Back in Korea Once More

Arrived in Seoul Tuesday night, managed to pick up my things from Chelsea’s apartment, and more or less settle in. My clock is adjusting, but slowly. Woke up at 3 AM this morning and did muscle exercises for the first time in weeks. Will be hurting tomorrow.

The new apartment is NICE. I think real estate is a bit more reasonable here in Ansan than it was in Ilsan. Have seen plenty of Westerners. The stories about there being none were lies. Have not made any new friends yet, except with the woman who runs the PC Bang, and she apparently does not speak a word of English, so.

When I got here, she said something in Korean about “Chusok” and “price.” I hope she meant that since today is Chusok, the price is reduced. We’ll see.

At the nearby Homeplus I found a plethora of English books. Bought one called “When Blanche Met Brando,” which is about the making of A Streetcar Named Desire. I’m currently loading the movie in another window at 56.com.

Not sure how to use the gas cooker. You need a lighter, right? I bought one today. We’ll see whether I figure it out or burn the apartment down.

Will upload pics of the place. It has a balcony and everything! Snazzy! Of course, in Korea the balcony is basically the equivalent of the garage. The washing machine and vacuum cleaner are out there. Still, pretty cool.

My cold seems to have finally gone away. Apparently I do not have swine flu after all.

Plans upon plans

When I get my master’s, I wanna take a long break and go traveling. I think I’ll try out some of these options.

Pearls and silk and jade. And music!

Here’s what I wrote when I went to China:

August 8, 2009

8 AM

I’m 26 years old today. I feel old.

I just boarded the plane, and in 3 hours, I’ll arrive in Beijing. Because of the time difference, it will be 10AM when I get there. There are no group activities scheduled for today, so I think I will wander around and look at the sights. I don’t plan to buy too many souvenirs, but I do want to try lots of Chinese food.

I ate breakfast at the airport; rice and pork topped with a fried egg, with kimchi and miso soup.

The flight attendants said “good morning” to me. When I said “morning” back, they all laughed. I might have been the only English speaker on the plane.

5:30 PM, Beijing time

I slept away the plane ride. I took a bicycle rickshaw to the hotel. I can’t see much in the city because there is fog everywhere. The roads are wide and straight and go on forever. I don’t see any skyscrapers.

For lunch, I wandered around a bunch of very crowded restaurants until I found a KFC. They took my order wrong and gave me 3 soft drinks with my meal. Then I went to a huge shopping complex and looked at silks, jewelry, jade, gold, amber, ivory, pearls, incense and lanterns.

I need to learn the Mandarin for “bathroom” and “bottled water.”

I met up with the others at the hotel. Tomorrow we’re seeing the Forbidden City.

10 PM

Tomorrow is the Great Wall. There’s a toboggan you can ride down it. Our tour guide said, “Just make sure you don’t go too fast. I went on it and broke my finger. The toboggan sounds better than the wall.

August 9, 2009

5 PM

The Great Wall (though apparently the Chinese call it “the long wall”) was amazing. When we first arrived, everything was covered in fog. We couldn’t see more than 20 feet. We couldn’t see any other parts of the wall. But around 12:30 the fog started to lift and we had a great view. There was a big crowd, and lots of people selling beer and snacks. They had huge Snickers bars. Very tempting. I ate pine nuts instead.

The steps were sometimes incredibly steep. A little dangerous. I’m glad I go mountain climbing sometimes. There were times when we had to go on all fours to get up the steps.

I am very hungry right now. I’ve been walking and climbing for hours. Dinner will be Peking duck. I will eat a lot of Peking duck. They will have to empty the pond.

August 10, 2009

1 PM

We’re on the train heading to Xian. I bought enough food for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. We arrive in Xian at 6 AM. This morning we went to the Forbidden City/Imperial Capital. It was about a hundred times more impressive than the Korean Imperial Capital.

The roofs of the buildings were yellow. Apparently in Chinese, the words “yellow,” “Emperor,” and “grasshopper” are all the same. According to our tour guide, people were afraid to kill grasshoppers and there were plagues of them. So the Emperor had to make an official declaration that it was OK to kill them.

I didn’t have enough time to see as much in Beijing as I would have liked. A week in the city would have been better.

August 11, 2009

2 PM

Today I took a bike ride around the city wall. Then I wandered around the Muslim Quarter. Lots of lamb and pita bread. I never could find the Great Mosque. They’ve hidden it pretty well.

We went to a dumpling banquet. The dumplings were shaped like the food inside them. The seafood dumplings looked like fish, the pork dumplings looked like pig heads, the lotus dumplings looked like lotuses, etc.

We saw the bell tower and drum tower. The bell used to be rung in the morning and the drums were struck in the evening. Outside in the square there were men selling kites. They’d string 20 or so together and let them trail above.

I’ve been careful not to drink the water. I used some water to brush my teeth. Then I panicked and thought, “Oh no! I have Chinese water in my mouth!” and used bottled water to wash it out.

I would like to get a foot massage for my tired, tired feet.

August 12, 2009

We’re driving past the Qin mountains, the dividing line between North and South China. There’s a myth that says Chinese people were made from the yellow soil of the mountains. That’s why their skin is yellow. Soon we’ll see the terra cotta warriors.

August 13, 2009

9 AM

The terra cotta warriors were magnificent. I’m just sorry I couldn’t get a closer look. We could only see them from a distance of 30 ft or so.

They were selling little ceramic figurines for 1 yuan. Mike bought 2 sets. So far I haven’t bought many souvenirs. We’re going to the silk museum later. Maybe I’ll buy some silk.

We crossed the Yangtze River a little while ago.

We had a traditional Chinese dinner. There was fungus, chicken, bamboo roots, pork, seafood, vegetables, and pineapple beer.

6 PM

In Suzhou now. Earlier today we took a boat ride in the canal. Our boatman sang traditional Chinese songs to us. The willows bent down over the stone walls of the canal to touch the water. The boat was decorated with hanging knots and embroidered goldfish. Fish in China means “more than enough,” which is why they eat it at the end of every meal. The boat ride was exactly what we needed, very soothing and relaxing and shaded from the heat of the sun.

After that we went to the Humble Administrator’s Garden. It had a massive lotus lake. There was a woman floating around in a tiny boat selling lotuses. I saw another woman sitting beside the edge of the lake doing a black ink painting.

10 PM

We went to the Master of Nets Garden and saw a scene from a play, a traditional guitar duet, a flute song, a guzheng song, and various other instruments. The lights rippled on the nighttime water and the pine trees leaned in over us and the music was so beautiful I felt like I would float away on it. I bought some guzheng music.

August 14, 2009

7 PM

Shanghai. The Shanghai Museum was not so great, so we went to an underground market and I bought 12 DVDs for about $60. The Chinese food is not agreeing with us, so we’re going to Pizza Hut tonight.

Stewart bought these things called “mangosteens” out of a bamboo fruit basket by the side of the road. The first one had gone bad, the second and third tasted pretty good, and the 4th had ants crawling out of it. I declined to find out what the rest tasted like.

August 15, 2009

11 AM

We saw the Jin Mao (gold and prosperity) tower. As we took the elevator to the top, my ears popped worse than on a plane. We had a view of all Shanghai.

Later we went to the French Concession, which had very old-style European buildings. I bought a lovely pearl necklace for about $20.

In the center of the old town, there was a big goldfish pond with a bridge over it.  Dozens of people were throwing food at the fish. They were very fat and there were very many of them. Soon there will be too many to fit in the pond.

5 PM

I took a nap from when I got home until it was time to go see the acrobats. The theater is very nice. I have high hopes.

August 16, 2009

My last day in China. I’ve enjoyed my stay, but I’m ready to go home. I went to a famous temple with a large jade Buddha. The air was hazy with incense.

Some of us have gone home already. Some aren’t leaving until tomorrow.

I had a foot and hand and shoulder massage. Feel ready to take on the world.

Final souvenir count:

• 1 set of chopsticks
• 1 fan
• 1 silk scarf
• 1 CD set of music
• 2 bracelets
• 1 pair earrings
• 1 pearl
• 12 DVDs
• 1 Harmony Knot

Pictures here.

Made some worksheets

We’re having an athletic day during Summer Camp. I found some games the kids could play that involved a little English. I like these games because they’re simple, can be done with either a few kids or a lot, and don’t require a lot of equipment. Really, all you need is a soccer or volleyball.

These were made in Illustrator. Feel free to use them yourself.

Outdoor English Activities

Outdoor English Activities 2

Just one of the perks of the job

There are countless daily rewards of being a teacher. Today I got one I was able to take home with me.

Fantastic resource

Anyone who teaches English in Korea knows the kids have attention spans of spastic monkeys. They won’t sit still for much. Your best bet is probably a funny or interesting video. Some call it edu-tainment, some call it bribery, either way it works.

With that in mind, here is a fantastic website with lots of worksheets based on movies and TV shows. You can probably find the relevant clips on Youtube, and then you can use the video to teach vocabulary. I had a great deal of success with this Mr. Bean worksheet.

Below are the clips I showed. I usually don’t like to show a video this long, but this is the last week of classes and I wanted to give the kids a break. I didn’t show the third part of the episode because of nakedness.

The kids went nuts for it. Mr. Bean is one of those cultural universals that crosses all boundaries.

Not all electric remixes suck

Case in point

I demand more Depression-era electric remixes! There is a whole untapped market here. Can’t you do remixes with software? I’ll have to look into that.

Incidentally, I finally decided to sell my musical keyboard. I got one prospective buyer, but he stopped talking to me when I told him the keyboard had 61 keys. I guess that wasn’t up to his rigid standards. Though apparently his standards are flexible enough that he’s willing to buy a toy keyboard for 50,000 won.

Times like this are when my anti-packrat tendencies come into play. (What’s the opposite of packrat. Zen crane? I imagine they go for a simplified decor.) Some people never throw anything out. I throw things out the moment they become the slightest nuisance. I just hate having lots and lots of stuff.  Not trying to say I’m unmaterialistic. Quite the opposite. I develop deep, possibly unnatural attachments to the stuff I love. But because each attachment requires so much love and devotion, I cannot have room in my heart for too many.

So, does anyone want some books? Maybe comics graphic novels? Cuz I’ve got a whole load of them starting to pile up.

In other news, vacation pics are far more interesting when doctored. Soon I will be using Photoshop for evil instead of good.

Which would you rather visit?

I’d pay to see this movie

They race their souped-up cars to the wedding registry but the wedding registry explodes! So they hire a party planner to act as referee in an all-out, no-holds-barred, bare-knuckled fight to the death for supreme bridal dominance! The party planner also explodes. In the end they learn the power of sisterhood by defeating a horde of invading aliens! Who then explode.

Would this actually work?

Here’s an interesting teaching tip I found:

Take a candle into the classroom for ‘R’ and ‘L’ pronunciation practice, after the manner of Professor Henry Higgins in ‘My Fair Lady‘ (although he used it for ‘H’ practice). The candle will flutter or go out when an ‘R’ is pronounced correctly, but will remain unmoved (or should) when an ‘L’ is pronounced.

Now where can I buy some candles? (And when will the school give me some spending money? Not that candles are expensive, but don’t teachers generally get a bit of money for supplies?)

Born in the USA

Spent America’s birthday sleeping in and eating out. Was going to buy some sparklers but didn’t feel like rolling down to the craft shop and getting them. Did an extra-long, night-time bike ride. There were still kids out at the park at 11:00 pm! Listened to Heartless Bastards.

Have discovered new wondrous delight that will eat all my money. Men call it screen golf.

Just finished the first season of True Blood. I’m really liking it. It’s got palpable Anne Rice roots, especially the creepily erotic southern gothic tone. I was also never irritated by the love story, which was strange. In most love stories, I want to stab both of the characters in the eyes. Nobody knows how to write a good love story anymore. So they just write two whiny characters who bitch at each other over nothing. But I actually like the female and male leads in this show and want them to be happy together.

Altered a new shirt. Originally it was baggy; now it’s tight around the waist and baggy around the back and sleeves. Came out pretty good. Next time I will do before and after pics.

Started playing Dead Space. Liking it so far. Playing it on the laptop, though, so graphics are crappy. And it seems you can’t change the video card on a Dell. Rats.

It’s a pretty scary game, but I’m a pretty hard to scare person. In some ways. In other ways, I’m a total wuss. I don’t usually get scared by things I see. “Jump” moments in horror movies don’t affect me much. But I can be seriously, inexplicably terrified by things I hear. One good example is Ligeti’s Requiem. You probably know it from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ligeti’s whole family, except for his mom, was murdered in the Holocaust, and Ligeti’s emotional response to the Holocaust was one of the inspirations for this music. Freaks me the hell out. I have trouble sleeping after I’ve listened to it (I mean, I have trouble sleeping most nights, anyway; I get insomnia, but still.) 2001: A Space Odyssey is a very scary movie for me, and it’s not even supposed to be scary.  I’m not even sure what I’m scared of exactly. Just a formless dread.