This past weekend was another three day weekend in Korea. There seem to be a bunch of holidays mashed into late summer and autumn. I'm not complaining. Four members of KCC (Kwangmyeong Climbing Club) and me went down to Seonunsan late Thursday night to avoid traffic. The next morning we headed out to the crag and there were already more people there that morning than when I was last there in the summer. I was able to warm up on a 5.11a and Senaegi (5.11b) my "project" from the summer.
I dn't remember I first run on Zoo, but it wasn't pretty. I had forgotten most of the moves and, at best, was still shaky on the moves after the crux. One thing that I do remember is that I had no problem pulling through the crux. Last time it felt like a stopper move for me, now it was just a hard move. After I came down I put my shoes in line where I was eight people back.
On a side note I met a Canadian woman named Heidi (who is much cooler than the last Canadian woman I met). Heidi has been in Korea for six years and speaks Korean pretty well. She's also a strong climber. She was working her project called 무지개 (5.12c) which means rainbow in Korean. She was having problems with the crux and got a bit emotional about it. She had been working on it for a long time and just couldn't put it together. When you want something that bad and you're really going for it but it just doesn't happen some people break down. I turn into a brat. :-P
We talked for a bit about her problems with the moves. I'd like to think I helped get Heidi snap out of the funk because later on in the day she sent "Rainbow". And with style. I was reading my book and looked up and to see her at the crux. Once she got past it, Heidi was literally slapping each hold after that. She was beaming as she was being lowered and told me later on she was so determined to finish that she was ready to pull off rocks rather than fall. That's my kind of girl...er woman!
I only had one more chance on Zoo that day but had a good burn on it. I felt groggy when I woke up the next morning and generally not in a real chipper mood. One of the guys in my tent drank too much of the local mountain berry wine, soju, and whatever else the previous night. He was puking all night, luckily not in the tent. We ended up getting a late start and leaving him at camp cause he was in no condition to climb. Adding to my morning funk, I don't need people telling me that this is going to be my day to send. It just puts a lot of unnecessary pressure on me.
I fell on the crux move of Senaegi and immediately Gwang-woo asks me if my condition is bad. I know he means well, but damn, I didn't sleep well cause someone was puking right outside my tent all night and my "warmup" is a bit harder than I want it to be because we got up there late. And I had to wait behind ten people before I could get on Zoo. It wasn't shaping up to be a good day.
After waiting for nearly two hours I got on Zoo and failed miserably. I didn't even finish it. I was totally frustrated, pissed off and acting bratty. After lunch, my stomach felt funny and I was tired. It would be at least two hours before my next attempt on Zoo. And I was told we would be leaving that night to avoid traffic coming back to the Seoul area. So, I more try and that was it. I napped for a before my turn and woke up to find one person just hang dogging it the whole time. My negativity was nearly boiling over.
I found something on my iPod to calm me down. Something timeless. Something that brought back some good old memories. Adam and Brian would know exactly what I'm talking about. Let me go off on a tangent for a moment.
Speedy J has an album called Public Energy No. 1. I'll be the first to say I hate the title. I saw him perfrom it live in Toronto back when I used to drive up there for techno parties. That party was hands down the best party ever, since both he and Richie Hawtin killed it. I will also admit that when I first listened to it in 1997 I wasn't ready for it. I shelved it until I moved to San Francisco and broke it out one night when me, Adam and Brian were partying. I popped it in and ...well listen to it for yourselves. It's techno unlike any out there and because of that, timeless. If I remember correctly that night was also the inspiration for the lyrics of The Betty Expedition song The Conversation.
OK. Back to the main point of this long and dragged out entry. I was listening to Speedy J and zoning out. My turn finally came up. I worked the bottom moves up to the rest point before the crux. I sat there and shook out my arms for a while then went into the crux. My hand sequence was off so instead of panicking and trying to pull through I down climbed back to the rest and shook out my arms again. After that I pulled through the crux without and problem and then my body went into auto pilot after that. All the problems I had before weren't problems anymore. I flowed through the post crux moves. Even on the little snag that I hit, I stayed relatively calm. I missed the last big hold, but because my feet were in a good postion and I wasn't feeling pumped I came back down for a second and then found it on the next move. After I clipped the anchor I wsn't sure what I felt. It wasn't just joy or relief but also a sense of calm. It was the first 5.12a I've ever sent.
I think lately I've been getting too into the ratings. That night I talked with Eric, a guy from Colorado. I asked him what the highest grade was. He told me Chris Sharma did something he rated as 5.15b. Now here's the thing the 5.15b was a 250 foot climb. Most climbing ropes are about 180 feet long, so most routes can't be longer than 90 feet without turning into a multipitch climb. I'm guessing Zoo is a 70 to 80 feet long. The point is this. 5.15b doesn't mean Sharma is climbing on miniscule holds. It means he did an endurance route or a route with consistant 5.14 moves.
Zoo is basically 5.11a and 5.11b moves until the crux where it gets really hard to the finish. The point that Eric made and the thing I love most about climbing is no matter what level you're climbing at you should just keep pushing yourself and having fun. It doesn't matter whether you're working a 5.11a or 5.14a. The emotional involvment is the same. The ratings are there as a guide and shouldn't be taken so seriously.
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Seonusan: Take 2
I've got a little over two weeks to train before heading back down to Seonusan and see if I can pull through the crux of Zoo and to the finish. Mind you, I've never climbed a 5.12 anywhere, even in the gym. Gym climbing being of course much easier since the holds are marked and you don't waste your time searching for good and and feet placement.
A few things are on my mind right now. I'm pretty sure my endurance is much better than it was last time I was there, but I'm not sure I've gotten any stronger. The crux is a burly move and/or I haven't figured out a way to do it much better. By late September the temperature should be more comfortable so I'm hoping for a less greasy feel. This hasn't been an issue until just recently: Can I maintain a training schedule, get enough sleep, stop going out until the wee hours of the morning? This sucks to admit, but I'm shaky on all three right now. I only climbed once last week and yesterday's bouldering session wasn't much to talk about. I've been tired since coming back from vacation (and there are other factors in this) and just based on last weekend and plans coming together for this weekend, can I stay away from Hongdae? What happened to my near OCD with cllimbing?
Monday, August 04, 2008
Five days in Seonunsan
Just got back from Seonunsan last night and my fingers are rocked, literally and figuratively. Pulling on sharp limestone for five days has calloused over some parts of my fingers while leaving the tips (particularly of both ring fingers) raw. The trip was a reminder of how much fun it is to be a climbing bum. The only snag in trip was the difficulty in communicating with my partner who is Korean. Nice guy but looking at each other and smiling gets old after a while. He made the trip happen so I was really appreciate of that. It's just tough when you're stuck with someone who you can't really talk to.
I sent another 11b called Saenaegi (I'm not sure what that means in Korean) and started to work on a 12a called Zoo. Getting up to the crux isn't a problem, it's the crux itself and the finish that I can't put together. My rope got worked over an edge and I may have to cut a few meters off of one end. It's only the third time I've taken it out this year. As long as the rest of it holds until the end of this season I'll be satisfied. I'm giving my fingers a full day of rest finally and will start training harder tomorrow. I'm going to start bouldering again to try to get a bit stronger and work my fingers more regularly.
I sent another 11b called Saenaegi (I'm not sure what that means in Korean) and started to work on a 12a called Zoo. Getting up to the crux isn't a problem, it's the crux itself and the finish that I can't put together. My rope got worked over an edge and I may have to cut a few meters off of one end. It's only the third time I've taken it out this year. As long as the rest of it holds until the end of this season I'll be satisfied. I'm giving my fingers a full day of rest finally and will start training harder tomorrow. I'm going to start bouldering again to try to get a bit stronger and work my fingers more regularly.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Opera House
There were sheets of rain falling on the ROK this weekend. I woke up at 6:20 Saturday morning to huge rain drops pitter pattering on my air conditioning unit. I packed up the rest of my gear and set out in the rain, to catch the bus and meet up with the other members of the climbing club. I saw the 6638 roll by and cursed out loud. Once I got to the bus stop I made the choice to walk down to the main intersection where I had more options to catch a bus to the climbing wall and meeting point. I was already running a little late when I saw the 22,the bus that takes me directly there and another bus I could tranfer from roll by. My pants were completely wet by the time I got to the corner but luckily the 12 rolled in about a minute after I got there. Maybe I would make it just on time.
I got off the bus and walked to where I thought we were meeting but I didn't see anyone there. On the last trip we had chartered a bus and met in the parking lot by the gym. I walked through the parking lot towards the climbing wall but still didn't see anyone. Then I got smart and checked my phone - two missed calls. I called the older woman known to me as older bread sister because she always brings some sort of pastry to the wall as a snack. The only thing I understood in her say was climbing center because she said it in English. When I got there there were five people standing under the overhung artificial wall to keep out of the rain. That's why there was no bus, it was only the six of us.
We (I mean they) quickly decided to go to Opera House to climb. I read about Opera House on the Korea On The Rocks website and heard it stayed dry in the rain but wasn't so sure about staying dry in a thunderstorm. It took us about five hours to drive down there cause we overshot and had to backtrack. The weather alternated between rain, heavy rain, what looked like a brewing tornado and clear blue skies. It seemed like the highway was the border between ominous gray clouds and this beautiful blue sky. I think we were in the eye of the storm at that point.
We rolled into Maisan park just in time to hear a huge clap of thunder and get caught in a downpour. We strapped on our backpacks and headed up the hill. Thankfully the hike was short but at the top of the hill we had to deal with class three scramble. Yay, wet mossy rocks and semi-muddy shoes. Adventure time! Fortunately the scramble was uneventful and all reached the top in one piece. Soon afterwards we reached the crag. It was strange walking past the roof of the crag and into the overhang where everything was dry. There was already another group there climbing away.
We unpacked our gear and I had the pleasure of warming up on a pumpy 10c. Needless to say I didn't onsight. I took once before finishing the climb. After a bit of rest I onsighted a 10b and the guys were getting me pumped up for my project, Maisan Tango. It's an overhung 11b with huge moves, especially for me. My first run on it went well until I hit the crux and bailed. I couldn't get back on the wall because it was so overhung and had to come down. My second run was a bit of an improvement because I hit the crux move, but still wasn't feeling confident because I hung from the rope before the crux, after the crux and felt like I did the move horribly. I finished the route and came down.
I saw someone send Maisan Tango before my third try and got pumped up for it. Everything was feeling good and I was dialed in. I knew where the holds were, where to rest and was pretty focused. I hit the crux move with relative ease and clipped into the quickdraw. After that things got a bit hairy. I lost my concentration, got confused whether or not I wanted three or four fingers in the pocket, went too deep into it and forgot where my feet needed to be. I lost my grip on the final hold and peeled off. It was getting close to the end of the day and I wasn't sure how much more I had in me.
After a shorter rest than I wanted I went for it, this time more determined, and feeling the moves more than knowing them. I hit the crux move and skipped clipping into the last quickdraw. It would've been a clean fall but falling the last thing on my mind. I gastoned the final pocket, made sure my fingers didn't drift too far in, hit the last move then hung the rope. Woo!!! The next day I did it again, better and cleaner than the previous day. I even clipped the last quickdraw. On the drive home I was trying to think of the last time I sent an 11b. Man, the last time. It was most likely when I was in Thailand. Feels like a lifetime ago.
I got off the bus and walked to where I thought we were meeting but I didn't see anyone there. On the last trip we had chartered a bus and met in the parking lot by the gym. I walked through the parking lot towards the climbing wall but still didn't see anyone. Then I got smart and checked my phone - two missed calls. I called the older woman known to me as older bread sister because she always brings some sort of pastry to the wall as a snack. The only thing I understood in her say was climbing center because she said it in English. When I got there there were five people standing under the overhung artificial wall to keep out of the rain. That's why there was no bus, it was only the six of us.
We (I mean they) quickly decided to go to Opera House to climb. I read about Opera House on the Korea On The Rocks website and heard it stayed dry in the rain but wasn't so sure about staying dry in a thunderstorm. It took us about five hours to drive down there cause we overshot and had to backtrack. The weather alternated between rain, heavy rain, what looked like a brewing tornado and clear blue skies. It seemed like the highway was the border between ominous gray clouds and this beautiful blue sky. I think we were in the eye of the storm at that point.
We rolled into Maisan park just in time to hear a huge clap of thunder and get caught in a downpour. We strapped on our backpacks and headed up the hill. Thankfully the hike was short but at the top of the hill we had to deal with class three scramble. Yay, wet mossy rocks and semi-muddy shoes. Adventure time! Fortunately the scramble was uneventful and all reached the top in one piece. Soon afterwards we reached the crag. It was strange walking past the roof of the crag and into the overhang where everything was dry. There was already another group there climbing away.
We unpacked our gear and I had the pleasure of warming up on a pumpy 10c. Needless to say I didn't onsight. I took once before finishing the climb. After a bit of rest I onsighted a 10b and the guys were getting me pumped up for my project, Maisan Tango. It's an overhung 11b with huge moves, especially for me. My first run on it went well until I hit the crux and bailed. I couldn't get back on the wall because it was so overhung and had to come down. My second run was a bit of an improvement because I hit the crux move, but still wasn't feeling confident because I hung from the rope before the crux, after the crux and felt like I did the move horribly. I finished the route and came down.
I saw someone send Maisan Tango before my third try and got pumped up for it. Everything was feeling good and I was dialed in. I knew where the holds were, where to rest and was pretty focused. I hit the crux move with relative ease and clipped into the quickdraw. After that things got a bit hairy. I lost my concentration, got confused whether or not I wanted three or four fingers in the pocket, went too deep into it and forgot where my feet needed to be. I lost my grip on the final hold and peeled off. It was getting close to the end of the day and I wasn't sure how much more I had in me.
After a shorter rest than I wanted I went for it, this time more determined, and feeling the moves more than knowing them. I hit the crux move and skipped clipping into the last quickdraw. It would've been a clean fall but falling the last thing on my mind. I gastoned the final pocket, made sure my fingers didn't drift too far in, hit the last move then hung the rope. Woo!!! The next day I did it again, better and cleaner than the previous day. I even clipped the last quickdraw. On the drive home I was trying to think of the last time I sent an 11b. Man, the last time. It was most likely when I was in Thailand. Feels like a lifetime ago.
Monday, July 14, 2008
Mud Festival '08
Just came back from the 10th annual Mud Festival in Boryeong. Tom, Katy and I took the KTX train from Yongsan station in Seoul. It took about three hours to get down there. We met up with a large group of people we shared a room with. The group was supposed to be about 35 people in a minbak, a Korean room without beds. It was basic cheap and did it's job. The place was right around the corner from the beach and in the middle of the muddiness.
Once we arrived I changed into my shorts and the three of us walked up and down the main strip checking things out. There was a huge air slide, mud prison, mud wrestling, mud people and, well mud in general. There was no nakedness that I saw, but lots of skin showing and lots of eye candy. We had lunch at a galbi (ribs) restaurant where Katy and I ahd our first beer of the day. After lunch Tom ran off to do some stuff with Adventure Korea - a tour group Tom's been on a lot of tours with. Katy and I walked along the strip then decided it was better to go jump in the water for a while. We got covered in mud after that and watched a band comprised of about ten military guys rocking out on the stage. Just before their last song we jumped back into the water to rinse off.
After that it was a series of more beer, each of us running into people we knew, finding the group we were sharing the room with, then meeting up with Tom. We got muddy again, this time with Tom, then went back and chilled with the group on the beach. When the sun started to set we went back to the room to change then set out for dinner. Katy, Tom and I were joined by Tom's brother, Anthony and his girlfriend, Amy. We found the foreigner restaurant but heard nothing but bad things about it. We walked for a while and found nothing but seafood restaurants. We were a bit weary about eating there because of the apparent low quality of the fish and the food prep being sketchy at best. We decided to head back to the galbi place but it took us a while cause Tom's a well known guy (We stopped a lot so Tom could talk to people. Since he is leaving Korea in a month we gave him a pass.)
continued
By the time we rolled into the restaurant they were completely packed and it would have taken us a while to get a table. We walked along the main strip but had no luck finding a good restaurant that wasn't packed. We even tried the pizza place but the wait on a pizza was horrendous. We found the other restaurant that had pizza and samgyapsal (basically really fatty pork. The direct translation is three layers of fat). Turns out they were out of samgyapsal. We were desperate and hungry so we ordered two pajeon (Korean pizza but not really pizza) and Katy had ramen. And we got a bottle of soju to calm everyone down. Soju and food went quickly and we got out of there and met up on the beach for fireworks.
The collective group had no idea about what time the firesworks started. Usually firworks start when it gets dark. It had been dark for a while and no signs of fireworks. Then we thought 10pm. Beers and beers later still no fireworks. There was talking and talking with people I didn't know from the group and a girl from the room telling people I was her future husband (jokingly, I think) then said girl and I innocently laying down in the sand for a while. That's as far as that got. In hindsight. COOL! I'm glad it didn't go any further. My bladded was ready to burst so I went to the toilet and what do you know. The fireworks start going off.
It was a good show. The fireworks made the sea light up in reds, blues, purples and greens. The finally was spectacular and everyone felt it wa a great way to end a mud filled day.
Once we arrived I changed into my shorts and the three of us walked up and down the main strip checking things out. There was a huge air slide, mud prison, mud wrestling, mud people and, well mud in general. There was no nakedness that I saw, but lots of skin showing and lots of eye candy. We had lunch at a galbi (ribs) restaurant where Katy and I ahd our first beer of the day. After lunch Tom ran off to do some stuff with Adventure Korea - a tour group Tom's been on a lot of tours with. Katy and I walked along the strip then decided it was better to go jump in the water for a while. We got covered in mud after that and watched a band comprised of about ten military guys rocking out on the stage. Just before their last song we jumped back into the water to rinse off.
After that it was a series of more beer, each of us running into people we knew, finding the group we were sharing the room with, then meeting up with Tom. We got muddy again, this time with Tom, then went back and chilled with the group on the beach. When the sun started to set we went back to the room to change then set out for dinner. Katy, Tom and I were joined by Tom's brother, Anthony and his girlfriend, Amy. We found the foreigner restaurant but heard nothing but bad things about it. We walked for a while and found nothing but seafood restaurants. We were a bit weary about eating there because of the apparent low quality of the fish and the food prep being sketchy at best. We decided to head back to the galbi place but it took us a while cause Tom's a well known guy (We stopped a lot so Tom could talk to people. Since he is leaving Korea in a month we gave him a pass.)
continued
By the time we rolled into the restaurant they were completely packed and it would have taken us a while to get a table. We walked along the main strip but had no luck finding a good restaurant that wasn't packed. We even tried the pizza place but the wait on a pizza was horrendous. We found the other restaurant that had pizza and samgyapsal (basically really fatty pork. The direct translation is three layers of fat). Turns out they were out of samgyapsal. We were desperate and hungry so we ordered two pajeon (Korean pizza but not really pizza) and Katy had ramen. And we got a bottle of soju to calm everyone down. Soju and food went quickly and we got out of there and met up on the beach for fireworks.
The collective group had no idea about what time the firesworks started. Usually firworks start when it gets dark. It had been dark for a while and no signs of fireworks. Then we thought 10pm. Beers and beers later still no fireworks. There was talking and talking with people I didn't know from the group and a girl from the room telling people I was her future husband (jokingly, I think) then said girl and I innocently laying down in the sand for a while. That's as far as that got. In hindsight. COOL! I'm glad it didn't go any further. My bladded was ready to burst so I went to the toilet and what do you know. The fireworks start going off.
It was a good show. The fireworks made the sea light up in reds, blues, purples and greens. The finally was spectacular and everyone felt it wa a great way to end a mud filled day.
Friday, June 27, 2008
GEAR! GEAR! GEAR!
In my three years on and two years off of climbing I've owned the bare minimum (shoes, harness, belay device, chalk bag and crash pad). It was probably because I started climbing in a gym and stuck to bouldering for a long time. It wasn't my trip to New Zealand that I really got into sport climbing and Thailand made me realize how sweet it is to be a climbing bum.
In the last month I bought a new backpack - big enough to carry a rope and small enough to not look like I'm backpacking through Europe. I also bought a helmet, although now I wish I bought a sturdier one, six quickdraws and a daisy chain. Since yesterday, I am the proud new owner of, not one but, two ropes. The first is now my dedicated outdoor rope. I think it's pretty bad ass rope. It's soft to the touch, feels thinner than 10.2 mm but is extremely gentle when taking a fall. This is opposed to the Sterling rope I bought yesterday. It's strictly the climbing wall rope. There's nothing really fancy about it. It does the job - stopping me from splattering on the ground. Even when being lowered on the Sterling rope I could feel how much more unforgiving it can be (compared to the Beal rope) when taking a fall on it. If you want to read more about fall ratings and impact force of a rope check out Beal's website. It's pretty interesting, to me at least. There's a cool video to explain the physics of it too.
The main reason I got the two ropes was because I didn't want to abuse the Beal rope. The Beal rope is also 60 meters long, much longer than necessary when climbing at an artificial wall. The Sterling rope is 50 meters. I wanted to get a 40 meter rope but what the hell. I actually wasn't even planning on getting another rope. I've been dirt poor the past two weeks because of all the purchases. Oh! I forgot. I bought some light hikers for hikes to the crag too. So, yeah, two weeks of being poor but climbing!
I mentioned to one of the guys at the climbing wall near my school I wanted to buy another shorter rope for the climbing wall. He said he'd keep an ear out for anyone wanting to but a 100 meter rope and splitting it with me. That was Tuesday night. When I got to the wall yesterday, one of the guys who works there (Seung-woo) said he had my rope in a locker. I told him that was impossible cause my rope was in my backpack. He pulled the rope out of a locker, gave it to me and told me it was my rope.
What happened was this. Last week one of the women I climb with had to replace her rope. It was core shot (frayed to the point of seeing the core of the rope). That's not as bad as it sounds. The core is still pretty strong, but once you see it, it's time to retire the rope. I assume she went ahead and bought the 100 meter rope and split it with the intention of selling the other half to someone else. Turns out the guy I spoke to mentioned it to her and now I have two ropes.
I'm quite happy with all my spending recently because I've used everything twice while climbing around Korea and will be using it to climb at Seonunsan this weekend. Plus it looks like, for better or worse, I'll be staying in Korea for my summer break. This is mostly due to the fact that summer break starts in three week. I'll have to do an English camp for a week or two during the break and I still don't have any information as to when and how long I'll actually be off from school. Instead of feeling frustrated (which is how I've been feeling all week anyways) I've put the word out to folks at the climbing wall I'll be here for the summer break. I hope to hit up the major crags without worrying about crowds. A couple of weeks of being a climbing bum around Korea will do me good. Now all I have to do is start looking at starting up my trad rack.
In the last month I bought a new backpack - big enough to carry a rope and small enough to not look like I'm backpacking through Europe. I also bought a helmet, although now I wish I bought a sturdier one, six quickdraws and a daisy chain. Since yesterday, I am the proud new owner of, not one but, two ropes. The first is now my dedicated outdoor rope. I think it's pretty bad ass rope. It's soft to the touch, feels thinner than 10.2 mm but is extremely gentle when taking a fall. This is opposed to the Sterling rope I bought yesterday. It's strictly the climbing wall rope. There's nothing really fancy about it. It does the job - stopping me from splattering on the ground. Even when being lowered on the Sterling rope I could feel how much more unforgiving it can be (compared to the Beal rope) when taking a fall on it. If you want to read more about fall ratings and impact force of a rope check out Beal's website. It's pretty interesting, to me at least. There's a cool video to explain the physics of it too.
The main reason I got the two ropes was because I didn't want to abuse the Beal rope. The Beal rope is also 60 meters long, much longer than necessary when climbing at an artificial wall. The Sterling rope is 50 meters. I wanted to get a 40 meter rope but what the hell. I actually wasn't even planning on getting another rope. I've been dirt poor the past two weeks because of all the purchases. Oh! I forgot. I bought some light hikers for hikes to the crag too. So, yeah, two weeks of being poor but climbing!
I mentioned to one of the guys at the climbing wall near my school I wanted to buy another shorter rope for the climbing wall. He said he'd keep an ear out for anyone wanting to but a 100 meter rope and splitting it with me. That was Tuesday night. When I got to the wall yesterday, one of the guys who works there (Seung-woo) said he had my rope in a locker. I told him that was impossible cause my rope was in my backpack. He pulled the rope out of a locker, gave it to me and told me it was my rope.
What happened was this. Last week one of the women I climb with had to replace her rope. It was core shot (frayed to the point of seeing the core of the rope). That's not as bad as it sounds. The core is still pretty strong, but once you see it, it's time to retire the rope. I assume she went ahead and bought the 100 meter rope and split it with the intention of selling the other half to someone else. Turns out the guy I spoke to mentioned it to her and now I have two ropes.
I'm quite happy with all my spending recently because I've used everything twice while climbing around Korea and will be using it to climb at Seonunsan this weekend. Plus it looks like, for better or worse, I'll be staying in Korea for my summer break. This is mostly due to the fact that summer break starts in three week. I'll have to do an English camp for a week or two during the break and I still don't have any information as to when and how long I'll actually be off from school. Instead of feeling frustrated (which is how I've been feeling all week anyways) I've put the word out to folks at the climbing wall I'll be here for the summer break. I hope to hit up the major crags without worrying about crowds. A couple of weeks of being a climbing bum around Korea will do me good. Now all I have to do is start looking at starting up my trad rack.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The old man is snoring
This week the rainy season started in Korea. It's been cloudy and raining on and off since Monday. The good thing is the rain has brought some cooler temperatures in. I was having some trouble sleeping because of the heat. Yes, I have AC in my room but my throat has been sensitive lately (due to pollution?) and I didn't want to deal with a dry throat and what felt like a cold coming on. I didn't get to sleep until after 3am on Monday and face Monday morning on less than four hours of sleep. My students didn't irritate me nearly as much as I expected. I tried going to sleep in the male teacher's lounge but it just wasn't going to happen.
At the end of the day a bunch of students decided to skip my class. They're one of the worst classes (mostly because any class with this certain co-teacher is a bad class) and not that smart. Here's an example of the sheer stupidity of the students skipping class. Now one would think that if one if to skip class then one would not draw attention to oneself. Two dumb ass girls waved to me as they were standing outside of class and didn't show up. Supposedly, Korea has the highest average IQ in the world. This is another case where I don't care how well people test if they don't have any common sense. Repeat. Common sense is something most Koreans sorely lacking. I too could do well on a test if I memorized a bunch of stuff without understanding it. In fact I once did this on an exam and got an A without understanding a damn thing.
Recently,when I make comments like this bashing Koreans I wonder if I'm being an "ugly American." hmmmm
Where was I? Oh right. After work on Monday I went home and napped in my 80 plus degree room with 100% humidity in the air. I hate napping in those situations cause I usually wake up feeling more tired and confused. On top of all that I couldn't fall asleep until after 1am. That was two nights in a row where I drank warm milk to help me fall asleep.
Tuesday night I climbed at the artificial outdoor wall near my school. There is one route that I haven't been able to finish. I thought I had enough in me but I didn't. And I did a really bad thing. I let the rope stay behind my leg when I took a lead fall. It whipped me upside down and gave me a little rope burn. I forgot to bring long pants that day too, which would've probably cut down on the burn. Lesson relearned.
Random thoughts:
Patrick's niece N'shai (pronounced Nuh-shay) is visiting for the summer. It's kind of nice having an American teen around (she's 12). In her first two weeks here she's made some great observations. When asked about the differences between here and the U.S. she mentioned the spitting. People don't spit right where you're walking in the U.S. Cue the guy making the ever so pleasant throat clearing sound and spitting three times on the sidewalk at a busy intersection. Shai also mentioned how uncomfortable women here looked in their heels. "They have this miserable look on their face." But for some reason they feel they have to wear them. It's because trends dictate what you think, feel and wear here. Herd mentality. I'll stop before I feel "ugly."
Two posts in one morning?!? WTF?!?!
They're having a national test today. Because of the test, I don't have classes today. I assume it's some kind of aptitude test. I'm sure they'll all do very well cause they've been studying to pass the test. 'Nuff said.
At the end of the day a bunch of students decided to skip my class. They're one of the worst classes (mostly because any class with this certain co-teacher is a bad class) and not that smart. Here's an example of the sheer stupidity of the students skipping class. Now one would think that if one if to skip class then one would not draw attention to oneself. Two dumb ass girls waved to me as they were standing outside of class and didn't show up. Supposedly, Korea has the highest average IQ in the world. This is another case where I don't care how well people test if they don't have any common sense. Repeat. Common sense is something most Koreans sorely lacking. I too could do well on a test if I memorized a bunch of stuff without understanding it. In fact I once did this on an exam and got an A without understanding a damn thing.
Recently,when I make comments like this bashing Koreans I wonder if I'm being an "ugly American." hmmmm
Where was I? Oh right. After work on Monday I went home and napped in my 80 plus degree room with 100% humidity in the air. I hate napping in those situations cause I usually wake up feeling more tired and confused. On top of all that I couldn't fall asleep until after 1am. That was two nights in a row where I drank warm milk to help me fall asleep.
Tuesday night I climbed at the artificial outdoor wall near my school. There is one route that I haven't been able to finish. I thought I had enough in me but I didn't. And I did a really bad thing. I let the rope stay behind my leg when I took a lead fall. It whipped me upside down and gave me a little rope burn. I forgot to bring long pants that day too, which would've probably cut down on the burn. Lesson relearned.
Random thoughts:
Patrick's niece N'shai (pronounced Nuh-shay) is visiting for the summer. It's kind of nice having an American teen around (she's 12). In her first two weeks here she's made some great observations. When asked about the differences between here and the U.S. she mentioned the spitting. People don't spit right where you're walking in the U.S. Cue the guy making the ever so pleasant throat clearing sound and spitting three times on the sidewalk at a busy intersection. Shai also mentioned how uncomfortable women here looked in their heels. "They have this miserable look on their face." But for some reason they feel they have to wear them. It's because trends dictate what you think, feel and wear here. Herd mentality. I'll stop before I feel "ugly."
Two posts in one morning?!? WTF?!?!
They're having a national test today. Because of the test, I don't have classes today. I assume it's some kind of aptitude test. I'm sure they'll all do very well cause they've been studying to pass the test. 'Nuff said.
A month of sports
It's been over a month since the last post. I can't for the life of me remember what's been happening. It's been blur of me following the Stanley Cup playoffs and NBA playoffs. Unfortunately, because of the time difference I only got to watch a few basketball games here and there. The best moment was watching game six of the Stanley Cup finals live because I didn't have to go to work that day. The worst thing about that - I was having an argument on the phone while trying to watch the third period. In hindsight I should have hung up and left it at that. It only diminished my joy for getting to watch the championship game a little bit. For the record, I'm glad I was wrong about doubting Osgood.
I'm ecstatic the Wings finally came through after being a dominant team every year in the regular season only to fail come playoff time. Babcock is like the Bill Cowher of hockey. He's one of those coaches you'd like on your bench cause he looks like he'd jump on the ice and take down an opposing player. There was one Steelers game when Pittsburgh threw an interception in overtime and the defensive player was streaking down the side lines where Cowher was standing. He was absolutely pissed off watching the guy run toward him. Cowher had his fist clenched so tight he was white knuckling. There was a split second there where it looked like Cowher was going to clothesline the guy. Those two guys are guy you play for cause you know they've got your back.
One last thing regarding sports: Go Boston! HA! HA! (Nelson voice) Kobe and the Lakers blew it. I love it when Kobe fails. MJ you are not. I hated Jordan til near the end of his career and I missed him when he retired. Basketball wasn't the same for years afterward. MJ dominated in a way that Kobe never will. And he won championships with way more gumpy white guys (Bill Wellington and Luc Longley) than Kobe has had to play with. I'll never root for Kobe and I won't miss him when he's gone.
Now baseball has the stage all on its own. The Giants aren't that bad and the Tigers are a huge disappointment. Ok. The sports tangent is over.
I'm ecstatic the Wings finally came through after being a dominant team every year in the regular season only to fail come playoff time. Babcock is like the Bill Cowher of hockey. He's one of those coaches you'd like on your bench cause he looks like he'd jump on the ice and take down an opposing player. There was one Steelers game when Pittsburgh threw an interception in overtime and the defensive player was streaking down the side lines where Cowher was standing. He was absolutely pissed off watching the guy run toward him. Cowher had his fist clenched so tight he was white knuckling. There was a split second there where it looked like Cowher was going to clothesline the guy. Those two guys are guy you play for cause you know they've got your back.
One last thing regarding sports: Go Boston! HA! HA! (Nelson voice) Kobe and the Lakers blew it. I love it when Kobe fails. MJ you are not. I hated Jordan til near the end of his career and I missed him when he retired. Basketball wasn't the same for years afterward. MJ dominated in a way that Kobe never will. And he won championships with way more gumpy white guys (Bill Wellington and Luc Longley) than Kobe has had to play with. I'll never root for Kobe and I won't miss him when he's gone.
Now baseball has the stage all on its own. The Giants aren't that bad and the Tigers are a huge disappointment. Ok. The sports tangent is over.
Friday, May 16, 2008
(Waaaaaay too) Young love
Well back from the week off and I am still in vacation mode. I've been tired all week and am glad I didn't come up with a real lesson for this week cause the students aren't back yet either. I would have pictures posted somewhere but my camera crapped out on me upon landing in China. So time for me to get a new camera. I'm a bit on the fence about getting a nice digital SLR. Main thing holding me back is the amount of cash I'll have to shell out. I'll most likely go with the small point and shoot with manual options.
I haven't mentioned the new woman in my life. No. She's not the new woman in my life. She's my climbing partner. Following in the footsteps of other cool climber chicks like (in no particular order) Elizabeth H., Heather, Neha, and Elizabeth O., Paula has gotten me back on track and back on the wall (soon to be real rock). She hails from Montreal and her parents are Korean. Therefore she can hang out in this country without a job if she feels like it. She is also part of the reason why I'm spending money on gear like this than on the digital SLR.
Oh yeah. It was teacher's day yesterday here in Korea. The students showed their appreciation by playing music, singing songs, and making speeches praising us. It was nice and sweet. I've also received a love letter from one of my 7th grade girls who later wrote on the whiteboard "I love Viet teacher." I didn't notice until one of the 9th grade girls pointed it out. The letter was cute and I'm happy she tried wrting in English.
Then today another 7th grade girl awkwardly stood outside the teachers' lunch room. I thought they ran out of food in her class room but she came there to talk to me. I'm glad one of my co-teachers was there. Woo Friday! I'm out.
I haven't mentioned the new woman in my life. No. She's not the new woman in my life. She's my climbing partner. Following in the footsteps of other cool climber chicks like (in no particular order) Elizabeth H., Heather, Neha, and Elizabeth O., Paula has gotten me back on track and back on the wall (soon to be real rock). She hails from Montreal and her parents are Korean. Therefore she can hang out in this country without a job if she feels like it. She is also part of the reason why I'm spending money on gear like this than on the digital SLR.
Oh yeah. It was teacher's day yesterday here in Korea. The students showed their appreciation by playing music, singing songs, and making speeches praising us. It was nice and sweet. I've also received a love letter from one of my 7th grade girls who later wrote on the whiteboard "I love Viet teacher." I didn't notice until one of the 9th grade girls pointed it out. The letter was cute and I'm happy she tried wrting in English.
Then today another 7th grade girl awkwardly stood outside the teachers' lunch room. I thought they ran out of food in her class room but she came there to talk to me. I'm glad one of my co-teachers was there. Woo Friday! I'm out.
Friday, May 02, 2008
Hundred Dollar Bills
I was looking on nba.com and stumbled across their nickname generator. If I was a little bit taller and a baller you'd know me as Viet "Hundred Dollar Bills" Tran. I could use that nickname for all kinds of things, like if I decided to become a professional wrestler, boxer, or MMA fighter. My second try came up with "Ratchetman." I don't think it's quite so cool or gives me any street cred. The third try came up with "Lashes." ??? I don't know. Seems kind of gay to me. Give the nickname generator a shot to kill some time.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
I guess I had a bad day
Elyse Sewell is currently living in Seoul. There's really no reason you should know who she is. I wouldn't know her either if it wasn't for America's Next Top Model being one of the few shows we have here in English. I don't know why but it's comforting to read about another person's observations about Korea and realize it's not just me. Patrick and Lily have similar problems at school and with the social aspects of Korean culture but they're my friends and I tend to gravitate towards people with a certain mind set. I've never met Elyse and her rants are similar to the ones the three of us have while watching ANTM. What's the point of this?
I'll start with events upon arriving home yesterday. Shortly after I got back I heard tires screeching and two objects colliding. Let me just note I'm surprised I don't see more accidents on my street because the driving I've witnessed for the past year plus I've been here is atrocious. Taxis, cars, and buses constantly run red lights and generally have little regard for pedestrians.
After the sound of impact I heard half hearted screams like this woman was auditioning for a slasher film. Here's my take on what was going on in this woman's mind:
Oh no! That person was just hit by a car. I can't believe it. 어떡해?!? (What do I do?) Well, in the movies and on T.V. the girls usually scream. "Ahhhhh." Hmmm. That wasn't so good. I'll try again. "AHHHH!" That was a little better. I can act!
I might be wrong about the exact mental process there but I'm pretty sure I got the gist of it.
The po-po showed up surprisingly quickly and was marking the tires of the taxi? I'm no CSI but WTF! Instead of keeping a crowd away there were about five or six people standing over the person. The person was moving an arm so it hopefully wasn't too bad but I'm pretty sure none of those people were licensed professionals, just gawkers coming in for a closer look.
After marking the tires the cop was directing traffic around the stopped taxi (no hazard lights flashing in fact cop car didn't have its lights on either). True to Korean driving fashion some asshole...wait let me get into his mind:
Ayeshiiii! Why is this traffic backed up? That whole lane is open. Why is everyone driving around this taxi? Screw this traffic I'm entitled to get where I need to go no matter what. Why is this cop yelling at me? Hey, there's been an accident. Oh look yellow light. I bet I can make it through before it turns red. (Speeds off) So long suckers.
Again I can't guarantee 100% accuracy here.
I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that I kind of had a bad day yesterday. Sure the Red Wings went up 3-0 on the Avalanche but based on the box scores and me continually checking Yahoo! during the course of the game I don't fully trust the goal tending. Hasek has been pulled in favor of Osgood and Osgood hasn't shut anyone down. At least in the past two games they've nearly blown the lead. This series could easily be 2-1 Avalanche. If Ozzie lets anyone score from the blue line Wings are done. Has that happened yet this post season?
How do I transition from that? I can't.
This is a pretty regular annoyance in Korea. People just like to walk into you. I generally don't take too much offense to it but again I'm ready to take the first step and admit: I kind of had a bad day yesterday. I left the gym and was feeling fairly good. It was still warm out and I felt comfortable being outside in the t-shirt soaking in the smog and yellow dust. I'm walking towards the door to my building and the sidewalk is empty except for the two other people. This dude probably in his forties walks perpendicular to the way I'm walking and instead of crossing behind me decides to walk right into me. I can't even begin to rationalize this so I won't try. Instead of stopping and saying something he continues to try to walk through me. Because of the workout testosterone levels were high and I wasn't yielding to my 형 (elder brother) with some majorly fucked up teeth so I pushed back at him and we had a stare down. He walked away but I continued to hold my stare for second or two longer, while attracting the attention of the other guy on the sidewalk, before going inside. I'm sure Lily has blogged about people randomly running into you as well. (And man she sometimes freaks out about it!) I'm just too lazy to find it.
One last thing. Tried to play a game with the students and give them chocolate for "winnning" but the last class was a bunch of "...half dead motherfucker[s]." This may have been the beginning of my ill humor.
I'll start with events upon arriving home yesterday. Shortly after I got back I heard tires screeching and two objects colliding. Let me just note I'm surprised I don't see more accidents on my street because the driving I've witnessed for the past year plus I've been here is atrocious. Taxis, cars, and buses constantly run red lights and generally have little regard for pedestrians.
After the sound of impact I heard half hearted screams like this woman was auditioning for a slasher film. Here's my take on what was going on in this woman's mind:
Oh no! That person was just hit by a car. I can't believe it. 어떡해?!? (What do I do?) Well, in the movies and on T.V. the girls usually scream. "Ahhhhh." Hmmm. That wasn't so good. I'll try again. "AHHHH!" That was a little better. I can act!
I might be wrong about the exact mental process there but I'm pretty sure I got the gist of it.
The po-po showed up surprisingly quickly and was marking the tires of the taxi? I'm no CSI but WTF! Instead of keeping a crowd away there were about five or six people standing over the person. The person was moving an arm so it hopefully wasn't too bad but I'm pretty sure none of those people were licensed professionals, just gawkers coming in for a closer look.
After marking the tires the cop was directing traffic around the stopped taxi (no hazard lights flashing in fact cop car didn't have its lights on either). True to Korean driving fashion some asshole...wait let me get into his mind:
Ayeshiiii! Why is this traffic backed up? That whole lane is open. Why is everyone driving around this taxi? Screw this traffic I'm entitled to get where I need to go no matter what. Why is this cop yelling at me? Hey, there's been an accident. Oh look yellow light. I bet I can make it through before it turns red. (Speeds off) So long suckers.
Again I can't guarantee 100% accuracy here.
I'm starting to come to terms with the fact that I kind of had a bad day yesterday. Sure the Red Wings went up 3-0 on the Avalanche but based on the box scores and me continually checking Yahoo! during the course of the game I don't fully trust the goal tending. Hasek has been pulled in favor of Osgood and Osgood hasn't shut anyone down. At least in the past two games they've nearly blown the lead. This series could easily be 2-1 Avalanche. If Ozzie lets anyone score from the blue line Wings are done. Has that happened yet this post season?
How do I transition from that? I can't.
This is a pretty regular annoyance in Korea. People just like to walk into you. I generally don't take too much offense to it but again I'm ready to take the first step and admit: I kind of had a bad day yesterday. I left the gym and was feeling fairly good. It was still warm out and I felt comfortable being outside in the t-shirt soaking in the smog and yellow dust. I'm walking towards the door to my building and the sidewalk is empty except for the two other people. This dude probably in his forties walks perpendicular to the way I'm walking and instead of crossing behind me decides to walk right into me. I can't even begin to rationalize this so I won't try. Instead of stopping and saying something he continues to try to walk through me. Because of the workout testosterone levels were high and I wasn't yielding to my 형 (elder brother) with some majorly fucked up teeth so I pushed back at him and we had a stare down. He walked away but I continued to hold my stare for second or two longer, while attracting the attention of the other guy on the sidewalk, before going inside. I'm sure Lily has blogged about people randomly running into you as well. (And man she sometimes freaks out about it!) I'm just too lazy to find it.
One last thing. Tried to play a game with the students and give them chocolate for "winnning" but the last class was a bunch of "...half dead motherfucker[s]." This may have been the beginning of my ill humor.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Fucked up vacation planning
I'm heading out Hainan island in China with Patrick and Lily. We're going to the quieter beach area of Yalong Bay and staying at a place called the Mangrove Tree Resort. It's been a huge pain in the ass so far. We bought our tickets last minute thanks to trusting someone else to do it and are now flying in and out at some fairly fucked up times. We fly out at 9:30pm and land at 12:30am. The flight back departs at 1:30am and we land back in Korea at 6:30am. Some wires got crossed between myself and the travel agent and the final ticket price was about $100 more than what we expected. The ticket now cost more than twice what our friend said he could get it for. This was all done in the past three days because said friend was acting like a bitch because he wanted to go on the trip but hasn't been able to get the time off from his job. So instead of telling us the situation, he decided to wait until the last minute and fuck nearly everything up. That rant could go on longer but I'll cut it there.
The whole visa process has been more difficult due to the Chinese government changing visa regulations. I'm not sure if it's because we're in Korea on not but when I checked the Chinese embassy sites in the U.S. Americans could get multiple entry visas for up to two years. As it stands now we are paying $140 for a one month visa. It's $50 for most other countries. On top of that no one in Korea can apply in person. Everyone has to go through a travel agent. Also, in order to get the visa we needed to have our accommodations booked. We did that and got a really good price, until the next morning. I'm not sure what happened but the price of our room jumped up by an extra $40.
The three day trip already costs over $1000. It fucking better be the Hawaii of China or whatever the fuck they call it. And Korean friend mentioned in paragraph one is on the shit list until further notice.
Yay! Already an update.
The card we used to pay for the tickets is over the limit meaning we don't have tickets yet and our visa can't be processed. There is a good chance we're not going anywhere. That said Korean friend should see if he can fly because he's likely to get thrown from the roof party barbecue next Saturday.
The whole visa process has been more difficult due to the Chinese government changing visa regulations. I'm not sure if it's because we're in Korea on not but when I checked the Chinese embassy sites in the U.S. Americans could get multiple entry visas for up to two years. As it stands now we are paying $140 for a one month visa. It's $50 for most other countries. On top of that no one in Korea can apply in person. Everyone has to go through a travel agent. Also, in order to get the visa we needed to have our accommodations booked. We did that and got a really good price, until the next morning. I'm not sure what happened but the price of our room jumped up by an extra $40.
The three day trip already costs over $1000. It fucking better be the Hawaii of China or whatever the fuck they call it. And Korean friend mentioned in paragraph one is on the shit list until further notice.
Yay! Already an update.
The card we used to pay for the tickets is over the limit meaning we don't have tickets yet and our visa can't be processed. There is a good chance we're not going anywhere. That said Korean friend should see if he can fly because he's likely to get thrown from the roof party barbecue next Saturday.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
H5N1
Lily forwarded me an email from the U.S. Embassy in Seoul regarding yet another outbreak of bird flu in Korea. We are now under alert level orange. Here's what's going on. In the past three weeks there have been 17 cases of bird flu according to Reuters. The article isn't clear on this but I'm sure it means 17 cases on poultry farms. 5.3 million birds are going to be slaughtered due to recent outbreaks.
Since I haven't been as well informed on good ol' H5N1 as I should be I decided to do some research on my off time this morning. After all H5N1 is quite close to where I live. I've checked out Wikipedia articles, the CDC, and WHO websites and got a lot of history about bird flu and statistical data. So far this is what I've been able to digest.
The earliest cases reported on the current strain date from sometime in 2003. Here is the number that makes me question the seriousness of bird flu. In the past five years there have been 369 confirmed cases in humans. Of those 369 cases, 234 have died. Since 2003 only 234 people have died due to bird flu. Based on this number I don't see a problem so on to the percentages. (Check out this chart.)
From the reported cases we're looking at a 63% mortality rate. Now I'm starting to see a bit of a problem. This is what is concerning the peeps around the world and what is making bird flu newsworthy. It's difficult for people to contract bird flu unless they are in direct contact with infected birds and human to human transmission is rare. I can't find a number right now but I've read of at least two - one in Indonesia and one in China. If H5N1 does mutate and become something that easily passes from person to person scientists are predicting a pandemic that could kill anywhere between 2 million to 160 million worldwide. One virus expert estimated in 2003 that half the population could be wiped out.
Honestly this is when I start zoning out. Estimates range from 2 million to 350 billion? It's like a meteorologist was asked to give a forecast. Since the numbers are so unbelievable, I have a hard time believing it. I realize this doesn't mean it won't happen. There are health organizations monitoring the situation and that's really the best anyone can hope for. Vaccines for bird flu are out there and have been given to medical workers in Japan and I'm sure in other countries as well. They won't worry about mass vaccination until such a time when it's necessary, like when H5N1 begins to spread from person to person across the globe. No one is sure if this will ever happen. Right now the bird flu is just the odds on favorite of being the next big thing. So I'll just have to deal with hearing about it and getting warnings from my mom about staying away from chickens.
Since I haven't been as well informed on good ol' H5N1 as I should be I decided to do some research on my off time this morning. After all H5N1 is quite close to where I live. I've checked out Wikipedia articles, the CDC, and WHO websites and got a lot of history about bird flu and statistical data. So far this is what I've been able to digest.
The earliest cases reported on the current strain date from sometime in 2003. Here is the number that makes me question the seriousness of bird flu. In the past five years there have been 369 confirmed cases in humans. Of those 369 cases, 234 have died. Since 2003 only 234 people have died due to bird flu. Based on this number I don't see a problem so on to the percentages. (Check out this chart.)
From the reported cases we're looking at a 63% mortality rate. Now I'm starting to see a bit of a problem. This is what is concerning the peeps around the world and what is making bird flu newsworthy. It's difficult for people to contract bird flu unless they are in direct contact with infected birds and human to human transmission is rare. I can't find a number right now but I've read of at least two - one in Indonesia and one in China. If H5N1 does mutate and become something that easily passes from person to person scientists are predicting a pandemic that could kill anywhere between 2 million to 160 million worldwide. One virus expert estimated in 2003 that half the population could be wiped out.
Honestly this is when I start zoning out. Estimates range from 2 million to 350 billion? It's like a meteorologist was asked to give a forecast. Since the numbers are so unbelievable, I have a hard time believing it. I realize this doesn't mean it won't happen. There are health organizations monitoring the situation and that's really the best anyone can hope for. Vaccines for bird flu are out there and have been given to medical workers in Japan and I'm sure in other countries as well. They won't worry about mass vaccination until such a time when it's necessary, like when H5N1 begins to spread from person to person across the globe. No one is sure if this will ever happen. Right now the bird flu is just the odds on favorite of being the next big thing. So I'll just have to deal with hearing about it and getting warnings from my mom about staying away from chickens.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Half court
I'm either jazzed cause of the caffeine or I can see spring time peaking just around the corner. I just put together a basketball game between the male teachers this Friday. It should be a good time. The school has also arranged a game of kickball for the faculty this Wednesday afternoon. I'll try to get some pictures posted. Ohhh yeah! I also went to the Costco here and bought a new basketball. It's supposedly the NCAA regulation ball. I can palm it along the seams (with my finger tips so I guess it's not palming) so I'm not quite sure how truly regulation it is. Gotta go buy some shoes before the game Friday.
On a side note about pictures, I couldn't take any pictures of the cherry blossoms in bloom because they were only around for a few days before the wind and rain blew the petals off the trees.
On a side note about pictures, I couldn't take any pictures of the cherry blossoms in bloom because they were only around for a few days before the wind and rain blew the petals off the trees.
Pleasant surprises
Although Hongdae is the cool place to hang out in Seoul I've mostly avoided it because...well I don't know why. It was partially because the peeps I worked with last year were friends of convenience rather than people I would regularly hang out with and because of the distance to get to and from Seoul last year meant I would have to stay out all night before catching the train back home the next morning.
It wasn't Club Day (which actually happens at night) in Hongdae but Tom and I were out wandering during the daylight hours yesterday and stumbled upon a few things that left pleasantly surprised and excited about the upcoming weekends. Before that we showed each other a thing or two about the areas surrounding Hongdae. I took Tom through this side street between Yonsei University and Ehwa Woman's college where the clothes are actually cool and have that vintage feel to them kind of like in Japan. He'd also never had a Krispy Kreme doughnut so I told him to get in line and act like he was going to buy something so he could get a free doughnut. I went to the bathroom and came out to find Tom blissed out on the glaze. After that he showed me Mike's Cabin - a bar where they have ping-pong, foose ball, and Nintendo Wii. They also have various other boardgames.
We then walked over to Hongdae and found a bunch of nice restaurants, tea, and coffee shops along the way. Just off of a busy strip we found two really cool bars where I could see starting or ending the night. They were both right next door to each other. One looked like something you'd find in Berkeley. It was kind of hippieish and homey, just a comfortable place to be. The other place was just cool and looked like one of the hipster SF bars. Both had on some good chill music and their food menu looked good too. We'll be going back to those places sometime soon.
After some more browsing of CDs and clothes we heard some live sounding music. The first guys we walked by were just noisy but I noticed a poster for the next big event in Seoul. They call it the 2nd World DJ Festival. Last year was a lot of fun. This year it goes from May 3-5. On top of that I have that whole week off so things are getting interesting as spring time hits Seoul.
At the top of this hill we heard some jazzy tunes and found a quartet jamming out - guitar, string bass, snare drum with brushes, and the singer also playing melodian. It was completely unexpected and really cool to see these guys performing out in this park. We watched them for a while as the sunset and night took over. Tom asked the singer about some jazz clubs around the area and he told us a few places to go. We ended a fun, wandering, lazy day with dinner at a Thai restaurant.
It wasn't Club Day (which actually happens at night) in Hongdae but Tom and I were out wandering during the daylight hours yesterday and stumbled upon a few things that left pleasantly surprised and excited about the upcoming weekends. Before that we showed each other a thing or two about the areas surrounding Hongdae. I took Tom through this side street between Yonsei University and Ehwa Woman's college where the clothes are actually cool and have that vintage feel to them kind of like in Japan. He'd also never had a Krispy Kreme doughnut so I told him to get in line and act like he was going to buy something so he could get a free doughnut. I went to the bathroom and came out to find Tom blissed out on the glaze. After that he showed me Mike's Cabin - a bar where they have ping-pong, foose ball, and Nintendo Wii. They also have various other boardgames.
We then walked over to Hongdae and found a bunch of nice restaurants, tea, and coffee shops along the way. Just off of a busy strip we found two really cool bars where I could see starting or ending the night. They were both right next door to each other. One looked like something you'd find in Berkeley. It was kind of hippieish and homey, just a comfortable place to be. The other place was just cool and looked like one of the hipster SF bars. Both had on some good chill music and their food menu looked good too. We'll be going back to those places sometime soon.
After some more browsing of CDs and clothes we heard some live sounding music. The first guys we walked by were just noisy but I noticed a poster for the next big event in Seoul. They call it the 2nd World DJ Festival. Last year was a lot of fun. This year it goes from May 3-5. On top of that I have that whole week off so things are getting interesting as spring time hits Seoul.
At the top of this hill we heard some jazzy tunes and found a quartet jamming out - guitar, string bass, snare drum with brushes, and the singer also playing melodian. It was completely unexpected and really cool to see these guys performing out in this park. We watched them for a while as the sunset and night took over. Tom asked the singer about some jazz clubs around the area and he told us a few places to go. We ended a fun, wandering, lazy day with dinner at a Thai restaurant.
Friday, April 11, 2008
In Gong Wall or my new home
I was looking on the Korea on the Rocks website and saw a post for one of the artificial walls. In Gong is in Gwangmyeong City, where I live and work. I looked at the directions from the subway station and noticed it was the one near my school. There was also info about bus routes but it was vague. The thing that bothered me was I somewhat knew the direction most of the buses went and it even listed the bus I take to go to work. I decided to play it safe and go with the more detailed directions.
When I got off the subway and out to the street I knew I had been on that particular corner before. It was a few weeks ago when Ms. Lee, Julie, and I left school early for various reasons - I had to take an HIV test and a drug test in order to get registered as a legal working alien. Following the directions, I walked up to an intersection that looked like any other in Korea but I knew this one. I go through this intersection everyday on my way to work. That's when it hit me. This place has been sitting in my back yard and I hadn't known about it. Even worse, no of my students bothered to tell me about it and I told them in my opening lesson one of my favorite hobbies is rock climbing.
The wall is behind a park where there's a nice basketball court (something else I've been looking for), track, and outdoor exercise equipment commonly found in Korea. There's a small bouldering section inside the wall. Here's a link to the wall.
I want to say the wall is at least 30 feet high and most of it is overhung. Koreans love overhanging stuff. It seems like that is how they add difficulty to the route. I'm going to need to buy a rope since they're all lead routes. If I get into a routine I hope to be back in climbing condition in a couple of months.
I told the Korean-Canadian girl Paula, "Once I start climbing again everything else will right itself." Whether or not this is true doesn't matter. What matters most is I'll be climbing regularly again. I'm really excited about this. It's like being in Ton Sai again. Except without the beach. And the international community. And the cheap bungalow. And Ton Sai tower. And...ok it's not like Ton Sai at all, but I'll be climbing again. :-)
When I got off the subway and out to the street I knew I had been on that particular corner before. It was a few weeks ago when Ms. Lee, Julie, and I left school early for various reasons - I had to take an HIV test and a drug test in order to get registered as a legal working alien. Following the directions, I walked up to an intersection that looked like any other in Korea but I knew this one. I go through this intersection everyday on my way to work. That's when it hit me. This place has been sitting in my back yard and I hadn't known about it. Even worse, no of my students bothered to tell me about it and I told them in my opening lesson one of my favorite hobbies is rock climbing.
The wall is behind a park where there's a nice basketball court (something else I've been looking for), track, and outdoor exercise equipment commonly found in Korea. There's a small bouldering section inside the wall. Here's a link to the wall.
I want to say the wall is at least 30 feet high and most of it is overhung. Koreans love overhanging stuff. It seems like that is how they add difficulty to the route. I'm going to need to buy a rope since they're all lead routes. If I get into a routine I hope to be back in climbing condition in a couple of months.
I told the Korean-Canadian girl Paula, "Once I start climbing again everything else will right itself." Whether or not this is true doesn't matter. What matters most is I'll be climbing regularly again. I'm really excited about this. It's like being in Ton Sai again. Except without the beach. And the international community. And the cheap bungalow. And Ton Sai tower. And...ok it's not like Ton Sai at all, but I'll be climbing again. :-)
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Spring time in Gyeong-gi
All of the 7th graders in Korea just took a listening test broadcast via radio. I asked what happened if they didn't hear it the first time. The answer was, "Tough luck. They should have listened more carefully." I think maybe they should listen to me better during class, but I'm not going to go into that right now because I'm done with classes until Thursday! My last class got canceled today and tomorrow is election day. Koreans have the day off to vote. I don't know if that's incentive enough for them to go do it. Maybe if they offered a free shot of Soju (stop you're being bad). OK. Before I get any more schizo lets move on.
The Cherry Blossoms and Magnolias are blooming leaving a sweet scent in the air as I'm walking to school. I'll try to get some pictures on my day off tomorrow. There was a Cherry Blossom festival this weekend but it was a bit premature. I went with my friend Lily but most of the trees were bare. Damn. I just checked the weather and it might rain tomorrow.
Public school teachers have a week off the first week of May. Patrik, Lily, Eric, and I are planning on going to Hainan. They call it the Hawaii of China. Frankly I'm sick of everything in Asia needing an American counterpart. Anyway here's where we might be going.
The Cherry Blossoms and Magnolias are blooming leaving a sweet scent in the air as I'm walking to school. I'll try to get some pictures on my day off tomorrow. There was a Cherry Blossom festival this weekend but it was a bit premature. I went with my friend Lily but most of the trees were bare. Damn. I just checked the weather and it might rain tomorrow.
Public school teachers have a week off the first week of May. Patrik, Lily, Eric, and I are planning on going to Hainan. They call it the Hawaii of China. Frankly I'm sick of everything in Asia needing an American counterpart. Anyway here's where we might be going.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Feeling cracktackular
It's not so much the cold that's wearing me down, it's the medicine. I've been on Tylenol Cold and some other cough medicine since last Thursday. My stomach feels gassy and bloated and I'm in that awake state that is summed up best by these two words: cracked out. My eyes feel dried out, kinda like I've kept them open for way too long. No matter how much water I drink my mouth and throat still feel dry.
Classes are done for the day. I am too.
Classes are done for the day. I am too.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Life as the Native Teacher
Anytime someone refers to me as the native teacher I think (how very un-P.C. of me) of shouting Indians feathered up ready for war. Incidentally this is how the Korean kids I taught last year imagined the indigenous peoples of America to be. Even in my second year here, I find more than a few things make little to no sense to me. I wonder if it is because it's foreign to me or because some things are truly backward to the western world. That's about as much as I'm willing to complain about in my current home country. I did make the choice to come back here so I'll try to keep the complaints to a minimum, in this first post at least.
This is officially my second week at the school. My first week was spent getting to know my desk. I sat in this spot surfing the net for the entire day breaking for lunch and occasionally trying to prepare for the unknown of teaching the 1st and 3rd year students (7th and 8th grades in the U.S.). As luck would have it, I caught a cold near the end of last week which had me in my apartment for most of the weekend. I'm still not fully recovered yet. I did do enough lesson planning to get through my first day.
It wasn't too bad. The level of the English coming out of the students who participate is lower than expected. I'm working with four Korean teachers at the moment, two for each grade. Out of the three I taught with today, the only one I feel helps at all in the class is the head of the English department. The class I had with her seemed to be the brightest and most engaged. I can only hope the others get it together. I'm not holding my breath.
So far I'm way more comfortable here than I was at the hagwon (private language academy) last year on my first day. That probably has a lot to do with the nearly two weeks I've had to readjust to the time difference here. Last year I taught my first class about 16 hours after I landed in Korea. I'm also not shocked from the fact that these kids aren't listening to me or the Korean teacher. That's where the stick comes into play. I should send pictures of some of the sticks the teachers carry around with them. My stick is a drum stick used to play one of the Korean traditional drums. It looks like this: http://www.ktpaa.org/images/Instrument.Drum.jpg
I kind of looks like the Japanese taiko drum stick. Don't tell any Koreans I said that. Some teachers have regular drum sticks and others old pool cues. I'm thinking about upgrading to a pimp cane sometime this year. In case anyone is wondering they just recently (two or three years ago) made corporal punishment in schools illegal here. Although I haven't personally seen it, I hear it still happens from time to time.
I'm now sitting through my second weekly faculty meeting. If I could understand Korean better or had someone translating for me, I'd probably be paying more attention. Considering everyone else around me isn't paying attention either and one of my co-teachers is taking a nap maybe not.
This is officially my second week at the school. My first week was spent getting to know my desk. I sat in this spot surfing the net for the entire day breaking for lunch and occasionally trying to prepare for the unknown of teaching the 1st and 3rd year students (7th and 8th grades in the U.S.). As luck would have it, I caught a cold near the end of last week which had me in my apartment for most of the weekend. I'm still not fully recovered yet. I did do enough lesson planning to get through my first day.
It wasn't too bad. The level of the English coming out of the students who participate is lower than expected. I'm working with four Korean teachers at the moment, two for each grade. Out of the three I taught with today, the only one I feel helps at all in the class is the head of the English department. The class I had with her seemed to be the brightest and most engaged. I can only hope the others get it together. I'm not holding my breath.
So far I'm way more comfortable here than I was at the hagwon (private language academy) last year on my first day. That probably has a lot to do with the nearly two weeks I've had to readjust to the time difference here. Last year I taught my first class about 16 hours after I landed in Korea. I'm also not shocked from the fact that these kids aren't listening to me or the Korean teacher. That's where the stick comes into play. I should send pictures of some of the sticks the teachers carry around with them. My stick is a drum stick used to play one of the Korean traditional drums. It looks like this: http://www.ktpaa.org/images/Instrument.Drum.jpg
I kind of looks like the Japanese taiko drum stick. Don't tell any Koreans I said that. Some teachers have regular drum sticks and others old pool cues. I'm thinking about upgrading to a pimp cane sometime this year. In case anyone is wondering they just recently (two or three years ago) made corporal punishment in schools illegal here. Although I haven't personally seen it, I hear it still happens from time to time.
I'm now sitting through my second weekly faculty meeting. If I could understand Korean better or had someone translating for me, I'd probably be paying more attention. Considering everyone else around me isn't paying attention either and one of my co-teachers is taking a nap maybe not.
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