That Helpless Feeling

Things have continued to be swamped here which has probably zapped my decision making. And let's face it, that was never so hot to begin with.

I went to a movie with Vicky and Wendy last week when I was exhausted and should have gone to bed. At first it was supposed to be a bigger group, and I didn't want to be the one guy who said 'no'. But then people dropped out until it was down to three. At that point I felt too guilty to say "no". But then, I am one of the few people in South Korea who sticks to commitments.

Anyway, I didn't know a thing about the movie before going except that it was a traditional Korean flick based many years ago in a village with a king. Well, it was an eye-opener. I'll give you a quick run-down. The king had a special guard unit, and was in love with one of the dudes.

It came time for the king to have a baby, but his little village couldn't produce, so he had his most trusted guard/lover do the deed. Well, the sex ends up turning into love, and eventually the guard has his own special unit cut off by the king in an angry, jealous rage.

All I'm saying is for a country that hates homosexuals, there are an awful lot of movies featuring man-on-man action ... and I don't mean taekwondo.

I'm learning that not only do I not understand Koreans, but neither do they. With the change of the new year, I may or may not have gone up in age. Some people said I'm still 26. Others said I've turned 27. Not even the Koreans are sure of their ages.

To make work even worse, I have to do call tests nearly every day. Eli and I were each given a list with every kid in the school, and told we have three weeks to finish. Well, it's impossible to finish for a number of reasons. the most obvious is that we don't have enough non-class time to call all the students anyway. To make it more difficult, the kids are never home when we call.

Our lists were due on Friday, but neither of us are even half way. I am seven students from half way, but that is still a stretch since I have another 80 to finish the list.

Stacy asked me if I was done and I told her no. She then reminded me that she told me it was due that day. So I had to explain to her, AGAIN, that I will continue to call but sometimes kids aren't home. So she asked me to finish by this Friday. Chances of that happening are slim and none, and slim just left town.

I went with Vicky and her mom to Seoul on Sunday because her mom wanted to buy a camera. It was kind of cool. We went to the Namdaemun area and there were about 40 different camera shops. It was insane. Namdaemun is a famous, traditional outdoor market and was packed with people and things that I would never buy.

However, I was feeling saucy that day, and thought it a good time to buy an MP3 player, finally. The prices are good here, and I've been saving since I arrived. So I thought one nice purchase wouldn't be bad.

Well, I could be wrong. We went to Bupyeong train station where they have a big shopping mall, and I found one that I really liked. They even let me play with a demo model and Vicky got me a small discount.

Well, when I got home, the one I took out of the package didn't really work at all. Well, it turned on, but that's almost more mean to me. Because it got my hopes up first. We got the receipt, and I'm hoping they take it back so I didn't make some costly error. It's just frustrating.

The only good part about Bupyeong that day was that Vicky and I ate at a really good Nepalese restaurant right near the station. People have raved about it since I got here and we finally went. It was worth it. The curry was really great. And the Nepalese owners spoke fluent Korean. Pretty amazing. Vicky said a lot of Indians come to Korea and get jobs in factories and whatnot.

On a happier note, it seems pretty obvious that I am dating Vicky. I never wrote it flat out, but my posts were fairly leading. Anyway, it's a big deal in Korea when couples reach 100 days. That's when the first milestone is celebrated. It's common for the boyfriend to get the girlfriend a ring or a necklace and then some.

Well, I knew about this 100 days thing since I got here, and felt uneasy because of how American view rings in serious relationships. But my 100 days with Vicky will be here on Jan. 26, so I have to figure out if I stick with the culture or go in a different direction. Any suggestions???

On a small side note. It must be fun to be back home with the Steelers in the Super Bowl again. I mentioned today to mom and dad that when they won in 2005, I was also out of the city for the year. Maybe it's a good sign that I'm never around when they're successful.

But I did some winning of my own here on Saturday. Dan and I represented Franklin, PA and brought home a beer pong tournament championship with an undefeated record. Victory is sweet in any country.

Namdaemun and Bupyeong pics