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.
Friday, May 16, 2008
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.
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