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.

Happy Thanksgiving Canada

Oct 4-10, 2010



Well the weather, though not that bad last week, was quite nice this week. It was a bit chilly last week, but warmed up to a comfortable jeans and t-shirt atmosphere.

My week started out and was plagued with stage two of my cold. It seems to have swayed away from swamp fever, to a nagging morning/night cough. Hoping it would clear up, I went about my business as usual. I got up Monday and went to the gym (where stepping on the scale I learned the I had sweat out 3kg in the past week), then it was off to work for the usual classes. After work, I went home to get out a regular Monday email that I have started, then settled in with the cat to watch some football. Tuesday was pretty much the same, except I rode my bike to work after killing my legs at the gym and not wanting to walk. While at work I took some time that I had between classes to work on making a hot air balloon out of a paper material that I had hoped would hold up like tissue paper. It was in hopes that I would be able to make them with one of my older classes that was studying hot air balloons this week. Unfortunately it didn't work, as the paper was too porous and the hot air would not stay inside. After work, again I went home and threw on a football game to try and rest off my cold.
Wednesday I skipped the gym and just slept until mid morning. Instead of the gym I cleaned up my apartment and washed my dishes that had gotten out of control. Off to work again, the day went by quickly as I used my spare time to try wrapping paper for a hot air balloon. It went together much easier than the other paper I tried, but in the end was too heavy to take flight when the hot air was applied. At that point, I figured it was a dead idea since I couldn't find actual tissue paper in any of the stores near me. After work, I met with Blake in Sillim for a few drinks at Jack Daniel's Bar, and to just shoot the breeze. We got on the last subway home, and I was crawling into bed by 130 again.
Feeling a little more rested, I got up Thursday and hit the gym before work. Trying to get into shape takes much more motivation these days it seems compared to several years ago. After the gym it was off to work, and the boredom that is my schedule. After work it was home again for another football game and some rest. Sooner or later my cold has got to get better. Up Friday, my day took the same form as the one before it until I got to work and was floored by the information that they weren't going to pay us until Monday. I say floored because our pay day is on the 10th, and at almost any given company in the world, if your pay day falls on a weekend, then you get paid on the Friday before said weekend. This was exactly the case this week, with the 10th falling on Sunday, so I immediately marched into the directors office and demanded an explanation, letting her know full well that this is not good general business practice. She at first laughed it off, as if the concerns of the teachers wee but trivial matters, and explained to me that the owner's rule is that if pay day falls on a Saturday then we get paid on the Friday, but if it falls on Sunday then we get paid on the Monday. I was not having any of that and let her know that both Mike and I expected to have our money, because it is just general business practice and that we had both sent our remaining money home; not to mention the fact that it was one of my main questions when I was signing my contract. She wasn't sure what to do until I told her we needed money for the weekend and asked about getting some in advance. This seemed doable, and within minutes a pay advance was sent to both Mike and I. Problem solved, I went about the rest of my day and after work headed to Sincheon to meet some friends at Gold Bar. Mike went with me and we met up with Mike Stopp and his girlfriend, Alex and Louise, Brady, Frank, and Blake. Mike and I were there a bit early and ended up power drinking a few Jack & Cokes before the rest of the group showed up and we set the night on fire. Mike disappeared around 130am, and by 2am I was in no shape to go looking for him. So hanging out with a blurry Blake, I played some darts and talked to anyone who would listen until about 330 when it was time to get some doncass. Mine however didn't stay down long, and by just after 4am I was dieing in the streets. Luckily with it out of my system Blake and I got in a cab and headed home, dropping him off first in Kyodae.
Waking up feeling not too bad, puking which I rarely do always help the next morning, I refueled with some water and hung out at my place until about mid afternoon. After getting in contact with Blake to make sure he was still alive, we made plans to meet in Sillim for dak-galbi and to walk around since it was such a nice day. After lunch, Blake took off to meet up with some people at Yeouido for the High Seoul Festival fireworks show, which started at 730pm. I went home quickly to get my camera and meet Chrissy, another coworker, then headed to the park at 615. We wanted to get there early since there were going to be lots of people, but we underestimated the number of people that were going and found ourselves squished in like sardines on the subway after our transfer from the green to purple line. Missing our stop at Yeouido station due to the number of people on the train that were taking it to Yeoui-naru, the next/closer station, we just rode it out and planned to walk back to Yeouido to meet up with the others. It was a crazy walk, like fish trying to swim up stream, against all the people heading the the park but we made it, found Blake and SeaJin, and JungHun and went back to the park just in time for the show. My buddy Rocchi from university, also being in Korea, told me he would be late but that he wanted to meet up for the fireworks as well. Knowing how to give him directions now that I had been there and back again, I quickly told him how to get to the station and then on to the park from there. It was good that I could give him directions so that I could stay at the park, until he was almost at the front gate, and watch the show before having to make my way to the road to find him. That and my phone died shortly after contact so I was unreachable if anything went wrong. After the fireworks we avoided the crowds of people heading to the subway and just stood around off to the side for about 20 minutes. During this time a handful of small children came up and decided that I was the most interesting thing they had seen all night. All of them under the age of 10, spoke great English and wanted to practice it on the tall foreigner. Here is a segment of the conversation:
little boy : "Hi"
me : "Hi. How are you?"
little boy: "You are really tall!"
me : "Yes, I'm pretty tall. Did you guys watch the fireworks tonight?"
the group : "Yes."
little boy : "Where do you live? I mean your real home, not in Korea."
me : "I'm from Canada."
little boy : "Oh, do you know Montreal?"
me : "Yes I do, but I'm from Toronto. How do you know about Montreal?"
little boy : "It's famous."
The conversation continued about how the four kids are two sets of siblings that are cousins, and about how great a weekend they were having, having seen the president earlier in the day, then fireworks, and how they get to have a sleep over. All the while Blake, SaeJin, and Rocchi just stood back and watched, then later compared me to Jesus as we laughed about what happened. It was amazingly adorable to have such polite kids come and start up a conversation with a stranger, and show no reserve in their English ability. After saying good night to the kids we walked with the thinning crowd to the far end of the park before slipping out and taking up a spot beside the river to have a couple beers and finish waiting out the crowds. After a couple hours things seemed settled, so we left the park for some late dinner in Yeongdeungpo with Junk, and then a couple drinks at a random bar. the night wrapped up by 3am, and we all got in cabs to head to our respective homes.
Sunday was a lazy day to start. Waking up around lunch I did nothing but sit around for a few hours thinking about all the stuff I should do, being it was Sunday. In the end I called Blake to see if he wanted to get out and enjoy the cool sunny day. We decided to hit up Seokchon lake near Jamsil and by 430 we met on the train and finished the ride to Jamsil. We grabbed a cold drink and sat around in the park for a bit before getting up and walking the path around the small lake. Before we left the park we had another seat and let it get dark. By 645 we were both getting hungry and headed to Sincheon, where we were supposed to meet June, my Avalon replacement, for dinner. She said she would be late so we started grilling up sam-gyup-sal without her. Eventually she showed up and Blake and I joked with her about how it was our Thanksgiving dinner, but that the fired bacon strips weren't even close to real turkey. After having our fill we slid over to Gold Bar, we had to since it seems to have an iron grasp on us, for a couple drinks and some more conversation. Getting on the last subway of the night, I was home by midnight for my weekly call home, and to wish my mom and nan a happy birthday.

Another week, another story. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend, and Happy Birthday to my mom and nan.

The Swamp Monster Cometh

Sept 24 - Oct 3, 2010



Well this is an extra long blog because it covers the weekend after Beijing through to the following weekend.

Back from Beijing late Thursday, I got up Friday tired and not wanting to go back to work. I pulled it together and got through the day just fine, and found myself telling and retelling the stories of my vacation to my coworkers for most of the day. After work on Friday Mike and I went over to Sillim for a couple of beers and to chat about what each of us did on vacation. We didn't stay out late because neither of us wanted to spend too much money, having spent it all on vacation. Home by 130, I hopped into bed and called it a night.
Saturday was a pretty relaxing day as well. I got up around 11am and just sat around for a few hours watching football and watching it rain outside. Eventually I got it together and ventured out to the grocery store to replenish my food supply, and got caught in the rain on the walk back. Once back at home, I planned to just stay in for the night, but I got a call from Alex about going to Rainbow in Gangnam for a couple drinks. What the hell I thought. So I got ready and headed out around 930 to meet with Alex and Louise, Brady and SoHyun, Frank, and a couple of Alex's friends. We hung out at Rainbow until 130 then hit Woodstock for one last beer before calling it a night and going our separate ways. Very low key which was just what I needed. Sunday was similar to Saturday, I just sat around at home watching football and making food for the coming week.
Monday of the new week, I felt a bit worn down like the sleep lacking trip to China was starting to catch up with me. I got up early to get to a doctors appointment for 930, which had me tied up until almost noon hour. Quickly getting home, I packed up some lunch and headed to school. After work I went to Sillim again to meet with Blake for some dinner and to talk about our vacations, as he went to Tokyo for a few days and then to Busan for the rest. We ate and shared our ridiculous stories and then caught the last subway home around 1230. Once home I talked a bit on the computer before crashing out, and inevitably having a run in with the Swamp Monster. I knew I had been a bit warm during the day, but wrote it off as the warmth of the building, but while I was sleeping a fever must have kicked in and throughout the night I was sweating a fair amount.
Waking up Tuesday morning, I was freezing from being wet all night, and starting to feel the aches of a cold. Pushing that aside I went to sign up for the gym because I'm tired of feeling so out of shape. I worked out for about an hour, then went home and got ready for work. Work went by just like any other day except I felt energized from working out, and after work it was home again to watch the Monday night game. Again after the game I went to bed only to sweat even worse than the night before. It was quite gross since I only have one set of blankets, so I just had to spin them around until I found a try spot and go back to sleep. Getting up Wednesday I went through it again, off to the gym, home to get my lunch then to school for the day. Home again, I watched another game and then went to bed hoping the worst of the nights was behind me, but boy was I wrong. It got worse, and by the time I woke up Thursday it looked as though I had been sitting in a bathtub all night. Everything on my bed was soaked through and I was wrinkled up like a prune. So fighting fire with fire, I went back to the gym. The inevitable aches and pains of the first workouts were setting in, but I wanted to keep going so that I didn't give up before I got started. After work it was home again to face another night as the swamp monster. Thursday night, though still bad, was much better than the night before, and when I got up Friday I felt like maybe I was getting better. Taking a break from the gym I just laid around watching South Park until it was time to go to work. After work Friday I kept it pretty quiet. Jean, Mike, Chrissy, and I just went to a chicken place nearby and got some food and a few beers. I was home and heading to bed by 1, hoping to get rid of this cold.
Having gone to bed early and sleeping until just after lunch time, I woke up feeling rested but still sick and achy. I sat around watching more football and thinking about whether or not I even wanted to leave my house. In the end I decided I should get out and get some air, and since I had been invited to Hayley's place in Bundang to make Halloween Caramel Apples, it gave me the perfect way yo get out of the house but keep a low profile on the night. I headed out to Hayley's around 630 and arrived by 730. There weren't many of us, just Hayley, one of her coworkers Rachel, her brother Brett and his girlfriend MiSon, and myself. Hayley had decorated her place a bit and had lots of snacks for us, so we sat around for a while just talking and stuff before making the apples around 930. We made two each and just got them finished and wrapped in time to run to catch the last subway heading into Seoul. I knew that I would make it as far as the city where I would usually transfer, but the likelihood of making the last transfer train was low. In the end I missed it by about 2 minutes and was faced with the problem of having to take a cab home but not having any money. usually this wouldn't be a problem, but as I left the subway station to find a bank machine i quickly realized that there weren't many banks in the area of the transfer station, and the few that I found wouldn't accept my card (it's a time issue with some machines in this country). A bit panicked, I was about to call Blake and tell him to meet me at his station, a 20 minute walk for me, for help but then I came across a bank machine that would give me money and everything was good. I was in a cab and home by 130, and wasted no time getting to bed.
Having not drank on Saturday, Sunday was much nicer than usual. There was no headache or smoke filled lungs leaving me dieing for most of the day. Again I slept late trying to sleep away my sickness, and then got up and made plans with Blake to get outside and get some fresh air. We met on the subway around 3 and headed to Ttukseom to hang to by the river, and have a couple beers. After walking around for a while we slipped over to Kondae for some galbi dinner and then to one of the Ireland Yuki Bars for a couple drinks with one of the bartenders Blake knows. We jump on the the subway to head home by 8 so that I could get to the grocery store and then get some things done at home.

The week coming to an end, I am still sick, but hope the rest of you are enjoying the cool fall weather.