April 18-24, 2011
Having been out in the sun most of Sunday, both John and I were very burnt out on Monday. I didn't know John was feeling as bad as i did until I got to work, but I had my suspicions when I slept extra late and struggled to get myself to work on time. During the day, we both agonized over how draining the sun is after the long winter without. I mustard enough energy to teach my classes, and at the end of the day was so relieved to just go home and crawl into bed.
Tuesday was a much better day, and after a good nights sleep, I was up and ready to go before my alarm even went off. I started off the day cooking my lunch for work while I ate some cereal, and then went to the gym to work out the stiffness from hockey. After the gym, it was off to work, where I got to work marking the students second round of first draft essays, which made me question why I even bother teaching them, because hardly any of them used the information I had given them. It was only Tuesday, and with so many more essays to go, I was certain I would lose my marbles before the end of the week, but tried my best not to take it out on the kids. After work I went back to the gym to try and stay on top of my workout schedule, and then went home to get some sleep.
Wednesday morning I was woke by a call from John at 8am, the contents of which I can't remember, and in jumping out of bed to grab my phone, my big toe nail that has been dead for a while finally fell off. At first I didn't notice, but when I laid back down and the blanket touched the top of my exposed toe, I realized what had happened and got up to take a closer look. The nail was under my blankets, so before the cat could get at it, I thew it in the trash. Since I was up, I got my things ready for work, and then went to see Wesley and Monitta. Since having his skull put back in, his condition had taken a couple of steps back, but that is to be expected after any operation. He was running a bit of a fever, and had stopped his regular yawning and movement, but the doctor was positive that it would only last a couple of days. After the hospital Monitta and I grabbed some pizza for lunch and talked about life, and our families until it was time for me to go to work. At work, I edited more of the students first draft essays, and when Jean had time, got him to order the kegs for the weekends fundraiser. I decided to go with 12 kegs since any that you do not open you can send back and will not have to pay for. After a flurry of essays and a couple of classes, the day was over, and I went off to the gym to get a workout in before going home to get some rest.
Thursday morning, I got up and went to the gym for a run and workout to get my day started while I ran through the fundraiser plans in my head. After the gym, I went to work to pound out a few more essays and finalize all the plans for the fundraiser with Emily, who was going to have to pick up the food from Costco since I didn't have a membership. After work I went back to the gym for workout number two, hten went home to have some food and get some sleep.
Friday I got up and went to the gym again, then went to work to finish out the week. Work was relatively painless, with only a few essay to do, and a few classes to teach. After work I went and had a couple corner store beers with John and talked about the tournament/fundraiser that we had the next day. We didn't stay out long since we both had to be up and on the subway by 7am, so we could get to the rink by 730 to set up for the fundraiser and get ready for the first game at 8. Once I was home however, I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was the fundraiser, and how much work we had done to get it set up, and wondered how well we would do. Eventually I fell asleep around 4, which didn't leave me much time to rest.
6am came early Saturday, and reluctantly I got up and got ready to make a day of it. I met John at the subway station at 7, and we grabbed a beer and some snacks to start the day. The ride was a good wake up, and when we got to the sports complex we met Emily who had all the food and set up our tables before all the players started showing up. Everyone was really geared up, and games started just after 8. By the time the kegs showed up, we had gone through all the canned beers, so the timing couldn't have been better. The players were more than generous all day, and together we played and drank all day, raising a lot of money for Wes. The team I played on was the worst in the tournament, and we lost all four games, but had a great time doing so. By mid day most of us had a pretty good buzz on, and were no longer concerned with playing hockey, and had turned our attentions towards the kegs. The games and tournament finished by 430, with a team of superstars from the league winning the Kimchi Cup, and by that point most of our goods were sold. We packed up what was left, and cleaned up while the rest of the players headed off to the tournament dinner at Big Rock. I had to leave before everything was all cleaned up so I could get to the dinner myself, and finish with our 50/50 draw. After some funny awards, and some more ticket selling, I drew the wining 50/50 ticket, and as luck would have it, Rob Gibson who helped us set up the fundraiser won to $100. Then, in another act of extreme kindness, he donated it all back to our cause. After a couple more beers I headed out to catch the last subway at 1145, and made a call to Emily to see how we made out. In the end, after everyone was repaid for the money they put into the day, we made 1.4 million Won, which is approximately $1200. Feeling good about how it had gone, and exhausted from the days events, I went to bed following a shower as soon as I got home.
After a long day of sports and drinking, there weren't enough hours in the day for me to sleep away. Unfortunately, I had to be at hockey again for 1130, because I had to play the 12 o'clock game for our regular league. I didn't feel too bad, and after a quick warm up and stretch, I was good to go. We were playing Doyles team, The Travelers, who were strong but beatable, especially since they were missing the number one goalie in the league. Off to a slow start, we narrowly beat them 4-3 in our first game, and then ate them up 4-1 in the second, when our team really came alive with our play. During our second game, I took a nasty tumble backwards and had banged up my glute muscle pretty bad. I played the rest of the game with it, but after, it began to stiffen up while I was goal judging for the games between mine and John's at 6pm. While I stuck around, there were several people who approached me about my play and how much I had improved since the start of the season, and about how I had stepped in a a rookie to do so much for the league. It's was nice to be noticed and appreciated, my only wish is that I had of known about the league before. After a few beers, and watching John's games, I headed home to get some groceries, and a pizza to fill the hunger gap. Before I went to bed I made my weekly call home, and then tucked myself in for a much needed sleep.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Friday, May 6, 2011
The Streak Comes to an End
April 11-17, 2011
Being worn out from hockey and not sleeping much from Saturday to Sunday, I slept in again Monday before getting up to make some food and heading to work for my weekly long day kick off. Work went by as painlessly as it could, and when it was all over it was straight home for me to do some laundry, make some food, then get to bed.
With an abundance of food already made, Tuesday morning was a very relaxing one. I got up with nothing pressing to do but get ready for work, then hit the gym. My workout was great, and really helped me kick off the day, before heading to my second busiest day of the week. Work went by just fine, and at the end of the day with some time to kill, I did some blogging and looked up protein supplements with Jean and John. After work, I went back to the gym for another work out before heading home to get some reading done, and get some sleep.
Wednesday morning came around and as usual I got up and got ready to go see Wes in the hospital. His aunt and uncle had flown in for the week, so we got to meet, and talk about how he has been improving and about his upcoming surgery to get his piece of skull back in. After the hospital, I headed to the closest Costco to Bongcheon to check out prices for the fundraiser for Wes I had proposed to the league. Everyone in the league was behind the idea 100%, so I had let Emily, Alex, and Louise in on the idea, but we were waiting to get it all finalized before we let Wes' family in on the plan. Costco was just what I needed to remind me of all the things I missed eating from back home, and wonder why I never got a membership. After Costco I was running late, so went straight to work, picking up some food on the way. I was an hour late, but luckily nobody really monitors what we do, so it was no big deal. I slid in and quickly ate my food before my first class at 4. When work was over, I headed to the gym to get my workout in, and check my progress with the scales. I was holding at 74kg, but have high hopes of it jumping as my body gets used to the extra trips to the gym. After the gym, I went home to eat and watch some TV before going to bed around 2am.
Thursday morning I got up and made some food before gong to the gym to get my first workout of the day underway. While at the gym, I talked with SeonWon about finally going to have some food at his family's cafe in Isu on Saturday when I was done visiting Wes, but told him I would text him to let him know for sure. After the gym I went to work, and typed up some things to give Wes' friends an idea about the fundraiser that was in the works. When work was finished, it was back to the gym. No rest for the wicked, they say. And after that, home to bed.
Friday was a lot like Thursday, except after working out, I went to meet John at Podo Mall for the beer and large fries set, and shoot the breeze before work. After our fries, we rode our bikes to school, but I made a quick stop at the bike shop to get then to look at an oil leak on my bike. It had been leaking ever since Gavin owned it, but had gotten to the point where something needed to be done. Turns out it was an easy fix, and all the mechanic had to do was put in a new washer where the old one had warn out, and *poof* good as new. Happy with the success of the day, I went to work to finish up the week with a smile. After work, it was off to the gym again for one last workout before the tragedy that is the weekend came, and brought with it a bucket of anti-motivation. After the gym, I went home and watch some TV before falling asleep early enough so I could get up to go see Wes in the morning.
Saturday morning I got up around 9am and got ready to head to the hospital to see Wes, and to tell his family about the fundraiser. Luckily Emily also showed up, so I was able to talk to her as well, before we let everyone know. His family was thrilled that we had decided to do it for them, and thanked us for being so supportive. After the hospital, I went to Isu to have lunch at SeonWon's family cafe, where I met his older sister and one of his friends, and had some great pizza and conversation. After lunch, I went to Yeouido to meet with Frank and his friend, Brady and SoHyun, and eventually Jen and Casey to check out the Cherry Blossom Festival. It was super busy, and I was a couple hours later than we had originally thought about meeting, but it seemed like everybody was trickling in so we just came together as people showed up. After walking through the crowds for a couple hours, we stopped at a 7/11 to get a drink and wait out the crowds trying to get out of there at the end of the day. For dinner we decided to take the bus over to Yeongdeungpo and eat at a lamb place in Jen's neighbourhood. It was a good meal, but not as good as Aladdin's Lamb in Sincheon, and coupled with the terrible bus ride and how hungry we were, it was definitely no knock out but well needed. After the lamb, we headed to a small bar for a couple beers, and then we all took the subway home around 11. I thought I would go straight home, but just before I got to Bongcheon, John called me and asked me if I wanted to have a beer and some chicken with him. We met at the station, then went to a chicken place near his house, and put in our order. While we were eating there were two couples sitting on the far side of the restaurant, and one of the guys was becoming drunk and irate. After a while, everyone in the restaurant was aware of him, and when he finally picked up and threw a chair, John ran over to grab him and drag him outside. I opened the door for them to go out, then went outside to make sure the drunkard didn't do anything to make things worse. His friend, who was also drunk, came out angry at John for interfering, but the owner and another Korean were able to calm him down, and eventually he apologized for his friends behaviour. John and I went back inside to finish our chicken and beer, and when we were finished and about to leave, the owner showed us his tae-kwon-do card that said he was a 6th Dan black belt. We laughed knowing that he probably could have handled things himself, and then went home to get some sleep.
Luckily I didn't have to play until 4 on Sunday, so I had some time to get up and work the cobwebs out. I talked to Ash on Facebook for a bit, then got my things together and went to watch some of John's hockey game. I got to the rink around 1, so I missed his first game, but caught the second. After that I hung out doing some goal judging, and soaking up the sun before my games. Unfortunately, our teams 6 game winning streak came to an end, due to our entire team playing poorly, with a loss in our first game against the Big Rock Black Ambers 3-1, but we redeemed ourselves in the second game with a 4-1 victory. After our games, I stuck around with Alex and Louise for a bit, but the day had turned cold, and by 7 I was ready to get out of the cold and wind. I helped do a quick clean up, and then left to get back to Bongcheon to get some groceries and go home. I finished the night off with my weekly call home, then went to bed, putting an end to another week.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
It's a Date! A Man Date.
April 4-10, 2011
Having played the late game the night before, I slept in Monday morning before getting up and cooking some food to keep me going through the day. Since I have been going to the gym, I have gotten back into making tuna pasta salad, and I was making enough for the whole week. After I finished cooking I went to work to get my long day over with, and when it was all over went straight home to lay about with Goah.
Tuesday morning, I felt rejuvenated and decided I better get myself into the gym if I want to bulk up before the summer heat comes, and my appetite fades. The gym is always so much quieter in the mornings, because there is only a handful of older ladies in there using the treadmills versus the hordes of guys in there at night trying to out-flex each other. However, the price I pay for quietness and emptiness, is having to listen to endless Korean love ballads played over the stereo for the old ladies. Totally worth it I guess. Plus, I usually listen to my mp3 player while I run or bike. After I finished up at the gym, it was off to work for yet another day of what is becoming repetitive nonsense. Luckily, the classes are only 40 minutes long on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so they are over before you know it, and in the blink of an eye the days was over and i was of the the gym again. The double workout is a great way to wake yourself up in the morning, and then burn off the excess energy before bed, and if I keep it up who knows what chiseled form I may take in the coming months. When I finished at the gym I went home and did some reading, before crawling under the covers for the night.
Wednesday morning, I got up and headed off to the hospital to see how Wes was doing, and as I got there, they were moving him out of his private room and into a 5 person room. His family was not very thrilled with the idea of having 1/3 the space as they did before, but the room was needed for another patient. I helped carry his things from old room to new room, and once things were ready, helped lift him out of his wheelchair into his new bed, which I might add was a tad bit short for him. After getting him all settled in, and having a visit with his grandmother, and mother, I excused myself so that I could head off to work. Work was pretty slow, so I used the extra time I had to work on my blog, and by the end of the day, I just didn't have it in me to go to the gym, so I went home and watched some T.V. until I was tired enough to fall asleep.
The next morning I got up and made sure I got myself to the gym, so that I wouldn't miss too many workouts before the weekend came, and my general laziness kicked in. Again the gym was nice, and I had lots of time to workout, as well as talk with SeonWon the trainer. After the gym, I went to work, and once again took care of my blog in my time between classes. Then while John and I were both on break, John asked if I wanted to go on, what would be our official first 'man date' the next morning to see the movie Sucker Punch, which we had both been eagerly waiting to see. Since Friday is the only day he doesn't work his morning kindergarten job making before work on Friday the only time we could see it, I told him it was a date. He had checked out the show times already, and the morning matinée started at 940, so we planned to meet at the Podo Mall theater for 930. After work, I hit the gym again, but only for a short workout, because I didn't want to be late for the movie in the morning.
9am Friday morning came a lot quicker than I had hoped, but once I was up and moving, I rode my bike over to meet John and see the movie created solely for guys. We had been watching trailers for weeks, and it had everything guys like us look for in movies. Cute girls, a sinister bad guy, a quest, secret items, ninja fighting, explosions, guns, robots, and the list goes on as my mouth waters just thinking about it. Since it was the Friday before payday, we summoned what change we could to get ourselves tickets, then buckled up for the ride. After the movie, we talked about how awesome it was as we rode down ten floors of escalators, and then both rode our bikes back to Bongcheon, to our apartments. Before the movie, I thought I might be able to get to the gym between the movie and work, but used the time instead to cook some food, then have a 30 minute nap with my best friend Goah, who is always down for a snuggle. When I got up from my nap, my food had cooled, so I packed my bag and went to work, hoping all the while that the days past quickly. After work, I went to the gym to make up for missing it in the morning, and so that I could get a good sleep to start the weekend.
Keeping with my visiting schedule, I got up Saturday morning and got ready to go see Wes in the hospital. Alex and Louise made it there before I did, and when I came in with juice and cookies for everyone, they were on the phone trying to get Wesley's caretaker situation sorted out. The private nurse who had been looking after him for the past two weeks, was due to switch off, so a new nurse needed to be found post haste. After several minutes on the phone, and some lengthy explanations, a new nurse, who could start on Monday, was found. That meant Monitta would have to spend the weekend at the hospital taking care of Wes. On a side note, it is awfully strange how it is not the hospital, but the family, that is in charge of providing nursing care for their loved ones while in the hospital. This is a striking contrast to the provided nurse care in the hospitals of North America that I am used to. It also raises the question......What on Earth are all the nurses in this country actually doing while at work?
With the care giver problem sorted out, the four of us went over to Dos Tacos to get some lunch before Monitta had to start her long weekend with Wes. After lunch I headed back to Bongcheon and got my usual two bags of groceries, and then continued home to kill off the day with movies. After a couple movies and a good nap, I was awoke to a call from John asking if I wanted to go get some chicken and beers with him and his friend Eric. I thought that was a splendid plan, and we agreed to meet at the chicken place around 730. We had our chicken and beer, but the night was still young, so we grabbed a couple more pitchers and took them back to John's place so we could shoot the breeze some more. While at John's, he came up with the brilliant idea to approach the league about having a kegger fundraiser for Wes at our upcoming tournament, where there wold be an abundance of people looking to drink and abundance of beer. I took his idea and ran with it, quickly posting the idea on our league website to see how everyone felt about it. By the time we finished the beer it was 1am, so Eric and I left to go home, though I was starting to get my second wind. After waling up the ridiculous hill by my house, and with the good buzz that I had, I decided to make up some food for Monitta, since she was going to be at the hospital most of the weekend by herself. I set to work steaming some peppers, making potatoes, and frying up some chicken, and before I knew it, it was 4am and I had a whole feast packed up for her. Feeling my eyes getting heavy, I called it a night and went to bed.
Having the 2 O'clock game Sunday meant I had to get up and take the food I had prepared to Monitta early enough, that I could still get to the rink by 130 to warm up. I was a little tired, but had gotten plenty of sleep to keep me energized for our games. Monitta was very happy to see some home cooked food, and was talking with Daisey, and Liam when I got there. I didn't stay too long, but talked with everyone for a few minutes before taking off to get back on the subway. Our two games against the Tea Baggers went as well as we had hoped, with our team pulling out a 4-0 victory and a 4-2 victory, which solidified our spot in second places above them. After our games, I stuck around to talk with some of the board members about the fundraising idea, as well as to watch the rest of the games and enjoy the weather. When everything was finished at 8, I helped clean up before heading home to get off my feet and have a shower. Before I went to bed I called home to see what the story of the week was, then packed it in for the night.
Spring has given us an early look at how much we missed the warn weather over the winter, and we are hoping it continues from here on out.
Having played the late game the night before, I slept in Monday morning before getting up and cooking some food to keep me going through the day. Since I have been going to the gym, I have gotten back into making tuna pasta salad, and I was making enough for the whole week. After I finished cooking I went to work to get my long day over with, and when it was all over went straight home to lay about with Goah.
Tuesday morning, I felt rejuvenated and decided I better get myself into the gym if I want to bulk up before the summer heat comes, and my appetite fades. The gym is always so much quieter in the mornings, because there is only a handful of older ladies in there using the treadmills versus the hordes of guys in there at night trying to out-flex each other. However, the price I pay for quietness and emptiness, is having to listen to endless Korean love ballads played over the stereo for the old ladies. Totally worth it I guess. Plus, I usually listen to my mp3 player while I run or bike. After I finished up at the gym, it was off to work for yet another day of what is becoming repetitive nonsense. Luckily, the classes are only 40 minutes long on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so they are over before you know it, and in the blink of an eye the days was over and i was of the the gym again. The double workout is a great way to wake yourself up in the morning, and then burn off the excess energy before bed, and if I keep it up who knows what chiseled form I may take in the coming months. When I finished at the gym I went home and did some reading, before crawling under the covers for the night.
Wednesday morning, I got up and headed off to the hospital to see how Wes was doing, and as I got there, they were moving him out of his private room and into a 5 person room. His family was not very thrilled with the idea of having 1/3 the space as they did before, but the room was needed for another patient. I helped carry his things from old room to new room, and once things were ready, helped lift him out of his wheelchair into his new bed, which I might add was a tad bit short for him. After getting him all settled in, and having a visit with his grandmother, and mother, I excused myself so that I could head off to work. Work was pretty slow, so I used the extra time I had to work on my blog, and by the end of the day, I just didn't have it in me to go to the gym, so I went home and watched some T.V. until I was tired enough to fall asleep.
The next morning I got up and made sure I got myself to the gym, so that I wouldn't miss too many workouts before the weekend came, and my general laziness kicked in. Again the gym was nice, and I had lots of time to workout, as well as talk with SeonWon the trainer. After the gym, I went to work, and once again took care of my blog in my time between classes. Then while John and I were both on break, John asked if I wanted to go on, what would be our official first 'man date' the next morning to see the movie Sucker Punch, which we had both been eagerly waiting to see. Since Friday is the only day he doesn't work his morning kindergarten job making before work on Friday the only time we could see it, I told him it was a date. He had checked out the show times already, and the morning matinée started at 940, so we planned to meet at the Podo Mall theater for 930. After work, I hit the gym again, but only for a short workout, because I didn't want to be late for the movie in the morning.
9am Friday morning came a lot quicker than I had hoped, but once I was up and moving, I rode my bike over to meet John and see the movie created solely for guys. We had been watching trailers for weeks, and it had everything guys like us look for in movies. Cute girls, a sinister bad guy, a quest, secret items, ninja fighting, explosions, guns, robots, and the list goes on as my mouth waters just thinking about it. Since it was the Friday before payday, we summoned what change we could to get ourselves tickets, then buckled up for the ride. After the movie, we talked about how awesome it was as we rode down ten floors of escalators, and then both rode our bikes back to Bongcheon, to our apartments. Before the movie, I thought I might be able to get to the gym between the movie and work, but used the time instead to cook some food, then have a 30 minute nap with my best friend Goah, who is always down for a snuggle. When I got up from my nap, my food had cooled, so I packed my bag and went to work, hoping all the while that the days past quickly. After work, I went to the gym to make up for missing it in the morning, and so that I could get a good sleep to start the weekend.
Keeping with my visiting schedule, I got up Saturday morning and got ready to go see Wes in the hospital. Alex and Louise made it there before I did, and when I came in with juice and cookies for everyone, they were on the phone trying to get Wesley's caretaker situation sorted out. The private nurse who had been looking after him for the past two weeks, was due to switch off, so a new nurse needed to be found post haste. After several minutes on the phone, and some lengthy explanations, a new nurse, who could start on Monday, was found. That meant Monitta would have to spend the weekend at the hospital taking care of Wes. On a side note, it is awfully strange how it is not the hospital, but the family, that is in charge of providing nursing care for their loved ones while in the hospital. This is a striking contrast to the provided nurse care in the hospitals of North America that I am used to. It also raises the question......What on Earth are all the nurses in this country actually doing while at work?
With the care giver problem sorted out, the four of us went over to Dos Tacos to get some lunch before Monitta had to start her long weekend with Wes. After lunch I headed back to Bongcheon and got my usual two bags of groceries, and then continued home to kill off the day with movies. After a couple movies and a good nap, I was awoke to a call from John asking if I wanted to go get some chicken and beers with him and his friend Eric. I thought that was a splendid plan, and we agreed to meet at the chicken place around 730. We had our chicken and beer, but the night was still young, so we grabbed a couple more pitchers and took them back to John's place so we could shoot the breeze some more. While at John's, he came up with the brilliant idea to approach the league about having a kegger fundraiser for Wes at our upcoming tournament, where there wold be an abundance of people looking to drink and abundance of beer. I took his idea and ran with it, quickly posting the idea on our league website to see how everyone felt about it. By the time we finished the beer it was 1am, so Eric and I left to go home, though I was starting to get my second wind. After waling up the ridiculous hill by my house, and with the good buzz that I had, I decided to make up some food for Monitta, since she was going to be at the hospital most of the weekend by herself. I set to work steaming some peppers, making potatoes, and frying up some chicken, and before I knew it, it was 4am and I had a whole feast packed up for her. Feeling my eyes getting heavy, I called it a night and went to bed.
Having the 2 O'clock game Sunday meant I had to get up and take the food I had prepared to Monitta early enough, that I could still get to the rink by 130 to warm up. I was a little tired, but had gotten plenty of sleep to keep me energized for our games. Monitta was very happy to see some home cooked food, and was talking with Daisey, and Liam when I got there. I didn't stay too long, but talked with everyone for a few minutes before taking off to get back on the subway. Our two games against the Tea Baggers went as well as we had hoped, with our team pulling out a 4-0 victory and a 4-2 victory, which solidified our spot in second places above them. After our games, I stuck around to talk with some of the board members about the fundraising idea, as well as to watch the rest of the games and enjoy the weather. When everything was finished at 8, I helped clean up before heading home to get off my feet and have a shower. Before I went to bed I called home to see what the story of the week was, then packed it in for the night.
Spring has given us an early look at how much we missed the warn weather over the winter, and we are hoping it continues from here on out.
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