Sorry I haven't been able to post more. Things are crazy around here, but at least they are simply lots-of-different-things happening crazy, and not so-much-work-it's-driving-me-insane crazy!

On Tuesday I had what should be my final open class of the year, which is where we rehearse a class to the point of absurdity and then teachers from all around my part of Korea --- sometimes more than two hours away by train --- come to observe. Preparation can be very stressful, and the formality behind the proceedings is unlike anything you would see in the States. It all went well, though.

The hilarious part is that I am the non-Korean face of the pilot program for Digital Textbook Afterschool English, in which my school is taking part. I seriously had three 40-minute photo sessions last week, mostly with children from grades 3-6, and that was after having already had multiple photo sessions and a slide show for open classes just three weeks ago. This time, however, our master teacher (third in command, just under the vice principal) made a fully professional looking multimedia presentation that included such things as a still photo of me holding hands with several children, which was put over a background of foggy hills, with dramatic music playing. A Korean historical figure --- don't ask me who --- then shared the screen with us, and I think he was talking about the importance of Koreans learning English. Suddenly, a flock of black birds flew into the scene over our heads (think of the animated opening titles to Hitchcock's "The Birds") and were then replaced by white doves! Unbelievable.

Then, no less than two dozen photos of me and the kids were shown, with dramatic music and an equally dramatic live lecture in Korean. Many teachers from my school and visiting teachers complimented me afterward about how I was a wonderful model for my school. And before and after the photo sessions --- two of which naturally occurred at the drop of a hat --- teachers were cheering me on because "you are our school's official model. We appreciate your hard work and handsome photos!" Ha ha ha --- I heart Korea!

Yesterday my city hosted an English Festival for schools in my city and neighboring cities. About 500 students and their English teachers attended. It was a lot of fun. Each school had a booth, and the students rotated every 20 minutes. Our booth hosted Aboriginal dot painting, and the kids loved it.

On Friday I finally get to visit the kindergarteners for the first time since arriving, to have a Halloween party with them. This will be a lot of fun. They are so cute! They have only seen me once before, when I came into their room to laminate some stuff. They were amazed, and two of them said "Hi" about 20 times, because it is the only English word they knew, ha ha! But some know more English than many of our sixth graders.

I am going to my first Korean Basketball League game this Sunday, and it should be a blast. I watched the playoffs when I arrived in April, and there were all sorts of breakaway layups (as opposed to breakaway dunks), a game in which both teams at one point had shooting percentages of .97, and another lopsided game that was like 72-24. In the "it's a small world" department, a former Portland Trailblazer for two years, Ha Seung-jin, is the league's #1 draft pick this season. I have a front-row courtside seat that set me back a total of 20,000 won --- just under $15. That gets you a seat in the last four rows of the Rose Garden for a Blazers game. Sure, the quality of play is different, but I have a feeling the overall entertainment factor won't differ that much.

The fifth graders --- about 200 of them --- and I went to Lotte World this month for a field trip. Lotte World is like a miniature indoor/outdoor Disneyland, one of three near Seoul. I need to go back, because the long lines and our tight schedule prohibited me from going on more than two rides. But it was a fun day, as you can tell from the picture.

Ending my two-week vacation in style

I'm having Indian lunch with one group of friends today, and then it's dinner and an art museum at one of Seoul's historical palaces with others.

I only left the Seoul are for one day during my break, when I went to Suwon, but I had a great, relaxing vacation, did almost exactly what I wanted to each day, ha ha ha, and spent lots of time with friends I have known here for a few months, and new friends, as well. So to me it feels like a very fun vacation, without traveling far.

At least two friends and I are planning on going to the the large port city of Pusan (also spelled Busan) in October for its annual film festival. Others might join us. When I meet some new friends of friends, they are amazed at how much I know about museums, plays, films, music, etc. in and around Seoul, and some have called me a "culture guru," ha ha ha. It isn't as easy to research information like that here, because of the language barrier, so when I find out about something that excites me (like, say Judas Priest and Michael Schenker Group concerts, or "Chicago: The Musical" and "Evil Dead: The Musical") , I am doubly happy.

A week or so ago, I saw what looked like a fun jazz club one evening in a "quiet" (if there can be such a thing in Seoul), historical-section-meets-European-artsy-section called Samcheon-dong. Some friends and I went to it on Friday night, and wow, it was everything I hoped it would be! It is called La Cle; it's in a basement, and looks just like an old jazz club from the 1950s in Paris or San Francisco (because, let's face it, there were very likely no cool jazz clubs in Korea in the 1950s). The atmosphere is excellent, the piano/drums/upright bass trio that played that night was great, and I loved the dank, musty, old-basement smell. I told my friends who I went with that when I am in Seoul, if they don't know where I am, I am probably at La Cle, ha ha ha.

Later that night, I went out with some newer Korean friends to a restaurant that serves ramuyen (spicy ramen) in old, beat-up, dented, metal bowls with scorched bottoms. One of them told me that Koreans occasionally like to order ramuyen in this style of bowl because it reminds them nostalgically of the tougher economic climates here. There is a special name for this style of ramen. When I find the napkin that she wrote that name on, I will post it here. Anyway, it looked great, and I really wanted to try it, and I did, the next day. By the way, maybe you already know about this, but I had never heard of it before coming to Korea: cheesy ramuyen. It's simply putting a slice or two of American cheese on your ramen, letting it melt a bit, and then stirring it all together. Not the healthiest meal option, I know, but though it sounds strange, it tastes great.

More soon. I have been wanting to update this blog more often, but haven't been around computers a lot during my vacation. It's back to my office tomorrow, so I will have both a computer and air conditioning, both of which make blogging easier.

Noraebang Nuttiness

I heart noraebang.

Noraebang is the cooler twin sister of karaoke. Why cooler? Firstly, because you get to sing in your own private room, with friends, which eliminates (a) random drunkards ruining your evening of singing, and (2) atrociously long waits for not just your turn to sing, but your friends' turns, as well.


Secondly, the noraebang machine gives you a percentage score for how well you did. Sure, sometimes it scores a bit generously, but other times it can be pretty honest. Which was it on Saturday night when I saw, and sang, for the first time ever in my karaoke/noraebang years, a song by UFO? (UFO, a British hard rock band whose heyday was in the '70s and '80s [but please note that they are still putting out very good albums and touring] is one of my all-time favorite bands, and the song was a slow ballad called "Try Me.") It doesn't matter, my friends, because I scored 100%.

Thirdly, there are tambourines for your beat-keeping pleasure at most every noraebang. But on Saturday, at Kathleen's birthday party, the ante was officially upped. The noraebang she booked had a genuine, full Pearl drum kit! Amazing. And a pair of bongo drums right next to the kit.

A few things that I have done in south Korea that I would never do back home in the States

1. Use toilet tissue for a napkin. (Or my hand, a plastic wrapper, a lettuce leaf, or anything else handy and suitable to the task.) Napkins seem like a precious commodity here. The first day that I was offered toilet paper to use instead, a co-worker said, "Foreigners think that it is very strange that Koreans use this instead of napkins." Hmm, possibly because --- what with it being called toilet tissue, and all --- the product is manufactured with the intention of it being used during the elimination of food, and not as part of the food intake process.

2. Wear sandals. Anyone who has ever talked fashion with me knows that I am vehemently against men wearing shoes that expose the bare foot. Not because mine are particularly unsightly, but because, generally speaking, men's feet are less than pleasant looking. And a double no-no is the wearing of socks with sandals, no matter what your sex. I have seen enough pairs of wool toe-socks with Birkenstocks to last me a lifetime.

But here, wearing sandals --- with socks, mind you --- is pretty much mandatory at work. So I caved in.

3. Held a conversation with a man I have just met, as he either holds my hand or places his hand high on my thigh. This is considered normal behavior here. I swear.

4. Eaten vegetables that I have never seen before in my life, usually without asking what they are. No, I don't do the same with meat.

5. Had random groups of high school girls walk up to me and initiate conversations that include them telling me, "Oh, you're so handsome!" and I stay and talk, rather than running the other way to avoid a misunderstanding and possible jail time. Students of all ages, from kindergarten through college, walk up to me and happily speak English with me. Sometimes all they know is the classic exchange, "Hello, how are you?" and "I'm fine thank you, and you?" Sometimes they know more than many of the teachers I work with seem to know. (That's not a knock; learning English at a young age in Korea has been emphasized much more recently than ever before.) And then there is the ever-popular "I love you!" being blurted out as the second or third sentence, because this tends to be one of the first English phrases Koreans learn.

6. Watched an American movie that I have never had any desire to see, simply because it was on the TV, and in English. I rarely watch TV here, but this phenomenon has occurred a few times. I couldn't even tell you what films they were, and I usually came in during the middle.

7. Gone to the cinema without knowing what films were playing, or at what times. As a matter of fact, I might do this tonight.

This list will grow as I spend more time here, and as I remember the many zany things that have happened to me that I am blanking out on right now.

There are some social norms here that I just cannot adapt to, the foremost of these being --- sorry, there is no way to sugar coat it --- dispensing used toilet paper into a wastebasket rather than directly into the toilet. Even if I clog every non-squatty potty in this country because of my foul deeds, I can't make that transition. Plus, this country is hot and humid in the summer --- do I really need to add to the discomforts of the season?