Goodness, Gracious, Great Salsa Fire

I wanted to post this with the salsa video, but I need some assistance from Jay. I asked him to upload the vids to my Youtube account from America, then I'll just grab them and post the link here.

I had a rough day at salsa on Friday. It stemmed from being really tired and having a sort of downer ending to the work week. I wasn't quite nailing the moves and I was getting a bit frustrated.

So I decided to take a little rest and skip the open class on Saturday.

If yesterday was any hint, it definitely paid off. I am now completely caught up to the rest of the training team. I don't have the moves totally down yet, but I have at least learned all there is to know up to this point.

There are a couple of key areas where I step forward instead of back or do the wrong turn, but I'm fixing those areas with more practice, obviously.

There was even one time yesterday when we were showing the routine in front of the class that the other training team members all made a mistake on one section, but I was the only one who hit it and continued. So everyone got a kick out of it.

The people at salsa have continued to be really fun and supportive, and as I get more comfortable listening to their Korean, I'm understanding easier and can open up my personality a bit more. Because of that and the steps, yesterday ended up being really great.

I can only imagine it will get better as I get in tune with my body and get myself aligned with dancing. My body simply isn't used to some of these moves yet, since I've never done things like this before. But as I adjust and get the feeling, it's really going to be great.

Videos Coming Soon!

I have videos of salsa dancing and my winter camp all ready to upload. Unfortunately, I can no longer post videos on Youtube while in Korea. Thanks to Korea's terrible Internet policy of forcing people to sign up with real names and identification, Youtube just said "screw that" and canceled uploading ability.

I'm trying to upload right here on Blogger, but it doesn't seem to be connecting when I'm trying to add a video. I'll continue trying, and hopefully I can get it soon.

Anyone have any tips for uploading on blogger? The videos are very short, so they shouldn't take very long to upload.

Winter Camp 2010

Winter camp is going pretty well so far. To cut down on our busy work and planning work, we've come up with a schedule of classes that can be tweaked just slightly, and still be used on all grade levels.

We're on the third week of camp. We have two weeks left after this. The schedule is goofy, and we have two weeks of regular school class in between the final two weeks of winter camp.

 

Check out more pics here!

My Favorite Korean Player Coming to the K-league

Ask any Korean you know who their favorite soccer team and player is. There's a 99 percent chance they'll say it's Manchester United and Park Ji-sung. It's super annoying, especially considering I'm an Arsenal fan.

My favorite Korean player is Seol Ki-hyeon. I like him because he spent time with Reading and Fulham in the Premier League. I follow those teams because both of them have a few American players.

Ki-hyeon has never played in the K-league. He's spent the last 10 years in Europe playing for a variety of teams. If Korea wants their national team to stand a chance at the 2010 World Cup, Ki-hyeon has to get his fitness back and be a member of the team.

I'm excited to see him play once the season starts over here.

Sanctions Still Hurting North Korea ... Obviously

The North Koreans want some sanctions called off as part of their discussions to end their nuclear weapons program. Don't count on that. All sides in the issue are in a giant staring contest right now.

Of course, the sanctions aren't any real leverage in this battle. Kim Jong-il cares far too little about the people of North Korea to really be affected by any trade sanctions.

I wish there was some way to get food and supplies to the people without going through Kim first. That's the only way it could ever work.

Check that story here.

Korean Game Industry Thriving

Even with a global meltdown, many Korean companies are still performing well. The most notable industry as a whole -- as far as students are concerned -- is the gaming industry. Industry execs are looking to extend their reach and continue to grow the business of Internet gaming. All that from a country that is already the most connected in the world.

The fact that business is booming, and will continue to grow, is now surprise at all. My friends and I are part of a generation that were born in raised in the earliest days of home video gaming.

But the students who flock to the PC rooms and jam them all night were raised in an era of which they never knew life without games. The PC is still much more popular than the console here, and for good reason. Parents view a PC as a machine that can also help with studying. A console only plays games.

Now, no parents think their child is going to the PC room to study, but it's an image thing. And this is South Korea, after all.

The story goes on to say that the industry executives are looking for further Internet penetration, a term that will always make me laugh, no matter how old I become.

I want to set the record straight on Korean Internet. Everyone says it's blazingly fast. Well, get this: It's not THAT fast. Yes, it's slightly faster than the ethernet you can get in America ... slightly. Maybe it starts out faster, but since we're all living in stacked shoe boxes here, the speed slows down a bit.

And I can't even talk about service without getting angry. My Internet experience in Korea has been nothing short of awful. I rarely had connection problems in America. But in the year and two months I've been in Korea, I've had to call tech support no less than 10 times. They come and fix it that day, but it's still a hassle waiting for them to arrive when everything should just work. That's what I'm paying for, right?

But I digress. The point of this blog post is that as big as gaming already is here, it's only going to get bigger.

Good Money News For Americans In Korea

It looks like our won will have more buying power against the dollar soon. That doesn't do a thing for people just now coming to Korea, but it's great for those of us who live here. The closer $1 gets to 1,000 won means we stand to make more money every time we transfer cash home.

Right now, $1 equals about 1,119 won.

According to The Korea Times story:

'The won closed at 1,119.8 won per greenback Monday, gaining 10.7 won from the previous day. It was the won's strongest level since Sept. 22, 2008, when it traded at 1,117 won. It has fallen 44.7 won from 1,164.5 won on Dec.31.'

Keep climbing, won. I can wait a bit more to send some cash home. I don't mind an extra bump thanks to international markets.