Moustache Madness, and Hockey Fever

March 7-13, 2011

As this week began, the warm weather held, and it was close to t-shirt weather for most of the week.
Monday morning, after a weekend of hockey, my feet were absolutely killing me. The arch on my right foot was so knotted up, and the big toe on my left swollen and bruised that all I could do was hobble around. I had made some food the night before, so all I had to do was put it together before it was off to work for the day. At work, I hobbled around for the most part, and being my longest day of the week, by the end of it I was eager to get home and off my feet. Once I got home, I put my feet up to try and get the weight off,and the blood out of my toe.
Tuesday, after a good nights sleep with my feet up, the swelling in my toes was down and the rest of the feet hurt less as well. They were still quite sore, but manageable. I steered clear of the gym and went straight to work to get it over with. After work, I came straight home and just chilled again with my feet up.
Wednesday morning I was feeling much better and decided it was time to try and get in a workout, and make use of my gym membership. At the gym, instead of running on the treadmill I decided to ride the bike instead. I kept the riding to a minimum, and when I was warmed up I tried to work some of the knots out of my arches on the knobbed massage drum they have for your leg muscles. It worked amazingly well, and took away a great deal the tightness I was still having. I got in a light weight workout as well, but didn't want to push y luck being on my feet while I lifted. After the gym it went home to grab my lunch, and then it was off to work to see what I could get done for the day. After work I went straight home and watched some TV before an early bed time.
Thursday morning was a repeat of Wednesday. Again I went to the gym and tried to work the bottoms of my feet over on the massaging drum, and then lifted some weights before returning home to get my lunch and heading to work. Work went by quickly since it was one of my days with few classes, so I had some free time to chat with some of the other teachers while they were on breaks. After work I went home again to watch some TV and read before bed.
Friday morning, John called me before I had a chance to get motivated enough for the gym, and asked me if I wanted to have a couple beers before work. Now since we don't have to work until 2, there really isn't much harm in it from our perspective. Though from a professionals perspective, it probably wasn't the most grown up decision. Either way, we had our beers and talked about what had been going on at work the last several days, and then went in to get the day done. Work for me on Fridays doesn't really start until 6, so my first few hours were quite boring and seemed like they would never pass. Once I started teaching, the last 4 hours flew by, and before we knew it, it was time to clock out.
After work, the plan was to head to Itaewon for one of John's best friends, Chris Lostracco aka Griz, birthday. I had met him before, and he was also a member of the ball hockey league, so I knew there would be lots of hockey guys there for me to get to know. And, as the title of this blog eludes, it was a moustache party, meaning all the guys had to grow moustaches for the party. I had been working on mine for 3 weeks, and felt like, not to mention looked like, a complete dirt bag. We got to the party by 11pm and had a few beers while we chatted and played pool. Luckily the party stayed well in control, and after only 2 hours everyone started heading home. The few of us that were left decided to get some Moroccan sandwiches to fill hunger gap before bed, and have one more street beer while doing so. Then while we were ordering our sandwiches, some guy tried to cut in line. It was John's turn to get hot headed, and he proceeded to tell the guy to get to the back of the line. When the guy didn't want to, he lightly pushed John, who in return shoved him down to the ground. Another friend of John's, Dave, quickly stepped in and made sure nothing escalated. Once we had our sandwiches, John and I hopped on the the last subway just long enough to make it to the bus stop at Samgakgi, and catch the last bus to Sillim. We walked home from Sillim, and I was home and in bed by 230am
Having gone to bed as late as I did, I was not expecting to get up and do too much of anything during the day. Then, to my surprise, John called me and asked if I wanted to have a few corner store beers since the weather was consistently getting warmer and there was no telling how long it would last. It was only 130 and I had really wanted to just lump around the house for a couple more hours, but told him that I would meet him around 230. When I met him, we had a couple beers outside the mini-stop before walking down to Sillim to buy some new shoes. I had completely forgot about the Podo Mall at Sillim station until John reminded me and told me how great of a mall it was. We both needed new shoes so we made an afternoon of it, checking out some shoes, and finally settling on some Nikes (John), and Asics (myself). After we had our shoes, we grabbed some fries and a couple more beers, before walking back to Bongcheon and going our separate ways as the sun was beginning to go down. I had plans to go out to Gangnam for Matei's going away party, but needed to have a nap before going out for the night. After a one hour nap, I got up and got ready to head to Rig Rock in Gangnam, where the party had started. I arrived around 11 to all of the regular friends, but instead of getting back on the sauce, I had a few glasses of water. After I was done with the water, I started on some cocktails instead of having anymore beer. We didn't stay at Big Rock too long, before heading over to Voodoo for some more drinks. We weren't there long before Matei and Jen along with some others took off to Hongdae. Myself, Alex and Louise, Brady and Sohyn, Thomas, and Frank all stayed for another drink and then called it a night ourselves at 330. It was a lot later than I had planned on staying out, but the water and slow drinking pace had me in good mind set still. I was home and in bed, after some water, by 4am.
Sunday morning came early, as I had to meet John and go to hockey for the first set of league games. Since the draft, John had complained about not being on the team his good friend was captain of, and was finally the day before official games started. This trade however, meant that was were set to face each other for the first game of the season. We had to play at 2pm, but wanted to get there early enough to get warmed up. I was worried about how my feet were going to hold up, but the new shoes, which everyone thought were too neon yellow for my own good, felt fantastic. During the games I an incredible amount of grip, and my play was much better than during the try outs, and given what skill I had, I was put on defence which is usually for the better players. The games are played in a two hour period, and are 45 minutes long with a 5-10 minute break in between. We ended up splitting the games, one win each, so there was no trash talking after. Instead we bought some beers for the pool table replacement fund, and some pizza for the league fund, then watched the rest of the games. Alex and Louise even showed up, but were too late to see any of our games, but had some beers with us as well. While we were watching the other games my feet began to ache, though not as much as the week before, which was alright. Upon further inspection, the nail on my big toe was turning a deeper purple, and beginning to swell at an alarming rate. At 8pm, once all the games were finished, we helped clean up then headed home to get some rest. I grabbed some groceries before making my way home, then made my weekly call home, and went to bed wondering how my feet would feel in the morning.


Getting back into organized sports, and working out is giving me a new agenda for my time left here in Korea, and that it to get back into really great shape before returning home. I hope the coming spring is having a renewing affect on everyone back home as well.

Another New Semester, Same Old Confussion

Feb 28 - Mar 6, 2011


Another cold start to the week and still reeling from my head cold, Monday was the last day of our winter semester, and after getting my food ready before work, I headed in for what would be a day of movies and games. About half way through the day we were informed that Tuesday was a holiday, and that we wouldn't have to show up to work. This was good news, but since it was in the middle of the week and on such short notice, I didn't plan on doing too much. After work I went with all the teachers that were leaving, as well those that are taking their place to a restaurant near the school for a fair well dinner. Most of the leaving teachers did not want to be there, and only stayed long enough to have a quick bite and a beer, and say one last good bye, before taking off in a great hurry. I stayed a little bit longer talking with May, until she joined the table of administrators and the group of new teachers decided to go. I got up and left with them, and as we were leaving the restaurant I got a call from Jean about catching the end of the dinner. I told him it was over and that everyone was going home, so instead, I met him near our places for some chicken and beer. By 1am we had finished both, and were on our way home to call it a night.
Tuesday morning I got up about mid-morning, and with little to do for the day I got right to work on my blog. I had big plans to get it all caught up, and possibly to even get some photos up on Facebook. After a few hours of typing, I got a call from John asking if I wanted some company for a few beers. I was due for a break and told him to come by whenever. Before he showed up, I jumped through the shower just in case we decided to go out anywhere, and then got dressed as he was knocking at the door. We split a pitcher of beer while he told me about the date he had just come from, and I harassed him for shaving off his moustache for looks sake. Eventually we were out of beer, so I went over to the store and picked up another pitcher and some chips. The conversation piece over the next pitch was the dinner he missed from the night before, and some of the drama that it seemed to hold about quitting excuses, and peoples general attitudes. After a third pitcher, we realized it was 11pm and that we had just killed almost 8 hours, but had thoroughly enjoyed the company and conversation. Once John left, I cleaned up some of my dishes from Monday and what John and I had used, then went to bed while I watched the end of a Dane Cook comedy special.
Having gone to bed early the night before, I woke up again around mid-morning feeling not to bad, but still not well enough to go to the gym, so I made some food and then headed to work. Wednesday marked the start of our spring semester, and it was utter chaos at the school. The lack of organization and job proficiency in our office really showed, as schedules were not prepared, and teachers were running around trying to get the things they needed prepared for the classes that they were unsure they would be teaching. Approximately 10 minutes before the classes were due to start, John and I were given our class schedules and left to decipher the muddle that was given to us; all the while having Korean teachers trying to figure when we would be in their classes. Luckily my new schedule for Wednesdays is pretty light, so I had lots of time to get things figured out, and start making a readable schedule. At the end of the day, everyone was exhausted and pissy, so it was straight home for me to watch some T.V. and get some rest.
A week since I started going to the gym again, Thursday morning I got up feeling better than I had been and made it to the gym for a light workout. It was quiet as usual in the gym, and I had my pick of treadmills to run on, then was able to get in some brief weight lifting before calling it a day. After the gym I went home to get some food together, and then it was off to work to see what menagerie the day would bring. At work, again not until classes almost stared were John and I given our Tuesday/Thursday schedule. Quickly we figured out who we would be teaching with and tried to let them know when we would be in, but in the end it was still a hectic day, with Korean teachers thinking we were going to their class when we were actually in another. Since the kids leave at 9pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays, we had an extra hour at the end of the day to hash out our schedules and settle any changes that the Korean teachers wanted to make, like changing days or start times. After work I went straight home and did so reading before heading to bed.
Friday I got up feeling very motivated about going to the gym, and getting back on track with a workout routine. After the gym I went home to get ready for work, then went to meet John so we could transfer money to the ball hockey league he payed in for the past couple of years. I was surprised when he told me about the league, and was frustrated with myself as well as my group of friends for being so lazy and dragging each other down over the past couple years. I jumped on the chance to get back into team sports, and having met some of the players already, can tell it is going to be a great time. After our stop at the bank, we went to work to get the last day of the week underway. When we got there, there was some more schedule confusion over classes that had been looked over when the schedules had been made, and both mine and John's schedules grew by a class or two. The day went by as any other, and at the end of the day most of the teachers were quick to leave, excusing themselves from an invitation to get some chicken and beer. The only one who agreed to go was Jennifer, a new Korean teacher from New Zealand. We went to the TwoTwo Chicken place near school, and stayed long enough for a couple of pitchers and a plate of starved chicken. We said our good nights around 1am, and I went home, put on a movie, and passed out.
Saturday morning I got up and get ready to meet John so we could head to the Jamsil Sports Complex for the first of two rookie try outs. I was supposed to be there for 12, for the 12-2 rookies only game, but ended up waiting for John and didn't get there until closer to 1230. The games were set up so the captains, who are all veterans of the league could see what we had to offer and make teams. The weather was a warm 14C, and was perfect for some outdoor sports. I joined a team as quick as I could and started taking shifts at forward, and trying m best not to look like a fool. Even though I have been an athlete all my life, I found myself way more out of shape than I thought I would be. Before long I was pretty gassed, but never once stopped playing hard, mostly because I didn't need John giving me the gears about it later. When the rookie game was all over, the veterans played to get the rust off, and the rookies took a turn to drink some beers and watch the competition. Once hockey was over I stuck around with John and talked with some of the veterans that I have already met through him, and some that I hadn't. I think it was a good idea to stay, because it will help me assimilate into the group easier, and it is always good to make the effort when you are joining a group. Eventually we all headed out, and I came home to have a shower and see what plans were circling for the evening. It turned out that most people were staying in for the night, except for Brady and Frank who were going to be in Itaewon, and some hockey people that were also going to be there. I had a short nap and then headed up to meet John and a few people from hockey, and when they left around midnight I slid over to Bungalow to meet Frank and Brady. I had the misfortune/pleasure of taking Marley, one of the girls in the league who was completely wasted and on the war path, and her friend Angelica who was fairly sober with me. Marley quickly disappeared to drink with some other randoms, while Angelica and i joined the guys. We only stayed at Bungalow for a couple drinks, before heading over to Seoul Pub to finish the night. I only had one more drink, and then left to make it home before it was too late so I could get some rest for the next days try outs.
Sunday brought with it a great deal of stiffness, and sore feet having worn my crappy old runners. My right foot felt like the arch was going to explode with cramps, while my big toe on the left was swollen and blue under the nail having been rolled over on on Saturday. Once again I met with John to go to hockey. This time however, we were on time and I had tie to warm up before jumping right into it. I ended up on the same rookie team with some of the guys I played with the day before, and we had a great couple hours of play. When it was all over there were more beers to be drank, and while the veterans played, the captains went to one of the sponsoring bars to have the draft. After the veterans played, we all went to the bar to find out what team everyone was going to be on. Since the bar is a more expensive place to drink, a large group of us sat around drinking at the 711 until the draft was going to be announced, and then we went in to hear it out. It turned out that I will be on a team lead by Brett Roberts, and sponsored by X-Fitness in Itaewon, so we will be called the X-Men. Also, in a hilarious turn of events, Marley will be on my team. She's a good player, but a wicked drunk. Also slightly funny was the fact that I went higher in the draft than John did, granted he does have an injured wing at he moment. Apparently my speed and commitment was impressive. After we finished our beers, most of us called it a night so we could get home and rest up our bodies. Once I was back in Bongcheon, I stopped to get some groceries before getting home to cook some food for the week and make my call home.

The weather here is has been warm, and coupled with the new reason to be outdoors, it's looking like a good Spring is on its way.

Defining the V Rekindled

Feb 21-27, 2011


After a couple of warm weeks, this week started out similar, with temperatures in the high single digits and sunny skies, but by the end had turned cold again.
Monday morning I got up after having a productive weekend, and got right to work cooking up a storm before work. I killed the remainder of my time watching some internet videos, and reading before leaving around 140. Work was similar to last week, with little to do, but play games and watch videos. After work I went home and watched some T.V. while typing some more blog, then went to bed.
Tuesday morning I woke up feeling a little congested, but went about business as usual. At work things were the same as Monday, except for a text I received letting me know that the gym I had been absent from was having a promotional 20% discount for the end of the month. I had been planning to get back in and get in shape and this price break was a signal that I needed to get on it. After work I headed home again, and relaxed with some tea, hoping to kill my congestion before it got out of hand.
To no avail, I woke up Wednesday morning even more stuffed up after a scary brush with what may have been sleep apnea. I remember waking up but not being able to move, or breathe through my nose or mouth for a solid 10 seconds, but quickly recovered with a gasp and some nose blowing. I laid around for a while hating on my congestion before getting up and starting my day. Once I was on the go it seemed to clear up a bit, but on my way to work I picked up some decongestants at the pharmacy. Also on my way to work, I stopped at the gym to renew my membership. However, I was told that the promotional deal was only for people paying by cash, so I told them I would come back later with the cash, then went to the bank and pulled out enough for the gym and the external hard drive I wanted to buy. At work it was getting increasingly hectic as the Korean teachers were trying to finish up all their phone calls and report cards before the semester finished and they all left. June however, was all finished and it was her last day with us, so when work was finished we all went out for some chicken and beer. Living the life of alcoholics, John and I partied with her, while the rest of the teachers kept it casual, and after several bottles of soju and pitchers of beer the three of us were pretty drunk. June left with some of the teachers, while John and I stayed to finish off the beers and pay the bill. I made it home by 2am, tried to drink some water before falling asleep, but ultimately failed.
Keeping to his word from the night before, John called me at 830 Thursday morning, because I wanted to make it to the gym and TechnoMart before work, but have had problems sleeping in as of late. I must have still been drunk, because I got up and apart from my apartment being a sauna and my congestion, I was feeling pretty good. Before I got ready to go anywhere I decided to answer some emails, and drink some water to rehydrate. I opened the window and door to let some of the heat out, since the shared floor heating had been turned up to around 34 degrees, then got to business. It wasn't long however before the sinking feeling of a hangover was looming in my future. Knowing that I probably wouldn't survive a workout, I laid back down for an hour or so, which was the downfall of my day. When I woke from my nap I felt horrendous, both hungover and super congested, but did not want to disappoint John after he had taken time to call me. So, I got up and got ready for work, but did not make any food. I left my apartment and went to TechnoMart to see about buying the 1TB drive I had priced out. I did some more price checking, feeling better with the fresh air, and eventually settled on buying one from a guy who dropped his price from 158 000W to 140 000W (approx. $120) since I was paying in cash. Feeling good about my purchase I headed back to Bongcheon to pay the gym and go to work. On the way back I only made it half way before the heat and movement of the train took its tool on me, and I started to sweat and get light headed like I was going to black out. I quickly got off at Sindaebang station and found a bench to sit down on and cool off. I got on the next train through and made it back in time to get home for another shower before going to pay the gym, and then to work. At work, I sat around feeling terrible, but was joined by John who also wasn't feeling 100%. The only comfort that we had in our misery, was that June was feeling way worse than the both of us combined. I struggled through work, and when it was all over, headed straight home to crawl into bed.
After sleeping it off, Friday morning was a welcome reprieve from how I felt Thursday. I was still stuffed up, and had developed a bit of a cough, but all in all I was feeling good. I skipped out on the gym, to conserve my energy to fight the virus, and spent the morning watching T.V. and cooking. Work went by much better as well, and aside from teaching the last lesson to a few of my classes, I just watched videos and played some games. I didn't want to over do it after work, so I just went home and got some rest before the weekend.
Saturday morning I got up before 11 as I thought John and I were going to meet at Chrissy's apartment to help relieve her of some items she wouldn't be taking with her when she leaves. I called her only to ind out that she wasn't going to be home until around dinner, because she was out meeting with some friends before she leaves. I took the the rest of the day to do some more blogging, and got within a couple weeks of being caught up. Eventually Chrissy was back in the neighbourhood, so I swung over to pick up a couple boxes of things, and to drop off my hard drive so she could put her pictures from Shanghai and the DMZ on it. She said she would put them on it and return it to me the following Wednesday when she would be around again to pick up her diploma I was to get from the school. After walking home with a butt load of goods, I started getting plans together for the rest of the night. It was James' and Steve's last night out, and he wanted to go to Hongdae after having dinner in my old neighbourhood, but since I live so far away from there now, I decided to just meet them in Hongdae at some point. In the end it worked out that Alex and Loiuse were not going to have dinner with the group, and we made plans to eat at a Peruvian restaurant in Hapjeong, just one stop away from Hongdae. After diner we took a cab over to meet them at a hipster bar called Over Sound, where we split a couple bottles of vodka for an incredibly good price, and sat around chatting for a few hours. After Over Sound, we headed to another bar, the name of which I don't remember. It was an underground place, that was full of drunk foreigners looking for last call pick-ups. We put our things in a booth and just hung out around it until a group of drunks thought they might like to sit there. We didn't have a problem with them sitting there, but when we offered to move our coats, mostly so that they wouldn't steal them, the girls of the group insisted that they owned them and caused a commotion. I stayed surprisingly level headed, and explained to the one guy in the group that they were our coats and that everything would be cool as long as we just moved them. Louise however, was getting nothing but a hard time with the drunkest girl of the group, and it escalated quickly when Alex jumped in and made it known that he wasn't going to risk his jacket going missing. A few bouncers came over to calm the situation down, and once cooler heads prevailed, we got our jackets and moved to another table. After that we all had one more drink before calling it a night. We left the bar just before 530, and got some food on the street in order to kill the last few minutes before the subway started running again. I took the first subway home, and was safely in bed by 630am.
I slept in until he early afternoon on Sunday, and then spent the rest of the day hanging out. I got out of the house only long enough to get some groceries, but then it was back to movie watching and slugging about. Before bed I made the weekly call home and hoped for clear sinuses in the morning.


sun - slept late hung out got groceries cleaned

Look at me! I'm in North Korea :)

Feb 14-20, 2011


Having worked on reviewing this semesters work with the kids last week, I knew starting this week that work would be a breeze. For those classes that had not yet taken their level test, we would be doing more review, and for those that had, we would be playing games that still focused on the work we had covered.
I got up and cook some food Monday morning before getting ready and going to work. While at work I played review games with all of my classes, which made the kids happy since I very rarely play games of any sort. After work I headed home to take advantage of the newly discovered T.V. channels that I had. As it turned out, the cable package that comes with my apartment has two sets of channels. One with very few channels, the other with the full compliment of Korean channels. Since I usually use my computer to watch movies or shows after work, this new discovery will allow me to watch something in the background while I use my computer for other things, such as catching up on my blog and posting pic on Facebook. It was good news, and I watched some T.V. for the first time in a while, while eating some dinner.
Tuesday started out the same as usual. I got up and made my food for the day then headed off to work. The office was becoming increasingly chaotic, with teachers having finished their level tests and having to put in marks and call all the parents. This time of every semester is a highly stressful time, and with so many teachers leaving and so many starting, it was extra hectic as they had to communicate the changes to the parents. I found myself without a desk at times so the Korean teachers could make calls and input marks. At the end of the day, the true unorganized and ignorant style of Korean business showed up yet again when our "Vice Director" called Chrissy into her office. I used the quotes around vice director since she was never given the title, but instead, assumed the roll herself and made everyone's life miserable in the process. She sat Chrissy down and started asking her about her parent calls, which has been well established that she can't make since she doesn't speak Korean, and forcefully asked Chrissy to make Friday her last day. Chrissy had planned on making what calls she could the following week, which was her last week, after all her tests were graded. MJ was in the mood to start trouble, so she pushed the issue of Chrissy not doing her work, and in the end Chrissy told her that she had nothing more to say and wanted to hear less than nothing from MJ ever again and walked out of the office. John and I had been waiting for her, and we a little surprised when we saw her come out of the office in the way she did. Either way, we walked home as usual, getting the gist of the story from Chrissy. Once home, I took some time to type a little bit of the blogs I had fallen behind on, before getting to bed.
Not knowing what Wednesday would bring at work, I got up and headed in hoping for the best. When I got there it turned out that some more things had been said, and the usual staff meeting did not go over very well, and Chrissy was more than upset and packing up to go home. I wasn't sure how it happened, but she was in her room in tears, and all the other teachers were looking at management to blame. Now to works credit, Chrissy is a west coast princess, who has never had a real job, outside of the club scene, and she could really use some growing up. But as a business, there is a certain level of professionalism that our JLS branch just doesn't contain, or care to work towards. Eventually the director went into Chrissy's room to talk with her, and I heard after, that the message from the vice director was correct but delivered in a way that it was not meant to be. Either way Chrissy said she had had enough, and was leaving the school as the kids were arriving. For me this meant, that my break was spent with those kids since they were one of the classes I shared with Chrissy, and I had to explain to them what was going on without implicating the school in anything. I took them to a separate room and we talked and watched some internet videos until the vice director in all her wisdom brought me the books she thought I needed. It was evident that indeed she has no idea what she is doing, because the books were for the wrong level, and when I told her, she argued with me about it until I raised my voice indicating that they were my kids and that I knew what level they were in. She returned several minutes later with the right books, but didn't say a word. Possibly because all the kids were looking at her like she was an idiot. The rest of the day went by with whispers in all the rooms about what had happened, and a general disdain for administration by the teachers. After work Jean and I went to meet with Chrissy for some chicken and beer, and to talk about what had happened. In the end it was a laughable situation, because we all understood how bad things are looking for the school at this point, and there was no point in stressing over it. After a couple beers we all went home for the night.
Thursday morning I got up and went about my day as usual. At work things were a bit quiet, as most of the teachers that were leaving had heard about what had happened, and were now in total hate mode towards the school. All week John had been going on about how he wanted everyone to come out for his birthday on Thursday, and was still trying to convince some of the Korean teachers by the end of the day. It didn't work, and after work it was just him and I on our way to Sillim to meet up with a bunch of his other friends for some birthday beers. We went to a place called C Bar, and as he wondered around talking with his friends, I mostly hung out with a few other guys that were new to the group. Eventually the bar was pretty full with people John knew, and more and more acquaintances were made. By 2am people started filtering out, and by 330 there was only 3 of us left, and that was our signal to call it a night. I walked home to get some fresh air, and work some of the beers out, that way I wasn't hungover in the morning even though I only had 5 drinks.
Having walked home the night before, Friday morning wasn't half bad. I got up late in the morning, but felt good about not feeling bad. I quickly made some food to take to work, and then got myself out the door. Work went by pretty fast, and at the end of the day I had no plans but to go home and get some rest for mine and Chrissy's trip to the DMZ the next morning. I had been invited to Brady's place to place some board games, but since I had to be up at 6am, I declined for the sake of my health. Once home, I did a bit of blogging before settling in to watch some T.V. before falling asleep sometime after 130.
Saturday morning came far earlier than I had hoped. Having to get up at 6am so that I could meet Chrissy and leave Bongcheon by 630 was terrible. But, since we had to be at the USO office in Samgakgi by 7am, it was a must. We made it with plenty of time to spare, checked in, and then got on the bus to await our 730 departure. Luckily I had remembered to bring my book with me, so the wait and then 1 hour drive went by relatively quick. Once we reached the DMZ, a member of the U.S. Military entered the bus to check our passports, and then accompanied us as our guide for the rest of the trip. We headed to the Joint Security Area (JAS) after a quick briefing by the soldiers about how to properly conduct ourselves, and a short history lesson about the area. It is the only area along the boarder that is not separated by the 4km wide DMZ, and has building that lie 50% in the north and 50% in the south, used for holding meetings. It was in one of these buildings that you get to cross the line into North Korea, though only by 3m. After the JSA, we went to a lookout point, where you could somewhat see the propaganda city the north had built, as well as the Bridge of No Return, which was the last opening between the north and south at the end of the war allowing people to return to the side of their choice. After that we went to an observation deck that had coin operated binoculars for us to use so we could get a better look across the DMZ, and at the propaganda city. Following the observation deck, we had a chance to walk down into one of the tunnels they found that allegedly were built by the north before, during, and after the war to infiltrate the south. I'm not 100% convinced that that story is true, but without being able to collect both sides of the story, one may never know. When we were all done with the touring, we stopped at a restaurant for a cheap, but large lunch and then it was back on the bus for our last stop at the train station which was built for when the two Koreas unite, to ferry people through the DMZ and to their families on either side. There is very little hope of it ever being operational outside of the twice daily runs to and from Seoul, but one can hope. Once all the sight had been seen, and all the walking done, it was back on the bus for the ride home. Instead of reading on the way back, I caught a few winks, and by 330 we were back at the USO office, and on our way home via subway.
The original plan for after I got home on Saturday was to stay home and have a break, but mid week I got a message about it being Brady's birthday on Saturday, so plans changed. After I got home, I lounged around for a couple of hours, working on my blog and watching T.V., until eventually I was tired enough to have a nap. I slept from 6-9 and then got up to get ready for the evening. I had skipped out on dinner with everyone since I knew I would be tired after getting up so early, and told them I would meet them when they were finished eating. It turned out they had chosen to get some drinks at Craftworks after dinner, so with a birthday cake in hand, I headed that way for 1130 and met with Alex and Louise, Brady and SoHyun, Brett and MiSeon, Garrett, James, and Frank. We drank there until 3am before heading over to Dillinger's in Itaewon for a few more to end the night. We were luck enough to find a table as soon as we got there, and quickly laid claim to it so we could sit down, or at least put our coats somewhere. Up to this point I hadn't been drinking too much, so I decided to have a birthday Weliot with Brady, James, and Frank. They all thought it was atrocious, and we all shrivelled out faces in disgust. After that we just hung out sipping our drinks until 4am, when Brady and SoHyun, and Frank all left. They weren't gone for more than 30 minutes when Frank called me to see if I was still there. Luckily I was, because he had left his debit card with the bar and needed me to cash out his tab and take his card. I did, and after that Alex and Louise, and James all headed out. By then it was 445, and knowing the subway would open in another hour, Garrett and I decided to get one last drink at Seoul Pub to pass the time, and save a few chun on the cab ride. We sipped away until 530 before hitting the street for a kebab, and then it was into the subway station to catch the train home.
Getting home at 630 Sunday morning, made for a late rise in the afternoon. The good thing though was that I didn't feel bad for a second week in a row. Though still tired from being out all night, I was able to get some work done on my blog, as well as clean my apartment, get groceries, and do some cooking before I made my weekly phone call home. Eventually I had enough with the computer, and went to bed satisfied with what I had got accomplished over the weekend.

Another week of warmer weather is bringing hopes of Spring. Hopefully everyone out their is staying warm as well.

Back to the Grind

Feb 7-13, 2011

Monday was back to the grind this week. With the weather warming slightly, it wasn't so bad to be back in Seoul. Given the time difference between Korean and home, Monday morning was in fact Sunday night, which was Superbowl Sunday. I am pretty passionate about my football, and made sure to get up earl enough to make it to Itaewon so that I could watch the game. I could have watched it from my home on my computer, but I like being around other people for big games like that, and I convinced John to go with me to Sam Ryan's pub. The pub was offering hamburgers and sausages at a reasonable price, so with a couple of those and a couple Bloody Marries in me, I started the day/week out pretty good. After the game I went home to change my clothes, but since I had failed to get groceries on the weekend, I didn't cook for myself and just bought some food on the way to work. When I got to work Chrissy had already told some of our coworkers about our "Trip of 1000 Fails", as we called it, but I shared some more stories and had some laughs with them while we all talked about how the holiday had been. Also, during the month of January 6 of the 10 Korean teachers in our Chess program had given notice that they were quitting, which is a story too long to be told in my simple blog. Nevertheless, while I had been home for Nan's funeral, some new teachers had been hired and they began to show up here and there at the school, when they weren't at training. We met a couple of them Monday, but it was brief, and uneventful. After work, I came home and did some laundry while I watched a movie, and then fell asleep.
Tuesday and Wednesday were simple days. I got up and without food to cook, killed time in the mornings before going to work, and then came straight home after work and did some exercising to try and stay in shape until I could renew my gym membership at the end of the month. While at work on Tuesday I took a few minutes to book a trip with the USO to teh DMZ on Feb. 19. Though I have been to the DMZ with Adventure Korea, the trip withthe USO takes you inside the "no-mans" land to the shared military border with the north; and Chrissy had asked if I would go with her so that she wouldn't have to go alone. Wednesday was also a bit different I guess. I called my dad to wish him a happy birthday since it was would still be his birthday back home. Then at work I received the good news that one of the most troublesome student in the Ace program had been removed from the school, so my classes with that group of students could go beyond me punishing him the whole time.
Thursday was again, just as plain as the couple before it, save but one instance at work. While teaching my last class of the day, my conversation class with my 8th grade students, one of the boys came up with a response that was one of the more humorous things I had heard a student say. It was almost as good as the Spider-Man story Alice from my 5th grade LSD class had written. We were talking about aliens and UFOs, and space travel in general. The students were giving relatively small and basic answers, but they were more engaged than when we were talking about going to high school, or family life. Then when I asked the question, "What would you need before you could survive on the moon?", one boy simply answered "Girls", with a look of pure charisma on his face. The class went silent, and we all looked at him. I think I was the first to laugh, and the rest weren't far behind. It was a great way to end the day, and reawakened me to the fact that, these kids, though schooled to the max and slow to develop socially, are no different than I was when I was a child. After the class, I shared the story with the other teachers, and then headed home to get lay down and let my stomach that had been churning all day settle.
Likely due to the double meat sub I ate the day before from Subway, I woke up Friday still feeling sick. I went to work hoping it would go away, but it didn't and by the end of the day I kind of just wanted to go home and sleep it off. But I didn't. Instead, I went to meet meet Rocchi in Haebongchon at a pub called Craftworks for some beers. I knew I wouldn't drink much, and even planned on coming home at a respectable hour, but Rocchi and his friend were over an hour late getting there, so I stayed longer than I had planned. After it was last call, we finished our beers and they convinced me to head to Hongdae with them. It had been Rocchi's plan the whole night to go there to meet a friend of his around 3am, but when we got there she was MIA and we settled for one more drink at a Ho Bar before getting some food and heading home. Even though I hadn't drank much, my stomach was still upset, so when I got home at 430 I chugged some water, then went straight to bed.
Saturday I woke up around 11 feeling pretty bad. Apparently the the kebab I had before coming home fuelled the fires of my indigestion , and I spent the better part of the day laying in bed or in the washroom chugging Pepto Bismol. In the late afternoon I got up the nerve to head over to Sindorim, to pick up some things at the E-Mart, and to price out a new external hard drive at TechnoMart. I was looking to price out a 1TB portable drive, so that I could transport files between work and home or friends without having to carry a large desktop external. The prices were standard it seemed across all the sellers at around 158 000W, so with that in mind I went back home to try and rest up for Louise's birthday party.
After a short nap and a quick shower, I got ready to head to Shincheon to have dinner at Aladdin's Lamb with all our friends, before going to Gold Bar for some drinks. I was feeling a bit better, but didn't eat too much at dinner, and saved the drinking for Gold Bar. It was the first time we had all been together since the last time and the fight at Gold Bar, so we shared the story and had some laughs about it, then went over to see if we could have a less eventful evening. It was a great evening, with no trouble, and lots of good times. We took our time drinking so nobody got sick, and having felt pretty bad all day I took it real slow up until about 4am. After that, I had a few more drinks at an accelerated pace, and then headed home on the subway at 6am. One back in my apartment I drank some water to save myself from dehydration, and then went to bed at 730.
Sunday was a brighter day. I was feeling a bit better, and having not drank too much the night before ,I was up in the early afternoon and ready to go. I hung out watching some movies, got groceries, and called home before calling it a night and heading to bed shortly after 1am.


Winter is losing its grip on Seoul. Hopefully the rest of you are experiencing a break from the cold as well.