i'm slowly finding the the learning that i'm supposed to be doing each and every day, passively, is the "growing up" that everyone keeps talking about. I've learned several lessons about soju, taxis, shop owners, varieties of menus, and of course, the language of Korea. But I have no idea why the school is run with such an obsession to redundant and idiotic rules. There are 5 different kinds of assignments these kids do:
2 of them are questions about their story book
2 others are summaries of their story book
the last is literally a copy of a page in their workbook.
they do 3 different assignments twice each. And this is called "practice."
It's not practice if you don't have to think
On top of that, I need to start practicing something. I'm thinking either a musical instrument or martial arts. Both would be rather strange to pick up because i'm always working when the general populace is "recreating". If i played anything in my room, i'd likely bother my neighbors, and if i wanted to take martial arts lessons, it could only be on the weekend. Regardless, i'm going to start looking for something productive to do with my time away from work... because my time AT work feels utterly wasted dishing endless peices of paper to asian kids who make fun of my face.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
CAMERA!
I bought a camera this week - Olympus 850SW
It's small, easy, quick, and was only 220,000won ($148). And from what i have seen on the internet, i might have saved a few bucks. It's got lots of settings for taking pictures quickly (why i bought it, NO BLURRIES) and it has a really high video quality for a digital camera (at least in my opinion).
I've been taking pictures all weekend and will try my best to take many more. I'm thrilled to be able to show you all what it's like over here and the weather is coming around as well, so it'll be even more exciting (for you AND me!)
Lex Howard is now in Korea teaching like me. He and his girlfriend (both MU alums) are really fun people and it will be nice to see a familiar face.
St Patrick's day was a blast and i don't think it will ever be like Rolla, which is great because I love st pats in Rolla. I'm very weak from drinking and walking around all day so i'll keep this breif. Til the future.
It's small, easy, quick, and was only 220,000won ($148). And from what i have seen on the internet, i might have saved a few bucks. It's got lots of settings for taking pictures quickly (why i bought it, NO BLURRIES) and it has a really high video quality for a digital camera (at least in my opinion).
I've been taking pictures all weekend and will try my best to take many more. I'm thrilled to be able to show you all what it's like over here and the weather is coming around as well, so it'll be even more exciting (for you AND me!)
Lex Howard is now in Korea teaching like me. He and his girlfriend (both MU alums) are really fun people and it will be nice to see a familiar face.
St Patrick's day was a blast and i don't think it will ever be like Rolla, which is great because I love st pats in Rolla. I'm very weak from drinking and walking around all day so i'll keep this breif. Til the future.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
grocery list
Spaghetti noodles
Korean brand spaghetti sauce (Fresco: Garlic and Onion)
Extra virgin (i assume olive oil)
canned corn (x2)
"light standard" canned tuna (x6)
E-Mart brand black pepper powder
ginger powder (accident: thought it was garlic powder... i misread the label in english *sigh*)
bag of pistachios (reasonably priced!)
E-Mart Green Tea
tea kettle
spaghetti strainer
bag of rice chips (delicious, just plowed through 'em)
double box of "no sugar" saltine crackers
banana (x5)
loaf of white bread
candy for work (dark chocolate, plum candy, and melon candy... samplers)
bottle of tonic water
fifth of dry gin
1.5 liter of stout beer
24-pack of Cass (light beer)
12 cheese singles
margarine
dozen eggs
ground beef
2 bell peppers
large carton of pickled radish (yellow saucer things that i am addicted to)
and the beer came with a free 5-pack of ramen
123,080 won
it took Bobby and I an hour and a half to get out of there, we could have bought more, but stopped once we realized that the two of us could not carry anymore than what was already in the cart (that, and we had to take a cab back home)
I'm going to go back later this week or sometime soon for
milk
cereal
handy snacks (granola bars or something like that)
soup
dish scrubber
juice
...maybe rice? not sure on that because i eat rice every time i eat out so...
Korean brand spaghetti sauce (Fresco: Garlic and Onion)
Extra virgin (i assume olive oil)
canned corn (x2)
"light standard" canned tuna (x6)
E-Mart brand black pepper powder
ginger powder (accident: thought it was garlic powder... i misread the label in english *sigh*)
bag of pistachios (reasonably priced!)
E-Mart Green Tea
tea kettle
spaghetti strainer
bag of rice chips (delicious, just plowed through 'em)
double box of "no sugar" saltine crackers
banana (x5)
loaf of white bread
candy for work (dark chocolate, plum candy, and melon candy... samplers)
bottle of tonic water
fifth of dry gin
1.5 liter of stout beer
24-pack of Cass (light beer)
12 cheese singles
margarine
dozen eggs
ground beef
2 bell peppers
large carton of pickled radish (yellow saucer things that i am addicted to)
and the beer came with a free 5-pack of ramen
123,080 won
it took Bobby and I an hour and a half to get out of there, we could have bought more, but stopped once we realized that the two of us could not carry anymore than what was already in the cart (that, and we had to take a cab back home)
I'm going to go back later this week or sometime soon for
milk
cereal
handy snacks (granola bars or something like that)
soup
dish scrubber
juice
...maybe rice? not sure on that because i eat rice every time i eat out so...
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
really getting sick of it
It's entirely possible that it's my personality that is clashing with the utter disarray that has consumed my office, but the new teachers seem to be picking it up a lot quicker than I am and I can't help myself but feel like an outdated model.
I've been doing this 2 months and would have quit if it were in the states. Maybe that's less of a sign of how crappy a job can be and more of a sign of how i view all forms of authority to be deranged and maniacal. Let's hope for the best when it comes to my capacity for bull.
I'm asking the authorities (friends of friends) this week for internet access in my apartment. The paycheck coming in later today (Tuesday) will be spent on furnishings for the apartment, and the rest will be thrown in the old piggybank. I'm determined to save money, because i can honestly see myself enjoying it more back home more than enjoying it here. In this gigantic city that does not sleep or breathe or think like i do. More accurately, I don't like living in the city and I don't think i'll ever live downtown in a city like this again unless i'm entirely involved in a project nearby.
Speaking of project, I've downloaded a (...free?) copy of microsoft office for my computer and it works perfectly. This is good because we don't have computers at work and I can now work on things on my computer instead of having to jump on one of the Korean teachers'.
Besides work, I really have no updates. This month i had some pretty big expenditures:
ski trip
glasses, shirt, hoodie shopping trip
bottle of whiskey (a mistake i will never make again)
utility bill (300+)
Each was a pretty large chunk of the pie and I don't intend to go hog-wild for the rest of my year here. The conversion rate looks like CRAP right now, which is no good for me (100,000 won = $64.75). The amount i save keeps becoming less and less in dollars. What are ya gunna do, eh?
I've been doing this 2 months and would have quit if it were in the states. Maybe that's less of a sign of how crappy a job can be and more of a sign of how i view all forms of authority to be deranged and maniacal. Let's hope for the best when it comes to my capacity for bull.
I'm asking the authorities (friends of friends) this week for internet access in my apartment. The paycheck coming in later today (Tuesday) will be spent on furnishings for the apartment, and the rest will be thrown in the old piggybank. I'm determined to save money, because i can honestly see myself enjoying it more back home more than enjoying it here. In this gigantic city that does not sleep or breathe or think like i do. More accurately, I don't like living in the city and I don't think i'll ever live downtown in a city like this again unless i'm entirely involved in a project nearby.
Speaking of project, I've downloaded a (...free?) copy of microsoft office for my computer and it works perfectly. This is good because we don't have computers at work and I can now work on things on my computer instead of having to jump on one of the Korean teachers'.
Besides work, I really have no updates. This month i had some pretty big expenditures:
ski trip
glasses, shirt, hoodie shopping trip
bottle of whiskey (a mistake i will never make again)
utility bill (300+)
Each was a pretty large chunk of the pie and I don't intend to go hog-wild for the rest of my year here. The conversion rate looks like CRAP right now, which is no good for me (100,000 won = $64.75). The amount i save keeps becoming less and less in dollars. What are ya gunna do, eh?
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
I live here?
Yeah, I live here.
I'm in the routine, i'm working, i'm waking up and doing stuff and now that i know i'll be living in the same apartment for the rest of the year here, i keep getting the sensation that i KNOW what i'm doing. I'll soon have internet in my ROOM, rather than having to use internet everywhere else. This is a huge deal for me because I use my computer for a majority of my communication.
Marco commented that my blog is too angsty, and I'd really like to keep that from happening because i genuinely want people to read this and (more or less) update themselves on how i'm doing. Or updated on WHAT i'm doing... though writing about that comes a little harder, because, well... i've already done it and seems boring to write about.
Let's assume i've done a few handfulls of nothing the past two weeks in anticipation of the old crew of teachers leaving. Let's now assume that after payday on Tuesday, i'll start documenting the ways in which i furnish my apartment with things like: shelves, internet, and MAYBE a microwave! It's an exciting adventure, and hopefully i'll find enough stuff on the cheap :D
By the way, the Mizzou Swimming and Diving team got 2nd place at the Big 12 Conference meet for the first time in school history last week! Current MU diver, Greg Destephen, is now the record holder for both 1 and 3 meter springboard, as well as platform. Therefore, he can easily claim my 'greatest diver in MU history' title for himself.
I'm in the routine, i'm working, i'm waking up and doing stuff and now that i know i'll be living in the same apartment for the rest of the year here, i keep getting the sensation that i KNOW what i'm doing. I'll soon have internet in my ROOM, rather than having to use internet everywhere else. This is a huge deal for me because I use my computer for a majority of my communication.
Marco commented that my blog is too angsty, and I'd really like to keep that from happening because i genuinely want people to read this and (more or less) update themselves on how i'm doing. Or updated on WHAT i'm doing... though writing about that comes a little harder, because, well... i've already done it and seems boring to write about.
Let's assume i've done a few handfulls of nothing the past two weeks in anticipation of the old crew of teachers leaving. Let's now assume that after payday on Tuesday, i'll start documenting the ways in which i furnish my apartment with things like: shelves, internet, and MAYBE a microwave! It's an exciting adventure, and hopefully i'll find enough stuff on the cheap :D
By the way, the Mizzou Swimming and Diving team got 2nd place at the Big 12 Conference meet for the first time in school history last week! Current MU diver, Greg Destephen, is now the record holder for both 1 and 3 meter springboard, as well as platform. Therefore, he can easily claim my 'greatest diver in MU history' title for himself.
Monday, March 2, 2009
It's a brand new office
Everybody is out. The room i work in is now devoid of the 6 familiar american faces that welcomed me into it. They all left this morning, except Brian Dye, who is staying another year in Korea and has started a 2nd contract somewhere else in town. Their desks are all emptied, and another difference would be: THEY TOOK OUR COMPUTERS. So from one point having computers, then having old, cruddy, slow computers that couldn't print, and now NO computers... i'm confused.
It's like losing a group of seniors after graduation. Soon i will know what they knew. It's possible that i'll run into one or two of them later in life, but it's sad to know that i probably won't. They will be missed.
I am currently sitting at my desk, which has not changed, and am currently waiting for someone to tell me what to do. This is eerily similar to the first day of my first semester. Class starts in an hour and i have none of my books and don't even know the classroom number for some of my classes. I have no computer, so I cannot print off anything like class role, or a syllabus or ANYTHING. I'm lost again. It stinks, and i'm sick of it. Time to get what i need whether they like it or not.
It's like losing a group of seniors after graduation. Soon i will know what they knew. It's possible that i'll run into one or two of them later in life, but it's sad to know that i probably won't. They will be missed.
I am currently sitting at my desk, which has not changed, and am currently waiting for someone to tell me what to do. This is eerily similar to the first day of my first semester. Class starts in an hour and i have none of my books and don't even know the classroom number for some of my classes. I have no computer, so I cannot print off anything like class role, or a syllabus or ANYTHING. I'm lost again. It stinks, and i'm sick of it. Time to get what i need whether they like it or not.
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