Wrapping Up 2013

Living in South Korea means your life is constantly changing. Maybe it's because of a new job, travel opportunities or the coming and going of friends, but things here are always in flux. For a person with an adventurous spirit, that can be a blast.

For Jeong Mi and I -- and Liquor Burger -- we really get to see as much of that lifestyle as possible. The year 2013 was no different. We went on a variety of trips, met a ton of great people and had some fun parties. So the final two months of the year, as busy as they were, didn't catch us off guard.

The Makoli Men (November and December)

Our local band -- The Makoli Men -- have been playing a lot of shows recently. We've watched them in Seoul, Songdo and right here at LB in Yeonsu. It's always nice when you get to see your friends become successful. Unfortunately, due to the temporary status of a lot of people here, bands don't get to last together a super long time. But these guys put in a lot of shows together, and it's been a whirlwind of fun.

Here are The Makoli Men in Seoul

LB Thanksgiving Dinner (November)

Thanks to our friends Seth and Lucy, LB Thanksgiving dinner was really easy this year. They hooked us up with their friends, Joe and Sumi, who have access to the Yongsan military base. That meant picking up the turkeys was monumentally less stressful.

We had 40 people or so at LB this year for Thanksgiving dinner. As usual, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was nice and relaxed. We even closed LB down early that night to spend some time with our friends. It was a really great day.

LB's Thanksgiving Feast

After party with our friends.

Star Dance Adieu Party (December)

As everyone knows, Jeong Mi and I met through salsa dance academy. We're fortunate enough to still be in touch with friends from the academy. One of our friends (who also did both of the LB interiors) owns his own dance studio. Every year they have a fun end of the year show and party. So Jeong Mi and I went to watch and support our friends.

The show featured salsa, belly and zumba and was a lot of fun. Afterwards, we spent the night drinking, dancing and singing with our friends. We're so fortunate to have such great friends here in Korea.

Star Dance Party pics

LB Christmas Potluck featuring The Makoli Men and Dinner at Wang's (December)

It's so important to have a nice community and support system while you're living abroad. We just happen to live in the best neighborhood with the best community in Korea. Just like last year, we did our LB Christmas Potluck dinner and it was an awesome event.

Again, we had between 35 and 40 people come over with a homemade dish to contribute to the buffet. Everyone did a really great job on the food. We had a super fun Secret Santa and The Makoli Men played for us.

Check out dinner and the band here

Later on in the week, we once again got to spend time with our friends. A group of us went to Jeong Mi's best friend's house, where we ate, drank and had a great Christmas together.

Christmas with Wang pics

Trivia 100 with Dorian

My favorite weekly event is obviously our Trivia night. It's been a staple of Liquor Burger and has been a really great Thursday night get together for the neighborhood.

For the 100th Trivia, Dorian -- our original host -- came to town to run the show. It was so much fun and we had a lot of teams turn out for it.

Trivia 100 pics

Pocheon Lake Hot Tub (December)

Given the theme of this post so far, it's only fitting that I wrap up this entry with a friend-related item. At the end of December, we headed back to my favorite lake in the country with a great group of friends. Because it's winter, we stayed at a pension that is about a ten-minute walk from our usual place. The reason: It has a hot tub.

We ate and drank and hot tubbed and had a great time just being out of the city. If you're someone who loves city life, Korea is a good fit for you. But if you're not big on it, you have to make occassional trips to the non-city places in the country. Thank goodness Pocheon exists. I might go nuts without it.

Hot tubbing with buddies


What's Next???

For the first time in a long time, I don't really have an answer to this. We don't have a winter trip for LB planned yet, and we're not 100 percent sure if we'll do one at all. We will have a band and magician do a show in February, and we'd like to do more live music in general.

I'm on a soccer team for a February tournament, and LB has a floor hockey team for which we're competing over the next 10 months. At least I'm going to be in great shape.

Other than that, we'll just keep plugging along at LB.

We miss our family and friends back home a lot, but we're so thankful to have such wonderful family and friends here.

I'll keep updating our adventures as long as you keep stopping by!!!

Bucheon Year End Dance Party

My good friend Eun Sang threw a year end party at his dance studio in Bucheon last Saturday. I met Eun Sang at Bamboo Dance Academy and did my performance and the competition with him. I was super excited to go to the party at his studio.

Though they did play some salsa music, and we definitely did dance, it wasn't a salsa party. They played pop music and dance music throughout the night, and had a big buffet of food and a ton of beer. It was awesome.

On top of that stuff, there were also three different dance performances by some B-boys and some high school girls, as well as a singing performance. There was also a magician! It was awesome. Its no secret that I'm a big fan of magic acts, and this guy had some pretty good tricks, and even had a bird do some card tricks with him. And to make it even better, Jeong Mi volunteered and did some tricks with him! It was really fun.

We saw a few of our friends from the Bamboo A Team there, with whom I did the Seoul Salsa Competition. It was great to see everyone and hang out. Bryan and Geoff came along with Jeong Mi and I, and there were a couple western girls there as well.

We drew numbers and they handed out prizes at the end of the night. Geoff won some comfy socks!

It was really nice to do something different. I've been stuck in a rut lately, for sure. This came at the perfect time to shake things up. I can't wait until they throw another one.

Check out all the pics here!!!

Life Has Been Good

I love writing negative things about South Korea. Okay, that's a bit of a stretch, but in my first year here, I regularly vented my frustrations and came off like a whiny baby who needed a diaper change.

But thanks to my current school and co-teacher -- Hambak Elementary School and Ridia, respectively -- this year has been pretty much wonderful. So here's a recap on recent events taking place. This is basically everything that's been going on since we headed to Jeju Island. It's been busy, but fun.

The first thing to get out there is that I've signed on again with my current school. This is a great place to work. The teachers and administrators are all very friendly, and Ridia has put together a great program which has skyrocketed in popularity. It's a very low-stress environment, and the head of our English dept. and I even had a little talk and worked out our differences. It feels great.

My eye seems to be all healed up. I went through a pretty terrible time with the eye cut and subsequent use of glasses for the next 6 weeks. That was no fun. But everything feels okay now and I'm back to wearing contacts. Of course, that's right in time for my winter allergies to start kicking in. So now I'm concerned of hurting my eye(s) again. Let's just hope that's not the case.

All is going very well with Jeong Mi and me. We both are still on our 'time off' from Bamboo Dance Academy, but that only applies to classes. We've become regulars at the Saturday open dance now that we don't go to classes during the week. I want to learn some new moves, but I'm really starting to enjoy open dance now that I don't practice all week.

Halloween is right around the corner. This will be my third Halloween here. Even though I basically avoid partying in Seoul at all costs, one tradition will hold true. We will, once again, go to Hongdae to celebrate Halloween. This will be Jeong Mi's first official Halloween. We're both really excited. All our friends are, too. Only going to Hongdae once a year actually makes it fun.

Back to Hambak, I started going to the cafeteria again for lunch. I took about 8 months off and that was pretty awesome. But I was forced to withstand a barrage of questions from a lot of teachers about why they never saw me at lunch. I figured that since I'm getting a raise this year, I can handle the cafeteria food. The good news is that the school switched to a new food company this semester. I've only gone one day where I only ate rice and salad, because the food has been pretty decent so far.

Our students have been practicing for a singing competition in November for about 6 weeks now. We're singing 'Sweet Caroline' and 'Summer Nights.' Of course, the kids are getting pretty sick of the songs, haha. But they're doing a good job with it. The competition is right around the corner, and I'm excited for the students.

We don't really have a break here for awhile. Thanks to Christmas falling on a weekend this year, we'll get no days off for that. I don't think we get any time off until the lunar new year celebration in February. That's a long time with no extra days for rest. But we don't have a ton of planning to do right now, so it's not too bad. We have some extra stuff to do for government inspectors, but we can handle it. Ridia is really busy as usual, but we're doing our best to help her out as much as we can.

That's all there is for now. As always, people are leaving and new people are coming in. Some of that is good and some is bad. But that's life.

And right now, life is good. Let's hope this feeling continues.

Melissa's Wedding and The Whole Trip

Well, I've taken plenty of time to recuperate and I've also been pounded with a heavy work schedule since one of our teachers is on vacation. But it's time to document my time back in America.

Overall, it was really great to go home and hang out. It was a super-short time, and we really had to rush around, but seeing my family and friends, giving Jeong Mi the tour, meeting her sister and having a little break were all very nice. The one major problem was the traveling itself, which is still haunting me as I type.

I'll break this up into three parts. So let's start with the first leg of our trip.

Heading back to America


The trip started off a bit ominously, but I knew it would be stressful, so I just tried to go with it. Jeong Mi's dad was going to pick me up at 1:30 p.m. on that Wednesday and we'd go to the airport, say goodbye and be on our way.

Well, as is the case in Korea, a plan is never actually set. Jeong Mi called me at 11 a.m. that day asking me to meet them at her house, instead of him coming to get me. Well, that would've been nice to know the night before, but I got all my stuff together, took a cab to the subway, and lugged my gear to her place.

I had a tiny breakfast with her family and we all hopped in the car and got on our way.

We got to the airport in plenty of time, checked in smoothly and headed to our plane. All was going well. I was even feeling saucy enough to upgrade our seats to get some extra leg room. Yep. All looked good.

We even got to use the Asiana lounge, which had a salad bar and drinks -- including beer. Totally worth the upgrade price.

Well, we got on the plane to find our first disappointment: The plane had no individual screens on the backs of seats. Now, we were close enough to the big screen at the front, but when you get used to having a personal screen and a ton of options, it sucks to suddenly not have one on a 10-hour flight.

Another problem on our United airplane was that even though we were on a trip leaving South Korea, there was only one Korean-speaking flight attendant. Only one! This was a plane with 200 Koreans and there was one Korean speaker. The attendant we had working our row subscribed to the theory of speaking louder if someone doesn't understand English. So when she came around and asked Jeong Mi how she wanted her coffee, and Jeong Mi didn't respond, she just practically yelled it. It came off as very rude.

After being in a country that caters to English-speakers, it was a little reverse culture shock to see how little an American company (flying out of South Korea) cared about speaking Korean.

Well, to add onto our already subpar experience, our flight arrived late in San Francisco. Then, we went through immigration. She had to wait a longer time in her line, because American immigration employees insist on interviewing people who don't speak any English. So I waited in order to translate for Jeong Mi, and had four different people try to make me leave the area.

The final person told me to leave and I got a bit testy and said, "I'm going to do you a favor and translate." The guy said, "Does she speak some kind of strange language we wouldn't know?" I said, "I don't know, buddy. Do you speak Korean?" And what a surprise, after that, they stopped bugging me.

Even after spending 20 minutes at the immigration area, we still had to wait for almost 25 minutes for our luggage to finally roll around. At that point, we had missed our next flight. We were supposed to fly to Denver next, and then to Pittsburgh. We got re-booked on a direct flight to Pittsburgh that would get us in one hour later than before. How stupid is that? Why didn't they just book us on that flight in the first place?

Either way, we got on that plane (with excellent flight attendants) and got to Pittsburgh, where mom and dad picked us up, and took us through Sheetz for a snack. It was awesome.

Franklin, Pittsburgh and Erie

We got up the next day, and I took her through our quaint little downtown area, where we got some coffee and checked out some of the shops and the park. It was really nice, and she loved our town. A 6,000-person American town is obviously different from EVERYWHERE in South Korea.

After that, we headed down to Pittsburgh so I could show her where I spent the last 6 years of my life before coming to Korea.

We checked out Piper's Pub in the South Side for lunch, rode the incline and then headed to Lawrenceville where we hit the Blue Moon and Belvedere's for 80s Night. It was awesome. The bartenders and DJs remembered. It was strange to see how little had changed. It's like time stood still while I was gone.

She and I both loved every minute of it.

The best part was seeing Joe, Amanda, Matt and Joe's wife. It was so great to see my best friends again. We went right back to our old routine, and it just felt so good.

The next day, we woke up, grabbed our stuff, and headed up to Erie, where the wedding was taking place. We stayed at the Sheraton Bayfront Hotel. It was in a really nice location on the lake.

After we arrived, we headed to the church for the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner. The food was great, and Jeong Mi started meeting everyone. She was pretty tired, so she took a bit of a nap, but we had a nice dinner.

After that, it was back to the hotel where we got in the hot tub for a bit before winding down. Her sister, Limmy, came at about 3 a.m., so she went to meet with her for a bit.

We were both awake by about 7 a.m., so we went for breakfast with dad. We also headed over to the beach to check it out. She was pretty impressed by a lake that was so big it actually has waves.

Then, she went to hang with her sister while I was headed to the church at the terribly early hour of 10 a.m. for pictures. Our groomsmen pics took about 15 minutes, followed by roughly 3 hours of just standing around bored out of our minds. Totally unnecessary.

The wedding went by just fine, everyone was happy and whatnot. And then, it was onto the good part of the night.

Jeong Mi had already started meeting everyone, but it was at the reception where she really had to be on her toes. Of course, right after dinner, the travel had caught up with her again, and she had to take a little nap. She missed the Chicken Dance, but was back soon for more dancing and fun.

We even did a salsa dance in front of everyone. She was a bit nervous and wasn't wearing great dancing shoes. We also didn't have a salsa song. But it was a Latin tune, and we pulled out some moves and had a lot off fun. Everyone really enjoyed it.

Then, my night got even better as Lynn and I sand 'Dream Lover' on karaoke. It was my special day and everyone knew it. Haha.

We wrapped up the night by hanging out in Paul and Pauline's room with some of mom's side of the family, and then hanging in Limmy's room for a bit. It was a really nice way to close down the night.

Sunday in Erie and Franklin

I woke up the next day with a pretty big problem. My eye was swollen shut and I was in serious pain. I always have some issues with sensitive eyes because of the airplane and hotel air. It's really dry, and it makes wearing contacts a bit tough sometimes.

Well, we had dinner with the family in the morning to say goodbye to everyone, then headed to a clinic, where I got the wonderful news that I cut my eye. Most likely, it was when I was taking my contacts out. My eye was probably really sensitive at the time, and I probably didn't go easy enough.

Well, we headed over to the beach for one last quick visit, then back to Franklin.

At home, we did a Bruckart family tradition and had a campfire in the backyard complete with hot dogs, beans, mac 'n cheese and , yes, DILL pickles. It was all so good and it was nice to show Jeong Mi how nice life was back home.

We were fast asleep soon after that, and up early to head to Pittsburgh for our return flights. And that's where the stress really happened.

Heading Back To Korea


Here's a little tip for any of you traveling to South Korea. Don't go through China. Our tickets took us to Beijing to transfer, and it was a nightmare. First, in Pittsburgh, they weren't confident about letting me get on the plane, because they were convinced I'd need a visa just to transfer in Beijing. After about 30 minutes of phone calls and searching, they found out that people staying less than 24 hours and not leaving the airport don't need a visa.

But I already knew the day would be nuts.

Our flight to to Newark went fine, and the transfer in Newark was a piece of cake. It was in Beijing where things were a mess.

First, we got sent to about 10 different places, some of them twice, just trying to get through to pick up our bags and check back in. While all the employees spoke English well, none of them knew the process we needed to go through. So it was back and forth between various lines and counters, getting information and misinformation along the way.

As our time was getting exceedingly close to missing our flight, we finally got through, only to find out that we had to ride the tram to a different building, get our bags, re-check in and then come back to the building we were currently in.

While, we were stressed and it was insane, but after running around everywhere, we made it to our plane as it was boarding.

And here's the sweetest part: We flew Asiana from Beijing to Incheon. So we were coddled the whole way back. And that is a great way to end a trip.

Back to Work and Normal Life


And that was pretty much that. I went back to work the next day and one more before hitting the weekend. And last week, Geoff left for a little time off because his contract is finished, and he's re-signing. He's taking  little trip at home. Unfortunately, that means we're getting pounded at work.

But fortunately, we only have one more week and a Monday before Chuseok, the Korean harvest and family holiday. So we'll get four work days off, and the following weekend. Jeong Mi and I are planning to hit Jejudo with Popper and his girlfriend. After that, I'll have hit pretty much every major thing in South Korea. So I'll be ready to start checking other countries.

It's going to be a busy week or so, but it's nice to get back to the familiar routine.

The only real problem is my eye is still bothering me. I've gone to the doctor a few times, and have at least one more trip next week. Also, I can't wear my contacts for a month, which is terrible. I'll have to wear my glasses in Jejudo. That's not cool. But oh well.

So, except for the glasses, it's back to normal. Enjoy all the pictures. I posted a few different sets in the previous blog posts. So check them out and see our time in America. Enjoy!

Break (from) Dance

Well, after 7 months of Salsa training and winning an award at a major competition, I've decided it's time to take a rest.

I've really, really enjoyed my time at Bamboo so far, but the summer weather's call is too much for me to withstand. While the weather is so nice, I want to go outside and play other sports and spend time with my friends.

There is also at least one other reason: I'm going to America at the end of August. That takes an entire week out of that month. I also have vacation the first week of August, which is another week I won't be going to training.

After I get back from America, I'll need at least a couple weeks to refill my tank and get re-adjusted.

Because of that, I'll be taking August and September off for sure. I may take October off too, but I'm not sure yet.

They key is being able to take advantage of being able to go outside without terrible weather. So my plan is to go back when the weather gets cold again.

When the weather is great, I don't really want to train inside. But dance is a great thing to do during the winter. Of course, the trip to the studio isn't really fun in that weather, but I'd much rather be inside when it's freezing outside.

So my rest time has arrived, and I plan on taking full advantage of it. I'm traveling with Jeong Mi and her parents on Monday, and possible with some friends next weekend. While nothing is carved in stone, it's nice to have all these options, knowing that I don't have to go to practice.

This weekend will be pretty relaxed. Josh Castonguay submitted some pics to a local magazine and got some in there. We'll celebrate his accomplishment Friday in Bucheon with some friends.

Vacation starts Friday at 4:30 p.m. Brace youself, because it's going to be fun.

My Birthday Extravaganza

Saturday was my birthday and we had a great time.

In the afternoon, we went to InHa University, where I spent a ton of time last year with my speaking group. We just walked around and had lunch. It was a nice day, though, so it was fun to be outside.

We walked over to Home Plus and my parents were once again impressed by the size of a Korean supermarket. To be fair, this Home Plus is massive and dwarves most other things in the area.

While we were there, we ran into Vicky's parents. It was really cool. We didn't plan it or anything. It just happend. So it was nice to introduce them briefly and say hello. I haven't seen them in a long time.

Around 7 p.m., we met Jeong Mi's family at Gyeongbokgung restaurant in old Songdo. It was really nice. They treated us to a lot of traditional Korean food. It was all very good. The waiters even brought out the cake that Jeong Mi made for me and sang a birthday song. I spent the entire time translating.

This whole trip, really, I spent as a translator. It's nice practice, but it can be demanding. It was all worth it though, as we had a really nice time getting to know each other. Our parents got along really well, so it was super fun.

After that, we rushed to Bamboo Academy for the open dance. When we arrived, Fafa rushed me out onto the dance floor and announced to everyone that it was my birthday. Because of that, I got to do the birthday dance line. I stood in the middle of the floor, and a line of girls danced with me. Jeong Mi started the line off. I was actually pretty nervous, but it was a lot of fun.

Then, they all brought out a cake for me, and sang me a birthday song.

They ended dance about 30 minutes early so they could go catch the Korea game. We headed back to Yeonsu-dong to watch it with some friends. We then took a small break and watched the sadness that was the US loss to Ghana.

Technically, that game was on June 27, here. So everything good that happened, happened on my birthday. It was a really great day.

Here's mom's blog.

Here are mom's pictures.

Incheon Landing Memorial

The week continued to fly after Wednesday. No wonder I haven't had much time to post. Between working and giving my parents the grand tour, I haven't had time for much of anything -- including sleep.

Mom and dad took a little trip on their own on Wednesday. The two of them headed out to Shinsegae in Guworldong while I was working. They met Jeong Mi at work and had a cup of coffee with her. Thanks to Jeong Mi and my dad using their dictionaries, it sounds like everything went okay.

On Thursday, we decided to stay close to home. But we still saw something impressive. We went to the Incheon Landing War Memorial over in old Songdo. I knew it was over there, but in my entire time last year in Okryeondong, I never got a chance to visit.

It was nice to check it out with my parents. It's impressively big and built right into the mountain side. It has a great view out over the harbor.

Checking it out then was appropriate since June 25 would be the anniversary of the start of the Korean War.

Check out mom's blog here.

Check out mom's pictures here.

I Saw SK Win!!!

One of the rarest things for my life in South Korea is actually seeing the SK Wyverns win a game in person. This team won two out of the last three K-League championships, and went all the way to game 7 of the finals last year before losing out.

They're first in the league this year by a mile (or a kilometer, here), yet I still have only seen them win maybe 3 times in my nearly 20 visits to the stadium.

But they delivered big for my parents on Tuesday as they beat the LG Twins 11-4. We even got to see a grand slam, which I've never seen in person before. It was an incredible game. Once again, the rain held off for us. We had a few drinks and had a great time.

Mom and Dad enjoyed the atmosphere and energy of the Korean crowd. That's certainly something you're hard-pressed to find back home.

Last night, because of the wonderful US soccer game, we rested right after work and then I took Mom and Dad to Bamboo Dance Academy so they could meet everyone. We could only stay from about 8 to 9:30 p.m., because of our plans to meet everyone for the game. It was awesome to take my parents to the place where I have been spending countless hours of my life this year.

Plus, as everyone who knows me is familiar with my feelings about most Koreans, it's good my parents have been able to meet some of the good ones, including Ridia, my other co-workers and my good friends at the dance academy.

So our fun time continues with the Incheon Korean War Memorial tonight, Muido beach on Saturday afternoon, dinner with Jeong Mi's family on Saturday night, followed by celebrations for my birth.

Check out pics from the ballgame as well as my parents' first solo trip to Lotte Mart here.

2010 Korea Salsa Competition Video

Here is the video of the Incheon Bamboo Dance Academy's Shango Team at the 2010 Korea Salsa Competition in Seoul. The competition was on June 5, 2010, and we came away with the award for "Most Popular" performance.

It was an incredible night. Enjoy the show!


Check out the video here!!!

Bamboo Shango Team Wins!!!

It was an incredible weekend and I already gave away the best part in the title. Saturday was the 2010 Seoul Latin Dance Festival and Competition.

My dance team, Shango Team of the Bamboo Dance Academy in Incheon, went to compete against 11 other teams. While we didn't win a top 3 prize, we walked away with a trophy for the "Most Popular" performance. It was my first competition after 6 months of salsa dance and I was part of a winning team!

We've been practicing for about 2 months, with people rotating in and out of our team due to injury and other commitments. We've been meeting Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday every week.

We met at our studio around 11 a.m. Saturday where the girls started preparing their makeup. We got to the concert hall in Seoul around 2 p.m., and started to prepare.

Each team got about 7 minutes for a rehearsal. That's not a lot of time, so we mostly worked on our spacing and a quick run-through. We all felt pretty good. Most of the teams had pretty technically advanced routines, but only one really caught my eye. The team's guys all died their hair blonde and spiked it up in a faux-hawk. They won first place overall.

We were the last team to go, so we had to wait for all the other teams. But when it was our time, we didn't disappoint. We really nailed our timing as a team, and the choreography of our routine sucked the crowd in. There was a certain part where the crowd started to rumble, then just exploded into cheers at various sections of the dance. When it was all over, they were on their feet going crazy. It was a really incredible feeling.

Then, during the parade, while all the teams stood on stage, we heard our team's name called for an award. So we got to walk out in front of everyone and take a bow. Noticing a foreigner, the host immediately came to talk to me and ask me where I was from. The crowd went nuts again. It was such a cool thing to do.

We went back and celebrated our incredible experience afterward.

Unfortunately, I'll miss the next available show that's taking place in August. I'll be back in America with Jeong Mi for my sister's wedding. That means I have to wait until February to compete again. Hopefully I'll get to perform between now and then though. It's such a rush to be up there with your partner and team and hear the crowd yelling and cheering. I'm so fortunate to have become a part of this team and met such wonderful people, and I hope it continues for a long time.

I'll post the video as soon as I can, but for now, check out all the great pictures!

So Many Pictures

What a week. This week was full of nonstop action, and it was really good.

On Monday, Jeong Mi and I celebrated our 100 Days together. She made spaghetti and bought a cake. I bought two t-shirts for her. It was low-key and it was really nice.

On Tuesday and Thursday, I went to Sinchon in Seoul to get my costume for dance. Well, that's what I thought. First of all, I was on the bus Tuesday when my friends called me and told me the clothes weren't ready yet. Well, I was in Seoul and almost at the bus stop. I was pretty unhappy about that.

To make it worse, I had to go back on Thursday. Fortunately, this time, we made it to the tailor. But our clothes still weren't done. They did some more measuring and we tried the not-yet-finished outfits on. I'm sure that means I'll have to go back this week. Yikes.

On Friday, we had a Market Day for our Hambak after-school classes. Ridia got a ton of toys, games and food for the kids to buy. They used the stamps they earned for good behavior and hard work. They could buy up to three things. I think the kids really enjoyed. I think the teachers all had a fun time.

On Saturday, I skipped dance and Jeong Mi actually didn't have to work. Along with Popper and Jong, we went to Seoul Tower. Popper had been there before, but it was the first time for the rest of us. Jeong Mi and I bought a lock and attached it to the fence. It's a tradition that couples do there. The fence and the area around the tower had tens of thousands of locks hanging. It was pretty cool.

We all went up the tower, and happened to run into Schwaby, Josh, Bryan and Colton at the top. It was unexpected and fun.

After that, we walked along the stream that runs through the middle of the city. There were tons of couples there, and they even had a light show flashing along one of the walls.

I wrapped up the week by hitting dance class today. And bonus: I'm about to go get a couch for my place. One of the foreigners who's moving out is giving it to me. I'm super happy about that.

Our new semester starts this week and our competition is on Saturday. Looks like another busy week ahead. Check out all my pictures!

Seoul Tower

Market Day

Dance Outfit

100 Days

Long Weekend = A Lot Of Dancing and 100 Days Again

We had a long weekend thanks to Buddha's birthday. Because of that fat guy, Friday was a national holiday.

So Thursday night was good because my other friends all had the long weekend as well. A big group of us -- Popper, Looks, Schwaby, Geoff and Bryan -- all met in Yeonsu. We drank, played some basketball and darts. Jeong Mi came over after work. I had dinner with her and she hung out with the guys and me.

Of course, I had to be at the dance studio by 2 p.m. on Friday to practice. We danced until 7 p.m., and we even moved to another studio nearby for 2 hours because it is a little bit bigger. There's a section of the dance where all the couples spin together into a line, and we needed some extra room to work on it.

I was exhausted by the time I got home on Friday. I just hung out with Popper. It was relaxing, at least.

On Saturday, it was back to the dance studio by 5 p.m. for practice. Jeong Mi and I then went to open dance that night. I only stayed until 10 p.m., because I'm pretty burned out at this point. There are a lot of things I love to do, but doing anything non-stop can get pretty annoying.

Schwaby, Geoff and I had a couple beers Saturday night and played some darts to wrap up the night.

On Sunday, I was at the dance studio again from 2 to 5 p.m. We had a really good practice. We worked on our line again and everyone is really coming together well. Leong sat us downa nd talked to us about not being afraid and having a good time at practice. he is worried that people were getting a little stressed, and wants everyone to have fun.

I told everyone I wasn't even a little bit scared. I'm just really excited. And that's true. I know the hard work my team has put in will pay off. I just want to get out there and put on a sweet show.

This week at school will be pretty busy, but will have a nice ending. We had to work on our monthly report cards today. We have to do all the level tests tomorrow. So I'll be doing about 150 short interviews. On Friday, we have a market day planned, so that should be fun for the kids, and maybe a little bit hectic.

I also have to go into Seoul tomorrow to pick up my dance outfit. I'm going with one of the other guys. He has a car, so hopefully we'll be driving.

Saturday will be fun this week. I'm going to check out Seoul Tower with Jeong Mi and her mom. Why is her mom coming? Good question. She asked Jeong Mi if she could join us, and I can't really say no. Jeong Mi and I hit our "100 days" today. This is my second "100 days" with a Korean girl. It'll be a little different this time. I'll get her a more low-key gift.

I was hoping to make Saturday at Seoul Tower kind of romantic in some way to celebrate, but with her mom their, there's not much I can do.

Jeong Mi is coming over and making dinner tonight. I certainly enjoy that. We'll see how it all goes.

That's an update on me. I hope all is going well with everyone else!

Vacation Over

Well, I haven't written or posted any news in awhile, but I have a good excuse. I was fortunate enough to have Wednesday through Sunday of last week off for a little vacation.

We got Wednesday off for Children's Day, Thursday because it was our school's anniversary and Friday as a bonus day. Of course, being Korea, it didn't work exactly like that. We were supposed to simply have Friday off. The vice principal filled us in on Thursday that we weren't going to have to work, but we would have to use a vacation day. So there's that. I certainly don't mind though.

Because I'm flying home for my sister's wedding in August, I'm being a bit stingy about travel this year. That would have been a fine time to hit a new country, as my co-workers did by traveling to China, but I decided to just get some rest.

I needed it, too, considering the amount I've been putting in at salsa while preparing for the June 5 competition in Seoul.

On Wednesday, we practiced for 5 hours. My legs were already tired from playing basketball the night before. Of, if you're curious, I kept my undefeated streak against Koreans alive. It was close though, with a 20-18 victory.

On Thursday, I did almost nothing and it was awesome. I did go to Shinsegae to say hello to Jeong Mi, but that was only about an hour out of my day.

On Friday, I had dance class in the evening, then Jeong Mi came over to hang out. Unfortunately, we couldn't go out because she had to get up early due to a schedule change at her job. She was originally supposed to go in late Saturday. Once again -- that's just Korea.

On Saturday, I practiced dance for 2 hours, then met Jeong Mi in Guworldong. We went out and got beef galbi, which makes me never want to eat pork galbi again. When you eat the beef galbi, it's just such a wonderful taste. You realize then that while comforting, fast food can never really substitute what we eat so commonly back in the US. Of course, it comes at a price. The beef galbi is easily 3,000 to 4,000 won more expensive than a portion of pork galbi.

Jeong Mi treated for dinner, and we followed it up with me treating at a noraebang. Now, it's no secret that I love the singing rooms. It's fun to go in a big group, but it's also a great time to just go as a couple. We even got to sing some Korean duets when she picked the Korean "oldies" she knows I like.

On Sunday, it was back to the dancing grind. We went to the studio in Bucheon to practice. I didn't mind practicing Sunday, but I hated going to Bucheon for it. It's just a little too far away. Getting to the Ganseokogeori studio is a hassle in itself which takes about 45 minutes total, including walking to the subway.

It's only about 5 minutes walking to the bus stop for the Bucheon bus, but you can wait up to 20 minutes, and then have possibly an hour of driving, depending on how bad traffic (always) is in Korea. I got there Sunday in 1 hour 15 minutes, and that was making good time.

We only practiced for 3 hours, so that was a relief. Also, Fafa bought pizza for us on both Wednesday and Sunday, so that was very generous.

I'll definitely take a little break from dance after the competition. It sucks having almost no free time right now, but this is just a build-up to the show. I'm committed to the cause and I'm the one who so blatantly said I'm doing this to win.

So until June 6, I'm focused on salsa and salsa only.

Maybe starting tomorrow, I'll post some news stories that I've found interesting over the past few days. Nothing monumental has happened, so it's not a big deal.

But I'm back at work and back on the old schedule. Boy, that break was nice.

Bambo In Bucheon

My good friend from dance, Eun Sang, opened his own Bamboo Dance Academy on Sunday in Bucheon. Just like with the Siheung academy, we all went to Bucheon for a congratulatory ceremony and some dancing.

Unfortuantely, I didn't dance too much. I'm drained from my allergies. But it was nice to once again spend time with my dance friends.

I'm very excited about my friend opening his own academy. He asked for my help with things like advertising, as well as possibly teaching a kids' class on Saturday.

That all sounds great. As long as I can squeeze things into my schedule, I'll do everything I can to help him out.

Check out some pics from the event!

Bamboo MT -- Best Weekend Yet

I went on Membership Training with my Bamboo Salsa Academy friends this weekend and it was one of the best pension trips I've done yet. We rented a big log cabin in Ganghwado, about an hour north of Incheon. More than 50 people showed up for the fun.

When we first arrived, we played choku, which is a game that combines volleyball and soccer. Needless to say, I love it. For one of the series, we put 50,000 won on it, and my team, of course, won the series in a sweep.

After that, we started grilling the samgyupsal and other typical Korean foods. That's also when the drinking started. That's a good thing, because the games came next.

We choose four teams of about 10-12 people each. The first game was the 007 game. It's a speaking and pointing game where you try to make your competition say the wrong thing or make the wrong move. Next was a game where you had to blow on a balloon to keep it up in the air. They first did groups and then solo. I did the dolo run for my team and won the points for us!

That was followed by a quiz game, in which my friends just dragged me from side to side, depending on the answer. Next we did a charades-type game. My team choose me as our respresentative. They acted the clues out and I answered -- in Korean! I only got 5 of them right, but that still got us third place. So -- not last!

After that was the best part of the night. It was the Bamboo drag show. I wasn't my team's representative, but you'd better believe they wanted to see me do it. And guess what -- I looked good. They had all the contestants come down first and get judged. Then, they played special music as I made my entrance and danced to an entire song. It was really fun and everyone enjoyed pointing how much I really looked like a chick. I even committed myself to it to the point that I shaved my beard for it!

After the show, the music started playing and everyone started dancing, drinking and hanging out.

The next morning, we got up and I went for a little walk around the countryside with Jeong Mi. We then ate breakfast, cleaned the log cabin and headed home.

On our way home, we stopped at what will become the newest Bamboo Dance Academy. It's being opened by my best Korean friend, Eun Sang. He even asked me to teach a children's class on Saturdays. That sounds pretty awesome. After the competition is over, I definitely want to be a part of that.

So it was a pretty great weekend. It was easily one of my best weekends in my entire time in Korea. The only downside is I caught a little bit of a cold. But it's worth it for all that fun.

Enjoy the pictures. They're going to blow your mind!

Great Salsa News and A Good Weekend

The arrival of warm weather is good news in and of itself, but I also received some wonderful news from my salsa academy. I have been invited to join the competitive team, which I accepted without hesitating.

I have a strange way of thinking that when I do something, I want to do it at the highest level. I'm certainly not the best at everything, but I always want to work hard and be as good as possible. So this salsa competitive team is the next step for me to becoming a good dancer.

The competition is in June, and we're doing a dance that a previous bamboo team performed. You can check it out again, here.

There aren't more days added to my dance schedule, but the practices will be more intense. It's a more complicated dance, and I need to work very hard -- even on my basics -- in order to do this well.

On Friday night, after getting my good news, Jeong Mi and I went to a Jimjjilbang. It's the first time I've been to one, even though I've lived here a year and five months now. A jimjjilbang is basically a public bath house. There are showers, hot tubs, saunas, body treatments and massages available. They're also equipped with entertainment like TVs, game rooms, restaurants and , of course, alcohol.

We went to the only one in Yeonsu-dong. Ridia, my wonderful co-teacher, advised against it because it's a few years old. That means it's not as up to date with the best, new stuff. But it was our only option at that time of night.

It was a fun time, too. I was a bit confused at first, but after I figured it out, all went smoothly. The first step is to separate into the mens' and womens' sides. There, you shower, bathe and have the option of getting in the sauna and hot tub. After that, you head down to a commons area to meet. Jeong Mi got some body scrub, so I ended waiting for her along for about an hour. That was the only downside. But I read a book and listened to some music, so it was relaxing.

The price is good as well. For both of us, and including her scrub, it only cost 16,000 won. I still don't see the draw to the extent of Koreans going all the time and spending entire days/nights there, but I could see myself going once a month or so to relax.

Here is the web site for the place we went. It's called Jambo Fitness Sauna. Warning: It plays annoying music and I couldn't find the off switch.

The rest of the weekend was good as well because of the nice weather. A group of us played basketball Saturday night, and beat three different Korean teams who wanted to challenge the Americans.  And on Sunday, we had a nice game of football.

On Sunday night, I wrapped up the weekend by meeting Jeong Mi for dinner and a few drinks.

As far as weekends go, it doesn't get much better than that.

More Siheung Pics

I added more pictures from the Siheung Bamboo opening.

Check them out here.

New Bamboo Dance Academy

Bamboo opened up a new academy in Siheung, about 20 minutes from my current studio. We celebrated with food, drinks and dancing. We also did the traditional gesture of bowing to a decapitated pig's head in order to ask for good fortune in the future.

They asked me to participate to represent the international interests of the academy. I did it at the New Year's party as well, but that was just an open pig's head. This was the first time I'd done it as part of a thanking ceremony. It was cool that they involved me in it.

I will add some more pics of the actual event as soon as my Bamboo friends post them on the cafe message board. Until then, here are some basic shots of the new studio. It was built by one of the dance members. He did a great job.

Check out the pics here!

First Salsa Performance Video!!!

The video is posted! I got the video of my first salsa performance up on Youtube today. Those of you without access to my Facebook page can check the video out on Youtube. The performance took place on Saturday, March 13, 2010. The video was taken by Popper Gopens, and my lovely partner is my girlfriend, Jeong Mi Park.

CHECK THE VIDEO OUT HERE!

Salsa Performance A Success!

My first salsa performance took place at Bamboo Salsa Academy on Saturday, March 13, 2010. Popper Gopens came to watch the show and also took pictures and video for me. My partner is my girlfriend, Jeong Mi Park.

There were a ton of people there and they were all very supportive with their cheering. One of the owners, Fafa, even interviewed us afterward. The show went really well and we were all spot on. I had a really great team and we had a lot of fun training together over the last 6 weeks or so.

It felt great to actually show off what I've been learning. It made all those sleepy days at the elementary school worth the late nights of practice.

There will be a video posted very soon.

But first, CHECK OUT THE PICTURES HERE!