More ball

UPDATE: Added pictures to flickr, click link on right.

After a short 3 day week I headed up to Seoul to meet with Dave and Steve to catch some baseball games and knockout a few stadiums on the list. Unfortunately there was a down pour on Thursday so the game was a wash. So instead Dave brought us to a great restaurant for some galbi (rib meat minus the rib) and later to a nice pub where we met one of his Aussie friends (who is much better than his other Aussie friends).

The next day was beautiful and we spent a large part of it sitting outside of a decidedly non-Korean type bar and had a few Guinness to pass the time as we waited for the ball game. We all sat there reminiscing about the great times we had at outdoor pubs in Czech. To ad a bit of surreality to the experience, a group of Russian women turned up to give it an even more Eastern European feel. Spasiba(sp?) ladies!

After spending ages on the subway we made it to Incheon where the game was being played. We bought our $2 tickets and $8 bags of chicken and took one of the rows with tables in front. The game was exciting, lots of fans there cheering on their team and lots of beer a very short walk from out table. At one point in the game all the home fans pulled out sparklers for some reason. I was given one as it was on its last leg but I was happy nonetheless.

On Saturday Dave had to work so we parted ways and Steve and I headed off to an old prison that the Japanese used to hold Korean "heroes"(not Hiro, who is Japanese). It seemed more about hate mongering than anything else (our guide even pointed out some turncoat Koreans and told us how she hates them) and it even gave us the opportunity to try out being tortured. I got inside one cell that I couldn't stand upright in (I ain't Asian) and the guide locked me in (wasn't happy about that). You could also stick your head into a display that was supposed to show your face on the body of a Korean being electrocuted. Nice. After the Japanese were kind enough to leave Korea the Koreans used the prison for non-hero Koreans until 1989 (hopefully with less torture).

Steve and I hoped onto the subway for a long journey to Suwon (a Seoul suburb)to another game. We got on the wrong one watch and went a bit out of the way but finally got there.

Somehow we got seated with the visiting fans but still had a good time. Nobody gave me a sparkler though.

AArrrrrrrrrrr!!

I realized on my walk to school that it has been 3 years since I went on my sailing trip with my father. And I just found out that the blog my papa had written about our experiences is gone :(


Created with Paul's flickrSLiDR.

strangee week-uh

UPDATE: I changed this post a bit so if you already read it give it another read!

This week was...interesting.

The student teacher I went to the concert with really seems to like me...a lot. He SMS'd (texted) me numerous times the night after te show, when he saw me in school he snuck up to me and whispered something about going to a movie, and then called me again and again. He really scared me ( would have been frightened if a girl acted this way as well) and I didn't answer (coward?) so I think he got the message that I don't want to be his free English teacher/lover.

Tuesday was "Teachers' Day" which is a day for the students to shower their teachers with gifts, and at academic schools, throw the teachers a bit of cash. I saw a few moms walking around with white envelopes stuffed with something money shaped looking for their sweet child's homeroom teacher. Unfortunately I got a whole bunch of nada but I am not broken up about it. During the day we had an assembly where we (teachers) had to walk past all the students who were clapping and singing "the teachers' day song". I felt like a champion walking to fight my next challenger. Actually I felt a bit awkward but we had the afternoon off so I won't complain. Oh, we did all get carnations.


On Thursday one of the teachers went bat-shit crazy after she saw the vice-principal look at what she was photocopying. She started screaming and yelling at him which lasted for quite some time. Basically the argument (the VP's side) was about how teachers should photocopy BEFORE the tardy bell rings but they argued for 10 minutes or so making her miss even more of her class than if she just did the copying and left. Most teachers (including myself) don't head to the classroom until we hear the final bell. I used to be at class on time but there were never any students so it was pointless.

That afternoon our school played the girls' high school teachers in soccer. It was a horrible game and one of our teachers (who was smiling minutes before) picked up the ball and just through as far from the field as possible then just walked away.

I played the day before against the students and I was like Pele out there. When it came to playing against the older, slower and not as good teachers I was more like Eddie the Eagle. In Korean culture age is very important. One of the first questions a Korean will ask you is your age since that influences how what form of Korean they use when speaking. It is also bad form to show up an elder. I am beginning to get the feeling the the students are letting me be better than I really am.

I know that I may talk about soccer too much but I am so glad I am playing it. It is the one thing I look forward to here and a part from my all the skin on my left toe-thumb being ripped off it's a hoot. It is also the only stress in my life [other than thinking about the future (when will we have robots to wait on us)] keeping me up thinking about how I could have made a certain pass a bit more accurate. It's tough being me.

One of the teachers asked if she could send me text messages so she could practice her English. I was happy to help as she is very kind and always gets me free medicine (she's the nurse but they still call her teacher). Well, around midnight I started getting messages from her. I could barely understand them do to her poor English and the fact that she was as drunk as a Welshman.

Nurse: I fall in in depression I think you so I think you. Are you know my word?
Me: Why are you sad?
Nurse: I WANT MEET MY DESTENY(sic) MAN BUT I DON'T MEET MY MAN SO THAT SORROW ME.
Me: Maybe you are just looking in the wrong places.
Nurse:Maybe...but I believe my truly heart. I sincerely thank you so much really really.

I am not making fun of her, it is sad but I was trying to sleep and it's hard enough to talk to people when they are drunk let alone when neither of us speak the same language.

My mom has been asking for some pictures of my apartment. I have done even better and made a video!

After having to slave through 3 days of work the school had its picnic day. I was given the choice to go with any group I wanted and chose to go with my students from last year because a) they aren't as annoying and b) it was to a place I hadn't been before. We went to Children's Park to wander through the nature and see an amusement park. We we got there it was packed with students from tons of schools, I guess there aren't many options in Busan. While many of these schools have foreign English teachers working at their schools, every kid seemed to have this need to say "HI!!!!" to me. I decided early on that I was going to pretend that I was Chinese so I always answered "Nee-how" and received some confused looks. It's the little things that bring joy to my currently dull life.

After a 20 minute hike we sat down for some food and then on to some rides. I went on the roller coaster but it left much to be desired. The entire ride, from the slow rise to the final jolting stop couldn't have been more than a minute. The only alarming thing was that the seatbelt was made for a Korean which meant that there was no way it was going to fit me. I just held on tight and hoped for the best. The picnic ended with me heading off to a theater by myself and watching Spiderman 3...meh.

The following day was Sports Day. It was just like last semester's but this time we teachers played the student teachers (all guys, girls don't play sports here, they just sit under their umbrellas and get upset at harmless jokes foreign teachers make). I got things rolling with the first goal of the game (and of my brief career) but also brought things to a crashing halt.


I have now (to my knowledge) broken two bones in my life. No, neither were mine, but I was the direct cause. This time round an opposing player and I kicked the ball at the exact same time on exactly opposite sides. He went down like a sack of bricks, I ran off to get my inhaler. Later on someone kicked the hell out of my shin (sans guard) and they went down as well. Am I just tough or are soccer players wimps?

My worst injury of the day ended up being sunburn.

That evening I was invited to go to a K-Pop concert. For those of you that don't know, K-pop is "the phenomena that has spread across the world highlighting Korea's Entertainment prowess." I have wanted to go for some time so was quite excited (meh) when I got the chance.

The concert was being held at the university right by my school so I saw a lot of my students there and some of the student teachers, including the one whose foot busted on me. He was all smiles though so I didn't feel too guilty about his weakness.

The show started with a bunch of acts from the school. It is a Maritime school (like mine) so there were lots of people in uniforms about. The acts ranged from "My god, what are they doing up there" to "Hey, they aren't too bad". Just before the main act was a fireworks displace set to "Rock Me Like A Hurricane". Unfortunately the show only lasted halfway though the song.

Everybody was acting civilly sitting in plastic patio chairs until the main act came out. Then it became a mad crush to get as close to her as possible. It was a sea (if that sea was Galilee) college guys in military type uniforms and middle school girls in their uniforms all pushing and shoving to get closer.


They fist thing I noticed was the singer's (no idea what her name is) huge nose. Koreans have small usually flat noses but this honker looked more fitting on Barbara Streisand. She also looked to have some other "enhancements". She didn't even look Korean and I must admit I was disappointed. My disappointment grew when I realized I actually recognized a couple of her songs (shudder) and was tapping along.



It was actually a bit difficult to see her because everyone, yes everyone, was recording her performance on the cellphones. These are Korean phones which make American phones look like those huge Zach Morrison's of the 80's.


After 4 short songs and a little bit of banter the "artist" ran off the stage and into a waiting van that rushed her away. So much for an "Een-core".

Part 2

Steve and I completed part 2 of our 8 0r 9 part series of touring the nations baseball stadiums. This time we made it to Daejeon to watch the Eagles play the KIA Tigers. It was a beautiful day for a great game with action a plenty and the home team winning. It is a small stadium seating just over 13,000 but since it was Children's Day in Korea the place was packed and there was lots of atmosphere to go around.

I finally took the highspeed KTX train which got up to 268 KmPH (166 MPH) and zipped past the not so lovely Korean countryside. There are lots of farms along the route but they are not as scenic as US farms, they look more like untended lots. I was pleasantly surprised with Daejeon. The city is quite green compared to other Korean cities and seemed to be pretty relaxed. It would probably make a nice place to live if I was so inclined to sign up for another tour of duty (which I am not so inclined to do) with its pedestrian only center and what looks like a lively nightlife. I am not sure if this is a plus or not but Daejeon is also home to a Costco. There are a few in the country but none near me. We took a stroll through and it was exactly the same as one back home with much of the same food. I think if I had one close to me I'd have gained quite a bit of weight. I would have walked out of there with a couple pounds of cheese but Steve's card expired a couple months ago, so I left empty handed.

This week is another toughy in which I have to teach for 3 days then go on a picnic Thursday followed by Fridays "sports day" which the students have been missing classes for in preparation.