Welcome to school children
June 22
I haven't written on here in over a week so I figure I had better post something. It is freakin hard to come up with things to write about. When I am out doing things, I see things and think of things to write about, but then I forget all of those ideas it seems. I am NOT going to carry around a notebook and jot down ideas. Thats just ridiculous. The school that I am working at is apparently one of the best schools in Masan for foreign teachers. I always hear stories from other teachers about what happens at their schools, but so far, there isn't much to complain about. I just do my job and keep the kids happy and educated. That seems to be the main objective. Not so much to keep the kids happy, but keep the parents happy. I am told that they kind of run the schools in Korea. Thats just the way it is. Oh well, just keep plugging away I guess with the kids. The kindergarten kids are all super. They are I think ages 3 -6. I am not for sure though. I do know that when I got to Korea, I turned 28. I am not sure how it works, but they consider you to be 1-11/2 years older, not sure how it really works. So basically the 6 year olds are really 5 year old and so on. We were/are supposed to have a field trip tommorrow so that should be fun. It is supposed to rain, so I don't know if we will actually have the field trip. I have pics of the kids, but alas, I am having camera difficulties. The LCD screen is cracked, so I have to get my school director to take it either back to Wal-Mart or have it fixed at Samsung after service(or something like that). I am being told it should be fixed free of charge. I have only had it 2 weeks, and I haven't a clue how it broke. I took it out Sunday to take a picture of the baseball stadium, and saw it was cracked. We won our game about 15-2. I finished 2-4 with two doubles. I also stole 3rd base. Even though I had 2 hits, I was not at all happy with the way I swung the bat. It just doesn't feel right. It is kind of funny that the guys on the team tell me I am fat, yet I am the only one stealing bases. hmmmm, go figure. Nathan put it best: you may have a bit of a gut, but look at the muscle you have. They have zero muscle on them. That seems like a good enough trade.
I may have to steal that from Nathan the next time they start cracking on me. Planning on doing some hiking in the next few weeks, so maybe I will have some mountain top pics soon.
"Stay classy America"
viperinkorea
signs, signs, everywhere signs. What do they mean?
This is me rapping at Joyce's.
http://www.webmasan.com
This is me and Alex. He is the Secretary General of Cultural Arts. He is also the guy that is running the baseball team Nabo and I am playing with.
This is Posse 217-Korea style.
Hello all, it has been a week since my last post, so I figure it is time to write another one. Hmmm, Matt,I don't know how you come up with these posts all the time. What has been going on here in Korea. I have found several restaurants here that I can eat at, but I have been doing a lot of cooking. The Koreans love lights and signs. There are signs everywhere for every little thing. The restaurants have some great signs too. The most ridiculous cartoon characters and it seems they are all holding up one or two thumbs. It is also funny to see a cartoon cat and cow on a sign for a pork restaurant. I know, I know, it probably IS cat, hahaha. World Cup is getting even more crazy with Korea playing tonight. Of course, USA got beat last night, but does anybody even care about soccer in America? Not too many people I know in America are worried about it. I have a few pics of myself and some friends I have made here. I am on the mic rapping to a little Gin and Juice(Snoop Dogg), Phish style. As far as school goes, the kids are great. They do some of the strangest things. They also laugh at the weirdest times at the strangest things. I think that it is all Koreans that laugh all time. Hope all is going well.
Ben
Baseball today
Baseball today
Today was a holiday in Korea, so no school. We played a baseball game today, and I was able to play. 4-5 with 4 doubles. I also pitched the 9th inning. Nabo played very well also. He had 3 hits and also pitched very well. Still working on getting a camera. My owner and my Korean friend Alex(Arex) said it is better to buy off TV/internet show. I guess I will have them help me buy it that way. Possibly going to Demilitarized Zone(DMZ) near Seoul this Saturday. Apparently, years ago, the South discovered that the North was building a tunnel system into the South. The North said they were not responsible for the tunnel, but South said the only opening is on your side. Thus the DMZ was born and the South gives tours and tells history of country and is making money off of it. Because of that, the North said they were in fact responsible for building the tunnels (are you sure?) so now they split the money I guess. It is kind of late now so I guess I will hit the bed.
viperinkorea
today's date is 06-06-06, that has got to be worth something. Is there a special name for that? Maybe that is why we had a holiday.
Go Go Corea
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Go Go Corea, this is what their World Cup shirts say. And no I didn't spell that wrong. They have shirts that have a K instead of a C, but that not as interesting.(not like this is anyway) Well, I had a BIG post typed up Sat afternoon,but my comp froze, so now I am typing in Word then saving then posting. I did in fact manage to sleep most of the flight to Tokyo. I remember waking up to eat, then waking up again to eat a snack(sandwich), then waking up again for breakfast(What! you no want breakfast), well ok, so I did want breakfast. The first time dinner came around, an asian boy hit me in the shoulder to wake me up, then in my oh my god who just woke me up haze, he had to show me out to setup my tray. It was in the arm rest. Also, this kids mom traded seats with another asian girl so she could sit with her children, so seeing this, I did the only thing possible, I acted like I was asleep so she wouldn't ask me for the same type of thing. Well, that didn't stop her. She tapped me on the arm and said, could my husband trade seats with you so he can sit with family. Being the regular a$$hole American, I said no, I need the extra legroom that my seat provides. Then I acted like I was alseep again. But wait, there is more. On the 2 hour flight to Busan(Pusan) I end up with a whole row of seats(3) to myself. How awesome was that! I look across the aisle from me and who do you think was sitting there? The husband. I figure he would ask me to trade with his family(3 seats, 3 people) but he did not. For the record, I would have traded him seats because it was only a 2 hour flight. Gina, thanks for showing me around Minneapolis. That looks like it will definitely be a destination when I get back to visit. Hmmm, geez there is so much to say and show you all. I am hoping to get my camera tommorrow(Monday) so I will have pics soon. Some of my previous info was incorrect. I am living in Masan, a city of 500,000. I will be working 9-10 hour days for the first month because there are only 2 foreigners(non asians/english speakers) at my school currently. 1 will be back in a month. I was not ready for that at all. my first day was very mentally taxing, but at least I will get paid more for it. I was not happy with my decision at all when I got off work. Then, Courtney and Nabo come walking around the corner to meet me at the school and my mood changed very quickly seeing familiar faces. Hopefully Monday will be better at school. The weekend was "legendary"--NPH. Everything is so bright at night and people are everywhere. We went bar hopping and met some great people. I have met: australians, canadiens, british, irish, koreans, Americans and new zealanders. I have so many great ideas for bars in America now too. Some things are just very hard to explain without pics. They have girls dancing on trucks that drive through the street advertising things. They also have them on the street dancing in front of their stores. They are always in front of the cinema. I will post pics of them soon. I am learning some Korean already. Very useful to be able to say thank you(comsamida) I have found McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Popeyes, Dunkin Donuts and Baskin Robbin all withing a 5 minute walk of my apt. I am on the 1st floor of a 20 story building. The shower is the bathroom. The whole bathroom. Toilet, sink, shower, cabinets, its all one thing. Makes it very easy to keep bathroom clean though. My gosh, I know this is a ridiculously long post, but their is so much to write. The Irish bar Joyce's that we went to Friday and Saturday was a lot of fun. They play lots of games and it is just a loud and rowdy place. Not rowdy in a bad way though. Sat night was the welcome party, and it started of great. We went to a bar on the 5th floor of a building overlooking the plaza, and they had a great thing going for them. They had a beer glass called the Ace that is about 3 feet tall, and it is only 4,000 won(4.00-4.50 american) Then we went to Joyce's for the party. I beat some little Korean dude in pool and his friend gave me a go go Korea towel. They are so World Cup crazy I can't even describe it. We went home around 3 because our Korean baseball friend was picking us up in 5 hours for the game. I didn't get to play because they didn't have a uniform for me. They have them fitted. they are sweet unis too. The hats are brutal though. The Korean guy(Alex) was taking me around and showing me off to everybody. When I met the team, they starting chanting K1, which is similar to Ultimate Fighting in USA. We then ate lunch and then had a practice. I think they wanted me and Nathan to hit. Nathan didn't pitch too well today either, but we will fix that by playing catch more often. I pitched in the bullpen also, and I have to say I did a damn good job. For those in the baseball know, Nabo caught me and said I was about mid 80's. Not too shabby I think. Alex had two professional players in Korea catch for me also, and they were very impressed as well. The main starting pitcher looked at me and Nabo and said, "1-2 punch", and the coach said we would be like Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling for the teams. Obviously they are impressed very easily. I know I am leaving out so much, but I think this post is more than long enough. I hope everybody is doing well. Good day.
viperinkorea
And away I go
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Well, I am making the final preparations to move off to Korea. I hope you will enjoy the journey as I describe all of it as best I can. I am looking forward to many adventures around the Asian countries, as well as immersing myself in Korean culture. Throughout my blogs, you will no doubt see mention of my good friend Nathan(hereby referred to as Nabo) and his wife Courtney. Nabo is a friend of mine from Tech and I am sure we will be doing a lot together. They have been living in Korea since February, so they will be showing the basics once I arrive. Hopefully I will have much to share next week, because the bar by my apt is having a welcome to Korea party for me( I am sure at the urging of Nabo.) I am looking forward to this next chapter in my life, and hopefully my family members and friends will be able to keep in touch with me through this. And Rachael, I will be coming back to America, don't worry.
Viper
