Comment Verificiation

Has anyone else noticed that the words needed to confirm a comment on a blog site almost appear to be real words?  I would like anyone that stops by this site to post their confirmation word and provide a definition for that word.  Perhaps together we can strive to expand the already one million strong and expanding English vocabulary.

Perhaps if this catches on their can be prizes for the best confirmation word and definition.  Just a thought to keep it fun.

Cheers,
Drinking to save the economy,
Adam

So It Begins...

Well, here I am on a wonderful Monday night.  It is the most wonderful Monday night that I have spent this year because I don't have to wake up early tomorrow, I don't have to brave the cold, I don't have to deal with loud and unwilling students for the next two and a half weeks.  I am officially on vacation.

Of course no good vacation can begin without a little bit of stress.  I did manage to finish all of my paper work at the twelfth hour in a manner all to fitting to those halcyon days of university.  Of course, what was originally explained to me to be a mere outline, albeit a detailed one, had of course changed (quite unknown to me) to be a detailed play book of my upcoming winter classes.  I complained.  They complained.  In the end, they told me to just go home and start my holidays.  For the first hour of my holidays I was in a foul mood, but now that I am on to my third can of Carlsburg, yes I am in my Carlsburg years, I am feeling much more relaxed.  Oh well, I emailed myself all of the information and I am sure I can sort it out later.

This past weekend was uneventful.  I cleaned, played WOW, and saw Avatar in 3D.  Regarding Mr. Baekseju's previous question concerning the character that I play: I am an undead warlock.  Avatar was visually stunning in 3D.  Amazing really!  However, the story was as many reviews have suggested a little thin.  It was all to derivative of Dances with Wolves, or that much beloved classic from my younger years: Fern Gully.  If you enjoy movies that make you think then you should skip this one.  If you enjoy amazing visuals then check this one out.

What does this evening hold for me?  Well, the significant other's mother was apparently over and stocked up the refrigerator with a lot of good Korean home cookin', so I am guaranteed to have a great meal.   I should finally start making my pumpkin pie, otherwise the pumpkin filling that I made will start to go bad.  After all of that is finished, I will probably sit back with a few more beers play some Wow, or perhaps watch one of my perennial favourites such as the Alistair Sim's Christmas Carol.

I am off to Shanghai on Friday.  Thanks again for all of the good travel advice my virtual friends.

Cheers,
Adam

A Much Deserved Thank you and A Report on Nothing

First of all, I would like to thank Mr. Baekseju for his above and beyond the call of duty comments concerning my upcoming trip to Shanghai (Now one week away!).  I have collected all of your suggestions and will be passing them on to the significant other for approval.  I would also like to thank Flint, perhaps of What the Kimchi fame (please correct me so I can send visitors to the appropriate site), for being my second subscriber.

As I stated in my my first post On Memory, I am trying to keep a scrap book of my thoughts as I seem to forget far too much of my life these days.  Perhaps in years to come this blog will serve as a reminder of both the best of times and the times that required improvement.

Tonight I am in true manjuma form.  For those of you that may not know, a manjuma is a man that does the stereotypical jobs of your run of the mill ajuma.  Tonight I vacuumed, started making a pumpkin pie, washed some of the floors, did dishes, etc etc.  I honestly prefer to do these jobs myself because I feel that I do a better job at them.  If only I could find a very long ladder I would wash my windows.  That would make the old man back in Canada proud indeed.

I still haven't finished my lesson plans for the winter vacation.  I am a bad teacher.  I like producing lesson plans on a day by day basis as then I know what the students need to know, or have difficulty with.  I find it difficult to plan whole programs for them.  When most of my past programs had finished the documentation that I prepared for them was a sad representation of what was actually accomplished in the classroom.  No one ever reads what I write, so I always ask myself why should I care?  The problem is that I care.  I hope I can finish those up this weekend, or at least put keyboard to paper.  After all, Monday is my last day of work for this year. I can't wait to be relaxing in Shanghai at the Hyatt perhaps drinking a Glen Morangie.  I am relaxing right now with a soju I might add.

I find that I am also excited about the trip back to Korea as I will be able to stop at the Duty Free store in the airport.  Finally, I will be able to buy a decent bottle of scotch to wile away the rest of my vacation with while reading, spending time with the significant other, or my all time favourite when playing World of Warcraft (I am a closet nerd by the way).

I have taken some video with my new camera; yet all of the video is too stupid to post.  It reminds me of when I was 10 years old playing with the tape recorder and recording just stupid shit.  Right now, I just want to test the camera's functions.  I don't know a lot about them.  I will produce something.......soon.

If Mr. Baekseju reads this, or his dear compatriot in blogerdom, what would the cheapest way to make phone calls back to Canada on Christmas day in Shanghai be?  I imagine that I can buy an international calling card somewhere, or considering that it is China should I perhaps be aware of some kind of a scam.  My parents told me that even though you are not coming home for Christmas, a call to your grandparents would be much appreciated.  I plan to be intoxicated for said calls, but what do you gentleman recommend?

Anyways I have rambled on about nothing long enough today,
Keep your nose clean,
Adam

Quiet Thursday

Wow!  I have one follower, Mr. Baeksaeju from the Here and There blog.  I have truely enjoyed reading his blog.  Anyone that enjoys the flavours of Korean local liquors and plays World of Warcraft must be a stand up guy in my books.

Last night I had my class at the local dong office: The San boo 2 dong office to be precise.  I teach elementary school children that don't have access to a foreign teacher at their school.  They are usually a refreshing change from my middle school students.  There is one student, let's call him the little shit disturber (LSD), that is a source of constant argravation for me.  He yells.  He screams.  He runs around.  He curses in Korean.  He curses in English.  In the past, I have tried my best to ignore most of his behaviour as it always seemed that his outbursts were merely attention stealing ploys.  As it is so close to my holidays (2 working days left), I am really feeling burnt out.  I had no patience for him last night.  He yelled.  I yelled louder. 

Yelling at students is not really my style as I have always found it to be a poor method of discipline.  I feel bad that I lost my cool.  I did sentence him to clean the class room last night, and after that was finished I told him that he could not leave until after I had a talk with him.  As soon as he heard that, he bolted for the door.  I again yelled at him to sit.  He headed out of the building, past the secretary who could be heard to remark go go go.  The lack of support with discipline made me so upset, that all I could do was to start imbibing the moment I reached home.

On a positive note, my significant other gave me my Christmas present last night.  Yes, I know it is too early; but she was just too excited and could not wait.  She gave me a HD Sanyo video camera.  I was very pleased.  I had talked about buying a camera to record our experiences together for well over a year now...I just never thought that the price tag was reasonable.  What a joy it is to have a good woman.  It will be nice to record our trip to Shanghai next weekend.

Today at school we have been making Christmas cards.  Almost all of the student's Christmas cards say "Marry Christmas".  I don't have the motivation to correct them.  This afternoon I do not have any classes as my co teachers are attending some kind of workshop.  Good for them.  I have 3 hours to run out the clock and then back to testing out that new camera.  Perhaps I will post some inagural videos later.

Cheers,
I can almost taste the holidays,
Adam

On a more serious note

My Christmas plans have been finalized.  I will be going to Shanghai for three days (or is it two?) during the holiday season.  My parents were of course disappointed that the significant other and I will not be attending Christmas festivities in Canada this year, but they are understanding of our situation.  I am looking forward to spending an extended vacation with them this summer.

Our swanky Shanghai trip will include business class plane tickets and two nights at the Hyatt.  Needless to say I am excited and in much need of vacation.

The lack of anything of importance to do at school is giving me the same kind of zombie attitude that I dislike in my students.  I need to get away from the constant ;"Oh , teacher nice to meet you.  Yes, Yes, Hello.  That's very hot", to which I am greeted every morning from my students.  I need to get away for a few days to luxury where I can forget the constant finger giving and "shut the fuck up" statements.

The school is also either too damn hot or too damn cold.  It seems that having the heat on means to crank it up to 30 C, and then when it is too hot to open all of the windows and doors in the school.  Once it is too cold again, this cycle repeats itself: ad infinitum ad absurdum.

On a positive note, I have my academic references lined up for my graduate school application.  Now, I just need to finish my statement of interest.  The significant other and I, on the advice of her lovely mother, are discussing the possibility of getting a mortgage to finance a new apartment.  The thought is that we could sell it in a few years when the market is high and make a few wons.  My father upon reflection thinks that this is a good idea, but laments the implications for future visits to Canada.  My father's "Well, you could always live in the basement" line is very kind, but at my age that is the last thing that I want to do....let alone with my significant other.

I will have a lot of winter vacation classes this year.  Thank you very much, to those of you that complained to GEPIK.  I will try to finish as many lesson plans as I can today, as my co teachers are on my case about finishing them.  My problem is that I can't just pull 2 months of classes out of my ass, I need to carefully consider what I want to do.  I should just tell them that I can't do it quickly as I am more thoughtful and am actually concerned about producing a quality program.

I am still sick with a cold.  Last weekend I went to the hospital and was tested for swine flu.  To my chagrin I don't have it.  I would have liked an early start to my Christmas holidays.

Well that's all I have to report for now,
I will keep you abreast of further developments,
Cheers,

Adam

A Retraction of Principle by the Korean Times....and Current Events

In a stunning retraction of principle from last week's laughable article "Setting the Record Straight" (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/12/164_56883.html) in which the Korea Times claimed that "we go back to the sources and double-check their stories" the Korea Times now boldy declares that the Weekly World News is a trust worthy source.  According to the Weekly World News and its syndication in the Korea Times, an alien grave yard has been discovered in Africa (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/12/113_57334.html).

"Extraterrestrial cemetery in Rwanda, Central Africa which is at least 500 years old, was discovered.

According to the Weekly World News, Dr. Hugo Childs, the Swiss anthropologist said, "There must be 200 bodies buried there and not a single one of them is human."
Dr. Childs and his colleagues reportedly discovered the alien graveyard on a routine survey of the Rwandan jungle.
"Soil and tissue samples indicate the bodies have been in the ground since the 1400s. We're now trying to figure out where they came from ― and what killed them," said Dr. Childs.
The creatures themselves were much taller and skinnier than humans and they stood about 7 feet tall. Their heads were larger than the average man's and they had no mouth, nose or eyes to speak of.
Dr. Childs speculated that the 200 aliens were part of a single landing party that encountered a deadly virus. Because they would have had no immunity to Earth disease, he added, something as simple as the flu could have wiped out the entire party.
He would not take reporters to the site, for fear of the bodies being disturbed. However, he promised to reveal the location once the excavation was complete. "It will change the world," Dr. Childs said."

In other Weekly World News, Elvis was spotted eating galbi in Ansan.  When asked to comment on the Korea Times arcticle, Mr. Presley appeared pained as he was engaged in eating the local fare.  Mr Presely looked upon the reporters with anger and later refused to answer all follow up questions until his following concerns were addressed. "What is this fire cabbage?  There will be some burning love in the bathroom tonight", Mr Presley was heard to remark. 

An even more bizzare story that was written in the Korean Times in collaboration with the Weekly World News was reported today; "Warrants Needed to Crack down on illegal Foreigners" (http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/12/116_57311.html).  Even resident blanceaphobe Kang Shin Who was reported to say; "We are still checking our sources on this one.  In Korea, the rule of law does not apply to the invading hordes of blonde haired, blue eyed, barbarians of a linguistically inferior tongue.  If this were true, King Sejong would literally be spinning in his grave".  Currently, the 24 hour vigil at Sejong's tomb has not reported anything out of the ordinary.  Netizens are asked to stay glued to their keyboards in case of further developments.

Two Contradictory Sentiments

I know I promised myself that I would no longer read the Korean Times, however; I just can't help myself sometimes.  I just wanted to share these two opposing sentiments in the Korea Times today.

1.  From an editorial rationalization of the paper's articles (Link to the article: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/opinon/2009/12/137_56883.html)

"We believe that allegations that our newspaper is being unfair in its coverage of cases involving foreigners are less than just. Besides, this newspaper takes pride in serving its foreign residents and visitors as an important segment of its readership, making these allegations even more untenable."

2. The last paragraph of an article about the implementation of a teacher's union at a hagwon in Incheon.  The article was pretty complementary until the last sentence. (Link to the article: http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/12/117_56894.html)

"A total of 22,905 foreign nationals are here on E-2 English teaching visas as of Oct. 31 this year, according to the Ministry of Justice. Of them, 134 overstayed their visa, the ministry said."

(After an uncharacteristically complementary article, I  liked how they returned to their raison de etre: illegal English teachers)

If anyone wishes further demonstration of the professionalism of this so called newspaper, one need only direct their attention to the supplied email address provided at the end of the article: foolsdie@koreatimes.co.kr

Fools may not die, but I certainly hope that they don't sell too many newspapers (or at the very least the newspaper are doing something utilitarian; mainly lining bird cages)

Cheers,
Adam

Of Sneezes, Coughs, and Holiday Plans

It was inevitable.  It was as certain to happen as the day turning into the night, the eternal progression of the seasons, and intoxication after a third bottle of soju: I am sick.  My nose is dripping like beer from a broken keg.  My throat feels like I have cleaned it with sandpaper.  I am hacking up phlegm just like any good middle aged man in my adopted country would do. 

I get sick about once a year, and when I do I am usually in for two weeks of discomfort.  As I am hardly ever sick, and hence don't use any of my allotted sick days, I decided that good form would be to use one yesterday.  I spent the day in bed drinking orange juice with my dog, Elvis, while my significant other tried to get me to eat.  I did not have much of an appetite yesterday.

I am back at work today.  I could have taken today off from work as well, and the VP told me as much this morning.  He said that he would have been happy to cover my early morning advanced conversation classes for me.  That was a kind if not eye brow raising offer.  Apparently, Korean culture dictates that it is not kind to blow one's nose in public; yet with my present condition I have neither the speed nor the desire to run to the washroom when the need arises.  All of my blowing, much like that of an uncared musical instrument from the 40s, is receiving a lot of glances of disgust and attention today.  So be it.  I would rather blow my nose than to suck back my own mucus as much of students appear to prefer.

It is certain now.  I will not be attending Christmas in Canada this year.  Due to the time constraints of my significant other, and that of my devotion to our relationship, I shall not be partaking in yuletide festivities this year.  No egg nog.  No stockings hung by the chimney with care.  No turkey.  No etc, etc, etc.  After a brief period of mouring for my preceived loss, I am really starting to embrace the possibilities that now lay before me.  We are planning to travel for Christmas.  The students are receiving swine flu vaccinations at school today, and I spent most of the morning looking at pictures of Guam.  I think that we may have a physical and spiritual successor to Christmas in Canada with Guam.  It looks warm and inviting.  I can envision drinking rye and cokes on the beach.  I can imagine pool side bars.  Turkey be damned, bring on the palm trees!

Unfortunately as lovely as this mental picture is there do seem to be two remaining problems. 

1) The significant other is not sold on the idea of Guam and likes the idea of going to Japan.  I want to go to Japan as well, but Japan will be cold and expensive....and I want to drink rye on the beach.

2) I have not informed my excited parents about my decision not to return to Canada for Christmas.  They will undoubtedly be upset.  They may have the opportunity to see me next summer, when I will return to Canada to go to a friend's wedding.....all of that is still up in the air.

Well that is all that I have to say,
I will now go and drain my nose,

Cheers,
Adam

More Tales of Stagnation

Well here we are into December, and it is exam week at the school.  Again this week I am not doing much.  I might have classes on Friday, but no one every tells me anything around here so I am not sure.  All of the teachers went to an island near Incheon today.  Of course, I was only informed of this plan one hour before the scheduled departure time so I didn't have enough time to finish my work to go.  I also have a class that I teach to under privledged students every Tues/Wed tonight.  They always seem to forget about this class.

To tell the truth I am really not interested in attending school events anymore.  They never inform me of anything and in my opinion their behaviour has moved from lacking forsight, to negligent, to now - just plain impolite.  Also, I don't enjoy the strained conversations and banal topics at the dinners.  I don't enjoy the old maintenance men trying to fight with me.  I don't enjoy people staring at me as I eat.  All in all, after a day at work I would much rather just go and and be left in peace....just as I would in Canada.

It seems that my SO (significant other) is not longer able to go to Canada for Christmas.  I understand her reasoning, but nonetheless I do feel some slight disappointment.  She is very busy with her studies, and as her job has recently fired several employees as a cost cutting measure, she is working more than she has in the past.  I teach about 29 classes a week, and in comparison, she is now teaching around 50.  She works every weekend, and comes home after midnight every night mentally exhausted but unable to sleep.  I do understand her decision to change her job which will unfortunately start around Dec 15., thus not allowing her to attend Christmas festivities in my home town.  Oh well, there is always next year.

Of course, I need to decide should I go home for a week to enjoy time with my family. The plane ticket is starting to become expensive. I desperately need a vacation, and not because I have been working too much; it is rather both the strain of the work culture around here and the growing sense of isolation that I feel at my job.

I have been doing something at least uplifiting and productive lately.  I have started my M.Ed application.  I should have that finished in the next week or so.

Another note of interest, I have been running into an older Korean gentleman on my way to work every morning.  He always has a smile on his face, an even friendlier dog, and a few kind (albeit scrambled) words of English on his lips.  Today, he said "you look accompolished today".  I walked the rest of the way to school with a smile this morning.

Cheers,
Adam

I am not dreaming of a white Christmas

As I promised myself that I would try my hardest not to read the Korea Times as much, today I turned to that second bastion of English language news in Korea: The Korean Hearld.  The article that caught my eye today was one entitled: Death Threat Leveled at ATEK (the association of English teachers in Korea).

I will not provide the necessary historical background for this group as other K-bloggers have already splendidly done so.  I will provide one section of the article for your consideration. This section is an excerpt from an email submitted to the president of the ATEK.

"I have organized the KEK (Kill White in Korea). This group of people is about 200 in anywhere in Korea," the e-mail read. "We will gonna start to kill and hit White (expletives) english spectrum from this Chirstmas. Don't make a fuss in there, just get out."


While, in no way is this particulary scary for me, I hope that the police will do all in their power to find the individual responsible for this and lay the appropriate charges. In the meantime, however; I'd better not pout, and I'd better not complain because 200 soju filled kimchiphiles might, but are probably not, coming to town.

I guess someone isn't dreaming of a white Christmas with every death threat that they write. 
May your days be hate filled and fearful
And may all your Christmas be xenophobic



Cheers
Adam

Interesting Conversation

I am still sitting at my desk doing nothing and I am still largely ignored.  I am not complaining.  I am just bored.  Afterall, one can only smoke so many cigarettes in an eight hour work day, right?

Today, my vice principal called me over to his desk.  This is a rough transcript of the conversation that transpired.

Vice Principal (VP):  The police are asking the questions.
Me: The police are asking questions about what?
VP: The foreigners do the bad things.
Me:  Yes, some do, however; some Koreans do bad things as well.
VP:  They say the foreigners eat the drugs and want the informations.
Me: Well, yes some are involved with drugs. 
VP: Frankly Speaking, do you eat the drug?
Me: No, I don't.  I do like to drink soju and eat kimchi though.
VP:  That is good.  We don't have the problem then.

I guess the media has riled the police up again to suspect the foreign hordes again.  I am upset that my VP thought that I would be aligned with their ilk. 

I read on Daveseslcafe.com that the police are doing random searches and drug test at foreigners apartments.  I am interested to see how this plays out.  I did not read anything about this in both the crappy Korea Times or Korea Hearld rags.  I am sure that the most reviled member of Korea's journalistic community, Mr. Kang, will take no time reporting this turn of events in tomorrow's edition.

Back to my state of ennui then,
Cheers,
Adam

Updates on Silence

Well, as I suspected I would become a lazy sod, or, return to my regular lazy routine.  My last post was on Nov 6. 

Not much new to report since then.  On Nov 11, I completed my second one year contract at my school.  Currently, I am constantly debating with my SO if we should return to Canada for Christmas.  I think that it would be nice for her to experience some traditional Canadian Chrsitmas festivities, but I understand that she is busy and that to Koreans Christmas isn't important at all (outside of an obligatory chapter in a middle school English textbook). 

Much like the changing of the seasons, we have returned to exam time.  A time where I am but a lonely ghost wandering the halls of the school as I have nothing to do.  A time where everyone is too busy and too stressed to say hello, so I sit day after day in silence at my desk.  It is almost an awful reminder of dinners at home when I was a child where everyone would sit in silence for 20 minutes or so while completing their meal.  How I wish it was only for 20 minutes, try doing it for 8 hours then going home to a silent apartment to fill out the remainder of the evening.

During this time, I guess I get a little overly sensitive.  Due to the fact that I must become a two week long solipist, I tend to think too much, and as result become to obsessed with my suscipions about what is going on.  I tend to drink more during this period, as I would like to experience any feeling other than this crushing boredom.  Whether related, or not I said something insensitive to my SO on the weekend which I immediately regretted.  Now, she is quite understandably upset.

I have been thinking about signing up for an online master's course.  Perhaps something intellectually challenging would be of benefit for me.  However, in these exam ghost like periods, I feel completely unwilling to do anything and would much rather wait to engage in new projects during more hospitable times.

Sometimes I think that I am an unecessary nussiance here.  Someone that everyone must put up with at school, but with whom they are really not sure what to do with.  So, most months I get paid a decent salary for just sitting around and doing nothing...

I realize that this short piece seems a bit disjointed.....but I lack the energy and drive to make it more comphrensible or cohesive.  I can't be bothered checking the spelling either.

Anyways, back to wandering the halls ghost like and invisible,
And dream of far away scotches
To 5pm

Adam

Manjuma

It is Friday. Today, I scared a student because she gave me the finger.

I made 3 pumpkin pies, washed the dishes, and walked the dog.

I am the manjuma ko ko ka choo.

That is all.

Monday Malaise

Greetings,

My best intentions of writing this blog regularly are starting to vanish faster than a bottle of soju around an adjoshi.  Last week was pretty uneventful.  I renewed my visa last Wednesday.  I was pleasantly surprised that this occurred without much incident. 

On Friday, everyone at school went out for dinner.  We ate duck and drank soju.  The old repairman at the school wanted to fight.  He drank too much.  He was ultimately brought to his senses by several colleagues.  I drank so much soju that evening that I left the establishment with the wrong pair of shoes.  They aren't even a nice pair of shoes.  They are too big and smell like rotting kimchi.

Saturday was an uneventful Halloween.  I walked in the rain to Home Plus to buy a pumpkin and some wine.  I carved my Jack o Lantern and watched some insipid golf movie.  My girlfriend fell asleep on the couch. 

Sunday involved a game of screen golf.  I need more practice and more exercise.  My arms are quite stiff this morning.

Today is quite cold.  I am bored at work as usual.  The speech contest is underway.  Of course I am not required to take any part in the speech contest.  After all, why should the native English teacher in any way evaluate the performance, or memory, of his students. 

I should never ever read the Korea Times newspaper.  It is full of banal stale articles and both veiled and explicit racist fear mongering.  There is one little weasel at the times, Kang Shin Who, who deserves an economy class ticket to all of Dante's circles of hell.  I just don't understand why anyone would write articles in English then insult the core reading demographic.  According to that little kimchi stain, all foreign teachers are drug using sex offenders.  Sigh*  This is an unfortunate reoccurring motif and weekly one is subjected to this same theme again and again.  It makes one feel a little depressed after a while.

This is all I care to report for now.

The little things.

Although, I enjoy living in Korea the little differences are sometimes a cause for discomfort.  Any one little difference in a day is no big deal, yet several can have some cummulative affect on my general "well being".  A few examples to chew over:

1) There is never toilet paper or soap in the bathroom.  There is always an empty roll left in the container for all to see, like some distant memory of cleanliness. It is an archaeological relect from more sanitary times.  I do sometimes feel like Indiana Jones searching for the fabled roll.  I am always on some kind of mad treasure hunt for toilet paper.  When I locate a roll I must carry it down the hall for all the teachers and students to see.  I am usually priviledged to here a cacophony of student jibes, "Ohhh, teacher dong".  I dare not leave the roll in the stall after I am finished, as it will be picked clean by unknown bathroom vultures leaving only the dead cardboard carcas behind.

2) I have lived in Korea for several years now and have taught at my school for two years.  I like Korean food and I can use chopsticks quite proficiently.  My Korean colleagues have seen me in the cafeteria eat lunch everyday.  Why do I still get this occassional comment "Wow, you like the kimchi" and "You can use the chopsticks good style".  I can think of a few possible answers to this puzzle. 

A) They have not been very observant. 
B) They trust their textbooks, that tell students that Westerners eat only hamburgers and bread, above their own experience I am not kidding about this one.  This was part of one of my lessons last week.
C) It could be possible that they are too shy, or lack the skills, to think of any other topic of conversation besides kimchi and chopstick use.

I tend to think that the answer lies in some kind of twilight zone nexus among the three possibilities. I shall try to think of other possibilities during my next great toilet paper hunt.

3) It seems to be quite impossible for the school to provide me with relevant information in a timely manner.  I either receive important information at the last minute or not at all.  Then I receive blank stares as to why I did not do what I was apparently supposed to do.  After two years, I am finally starting to relax about this and politely remind my collegues that if you had taken the time to inform me ahead of time I could have been prepared.  For example, yesterday I had my open evaluation class.  My open class was supposed to be today.  It was moved to Monday without my knowledge and I had to teach the class with about ten minutes of notice.

4)  This one seems to be of criticial importance: maintaing a sanitary working environment.  The students clean the school without janitorial assistance.  This has the benfit of saving the school money.  This also has the strong disadvantage that the school is never really clean and is basically a microbiologist's wet dream of bacteria and viruses.  With all of the swine flu panic going around, you would think that the school would buy disinfectants with which to properly clean the floors and desks.  Unfortunaely, in a school that can't be bothered to provide soap for washing your hands or paper to clean the cavernous areas of your body, disease is bound to run rampant.  Two teachers and roughly 15 students have been stricken with the Shin Jung Ploo (New flu, or Swine flu in Korean). I am coughed on and sneezed on daily.  I have told students again and again to cover their mucus filled holes, but it seems that they just don't care.  I am almost bathing in Puriwell these days.  I fear that due to the attitude of the school that this situation will almost certainly deteriorate over the coming weeks.

Drinking Soju so you won't have to,
Adam

Searching for fog

We, the significant other and I, visited a group of mountains to the North of Busan this past weekend. The significant other, here on referred to as SO, does not like highway driving. In fact, highway driving seems to frighten her more than city driving. I, being from the country and not the city myself, hold the opposite opinion. In a country where a red light is only a suggestion to slow down, I prefer driving where ne'er a red light can be found.

Considering this fear, we have been taking a lot of bus tours this year. The SO decided to book a bus departure time at 9:30pm. This, in theory, was a lot better than our usual wake up at 4:30am routine to leave the house to catch a bus. I was very thankful for her good judgement on that score. We left our apartment (in Korean it is referred to as apt-uh) at 6:30 to catch the subway to go to Seoul station. We live in a satellite city of Seoul, so the subway ride lasted a little over an hour to reach our destination.

When we arrived at Seoul station we still had some time to kill so we loaded up with supplies at the Lotte Mart. Coffee, beef jerky, chips, doughnuts, bottled water, and cigarettes, were all much needed items for our long trek.

When it was finally time to depart I found that I had no trouble immediately falling asleep. The SO stayed awake for a while and read a book. We stopped only once, according to my sleepy recollection, during our 5(?) hour drive to our destination. When we arrived I exited the bus and promptly located the lavatory. Damn coffee. When I returned from my noctural excretions I noticed how crystal clear the sky was. I had been interested in amateur astronomy for years back in Canada, and unfortunately living near the concrete jungle of Seoul, I am never able to see anything of interest in the night sky. This was a treat for me and I quickly pointed out all of the constellations that I could see to my SO. We re-entered the bus, and promptly fell asleep for another 2 hours or so.

After having a brief dream that I was being interviewed by Mike Wallace, I awoke to the sound of the tour guide screaming into a microphone. I was not impressed. I need to be eased out of my sleep like an old man sitting down into his favourite recliner. The SO was anxious to get off the bus, she did not want to be left behind. I, still being drowsy, was in no immediate rush as the time was now around 5am.

I slowly slithered off the bus and discovered that I should have brought a flash light (plashee in Korean). Although the stars were brightly blazing in the early morning sky, there was no other source of illumination to be found. We had to walk into the national park in relative darkness. We were lucky enough to find a Korean family that had a type of miner's cap to follow. It was cold. I was tired. I tripped over rocks. I hit tree branches. My SO reminded me of how cold it was. I reminded her that she should have brought a warmer jacket. I was proud that I kept my swearing internal, as she does not appreciate the use of four letter poetics.

We finally reached our destination. We were surrounded by darkness. The stars greedily kept their light. We stared through darkness at a small lake. We were waiting to see the early morning fog rising from the still waters of the lake. We waited. It was cold. We waited some more. The sun refused to rise. I did manage to see Venus hanging low on the horizon just above the slowly forming outline of some mountain tops. We started back to the bus unable to see anything of interest at the lake, when I did spot some mist. So we returned. It was not as spectacluar as the tour company had described to my SO. I have seen the early morning fog rising about the lakes in Algonquin Park before, and that is a sight to behold. This in comparison was not that wonderful, but nice nonetheless.

After viewing the fog, we started our egress back to the bus. By this time the sunlight was gently bathing the surroundings and we could begin to see all of the lovely colours that would greet us for the rest of our outing.

After returning to the bus we were treated to breakfast. I love Korean food, but not for breakfast. I can't eat spicy food and fish for breakfast. I need a light yet high caffeine and nicotine fuelled breakfast to get my engine pumping in the morning. I ate a couple of doughnuts and slugged back a couple of cans of coffee instead that we had purchased earlier in Seoul. The Koreans seemed quite disappointed that I didn't eat their breakfast, and assumed that I did not enjoy Korean food.

We next travelled to another entrance to the park. We were given four hours to explore the park. The SO and I walked slowly up the road, past fruit and souvenir vendors until we reached the gate of a temple. I am not a religious person at all, but I do appreciate unique architecture and art. I have a special fondness for these Korean temples and like to spend a lot of time considering how long it must have taken to do all of the fine detail painting. We found a Harry Potter mat outside the entrance to one of the buildings. Even Western culture has encroached upon the sacred in this remote corner of Asia.

Next, we slowly walked up the long meandering undulating road up the mountain to see several waterfalls. We past some of the most beautiful, striking, iridescent, fall colours that can't be matched anywhere. I didn't expect to see anything resembling Niagara Falls, but I expected to see something of a little bit more awe and power than a standard morning urine evacuation. It was at this time, when the question arose if I remembered my first travelling experience with my SO. I didn't, and hence I am spending my Monday evening writing this (see post one).

The rest of the day involved drinking makoli (Korean traditional rice wine), looking at more fall colours, sleeping on the bus, and getting tips about general hygiene from my SO. Oh, how I love getting tips. At lunch, I resolved to eat the meal to show our Korean bus companions that I do enjoy Korean food. We ate bibimbap. I removed the egg and mushrooms. I hate mushrooms.

That was pretty much our day. We had a long bus ride back to Seoul. We took another bus back to Ansan. I promised my SO again that I would write this journal to record my memories. When we arrived home, I proceeded to prepare myself for more sleep. One tends not to sleep to well on a bus, no matter how many hours of sleep he receives.

Looking back, do I recommend this outing? If you have the constituion to spend the better part of the day sleeping on the bus then I strongly recommend it. Bring a good book and your ipod. The stars and fall colours of the Southern part of the country can match, if not best, anything that I have seen in Canada. Be prepared for a tiring, yet visually stunning day.

Drinking soju so you don't have to,

Adam

On Memory

Greetings,

I have been living in Korea on an off for several years now. I am currently employed in a middle school in Ansan, Gyeonggi-do. Although I have many remarkable experiences, experiences that one should not forget, I have discovered that recently I can not seem to remember key experiences. My lovely Korean girlfriend has adequately diagnosed my problem: it seems that I am an insensitive male.

Last Sunday as we were travelling in the remote fog stained mountains of the Southern part of the country, my girlfriend looked at me and said, "Do you remember our first travelling". I hastily replied yes, and recounted much to her chagrin our 2nd or 3rd travelling adventure in the winter of 2008. It was either due to her lack of sleep or my soju degenerated memory, but I was soon in store for a long diatribe about how "I just didn't care". The truth is that I do care. My memory is amazing for facts and figures. I can still quote with next to perfect accuracy all of the lines of Shakespeare that I had to memorize in high school. However, my memory is not only limited to recent events in the past few years with her, but it seems that whole sections of my childhood have been erased, and replaced with innumerable years of university book learnin'.

After listening to her concerns for a considerable amount of time I suggested that I undertake a project of documenting my memories and thoughts about my time in Korea. She acquiesced to my suggestion as I sometimes have made grand proclamations concerning what I will do to remedy my situation, yet never seem to carry through with them. The best laid plans of mice and men, eh? This time, I will fight my natural inclination towards "lip service" as my dear significant other would say and try to accurately reflect my little world of weekend getaways, work life, and adapting to a culture that I will probably never understand 100 percent. In the end this is all part of the lost weekend that is my life; that if not recorded by me will be lost within the corridors of my ever confused mind. I chose the title "lost weekend" to refer to John Lennon. John spent over a year separated from Yoko, which was one of his most artistically prolific times, that he later referred to as his lost weekend. In contrast, all of my weekends will be lost if I do not actively try to maintain them in a more concrete form.

I have recently become a fan of reading blogs from fellow teachers in Korea. Some blogs are informative, some are entertaining, some reflect hardship and discrimination, and some are downright angry. I will try to remain balanced in my opinion, but ultimately my situation and perspective will be my own and shaped by my experiences which are routinely fairly positive. Let's start remembering my lost weekend together.