February happenings

Here are some current Korean adventures and things of that nature. Head this way -->

I've been researching the GSL (Global Starcraft League). I"m hoping to catch at least one live game before I leave in August. I've got time, but its never to early to start learning.














I now consider myself a fairly fluent reader of written Hangul, but my vocabulary is laughable (I am still undecided at how much I want to apply myself). Comon' 쉐인 ㅠㅠ

I joined the HWC (Hogye weightlifting crew), also preparing for a friend of mine to win a bench press competition. Update in the future*

I now have a guitar in Korea. I'm not sure what took me so long.

I recently found a new genre of music that I like to chill out with. Dub Step.

I went to a trick art museum. Here's an awesome scene I chose to take delight in:















My principal retired. Complete with clarinet, flute, and piano performance from the children. A teacher choir send off, and an awesome buffet.

I have 3 new co teachers this coming school year. Update in the future*

How about a blog full of notes; ok, "here you are"!

Good reading

So I stumbled upon a new blog today via a shout out from another friend. I read a lot, and I am now presently hooked. http://youarenotsosmart.com/ is the link if you're interested.In one of the articles I found this quote interesting (I have to think how to spell the word quote every time.)

"For as long as there been humans we have searched for our place in the cosmos. Where are we? Who are we? We find that we live on an insignificant planet of a hum-drum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. This perspective is a courageous continuation of our penchant for constructing and testing mental models of the skies; the Sun as a red-hot stone, the stars as a celestial flame, the Galaxy as the backbone of night."

I actually asked this the other night,and more and more I hear people who just don't care about the "where are we, who are we" part. Our generation ever more concerned about living in the moment for yourself/and others, and hopefully making it better for yourself/others in the future. Very tangible goals, very respectable ideas. I too, hope to make the most of every moment. I too hope to make this world a better place. I think back to the boyscout moto I grew up to "Leave it better than how you found it" in reference to camping, or using anything as a scout. I myself however can acknowledge and agree with these things, but I can't escape the most basic of questions "who are we, where are we?" you could extend further and say "why are we here?". If you've read earlier posts you will know that I have found that reason. I shall never force anyone, or what have you, if you disagree. I suppose I don't know why it is discredited in the more present fashion. Why does one assume that someone having a reason for a very basic question of life is somewhat unconcerned with anything else or the present? I also too just like to know why people believe what they believe, and why they choose not to believe what they believe. I like to have good conversation about this. I don't like to argue myself right, nor do I like to listen to someone argue there-self right. I like to listen, so if you ever want to chase the rabbit down the hole, feel free with me, and don't fear a judgmental monster, a non thinking swine, or the comma abuser (I don't know how not to use them).

Props tho those who have had wonderful conversations with me, and props to this website that provides foundation for so many logical insights.

peace out

Lunch Gorger

Today I realized that I eat more at lunch than any other meal.


I thought to myself, "why do I eat so much more at lunch?" I'm going to break down my meal times for you kind readers.

So I thought about my first meal of the day. We know this in English as the humble breakfast. What does my breakfast time consist of? Let's recap the past 6 months. Oh ... that's right, Sleep a little longer, lose more time for necessities, and what follows? Breakfast is quick. What's fast? cereal check, nutri-grain bar check, banana check. Well I suppose its a good thing I eat breakfast everyday. Perhaps I've only gotten one part of the word down in breakFAST. I think I should develop more time for the first part.

Lunch - This is generally provided by my cafeteria. I get around 50 minutes, and its at the same time everyday. It comes out of my school paycheck, and its usually pretty dece. As I write this, I entertain a thought about how this is very routine, and scheduled and timely.


Dinner - Never at the same time, I eat when I'm hungry, and I'm once again responsible for my own meal. I now entertain the thought of "I don't do a good job planning my own meals, nor when I eat said meals".

I suppose I should re-evaluate the way I go about this mess of a food schedule. For now just a random blurb.

cheers

February

Hey Friends, friends of friends, friends of friends of friends.

Hey I went another month without posting. I'm glad you noticed. What did January include? Let me break it down for you.

Dec 28th - Jan 1st (New Years) ---> I visited the mysterious land known as Tokyo, Japan. It was pretty neat, pretty expensive, and made for a great way to celebrate the new year. It reminded me of Seoul. It had a few more bright lights, and a few more people. The biggest difference b/t Japan and Korea was the way people dressed/looked. Korea is very homogeneous. Japan, has a lot of diversity within their people. Korea is way more comfortable to live in tho!(I might be biased).

Jan 7th-16th --> I embarked upon my 2 day journey to the great ole' USA. I got to see my brother wed, and join my family and friends for the shortest vacation of my life. I can't explain how short this trip felt. I left Friday at 4am Wherein I returned back to Korea arriving in Ulsan Sunday 10am.I think I traveled almost as many days as I vaca'd.

Jan 24th - 28th ---> Winter Camp. I taught all week for 6 hours a day. I planned the entire week's topics and activities. The most successful was my Mystery Day (think scavenger hunt). I taught English prepositions, and then wrote out 20 clues using said prepositions (Inside, beneath, under, above, across, etc). I placed clues around the school, and it went quite well with both 3rd and 4th grade. It took a lot of prep, but was definitely worth it.

Feb 2nd - 4th ----> Seoul. I took a short vaca to Seoul on Wednesday to bring in the Lunar New Year. I think it's based on the Chinese tradition. Regardless we got holiday, so that was awesome. I visited the esteemed Lotte World, which was pretty hilarious (Think Korean Disney World).

Feb 7th ---> I am now full fledged back in the school schedule and teaching past tense. I think a rather appropriate subject for this current post.

Well now we're a bit more up to date!
Be easy,
-Shane

p.s.I hate the way February is spelled.

Change of pace

So I’ve made it past the 4 month mark and let me say it hasn’t been as hard as you might imagine. I feel completely adjusted, comfortable, and happy. Of course I miss my friends, of course I miss some things from back home (public trash disposal being one). but... I have met many great people here, who I feel have very welcoming personalities, and a common sense of adventure, but with the recent Christmas holiday there has been a reminder of a not so common thread.

I would say I am in a minority amongst my English speaking friendships when it comes to beliefs. Although many of us share different beliefs, I feel we all have a good sense of community regardless. Some may think my intellect inferior to have a belief that requires ones faith. Some may point out this is how they feel in America “The Christian Nation” as an individual that is un-allied with that shared belief (I would actually beg the differ about that title).

I have heard many personal stories, read many snippets of Facebook blurbs, encountered famous blogs, news sites, and in-directly synthesized information that was presented in some form or fashion via random conversations, that are in direct (funny how indirect and in direct can make such a difference) conflict with something I’ve stood by for a lifetime. A lifetime yes, but not without my own questions or critical analysis of the faith. I would say I was somewhat unquestioning as an adolescent, but found myself very concerned after high school with why I believed in what I believed. If you would like to know why I continued believing, I would be happy to share at another time, but for now I will continue my blurb. Yea I used the word blurb x2.

So I find myself in a position where the majority of the people I am in contact with have somewhat of an understanding of my faith, but in some way seem burned off by it for one reason or another. I ask myself this question, why have I found myself in such welcomed arms of such diverse backgrounds, and why haven’t they experienced it in other circles; dare I say Christian circles? I sometimes find it embarrassing the stories I hear about Christians, and even more so when someone shares a personal story, not just one exploded on the media.

The only way I can explain this in a reasonable analogy is like this. I am an American. I stand behind my country on many things, but sometimes our country makes bad decisions, or something I personally am against. I am sometimes embarrassed by my country, and not all of us share the same ideas in my country. Although some of us disagree on things, we are all united under our common citizenship. I kind of feel like this happens with Christianity. All Christians get lumped into one broad category, but we all don’t view things the same way. In fact I usually am irritated at the amount of arguing that can occur between two believers about such a simple message. I find the human race tends to complicate lots of things.

I also think there are many common misnomers about several belief systems, not just Christianity. There are some extreme sects of people in most religions that seem to steal the limelight with their extreme actions. Islam for example is a peaceful religion if you look at some of their core values/virtues. What is shown to us? The ones that make the loudest noise, that’s who. “Christians” also seem to find themselves making a ruckus; One recent example of Christian extremism is the burning of the Quran day by the Florida pastor. It burns me up with the things that some may associate my religion with. I suppose it’s not as exciting story to tell?

So I open the floor to whoever is willing to share, why is it that you are personally against any said religion, belief, etc, and I will do my best to share with you my personal insight, reason, or what have you. I leave the floor open, but I encourage thought out responses, and mature responses. I’m not here to preach at you, I’m here to listen. Something not done enough.

Winter holibracation

Things are a little different here in the ole SK. The way things are done, the way things flow, the way things… everything.

In my school (And most other schools in SK) we have a winter break just like we do back home. Winter vacation starts December 22nd and goes to January 31st. Sounds nice right? As a native English teacher you’re expected to do what we call English Winter camps. The native English speakers (people like me) are the first to get signed up (of course! that's why we're here). Imagine with me, if you will, when a good time to do these camps would be? Yup during that winter “vacation”. Now I should say, I didn’t expect to get the full time off for the winter vacation, nor am I upset about teaching during it. In fact you make a little extra money, and we signed up for it when we signed our contract. The only thing I dislike about the process is the “unknowing” of it all. I didn’t know when my school camp was, I didn’t know when the MOE (MOE = Ministry of Education) camp was, and I didn’t know where I was going to do it!

How it all works out:
During the winter “vacation” most schools have their own personal 1 week English camp. The native teachers teach at their respective schools, and some of the bigger ones may have other native teachers come to their program. I later found out that the 3 week MOE English camp date (that starts Jan 2nd and ends the 22nd) through friends on facebook. Evidently the date never changes. I think my school didn’t tell me because they (like me) didn’t know where I was going to be teaching for it so avoided it altogether (yes I would of at least liked the date, but that’s ok). The catch is your 1 week school camp can be before, or after the MOE camp so you may not find out very soon (let alone anything here). So that leaves a few days open before or after the MOE camp during our winter “vacation”. So the once “long” sounding winter break for both students/native teachers alike is not so "long" or "vacation" like. We have 10 vacation days we can use with the remaining days we don't have winter English camps. It isn’t really that bad. 10days paid vacation is still very awesome. You just need to be FLEXIBLE. It also puts a damper on plan making if your friends know their schedule, and you don’t know yours. O well!

For me part of the problem was something I introduced to my school early on. My brother is getting married jan 7th. See the time conflict? Non-normal vacation days really throw schedules for a loop. Correction, anything that strays from the “normal” really throws everything/one for a loop here. You might think letting my school know this the day I arrived (In August) would be plenty of time to adjust, but it wouldn’t have matter if I told them last year. They have expectations, and do as much as possible to avoid any differences. I am what we may call a “special case”. My time off is right in the middle of the 3 week MOE English camp. This is part of the reason why I didn’t know what MOE camp I was working. Sure…It makes it difficult to plan the rest of my vacation days, but could I really complain? I’m sure I made it difficult for them to plan the rest of their winter camps.

Well I got some good news on Tuesday. I will be working at my school for the full duration of my English camps. I’ll elaborate more at a further date. This is very exciting, and I’m not revealing the complete uniqueness of this situation to avoid future problems. I can only say that this will be one awesome winter break!

Attitude of misfortune

Tuesday morning started off a bit rough.

“I should preface/foreshadow my audience with the existing facts about my bike at the time. Fact 1 - my seat was broken, and just holding on by a single piece not even attached. Fact 2 – my brakes were never that great even when my bike was brand new. The rear brake has always been too soft, so I have to use the front brake to compensate. My brakes were getting significantly worse. Fact 3 – my derailleur sucks at its job. "Its job is to move my bike chain and shift gears well.”

I start my morning ride on a downhill. The downhill I use is in the neighborhood I live in (Hogye). Imagine small town Mexico. Lots of alleys and lots of random openings. I’m going a good pace due to gravity, and out of nowhere this old man pops out in front of me. I naturally swerve and brake at the same time. Did I mention my brakes were getting worse? (We do that little dance jig when you are trying to pass someone, but you both keep choosing the same direction as the other...you know?) Except I’m on my bike and he’s an old man. I came inches from knocking the bloke over. I luckily escaped a worse scenario, but it wasn’t without a cold cold look. I bowed and said sorry! I continue my journey a bit shaken, and a bit slower paced. I cross the street at the main intersection of my town, and out of nowhere my bike chain pops off. It isn’t the scenario where you hit a bump, do a jump, or have a real reason for your chain popping off. It’s the situation where you’re casually riding along, and wouldn’t (rather SHOULDN’t) expect your chain to come off. Because a non-S!#$ bike wouldn’t have a chain pop off for no apparent reason. As you can imagine this might surprise the rider. This might even cause the rider to lose balance due to the normal resistance provided by chain, pedals, and gears working in perfect harmony. I went from resistance to none, and wasn’t expecting it.

BOOM! Down I go, going no more than 5-7mph. You may think that isn’t to fast. You’re right it isn’t. Pair 5-7mph with being on a bike and getting tangled up in it. Now it seems a little worse right? I hit the cement. I was luckily wearing winter apparel as it is freezing as “hell?” (oh the beauty of irony). I hit my hands first, my chin and arm second, and somewhere in the confusion end up under my bike. My jeans have a giant rip (I later deduce it’s from the main cog; because of the cuts on my knee, and the chain grease that was all over it). Remember I was crossing a main intersection? Ya… Lots of Koreans were watching. A whole bus full were conveniently staring right at me. Due to time constraints of getting to school on time, being a bit embarrassed at crashing in front of many, being a bit prideful, and lastly not wanting to think about it, I picked up my bike waved at the bus and rode on. I didn’t assess my damage, or my bike.

As I rode off I realize my handle bars are cockeyed pointing to the right to ride straight. My seat tore all the way off. My bell that allows me to warn walking pedestrians out of my path was broken, and I was feeling pain. I laughed when it first happened (as this is my normal emotional response. Yes even when I’m hurt). Now I’m a bit irritated. My hand hurt, my leg hurt, and my bike sucked worse. I rode for 3 more mins, and decided not to throw a pity party and moved on.

I arrived at school and still didn’t look at my damage to myself. It wasn’t until I set down at my desk did I really look. I looked at my hand first. Decent wound, but nothing major. I rolled up my pant leg, and I somehow managed to cut the top and bottom of my knee. It didn’t look good. I also had a cut on my chin. It certainly wasn’t the worst situation I’ve been in. I decided to teach the rest of the day without taking care of it. Looking back, I regret this decision. I probably should have cleaned my leg up a bit. It was still an open wound even at 8pm that night 12 hours later.

Why do I say this tale? Perhaps because it was semi epic. Perhaps I want a small portion of pity. Maybe I just want you to share in my ridiculous situation.

The truth is to prepare my audience what I later found out…

I received some awesome awesome news that day. That is another blog for another time. Enjoy the read. I hope it made you laugh.