Blogs from South Korea, Asia - page 330

This is my second evening off in the past two weeks... and it is glorious. I can no longer justify teaching my children because they all compute to ages 7 and 8. When you are born in Korea they count you as 1, and on New Years day after your birth year, you are 2. Then you celebrate each successive New Years as you are legitimately gaining a year. EX: I am 26 in Korean years. So when my kids tell me they are 9 and 10, they are really 7 and 8. As Verga put it - “I’m not saying the US is a great country but at least we got ‘counting time’ right, f—k that Korean b—---t.” Amen Brother, Amen. My class is more interested in attempting to kill each other and calling me ... read more

"You speakee English? You want easy money? Come work my school!" -- (Excerpt from my third phone interview) OK, actually that was about the WHOLE interview. The bank account was looking rather paltry and I jumped on the train of easy employment, teaching English in Seoul along with tens of thousands of other native speakers. Despite my cynicism on life in Korea, I have to admit that the work itself was surprisingly pleasant and rewarding, even given my initial hand-wringing at the thought of having to entertain children all day long. And, while it is easy as pie to hop on a plane and instantly have a job in Korea, certain bits of information can drastically improve your position in life. I personally read through lots of blogs while searching for a teaching job to glean ... read more

For the super ambitious http://www.emil.co.kr/camp/multi/07_winter_photo.php This is updated daily by our computer guy. It is mainly for the parents of students, but you can catch random photos of me Sincerely, Stephen... read more

This is my final entry for now as I arrived home safe/sound. But prior to going back to work.... I arrived in Manila Friday morning and after 1/2 day of touring the city was ready to go home. While the people are friendly, the city is not. All the traffic lights we hate, I wish Manila had - not that anyone driving really pays any attention to the traffic lights that are present. The general rules of the road are: the bigger vehicle goes first; you are considered a vehicle. Honking is a courtesy... Collectively pedestrians serve as a vehicle when crossing streets to stop traffic in whatever directions they choose. Friday nights are difficult nights to get a taxi; jeepneys are 10x cheaper but are open to the diesel fumes and smog. They are also ... read more

Things I love about Korea - People are accepting, kind, and overly-generous (the other night, when I left the elevator, a 2-yr old girl very graciously and respectfully bowed to me and said good-bye in Korean, a courtesy, of course of which, I returned to the amazement of her parents) - Bread here is squishy soft - Snow is always snowball worthy... always - Currency is about 900 to 1, and that makes me feel rich when I regularly carry tens of thousands around in my wallet - Meals are served while sitting on the floor (chairs are indeed unnecessary) - Floors are heated (and this makes eating on the floor that much cooler... or whatever) - Chopsticks improve fine-motor skills (and this is something everyone should work on) - You never pour your own drink ... read more