Refreshing Tuesday

When I went in today, the other teachers were really cool about what happened yesterday. They told me not to worry and that it happens all the time. I think they could tell that I needed some reassurance after what happened.

Today was a great boost, too. For my first class, Vicky, Cindy and I took our kids out to a park to play. It's about time they give the kids a little break.

The rest of the day was just as easy. I only taught 2 1/2 classes because teachers are preparing the students for exams.

As promised, here are pictures from the wedding and the fireworks show on Sunday. Enjoy them. There are a couple more of me in the wedding shots.

Rio's Wedding

Fireworks

Take The Bad With The Good

I think maybe feelings are magnified a bit since I'm on the other side of the world. I'll start by telling you the bad stuff.

Yesterday, I was having a really good day, until two kids got in a fight in one of my classes. I didn't know what happened at the time, but the other kids told me that one kid was making obscene gestures when I was writing on the board, and the other kid wasn't too happy with it.

So I took them to Stacy, the head teach, and told he they were fighting. She said, "Why were they fighting in class? What were you doing?"

Now, I realize that some inflection and meaning may be lost in translation, but Chris said any time something like that happens, it is our responsibility. After she talked to the boys privately, she came to us and said, "Do not let the students fight in class."

Again, I hope something was lost, because she made it sound like I lined them up in a ring and took bets on who would win. We're at a major disadvantage because even when they're talking normally, it sounds like they're yelling. But these kids didn't say a word to each other.

All of a sudden, the one jumped up with his chair flying back and they were on each other. Making it harder was that they were sitting right next to each.

Either way, it all put me in a bad mood last night. I had to leave the building during my break period to grab a snack and clear my head. I'm still not feeling great today, but it's a new day. So I won't dwell on what happened yesterday.

Now onto the good thing:

Friday was just a normal drinking night in Bupyeong. Saturday, however, was a brand new experience. Dan and I, along with one of Dan's Korean friends, went to a Korean wedding. The wedding was for a guy who owns a western bar that the guys all really like. I went there on my first night, and it's been my favorite so far. It has been closed for a month because it's changing locations, but will open again soon.

The wedding was very different from an American wedding. first, when the bride and groom were each introduced to walk down the aisle, everyone shouted and cheered. And there were very points throughout the ceremony where more cheering happened.

Also, it was in a hotel ballroom-type area. The thing is, there were way more people than could sit, so many stood out in the adjoining room and just talked and whatnot the whole time. There wasn't one time when people were actually quiet. Even Dan and I were talking because we were comparing all the different aspects of the wedding.

There was a point in the wedding where the bride and groom went to both families, and bowed. The bride just tilted her body down, but the groom, Rio, actually got down on his hands and knees.

Then, they both yelled something and everyone clapped. Afterwards, everyone Rio invited went up on the altar and got in a giant group picture. So we're permanently in his life, haha.

Afterwards, they had a great spread of food. It was probably the best meal since I got here. Then, we took the party to a bar in the area, where the Korean beer was free, but a Miller Light was $6, haha.

The place had an old fighter pilot's helmet as a decoration, so Dan's Korean friend asked the bartender if I could put it on. Of course, I did it, and was acting like a goof while drinking and chatting in my helmet.

I have some great pictures. The only problem is they're all on my phone. I forgot my camera. So I just have to get the pics off the phone. Give me some time, I'll get them soon.

On Sunday, we were all just taking it easy. A couple of the Songdo teachers invited Chris and I to some fireworks in Onyun-dong. The place was insanely packed, and the show was really great. At any given time there were anywhere between five and 10 blasts going off in the sky.

The weird thing was after 20 minutes, they stopped and everyone started to leave. But then, 10 minutes later, they started back up for another half hour. By that time, half of the people already left, haha. Sometimes nothing they do here makes sense.

Well, fortunately I remembered my camera for the fireworks show. I got some great pics. I'll post them later this evening.

Back to school today for six classes.

U.S. Official Set to Visit the North

Although it's unconfirmed, like all good news stories, this says the U.S. is sending an inspector to North Korea to talk about the nuclear program.

Here's the story.

More Talks on North Korea's Nukes

Here's an article in Time Magazine about the North's nuke program and how it's up and running again.

Just Nuke It

Test Days Are Awesome

I was supposed to have six classes today, all in a row. That makes Thursday my least desirable day.

Today was great, however, because the teachers were preparing students in three of my classes for midterm exams. That means I didn't have to teach three of my classes. It was so great to get a little rest when I didn't expect it.

Making my day a little longer, though, was that I had to get up and go in at noon to go apply for my alien identification card. I need this card for things like opening a bank account, which will be vital once I get paid, so I can send money back home.

Unfortunately, the new, stricter rules are forcing me to hurdle another obstacle before I can actually register. So tomorrow, I have to go to the health clinic to get an HIV and drug test. It will probably only take a half hour or so, but I have to go at 11 a.m., which is way too early compared to everything else we do here.

Oh well. I'll get that out of the way, then my card should be on its way in a few weeks.

I went out with Cindy, Chris and two of the Songdo teachers on Tuesday night. Songdo is our sister school about 20 minutes away. Then, last night, Chris and I went to InHa to meet up with a couple Korean girls he knows. As usual, it's a good time going out. And since I don't usually eat, it's not too expensive.

Tonight for dinner, Chris and I got galby at a local restaurant. Galby is a marinated pork that they put on one of those little in-table charcoal grills. It was my first time eating it, and I was more than satisfied. It was a little bit tangy, but the meat was very filling and the spices were good.

Also, the school seems to have stopped providing us with a meal during the day for some odd reason. So the teachers go in together and order things. They asked me if I was interested today, but I declined because I planned on stopping by a street vendor after work. But they very generously invited me to eat with them anyway, letting me try a little of everything.

As I said before, I'm thankful that the teachers have been so friendly and welcoming. It makes things a little bit easier, for sure.

Friday is tomorrow, which means I only have three classes, then it's probably a bus ride over to Yeonsu for some fun.

Have a good Friday, everyone!

So Many Nationalities

It's practically the United Nations out here with the various nationalities of people my age who come to teach. It certainly makes for more interesting nights.

On Friday, we all went to Bupyeong, another neighborhood of Incheon. There, we hit up a couple different bars. I went with two Canadians, a New Zealander and a Finn. While we were there we met a group of Brits who had members from England, Scotland and Wales.

I had to again defend America's honor in bar games by beating a Canadian twice at pool and an English guy at darts.

Colin and I didn't end up leaving the bar until a little after 6 a.m., while the New Zealander and Finn were still holding it down there.

We were trying to go to the SK Wyverns game on Saturday, but it got rained out. That night, a crew of us just hung out at Dan's place. I made my way home around 1 a.m., so I could watch the Arsenal game and follow the Pitt game online.

Today was another thrashing of Canada's wiffleball team by a 10-3 score. That puts our seven-game series at 3-0 USA. I crushed three homeruns today and pitched one scoreless inning.

After the rout, Dan, Scott and I hiked up Chongyang Mountain, which is right in the center of Incheon. I couldn't find much info online, so I can't tell you how high it is. Check out my pics below and get a good look for yourself. It was pretty steep and took about an hour to go up and down it. There were a ton of people out today since it was so nice. It was in the mid-80s again.

The weirdest thing is that all the way up the mountain, vendors would be selling things like hats, food and water. Some of those people carried pretty heavy loads all the way to the top to sell to hikes. It's incredible the way Koreans think sometimes.

Maybe the best part of the weekend came Friday when I finally got my cell phone. I asked Mr. No about getting one and he took me downstairs and got me one. The base plan is at $14 and then you pay per minute and per text. I think it's something like 18 cents per minute and 3 cents per text, but I'm not totally sure.

One of my students who has the same phone, switched the language from Korean to English and then sent me a song for my ringtone. It's some lame Korean pop song, but it was cool of him to do that, and I'm definitely keeping it.

My landlord, who I live right next door to, came Saturday to fix my water. She got it back to normal, but of course it went back to cold today. So her son came and fixed it. I have a feeling I'll have to mess with it every time I shower. Oh well, it's better than the cold showers I took for a week and a half.

It's back to a full week this week. I don't think we have another holiday until the first weekend in October. So time to put the nose to the grindstone I guess. It shouldn't be too bad because we're starting new books this week in all the classes.

Five classes tomorrow. I guess it's just about bedtime here. Enjoy the pictures!

Chongyang Mountain

New cell phone

Happy It's The Weekend

My assumed break for my last class of the day yesterday never happened after all. The teacher told me she was very tired and asked me to teach it anyway. So I did.

It was not a problem, however, since I was done with the book in pretty much all of my classes. That's when Quiddler became a hero. It was a huge hit with the students. Their vocabulary level is good enough that they can find all the small words, and they're just thrilled when they find big words or words that use Q or Z.

It was cool to see their excitement over the game. Maybe I need the Korean version, if there is one, to help me with my Korean vocabulary.

After work I went out with Cindy and Vicky to the hof by our school. Once again, they ordered SO MUCH food. I know it's culture, but it always seems like overkill to me. It's not like they ever finish it either. Now I know why children are starving in China. It's because Koreans order all their food and throw it away.

Either way, it was a really fun night. We drank a bunch and had a great time getting to know each other and learning about our cultures. It really is amazing. I learn so much more in a casual setting from the other teachers than I ever could in a history class. Experience is certainly the key to life.

Today I only had three classes scheduled, but I taught an extra one of Cindy's class. She sat in and watched. I think the other teachers are curious about my style of teaching, since I only get good reviews from the kids. Since her class finished their book today, she got pizza for them. So I got to eat a slice of that. The toppings were hamburger, ham, corn and green peppers.

That's one of their weird tastes over here. They mix corn in with their pizza sauce. Both times we have ordered pizza, my friends have asked for no corn. They have done it so much at the one place that the employees just know not to give it to them. Americans and their no corn order!

I still have no hot water and no cell phone. The hot water is supposed to be fixed soon. Who knows if it will? I asked about getting help to buy a cell phone today, and Terry said the school has a cell phone that no one uses, and he thinks Mr. No will give it to me. That would be nice. Then they can take my bill right out of my paycheck.

When the Internet guy came yesterday, it was a pretty funny experience. He logged me into my net account and said it was ready. But I wanted to ask about a password and user ID. So I looked up password in my dictionary, and that's how I got my message across.

I think I've really hit it off well with all the teachers here. Even though their English isn't perfect, my goofy jokes seem to get across. For instance, everyone here has an ID badge that they wear. I do not have mine yet. I told Cindy and she told Stacy.

When I walked into the Korean teachers' area, they were all asking if I envied them for having it and things like that. So I said, "I want to be a teacher too!" They all seem to get a kick out of how positive and excited I am about every little thing that happens.

Tonight I'll head over to Yeonsu-gu to hang with Dan and the Canadians, most likely. None of the teachers are going out tonight because they have some lame seminar tomorrow. Thankfully, they don't make Chris and I attend. We probably wouldn't really understand anyway.

One last story for the day. In my first class on Fridays, it is one little girl who is very smart and a good student, and three little boys who are just horrible and loud. I had to be mean today to the boys to just settle them down. But the bad thing is that one of the boys, Lion, pulled his pants down for a second and flashed his tiny kimchi. Needless to say, I was not happy with that. I yelled at him and told Vicky, his teacher. He might be in some trouble. I have no idea.

Time for the weekend!