My vacation has started and the relaxation has been wonderful so far. Even though I like my job and coworkers, being around kids every day can be pretty brutal.
So I have the next three weeks off. Instead of taking a trip somewhere, which was one of my main goals while living in Asia, I decided to get eye surgery instead. I figured I'm so used to the hospital system here, there's no reason not to.
The price is only 1.4 million won at the doctor's office in Yeonsu-dong. That works out to about $1,240. That's a pretty good deal to not need contacts or glasses. So I get this done, and the next time I travel will be monumentally better.
As soon as I'm able to use the computer, I'll post the results of the surgery. If you never see an update, that's a bad sign, huh?
Jeong Mi's birthday is tomorrow. It's also her day off. She's pretty great, so she's going to the doctor's office with me for the surgery. It's only a 10-minute operation and then another 90 minutes of rest at the office.
I bought her a cake and got her more photos for the photo album I got for her for Christmas. I'll take her somewhere special this weekend, when I'm feeling a little better.
Anyway, think good thoughts for me tomorrow, please. I could use them. SEE you later!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
A Move Deserves A Celebration
A very stressful week came to an end with a big payoff. This week, I moved from my adequate apartment with many broken appliances, to a very nice-sized apartment with solid windows and a heater and washing machine that actually work. It is awesome.
While I wanted to get a moving company, Jeong Mi's father insisted that he and Jeong Mi could move my stuff. As I expected, it was he and I who did all the moving. Though Jeong Mi and her mom did help organize and clean as the move took place.
Fortunately, it only took about 3 hours to move all my junk. As stressful as it was, it's so worth it to get into the new apartment. The fact that I don't have to wear a sweater and sit in front of a space heater the whole time I'm at home is payoff enough.
I bought her family dinner on the night of the move, but there's really very little I can do to actually repay them for all their generosity. But thanks goes out to them anyway.
And with any move, a housewarming party is clearly necessary. So on Friday night, all my very good friends came over and we celebrated with pizza, booze and beer pong. Popper and I even put the coveted beer pong trophy on the line in a four-team, double-elimination tournament. And as we are used to doing, we rolled through the tourney with three straight wins and a retention of the legendary trophy. Back-to-back champions, and it feels so good.
Once again my thanks goes out to all my friends. It was really great that they could all stop by. I've been fortunate to meet such good people, between Koreans and Westerners, here in Korea.
Winter camp is in full swing now at school. We had the sixth graders last week. This week will be the toughest as the first graders come through. Fortunately for me, this is my last week of work before a nice three-week long vacation. During that vacation, I plan on getting eye surgery, so hopefully by the end of next week, I'll be going sans contacts and glasses for the rest of my life.
It's been busy lately, but it's also been a lot of fun. If this month is any indicator of the new year, I think it's going to be a good one.
As always, go here to check out the great pics from the housewarming party.
While I wanted to get a moving company, Jeong Mi's father insisted that he and Jeong Mi could move my stuff. As I expected, it was he and I who did all the moving. Though Jeong Mi and her mom did help organize and clean as the move took place.
Fortunately, it only took about 3 hours to move all my junk. As stressful as it was, it's so worth it to get into the new apartment. The fact that I don't have to wear a sweater and sit in front of a space heater the whole time I'm at home is payoff enough.
I bought her family dinner on the night of the move, but there's really very little I can do to actually repay them for all their generosity. But thanks goes out to them anyway.
And with any move, a housewarming party is clearly necessary. So on Friday night, all my very good friends came over and we celebrated with pizza, booze and beer pong. Popper and I even put the coveted beer pong trophy on the line in a four-team, double-elimination tournament. And as we are used to doing, we rolled through the tourney with three straight wins and a retention of the legendary trophy. Back-to-back champions, and it feels so good.
Once again my thanks goes out to all my friends. It was really great that they could all stop by. I've been fortunate to meet such good people, between Koreans and Westerners, here in Korea.
Winter camp is in full swing now at school. We had the sixth graders last week. This week will be the toughest as the first graders come through. Fortunately for me, this is my last week of work before a nice three-week long vacation. During that vacation, I plan on getting eye surgery, so hopefully by the end of next week, I'll be going sans contacts and glasses for the rest of my life.
It's been busy lately, but it's also been a lot of fun. If this month is any indicator of the new year, I think it's going to be a good one.
As always, go here to check out the great pics from the housewarming party.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Busiest Christmas and New Year's Ever
It was nice to have the entire week off between Christmas and New Year's. I had some big plans, but didn't know just how busy I would be.
First, Jeong Mi helped me make Christmas cookies. It is one of my mom's recipes, and one of my favorites. They're Christmas Wreath Cookies and they're corn-flakey and marshmallowy and awesome. We whipped up a few batches of those, and I gave them to my friends and co-workers as Christmas gifts. Homemade? Check. Tasty? Check. It's pretty much the perfect gift.
The celebrating began during the week at Hambak. We made Christmas cookies with our fifth-grade class, and gave stockings to our afternoon kids. It was a nice way to wind down the work week and prepare for the break.
The real started off on Christmas Eve at Go Bar, my new/old favorite place. Jeong Mi and I met Bryan, Geoff and Alex as well as a bunch of our other friends, including Chelsea, her boyfriend, Dorian and Andrew. We all had a really great time. I even got to introduce my new friend, Jingis, to the world. I think he had fun, too. You'll see him in a lot of the pictures.
Next, we tried a Busan-style hotcake. It was pretty good, but I prefer the ones up here in my neighborhood. We then headed over to one of Busan's many fish markets. It was absolutely terrible. I like fish sticks, and fish and chips style of fish. But I don't really like seafood. And this was just a tightly-packed kilometer of seafood. Just brutal. We even ate in one of the dirty little restaurants. Needless to say, I didn't eat too much there.
After that, we drove over to some of the beaches, where we got a view of a fairly recently finished bridge that connects one part of the city to another across what is now a bay-type inlet. It was really lit up beautifully, and the beach is nice during the winter without millions of sun umbrellas and even more millions of people.
After that, we went to another oyster place because the first place got her mom's order wrong. The grilled oysters are not too bad, but still not really my style. It was nice to sit with her family and hang out though.
A Korean trip wouldn't be compete without heading to a jimjilbang. So that's where we went. I wasn't super excited to shower and sauna naked with her dad, but when in Korea ... Jeong Mi and her mom got some special salt scrub, so I waited two hours while her dad dozed off in the sleeping area with a THOUSAND Koreans. When going to a public bath house becomes a weekend trip in America, that's the day I change my citizenship. Fortunately, when Jeong Mi finally finished, we went to a motel to stay, while her parents stayed at the jimjilbang.
The return trip was an entirely different path home. We went east first and curled up around that way. We went to a famous battle site where one of their admirals became the most famous Korean naval officer ever. It was a nice monument and park area. We also checked out a really windy fishing inlet with a windmill at the top of a small hill. We almost got almost blown off of that hill when a huge gust came in.
Then the snow came. Thanks to that and our pit stops, it took us about 12 hours to get home. When we finally got there, I was dead. But her parents wanted to get dinner, so we went to the local galbi place I liked. I went to bed and thought all was well.
Well, it wasn't. Whatever I ate there made me so sick that I couldn't even drink water the next day. While I didn't want to leave, Jeong Mi's dad took me to the hospital, where I spent the next two days recovering. I was probably ready to go after getting a shot and an IV, but they wouldn't let me go. So I was just stuck.
My roommates and the nurses and doctors were all very nice, but I still was just dying to get out of there.
I was released on Dec. 31. I had basically zero time to recover, but still met with my friends at Go Bar. Unfortunately, I couldn't drink. Jeong Mi and I only stayed a couple hours and left right after midnight.
I suppose that's not too bad. Winding down the week slowly and getting ready for two weeks of work. After that, it's vacation once again, when I get my eye surgery (hopefully).
As always check out all the pictures from Christmas here.
And check out the New Year's pics here.
First, Jeong Mi helped me make Christmas cookies. It is one of my mom's recipes, and one of my favorites. They're Christmas Wreath Cookies and they're corn-flakey and marshmallowy and awesome. We whipped up a few batches of those, and I gave them to my friends and co-workers as Christmas gifts. Homemade? Check. Tasty? Check. It's pretty much the perfect gift.
The celebrating began during the week at Hambak. We made Christmas cookies with our fifth-grade class, and gave stockings to our afternoon kids. It was a nice way to wind down the work week and prepare for the break.
The real started off on Christmas Eve at Go Bar, my new/old favorite place. Jeong Mi and I met Bryan, Geoff and Alex as well as a bunch of our other friends, including Chelsea, her boyfriend, Dorian and Andrew. We all had a really great time. I even got to introduce my new friend, Jingis, to the world. I think he had fun, too. You'll see him in a lot of the pictures.
On Christmas, I took Jeong Mi and her parents to a fance-shmancy restaurant on the top of the mountain next to Yeonsu-dong. I'd had a drink there once before and knew it was a little bit expensive, but it was a special occasion. We had a nice time during the meal, and I used the opportunity to ask Jeong Mi's parents for permission to propose to her.
Thankfully, they were thrilled with the idea. I haven't proposed yet, but the first step is out of the way. So Christmas of 2010 marks a very special time in our lives.
On Sunday night, I stayed at Jeong Mi's place because we got up bright and early for our trip with her parents down to the south coast of the country. We drove on down to Busan. Jeong Mi had never been there before. This was my second time.
When we first got there, we went on a boat ride around the coast of the city. Busan is the second largest city in South Korea and has the largest port. So it was a cool perspective to see it from a boat.
After that, we drove over to some of the beaches, where we got a view of a fairly recently finished bridge that connects one part of the city to another across what is now a bay-type inlet. It was really lit up beautifully, and the beach is nice during the winter without millions of sun umbrellas and even more millions of people.
After that, we went to another oyster place because the first place got her mom's order wrong. The grilled oysters are not too bad, but still not really my style. It was nice to sit with her family and hang out though.
A Korean trip wouldn't be compete without heading to a jimjilbang. So that's where we went. I wasn't super excited to shower and sauna naked with her dad, but when in Korea ... Jeong Mi and her mom got some special salt scrub, so I waited two hours while her dad dozed off in the sleeping area with a THOUSAND Koreans. When going to a public bath house becomes a weekend trip in America, that's the day I change my citizenship. Fortunately, when Jeong Mi finally finished, we went to a motel to stay, while her parents stayed at the jimjilbang.
The return trip was an entirely different path home. We went east first and curled up around that way. We went to a famous battle site where one of their admirals became the most famous Korean naval officer ever. It was a nice monument and park area. We also checked out a really windy fishing inlet with a windmill at the top of a small hill. We almost got almost blown off of that hill when a huge gust came in.
Then the snow came. Thanks to that and our pit stops, it took us about 12 hours to get home. When we finally got there, I was dead. But her parents wanted to get dinner, so we went to the local galbi place I liked. I went to bed and thought all was well.
Well, it wasn't. Whatever I ate there made me so sick that I couldn't even drink water the next day. While I didn't want to leave, Jeong Mi's dad took me to the hospital, where I spent the next two days recovering. I was probably ready to go after getting a shot and an IV, but they wouldn't let me go. So I was just stuck.
My roommates and the nurses and doctors were all very nice, but I still was just dying to get out of there.
I was released on Dec. 31. I had basically zero time to recover, but still met with my friends at Go Bar. Unfortunately, I couldn't drink. Jeong Mi and I only stayed a couple hours and left right after midnight.
I suppose that's not too bad. Winding down the week slowly and getting ready for two weeks of work. After that, it's vacation once again, when I get my eye surgery (hopefully).
As always check out all the pictures from Christmas here.
And check out the New Year's pics here.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Expanding My Horizons
Due to something unfortunate, I got a chance to try something new as a far as my Korean speaking and job at the English center goes.
The unfortunate thing is that all last week, Ridia started getting sick. When Monday rolled around, she was at her worst. She texted me while I was walking to school saying she couldn't come to work. In more than a year -- my entire time at the school -- she has yet to miss a day. Now, Geoff and I haven't missed either, but a number of other Korean teachers have. Even some of our other native speaking teachers have missed a day.
Either way, it's a rarity for someone to miss work in South Korea, so she was pretty sick. She asked Geoff and I to teach her class, so we sort of scrambled to come up with some worksheets and games. It wasn't a big deal. Geoff came through big and found a great dinosaur measurement worksheet that fir in with both of our lessons.
The big thing for me was that Ridia asked me to do orientation. That's basically the only part of class that she speaks Korean to the kids. She explains about the English center, the equipment, our lessons and so on.
Now, I speak Korean almost fluently at this point, but I still get nervous speaking in front of a lot of students whom I don't know. Students are the harshest and meanest critics of a Westerner's speaking ability. Their initial shock (which all Koreans have) turns to rude comments if they can't understand you. Never mind the fact that you may just know their grammar better than they do. Haha.
I have heard Ridia do the orientation a thousand times, so I knew what to say and how to do it. But I knew I wouldn't be as smooth. So I decided to do it Korean and English. That makes sense being at the center.
On Monday I was actually pretty nervous, but the kids took to it and understood me right away. So that felt really good. The difference is that what takes Ridia 15 minutes to describe, I buzz through in less than 10. It's part nerves and part that my speaking is not as elaborate or in depth as hers.
Well, she was still feeling sick today, so Geoff and I split up the class in two and did the first two lessons, and Ridia only had to worry about teaching one class in our third time slot. She asked me to do the orientation again. I was feeling more confident about being in front of the kids, but I didn't want to sound like a dummy in front of Ridia.
I definitely did a better job of it today. I spoke my Korean more smoothly, and explained things better than I did yesterday in both languages. I even stretched it out a couple more minutes. Ridia said I did a really good job. She would tell me that anyway, but it's still nice to hear.
She's told us before how sick of it she is that she has to give that opening speech almost every day. And we would be, too, I'm sure. I told her awhile ago I'd be willing to do it for her. I just never really expected her to ask me to run the show.
But it's been a success, and I'm guessing she'll let me do it on a more regular basis now that she's heard me do it. I don't mind showing off a bit. I think it even helps me connect to the students a little bit better.
So it's been an exciting week so far, and we have big things to come. Get ready for Christmas pics from both our afternoon classes and my time Jeong Mi and friends. It's going to be a fun month.
The unfortunate thing is that all last week, Ridia started getting sick. When Monday rolled around, she was at her worst. She texted me while I was walking to school saying she couldn't come to work. In more than a year -- my entire time at the school -- she has yet to miss a day. Now, Geoff and I haven't missed either, but a number of other Korean teachers have. Even some of our other native speaking teachers have missed a day.
Either way, it's a rarity for someone to miss work in South Korea, so she was pretty sick. She asked Geoff and I to teach her class, so we sort of scrambled to come up with some worksheets and games. It wasn't a big deal. Geoff came through big and found a great dinosaur measurement worksheet that fir in with both of our lessons.
The big thing for me was that Ridia asked me to do orientation. That's basically the only part of class that she speaks Korean to the kids. She explains about the English center, the equipment, our lessons and so on.
Now, I speak Korean almost fluently at this point, but I still get nervous speaking in front of a lot of students whom I don't know. Students are the harshest and meanest critics of a Westerner's speaking ability. Their initial shock (which all Koreans have) turns to rude comments if they can't understand you. Never mind the fact that you may just know their grammar better than they do. Haha.
I have heard Ridia do the orientation a thousand times, so I knew what to say and how to do it. But I knew I wouldn't be as smooth. So I decided to do it Korean and English. That makes sense being at the center.
On Monday I was actually pretty nervous, but the kids took to it and understood me right away. So that felt really good. The difference is that what takes Ridia 15 minutes to describe, I buzz through in less than 10. It's part nerves and part that my speaking is not as elaborate or in depth as hers.
Well, she was still feeling sick today, so Geoff and I split up the class in two and did the first two lessons, and Ridia only had to worry about teaching one class in our third time slot. She asked me to do the orientation again. I was feeling more confident about being in front of the kids, but I didn't want to sound like a dummy in front of Ridia.
I definitely did a better job of it today. I spoke my Korean more smoothly, and explained things better than I did yesterday in both languages. I even stretched it out a couple more minutes. Ridia said I did a really good job. She would tell me that anyway, but it's still nice to hear.
She's told us before how sick of it she is that she has to give that opening speech almost every day. And we would be, too, I'm sure. I told her awhile ago I'd be willing to do it for her. I just never really expected her to ask me to run the show.
But it's been a success, and I'm guessing she'll let me do it on a more regular basis now that she's heard me do it. I don't mind showing off a bit. I think it even helps me connect to the students a little bit better.
So it's been an exciting week so far, and we have big things to come. Get ready for Christmas pics from both our afternoon classes and my time Jeong Mi and friends. It's going to be a fun month.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
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!!!
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!!!
Sunday, December 5, 2010
North Korea's Facebook Page
Cracked.com is one of the foremost contributors to research and information on the Hermit Kingdom. They are presenting, for the first time, the Facebook page of North Korea.
Check out the page here!!!
And don't forget to check out the number one dictator on their most recent crazy dictator list!!! You know him, you love him. It's Kim Jong-il!!!
Check out the page here!!!
And don't forget to check out the number one dictator on their most recent crazy dictator list!!! You know him, you love him. It's Kim Jong-il!!!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Winter Semester Begins
It's the start of a new semester and changes are already taking place at Hambak.
The first big one happened last month when our secretary and friend, Sunny, did not have her contract renewed by the school. It's sad that she's not here, but the good news is that our new secretary, Olivia, is really cool. She is an English major, as well, so that could be helpful to any of our teachers who don't speak much Korean.
With the new semester, our after-school classes are all leveling up. My first graders are moving onto level 2 of our Backback book series. I can tell you that they're not all ready for the jump, but certainly enough if them are so that they can help the others along.
I did our new level tests on Monday, and was initially worried that my first grade class would top the 20-student level. I knew that three of mine were taking this semester off, but I interviewed eight students, meaning there was a strong chance that I'd hit that magical, terrible number.
What I didn't know, is that five students are taking this semester off, and I only got three more. So that puts me at 18 students. That's one less than last time. And even better is that one of my "trouble makers" didn't come back. He was a nice boy, but he talked too much and he stood up and walked around the room so often that I was frequently stopping class to reprimand him. He's not bad, but he's a first-grade boy. There's only so much I could do.
My fourth, fifth and sixth graders are my favorite class. It's the most advanced class we offer, so I get to teach a lot of writing and grammar. It's something I really enjoy. That class added one new student, but shrank to ten total. I had fifteen last time. The students who dropped out were some of the lower-level fourth graders and one of my sixth graders. Unfortunately, one kid who I wish had dropped it is still there.
He was going by the name of Spongebob, but now changed his name to Elmander, a soccer player. He already told us he doesn't want to be in class, but his mother wants him there, so she signs him up. Unfortunately, now that he's signed up, she seems to not take any responsibility for him getting here. Last semester, he came 10-15 minutes late every day. It got to a point where I told him if he was late, don't bother coming.
I don't know how it is in America now, but in Korea, if a kid shows up late, the class loses it and teeters on the edge of chaos. No matter how well they're studying before the kid arrives, everyone has to say something when he comes in. It's a nightmare.
So we talked to him and talked to his mom. I already knew the problem. He is outside playing soccer every day, so he delays his arrival to the classroom. He came on time Wednesday for the first time ever. But I don't expect this to last. Parents here need to understand that a kid not wanting to attend class is just harming all the other students. It's selfish of the parents. Let the kid join a sports academy. That's what he wants to do.
We do have some great news now that December is here. Geoff and I are about a month away from moving out of our crummy current apartments into these sweet, lost-style apartments in a building that's a block away from us.
I've documented my troubles. I actually don't mind my apartment, but none of the appliances work. The air conditioner doesn't work. The heater doesn't work. The washing machine has been repaired twice. And the building frequently shuts off the hot water. It's an office building, essentially, and we're just converting it into living quarters. Therefore, they don't cater to the residents.
Ridia has been doing more wonderful work for us, and got us into the new places. I'm moving Jan. 1. My only responsibility is getting my stuff there. I will hire a moving company for the job. What would take me a group of friends and most of a day will take them a few hours. I don't know the price yet, but it'll be worth it for sure. I'm so excited to move into an actual apartment. Just having the loft in which to keep my bed will pretty much double the amount of space I have. It's going to be so nice.
The other big news of late is that I decided to join a gym. I've felt like a lazy slob recently because I haven't been salsa dancing anymore. It just got to be too expensive, and the late class times meant I wasn't getting to bed until close to 1 a.m. three nights a week. It also ate into my weekends a lot. Jeong Mi and I still attend the Saturday open dance sometimes (though it's not been switched to Fridays), but we don't take class.
So I joined a gym that is about two blocks from my house and sits between my home and the school. Adding to it is that the gym is also a sauna. So after working out, I can relax in the steam room or jump in the hot tub. It's a pretty nice extra feature. And it's also important to work out in Korea. With all the drinking, it's not difficult to start growing a little belly. Thank goodness I will continue to avoid that. Bryan and Geoff also joined the gym, so that's good, too.
Other than that, things are pretty routine here. Nothing lately has happened as far as the crazies up North are concerned. Geoff and I had no classes today, so we did a ton of prep work, and we're also discussing winter camp, which is fast approaching.
We have the last week in December off for vacation, but neither of us have plans yet.
That's what's happening here now. Hopefully everyone else is doing well! So it goes.
The first big one happened last month when our secretary and friend, Sunny, did not have her contract renewed by the school. It's sad that she's not here, but the good news is that our new secretary, Olivia, is really cool. She is an English major, as well, so that could be helpful to any of our teachers who don't speak much Korean.
With the new semester, our after-school classes are all leveling up. My first graders are moving onto level 2 of our Backback book series. I can tell you that they're not all ready for the jump, but certainly enough if them are so that they can help the others along.
I did our new level tests on Monday, and was initially worried that my first grade class would top the 20-student level. I knew that three of mine were taking this semester off, but I interviewed eight students, meaning there was a strong chance that I'd hit that magical, terrible number.
What I didn't know, is that five students are taking this semester off, and I only got three more. So that puts me at 18 students. That's one less than last time. And even better is that one of my "trouble makers" didn't come back. He was a nice boy, but he talked too much and he stood up and walked around the room so often that I was frequently stopping class to reprimand him. He's not bad, but he's a first-grade boy. There's only so much I could do.
My fourth, fifth and sixth graders are my favorite class. It's the most advanced class we offer, so I get to teach a lot of writing and grammar. It's something I really enjoy. That class added one new student, but shrank to ten total. I had fifteen last time. The students who dropped out were some of the lower-level fourth graders and one of my sixth graders. Unfortunately, one kid who I wish had dropped it is still there.
He was going by the name of Spongebob, but now changed his name to Elmander, a soccer player. He already told us he doesn't want to be in class, but his mother wants him there, so she signs him up. Unfortunately, now that he's signed up, she seems to not take any responsibility for him getting here. Last semester, he came 10-15 minutes late every day. It got to a point where I told him if he was late, don't bother coming.
I don't know how it is in America now, but in Korea, if a kid shows up late, the class loses it and teeters on the edge of chaos. No matter how well they're studying before the kid arrives, everyone has to say something when he comes in. It's a nightmare.
So we talked to him and talked to his mom. I already knew the problem. He is outside playing soccer every day, so he delays his arrival to the classroom. He came on time Wednesday for the first time ever. But I don't expect this to last. Parents here need to understand that a kid not wanting to attend class is just harming all the other students. It's selfish of the parents. Let the kid join a sports academy. That's what he wants to do.
We do have some great news now that December is here. Geoff and I are about a month away from moving out of our crummy current apartments into these sweet, lost-style apartments in a building that's a block away from us.
I've documented my troubles. I actually don't mind my apartment, but none of the appliances work. The air conditioner doesn't work. The heater doesn't work. The washing machine has been repaired twice. And the building frequently shuts off the hot water. It's an office building, essentially, and we're just converting it into living quarters. Therefore, they don't cater to the residents.
Ridia has been doing more wonderful work for us, and got us into the new places. I'm moving Jan. 1. My only responsibility is getting my stuff there. I will hire a moving company for the job. What would take me a group of friends and most of a day will take them a few hours. I don't know the price yet, but it'll be worth it for sure. I'm so excited to move into an actual apartment. Just having the loft in which to keep my bed will pretty much double the amount of space I have. It's going to be so nice.
The other big news of late is that I decided to join a gym. I've felt like a lazy slob recently because I haven't been salsa dancing anymore. It just got to be too expensive, and the late class times meant I wasn't getting to bed until close to 1 a.m. three nights a week. It also ate into my weekends a lot. Jeong Mi and I still attend the Saturday open dance sometimes (though it's not been switched to Fridays), but we don't take class.
So I joined a gym that is about two blocks from my house and sits between my home and the school. Adding to it is that the gym is also a sauna. So after working out, I can relax in the steam room or jump in the hot tub. It's a pretty nice extra feature. And it's also important to work out in Korea. With all the drinking, it's not difficult to start growing a little belly. Thank goodness I will continue to avoid that. Bryan and Geoff also joined the gym, so that's good, too.
Other than that, things are pretty routine here. Nothing lately has happened as far as the crazies up North are concerned. Geoff and I had no classes today, so we did a ton of prep work, and we're also discussing winter camp, which is fast approaching.
We have the last week in December off for vacation, but neither of us have plans yet.
That's what's happening here now. Hopefully everyone else is doing well! So it goes.
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