Halloween

10.31.06

Halloween. In Korea. Odd, for sure. They don't celebrate it, generally. Some of the bars had costume partys last weekend, but definitely not all. Teachers at English Hagwons (private schools) had to dress up, so i went as the terminator. My Brittish roommate went as a zebra and got some funny looks from people on the street. We're already the odd-men out and then he went and did something like that. Posted some pictures from the school version of Halloween on the flickr site. If you have an account on Facebook.com, i have a much more exstensive photo collection there.

Not too much new. We got a Popeye's about ten minutes from our house now, though. Rock. We found the market where everyone sells anything and everything (and usually for dirt cheap) last weekend. We may head back this weekend to see if there are any deals to be had. Had a full-band practice with a few members from my school at a rehearsal space last weekend. Definitely not the next 'thing', but it was fun to attempt some music. I had more to say earlier, but now i cant think of it. Bummer....

kc

Old Friends

10.16.06

That's what our kitchen looks like sometimes. The little yellow thing off on the right of the sink is a rice cooker. Awesome. Should have 'em in the states, but they run a pretty buck or two (i.e. are fairly expensive). I inherited this one from Mike, a fellow who left at the end of September. I saw a friend i haven't seen since college last weekend - Jeff Potter. He's been here 4+ years. It was good to see him and I plan on spending quite a bit more time with him.

Other potential interesting tidbits - a girl from school bought a football and when we were throwing it last night, three different people stopped (for multiple minutes each) to watch us throw. Not a whole lot of football here, apparantly. I tried pig intestines today at lunch. My recommendation? Don't do the same. Bowling is very cheap here. Played thursday and friday night with a mix of western and korean teachers. About $6.20 for shoes and two games per person. Not to mention, the machine that gives you your shoes spits them out after you deposit two coins in the machine with your size. Very neat. That's all

kc

Chu-Sok

10.9.06

The Chu-Sok holiday ends today and we start teaching again tomorrow. From what i understand, it's the equivalent of Thanksgiving. Didn't do too much this week and i enjoyed every not-doing bit of it. Explored the city a little (saw the river) and designed several poor album covers for the upcoming oddibe cd. Also learned a little more korean. I can now say things like "don't mention it", "okay", "to the left", "to the right", "soon", "quickly", "slowly" and a few others. I'm obviously dominating the language at this point. Published poetry works in korean soon to come. The picture above is fairly self-explanatory. And probably far more interesting than me typing words about it. Hasta

kc

Meditation

10.01.06

Rob, my roommate, and I walked to the buddhist temple today. I wanted to see what the deal was with meditating there - open to anyone? We happened in just as an english session was starting so we sat in and did a chanting meditation for thirty minutes and then listened to the presiding monk tell stories and answer questions. Very nice. I expect I'll be there more often now. On the way there we passed a tiny little dog that seemed too confused or worried to bark at us. That's the little guy up above this text....

kc

ps - i should mention that i now have the ability to acquire refried beans. They're between 2 and 3.50 a can, but it's worth it. And it's worth the forty minute subway trek to itaewan to get them, too. I've made nachos and fajita quesadillas all week. Home away from home.... ahh....