I just got back from the most miserable bike ride of my life. According to Google, it's 40 degrees out, which is already fairly cold, but the worst part was the wind. There were points when I was peddling against the wind as hard as I could just to feel like I was moving at all. And I was only wearing a sweater because it was warmer this afternoon. I know I should stop bitching about the weather, but it's really getting me down. I think the weather has a pretty big influence over my general disposition, and lately the weather's been shit.
Also, I've been a little sick all week, which ain't fun. It's nothing serious. Just a cold, I think. I noticed that a bunch of my students were sick today too, so something must be going around.
Speaking of illness, yesterday, I got some pretty shocking news. One of the teachers at my school has had to leave and possibly quit teaching for good because of "health problems." It's especially strange because she's not much older than me. Mid-to-late twenties. Initially, my director said she wasn't coming in because she was sick. I assumed he meant she just had a cold, like me, but I guess I should have known better since Koreans never call in sick unless they're on their death beds. When I pressed him further about the nature of her illness (because I wondered if maybe she had the same thing I have - runny nose, sore throat, etc.), he gravely said she had something "very rare." Then he said that she wouldn't be returning. He didn't explain any more, and although I was pretty curious, I thought it best to leave it at that. It's really a shame because she's such a sweet, genuinely nice person. It's also a pretty big blow to our staff because we only have five teachers, including me.
Anyway, in slightly less depressing news, I've hooked up with some nerds in my new town, and we're gonna play Dungeons and Dragons and worship the Devil tomorrow night.
And on Saturday, there's some sort of festival going on. I'll probably end up going on my own, but I think there will be all kinds of "activities" going on where I can meet people.
One of my new pals invited me out to play soccer last night. I declined because I already had plans to watch a shitty horror movie and drink wine alone in my apartment, but I'm glad I know some people who play "friendly" soccer matches here. Hopefully that means I can put the soccer shoes I bought last year to use. I've never worn them because I hurt my leg in Thailand immediately after buying them.
Oh, also, I bought a guitar.
March 25, 2010
March 18, 2010
Grad School and Other Things
I woke up this morning to snow, and it's pissing me off. I want to move to a tropical climate. Yesterday, I had the day off because the Korean teachers had to attend a seminar. I had planned on running some errands, but it was too toasty inside and too miserable outside for me to leave the apartment.
Nothing special has been going on lately, but my mama asked me to update this thing, so I figured I'd post something short and sweet. Work is okay. When I first started my new job, I was filled with feelings of dread every morning. I didn't want to go to work. But it's slowly getting better. The kids are fine and my co-workers are fine, but teaching just ain't my thing. Fortunately, this has forced me to think a lot about what I really do want to do with my life. I've decided that I almost certainly want to go to grad school. I had never really considered it until a few days ago, but now I'm pretty dead-set on it. Lately, I've got the film bug bad, and I've decided that I definitely want to pursue a career in that field. I've also been writing a lot lately. Mostly just ideas and scenes and dialogue, nothing very cohesive, but it feels good being creative.
Regarding grad school, originally, I was thinking about trying for a program in Europe because I'd really like to live there for a couple years, but after doing some research, I realized that it's not really feasible. For one thing, most universities don't even offer film programs, and the ones that do don't offer them in English for international students. I guess most international programs are related to business or language. I'll still probably apply for some programs in the UK and other English-speaking countries like Australia, New Zealand, and maybe South Africa. But it's likely that I'll end up going somewhere in the U.S. A lot of it depends on whether or not I can get scholarships.
I need to bulk up my portfolio, but it's so hard to make films in a country where no one speaks English. I'm supposed to meet some guy who is also a filmmaker at the end of the month. I'm pretty sure he's Korean-American, so I really hope he speaks Korean. That would make things infinitely easier. The frustrating thing is that I have all these ideas for films that I just can't use until I go back to America.
Today is Thursday. Thursday is a kind of difficult day for me because I have to teach alone, with no co-teachers. It's fine for the older kids because we just sit around and shoot the shit, but the babies are real terrors. They give up on listening after about ten minutes, and I don't blame them. People naturally tune out a foreign language after a while. Besides, they're like 5 years old, and their attention span is only about ten minutes anyway.
Time to ride my bike through the snow.
Nothing special has been going on lately, but my mama asked me to update this thing, so I figured I'd post something short and sweet. Work is okay. When I first started my new job, I was filled with feelings of dread every morning. I didn't want to go to work. But it's slowly getting better. The kids are fine and my co-workers are fine, but teaching just ain't my thing. Fortunately, this has forced me to think a lot about what I really do want to do with my life. I've decided that I almost certainly want to go to grad school. I had never really considered it until a few days ago, but now I'm pretty dead-set on it. Lately, I've got the film bug bad, and I've decided that I definitely want to pursue a career in that field. I've also been writing a lot lately. Mostly just ideas and scenes and dialogue, nothing very cohesive, but it feels good being creative.
Regarding grad school, originally, I was thinking about trying for a program in Europe because I'd really like to live there for a couple years, but after doing some research, I realized that it's not really feasible. For one thing, most universities don't even offer film programs, and the ones that do don't offer them in English for international students. I guess most international programs are related to business or language. I'll still probably apply for some programs in the UK and other English-speaking countries like Australia, New Zealand, and maybe South Africa. But it's likely that I'll end up going somewhere in the U.S. A lot of it depends on whether or not I can get scholarships.
I need to bulk up my portfolio, but it's so hard to make films in a country where no one speaks English. I'm supposed to meet some guy who is also a filmmaker at the end of the month. I'm pretty sure he's Korean-American, so I really hope he speaks Korean. That would make things infinitely easier. The frustrating thing is that I have all these ideas for films that I just can't use until I go back to America.
Today is Thursday. Thursday is a kind of difficult day for me because I have to teach alone, with no co-teachers. It's fine for the older kids because we just sit around and shoot the shit, but the babies are real terrors. They give up on listening after about ten minutes, and I don't blame them. People naturally tune out a foreign language after a while. Besides, they're like 5 years old, and their attention span is only about ten minutes anyway.
Time to ride my bike through the snow.
March 6, 2010
Manila
Well, it's been rainy out, so I didn't get to do as much exploring as I wanted. I did walk around the park next to my apartment a little, but it's starting to get dark, so I came home. I promised a post about Manila, so here it is.
First, I'd like to mention that I broke the LDC screen on my camera while ice skating in Korea, so I was blindly snapping all of the photos you see here. That's why some of them are oddly framed or blurry (also because my camera is a piece of shit).
Day 1
When my plane arrived in Manila, there was a slight delay because, according to one of the stewardesses, "Someone on board committed a crime." Once she said that, everyone who could understand was looking toward the back of the plane to figure out what the hell had happened. Soon, a couple of police officers boarded the plane and, predictably, escorted two drunk Korean men off the plane. They looked pretty disheveled, so they must have been fighting or something. It's really a wonder that Koreans don't have worse reputations around the world as drunken idiots.
Once I got into the airport, I was ready to exchange money, so I went to some sort of desk that had a sign for a bank behind it, so I figured that was the place. First, I asked if I could exchange money there, and they said yes. Then, they asked me if I needed a taxi, and I said yes. Then, some Australian guy came out of nowhere and advised me to get a metered taxi elsewhere. I figured he knew what he was talking about, so I told them I had changed my mind. When I asked about exchanging money, they said, "We have no money for you." What? I asked again, and he repeated that they had no money for me, so I went along to a metered taxi. The driver said he could take me to place to exchange cash. Along the way, I noticed that his meter was acting funky, but I thought that maybe I just confused. Anyway, when I got to my hotel, he charged me 500 pesos (about 10 bucks; it should have cost maybe 200 pesos), which was obviously a number that he had just pulled out of his ass since it was nowhere to be found on the meter, but it was 1:30 AM, and I really had no choice but to pay him.
My hotel was called Royal Isabelle Suites or some shit, but it was a dump. It didn't matter, though, because I only stayed there one night.
Day 2
One strange thing about the Philippines is that you can't call cell phones from regular land lines (at least, as far as I could tell), and they're much more expensive to call from pay phones. So, after some confusion, I found a pay phone and called the guy I had planned to couch surf with. I can't remember the last time I had used a pay phone. So, I talked to him for one minute, and we made plans to meet, but then the call got cut off because I wasn't ready in time to put in more money. Anyway, I figured I had all the information I needed, and it wasn't really necessary to call him back to confirm.
We were supposed to meet at a McDonalds, and I had a little time to kill, so I walked around and picked up some breakfast (pork and stuff in a plastic bag). It was damn good.
Finally, I made my way to McDonalds and waited a bit. About 30 minutes later, he still wasn't there, so I started to worry. I began trekking around, looking for another pay phone but was unable to find one, so I had to walk 10 minutes back to the one I had originally used. When I got ahold of him, I explained where I was, and he said that he was at a different McDonalds, so he would go to that one to meet me. Okay. So, I went back to the Mickey D's and waited. Still, no show. So, I went back to the pay phone. This happened about half a dozen times. And it was hot. Plus, I was carrying my big ol' backpack with everything I needed to live for the next few weeks. Eventually, I realized that he was in a completely different part of town. So, I took a taxi there and everything was fine. But, god, what a way to start a trip. I guess we should have thought about the fact that there are literally hundreds of McDonalds in Manila.
My couch surfing buddy was named Mark, and it's really thanks to him that I had such a good time in Manila. He's a very talented full-time artist who knows Manila inside and out. So, if you're reading this, thanks again, Mark!
One thing I really like about Manila is that public transportation is very cheap and convenient. I mostly traveled around the city on jeepneys, which are old American military jeeps that have been decorated and converted for public use. They follow regular routes and are generally easy to use as long as you know where they're going or are with someone who does.
In the afternoon, we just walked around town a bit.
That night, Mark and I attended his friend's art opening. There was free booze and food, so that was awesome.
After quaffing a few San Miguels, we made our way to the next destination - some more art openings and a "hipster party" inside a kind of shopping center.
But first, we stopped so I could be initiated with the Philippines' most notorious food: balut. Balut is a fertilized duck egg, complete with feathers. You eat it with vinegar and salt.
Mark's friend (whose name I cant remember) showed me the proper procedure. First, you've got to drink the juice.
I honestly thought it was delicious. Imagine a combination of a hard boiled egg and a roasted chicken.
The "hipster party" ended up being a lot of fun. I met lots of cool people (mostly artists) and drank a boatload, including a Filipino liquor made from coconut called lambanog.
Toward the end of the night, a local Filipino "indie" band called Meiday played. They were pretty good, as far as I can remember.
Day 3
Mark and I went to a cock fight. I guess it was interesting but ultimately pretty stupid and cruel. However, the room certainly had a pretty intense energy about it, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't at least a little exciting.
This is the station where the injured but still living roosters were sewn up.
This is the station where the losers were prepared for the kitchen. Nearby, you could buy lunch. Guess what was on the menu.
That night, Mark and I went to a bar called "Hobbit House" where all the servers are midgets. It was gimmicky and really expensive, but they had cool Tolkien-inspired paintings on the wall. We had one beer.
We went to Chinatown and ate frog legs at some point. I think it was around this time.
Then we spent the night in, drinking beer and watching American Idol and The Merriam Story, which was a really horrible made-for-TV movie about a Filipino politician. It was corny as hell and good to watch while you're slugging down a Red Horse beer.
Day 4
Mark took me to the lechon (whole roasted pig) district, where we ate a really delicious lunch.
I liked that every component of the meal except the rice involved pig - lechon, pork liver gravy, pork broth, and veggies cooked in pork fat.
As we were eating, we could hear pigs squealing as they were slaughtered, so once we finished, Mark (being the exceptional guide he is) asked the owner if we could check out the area where the pigs are prepared. The owner graciously agreed.
After pigging out (sorry), we sauntered over to a strip of secondhand stores. The first place was an American surplus store, which was basically the same as any thrift store in the states.
I rummaged through the picture frame section and came across some strange pictures. I wonder how one's middle school yearbook photo ends up in a secondhand store in Manila.
Next, we went to a Japanese surplus store, which was really cool, and if I hadn't intended on traveling so lightly, I probably would have bought a lot of junk.
Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take any decent pictures there.
Then, Mark and I walked around the old Spanish district. I guess there was some cool buildings, but I don't really understand or care about architecture. Here's an old cathedral that's famous, I think.
We did a lot of walking.
I ate some cheese and mango "dirty ice cream" that was surprisingly really good.
We walked to the "Little India" area of Manila and decided to check out the Sikh temple, which turned out to be a very cool experience. We had to take off our shoes and wrap our heads (they provided the cloths). Then, we got a free dinner of lentils, naan, yogurt, and some really tasty spiced tea. I felt like the other people in the temple were giving us dirty looks (especially after I dripped yogurt on the floor), but maybe I was just being paranoid.
That night, Mark and I met his friend, Mimi, for some drinks and a snack of pig ears and chicken asses. These chicken asses were grilled, though, and much better than the ones I ate in Korea. Mimi is a film programmer at a theater in Manila. Obviously, she's really cool.
After our initial round of drinks, we ended up in a videoke bar. Mark and Mimi kept pressuring me to sing, but it was really crowded, and all of the other people performing were really good! Finally, we decided to back to a different place that we had seen earlier that was empty. By the time we got there, it wasn't empty anymore, but there were only a handful of people, and they were horrible singers. We'd found our kind of crowd.
Day 5
I actually got these mosquito bites at the art opening, several days before, but they just kept getting bigger and darker. Actually, I had bites all over, and I realized that I had never done any research about malaria in the Philippines. Turns out malaria is only a risk in rural areas in the Philippines, not Manila. Phew!
My friend, James, who I met in Korea, also happened to be in the Philippines, so we made plans to meet up. This is kind of strange because we did the same thing in Thailand. Anyway, we got together and went to a mini-casino (or something) where we played Texas Hold 'Em. That was my first time ever gambling with complete strangers. It was fun, though, because the people were all friendly, and the stakes were low. In the end, I won $10!
Another kind of bizarre food: one-day-old-chick. This is exactly what it sounds like. This chick was born and then immediately killed and deep fried. Pretty evil, huh?
Anyway, you eat the thing whole - head, innards, bones, and all. It tastes okay, but the innards are sort of bitter.
That night, I met up with Mark again, and we went back to the location of the "hipster party." There's a bar/movie theater there called Mogwai (after the gremlin, not the band). They were showing "Hump Day," which I enjoyed.
After a few brews, we stopped at a little street-side stand for some rice gruel.
Cool folks: Nii, Con, and Mark.
Day 6
The next day, I did a little shopping and ate at a Filipino fast-food chain called Jollibee. I can't remember what else. It was a pretty uneventful day because we'd already been pretty much every where in Manila.
That night, we met up with Mimi again, had a few drinks, and then called it an early night. I had to be at the airport at around 4 the next morning.
I got ripped off again on my way to the airport because the taxi driver had no change (at least he told me this as soon as I got in; I was his first client of the day, supposedly), and the smallest bill I had on me was 500 pesos. No big deal. In all, I only spent about $100 in the Philippines.
Then I spent a whole day traveling and missed my plane in Chicago. It was a nightmare, but I'm not going to go into it.
In Texas, I ate delicious food, saw amazing friends, and spent time with my wonderful family. Now I'm back in Korea writing this bullshit.
THE END.
First, I'd like to mention that I broke the LDC screen on my camera while ice skating in Korea, so I was blindly snapping all of the photos you see here. That's why some of them are oddly framed or blurry (also because my camera is a piece of shit).
Day 1
When my plane arrived in Manila, there was a slight delay because, according to one of the stewardesses, "Someone on board committed a crime." Once she said that, everyone who could understand was looking toward the back of the plane to figure out what the hell had happened. Soon, a couple of police officers boarded the plane and, predictably, escorted two drunk Korean men off the plane. They looked pretty disheveled, so they must have been fighting or something. It's really a wonder that Koreans don't have worse reputations around the world as drunken idiots.
Once I got into the airport, I was ready to exchange money, so I went to some sort of desk that had a sign for a bank behind it, so I figured that was the place. First, I asked if I could exchange money there, and they said yes. Then, they asked me if I needed a taxi, and I said yes. Then, some Australian guy came out of nowhere and advised me to get a metered taxi elsewhere. I figured he knew what he was talking about, so I told them I had changed my mind. When I asked about exchanging money, they said, "We have no money for you." What? I asked again, and he repeated that they had no money for me, so I went along to a metered taxi. The driver said he could take me to place to exchange cash. Along the way, I noticed that his meter was acting funky, but I thought that maybe I just confused. Anyway, when I got to my hotel, he charged me 500 pesos (about 10 bucks; it should have cost maybe 200 pesos), which was obviously a number that he had just pulled out of his ass since it was nowhere to be found on the meter, but it was 1:30 AM, and I really had no choice but to pay him.
My hotel was called Royal Isabelle Suites or some shit, but it was a dump. It didn't matter, though, because I only stayed there one night.
Day 2
One strange thing about the Philippines is that you can't call cell phones from regular land lines (at least, as far as I could tell), and they're much more expensive to call from pay phones. So, after some confusion, I found a pay phone and called the guy I had planned to couch surf with. I can't remember the last time I had used a pay phone. So, I talked to him for one minute, and we made plans to meet, but then the call got cut off because I wasn't ready in time to put in more money. Anyway, I figured I had all the information I needed, and it wasn't really necessary to call him back to confirm.
We were supposed to meet at a McDonalds, and I had a little time to kill, so I walked around and picked up some breakfast (pork and stuff in a plastic bag). It was damn good.
Finally, I made my way to McDonalds and waited a bit. About 30 minutes later, he still wasn't there, so I started to worry. I began trekking around, looking for another pay phone but was unable to find one, so I had to walk 10 minutes back to the one I had originally used. When I got ahold of him, I explained where I was, and he said that he was at a different McDonalds, so he would go to that one to meet me. Okay. So, I went back to the Mickey D's and waited. Still, no show. So, I went back to the pay phone. This happened about half a dozen times. And it was hot. Plus, I was carrying my big ol' backpack with everything I needed to live for the next few weeks. Eventually, I realized that he was in a completely different part of town. So, I took a taxi there and everything was fine. But, god, what a way to start a trip. I guess we should have thought about the fact that there are literally hundreds of McDonalds in Manila.
My couch surfing buddy was named Mark, and it's really thanks to him that I had such a good time in Manila. He's a very talented full-time artist who knows Manila inside and out. So, if you're reading this, thanks again, Mark!
One thing I really like about Manila is that public transportation is very cheap and convenient. I mostly traveled around the city on jeepneys, which are old American military jeeps that have been decorated and converted for public use. They follow regular routes and are generally easy to use as long as you know where they're going or are with someone who does.
In the afternoon, we just walked around town a bit.
That night, Mark and I attended his friend's art opening. There was free booze and food, so that was awesome.
After quaffing a few San Miguels, we made our way to the next destination - some more art openings and a "hipster party" inside a kind of shopping center.
But first, we stopped so I could be initiated with the Philippines' most notorious food: balut. Balut is a fertilized duck egg, complete with feathers. You eat it with vinegar and salt.
Mark's friend (whose name I cant remember) showed me the proper procedure. First, you've got to drink the juice.
I honestly thought it was delicious. Imagine a combination of a hard boiled egg and a roasted chicken.
The "hipster party" ended up being a lot of fun. I met lots of cool people (mostly artists) and drank a boatload, including a Filipino liquor made from coconut called lambanog.
Toward the end of the night, a local Filipino "indie" band called Meiday played. They were pretty good, as far as I can remember.
Day 3
Mark and I went to a cock fight. I guess it was interesting but ultimately pretty stupid and cruel. However, the room certainly had a pretty intense energy about it, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't at least a little exciting.
This is the station where the injured but still living roosters were sewn up.
This is the station where the losers were prepared for the kitchen. Nearby, you could buy lunch. Guess what was on the menu.
That night, Mark and I went to a bar called "Hobbit House" where all the servers are midgets. It was gimmicky and really expensive, but they had cool Tolkien-inspired paintings on the wall. We had one beer.
We went to Chinatown and ate frog legs at some point. I think it was around this time.
Then we spent the night in, drinking beer and watching American Idol and The Merriam Story, which was a really horrible made-for-TV movie about a Filipino politician. It was corny as hell and good to watch while you're slugging down a Red Horse beer.
Day 4
Mark took me to the lechon (whole roasted pig) district, where we ate a really delicious lunch.
I liked that every component of the meal except the rice involved pig - lechon, pork liver gravy, pork broth, and veggies cooked in pork fat.
As we were eating, we could hear pigs squealing as they were slaughtered, so once we finished, Mark (being the exceptional guide he is) asked the owner if we could check out the area where the pigs are prepared. The owner graciously agreed.
After pigging out (sorry), we sauntered over to a strip of secondhand stores. The first place was an American surplus store, which was basically the same as any thrift store in the states.
I rummaged through the picture frame section and came across some strange pictures. I wonder how one's middle school yearbook photo ends up in a secondhand store in Manila.
Next, we went to a Japanese surplus store, which was really cool, and if I hadn't intended on traveling so lightly, I probably would have bought a lot of junk.
Unfortunately, I didn't manage to take any decent pictures there.
Then, Mark and I walked around the old Spanish district. I guess there was some cool buildings, but I don't really understand or care about architecture. Here's an old cathedral that's famous, I think.
We did a lot of walking.
I ate some cheese and mango "dirty ice cream" that was surprisingly really good.
We walked to the "Little India" area of Manila and decided to check out the Sikh temple, which turned out to be a very cool experience. We had to take off our shoes and wrap our heads (they provided the cloths). Then, we got a free dinner of lentils, naan, yogurt, and some really tasty spiced tea. I felt like the other people in the temple were giving us dirty looks (especially after I dripped yogurt on the floor), but maybe I was just being paranoid.
That night, Mark and I met his friend, Mimi, for some drinks and a snack of pig ears and chicken asses. These chicken asses were grilled, though, and much better than the ones I ate in Korea. Mimi is a film programmer at a theater in Manila. Obviously, she's really cool.
After our initial round of drinks, we ended up in a videoke bar. Mark and Mimi kept pressuring me to sing, but it was really crowded, and all of the other people performing were really good! Finally, we decided to back to a different place that we had seen earlier that was empty. By the time we got there, it wasn't empty anymore, but there were only a handful of people, and they were horrible singers. We'd found our kind of crowd.
Day 5
I actually got these mosquito bites at the art opening, several days before, but they just kept getting bigger and darker. Actually, I had bites all over, and I realized that I had never done any research about malaria in the Philippines. Turns out malaria is only a risk in rural areas in the Philippines, not Manila. Phew!
My friend, James, who I met in Korea, also happened to be in the Philippines, so we made plans to meet up. This is kind of strange because we did the same thing in Thailand. Anyway, we got together and went to a mini-casino (or something) where we played Texas Hold 'Em. That was my first time ever gambling with complete strangers. It was fun, though, because the people were all friendly, and the stakes were low. In the end, I won $10!
Another kind of bizarre food: one-day-old-chick. This is exactly what it sounds like. This chick was born and then immediately killed and deep fried. Pretty evil, huh?
Anyway, you eat the thing whole - head, innards, bones, and all. It tastes okay, but the innards are sort of bitter.
That night, I met up with Mark again, and we went back to the location of the "hipster party." There's a bar/movie theater there called Mogwai (after the gremlin, not the band). They were showing "Hump Day," which I enjoyed.
After a few brews, we stopped at a little street-side stand for some rice gruel.
Cool folks: Nii, Con, and Mark.
Day 6
The next day, I did a little shopping and ate at a Filipino fast-food chain called Jollibee. I can't remember what else. It was a pretty uneventful day because we'd already been pretty much every where in Manila.
That night, we met up with Mimi again, had a few drinks, and then called it an early night. I had to be at the airport at around 4 the next morning.
I got ripped off again on my way to the airport because the taxi driver had no change (at least he told me this as soon as I got in; I was his first client of the day, supposedly), and the smallest bill I had on me was 500 pesos. No big deal. In all, I only spent about $100 in the Philippines.
Then I spent a whole day traveling and missed my plane in Chicago. It was a nightmare, but I'm not going to go into it.
In Texas, I ate delicious food, saw amazing friends, and spent time with my wonderful family. Now I'm back in Korea writing this bullshit.
THE END.
Back in the ROK
I haven't updated in a while because I've been traveling and getting settled into my new apartment. I've finally got pretty much everything unpacked. I also spent a couple days cleaning this place because it looked like a real dump when I first moved in. The guy who lived here before me hadn't bothered to clean up the baby powder and "ethnic hair products" that he had squirted all over the floor. He also left behind an entire suitcase full of clothes and GOLD SILK BED SHEETS. Now I gotta figure out what to do with his junk.
So far, I really like my new school. The kids have been, for the most part, pretty great. However, it's only been one week. They'll probably turn into monsters once they get used to me. I also feel, for the first time, like I'm actually teaching and not babysitting. Unlike the boys at my old middle school, these kids listen to me. Also, my new bosses and co-teachers keep heaping praise on me (I think it's because the previous foreign teacher was a real putz). Anyway, it's the weekend, and I really don't feel like thinking or writing about work, so I'm gonna leave it at that.
I like Daejeon all right so far. It's definitely much more convenient than Chuncheon. My apartment is in a good location with lots of stuff nearby, including a big park, which I'm going to check out this afternoon. I need to make some friends, though. On Friday night, I sat at home eating pound cake and reading Charlotte's Web. I need to find people to eat "some pig" with me.
Here's the view from my window.
I bought a bicycle, but I've only ridden it a couple times because the weather's been shitty lately.
On Monday, I went to Seoul to see Mount Eerie. Phil Elvrum was pretty much perfect, and he played a lot of my favorite songs.
Before him, some weirdo Korean guy played. His guitar sounded like rubber bands stretched over a punch bowl, but I enjoyed it because he was so goofy. He sang a song about "people searching the Google" or something like that. And he had another one about communism. He kept saying "fuck the capitalism!" He was obviously trying pretty hard to be silly, and I think if I'd seen an American trying to pull the shit he was doing, I would have been really annoyed, but I guess I'm more lenient with Koreans. At least he was doing something somewhat unique, rather than trying to be another Rain/Big Bang/2 PM clone.
Then, some white girl played, but it wasn't interesting enough for me to take a picture.
Next was a singer called Itta. Here's her MySpace page. The songs she played at the show were completely different than the stuff on her MySpace, but I really liked her.
Lately, I can't get enough of the new Joanna Newsom album. I wasn't sure what to expect since I wasn't crazy about Ys, but god damn, this album is amazing. Here are a couple of my favorite tracks.
There's probably a ton more for me to write about, but I haven't really had a chance to explore my new neighborhood, so I'm going to go do that now.
I'll make a detailed post about my trip to Manila soon, maybe tonight.
So far, I really like my new school. The kids have been, for the most part, pretty great. However, it's only been one week. They'll probably turn into monsters once they get used to me. I also feel, for the first time, like I'm actually teaching and not babysitting. Unlike the boys at my old middle school, these kids listen to me. Also, my new bosses and co-teachers keep heaping praise on me (I think it's because the previous foreign teacher was a real putz). Anyway, it's the weekend, and I really don't feel like thinking or writing about work, so I'm gonna leave it at that.
I like Daejeon all right so far. It's definitely much more convenient than Chuncheon. My apartment is in a good location with lots of stuff nearby, including a big park, which I'm going to check out this afternoon. I need to make some friends, though. On Friday night, I sat at home eating pound cake and reading Charlotte's Web. I need to find people to eat "some pig" with me.
Here's the view from my window.
I bought a bicycle, but I've only ridden it a couple times because the weather's been shitty lately.
On Monday, I went to Seoul to see Mount Eerie. Phil Elvrum was pretty much perfect, and he played a lot of my favorite songs.
Before him, some weirdo Korean guy played. His guitar sounded like rubber bands stretched over a punch bowl, but I enjoyed it because he was so goofy. He sang a song about "people searching the Google" or something like that. And he had another one about communism. He kept saying "fuck the capitalism!" He was obviously trying pretty hard to be silly, and I think if I'd seen an American trying to pull the shit he was doing, I would have been really annoyed, but I guess I'm more lenient with Koreans. At least he was doing something somewhat unique, rather than trying to be another Rain/Big Bang/2 PM clone.
Then, some white girl played, but it wasn't interesting enough for me to take a picture.
Next was a singer called Itta. Here's her MySpace page. The songs she played at the show were completely different than the stuff on her MySpace, but I really liked her.
Lately, I can't get enough of the new Joanna Newsom album. I wasn't sure what to expect since I wasn't crazy about Ys, but god damn, this album is amazing. Here are a couple of my favorite tracks.
There's probably a ton more for me to write about, but I haven't really had a chance to explore my new neighborhood, so I'm going to go do that now.
I'll make a detailed post about my trip to Manila soon, maybe tonight.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
