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Published: April 8th 2010
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Teacher Jake
Teacher Jake at his command center. I apologize for the big gap between blogs. But I am happy to report that this blog is coming from my computer in my room with my own wireless internet. That was great to type. I have nothing but positive things to update everyone on.
I almost have 2 weeks of teaching under my belt and just got back from my most challenging class and this week they were a lot easier to manage (maybe that had something to do with the "mean teacher seating chart"). I am feeling more confident in the classroom and have already implemented some of my own personal touches to the room and class material.
The week began with an awesome weekend in what I call "beer-pong-dong". This particular pronunciation has nothing to do with beer pong being played at the location and has everything to do with the fact that for the life of me I cannot come close to pronouncing the dumb places name. I have also been know to call the same place ping-pong-dome. Either way it is simply the other side of town. It seems to be the more happening place and our area seems to be the under-developed but
A Few Rules
ONLY English (No Korean) and no cell phones. newer area of Cheongju. The reason for our excursion to Beer-Pong-Dong was trifold: outlet stores (including Nike), a bike shop, and Jenn's friends from training Josh and Brittany. We all met up at E-Mart (which, along with our closer grocer Home+, is about the size of 3 walmarts stacked ontop of one another). We walked to the outlets and then to the near by bike shop. Most korean bike shops have TONS of more practical commuting options for most Koreans. I was looking for a bike shop that would be able to assemble my Pinarello not a tricycle. While approaching, the trademark teal of a Bianchi caught my eye and I quickly realized this shop had a faster side that was not noticed earlier. Of course no one in a 3 mile radius spoke a word of english so I couldn't even ask if they could put my bike together much less equip it with new cables. It would take a separate, more prepared trip.
The rest of our stay in Ping-Pong-Dome was spent at Josh and Brittany's where we ate pizza, played Uno, BS, and best of all- SPOONS. Again we had a wonderful weekend that was ending
all too quickly. But Easter Sunday provided another day of much needed rest that had us all in high spirits heading into the week. I woke up (sorry to say) not for church but for a worship of another kind: college basketball. I had not had a chance to watch Duke yet this tournament due to the lack of timeliness and internet. So, I downloaded slingbox onto a friends computer and rerouted the slingbox in Reza's living room to work with Nick's computer. In seconds I was preparing to watch Duke beat West Virginia in the game that would send them to the national championship. This was bitter sweet of course since I could have been in Indy for the final four if I had not moved to South Korea. Knowing that I could have been about 10 rows from the floor was a hard pill to swallow but I had no choice, so I swallowed with little or no water -which reminds me- you are NOT supposed to drink the water in S. Korea (due to the high metal content). Bethany and I are rapid water drinkers and had been drinking from the faucet for more than a week
before we found out we were not supposed to. We now get our water from the bottle.
After the game we all went in to our area and two of us got a hair cut. Since my last hair cut I had was done by yours truly I thought a cheap (9,000 Won - less than 9 bucks) fix was in line. Fortunately I just got a buzz but Ra had something a little more adventurous in mind and found it a little difficult to communicate what he wanted to someone who did not understand a word of what he said. A hair cut is about par with "the blindfold one person while the other person leads the blindfolded person through a field full of land-mines" game- communication is vital to a successful outcome. But indeed Ra's experience was no-where near the best part of the hair cut. This was easily the nicest place I have ever received a hair cut from. I thought it looked more like a space ship than a barber shop. I had about 4 different people attend to me at the various points throughout the buzzing. There were men dressed in formal attire (bow
An Omelet - Korea Style
Yes, that is an egg omelet with fried rice inside. ties) that we called minions that seemingly were in charge of catching every individual hair that was cut before it touched the ground. After the hair cut I had someone shampoo my hair while massaging my scalp for no shorter than 10 minutes. (Which afterwards I thought to myself, instinctively, that was better than a lap dance! - I only mention this for those of you who had the honor of being the recipient of many lines that resembled this very thought but came from my fathers mouth. One of many things that stop me on a daily basis and leaves me with nothing more than the ol' cliche- I am my father's son.) So I apologize to anyone who might find that offensive (trust me he could offend with the best of them).
The second week of school is about over and I feel it just started (good sign). One of the korean helpers at our school had a conversation with my class tonight in Korean and then whispered to me, "ya know the kids really think you are strict." My reply was, "Yeah?" Ha- it's the first 2 weeks. I feel that I must lay the groundwork
Hair Cut Place
I think thats what it says in Korean... for a fun yet constructive year. Keep in mind that that was my worst class in all of last week and they just settled into their newly assigned seats. I really like the kids and I can't be any happier with the way things are going in the classroom.
Tuesday night after work at 10 we moved into our new place which was no doubt my favorite night of S. Korea. Jenn, Ra, Ben, Nick, and Jason all helped move everything from our old place. What would have taken Bethany and I two hours at least took all of us around 15 minutes. Did I tell you we met some really cool people? Don't worry I rewarded our slaves with some expensive foreign beers (Budweiser). We had a great night.
Now as I just told Paul (via mid-blog skype chat) I must shave my legs before going to bed, so I must end it here. First bike ride tomorrow morning 😊
700, Daesang Master B/D 7th Floor
Gaesin-dong, Heungdeok-gu
Cheongju-si, Chungcheongbuk-do 361-805
South Korea
Would like in care-package:
1. Peanut butter
2. Protein powder
3. and will update list later.
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Maggie
non-member comment
Burberry
A burberry equestrian hat!!