie for me in the backroom. Unfortunately Margaret didn't have as much luck as me and decided to wear one of the dresses she had bought earlier this year to the wedding.
After shopping I came home to take a rest before going to meet with Danielle, Kate, and Dave for dinner and drinks in Gangnam. It was nice to see Kate and Dave again since they just got back from their vacation in Canada. We aught up over dinner and then went to Rainbow bar for some drinks and to see some other friends. Eventually I headed out at 1:30 so that I could get some sleep before Sunday.
I got up early on Sunday to get ready for the wedding. I started by tightening up some of my dreads then showered and put on my new clothes. I met Margaret around 11 and we headed to the wedding. We got their early enough to get a couple pictures with our coworker and then get a spot to watch the ceremony. Korean weddings are a lot different than North American weddings. There is no after party with dinner and speeches; it is simply a 25-30 ceremony announcing their joining as husband and wife and then a 30 minute lunch, after which you leave. We were in and out in less than two hours, which gave me time to get to Dongdaemun to do some souvenir shopping before coming home to relax before meeting with Blake, Emily and Danielle for our "Thanksgiving pizza dinner". It wasn't turkey but it did the job.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. See you soon.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Happy Cheusok
Sept 30 - Oct 4
Coming at you late again. This is all about the short week and long weekend I had after my rainy trip to Ulleungdo Island.
This week went really fast since I was only at work for 2 days and then off again for the long weekend while the Koreans celebrated Cheusok, or Korean Thanksgiving. Most of the kids were back from exams, but we still did a lot of creative writing and essay writing steps instead of the usual essay writing that I teach.
Before we knew it, it was Thursday night and we were done for the week and we were off to have some drinks in Gangnam to kick off the long weekend. It was a good night that got way to late, as usual, but was nice to see some of the people from the elementary school that I hadn't seen for a while. I woke up late on Friday and hung out at Seoul Forest for the better part of the afternoon with Blake, Alex, Zack and Lindsay, before getting ready for the Friday night party we had planned at Jamesons.
The plan was to go to his apartment and have some drinks and make t-shirts with iron on patches we made. However, everybody was running a lot later than we had planned and Margaret wasn't feeling very well so it never turned into the get together we had planned. Either way, Brian, Blake, and I showed up and had a few drinks and chatted for a couple hours before heading out to Hongdae, a party area we rarely frequent since it is on the other side of town. Emily and Danielle met us there and we bar hopped for a while until settling on a club for the last couple hours of the night. After some dancing and drinking we grabbed some street food and headed home around 4.
On Saturday I woke up again late but still just in time to get ready and go to the Seoul Center for Performing Arts, to see a French photography exhibit (not very impressive) and then an outdoor performance for the Cheusok celebration. The performance was OK but something I could have done without, since the two hosts spent too much time talking and some of the acts were a little lame. Either way it was something cultural for my weekend. After that I went down to the River to meet Blake, Brian and Jameson for a few beers but just as I got there it started to rain. So we quickly got out of there and went to the new Gold Bar 3 in Sinchon and had our drinks there, which turned into me waling 30 minutes home at 4 in the morning because I was too impatient to wait for the rest of the guys to share a cab with me.
Sunday was a rest and recover day, I cleaned my house and did some laundry before meeting Blake for dinner and eventually calling it a night. I think the strangest thing about the whole weekend was the lack of Koreans and traffic in this city. Just like Thanksgiving back home, many people go back to the cities they are from to have dinner and celebrate, so the city was down to I figure 20% of its regular population and traffic. I was kind of nice to be in a quiet city again.
Be home soon, and can't wait to see everyone.
Coming at you late again. This is all about the short week and long weekend I had after my rainy trip to Ulleungdo Island.
This week went really fast since I was only at work for 2 days and then off again for the long weekend while the Koreans celebrated Cheusok, or Korean Thanksgiving. Most of the kids were back from exams, but we still did a lot of creative writing and essay writing steps instead of the usual essay writing that I teach.
Before we knew it, it was Thursday night and we were done for the week and we were off to have some drinks in Gangnam to kick off the long weekend. It was a good night that got way to late, as usual, but was nice to see some of the people from the elementary school that I hadn't seen for a while. I woke up late on Friday and hung out at Seoul Forest for the better part of the afternoon with Blake, Alex, Zack and Lindsay, before getting ready for the Friday night party we had planned at Jamesons.
The plan was to go to his apartment and have some drinks and make t-shirts with iron on patches we made. However, everybody was running a lot later than we had planned and Margaret wasn't feeling very well so it never turned into the get together we had planned. Either way, Brian, Blake, and I showed up and had a few drinks and chatted for a couple hours before heading out to Hongdae, a party area we rarely frequent since it is on the other side of town. Emily and Danielle met us there and we bar hopped for a while until settling on a club for the last couple hours of the night. After some dancing and drinking we grabbed some street food and headed home around 4.
On Saturday I woke up again late but still just in time to get ready and go to the Seoul Center for Performing Arts, to see a French photography exhibit (not very impressive) and then an outdoor performance for the Cheusok celebration. The performance was OK but something I could have done without, since the two hosts spent too much time talking and some of the acts were a little lame. Either way it was something cultural for my weekend. After that I went down to the River to meet Blake, Brian and Jameson for a few beers but just as I got there it started to rain. So we quickly got out of there and went to the new Gold Bar 3 in Sinchon and had our drinks there, which turned into me waling 30 minutes home at 4 in the morning because I was too impatient to wait for the rest of the guys to share a cab with me.
Sunday was a rest and recover day, I cleaned my house and did some laundry before meeting Blake for dinner and eventually calling it a night. I think the strangest thing about the whole weekend was the lack of Koreans and traffic in this city. Just like Thanksgiving back home, many people go back to the cities they are from to have dinner and celebrate, so the city was down to I figure 20% of its regular population and traffic. I was kind of nice to be in a quiet city again.
Be home soon, and can't wait to see everyone.
Monday, October 5, 2009
A Rainy, Rocky Weekend
Sept 21-29
Well once again I am behind on the posts, but for good reason this time. I was on a bit of a vacation and following that we were into a long weekend.
The week in question started out as another holding week, with little to no kids attending school because they were out preparing for exams. So, instead of doing regular work we worked on creative writing in class and preparing for next term the rest of the time. After work most days, I just came home and hung out. On Wednesday, after we finished we went to Sincheon fora few drinks with Blake since we wouldn't be around on the weekend. From there we got into one of out typical debates. This one being about how we should only make sarcastic comparisons that are possible. It lasted about 20 minutes and never really came to a decision.
Thursday night I came home from work and packed for the weekend vacation that Jameson, Brian, and I were taking since we all had both Monday and Tuesday off thanks to holding and the fact that there would be no kids at school. After work on Friday I headed to the bus station with Brian and Jameson to catch the late bus to the port city on the east coast to catch the Saturday ferry to Ulleungdo Island for a few days before returning to Gyeongju for another day.
We got up early on Saturday and went to the ferry terminal to get on the 3 hour ferry ride to the island. Just as we were leaving it started to rain, but fortunately the boat ride was pretty smooth. After we got to the island and found a place to stay we decided to take a boat around the island, which turned out to be a weak decision. Half way around the island it began to storm and the water got very rough. It rained and tossed the boat around for the better part of the last hour we were on it.
After we got back, the rain continued so we just grabbed some dinner and hit a bar to pass some time. Once we woke up Sunday, be it after an early morning knock from the owner answered by me handing her money for another night and going back to bed, we just walked around the small city we were in until the rain came back and proceeded to linger all day and night. We were kept up in our room for the better part of the day but it ave us a time to get some rest for our early Monday bus tour.
We signed up fora bus tour around the island that left at 8:30 in the morning. We dragged ourselves there by 8:20 and got on what turned out to be an very shaky and bumpy ride. We zigged and zagged our way up and around the island, stopping here and there to get out and take some photos or sample some of the local dried squid. The tour took just under four hours, leaving us with just under four hours to kill once we got back to the city. We spent that time eating lunch and then waiting at the ferry terminal for the boat to leave at 3:30 for Gyeongju. Oh and did I mention it rained the whole time, and the boat ride back was quite rocky.
After another 3 hours on a boat and 1 hour bus ride, we arrived in Gyeongju in time to get a spot at a hostel and grab some dinner before it started raining again and we had to turn in for the night. When we got up Tuesday morning it had cleared up and the sun was making an attempt at drying things up. We decided the best way to see the city was on a bus tour, but since it was out of the major seasons the buses had been cancelled. What to do we thought. Then we decided to get some exercise and rented pedal bikes for the day. This turned out to be a great idea and a good way to spend some time riding between sights.
Eventually we saw all we wanted and took our bikes back before grabbing some pizza dinner and getting on another bus to come back to Seoul. We got home around 10:30 which gave us all lots of time to get home on the subway and get our stuff together for the pending 2 day work week.
Well once again I am behind on the posts, but for good reason this time. I was on a bit of a vacation and following that we were into a long weekend.
The week in question started out as another holding week, with little to no kids attending school because they were out preparing for exams. So, instead of doing regular work we worked on creative writing in class and preparing for next term the rest of the time. After work most days, I just came home and hung out. On Wednesday, after we finished we went to Sincheon fora few drinks with Blake since we wouldn't be around on the weekend. From there we got into one of out typical debates. This one being about how we should only make sarcastic comparisons that are possible. It lasted about 20 minutes and never really came to a decision.
Thursday night I came home from work and packed for the weekend vacation that Jameson, Brian, and I were taking since we all had both Monday and Tuesday off thanks to holding and the fact that there would be no kids at school. After work on Friday I headed to the bus station with Brian and Jameson to catch the late bus to the port city on the east coast to catch the Saturday ferry to Ulleungdo Island for a few days before returning to Gyeongju for another day.
We got up early on Saturday and went to the ferry terminal to get on the 3 hour ferry ride to the island. Just as we were leaving it started to rain, but fortunately the boat ride was pretty smooth. After we got to the island and found a place to stay we decided to take a boat around the island, which turned out to be a weak decision. Half way around the island it began to storm and the water got very rough. It rained and tossed the boat around for the better part of the last hour we were on it.
After we got back, the rain continued so we just grabbed some dinner and hit a bar to pass some time. Once we woke up Sunday, be it after an early morning knock from the owner answered by me handing her money for another night and going back to bed, we just walked around the small city we were in until the rain came back and proceeded to linger all day and night. We were kept up in our room for the better part of the day but it ave us a time to get some rest for our early Monday bus tour.
We signed up fora bus tour around the island that left at 8:30 in the morning. We dragged ourselves there by 8:20 and got on what turned out to be an very shaky and bumpy ride. We zigged and zagged our way up and around the island, stopping here and there to get out and take some photos or sample some of the local dried squid. The tour took just under four hours, leaving us with just under four hours to kill once we got back to the city. We spent that time eating lunch and then waiting at the ferry terminal for the boat to leave at 3:30 for Gyeongju. Oh and did I mention it rained the whole time, and the boat ride back was quite rocky.
After another 3 hours on a boat and 1 hour bus ride, we arrived in Gyeongju in time to get a spot at a hostel and grab some dinner before it started raining again and we had to turn in for the night. When we got up Tuesday morning it had cleared up and the sun was making an attempt at drying things up. We decided the best way to see the city was on a bus tour, but since it was out of the major seasons the buses had been cancelled. What to do we thought. Then we decided to get some exercise and rented pedal bikes for the day. This turned out to be a great idea and a good way to spend some time riding between sights.
Eventually we saw all we wanted and took our bikes back before grabbing some pizza dinner and getting on another bus to come back to Seoul. We got home around 10:30 which gave us all lots of time to get home on the subway and get our stuff together for the pending 2 day work week.
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