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Published: June 29th 2010
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Hey everyone sorry it’s taken me so long to update this blog. Everything is going well for the most part, learning Hangeul continues to be a struggle yet a rewarding adventure. School is nearing the end of the 1st semester and my students are getting worn out and are anxious to enjoy their month long summer break. It’s getting tougher and tougher to retain their attention, but all-in-all they’re doing a great job. I too am looking forward to the break; I’ve gotta work but it’s only two weeks of teaching English summer camp then the rest is just desk warming. I still haven’t decided yet if I’ll use some of my vacation time or just save it all for winter break.
This past week ranks amongst the top so far of being in Korea. My school informs me the previous Friday that on Monday I must go to Anseong for a 3 day orientation with GEPIK (school district English program). I thought this was kind of ridiculous since I’ve already been here for 2 1/2 months, but it actually turned out to be a rather pleasant escape from teaching. I spent 2 1/2 days at a training center in Seoul Tower
The dude was chilling on some steps, a picture I couldn't resist. the middle of Nowhere, Korea. All the new people I was able to meet made the orientation worth it in itself, but the curriculum turned out to be very useful as well. I was given an abundant amount of resources and ideas to make my lessons more exciting for my students. One of our obligations was to role play a teaching session. This was great because I was able to see the different styles and techniques used by many of the other teachers who are teaching the exact same curriculum as I am.
On Wednesday, the orientation ended at lunch time and we were then given the rest of the day off without any obligation to return to our schools. Instead of going home I had to go straight from Anseong to Seoul for a beginner Hangeul class that I’ve been taking for the past month or so. We had our final exam for the class this day and I somehow pulled a 23 out 25. I’m very impressed with myself, but now it’s off to Hangeul 2 next week. After the class I slowly snailed my way through the congested 6pm traffic of Seoul and made it back
to Yongin around 9:00pm. I then met up with two buddies of mine to watch the US Algeria World Cup Match. Being a Wednesday night we watched it in a small local bar that we frequent often. We were the only foreigners there and of course the only ones who paid any attention to the television, aside from a few others whom were probably more intrigued by watching us Waegooks (Korean term for ‘foreigner’) get all emotional over our team. I don’t need to go into detail of what happened, because I’m sure all of you are just as aware of it, but as the unthinkable happened we just erupted in celebration, exchanging hugs with not only ourselves but with virtually every Koreean in the bar. Even though there was only three of us cheering on the US, it felt like we were in Itaewon cheering amongst the countless Americans in Korea.
Thursday and Friday came with little excitement except for being able to catch up on some much needed rest.
On Saturday I went out to Seoul mid-afternoon to meet some friends that I met at the GEPIK orientation. We met in the neighborhood of Meyong Dong
Seoul Tower
Looking southeast over the Han river. where we then headed off to Namsan Tower (commonly known as Seoul Tower) which is a signature landmark in the vast Seoul skyline. Namsan Tower sits up on a hill perched in the center of the Seoul metropolitan area. The top of the tower I believe is around 300 meters above the floor of the city below. I never knew exactly how big Seoul really was until I was atop this tower looking in every direction imaginable and seeing the same concrete infrastructure as far as my sight could carry. The pictures don’t really do it justice, but they give you an idea.
After dinner with them I split and went off to Seoul World Cup Stadium to meet up with some other friends to ensure some seats for the Korea v Uruguay match. The unfortunate thing was we had to wait 4 ½ hours before the match even started. There was little to do besides listen to the various Korean musical artists perform in front of us. One of the bands called themselves the ‘Crying Nut.’ They were basically a lame Korean version of Green Day. I’m beginning to realize that Korean music all sounds the same and
they try so hard to mimic the style and beat of American artists.
As the match came nearer the stadium filled progressively faster and the noise level became astounding. Koreans claim to be the inventors of what is known as thunder sticks which are the inflatable wands you see in basketball games across the states. They sure are happy about this claim and sometimes I swear they could care less about the game itself, rather they just want to gather with each other and try and make as much noise as humanly possible. I love it as it’s such a fun experience to be a part of. As the game started Korea fell down 1 goal early, which only halted the noise making for maybe 5 seconds, just enough for a quick chorus of groans, then they were back at it with the stick banging. Korea got back into the match when they scored just before the first half ended and the place just erupted into an even louder frenzy of celebration. I wish I was able to capture this moment on video but I too was caught up in the celebration. Midway through the second half Uruguay scored
what would become the 3rd and final goal of the match. The Korean club played very well and did much better than the expectations they were given. After the match it was off to Itaewon for the late 3:30am start of the USA v Ghana match. It turned out to be absolutely horrible so I won’t discuss this any further.
Sunday was a great day as I recovered from the all-nighter before and at 6pm I went on a date with this Korean girl that I met a few weeks back. We went to a Sashimi restaurant, which is Korea’s version of sushi. I’ve never been a huge fan of sushi, but it’s a nice change every once in a while and I knew it would impress her. She of course did all the ordering and I just waited there ready to eat whatever was put in front of me. The main serving was flatfish which tastes similar to a halibut style sushi. On the sides we had shrimp, something that looked like gizzards, and then something that I’ve never seen before. They looked like some sort of muscular organ. She took first stab at them and really did
ë í민곡
De Han Min Gook means 'Republic of Korea.' like them. So with a slight hesitation I tried it and immediately didn’t like it as it was tough and very chewy, but I did manage to keep it down. I then asked her what it was and with a smile she got on the translator of her phone and showed me the English translation for 개블, it explicitly said ‘anus or rectum.’ As hard as I tried to conceal my repulsive feeling, she saw through it easily and couldn’t help but laugh hysterically. About 20 minutes later, things got even more bizarre when she sporadically says ‘life life’ and stabs her chopstick into one the 개블 pieces, which then immediately the thing squirms like an earthworm would if you were baiting a hook. At this point I couldn’t help but to just laugh, because I didn’t know what to think. Knowing what it was at this point I decided to try it once more just for the hell of it. I didn’t enjoy it anymore than the first time but it did put a smile on her face so it was worth it in that sense. After sashimi we went to Baskin Robins to wash down all the raw
fish and live butthole with some delicious ice cream.
Now how’s that for a first date?
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Anna
non-member comment
개블
Ok, Jason, I did a translation and you ate dog? You are incredibly brave and adventurous and probably really impressed your date. Your blog was an enjoyable read once again. Thanks.