Roderick

My Xmas Stocking

2006-12-12T15:40:56Z

Xmas Stocking

leave a gift for Nerph

Looking on

2006-12-09T17:50:57Z

Hi all, it's been a while...
I bought a guidebook today; it seems like i'm going to Turkey first, after i finish here. I can already feel myself checking out, which may be too soon. I have a while to go yet, and if i start looking forward to the end now it'll be all the longer coming. That's not to say that i'm having a bad time, but the end will be nice when it comes. Work has changed a lot recently. The old guard has gone, now Steve and I are the veterans. They just hired a new teacher, which is great, it really lightens the load. I wish they had done it months ago, before i got used to the work; now i don't really know what to do with extra time. They've already found ways to keep us busy though, so i don't really have to worry much. One on one classes start monday.
Mike came back through town on his way home last week. It was good to hang out with him again, but i could see he was bored to death just waiting around for his flight. I don't think he's going to make it back here, but hopefully he'll go somewhere else interesting. (short commercial break while I email him) I hope we stay in touch, he's an entertaining fellow.
I'm feeling a few cracks in my 'better off single' shell; but there's really nothing to be done about it. The immediate area is sadly devoid of interesting available girls. Or maybe my standards have changed. It's a new feeling to meet a cute, friendly, single girl and find her to be dull and juvenile..maybe i'm getting old, maybe i've just been lucky in the past. I should try and be more sociable, but with only a few months left, it seems a little pointless to me...that doesn't make the bed any less empty though.
Hmm..time for less ennui..the gym is all sorts of fun these days. I've fallen in with a small group of korean men who let me work out with them. wednesday was leg day; i've been hobbling around ever since. it's good though, and in general it gives me a lot of energy and stress relief.
anyway, sorry for the lack of updates, it's hard to remember that this is supposed to be exciting sometimes. One of these days i'll get some pictures up online. Until then, email me and i'll send you some.
ciao

i don't understand, but here's me...watch me fight!

2006-12-01T19:14:25Z

COMBAT CARDS 2.1

watch nerph fight

CREATE YOUR CARD

nerph @ 2006-11-29T20:45:00

2006-11-29T11:45:23Z

hmmm...this may be a bit unfortunate...at least i'm not a bubble

Halfway

2006-09-30T13:26:46Z

Well, I just hit the midpoint of my contract. It's cause for celebration, though i am too tired at the moment to do much celebrating. I think I've settled in pretty well and found a comfortable rut over the first half of the year. I work too much, play some basketball and some pool, and occasionally manage to go on a trip. Now i just have to iterate for six more months, and i'll be done. I found the the grass is not any greener on the other side of the ocean, but at least the money is better. Teaching kindergarten has a few perks as well, as the wee bairns can be quite lovely sometimes.
I've got a faily large pile of pictures, some of them nice. i wish i could figure out how to post them on lj, but failing that, if i see you on msn i'll probably send you some whether you want them or not.
I should probably add some specifics for posterity:
Last weekend i went to Pusan, Korea's largest port, and the second biggest city. It has a remarkable fish market, selling all kinds of piscine wonders. My favorite were the eels, which were still trying to swim away after being skinned and gutted. I have a great video of that i'll probably show everyone when i get home. I went down with steve, who is lovely company in small doses. I enjoyed the city a lot. it was a few distinct sections, such as the industrial port, the traditional fish market, and the upscale western beach area. I think if i come back to Korea again i will try to work there.
This weekend i'll be lying low, as next week we only have monday at work, then we get the second of our long vacations. Chu-seok seems to be the biggest holiday of the year here; a combination of xmas and thanksgiving. kids are supposed to bow a lot to their parents and grandparents (and teachers) and then they get money. I'm going with Mike and Liz to Ulleung-do, which is a small island off the east coast. it's supposed to have some of the best scenery in the country. I hope we are able to make it in a timely manner, though, as i have heard the roads are packed this week, and we haven't bought any tickets yet.
That's about all the interesting news. I talked to the travel agent today after mike was organizing his flight, and they can organize russian tourist visas, so i am feeling more optimistic about my plans for when i finish. I'm not sure when i'll be back in the CA, but it's looking like a may get across the iron curtain after all.
did i mention only six more months?

Roderick

welcome back to the world

2006-08-26T19:32:07Z

well, the hell that was summer courses is done. now i only have to work 8 hours a day instead of 12. next week i'll probably start teaching kindergarten classes, which promises to be interesting. the kids are very young, prone to crying, peeing, fighting and loving their teacher more than you would expect. And this is every morning. the upside is i might get saturdays off, which would be a lot better for seeing some sights, not to mention staying sane. the new teacher was supposed to show up today, but i didn't feel like waiting around work to meet her. i hope she's nice, she'll be living close by and could be a good addition to a small social scene, or an irritation to be avoided.
i'm sure ther's more to add, but it's getting light and i'm getting sober, so i'll just add the obligatory Lotus made my do it.
Leave me your name and:
1. I'll respond with something random about you
2. I'll challenge you to try something
3. I'll pick a color that I associate with you
4. I'll tell you something I like about you
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on yours.

i imagine you're all bored of it by now, but rules are rules.

cheers,
Roderick

happy birthday to me

2006-07-20T11:34:44Z

Well, I've hit the big 2-4; i guess this should bring about a certain amount of self reflection. I don't think i'll end up doing anything birthday related, but i did have a bit of fun last night at a poker game...coming up with $50 is a nice way to start a year. Today i spent my big day worrying about an observation by the head office. In the end it turned out to be no problem; it was just one nice young lady, and my more direct boss was too busy to watch with her. The class went very well, there was lots of laughing, the kids spoke well, and listened to me without too much coaxing. Frankly that was nicer than any birthday.
I've been realizing over the last little while that some of my students really do like me. It's amazing how much it means to me that a bunch of grubs are happy to see me everyday. Then again there are a few kids that will be happy to see the back of me at the end of this month..and i admit the feeling is mutual.
Next week we start summer session. Summer vacation from public school in Korea means more time for private lessons, so i get to teach even more classes for a month. i can't say i'm looking forward to it, but i guess the overtime will be nice eventually. I do get a week's vacation at the beginning of august, which breaks up the time a bit. When i get back i will also have all new classes. I'll get the chance to see if i've learned anything over the last months.
I'm all set for the vacation; I got my multiple entry visa set up, so i can leave the country and come back. We're off to china for 5 days, on a tour of beijing. It's a lazy way to travel, but i feel it's good for such a short time. The itinerary is all set up for us...the highlights are the great wall and the summer palace. I think we might go rafting on our free day. I'm going with the guys from work, which could be irritating, but there will be a lot of other people as well, so i'll be able to see some fresh faces. I bet i will finally be able to find some post cards in beijing, so everyone that reads this should send me their address.
Now for some food....
cheers all!
Roderick

i had to do two

2006-06-26T13:08:17Z

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your journal along with these instructions.
5. Don't search around and look for the coolest book you can find. Do what's actually next to you.

1 "The scene is a picture of deceptive repose." Haruki Murakami HARD BOILED WONDERLAND AND THE END OF THE WORLD
2 "In 1636 King Injo fled to this fortress when the Manchus from China invaded and occupied Seoul" LONELY PLANET GUIDE TO KOREA

it's good to be back online

2006-06-03T02:51:41Z

Two months finished, ten more to go...it's been an interesting few weeks since i lost my internet. I have moved into a new apartment, which i like a whole lot better, though it is a 20 minute walk from work. I finally get to unpack and maybe even decorate a bit (perhaps a plant). I'm in the same building as a couple coworkers, but it's nice to have my own place intead of sharing.
None of the expected dramas at work really happened, as the only person who got a longer schedule this month was my old roomie, who is irritatingly gung-ho for all the work they can give him. I've put thoughts of a new job on hold for them time being, as i don't really want to move again for a while.
Work has been a bit unhappy lately though, as the bosses seem to be on an inspection kick, watching everyone closely and correcting students and teachers alike. I had my first 'talk' with the academic director, which wasn't pleasant, but better than the guy that got it right after me. Our school has very little training, i guess we're supposed to learn by being told what we're doing wrong...
I'm planning to go to a wedding on tuesday. One of the front desk girls is getting married and apparently doesn't mind a few waeguks at her reception. It should be interesting, if somewhat hard to understand.
Last sunday's hike was fun, if not exotic. We went to the wrong bus stop for the place that was planned, so we went up a mountain just south of the city. It turns out there are many mountains behind the first, so we managed to hike for seven hours- quite enough for one day- and didn't even have to travel out of the city. I think that's the best part of the urban design of korea. There are hundreds of huge apartment complexes that all look the same, but there are no suburbs. When the city stops, the forest starts.
Anyway, that's about all i can remember for now. I hope to hear from you all soon.

Roderick

cursed computers

2006-05-29T03:03:45Z

Well, i'm still alive; my internet is down at the moment and i have no idea why, as my roomie's is working fine. Have i mentioned recently that i hate computers and they hate me?
I'm hoping the problem will sort itself out after i move. I'm also hoping i will get to move. the new teacher they finally hired has her own apartment, so originally it seem like a sure thing that i could move into the open single when Stephane left. Then another coworker started making a stink about wanting to move into my place after i leave...unfortunately, he and steve, my roomie, do not get along at all. there's a good possibility that the bosses will just say nobody can move, just to avoid the uproar.
sorry, that's a bit of a tangent on office drama...i've never really had to deal with such things before, and i'm starting to realize why it sucks so much.
anyway, things continue as normal..i'm not thinking about finding a new job so much anymore, though i haven't seen next month's schedule yet. I've gone hiking a bit, and finally found a nearby pool table. Now i'm off to the goodbye lunch for stephane...
Cheers!
Roderick

take a hike!

2006-05-07T14:37:48Z

Hi again,
i figured i'd write about my hike now, instead of adding it to next week's verbal vomit. It ended up being more of a tour and walk than a hike, but that may have made it even better.

I left the house at 6am, which i haven't seen in a while. A quick run through wallmart for supplies (no starving for me this time) and we were off...45 minutes by subway to the bus station. Mike had things pretty well under control, so getting tickets wasn't too hard. i really need to learn some korean if i want to survive on my own though. the bus out of town was spectacular; we headed out into mountains and farmland. Rice paddies and verdant hills surrounded the road. Fog clung to the peaks, and the early morning moisture gave everything a mystic glow. Grave mounds peaked out from around every corner, sometimes in the middle of the fields. We arrived at Namwon, then after a short wait took another bus to Jirisan national park, the biggest in the country. We didn't have nearly enough time to climb the peak we planned, so second choice was a walk up a river valley. It was quite the nicest place i have seen in the country so far, and i have many lovely pictures of trees and flowers and water to bog up your respective msn's the next time i see you online.

back to work tomorrow!!

Roderick

Happy birthday buddha!

2006-05-06T13:49:19Z

Dear Diary,
This has been a fairly eventful week, looking back on it. Work felt rushed and hectic; it was full of random celebration and food, as children's day is taken fairly seriously around here. i have to say the best experience i've had at work so far is having thirty or so kindergarten students singing for us, then swarming us with hugs. It was difficult to take the rest of the day seriously after that, though it's hardly necessary on thursdays.
Last sunday i went on a spectacular hike, some of you have probably seen the pictures already, if not, ask me next time i'm online, i'm more than happy to show them off. I went with Mike, who's probably the most interesting guy in the office; something close to a short male Hana. We started climbing a mountain to a buddhist temple; it has one of the more famous statues in the world, at least among buddhists. It was a fairly brisk excursion in itself, but that was just the beginning. We then started what was supposed to be a 6 and a half km hike along the ridgetops to another temple...I was starting to wish i had brought some food, or maybe had breakfast. It was a beautiful hike, though a bit steep somtimes, as the path seemed to have to go to the top of every peak, and then back down. We ran out of water at about 4k, and i started to get very hungry, remembering that i had a very small dinner the night before. Still, the hike was wonderful; loads of flowers were in bloom, the day was sunny, the wind was nice, the view was amazing...we got to the end of the 6 and a half, and i was tired, thirsty, and starving, but happy.
Unfortunately, we were still in the middle of the mountains. Then the trail became hard. it was a full-on hike, climbing up mountain faces and clambering down the other side, still going generally up, and nowhere near civilization. it was getting to be evening, i was starting to get weak from hunger and thirst, and still we climbed. a couple hours later, we got to the peak. we hadn't seen any other people for hours, but there were some there..they were rockclimbing, had all the ropes and gear to repel down with...at this point i needed to rest every ten minutes; i was almost passing out from hunger and thirst, and my legs were shakey. We decided to make for a cable car we could see on a neighboring mountain. Half an hour down the mountain there was a tiny spring that saved my life, and it was just getting dark when we got to the restaurant at the top of the mountain, lucily,the cars were still going. I puked up the fruit and icecream i had first, then we went for the best meal i've ever eaten. In all we figured to have hiked about 15km, on no food and 2 litres of water between us. next time there wil be better planning. As it turns out, next time is tomorrow. We're heading to the highest mountain on the penninsula. I think i'll bring a sandwich.
This friday was interesting as well. the day started out kinda slow, though i did manage to clean the apartment to the point where i don't mind people seeing it. Steve (roomie) and I decided to go down to wallmart to get some garbage bags, where we ran into mike. On a whim we headed to a neaby temple to see if there was anything going on for buddha's birthday. we got there just in time...they pressed huge paper lanterns into our hands and bustled us into the staging area for the parade. ten minutes later we were carrying glowing fire hazards down the street with 200 other people. we were the only white people in it, and it caused quite a stir...many photos were taken, everybody watching on the street waved and smiled. we paraded for about an hour, then endd up back at the temple, for dancing and drumming...the ladies dragged us into the dancing, and one of the musicians gave me his giant drum...it was the most fun i've had in this counrty so far. Later they made us eat and have a drink, then it was winding down, so we left with huge smiles on our faces.
That's been my week. Tonight i had a awful dinner at tgi fridays, and paid way too much for it, then ran home in the rain, as i had forgotten my umbrella. there was an amazing thunderstorm, so i went up to the top floor to watch the lightning. tomorrow i'm getting up way too early to go for a hike. things are going pretty well, i think.

Roderick

p.s. three cheers for Hana!! gratz on the jobby goodness!

belated update

2006-04-28T13:43:01Z

Hey all
sorry for the slow trickle of emails and updates. I miss you all terribly, but that unfortunately doesn't make my writing any more prolific.
I've come to the end of another week at work (well, not really, 'cause i have to work on saturdays, but i refuse to think of that as part of the week). The end of my first month as well. It's a fairly important milestone for several reasons: the classes get new books, the schedule changes for some (not me), i don't have to come in to the office three hours early anymore (just two), and i have survived one twelfth of my year. It was a pretty hard month, lots of adjusting to do, too many hours at the office. Next month will be easier in many ways; i'm more accustomed to the routine, there are three (count 'em 3!!) holidays that i get off, and the afore mentioned reduced mandatory prep time.
On the other hand, i'm already starting to procrastinate on some things. I have a stack of essays that have to be marked by monday, evaluations for the older students coming up, and more tests to mark waiting in my inbox ( i don't actually have an inbox, but i wish i did). I'll get it all done, but i'm no longer in the eager to please stage.
I may be moving again next month; the apartment i'm in is pretty crappy, so when one of the foreign teachers leaves next month i may get his room. there will be a new guy coming in then, so he'll get the shithole that is the room i'm in now, until september when they'll probably get rid of the lease on this place. It's almost to bad, as then i won't be getting a brand new place, but at the same time, i'm happier to get out sooner. I don't mind having a roomie, but at the same time, it's hard to take resonsibility for making a place homey when there are two very different personalities in the same space. It still feels like i'm staying in someone else's apartment, and that's not a feeling i want to have for a whole year.
Outside of work, i've been having a decent time. I've hit the town a few times, found some good activities, started to meet some of the waeguks. I may get to do some hiking this sunday (pictures will be taken). I'm working out a bit more now that i've kicked the cold.
Back to talking about work...i had a bit of a shok today as the boss asked me into the private room because "she had to tell me something" then she says "do you know Ross? his father would like to speak to you." " here is his number, please call him now, i want to hear" (*ack!!!) so I did...turns out the guy invites me to "dinner or drinks" (ack!!) I turn him down..i think he just wanted me for my mother tongue....apparently it's pretty common for kids' parents to want to practice their english on a foreign teacher...the koreans all had a good laugh about it.
anyway, that's enough for now, i'll try to write more often, so i don't just vomit out a week of happenings all at once. Those who haven't written anything in a while should (you know who you are) and thanks a bunch to those who do. I really enjoy hearing about home, even if you don't think it's exciting.
ciao
Roderick

Test day!

2006-04-19T14:05:46Z

Today was a pretty sweet day at work..the joy of test day! Once I had the things written, the rest of the day was spent running through the kids one by one giving them oral....examinations (terrible joke i know). The day passed slowly, but the kids all did pretty well, and there was no prep to do this morning. I went out for lunch with the extra time, right in the middle of a thunderstorm. It was the most rain i've ever seen, but the stalls and street vendors barely seemed to notice. Lightning was striking the buildings pretty much above my head; I'm glad a bought an umbrella, or i would have been swimming back to work.

The Easter bunny did manage to find me, though it was a bit slow. I'm certainly happy to have some real chocolate again; now i just need to find some cheese worth the name and my life will be complete...maybe i should go back trro sweeitzerltand one of these daysf.
I didn'at make it to church after all (I guess i'm going ot hell now) saturday night i went downtown and found a couple bars with white people and western music. Ended up getting home very drunk at about 4:30 in the morning. It was quite a good night, and it's comforting to know i CAN make it home drunk at 4:30 without paying to hard through the nose for it or getting lost and penetrated in various ways.

On a side note...the physical dynamics of koreans are very different than back home; men and women rarely touch in public..it's very frowned on. On the other hand, guys (and girls) are very touchy-feely with each other, think nothing of holding hands, walking with their arms around each other, etc. in the sauna men and boys will wash each other's backs (or other hard to reach places) and not even get a funny look. the boys in my class will cuddle up with each other to watch a film, some of the other teachers keep getting massages whenever they sit down. The culture is very sexually conservative, but miles ahead of north america when it comes to non-sexual touching.

That's all the excitement for the moment, more to come!

Roderick

It's funny...

2006-04-15T12:08:38Z

I'm sitting here in my apartment, watching a terrible show about the top 20 child stars...I could be doing this back in Victoria. Later though, I will have to go out and try to find some food, and suddenly I will be in another country again. Most days I'm disappointed in how normal everything is, but every once in a while something different happens...yesterday there was an air raid drill...all the cars stopped, you weren't allowed to walk on the sidewalks...warning sirens were going off all over the city, and a pair of fighter planes were circling overhead...very low and extremely loud...and fast!! it was quite exciting, but ten minutes later everything was back to normal. Apparently they happen every month.
Next week i'll be giving my first tests; it'll be time to see if i've taught the little buggers anything...i never though i'd be nervous about a test i didn't have to take, but in many ways this is worse...i have little control over the results anymore, but they will reflect on my performance...most of my classes are very smart, but there are a few that I seem to have no power over; I don't think i'm scary enough yet. On the other hand i did make one of the more irritating boys cry :) i know i shouldn't be proud of that, but it was the quietest he'd ever been, and all i did was move his seat to the middle of the class.
Tomorrow is my day off again, this time i'm not sure what i'm going to do...There's still a lot of work to do around the apartment to make it livable, so hopefully i'll put a few hours in on that..I'll might also join my roomie on his trip to church...apparently there's free food,and i have no pride, so i'm willing to pretend for an hour to get a meal.
Hey! i just got plans tonite..off to downtown...a place that actally looks foreign! should be fun.

cheers

first full week of work

2006-04-09T14:29:12Z

Well, I've survived my first week, and I'm still here. Spent today searching the city for a wireless router, which is not the easiest thing to explain without any functional use of the language. We managed it though, mt roomie and I, and now i'm surfing on wireless. It's a good thing taxis are so cheap here though, we traveled from one side of the city to the other and back, and it only cost about 15 dollars, and only cause the first guy screwed us with a flat rate.
The job has been going relatively well, though the amount of work is slightly higher than i have had to deal with before...hopefully with some more practice it will drop down around to around forty hours. It's certainly no picnic, but i guess it's good experience. I'm just worried that i'm not teaching the little bastards anything...ok, i'm not that worried, as long as they pick up the right material from their other teachers or at school, and pass the tests i'm happy....on essays and such we've been told we're not supposed to give anything less than a b without a very good reason..it is a private school, and low marks just lose students.
I went out to an all you can eat/drink restaurant last night- there was a decent band from bulgaria playing, but the room was packed with families...they let toddlers stay up to all hours in this country...you'll see infants being packed around at midnight...anyways, there was no dancing or anything, and we had crappy seats most of the night...it was fun, but nothing too spectacular.. after we took a cab downtown, which is quite a sight...very busy, everyone wandering from bar to restaurant...one of my coworkers is a bit of a loose canon, so he tried to get in a fight with a korean guy who got too vocal about the white guys looking at his girlfriend...luckily the korean realized he was way too small and left...it wasn't the best night out on the town ever, but it had its moments.
work again tomorrow...monday is one of my harder days, and now i have a small pile or papers to read as well...written by 8 year olds, so poo-poo and pee-pee are some of the main topics...i was going to take some pictures today, but my batteries finally ran out....hopefully i'll remember tomorrow...sadly much of the novelty has already worn off, so it's hard to find things that seem picture-worthy.

Ciao

greetings from the orient

2006-04-04T15:03:45Z

So, I'm in my new apartment, this is the first time i've had my computer hooked up since i arrived. i had written out a fairly lengthy story of how thing were going, then accidentally closed the window before posting it, so you're going to be getting a watered down version unless i suddenly feel more awake than i expect.
the flight was boring as all flights are..air canada is umm..'pants' compared to the other airlines i've been on...BA being the only one of course...the airport outside seoul was amazingly modern, and clean...nicer than vancouver even. from there i had a 45 minute hop down to daegu, where eric, the assistant manager picked me up (eric is very helpful, my roomie calls him our bitch)the roomie's name is steve, he's from denver, very talkative; he got here the day before me, so we're stuck in the same boat, which is kinda nice.
my first few days were spent in a 'love motel'....small, but clean, no difficulties with hot water (the apartment has a few..more on that later)..there just happen to be brothel on either side and porno calling cards left on the steps every morning...Daegu has a great subway system though, so getting to work from the hotel was no trouble at all. now that i've moved, work is just a 5 minute walk, but i'll be taking the subway as often as possible. the apartment is pretty small, and aparently has roaches in the summer, but otherwise is livable.
classes started yesterday morning; the first day was very stressful...this morning i was feeling a bit depressed..if someone had offered me an easy out, i would have been all over it like a fat kid on a smartie...but today was much nicer, and i'm feeling optimistic again..other than work, everything is pretty awsome...food is remarkably cheap, the other teachers are lovely, the bosses are very kind. hopefully that all stays the same as the teaching gets easier.
anyway, it's bedtime for me, lots to prepare for tomorrow...hope you're all well

cheers,
Roderick