Hi All! Haven't been very active lately I know.
This past weekend I visited some friends in Gwangju. My friend Patrick and I took a 3 1/2 hour bus over there to the Southwest Korea. The rail system was out of the question because it runs Northwest (Seoul & Incheon) to Southeast Korea (Busan). It was a pretty enjoyable ride down though they went a little heavy on the heater - very Sauna-esque.
There are a few photos up on Fbook that I added to the Halloween album by the way.
The highlights of the weekend, besides seeing our good Gwangju friends, were spending Saturday playing paintball and a bit of Saturday night at an ice bar. The cool thing about the ice bar is that you got to throw your glass at a target if once you were done. Out of 3 tries, I managed to score once. Unfortunately, I won a coupon for 5,000 W (5 dollars) that can only be redeemed on your NEXT visit to the restaurant. Smooth talking my way out of this did not help. I now am in possession of a 5 dollar coupon that I may be able to redeem in about 2 months.
Forgot to mention that we went to an airsoft gun range. Apparently, and I don't know if it is the Texas in me because I have never fired a gun, I am a pretty good shot. Must be the video games. Cashed in for a phone charm that soon broke afterward.
The paintball was the absolute best part of the weekend. Patrick, my friends Alex and Brian, and myself woke up early on Saturday and played right through to about 3 PM. There were tooooo many stories to recount here, and the girls heard them all ad nauseum.
The bus ride home was the only sour part of the trip. We hit rough traffic and our 3 1/2 hour trip back up turned into 6 1/2 hours. All in all, had a fun time in Gwangju. Check out the pictures and if you can't access them let me know - I will provide a different avenue!!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Wowzers!!
It's snowing tonight!!
I was with friends from Austin and Los Angeles so we were all very excited! My friend Carmine from Toronto was slightly less enthused.
I was with friends from Austin and Los Angeles so we were all very excited! My friend Carmine from Toronto was slightly less enthused.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Turn the Other Cheek
Those famous .. Walt Whitman words, I believe =), certainly ring true! Now, in all seriousness, I came about as close to being in a fight since the age 10. There's no denying, I was quite the scrappy 10-year-old.
I think I have written a few times where I have been harassed, generally by older Korean men, at various locales throughout Seoul. Not to break the mold, this fight almost came to be with an older Korean man in Seoul (I'll ballpark him at about age 45, 5'6, and one who has taken a rather liberal stance on physical fitness to give him a little illustration).
I was riding the subway to Seoul, a solid 30 minutes behind the rest of my compatriots. I was on the train, quiet of course since I was by myself, and generally keeping to myself when I heard this man start yelling. I gave him a quick glance but as he kept going I thought Surely this isn't directed at me. Well, it was directed at me - 100% of it in fact. He really laid into me too, and I would've been obliged to take offense had I known what he was saying. After about 5 minutes of him yelling at me as I tossed in a "Mian hamida, anyo Hangeul" (I'm sorry, no Korean) the few times I could get a word in, I reached the Evan Daniel breaking point. Commence the stare down!! He had been staring at me this whole time while I had been generally avoiding eye contact. I released the hounds - I looked him in the eyes for about 45 seconds or so and he finally stopped yelling and stopped looking at me. I sat down though the only vacant chair was directly in front of him. He really hit his boiling point after I crossed my legs in front of him and started shaking my foot. There is a Korean custom that I was previously unaware of that dictates that you should not cross your legs in front of your elders. The custom seems to more accurately follow the practice of "Don't cross your legs when your elders are yelling at you."
I had gone back to avoiding eye contact by the way. In fact, I was texting my friend Carmine something along the lines of "HELP ME." No matter, my leg shaking was enough to send him out of his seat. He walked over to me, standing directly over me, and started yelling at my leg again. I almost forgot to mention that every Korean on the train outside a 10-foot vicinity were staring directly at us. Those within the danger zone pretended that all was well with the world. Any other Koreans I made eye contact with gave me what I can only describe as an "I'm sorry this is happening to you" look. By this point, I have apologized ten times to a man standing directly over me with his fist clenched at cocked behind his head ready to hit me for whatever it is I did to him.
Now, for those wondering why I summoned the patience of Job, let me throw in a quick technicality on deportation. If you fight a Korean citizen, you will probably get deported 10 times outta 10. There are very few extenuating circumstances. Had this taken place in America, I would have helped this man sit back in his seat regardless of whether he wanted my aid, told him to leave me alone, and be done with it. Here in Korea however, I took the road less traveled by. Plus, you never know what level of crazy someone brings to the table, and I'm content to go through life never finding out!!
My saving grace was that I was only two stops from my destination. I waited him out, took another 2-3 minutes of abuse wondering if he would hit me or not and how I would respond, and exited the train. As he stood over me I got into the most relaxed, I-don't-want-to-fight stances I have ever mustered. It was very Sean Penn in Fast Times. I managed to escape incredibly irked but unscathed.
And for any of my EPIK'ers who might follow the joke, this was NOT time for a "This is a kill" references.
I think I have written a few times where I have been harassed, generally by older Korean men, at various locales throughout Seoul. Not to break the mold, this fight almost came to be with an older Korean man in Seoul (I'll ballpark him at about age 45, 5'6, and one who has taken a rather liberal stance on physical fitness to give him a little illustration).
I was riding the subway to Seoul, a solid 30 minutes behind the rest of my compatriots. I was on the train, quiet of course since I was by myself, and generally keeping to myself when I heard this man start yelling. I gave him a quick glance but as he kept going I thought Surely this isn't directed at me. Well, it was directed at me - 100% of it in fact. He really laid into me too, and I would've been obliged to take offense had I known what he was saying. After about 5 minutes of him yelling at me as I tossed in a "Mian hamida, anyo Hangeul" (I'm sorry, no Korean) the few times I could get a word in, I reached the Evan Daniel breaking point. Commence the stare down!! He had been staring at me this whole time while I had been generally avoiding eye contact. I released the hounds - I looked him in the eyes for about 45 seconds or so and he finally stopped yelling and stopped looking at me. I sat down though the only vacant chair was directly in front of him. He really hit his boiling point after I crossed my legs in front of him and started shaking my foot. There is a Korean custom that I was previously unaware of that dictates that you should not cross your legs in front of your elders. The custom seems to more accurately follow the practice of "Don't cross your legs when your elders are yelling at you."
I had gone back to avoiding eye contact by the way. In fact, I was texting my friend Carmine something along the lines of "HELP ME." No matter, my leg shaking was enough to send him out of his seat. He walked over to me, standing directly over me, and started yelling at my leg again. I almost forgot to mention that every Korean on the train outside a 10-foot vicinity were staring directly at us. Those within the danger zone pretended that all was well with the world. Any other Koreans I made eye contact with gave me what I can only describe as an "I'm sorry this is happening to you" look. By this point, I have apologized ten times to a man standing directly over me with his fist clenched at cocked behind his head ready to hit me for whatever it is I did to him.
Now, for those wondering why I summoned the patience of Job, let me throw in a quick technicality on deportation. If you fight a Korean citizen, you will probably get deported 10 times outta 10. There are very few extenuating circumstances. Had this taken place in America, I would have helped this man sit back in his seat regardless of whether he wanted my aid, told him to leave me alone, and be done with it. Here in Korea however, I took the road less traveled by. Plus, you never know what level of crazy someone brings to the table, and I'm content to go through life never finding out!!
My saving grace was that I was only two stops from my destination. I waited him out, took another 2-3 minutes of abuse wondering if he would hit me or not and how I would respond, and exited the train. As he stood over me I got into the most relaxed, I-don't-want-to-fight stances I have ever mustered. It was very Sean Penn in Fast Times. I managed to escape incredibly irked but unscathed.
And for any of my EPIK'ers who might follow the joke, this was NOT time for a "This is a kill" references.
Halloween!
I am realizing now that I never made a post covering the H-party. Not too much to say other than it being purtty spectacular. I had friends visiting from Busan that weekend so I also got to give my first Seoul tour too!
Everything we made for the party, monetarily speaking, went back into the party. We charged about 10 dollars per head and had over a couple hundred people - actually now that I am doing this math those numbers don't add up!! After we ran outta food though we only charged about 5. I don't generally talk extensively about money but the party fund ended up running over a thousand dollars, and it all went back in. A Mexican restaurant named On The Map was kind enough to let use their place as our venue. I think we probably helped them out too by giving them one of the better business nights they've had since they have been opened (about 4 months).
Anyway, the most important thing is that it set us up well for our next party. I spent about half the night running around but I did get to enjoy myself towards the end. I do love to host though, and between the 5 or 6 of us who threw it, I must say we did a rather good job!
Everything we made for the party, monetarily speaking, went back into the party. We charged about 10 dollars per head and had over a couple hundred people - actually now that I am doing this math those numbers don't add up!! After we ran outta food though we only charged about 5. I don't generally talk extensively about money but the party fund ended up running over a thousand dollars, and it all went back in. A Mexican restaurant named On The Map was kind enough to let use their place as our venue. I think we probably helped them out too by giving them one of the better business nights they've had since they have been opened (about 4 months).
Anyway, the most important thing is that it set us up well for our next party. I spent about half the night running around but I did get to enjoy myself towards the end. I do love to host though, and between the 5 or 6 of us who threw it, I must say we did a rather good job!
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Hi All!!
A few new updates in the life of E ::
My friend Hero posted the videos of our bungee jumps. If you click here you can find me in all my glory. This was one of those situations where even had I known I'd be on video, I still would of ended up looking about as scared as I've ever been. If the link doesn't work, let me know!!! It says I can upload videos on here but I don't know how to save it from FB. My brain is not large enough for tasks like these.
Anyway, I was able to spend today with the newly engaged Steve and Nara. They actually came down to Incheon to check out my neck of woods. It was my first time checking out China Town too. It was, as my students would describe, "so-so." We had a good time walking around catching up though, and I am just happy to finally meet Nara and have family in the same country as me!!
Steve got some good photos too so those should be up at some point. All I can say is that both the Daniel's and Iams' will be proud of our patriotism as we saluted General MacArthur in a way only Americans could.
Ugh.. I've seen the bungee jumping video about 5-10 times and I get Vietnam like flashbacks. That's all from here for now!!
My friend Hero posted the videos of our bungee jumps. If you click here you can find me in all my glory. This was one of those situations where even had I known I'd be on video, I still would of ended up looking about as scared as I've ever been. If the link doesn't work, let me know!!! It says I can upload videos on here but I don't know how to save it from FB. My brain is not large enough for tasks like these.
Anyway, I was able to spend today with the newly engaged Steve and Nara. They actually came down to Incheon to check out my neck of woods. It was my first time checking out China Town too. It was, as my students would describe, "so-so." We had a good time walking around catching up though, and I am just happy to finally meet Nara and have family in the same country as me!!
Steve got some good photos too so those should be up at some point. All I can say is that both the Daniel's and Iams' will be proud of our patriotism as we saluted General MacArthur in a way only Americans could.
Ugh.. I've seen the bungee jumping video about 5-10 times and I get Vietnam like flashbacks. That's all from here for now!!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
The Weather
It's a good time to be a vampire in Incheon. When I wake up around 7 or so it has just gotten light out. Within an hour of getting out of school or so though it is already dark. As winter approaches I have been told that it should darken a tad bit later (say 7:30-8 or so) and be dark by 4:40 (the end of my school day). Hello darkness my old friend!
The other crazy thing about this week has been the cold front. Yesterday and today it has been in the high 20's. The wind is killing me. It is supposed to warm up as soon as tomorrow. I most certainly hope so, because fall is my favorite season and while I am excited about having a full season of winter for the first time in my life, I am not ready just quite yet!
The other crazy thing about this week has been the cold front. Yesterday and today it has been in the high 20's. The wind is killing me. It is supposed to warm up as soon as tomorrow. I most certainly hope so, because fall is my favorite season and while I am excited about having a full season of winter for the first time in my life, I am not ready just quite yet!
Did I Mention Something About Lesson Plans?
I think going into this week I talked about using this time to make lesson plans through the end of the school year. I hope to get a heavy dosage starting tomorrow, because Monday and Tuesday I did nothing but read and watch movies. Not the good kind of reading either - ESPN & The Internet Movie Database have taken up farrrrrr too much of my time recently.
Hope to get on it sooN!!
Hope to get on it sooN!!
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