The cherry blossoms are starting to blossom

Friday, April 12

Today I had less energy than yesterday but more that I had for most of the week. The kids, well act like any kids do on Friday. So school went pretty well. We had spaghetti for lunch, and it was pretty good. The sauce was completely different than spaghetti sauce in the US, though I do not know how to describe it. Most of the kids ate it. Lunch goes so much better when the kids eat and do not complain.

After school I went back to the hardware store to buy some more stuff. I bought a foam floor mat. I figured that this mat would be great to put over my window to block out light. I also bought velcro so I could hang the mat up and take it down. I got home and tried it out. It does block out some of the light, but the light it lets through is an orange color. So I can dig that. Also, it does make it a little darker. Not a complete win... but I'll take it.

I took a nap, cause I really felt like taking one.

I woke up and explored and walked around my neighborhood. It was dark out, and seeing Seoul lit up, even my neighborhood is so interesting. There are neon signs everywhere. Anyway, I worked on reading signs, then using my phone to translate what the signs said. I am getting better at reading Hangul faster, but I still have a lot of work to do. There was a place that said live music, and I could hear a guitar and drums. I decided that I might as well go in and have a drink and listen to some music. There were pictures of different rock bands by the doors and the stairs leading up to the place. Well, I get it and it is a karaoke joint with live music playing. I figure I might as well sit and have a drink. So the waitress comes out I say Maekju (beer) she nods and comes back with 6 bottles. I am puzzled. I did not say 6 beers. She proceeds to sit down, pour me a beer, then holds up a glass for me to pour her one. (do note, this is not a person around my age). I do. I have heard of these places... Basically a bar where they have women for you to talk to if you are alone. But this did not work out well, cause she did not speak English nor I Korean. I was not going wanting to talk, I was going because I wanted live music. Then some guy comes up that speaks some English and he sits down at my table. A beer gets poured for him. So I embrace the situation. Then they want me to sing karaoke. I oblige, cause why not. They choose Gangnam style. All of it is written in Korean, except a few parts, like the hey sexy lady... Then we do Eric Claptons Tears in Heaven. The guitarist there actually did a great job. I was impressed. My singing not so much. But the Koreans in the place got a kick out of it. Then, if anyone ever gives me a mike, I talk. Trying to get other people to come up and sing and what not. I know some of them could understand me. We sit down. The waitress goes away, I'm guessing she realizes I am not going to by buying a lot more drinks. The guy talks, tells me that he will invite me to dinner at his house sometime and his wife makes excellent food. He has 2 kids... Probably wants me to speak English to his kids. I doubt I ever will.

So I do not stay at that place for much longer. Out of the 6 beers, I might have gotten to drink 1.5.

Interesting evening, fun. I doubt I will go back there, but now that I have a phone I am much more comfortable exploring.


Saturday April 13

Training in the morning. All of us Bobo people walk to school together. It is a beautiful day and the cherry blossoms are starting to blossom! Training was and wasnt a waste. It actually gave us all good ideas for classroom management. Would have been better though if it had not been on a Saturday morning. After training we got lunch (paid for by the school). We walked back to Bobo.

Rob, New Sam, Ama and I just sat outside and talked for several hours. The day was beautiful outside sitting in the sun. We each bought a beer and milked it all afternoon. We were going to play cards, but we had no chips. Felt good to get some vitamin D. I actually think I have a little bit of a sunburn.

We then walked over to Mokdong Baseball Stadium because we were going to watch our team. Tickets were more expensive than we thought (17000) but in Korea you can bring in your own refreshments. Outside of the stadium places were selling fried chicken, pizza, beer, and other snacks for people to bring in. It was pretty awesome that you can do that. Even the food they sell in the stadium is not over priced. In the US you get gouged at the ticket booth and inside. Not in Korea. HaeJin and Bella joined us

Our team played pretty horrible. We lost. I'm sad to say but we left before the game was over. Not so much because we were losing, but it suddenly got really cold. We came dressed for summer, and when it goes from being in the upper 60's to the low 40's and the wind starts to blow... well not a very good time.

Ama Sam Bella and HaeJin all went to dinner together. Rob and I walked back to Bobo. I was going to be going to Joons for his beer pong tournament. Rob was going out with his GF.

Joons was good as always. Sarah (coteacher) was my partner. We played good the first game, and the second knocked us out. It was tough. The second game, the team we were playing had a really cute girl doing cutesy things. I am good at many things, but a cute girl smiling and winking always distract me. Later that night she comes up to me, and tries talking and flirting. Does not work out very well. She new 5 words in English, and I knew 5 in Korean. Still makes a guy feel good. There is a new cute bartender at Joons too. After all of the crowds shuffle out, Joon and I play beer pong. He was razzing me about losing. So I proceed to completely destroy him in our game.

Sarah and I take a cab back to bobo at a somewhat reasonable hour.


Sunday April 14th

Woke up, played on the internet, Reddit, and things for a while. Then skyped with my parents. I tried to help them setup Kakao talk. Was not successful. Troubleshooting tech is not the easiest thing thousands of miles apart on skype while trying to help them set up the device they are using to skype. Sundays weather was definitely not as nice as Saturdays. Yes, the sun was out, but it is chilly. I want spring weather. It is already the middle of April.

I studied Korean for a little while. Its tough... not content wise, but just doing it without distractions.

Went back to that one church again. I guess I will start going to it... I know they want me. It is completely different than other churches... mostly cause of how small it is. But I am a big personality, and maybe that is why on Easter Sunday, something made me go there instead of another church. I know they are trying to grow the English Ministry, and maybe I can help with that.

After then was going to go to emart to look for Risk and Settlers of Catan. Emart was closed. There was a sign infront of it telling why... but I could not read it. New Sam was there. Sam and I walked to HomePlus. He was looking for bedding stuff. He got a foam pad for his bed. I bought a pencil sharpner (Homeplus did not have settlers or Risk). He went back to Bobo. I wondered around the Hyundai Department Store. I was looking for a shop for the games or a place that sells frisbees. Neither. The place is huge... But the map and store list was only written in Korean. I found one shop that had a football and basketball, and I tried to ask the owner about frisbees. He did not understand. I did the motion of thowing a disc... he still did not understand. So I may just have to go to gmarket and get a frisbee. I spent well over an hour wandering around, then I wandered around outside for a while.

There is a toys-r-us several subway stops away from me. I may go after school tomorrow and look to see if they have discs and the games I want. I am just uber excited my fellow teachers like the games and all want to play.

School starts soon, and I need to get ready, shower, shave, iron a shirt... I have a feeling that this week is going to fly by.