Merry Christmas!!!

Dec 20-26, 2010

After having been at John's so late Sunday night, I woke up late for my hair appointment in Itaewon Monday morning. I was supposed to be there by 930, which meant leaving my house by 850. I however didn't wake up until 910, and had to rush out and phone to let them know that I was running late. They didn't seem to care though, since they always seem to have room for people. After my appointment I slid over to the foreign food store to pick up some oatmeal for this weekends Christmas dinner, as well as some cheese for myself for Christmas. I made it home in time to make some lunch before heading out to work a bit early so that I could figure out what impact John's broken arm would have on our work week since he was going to be laid up in the hospital all week for his surgery. It seemed however that I wasn't the only one on top of the matter, as June the director was also working on how we could meld our schedules and make it work. In the end I got a new schedule that had my days filled from beginning to end with both our classes, and those that I could not cover were to be covered by Patrick, one of our Ace teachers who has a very lax schedule at the moment. Quickly I made my rounds to inform the teachers of what was going to happen for the week, and being met with blank uncomprehensive stares from most of them I returned to my desk to catch Patrick up to speed on what he would be doing. I laid out all the books and step by step instructions for each class, as well as wrote down all the homework and assignments, which made Patrick feel very at ease. Work went by whirlwind fast, and after work I went to the gym to get my pump on, and my stress out. After the gym I went home and watched a football game before calling it a night.

Waking up Tuesday morning felling good, I set to work making my lunch for the day and folding up some laundry. Again I went into work early and got things sorted out for the day, though mostly for myself since I took the brunt of John's classes that day. After work I went home and relaxed, watching a football game and calling John to see how he was doing in the hospital. Wednesday morning I had to skip my usual workout, because we were having our office Christmas lunch in Sillim at T.G.I. Friday's. We had pre-ordered at work the day before and I was more than stoked for my rib and shrimp combo. Lunch was good, and once it was finished a bunch of us walked back to the school from Sillim, because the temperature was very mild and because most of them wanted to kill as much time as possible before entering the school. After work I made up for lost time at the gym, and then went home to send out my weekly email and work on the Christmas cards for my coworkers.

Thursday Jean and I figured it was high time to get over and see John in the hospital since he was finished with his surgery and due to see our ugly mugs. That and we had made him a card the day before at work and wanted to take it to him. So, around 11 Jean and I met up and headed to Sillim to go to the hospital, making a quick stop at the Lotte department store near the hospital for Jean to buy a winter Jacket. We made it to the hospital by 12 and had a good visit with a pretty sore John. He was in good spirits, and glad they planned to keep him the extra days so that he didn't have to try and take care of himself right away. After our visit we grabbed a cab back to Bongcheon to get to work on time. Work was just as busy as it had been all week, and I was glad to be out of there at the end of the day and on my way to the gym. I had a great workout and when I was finished I went out for a drink and some chicken with Jack my friend from the gym. He was a bit down because this was his last week in Seoul since his classes were finished, and he had to return to his home town of Busan for Christmas. We wrapped it up around 130, and I came home to finish up my Christmas cards, and get some sleep.
Friday morning, being the last day before Christmas, I went to E-mart at Sindorim to try and find some new toys for Goah, as well as the lemon juice, apples, and sugars I needed to make my Christmas dessert. I was a little upset when I couldn't find any toys for her at the huge store, but was able to find the ingredients I needed so it wasn't a wasted trip. Running a bit behind, I made it to school 30 minutes late and got right to work organizing my classes, and those that Patrick would teach in lieu of John. Most of the day was a breeze however, because almost all the teachers were showing movies on account of it being Christmas Eve. I gave out all my cards, which brought smiles to the office, and made my way to all my classes to say Merry Christmas, assign the next homework pages, before settling in to watch movies or finish up paperwork for when John came back. After work I came home and made a call home to Russ, Michele, and the kids to wish them a Merry Christmas and get all caught up on their shenanigans. After talking to them, I killed some time and then called my grandma's house to do the same, and as luck would have it my dad and Uncle Ken were there so I got to talk to them as well. Once my calls for the night were finished I put on National Lampoons Christmas Vacation to watch then tied some ribbon around my Christmas cheese and Goah's food before I drifted off to sleep.
I got an early start to Saturday morning, when I got up at 9am to make a call home for my Nan's annual Christmas Eve gathering which she refused to have elsewhere even though she has been dragged down from her newly started Chemotherapy. I was able to talk to her for a few minutes, but she was getting ready to have a rest and pasted me off to talk to the rest of the family. It was nice to talk to everyone, and share some of my stories with them since I haven't been to good at keeping in touch with them during my travels. After my call to Nan's I waited for a bit before calling my Uncle Rod and Aunt Kim and kids because they had been at church. I spent about an hour talking to them before they were calling it a night and I had to get to work on my apple crisp. I had been planning to make apple crisp for several weeks, ever since I found the recipe online for making it using just a stove, and since that's all I have it was perfect. Now that it was Christmas and Alex B had invited a bunch of us over to his place for a potluck style dinner, i had good cause to try it out. The recipe called for enough stuff for 3-4 people and would take about 15-20 minutes to make. I however was making for over 12, and was working in a kitchen space likely 3 times smaller than that of the person who wrote the recipe, so what might have been 90 minutes of work quickly became close to 3 hours, but well worth it as I really enjoy cooking and puttering about in the kitchen. Eventually I had it all done up and was able to shower and get out the door by 4pm, only an our later than planned, but still well withing the desired arrival time of the party. I arrived in my old neighbourhood by 445 but had to wait for Garrett until 515 since he didn't know where Alex lived. We made out way there and joined Frank, James, Marshal, Phil, Aslan, Ben, Monica, and Alex for diner and drinks; then eventually were joined by Alex and Louise, and Brady and SoHyun for some dessert, and more drinks. We sat around chatting, listening to music, and watching internet videos until midnight when those of us who didn't live in the building decided to pop over to Sincheon and see the guys at Gold Bar for a few drinks. We had some drinks and chatted with the staff and some other friends until 4am when we all decided to grab some McDonald's breakfast and head home. I got my two meals, one of which I shared with my driver, and made it home by 430 to crawl into bed.
I got up Sunday morning around 130 in the afternoon and got right to work doing nothing for a while. I sent out some Christmas messages, and talked to Gavin for a bit before deciding it was high time to get out and get something done for the day. I got off of skype and got ready to go for groceries, and when that was taken care of I took some time to clean up my apartment before watching a movie, some football, and then call home.

Another week down, another step closer to the cold hand of winter. I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and are winding down this year happy and full of hope for the new year.

A Christmas Card Bonaza

Dec 13-19, 2010

Having left my Christmas cards at work over the weekend, they were of top priority to start this week. With the weather beginning to show signs of a coming winter, I really wanted to get them finished and in the mail so they would make it home on time. So first thing Monday, I got up and got ready to go to work a bit early so that I could sit down and power though some cards. I was able to finish up another good chunk of them throughout the day and was pleased with myself for finally getting off my keester. After work I was of to the gym where i got in another good workout even though the gym was super busy with all the pre-Christmas resolutioners. I waited out the crowd and eventually it was just me and a few other people doing our thing. After the gym I headed home and caught up on some blogging while watching a football game and finishing a few more cards. Before I knew it, it was 230 and I had to get to bed.

Waking up sore on Tuesday, I once again got ready and headed of to work to get some more of my cards done. I was all but a couple cards from being completely finished and was happy that I might be able to get them home before Christmas. After work I went straight home to finish the few cards I had left to do, and then get my weekly email off. Pleased with myself I watched another football game before calling it a night. To my surprise, I woke up before my alarm on Wednesday and couldn't get back to sleep, so I made the most of my time by watching stupid internet videos until it was time to head to the gym. After the gym I swung home to get my lunch and then headed off to work, on the way dropping my packages of cards off at the post office. I was surprised I didn't run into any of the same problems I did the week before, but was a bit disappointed that when the teller told me the chances of the cards making it before Christmas were slim. No biggie I thought, my family knows how schedules and I don't get along. After work Jean, Chrissy, John, and I all went to a place near John's new place (he had to move because the lease on Mike's place was up and the landlord didn't want foreigners in the building anymore) for some fried chicken and beers, before heading home in what has been the coldest, windiest day of the year so far around -12C.

Thursday morning I woke up with a sore back. Hoping it wasn't my rib problem coming back to haunt me, I took the day off and just relaxed before work. While at work I took a few Advil, which seemed to relieve the pain enough for me to carry on with my day. After work I headed home to lay down and watch a football game. Friday morning with my back feeling a bit better I opted to skip the gym again and instead ride my bike to work to get the oil changed and battery charged up before the winter comes, though even with having it running last week it was still in a kick start situation. The guys at the bike shop beside work was more than ready to help me out, and even cleaned up the engine of all the oil that has been leaking out, as well as tightened my chain. Running smoothly after work, I rode it home before going out for the night. I hope I can keep it going through the winter so that I don't have problems in the spring. I had been invited Thursday to go out with a Korean friend of ours Angie to Itaewon for a few drinks at a new bar, and so made my way there around 11. Before I went to meet her at BU2 I met Alex and Louise where they were finishing up diner, and then we went together. The bar was a little hard to find, being located past most of the places we usually go, so it took until around 12pm before we found it and met up with Angie and her friends inside. The bar was a pretty upscale place, but nice for a change. We stayed there until 230 when Angie and her friends had to go, and then split over to Wolfhound for one last beer before grabbing some kebabs and heading home for the night around 4.

Saturday I wasn't sure what I wanted to get up to, so when I woke up at noon I just sat around watching some internet videos before putting on the original Home Alone and having some laughs. About mid-afternoon I got a call from Frank about plans for the evening, and after some texting we decided to meet in Gangnam for dinner at 7 to get galbi. Garrett and Hayley also came out, but after dinner Hayley had to head home while the rest of us went across from the restaurant to Rainbow for a couple drinks and a hookah. Eventually Garrett became far to intoxicated to be in the bar, or even in public for that matter. He was trying to get up and play the live bands instruments or make announcements over the mic, so Frank and I had to intervene and get him to just sit down, and at that point he realized he was due to go home. After he left Alex and Louise came in and we all had one more drink before heading up the street to a basement bar called Voodoo. After several more drinks it was 230 and time to call it a night, so we finished up and all left to get cabs. Myself, as usual, I walked down to Kyodae from Gangnam because it is easier to catch a cab there, plus the walk gives me time to work some of the booze out. Home by 3am, I checked Facebook before going to bed and saw that my new coworker John had broken his arm snowboarding in the afternoon, but since it was so late I resolved to get to the bottom of it the next day.
Up at a reasonable time on Sunday I got a hold of John to see what the story was and if there was anything I could do to help him out. He told me how it happened and that it was actually his humerus in the upper arm instead of the usual lower arm bones. After talking to him I got ready and went back to Sindorim to pick up some Christmas cards for my coworkers, and to check out the E-Mart there. Eventually I made my way home and stopped for some groceries on my way back from the subway station then came home to clean up my domicile. I was able to get the dishes done, a load of laundry washed, and the floor swept and washed before heading over to John's for a few cheer up beers with him and his friends. I stayed longer than I had originally planned, and had to make my weekly call home from John's, which meant it was short and I'll have to make another later this week. We finished our beers by 230 and I made my way home to call it a night.

Well another week down and Christmas just around the corner. I hope everyone has their shopping done and is getting ready for all the Christmas food.

Sorry, Spain Doesn't Exist

Dec 6-12, 2010

Well winter is rearing its ugly head now, and the temperature showed it this week by dipping to low single digits and even some negative degrees. I personally didn't mind it since I like the cold, but could really use my winter stuff that is on its way from home still.
Monday was a good start to the week. I got up feeling well rested and got ready for work, making lunch and getting a game plan together for getting my Christmas cards done. I assumed I could get them done during my breaks at work. Keep in mind how I have said assumed. At work I was able to get a start on my cards while it was still fresh on my mind, and finished 1/3 of them. After work it was off to the gym. A trip I was really looking forward to having missed the last two days of last week, and having a new workout routine to get started on. The new system worked out great and I felt that I had one of the better workouts I have had in a while. After the gym I came home and threw on a football game while I took another crack at making chicken soup.
Luckily, since I started it earlier than the last time, I was able to sleep with less interruptions of getting up to stir it through the night. Waking up around 11am to a house full of the smooth aroma of the soup I made, I felt good and eager to get to work so that I could eat my soup for lunch. Once I was at work I got back to work on my Christmas cards and was able to finish up several more before my classes started, and that was about it for the day because during my breaks I was kept busy with school related work. After work I came home and put on the Monday night football game while I put my weekly email together. One that was all finished I wrote up a few more cards before calling it a night.
Wednesday morning it was up and back to the gym for a second go at my new workout schedule. Again it was a pretty good workout once I got into it, and I was able to get through my sets much faster than I thought I would. After the gym I quickly went home to get my lunch and the first of the Christmas packages I was going to send, and then it was of to the post office for one of the funnier Korean experiences I have had in a while. Keeping in mind that I live in Bongcheon, which is a small neighbourhood with a very old feel to it, it does not have many of the same comforts you see in other areas of the city. Our post office for one, is quite small and I think that is the causing factor for the following incident. As I walked into the Bongcheon post office I was met with scared eyes. The mail clerk asked me where I wanted to send my package, and when I replied Spain I was immediately told NO. Confused, I asked why and was told that they just do not mail things to Spain. Assuming it was because it was such a small post office, I asked if the larger post the next neighbourhood over would mail my things to Spain, and again was told NO. Confused even more I left and went to work. Then to top it off, it had been snowing earlier while I was at the gym and had started again. It wasn't the nice kind of snow however, what it was was wet heavy snow that left me me almost as if it had rained. Once at work I put the Korean staff on it and they quickly called the larger post office to get to the bottom of it. After about a 30 seconds on the phone they came to the conclusion that the post office in my neighbourhood was out of their mind and that I would have to go to the larger one to send anything to any country smaller than Canada.
After work my Wednesday just kept getting stupider. Mostly only I was getting stupider. Since John has just moved into the area, but will only be at his apartment for this week, we decided to have a few beers there before he had to move. So Chrissy, Jean, John, and I all grabbed a couple pitchers of beer, some chicken, and a pizza then went to John's. We watched some T.V. while drinking and chatting, and then after about 4 pitchers and a couple bottles of soju, Jean and Chrissy left, but John and I decided to grab a few more pitchers since one of his friends was on her way over to hang out for a bit also. Before long there was 9 empty pitchers laying around and we were well drunk, and I decided to get on home. During the walk home, idiotically I thought it would be a good idea to check and see if my bike's battery was still alive enough to start it up. I assumed it would be near dead given the cold weather and the lack of use lately, but hoped for the best. The best didn't happen. my battery was too dead to start the bike, and I knew of only one way to start it. It is to get the compression up using the kick start or by riding it down a hill, so that the motor will turn over and the bike will start itself. Having tried the kick start several times to no avail, I decided to ride it down the long hill I happen to live on. It is not something I am proud of doing since I think drinking and driving is a terrible habit to get in to, but my better judgment was out to lunch. So I hopped on and rode it out, but again it was a no fire deal. I got all the way to the bottom of the hill and it still wouldn't start, so since there was no way I was going to push it back up the hill, I left it there and walked home, but only after I tried to push start it for 20 minutes like a maniac. Home by 430 in the morning, I sent a few Skype messages to Lauren, who happened to be on, before passing out cold cocooned in my blankets.
Thursday morning I woke up feeling like I had drank a tonne of beer the night before and pushed a bike around like an ass. I inevitably skipped the gym and get my life together before work. I left a bit early so that I could make it to the post office in Sillim and get my mail issues sorted out. Then on the way back past my street, I tried one more time to get my bike started with the kick start, but again it was a futile effort. Leaving it where it was I went to work to hate on John for encouraging my alcoholism the night before. Again after work I thought I would give it one more shot, which failed again, so I simply moved the bike out of the way and planned to push it to the bike shop beside work the next day. After that I went home to watch a football game and finish sleeping of my night before.
Feeling better Friday morning, I was off to the gym again to start my day. After the gym I went home to grabbed my lunch and then made the walk to the bottom of my hill to push my bike to work. Then to my surprise, in a last ditch effort, with the weather warmer I was able to kick start the bike and ride it to work. Once I made it to work I let it run for a while outside to give it time to charge the battery. Thinking that I had gotten lucky, I didn't take it to the bike shop, but instead went in to start my day. Throughout the week John had been working on the Korean teachers to go out Friday for some drinks. I wasn't sure how it would turn out since most of them tend to shy away from outside of work activities, but after days of pestering John was able to get them all to come out to Sillim for drinks. This was good news, as just this week many of the teachers made their final decisions about leaving the school after this semester, because they are tired of dealing with the school's crap. I rode my bike home after work before meeting everyone at Sillim station and then going to the bar from there. John took us to some place he knew, and we had a great time joking around and playing drinking games. By 230 we were finished up and the Korean teachers went home, but Jean, Chrissy, John, and I all slid over to Ho Bar for one last beer and some darts before cabbing it home. Once again intoxicated, and still worried about the fate of my bike I kick started it one more time and let the it run for another 20 minutes to try and add some more juice to the battery. I thought nothing of it until after, when I realized it was 4 in the morning and that I might have woken my neighbours. Oh well.
After such a late night, I slept in until around 12 Saturday, and then got up and filled my day with internet videos and zombie killing until around 5 when it was time to get a move on. Frank had organized a get together at his place for what we were calling Christmas Tacos. He bought up all the fixings and all we had to do was show up, refresh his funds, and dig in. It was super nice of him to do something like this, since it isn't often we are able to find a place large enough to have get togethers that isn't a bar. Myself, Thomas and Jeanne, Brady, Marshal, James, and Matei and Jen all joined in the fun, which started around 7pm. Eventually we drank all the beers and as people started to filter out, James and I decided to go to Gangnam and meet another friend for a few more beers. By the time we reached Gangnam though, my friend had gotten a last minute call from another friend and ended up ditching us for a late night hook up. And who can fault him for that? Not I, that's who. James and I shared a couple pitchers at Woodstock before calling it a night around 3am and taking taxis home, which I had to catch at Kyodae since Gangnam is such a bad place to catch a taxi late at night.
Home and in bed by 4am the night before, I got up at noon with big plans for the day. I thought I might go to the coffee shop and finish my Christmas cards that I had slacked off on the latter half of the week, but quickly realized I had forgotten them at work. After that I resolved to get some groceries before wasting the rest of the day watching movies and football games. Eventually it became night time and I called home to see how things were going, and was filled in on my Nan's new Chemo-therapy schedule, which will be start on the 14th. I hope everything goes well.

Another week complete, and other set of goals half reached. Hope everyone is getting geared up for Christmas.

Out with the old, in with the new.

Nov 29 - Dec 5, 2010

The beginning of this week brought with it several changes. For starters it was Mike's final days at JLS, as well as Blake and Nathan's final days at Avalon. On top of that the weather continued to cool. Soon I will have to break out my leather jacket and put the spring coat away. So let's get on with the happenings of my week.
Monday had the same start as the past several, I got up and made food before heading to work, but when I got to work there was a new face. John, Mike's replacement was there to meet everyone and watch some classes. Unfortunately we were still on cruise control waiting for the next semester to start on Wednesday, so Mike and I talked to him about the different levels and books, as well as introduced him to the other teachers and kids. He seems like a pretty nice guy, and shares a lot more interests than Mike and I did. After work i hit the gym before coming home to watch a football game and get off my weekly email.
Tuesday was Blake's last official night so after work I hopped on the subway and took off to Gangnam to meet up with him for some dinner and drinks one last time before he left. SaeJin, Wes, June, Nate, and Blake's replacement were there for dakgalbi, and after that we popped over to 4.5 Bar for a couple beers. It was a good and calm night, though the replacement was a bit over excited and loud, but settled down after we told him he was causing a scene. We finished our beers and took off in time to catch the last subway home around 1230. I said goodbye to the guys at their stop and continued on my way home. It's weird to think that Blake, my partner in crime, won't be here from here on out, but such is life for travelling teachers.
Waking up at a good time Wednesday morning I hit the gym before heading to work to start our new semester and make sure John had his schedule in in order. Mike also finished on Tuesday, but isn't leaving until next Wednesday so we made plans to hang out on Saturday. My new schedule has me teaching some new classes with some different Korean teachers, and some of my new classes have some great/sweet kids in them. I am looking forward to this semester now that I know the kids, and am set up with all the material. After work I came home and watched another football game before calling it a night.
The game having gone into over time the night before, I slept in Thursday, missing the gym before work. While at work however, I was introduced to a new snack food that John called "ColPop", short for Cola and Pop. It was given to me by one of my new grade 2 students because the class had one extra. It is a nifty idea, a pop cup filled half way with the pop of your choice with a smaller cup that rests in the top filled with popcorn chicken. It's the perfect combo snack, it kills both thirst and hunger, while cutting down on packaging. I enjoyed it thoroughly before my classes and saved my lunch for later. After wok I wasn't in the mood to catch up on my workout schedule so I just went home and put on a football game and played with the cat.
Friday morning I skipped out on the gym once again so that I could make a long overdue call home to my dad. I had been meaning to call him for a while ever since the business with North Korea happened, but kept putting it off or plain forgetting. We talked for a couple hours, and it was nice to get all caught up on news from back home. Cutting it close I got off the phone with him and started getting ready for work only to have Gavin buzz me on Skype. I talked with him while making my lunch and getting ready to go, but in the end I was still about 15 minutes late for work. No biggie, they know I have little to do at the start of the day. John seemed to be settling in nicely and was starting to get the idea of which teachers were who, and what books he needed for each level. After work again I kept it calm. John, Chrissy, and I went out in Bongcheon for some fried chicken and beers at our regular TwoTwo Chicken place. I was home by 1130, and watched another game to pass the time before lights out.
I woke up later than hoped on Saturday, but still in good time to get some things done. I got ready, after having some cereal, and headed out to finally find some Christmas cards. I had been on the hunt for a few weeks and I was in a "no fail" situation. I wasn't going to stop looking until I found them this weekend. Luckily I only had to go to two stores to get what I was looking for. I wish I had started my search a little closer to home. As it turned out, I only had to go a few stops away to Sindorim station to find an E-Mart with a bookstore in it, teaming with Christmas cards. I dropped a few chun and was home by mid-afternoon so I could get ready for Mike's going away dinner/party in Itaewon. The plan was to meet at the station around 7 and then go to Ali Baba's for some Indian food before hitting the bar scene. The food was good, and I met a few more of Mike's friends, who were all pretty nice. After dinner we went to Bungalow for a drink, but as more people showed up we ran out of space and had to change venues. Eventually we decided on Roofers, but had to wait for a charity performance to finish before we could go in so that we didn't disturb the actors, even though they were just a bunch of foreigners in a "time killing" social club. When it was all over we went in and got some more drinks and watched the band, also made up of the previous performers, warm up and begin their show. After a while, Mike was ready to head out, but since Brady and Frank showed up, I decided to stick it out with them instead of getting caught up in Mike's whirlwind adventure. We finished a couple more drinks before leaving ourselves to go to Wolfhound, where we met Garrett on the way. Since Wolfhound was a dead atmosphere we only stayed for one drink before Frank and Brady decided to head home, it was 230 after all. Together we all had some street shwarma, and then Garrett and I continued on to Seoul Pub for what I assumed would only be one more short round. Boy was I wrong. We got in and low and behold who is there, my new coworker John. We had a quick conversation, but he was working on some girl in the corner so I didn't keep him long. Then like a magnet to South African girls, I started a random conversation with a girl, who, you guessed it, was from South Africa. I don't actually believe it has any thing to do with me, as much as it might be a conspiracy by the South Africans to take over the peninsula by sending all their gorgeous girls over to get everyones' guard down. And then BOOM! In the end I'm pretty sure the conversation came more from necessity. Her necessity to get some creepy Korean guy away from her, and Garrett's need for back up with a girl her was talking to. I originally tried to leave but Garrett bought me a beer, that I really didn't need so that I would stay. Eventually I finished my beer and had to go. Not because I was that drunk, but because 3am turned into 630am fast. Along with Garrett, I left the bar under the peeking eyes of the sun and made for the subway, where I found a train waiting to carry me home. On the way I rocked out to my mp3 player with an entire bench to myself, and a bunch of Koreans just looking and wondering. Home by 730, I walked up my hill in the dim morning light and then passed out as soon as I hit my bed.

Waking up mid-afternoon Sunday, I had some pretty bad gut rot from all the Long Island Ice Teas I had the night before. Luckily my head didn't hurt, because a double whammy would have sucked. As it was I spent most of the day watching movies before going to get groceries and making my weekly phone call home. This week I was updated on the condition of my Nan, and when her Chemo will be starting etc.

Another week down, another week closer to winter rearing its chilly head.

Is that a roach in my window sill? Oops!

Nov 22-28, 2010

Well this week started off pretty good, though much colder than it has been recently. Work was a breeze since the kids were done their testing and we were free to just play games and watch movies. On Monday I got up at a reasonable hour and made some lunch for myself, as well as some tuna salad for the week. After all my cooking was done I got ready and headed off to work. Work, as I said, was a breeze and I watched movies or played games with all of my classes. After work it was off to the gym, where I ran into Jack again as well as the trainers, so we all talked for a bit while the trainer tried to get me to talk to some Korean girl who was working out. I had to tell him that I can't just walk up and start talking to a random girl due to the language barrier, and the fact that I'm a foreigner ofter scares people. He offered to do it for me but I was able to talk him out of it. After the gym I headed home and while I was watching my usual Monday night football game I put together the ingredients I had bought for some chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker Amy and Mark had given me. After it was on and cooking I sat down to write my weekly email before calling it a night and hitting the hay.

After getting up sporadically throughout the night to stir my soup, I got up for good around 1030 and got a good start to my day. I didn't have anything to put my soup in so I scooped out some for my lunch using one of my cups, and then bought a container and ladle on my way home from work. While at work, it was some more games of vocabulary bingo, and general hanging out. The news of my soup making spread through the office and everyone wanted me to bring them some to try, so much for having soup to myself for a few days. After work I went straight home to put the leftover soup in my new container before throwing on another football game and calling it a night.
I got up on Wednesday and hit the gym with a vengeance before work, which felt good. My goal of reaching 78+kg is getting closer, but is still a long way off from my current state at 74kg. After the gym I stopped by home and grabbed my lunch, as well as the rest of the soup and some bowls for my coworkers. I hadn't even been at work for more than 10 minutes before the soup was broken out and everyone was taking turns digging in. I felt bad that I only had enough bowls for 4 people to eat at a time, but luckily with their schedules there wasn't a panic for time to eat all at once. My soup got some good reviews, and nobody got sick so I might have to make it a regular thing. It felts good to cook for people instead of for just myself for a change. After work I took off to Kondae to meet Blake, Nate, and Wes for a few drinks and some chatting. Nate only stayed for a bit so that he could get home and get some packing done, but the rest of us stuck it out until around 130 before calling it a night. Funny enough, on our way out of the bar a group of Korean girls celebrating a birthday were also leaving and out of nowhere one of them looked at Blake and I and exclaimed that she knew us. Upon further questioning, it was determined that she had seen us at Gold Bar, no surprise there, so we wished her a happy birthday and went on our way.
Waking up feeling great I went to the gym Thursday morning, and then grabbed a pizza on my way to work for lunch. After work it was off to Apgujong to meet up with Blake, and a couple of our Korean friends Gina, who used to date Junk, and her friend Lily. They also brought a friend that Gina had met during her recent trip through Australia, named Leon, who would turn out to be an asshole after he got into the soju. I met them at an underground restaurant/hof, and they had already been drinking. I helped them finish off the beer and soju that was there before we left for 24/7 Event Bar. Once there we ordered a bottle of whiskey and continued to drink and have fun until eventually Leon past his point of control and started telling everyone what to do, and started with the infamous drunk demand of "Listen to me!", repeated over and over while pointing in your face. We had all seen it lurking up, but once it took it's full form I was quick to put my foot down. I tried to be nice about it, but told him that he needed to relax and stop being such a dick to everyone. He wasn't sure how to take that one since it is quite counter cultural, and when he tried a rebuttal I laid out his options. Option one was to relax and stop being so aggressive towards everyone, and at the time it was only Blake and I who he was trying to bestow his knowledge of Korean culture on; or two was to leave the bar. Blake tried to interject and smooth things out, but I made it clear that I was not happy about how he was behaving and that I wouldn't put up with it for a second longer. He seemed to understand and decided to calm down and talk quieter and less in-your-face from that point on. After that we played some darts with the bartenders then finished our bottle and left around 3am.
Friday started out with an unexpected talk with Lauren. I happened to see her online when I got up and so sent her a message which turned into a rather lengthy conversation to start the day. She was sharing her current dislike for her living situation, given that her roommates had been in a bit of a snit all week, so she had been a bit alienated. She also shared some good news about getting offered a writing job, or something of the sorts because she seems to have a way with words. After our chat I had to scramble to get ready for work, and made it just on time, not that anyone really pays attention to my comings and goings at the office. I only stayed at work long enough to take subways orders, then it was off to get some lunch since I was out of food to make at home. After work we had a company dinner for Mike since this was his last full week with JLS. However, it was a bit pathetic at how some of the Korean teachers were acting about it. It's is understandable that they are tired after having so much work to do these past couple weeks, and some of them did just want to go home, but when you have worked with someone for a year it would be nice if you didn't make a big fuss about having a farewell dinner with him. Though I did hear through the grape vine that Mike wasn't the most liked person in the office. Nonetheless, you should still make an appearance and say goodbye. We went to a Korean barbecue place close to work, and ate our fill and had some drinks, and in the end almost everyone at the office came out for at least a bit of time. Around 1215 I said good night to the group and headed to the subway to get myself over to Sincheon for Gold Bars 3rd anniversary party. I was met there by Blake, Nate, Alex and Louise, Brady and SoHyun, Frank, and a few other Korean friends. Eventually Junk even made an appearance. Since it was a party, I took the chance to break out my light-up t-shirt from Beijing, which everybody loved, and we got our party on. Slowly the crowd started to fade, and by about 4am most of the people had left. Blake and I walked Junk to his girlfriends car and came back to collect our things only to find that Nate had disappeared. Not thinking too much about it we picked up our coats and the bag of swag we had gotten, and were about to head to McDonalds when Nate called. He thought we had left without him, and a little upset, had gone to McDonalds to get some food. We quickly went to find him hunched over his seat loathfully eating fries. Once Blake and I got our food we jumped in a cab and headed home. Once home, I thought it would be a good idea to stay up for a bit and drink some water. While doing so I saw Lauren online again and threw out a message to see if she was around for a chat. To my good fortune she was and for the first time since she left we had a video chat. It's always nice to see the face of the person you are talking to, as well as being able to talk instead of type everything you are saying. Now, for those of you who know me this next part will be completely reasonable. While we were talking, I thought I heard a bug in my window sill, and since I have had a few roaches in the last couple months I assumed the worst and quickly jumped up to take a look. What I had forgotten was that I was bare naked and just wrapped in a blanket, and ended up giving Lauren a full frontal. Insert embarrassed face here. But since she didn't seem to mind, we carried on talking until about 9am when I decided I had better get to bed, and so had she.
Having stayed up so late into Saturday morning, I slept until around 530 in the afternoon before waking up feeling rather refreshed. I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave the house, but within minutes of getting up Blake called me and asked if I wanted to meet him and Saejin in for a bite and some drinks. I knew that they were going to keep it pretty calm, so I jumped through the shower and headed that way as soon as I could. I met them at a upscale looking, but regular priced bar for a few beers before moving to a place we have been before called The Table. We had a couple more beers there before cabbing it home around 1230. Once home I threw on a movie and just relaxed until I eventually fell asleep some time after 3.
Waking up just before lunch on Sunday, I took some time to laze about and watch some internet videos before getting off to the grocery store to pick up my weekly supply. After I had my food for the week, I got ready to go to Sincheon again for a bit of a going away party for Blake at Gold Bar. It wasn't meant to be anything big, so having it on a Sunday helped keep everybody under control. Plus, since it was a Sunday we were the only people there. I got there first around 650 and met Thomas and Jeanne on my way to the bar, so I guess technically I arrived at the same time as them. Blake showed up a few minutes later, which allowed me to step out and get some cheese donkas for dinner. Eventually Frank, Brady and SoHyun, Angie, JiYoung, Junk, Charles, JungHun, and Nate all showed up and we sat around chatting and having a few laughs with each other and the bar staff until it was some time after midnight but the right time to call it a night. I shared a cab home with Nate, Blake and JiYoung for the first leg, and then got off a few stops shy of my area so that JiYoung could take the cut off south to her house. I jumped in another cab and finished the ride home in time to make my weekly phone call to my mom at about 1am, during which I talked to Parker, and Braunwyn who just had her tonsils out.

Well there it is another week down, another week closer to Christmas and the coming winter snowboard season. hope everyone is enjoying the weather and not freezing too bad yet.

Hey! Those were my fries.

Nov 15-21, 2010

Another week of fair weather totally spoiled us as news from back home says it is getting colder by the week. This week started out with a sleep in before work and then a scramble to make my lunch and make it to work on time. Luckily this week is all review so my normal schedule of doing nothing before classes started was put off a bit by having to prepare review sheets. I live a troubled life as you can see. After work it was off to the gym, where I was greeted again by the enthusiastic trainers and a very full gym. I had a momentary freak out when I went into the weight section and saw the weights strewn about, and took it upon myself to curse out all those in ear shot and throw the weights into order so that everyone wasn't falling over them while trying to navigate the workout floor. Immediately following my outburst half the people in the area left, leaving me plenty of space to work out. As I began my workout I was introduced by the trainer to another Korean who has recently returned from studying in Canada named Jack, and so, spent my time bouncing between working out and talking with the two of them. It's nice to be treated so well at the gym, but there are times when it can be distracting from the task at hand. After my workout I headed home and threw on a football game while I got some cooking out of the way, and then whipped up my weekly email to Lauren. The game went a lot longer than I had anticipated, and I didn't end up going to bed until after 3am.

Waking up mid morning on Tuesday, I sat around watching internet videos before getting ready for work, and another day of review before the ids final tests. Once work was out it was straight home to catch another football game and try to get to sleep before 2am. Wednesday and Thursday were about the same only with a trip to the gym squeaked in before work on both days, and then while at work there was less review and more break time, because the kids were writing their tests.

Friday came and the end of the week was well appreciated around the school. The Korean teachers were stressing about the tests being over and the impending report cards and phone calls about the test results. As well, but to a much lesser extent, Mike and I were trying to finish up the rest of the report card sheets that we were given so that the Korean teachers could get everything input. After work I made for Sincheon to meet Alex and Louise, and Blake and Silvia (a friend of his from Busan who came up to visit before he leaves at the end of the month) at Gold Bar. I had told Blake I would come and help him keep Silvia entertained since her English is rather terrible and he would need a break from using his Korean from time to time. It was a success and she had a great time with us, and was happy we all made an attempt to include her. Since she had to leave early the next day for Busan they left around 130, while the rest of us stuck around until some time after 430 before we left to get some McDonald's and take cabs home. As luck would have it, I ended up with a hungry taxi driver who ended up eating more of my McDonald's than I did. When I got in the cab I offered him some of my french fires, of which he took the whole container. Thinking nothing of it and that he would give them back after having a few I went ahead and started devouring my McNuggets. Then after a few minutes I realized he hadn't given them back, and when I looked into the front seat her was chowing down like it was his first meal in weeks. Now usually I would say something, but the fries seemed to have him in a good mood, and to be honest I probably didn't need them anyways. That and he seemed to be trying to get me home extra quick, a little too quick in fact because his speedy driving started making my nauseous. Once I reached my destination I realized I hadn't touched my burger, and quickly forfeited it to the driver because I knew it would be a bad choice to eat it, and he looked like he needed something to wash down my fries. Home and in bed by 6, I quickly passed.

Saturday was a day of rest. Among several invites to go out to places like Kondae, Gangnam, and Hongdae my better judgment kicked in, and I decided to take a day off and stay in watching movies. It was a bit of a waste of a nice day, but I really didn't care. I woke up feeling alright and got some cleaning and groceries out of the way throughout the day, between football games and movies. I also had a chance to chat with Gavin for a bit on Skype, which I hadn't done for some time. Near the end of the night I grabbed a pizza for dinner, thus ending a good lazy day.

Sunday was a good day. Having rested all saturday, I got up early and headed for Brett's place on the other side of town to watch the UFC fights. I had gotten the invitation late saturday night and figured why not. I was a bit late getting to his place and missed the first fight, but it had me out of the house before I had a chance to slip into sloth mode.After the fights it was mid afternoon so i headed out to try and find some Christmas cards. I started out in Dongdaemun, but having no luck after a couple hours of walking around went over Insadong to see what they might have. In the end it was a bust, but there are a few more places yet to check. I found some last year, so I still have high hopes. After my shopping failure I went to meet Blake and a friend of his named Young for dinner at On The Border in the COEX mall at 630. After dinner we had a quick coffee before going our separate ways home. I grabbed the last few things I had forgotten at the grocery store after I got to my station, then went home to get some cooking and Sunday phone calls out of the way.

Until next week.

G20 in Seoul -- Too Bad I Couldn't Make It

Nov 8-14, 2010

This week started out as any other week. I got up late on Monday and made some food for the day before heading off to work. Work was the same as usual, except in my free time I took the chance to start making some review sheets for my classes, as level tests begin next week. After work it was off to the gym, where I met up with the trainers, who again were thrilled to talk to me and discuss life. I find it quite endearing at times how enthusiastic some Koreans are to help and make foreigners feel comfortable. After the gym it was off to home to get off my weekly email, and watch one of Sunday's NFL games. I ended up being up until later than I had hoped but was well worth it to catch the Browns game.

After staying up until almost 4am, I slept Tuesday until 1130 before getting up and putting together my lunch and taking off for work. After work it was straight home to relax and watch another football game. Then it was the day everybody waits for. Payday. I was waiting for this day since the pay fiasco of last month and being don to my last 4000W. I got up and got to the gym before work, and then passed the day away at work wondering if my pay would be on the level this month. As it turned out, it was, and after work I hit up a bank machine to pull out money in an attempt to allocate my finances early and avoid any broke circumstances that might arise near the end of the month. I took out enough to set aside four envelopes of weekly grocery allowance, as well as half of what I owed to my director for the pay advance last month, and enough to get me through the rest of the week and weekend. Once I got home I sorted out the cash stack, then put on a football game and called it a day.

Thursday was another typical day in the life Mark Teacher. I got up and went to the gym before heading to work to deal out the punishment these kids never seem to get from other teachers. After lasts weeks failure to finish their homework, those kids who forgot to do it this week found themselves writing lines instead of participating in class. It seems as though I am the only teacher that deals out punishment around here, which is no wonder why the kids think they can get away with anything they want. There are only so many times you can threaten to call their moms, or actually call their moms, before they realize it's an idle threat. In between my classes I kept busy filling out "report cards" for the end of the semester. I use quotations because I was told by a few teachers that what I write or the score I give doesn't really matter, and that they will probably change what I put anyways. Well why bother I thought, but I was in no mood to rock the boat, and let it be.

Friday was about the same. Gym in the morning, off to work where I handed out some more sentences and filled out bogus report cards, and made plans for some evening fun. I heard from my coworker Mike that there was a bar in Gangnam offering a special on, all you can drink, for 10 000W. I asked Blake if him and Nate wanted to go and check it out, then after work headed out to meet them in Gangnam. Unfortunately we got some poor directions from Mike about going out exit 5 and taking the first two lefts, and ended up in some alley on a parallel street to the one with the actual bar. After a couple calls and some clarification we got to the bar 30 minutes later than we could have. Once in we got seated and ordered some beers, and Blake with his awesome Korean found out that they closed at 1am. This doesn't sound important but it played a roll as the night went on. We were a couple beers in when our bill was brought around, yet we were not asked if we wanted any more beers. A few minutes later when we tried to order another round, we were denied because it was after 1230. Immediately Blake got pretty angry because he takes pride in his Korean ability, and had asked what time we had to order until, and what time the bar closed. A Korean sitting next to us who spoke English validated that what Blake had said was correct, and we felt that since it was only 1235 we should be allowed to have another beer. The server still denied, making us all pretty pissed off. Blake got up and went to find the original person he talked to. Then explaining the situation to a disinterested person, we realized that it was a battle lost unless we were willing to cause a scene. Since we weren't we just left angry, grabbed a convenience store beer and walked back to Kyodae so I could catch a cab home. All in all it was the same price for two beers as it was for all you could drink so we broke even anyways. I was home by 2am, but watched the first half of another game before calling it a night.

Saturday, feeling great when I got up since I hadn't been drinking late Friday, I got up around 11 and sat around watching internet videos and doing dishes until the early afternoon. Eventually i got ready and headed out to Namdaemun to see if I could find any arts and crafts booths carrying necklace making items so that I can make some necklaces out of my shark teeth for the kids. I was unable to find any, but did run into and have a conversation with a friend of mine from Waterloo, Wes, and will have to get out with him in the coming months. After Namdaemun, I walked over to the downtown area where there is a stream called Cheonggyecheon that was host to a lantern display during the G20 Summit that took place in Seoul this month. I never made it, due to my schedule, to the G20 Summit at COEX, but I heard it was pretty packed with protesters and the likes. I walked up and down the stream a few times, taking pictures and enjoying the lanterns as the sun went down and the lights came on. Not wanting to go all the way home just to go back out, I headed to Olympic Park to grab a hot chocolate while I waited to meet Alex and Louise, and Mike Stopp and his fiancée for a shabu-shabu dinner at Bangi station at 7pm. It had been a long time since I had had shabu-shabu and really enjoyed my diner. After dinner Alex, Louise, and I went over to Sincheon because I had told Nate that I would meet him there around 1030 for drinks at Gold Bar. We started not at a bar, but at an arcade where we played the super popular bunching bag game. I can see now why Koreans like it so much. It's a really cheap form of entertainment that everyone can play. We started with the pull down bag, which is much easier on the hands before moving to the pop-up bag game, which is a little more like punching a static medicine ball. After having our fun, we moved along to the newly opened Ho Bar for a couple of drinks before making our way to Gold Bar, where we continued to party until some time after 5am. A good contingent of friends even showed up, including Frank, Brady, Matei, and Alex B. I don't remember much after 4am until I was eating McDonald's breakfast and getting in a cab. Home some time after 6am I went to bed where I would stay for some time.
Sunday was a day of rest all around. I didn't get up until after 2pm, and even after that I just laid around watching football, and then eventually went and got some groceries before the stores closed.

Well another week of great weather gone, and hopefully another few to come. Good news from home that Nan was released from the hospital to Uncle Rod and Aunt Kim's place until further treatment.

A Beautiful Week for a Stroll

Nov 1-7, 2010

This week was a beautiful fall week. the weather was cool but not so clod that you couldn't be outside uncomfortably. On Monday I skipped the gym in the morning, opting to get a bit of extra sleep and then make some food before work. After work it was off to the gym to make sure I got my workout in, and while I was there I met the two night shift trainers who were super happy to meet me, and very eager to talk with me about my workout. One's English was better than the others but it was one of the many endearing moments I've gotten to have during my time here. They even got me to hop on the health check machine, which determines body percentages like fat, muscle, etc. Turns out I was about 17% fat. After the gym I came home and put on a football game before I called it a night.
Having worked out hard the night before, I slept in on Tuesday. Luckily I woke up with enough time before work to pack up my lunch and get off. While at work everything was pretty status quo, and after work I came home and threw on another football game while I put together my weekly email to Lauren. Before the game was even over I was dozing off, but I made it to the end and then called it a night.
Wednesday morning I was back in the gym before heading of to work, and after work being the middle of the week I came home to catch another game and clean up a bit before calling it a night. Thursday morning I got up and went to the gym again, then after the gym I decided to ride my bike to work while the weather was still nice. Then, while I was at work I got a call from Blake about going to Sincheon after work to finish up the bottles he had stared on his birthday. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to, but immediately after talking to Blake about possibly doing it Friday I had two classes that pushed me into angry teacher mode for not doing their work, and when the classes were over I confirmed with Blake that I would be there. I took my bike home after work before hopping on the subway for Sincheon. I got to Gold Bar by 11, where I met Blake, Frank, and Garrett, and made quick work of the last of the bottle we had stored there. I was sure we had stored some whiskey and vodka, but the staff was only able to locate the vodka, which was probably for the best. We played some darts and pool, and had a few more drinks before calling it a night around 2am. After a stop at McDonald's, Blake and I split a cab on our way home, and I was home by 230.
After having a later night than I would have if I had just come home, I slept in and skipped my trip to the gym Friday morning. Luckily with all the water I have been drinking lately I felt great when I got up and could get ready for work with ease. While at work I had an amazing moment when one of my kids who is way out of place in his placement level, and who can barely understand what is going, finally open up and participate as a member of the class. It was great to finally see him interacting with a few of the other boys, and take joy in the memory game we were playing. I'm sure his mom will be thrilled when the Korean teacher relays the information. After work it was off to the gym to get in my workout. I had decided not to go out Friday night since I had gone out Thursday, and going to the gym was a good way to use up my time, as well as make a healthy move instead of an unhealthy one on a Friday night. The trainers were happy to see me again, and I was happy to see that my weight training was starting to pay of with a jump from 71 to 72kg. After the gym I grabbed some water at the store and came home to watch another football game and get some rest before Saturday.
I had great plans for Saturday, and even though I did get them accomplished, it was done in a much slower fashion than originally planned. I had planned to get up before 930, but slept in until 1030, and go for a hike among some of the numerous mountains around the city. I got up and watched some internet videos between making some sandwiches and eating breakfast before I got ready and left for some nature walking. I chose Bukansan, located behind the large Gyungbuk palace, but didn't get there until shortly after 1pm. Time wasn't an issue since it isn't a huge hike but it would have been nicer to be out there a bit earlier. The hike was nice and the weather was perfect, I was able to take off my sweater until I got to the top and took a break to eat my sandwiches, where it was a bit cooler since I wasn't on the move. The trees have started changing colours so the view from the mountain was very nice, and after a short break I walked back down getting only a little lost when I decided to take what turned out to be a non-trail. It all worked out in the end and by 3 I was back at the bottom, wandering the streets looking for the subway station. I eventually found one and made my way home to take a shower and relax before finding something to do for the night. Around 530 Blake called me and said him and SaeJin were going to the wine buffet and said if I wanted to come I was welcome. I quickly got ready and left for Samsung station to get to COEX Mall and the Intercontinental Hotel for the buffet by 630. At the buffet we ran into Thomas and Jeanne, and their coworkers who were all out for Jeanne's birthday, and who invited us out for some noraebang when we were all finished. We thought that was a great idea and swung over to Sincheon after the wine buffet to find a noraebang and get our sing on. We had a couple more drinks at the noraebang and had a great time singing for a couple hours before our time ran out around 130am. Blake and SaeJin had left around 1245, but I stayed since I was having a good time. After we were all finished I suggested hitting Gold Bar for one more drink and to say hi to the usual, which everyone seemed down for. We hit up the bar, but everyone but me only stayed one drink before it was time to take Thomas home. I saw them off and grabbed another drink and chatted with some of the staff and other regulars. Then out of nowhere I found myself getting involved in bar safety. It started with a Korean and foreigner getting a little pushy and the bartenders breaking it up and taking the Korean outside. While they were getting him calmed down the foreigner came over close to me and continued to provoke the fight from afar. I quickly told him not to be an asshole, to which he agreed and when things had settled down apologized to the bartenders for causing any trouble. When he decided to leave a few minutes later was when I got involved. Apparently the Korean group had not yet cleared the street and when he went up, tempers flared. One bartender went up right away to make sure things stayed cool, and when the other went to go up, about five guys cornered him and wouldn't let him up the stairs. Since they are all friends of mine at the bar, I got pretty upset, put my coat and drink down, then went over and pushed the entire entourage over, grabbing two of them by the front of the shirt and dragging them up the stairs. They were apologetic as I dragged them up the stairs, and their English was pretty good as they explained to me that they didn't want any trouble. I told them not to touch the bar staff then went back downstairs to make sure the rest of them got the hell out, which they all did with haste. I am not the fighting type, or at least not the type that goes out to start fights, but I will stick up for what is right if I have to. After that everything was cool and in appreciation hooked me up with a couple of shots that I really didn't need, but accepted on account of our friendship. While the ruckus was going on JungHun showed up, so we had a couple drinks before heading out together to split a cab. I was home by 5, and went quickly to bed to get some much needed rest.
I woke up a few hours after putting my head to my pillow to drink some water and take some Advil, then went back to sleep until 1pm when Blake called me. I still didn't feel 100% but had told him that I wanted to go to the last of the FC Seoul soccer games since I had Lauren's season pass. Blake met me at the field and we grabbed a couple of tickets and went in only to find that we were both hungry by half time, but the food stands were low on reserves so there wasn't enough food by the time we got to the front of the line. Starving we watched the rest of the game with FC Seoul winning. After the game we hit up Sillim for some kalmaegisal, and out of no where met up with Mike from work and his friend George who joined us for dinner. After dinner Blake and I headed to our respective homes, but not before I could borrow a few bucks off Blake to get some groceries for the week, since my pay problems from the start of the month left me down to about a dollar in my account and payday wasn't until Wednesday. Once home I made my weekly call home to mom and found out that the problems my Nan had been having lately were from a cancerous tumour they removed during the week and that some other results regarding lymph node cancer were still pending, but that she has already agreed to go forward with chemo therapy if needed.

Well there it is another week. I hope the best for my Nan and am looking forward to getting all the news and choices in the future go or bad so that I know the situation.

The Predator After His Movie Career

Oct 25-31, 2010

After getting a start on our Halloween costumes at Nathans last night, I got up early Monday and hit the gym for the only time of the week. After the gym I went home and got my things together for work and to go back to Nate's after for some costume making. I got to his place by 1030 and we got right to work on our stuff. Nate had done quite a bit of work on his gorilla mask, and turned his attention to making my predator mask while I measured, cut, and glued together some hip and thigh armour and shin armour. Having gotten quite a bit accomplished I left around 1210 to catch the last subway home, and get off my weekly Monday email. I even managed to get in a football game since I wasn't very tired.

Having stayed up late watching the game, I slept in on Tuesday and subsequently didn't make it to the gym. I was up in time to get ready and head straight to work. After work I sped off to Nate's again to get in some work before meeting Blake for a few birthday beers on the day of his actual birth. We got some more helmet finished, and the last of the lower body armour glued up by 1130 and then took off to meet Blake and SaeJin, and Wes at a neighbourhood bar for a few beers. Finishing our beers up by 130, I jumped in a cab and slid home and into bed by 230.

Skipping the gym yet again on Wednesday, I got up around noon and talked with some friends back home before getting ready for work and heading out for the day. Once again, after work I made my way to Nate's, and upon my arrival we realized that we were out of glue. We knew it was getting close the night before but it had totally slipped my mind to grab some during the day. Putting our production to a near standstill, we wrapped what armour was finished in aluminum foil, and cut our some pieces for the shoulder/chest armour before I called it a night and headed out to make the last subway.

Feeling not so bad Thursday morning, I was up with every intention on making it to the gym, when I changed my mind and decided to make a long overdue call home to my dad and see what had been going on since before I went to China. Not having spoken in about 5 weeks we ended up being on the phone for the better part of an hour and a half, putting my trip to the gym on hold yet again, as well as unofficially diagnosing me with walking pneumonia according to the symptoms I told my dad I have been having. It was good to hear what was going on back home though, so it all works out. After getting off the phone I got ready for work and headed out, hoping the day would go by quick so I could get over to Nate's and finish my costume. In my spare time at work I looked up the symptoms of pneumonia, and to my surprise they sounded almost 100% like what I had been having and decided that if they didn't get better in another week then it would time to see a doctor. After work it was off again, with dreams of completion in mind only to be dashed by the fact that I had once again forgotten hot glue sticks. In my defence, Nathan said he would get some since I only needed a touch more glue, and even though he did it wasn't going to be enough to finish both of our costumes. Then out of nowhere Mike my coworker came through with a last minute call to swing by and make a fake hammer using the hot glue. We said it would be cool and had him grab a pack of glue sticks on his way, since everything was closed in Nate's area by 11. Soon enough Mike was there with some beer and glue, and we got to work. Blake even stopped by to see how the projects were progressing. After putting another coat of foil on my armour, Nate finished my helmet and I began wrapping it while he got to work putting fur on his gorilla head with the help of Blake and Mike. In the end I had all my leg armour finished, including elastic straps to secure it, the helmet finished, and the chest/shoulder section 50% finished. It was almost 3am though, so Mike and I took off with Predator pieces in hand so that I could finish it up and work the next day.
Friday, skipping the gym again, I got what material I needed to finish my costume at work and headed out to grab some glue sticks before going to finish my costume at work. Between classes throughout the day I worked on my shoulder armour, and when it was finished, turned my attention to the iconic Predator forearm gauntlet. I had big hopes to make both the gauntlet and the matching digital armband for the otter arm, but ran out of time and had to settle on just the gauntlet; which I might add turned out pretty good. While at work, we were given the news that, contrary to what we thought, we didn't have to be at work Saturday for our Halloween Open House until 1230. This was different from having to be at our last one in the summer at 930am, and as good as the news was, I was a little pissed that they had no intentions on telling us when we actually had to be at the school and Mike and I had planned on being there around 930 again. With the news of a later start I was able to go ahead with my plans of going to Gold Bars Halloween Party, and quickly sent out some texts to see who else was going. I cold have just gone home after work, but after putting so much work into the costume I really wanted to show it off. I left work and went home to put all the pieces together before heading to the subway and for Sincheon. Before now I thought I got stared at bad enough, being a tall white guy with dreads in this country, but being a tall white guy dressed as the Predator took it to another level. On the subway everyone was staring at me, and I'm pretty sure taking pictures of me (the mask made it hard to see), but eventually a group of Korean guys got on and were thrilled with my costume and started talking to me about it and Halloween in general. I slipped my mask off to talk to them and another older gentleman sitting on the subway bench and got some good reviews about my costume and the holiday in general. A few stops later they all got off and I noticed another foreigner staring at me from the other end of the train with a rather concerning look in his face. At first I thought nothing of it but then I over heard one of the Korean guys he was with say something about beating me up. "Jesus, am I going to get beat up on a subway train for enjoying Halloween?", I thought as the guy came over to me. Knowing in a couple stops Nathan was going to join me on the train I didn't worry too much, but got ready for the worst. The foreigner came and asked me why I was wearing a costume, and then checked his watch when I answered "Because it's Halloween.", as if to say "Not for another two days." I explained to him that I knew it wasn't for a couple more days, but that my favourite bar was having their Halloween party and that I was on my way there. Quickly he changed he demeanour, and seemed to enjoy the fact that I was dressed up all of a sudden. I asked him where he was from, and found out he was from France, here on an internship. We made small talk until Nate got on the train and then we got him to take a few pictures of us dressed up on the subway. As he was taking the pictures, I figured out where the initial hostility had come from. His Korean friends, or coworkers, came over to stand with him as we were talking and one of them blatantly told us we were disgraceful and that we shouldn't dress up because Koreans don't recognize Halloween. To that, the French man and his other friend quickly apologized and told him to relax; and Nathan was quick to point out that we aren't Korean and that not everything has to be done the Korean way. In fact I'm pretty sure he told the guy that Koreans need to lighten up and have some fun experiencing different things that way they aren't just a bunch of suit wearing robots all their lives. Reaching the next stop, the guys got off and I got Nate under control so we could continue on to Gold Bar. Once at Gold Bar, we met up with Brady and SoHyun, Alex and Louise, James, and several other new Avalon employees, all of which loved my costume and laughed as soon as they saw me. I preceded to enjoy the night and have a few drinks, but not get too out of control because of my obligation to be at work the next morning. By 3am it was time to call it a night, so I said my good-byes and went to get in a cab bound for Bongcheon. I made it home and into bed by 430, which was later than expected but still within reason.
Having only drank a little at the bar and a lot of water when I got home, I was up Saturday morning by 1030 feeling good to go for the day. I spent some time watching internet videos and eating breakfast before getting all my gear together and heading out to school at 12. Once at school I made a few minor repairs to my costume, including gluing a shoulder pad back on, and re-foiling some spots of my leg armour. All suited up I started helping put out the food for the snack market, and get the toys ready in the prize market before the kids came at 130. As the kids began to roll in we were all required to to line up in the front hall and meet them in our costumes. So we did and all had a good laugh as the kids laughed at our costumes, or stared in awe at the weirdo wrapped in aluminum foil. As the open house went on it was my job to run the prize market, which I did in bounce style, allowing so many kids in at a time and regulating how much time they had in the room so that all the kids could get a chance get prizes without the room being over crowded with kids. I felt it went much smoother this time than last time, and everyone had a chance to get a good look at the prize choices. By 515 the last of the kids were leaving and it was time to clean up. Unfortunately, like in many situations, most of the teachers took off leaving only a few of us to clean up, but it worked out in the end as I got to take home a couple leftover pizzas and some pop. I left the school and got home by 6 where I laid down for a couple hour nap to rest up for another possible night out as the Predator. Waking up around 8pm I started making some calls to see who was doing what for the Saturday night of Halloween, and as it turned out most of my friends cancelled their plans on going to Hongdae like we talked about and were opting for staying in instead. Finally I heard back from Matei and Jen who were planning on going to Hongdae still, and Hayley who was one of the Hongdae plan enthusiasts. To my displeasure, Matei told me he was going "soon", but never ended up getting to Hongdae until 11pm to confirm reservations at a place, meaning by the time he got back to me I could only make it half way there on the subway. I got stuck at Sindorim where the last train stops at 12 on Saturdays and had to take a cab ride through traffic the rest of the way, but I did get to split it with a random Korean I met on the subway which was cool. Finally arriving at Hongdae to meet up with Hayley by 1245, we quickly went to find Jen and Matei at Oi bar, and get the night started. We stayed at Oi until it was clearing out around 4am, and then since Hayley lives in Bundong and always takes the subway home due to the distance, I decided to stick around to keep her company until the subway opened at 530. We took some time walking towards the station, stopping to get some photos with Predator lovers, as well as randoms like on a motorcycle, next to a cop car, and behind the counter of a Family Mart. Eventually we made our way down to the subway and took up some seats while we waited for it to get moving. I was home by 630, and quickly jumped into bed to get some rest before Sunday.
Having another light night of drinking I was able to get up around 1230 and get some breakfast and a shower in before heading out to meet with Blake and SaeJin, and Thomas and Jeanne for an FC Seoul soccer game, and make use of a season ticket Lauren had left with me back in September. I got to the station where we were supposed to meet at 230, but since none of us know the area very well we all ended up at different exits and in the end decided to just meet out front of the entrance to the stadium. We thought we were right on time for the game, which was supposed to start at 3pm, but quickly learned that the game was half way over and when we asked why were told that it had been switched for televising purposes. Disappointed, we sat back and watch the rest of the game that had a final outcome of FC Seoul beating Busan 3-1. After the game we took a walk through World Cup Stadium Park, which I will have to pay another visit to because it's so nice. After that we all went our separate ways on the subway to get home and rest up before the new week started.

It's a Super Hero Week

Oct 18-24, 2010

Mother nature must have wanted me to get as much of her glorious warm weather in this week as possible, because she had me up, thanks to one of her little creatures, at the crack of dawn to start this week. After only going to bed at 2am, I was stirred from my slumber a mere 3.5 hour later by the sound of cats crying outside my apartment window. Thinking I could ignore it, I closed my window and tried to get back to sleep. After about 30 more minutes of the crying I decided I better investigate, and possibly throw a shoe out the window. When I opened my window and leaned out I saw a mother cat and three babies wandering around at the edge of an 8 foot deep alley, crying, looking down, and then walking around confused. It was obvious that something was up, so I got out of bed and went outside to investigate. It turned out that the fourth kitten had gotten too close to the edge and had fallen down into the alley, and was incapable of getting out, which was why there was all the crying. Not being one to leave an animal stranded, I went back inside to get a towel and then jumped down into the alley to try and rescue/quiet it. After about 25 minutes of trying to get it to come to me, I decided to go to it but quickly found out that the end of the alley was too small for me to make it all the way to the cat. Turning to Plan B, I climbed out of the alley and walked along the edge until I was over top of it and using my towel, nudged it until it ran to the other end to hide under and air conditioner. I got back down and cornered it under the unit, then ever so slowly put the towel over it and picked it up by the back of its neck, which it didn't seem to mind until we made eye contact making it freak out. I carried it back to the area it had fallen from and let it go so it could rejoin its mother, which had gone into hiding since I had come out.

Good deed done for the day, I went back inside fully awake at 7am and talked to a few friends online, including Lauren and Ash while I let my heart cool down. After that I went back to sleep for a few hours, because under 4 just wasn't going to cut it. Skipping the gym to sleep, I got back up around 1130, made a lunch and headed off to work. After work I hit the gym then headed home for some football action. I was about one quarter in on a game when Blake phoned me and said he was in my area and that we should grab a beer from the corner store. It turned out that he had been out to have dinner with a friend who will be leaving to study in New Zealand soon, and when that wrapped up he thought he would came and see what I was up to. We chatted over a couple beers outside the store until just after 1, then went our ways. Me home to finish the game and him home to bed.

Tuesday I got back on track and got up to go to the gym. After the gym I went home to get ready for work and grab my lunch, then it was off to drop some knowledge bombs on my unsuspecting students. Little did I know I would be the one getting the bomb shelling. Near the end of the day, the director came in with my pay stub from last weeks pay, and then sat down to "talk about" what had happened. I thought that I knew what had happened and told her that I understood, but she had a look that told me I was about to get some bad news. As it turns out, the money that had been missing from my account which I assumed was the advanced pay from the previous Friday and my pension plan, was really my pension plan and medical insurance back payments. This meant I still owed the school the 200 000W and that I was really missing 550 dollars from my last pay. Needless to say I was not happy, but already having come to terms with getting screwed last week, I just sighed, rolled my eyes, and said "whatever". In the end all it means is that I will not be able to send home as much money as i had hoped for the next couple months, or get into many extra curricular activities. After work I just headed home to relax and watch the Monday Night Football replay.

Still feeling the effects of this sickness I have been dealing with, which I am starting to suspect is pneumonia, I slept in Wednesday until 12 because I was feeling all dragged out. Once I got up and started moving and feeling better I got ready for work and headed out. Work was all in all the same as usual, teach some basic materials, have a few laughs, and call it a day. Again after work I waived the gym and went home to watch another game and see about getting some more rest. While the game was on I cleaned up a bit and prepped some more food for my lunches for the rest of the week, then settled in for the night. It was a good thing that I did too, because Thursday I felt a bit better and was able to get to the gym in the morning, and then after work it was off to Sincheon to meet Blake so that we could book some reservations at a few places for his up coming birthday. We booked at The Warehouse, and of course Gold Bar III where we also stuck around for a few drinks. Garret even showed up, and Blake and I had to explain to him that the football playing in the bar had to stop before somebody gets hurt. He seemed a little put off at first, maybe he thought we were hating on him, but we weren't it's just better for every one's safety if he doesn't try to tackle me every time we drink together. We hung out until about 130 before heading over to McDonald's for a Shanghai Spicy Chicken Burger, and then getting in a cab to go home.
Thanks to the Shanghai chicken, I was up early Friday and managed to catch a few people online for a chat. I actually missed the gym because I was busy talking online, but I probably needed the rest more than the exercise. Once I was done online I got ready for work and went to get the last day of the week done and over with. Seeing as it was Blake's birthday on Saturday, I decided it would be a good idea to stay in Friday night and rest up, because one never knows what's going to happen at a birthday at Gold Bar III. That and I had an 11am appointment to get my dreads tightened in Itaewon, meaning I would have to be up and out by 10.

I managed to get up before my alarm even went off at 930, had some breakfast and was out the door by 10 Saturday morning without any problems, making it to my 11am appointment right on time. I went in and for the first time in many years (over 5) had somebody else wash my hair for me. Generally I try to wash my hair before I go, to make sure that it is clean, but I washed it Thursday and knew that it wasn't that dirty after only a couple of days. Be that as it may, I let them wash my hair, and WOW did it ever feel nice to have somebody else washing my hair. After the washing I went to the chair for the lady to work on my dreads. The lady at the salon is in her late 40's or early 50's and seems to know what she is doing, and went to work right away hooking my dreads. Then it got weird. There is another lady in her mid 30's who also works at the salon who didn't have anything to do and decided to come over and help. By help I mean hold my dreads out of the way so the other lady could see better, and hold my head in place where she thought it would be most comfortable. All the while she was making small talk about how I looked like an actor, which I assume is because I am white; how I look older than 27, which I said was because of my several days of scruff; and how she was surprised I was single. I wasn't sure if she was hitting on me or just being Korean, or being a Korean gold digger. There were times when the conversation swung towards what I looked for in a girlfriend, and what I like to do in my spare time, and I tried to answer them as broadly as possible and try not to offend her. In the end my hair was done and I was quite pleased with the result. Before I left the salon the owner asked if she could take my picture since not many men go there. I agreed and they took a few pictures of their work, then Clara, the name of the one lady, sat down beside me and they took a couple pictures of me with her. She laughed and said she was going to tell all her friends she was dating an actor. Kinda weird, but whatever. I just told her to make sure she tells them the beard is for my up coming role as a motorcycle bad ass. Hair done and self esteem boosted, I headed home to grab a nap before the festivities for Blake's birthday started.

Waking up a couple hours before I had to leave, I watched some videos and took a shower before making for the subway. I met Blake and Nate on the platform of their subway station, and together we got back on the train and headed to Sincheon for the 6pm meet up time. Frank and Garrett also met us there, but a large portion of our friends had other plans and said they would meet us after dinner. We started at Aladdin's Lamb, a Korean style barbecue based on lamb meat, that has become a favourite of the area. After dinner we swung over to The Warehouse where we had reservations at 8 for about 20. Unfortunately, we only needed half the space we had reserved, as only Hayley showed up for the predrinking there. Near the end, about 30 minutes before our reservations at the next place took effect, Alex B and Dino showed up, followed by MinSup, Junk and his girlfriend KaeLim. They helped us finish our beer and we all headed to Gold Bar III. At Gold Bar we seemed to be the only ones there for quite some time, but eventually all our friends showed up as well as a lot of other people out for the night. Throughout the night Blake and I had been spreading word that Blake didn't want it turning into a constant flow of shots like every other birthday does, that way he would be able to keep partying longer. Everyone agreed and it seemed as though Blake might have dodged the Gold Bar birthday bullet that seems to hit everyone else. And then it happened........Blake's inner animal came out and the next thing I knew he was coming through the crowd holding a bottle of vodka and a bottle of whiskey, pouring them not just into other peoples cups, but into his own mouth. Looking over at Nate, we both had a look as to say, "Where did he get those?", knowing full well that he had bought them. I let him enjoy them for a while, but sooner or later he had to put them down, and when he did I snatched them up and took them back to the bar where they could put them in keeping for him. It was only 12 and Blake was well on his way to blackout city, so I pumped some water into him and we kept the party going for as long as he was still standing. By 1am he decided he needed to sit down, which quickly turned into passing out in the booth we had. No biggie here in Korea, we let him sleep for about 20 before waking him up to take him home. Luckily Junk happened to be leaving at that time and agreed to drive him home so that the rest of us could stay at the party. At the same time, Nate left to hit the casino. I went back inside for another hour of blurred hanging out before heading to McDonald's with Thomas and Jeanne for a late night snack. Off in a cab by 3, I was home and calling it a night just before 4.

Waking up to a phone call from Blake at 930 the next morning, I reassured him that he didn't do anything stupid and that everything was taken care of. He said he was feeling super shitty, rightfully so, and let me go so he could get back to sleep. I went back to bed for about another hour before I was up and feeling go to go for the day. Having rested up and drank a lot of water before the party, then taking it easy so I could keep an eye on Blake, I was far better off than I had been on most previous Sundays. I sat around for a bit watching internet videos before getting a hold of Nate about our plans to get together and work on our Halloween costumes. He however was in the same boat as Blake, after he stayed up all night at the casino. I told him to call me when he was feeling better, and went back to watching internet videos. Eventually in the late afternoon he called me and asked if around 5 worked, which since I had nothing else going on worked just fine. I went over to his place at 5, met Blake on the way and we grabbed pizza for the costume workshop. Nate was working on his King Kong mask while worked on my Predator armor. Nate eventually turned attention to a Predator mask for me......he's a very artistic guy, which is why we are doing costumes in the first place. By 8pm we were all feeling worn out so we shut it down for the night and headed to our homes. I grabbed some groceries on the way home, then settled in for the night with another football game.

Savin' cats and savin' friends. Hope you all had a good week, and are enjoying the cool fall weather.

Money Worrrrrieesss (in a singing voice)

Oct 11-17, 2010

After having a rocky end to last week regarding my pay, this week didn't start much better. I got up Monday to head to a doctors appointment that I had to get some results back from a skin test I had done. It was earlier than I usually get up, so I was already no super impressed. Then on the way to the hospital a homeless lady decided it would be a good idea to slap me as I walked by. I know that I didn't say anything or even look at her, but being that she was old and a bag lady I let it slide and continued on my way. At the hospital I was hustled between a few rooms before the doctor came in to tell me everything checked out fine, and that I could go home. I felt like saying, "Hey Doc, why couldn't you just call and tell me?", but being that it was good news I just left. Once home I grabbed a quick nap before heading to work. Work was the usual, kids not doing their work and me not really caring. After work it was straight home to catch one of the Sunday football games on replay.

Tuesday, the day the title of this blog eludes to, stared out well. I went to the gym, hit home to make some lunch, and then headed of to work. Since we did not get paid on Friday we were supposed to have been paid Monday, but I hadn't checked yet. After getting to work, I walked down to the bank to check if we had and do transfer some money home as per usual after getting paid. Good thing I checked my balance before I started the transferring process, because it turned out that I was $350+ short in my account. By my calculations I should have had 1.85 million Won, but I only had 1.5 million, immediately throwing me into a Rage Factor of about 7/10. Leaving the bank I marched into work and demanded to know where the hell my money was from our vice director, who quickly came out into the main lobby to address our secretary in charge of accounting. Before too long they were telling me that it was my back payment into the National Pension Program that they have forgotten to deduct since I started. Still at Rage Factor 7, I told them that it was complete bullshit having to deal with Friday's payment issue and now this without being given the slightest notice, and followed that up with letting them know how budgeting works and that when they do shit like that it totally screws with my monthly budget plans. They were quick to apologize, which I 'accepted', but still let them know that it can't happen again. After that I was in a bit of a foul mood at work, and the office staff didn't talk to me for the rest of the week. C'est la vie. I left work still a little pissed and went home to watch some football and play with Goah, and try to forget about the way Koreans do business, especially since I know it's not just the foreigners they do this to.
Waking up Wednesday, still feeling some lingering effects of my cold, I hit the gym as usual, then it was off to work. Like I said above, the office staff weren't talking to me, so I went in in silence and got ready for my day by doing some crosswords and checking Facebook, the usual. After work it was home for some more football and high hopes of getting to bed early to rest off my cold. Just as the game finished and I was brushing my teeth, Goah started pacing around my kitchen counter. She will generally do this if she is stalking a fly or other bug, but then give up after it evades her or she looses interest, but not this time. This time she was more serious and chirpy than I had ever seen her. I decided to go and have a look, but at first saw nothing. getting down beside her, I tried to follow where her eyes were going and that's when I saw the gap between my stove (hot plate) top fan and the wall. Taking a closer look I saw a HUGE bug back in the corner. It was too big to have come through any cracks, and being an avid cooker I haven't noticed any bug problems with my food, so what was this thing and where did it come from. Getting out a flashlight, I went in for a closer look, only to discover that it was a cockroach the size of my thumb. And I have quite sizable thumbs. Immediately springing into Intruder Alert Mode, I grabbed a shoe and a long stick (the stick is attached to a Canadian flag) and went at this thing, trying to crush it against the corner of its hiding place. When that didn't work I cleared off my counter and got ready to lay the smack down on it. I got the shoe ready and quickly scraped it out from between the fan and the wall, and at once hammered the crap out of it with my shoe. It was obviously dead, but surprisingly not splattered all over the place like I assumed it would be. No wonder roaches have survived for so long. After that I was all jacked up, because nothing escapes once it's in the kill zone, so I decided to kill some zombies until I was tired again, making it a much later night than anticipated.Due in part to my late night roach rampage and my cold, I slept in Thursday and skipped my morning workout. When I finally dragged myself out of bed it was almost 1230, so I had to quickly put a lunch together, shower and head off to work. Work was par for the course, and seemed to go by rather quick. After work I decided to make up for my morning laziness, and hit the gym for my workout; which I might add, is way fuller at night than in the mornings. I was there until just after 11, before heading home to catch yet another football game and just relax before the weekend.
Friday morning rolled around and it was back to the gym, home to make lunch, then off to work as usual. After work, since it was Friday, I planned to meet Blake and his new coworker Wes in Jonggak for a few drinks. None of us had been there to drink in a long time so it was a good change of pace from the usual Sincheon or Gangnam. I met them there around 11 and we hit up a Ho Bar (popular chain in Korea that has nothing to do with the name on the inside) for a drink before deciding to leave on account of a group of stupid foreigners from France that we trying to do a conga line in a bar not meant for it. Outside we grabbed beer and took up shop on a set of steps to people watch, and boy were we ever glad that we did. To follow is the story of what we saw while outside.

--There was a guy in a suit (suit) and a guy in a blue shirt (blue). Blake, Wesley and I walked out of the bar to have a sidewalk beer while Wes was on the phone. Out of nowhere we heard the sound of two bodies hitting, looked over and saw them heaped on the ground not far from us. At first we thought, "oh it's a fight and they fell". Then suit got up and helped up blue. It turned out they were friends but blue wanted to take on the world starting with his friend. After a couple minutes of angry staggering blue wanted to be friends again and they hugged and shook hands forever because blue was so drunk. Then instead of putting his friend in a cab suit let blue stand around until his next anger fit came and he grabbed a stranger by the jacket. Getting between them suit managed to keep blue from starting anything serious and the other guy was cool about it for the first couple minutes, but when blue wouldn't let go he got angry and thought about beating him up. Suit then focused his attention on the random and not letting him beat up blue, while blue wandered around like nothing happened, then wanted to be randoms friend. Random eventually walked away and suit took blue out to the main street.
We finished our beers on the steps and several minutes later walked that way to find another bar. Going around the corner who do we see, blue shirt sucker punching some guy out front of Lotteria. Random 2 was on the ground because he looked a bit soft and blue was ready to fight him. Suit was stopping it, and nobody was really doing anything. Random 2 got up and yelled at blue then called the cops. While yelling at blue, blue tried to be his friend, until he realized the cops were called and wanted to fight again. We were watching (something we usually don't do) and wondering why suit hadn't knocked out his own friend or why someone hadn't knocked them both out. Not being our country we decided that unless something bad happened (it was all minor punches and slaps) we would stay out of it. Blue continued to try and take on the world and when some people were thinking about getting involved suit was able to keep them at bay. THEN he took a swing towards a girl, presumably random 2's girlfriend, and that's when a bunch of people rushed in yet did nothing but move the girl away. Suit dragged blue to the side of the street and open hand slapped the shit out of him and for the first time we thought it would be over. At this point we were seriously talking amongst ourselves about who was going to go and choke him out while the others held suit out of it because it was getting retarded. Luckily it didn't come to that and the cops showed up just as blue made another rush into the crowd and was taken down by suit. You would think that would end it but no. Once blue realized the cops were there for him he started to struggle and swing. The cops grabbed him and like complete fucktard Koreans didn't put cuffs on him, so on the way to the car he grabbed some girl by the shirt. The girls boyfriend quickly got between and as the cops were taking blue shirt down to the ground he managed to kick random girl's boyfriend in the face. Boyfriend exploded with anger and kicked blue in the back, to which the cops allowed. then boyfriends friends dragged him away (if I was his friend I would have been stomping blues head while they were cuffing him.....but thats me). They picked up blue and forcefully put him in the car thus ending about 45mins of total entertainment.
As bad as it was, nobody got hurt and that's what made it so funny. --

End of the story. From there we continued around the corner to a new bar called The Table. We went in to check it out and ended up staying for a couple hours because it was so cool. There were just large tables with chilled beer in the centre that you would take back and drink at your table. Then at the end of the night they would count what you had drank and give you the bill. Plus they were playing good music and there was a good non-foreign crowd in there. Calling it a night around 230am we jumped in a cab and headed home dropping Blake and Wes off first and then myself.

Saturday was a day of hanging out. I got up mid morning and sat around watching football games and napping while making plans to meet up with Thomas and Jeanne (Dave and Kate's replacements) for dinner and drinks. We hadn't seen them since Dave and Kate's going away, and Blake's brothers visit, so it was good to be ironing out plans. We decided on Itaewon since a lot of other people from the group expressed interest in going there. So around 7 we met at the station, myself, Frank, Blake, Wes, Thomas and Jeanne and went to Sam Ryan's for some western style food and a few beers. Joined eventually by James, we then went to Roofers where Jen and Matei showed up, Rocchi came by, and Garret made an appearance which was followed by Garret trying to tackle me and me almost punching him in the face. We hung out at Roofers until some time after 230am before checking out of there and heading over to Seoul Pub for one more round. That round took a lot longer than some of us expected, and before we knew it it was 5am and time to go. Thomas, Jeanne, and I went outside to grab a kabob before heading home, and then it dawned on us that if we waited another 20 minutes the subway would be open and we would save a ton on cab fare. So we waited and caught the subway home when it opened. I was home and in bed by 630 but having food in me and the smarts to drink some water, was feeling fine.
Waking up around noon on Sunday to Blake's call about our planned touch football game possibly being a no go, I laid around watching another NFL game until he confirmed it at 230 that there was indeed a major backing out of people, and we wouldn't have had enough guys to get a game going. With that news I took advantage of not having to leave my area for the day by watching some more football and then getting some groceries around 6pm, coming home and precooking some dishes for the week and watching yet again some more football. Eventually it got late and I went to bed so I could have a fresh start to the coming week.

New back home this week was that Nan had been taken to the hospital after being up north to close the trailer. Hopefully she will be feeling better soon.