Possibly the best blog post ever

A post about expensive truffles from the amateur gourmet.

Chinese Restaurants in the South

I finished my training at Ft. Benning in Georgia last Thursday, and started the drive to San Antonio with my friend who is also a medical service officer. Some people wanted to drive straight to San Antonio. Not us; we had three travel days and we were going to use them. Our plan was to drive along the Gulf of Mexico coast and stop in New Orleans.

We stopped at a chinese buffet for lunch, because even though the food is Americanized, they're my pick for fast food restaurants when I'm on a long drive. The restaurants in the South are the same as in the North, except when you order tea, it is assumed you mean sweet tea. So if you want real tea... remember to specify.

Week 2

The PT test came and went last Thursday, and I did well. I hadn't taken a PT test in almost a year and a half, which is a long time in the army. This week we've been doing combatives, which in the beginning is Brazilian Jujitsu.

Today we did a 5 mile ruck march, and I was in charge along with the platoon leader. I think the march went well and I'm happy with our platoon so far. It was fun to be back in charge of a formation after so long just being in charge of Korean middle school students. Speaking the same language goes a long way.

Food for thought from today's "taking charge of a platoon" class: As an aspiring leader, when you're working under or with people, who do you learn more from? Bad leaders or good leaders?

The start of BOLC II

I'm settled in at Ft. Benning. The first week is inprocessing and getting used to BOLC II (the training I'm doing) so it's not too exciting. It's nice though because we have a lot of free time and we're treated like lieutenants. It's nothing like the LDAC camp I went to before senior year. The atmosphere is much more laid back. As our Captain says, we're playing by "big boy big girl rules" now. The prep I did over the summer was enough so far, I haven't had the culture shock I was half expecting since I've been out of the ROTC/Army lifestyle for almost a year and a half since graduation. I have two other roommates who are cool, and our squad is small but it seems like a good bunch of people, so we should become tight over the seven weeks. What else? We have a PT test tomorrow, the food is decent, internet access is a little tough since we don't have it in our rooms, but so far I'm liking the whole experience.

Lock out coincidence

Saturday afternoon I called my friend Keith. I hadn't seen or talked to him in three weeks.
The first story that Keith told me was how he was locked out of his apartment in Washington DC on Friday night. I felt bad for him, but I had a story to tell too. Friday night I was locked out of my house near Boston. I don't think either one of us had been locked out for years.

Transitions

I'm back at home in Westwood, MA. I got back from Korea on July 10, but did a lot of traveling between then and now so I haven't been home that much. I saw friends and family in Chicago, the northern VA - DC area, Williamsburg (COLLEGE!), and Hilton Head, S.C.

I'm getting ready to start the Army on September 3rd, I have to go to training in Georgia (Sept and Oct) and Texas (Nov and Dec), and then I'm maybe going to Alaska. I want to go back to Korea, but I have to find someone to switch with me. I will either keep this blog up during my time in the army or start a new one, complete with a Department of Defense disclaimer.

Final Fulbright Dinner Tonight

I'm leaving for Seoul in 3 hours. The final Fulbright dinner is tonight, so I'll say goodbye the other Fulbright English teachers and we'll reminisce about the year. I'll miss the people on the program, especially my close friends. We'll always have this crazy year in Korea as a deep bond.

Each one of us had such a unique experience. After the six week orientation, we all went off to different corners of Korea, with different schools and homestay families, not to mention we are all so different ourselves. So while we haven't really been together as a group very much, we've developed our own unity in a land where everyone is one.

Soon we'll be back in America where everyone is an individual, and there will be no more questions like:
1. Is it (hot, cold, rainy, etc) in America?
2. Does it snow in America?
3. Do American people like (mayonnaise, green tea, soccer, hamburgers, etc)

I'll miss those occasionally. They remind me of several things. One, just how deep the language barrier has been this year; man do I wish I communicate with people over here. Two, the high degree of unity (sometimes blind, fervent nationalism) that all Koreans seem to share. Three, that not everyone in the world hates America.

I think one thing all the American Fulbright teachers will share is that we're all sad to be leaving Korea, but happy to move on to other things in life, and extremely thankful for our time here.

A Happiness Equation

I don't remember when I first made this analogy or if I heard it from a teacher somewhere. It may have been when I was bored in a high school math class. And maybe by posting this on my blog it's proof that I've been around my math crazy Korean students. But the idea is that you can make yourself happier and positive (or any emotion) over time if you want.

First think of a sin or cosin graph or any wave function. The line rises and falls over time. The highest points on the line can represent happiness or really good feelings. The low points, depression, sadness, etc. Instead of y=sin(x), y being a function of x, we could say happiness=life(time), happiness is a function of life around you (and internal things too) at that point in time. This is overly simplistic, as not all highs and lows are even nearly close, and they don't occur at regular intervals. But it's good enough for the analogy.

Now some people try to remain at the high points. Cocaine addicts, for example. But staying at the high points is impossible. Life happens. And chemically, our brains can't naturally be do that. So what to do? If you can't stay at the high points what can you do? You have to shift the graph up. The highs will be higher and the lows not as low. This isn't a quick fix, only over time is it possible. It's taken me more than 5 years to get to the point I am at now. It happens gradually, but when it does, life is great.

How to do this? I've found:
1. That just being aware that's it's possible helps.
2. Being around more positive people
3. Recognizing that the lows (and highs) won't last forever
4. Just by wanting to be happier and thinking positive. It's all about the attitude. Try to catch yourself when you're slipping into a negative pattern of thinking. Over time, you can get better.
5. Live in the present, seize the day, etc. The list could go on and on...
Good luck!

Love of the Game

When I got my placement this year, I was pretty worried that I wasn't going to be able to play basketball with anyone. Not as many people play, so the competition isn't as good as the states. I was also moving to one of the smallest cities in Korea. I didn't want to go a year without playing against anyone good.

My fears were realized. It turned out that I couldn't play against many good people. I won't really know how much my game has suffered until I go back to America. Yesterday I went to the good (okay) court to practice by myself, as I do occasionally. I realized I've played real games about 8 or 9 times since early August last year.

But I've been okay with that fact (I kind of have to be). I realized that while I'm probably a little rusty for the American speed of the game, my love of the game hasn't diminished at all. I realized this when I was proofreading an article for my middle school's English newspaper, and came across goodbyes from my basketball club students. It was hard to read because I know I have to leave them soon.

Last semester I sometimes played during lunch and after school with the students. This semester I was able to start an official basketball club every Thursday afternoon. All we do is drills and work to improve individual and team skills. In the school newspaper article I'm quoted as saying "If you just want to play games, you had better find a different club." And it's true. But the students (most of them) have loved it, and so have I.

There's a huge communication barrier, especially between me and the lower grades. I can get my point across well enough to the 3rd graders because one of the students won the English speaking contest. Despite that barrier, the students are very coachable and all seem to genuinely love the game and want to get better. I'm pretty confident that I could take almost any four of my 3rd grade students in the club into Daejeon with me, go to one of the colleges, and beat most teams in pickup.

I wish I could teach the students more, but time has run out. I'm just thankful I got to teach them at all, since I learned more about my love of the game in the process. (Today's the NBA draft by the way)

School Assemblies

This morning as I approached school, there were clusters of students gathering on the dirt field in front of the building. That can mean only one thing. It was school assembly time. I didn't attend this particular assembly. My co teacher told me its main purpose was to inform students that they can't use cell phones at school at all between 8am and 4pm. Which I tend to agree with. But I had bigger things to think about.

Yesterday the English department head asked me what I thought about giving a speech to students and teachers on my last day. I said it sounds fantastic. So I will be giving a going away speech to the school on my last day. I'll get my chance to finally ascend to the podium. I'll be able to deliver my wisdom to the middle school crowd. I will give two short speeches, the first in English and the second in Korean. It'll be sad for me and the students, but it's going to be a good way to say goodbye.

English Expressions/Idioms

I'm going to Seoul tonight to watch the World Cup game at city hall with 400,000 to million other Korean fans. It will be a crazy time. I also recently looked up a lot of English expressions online and thought it would be fun to slip them into conversations the game. Here are some possibilities. I think I know what most of them mean. They're good for soccer, no?

Hanged, drawn and quartered
Pull one's chestnuts out of the fire
Have a few tricks up one's sleeve
Baptism of fire
Bark up the wrong tree
Right as ninepence
Believe that all one's geese are swans
Bring home the bacon
Burn the candle at both ends
Kill the goose that lays the golden egg
Chew the fat
Chickens will come home to roost, one's
Chinese fire drill
Circle the wagons
Law of the jungle
Like a cat on hot bricks
Steal someone's thunder
Stick to one's guns
Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey
Cook one's goose
Loose cannon
Mad as a March hare
Straw that broke the camel's back
Strike while the iron is hot
Take the wind out of one's sails
Talk the hind legs off a donkey
There's more than one way to skin a cat
Enter the lion's den
Until the cows come home
Firing on all cylinders
Wash one's dirty linen in public
Out of the frying pan into the fire
Paint the town red (this will be the best one, the Korean fans in red shirts will literally paint the sidewalks red)

All of a sudden

I have only 11 days of class left!

I just taught 1-4 for the last time and had to say goodbye at the end of class!

Wake up and take back America

I just saw the trailer for the new movie, America: From Freedom to Fascism. I can't wait to see the movie. I hope it comes to Boston. According to Nick Nolte (hey, he was in Blue Chips), “The information in this film is something everybody has to know."

World Cup - Time to Represent

America lost (badly) their first game in the World Cup to the Czech Republic. That's okay, America doesn't care about soccer. But wow, Korea sure does. Almost the entire country watched the game last night, with malls and stores closing early.

To watch the game, I went to our city hall with my host brother and some old students. It was nuts. During halftime and before the game, music so loud you couldn't really talk was playing. There was a weird dance team with middle aged women and children. Anytime there was a lull in the game, cheer leaders would start one of the three Korean cheers. During inappropriate times, such as the Togo anthem and the time when a Togo player got hurt and had to be taken off the field on a stretcher, the DAE HAN MIN GUK (Korea in Korean) cheer would start. It would also start at any other quiet moment. Korea won, 2-1. For now, the dream stays alive.

Min Gyu, Ji Hyun (my host brother), Seung Li, and me. We are ready to rock

Me with Mrs. E. She wanted to turn sideways so we would look very thin in the picture. Only 4 teachers wore Korean red tshirts to express their "Fighting Korea!" attitude. I was one of them. This only increased my legend status with the first grade.

Why it's hard to practice my Korean language skills

First of all, I'm in Korea mainly to teach English. And my host family decided to host me because I'm a native speaker. But it's more than that. I really wish Korean people wouldn't continuously tell me how good my Korean is. It's not very good. After anything more than a 30 second hello with any teacher at school, the conversation topic usually switches to how good my Korean is. If I was Korean American and didn't know any Korean when I arrived in America, the conversation would usually be about why my Korean sucks.

Yesterday was classic. It was the Korean memorial day, so there was no school. The halmoni (grandmother) cooked meals for me and my host siblings because the parents were out playing golf. Anytime I asked the halmoni something, or we said something, there would always be [oh, he speaks Korean very well] at the end. But then she would talk to my host sister about me like I couldn't understand.

Me: [halmoni, did you finish dinner?]
Halmoni: [yes]
Me: [was it good?]
Halmoni (to host sister): [he speaks Korean so well! How long has he been here?]
Me: [11 months]
Halmoni (to host sister): [he understood! he eats Korean food so well too. Ask him if the meal was delicious.]
My host sister Ji sawn: Was it delicious?
Me: Yes
My host sister Ji sawn (to halmoni): [he said it was delicious]
You just can't stop the halmonis in Korea.

And an example from running into one of my host mother's friends on the street:
Me: [hello!]
Her: [Ben, hello]
Me: [how have you been?]
Her: [oh you speak Korean too well!]
She hits me on the arm and then keeps walking.

Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

If you care about America then you should read the article in Rolling Stone, titled Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

It's about how "Republicans prevented more than 350,000 voters in Ohio from casting ballots or having their votes counted -- enough to have put John Kerry in the White House."

It makes me upset. You should be upset too. Try to avoid outrage fatigue, although at this point I know it's difficult. Oh America. There is a way to get better - hopefully we can do that.

In the meantime there is one thing that could help, now. We need the Democratic Party to invite an international delegation of observers, with the credentials and authority to investigate, demand and subpoena information when necessary, and witness the entire federal electoral process in 2006 and again in 2008. Their job should be to be report, objectively and on a timely basis, abuses of power and processes, technologies and acts that subvert democracy, and to recommend immediate actions to rectify them. The 2006 elections would be a trial run, providing enough time for this year's abuses to be fixed by the crucial 2008 election. The UN has experience in doing this, and their reports have had dramatic effect in reducing electoral corruption and fraud in other countries.

"Voting, as Thomas Paine said, 'is the right upon which all other rights depend.' Unless we ensure that right, everything else we hold dear is in jeopardy."

This is one reason why I don't like the two party system.

Another way Korea is cuter than America

Yesterday was provincial election day in Korea. I didn't have to go to school because it's a holiday. It's too bad America doesn't have election day holidays, or at least half day holidays yet. In addition to improving our lackluster democracy, it's just nice to celebrate freedom.

Leading up to the elections there was a lot of campaigning by the candidates, just as in America. But in Korea the campaigning is different. Like other parts of Korean culture, it's much cuter.

Every candidate hires trucks to drive around with a huge picture of their face, their name, and their number (ballot number I think). The trucks also have music and campaign slogans blasting, which sometimes start driving around at 8am in the morning. Common sense says not to do this in case you wake people up and they decide not to vote for you. But common sense doesn't stop people in Korea.

The biggest part of the campaigns seemed to be the intersection gangs, as I liked to call them. At crowded intersections supporters of the candidate (or the candidate's office staff), almost always women, would wear the same shirt and sash supporting their number candidate, and perform choreographed motions to get people to notice the number. For example, number 2 women could wave the peace sign and pretend they're posing for a picture. Number 3 women could do a bow and then flash the three peat sign.

I posted new pictures

Spring in Korea and pictures from Blair's visit.

Blairo in Korea

My brother Blair just visited me in Korea. He was only one person, wasn't as much of a respected guest like my parents were, and didn't have blond hair and wasn't the same age as my students, so he was able to get more of a real experience.

We were approached by Koreans asking if we would do a survey at a popular tourist spot in Seoul (gyeongbokgung). Two taxis in a row wouldn't drive us to that popular tourist spot.

We stayed at a really nice love motel. The next morning the front desk called us at 12:05 to tell us check out was noon. If we wanted to stay the next night too, check in wouldn't be until 8pm. And then the next day is Saturday, so check in wouldn't be until 10pm. Luckily it was Korea and there were many other motels to choose from on the street.

Blair got to see some interesting foreigners and drink soju and dongdongju (rice wine). One German guy at the snot bar couldn't believe Blair's first name was really Blair, and let us know about it a lot.

Just going along for the ride with the host family. Not knowing who would show up for dinner or where it would be. He also sat cross legged in a restaurant each day he was here.

People still giving me forks after 10 months. My host father still asking the waitress to bring us forks even though I've told him we don't need one.

What the 92% of my classes that aren't high level 3rd grade are like. That the kids at school are wild, not great at English, but still really nice, good-natured, and funny.

He also got to experience: Assigned seats at movie theaters, scantily clad Korean girls advertising for some brand or product (sometimes with balloon arches or driving around on segways a la Job from Arrested Development), ajumas at a Korean market, the stereotypical Korean man and alcohol, couple tees; we both wore stone khakis and royal blue shirts to school, and many other sweet memories.

Names

Everyone likes to be called by their name. Their correct name especially. Maybe more so in Western cultures, but even here in Korea the students like it when I learn their names. Knowing students' names also makes it a lot easier to teach. So with only two months of teaching left, I finally got the lists of every student's name in every class. I can call on students at random now. Finallly, no hiding by looking down at your desk just because you don't want to speak.

Kimchi revolution

I've been in South Korea for 10 months. I finally (kind of) like kimchi. It's taken practice everyday to get this far. I feel like I can do anything in life now.

But over the weekend I found out my favorite kimchi is actually Japanese! Shabu shabu was my favorite Korean food until I found out it was Japanese. I won't start writing how I feel about Korean girls vs. Japanese girls.

Japan pictures

I just posted some pictures I took when my family was here, and when we went to Japan.

I went to Kyoto with my family for 3-4 days, so I got to see a lot. It's reputation is true, it's a beautiful city. Japan seems more westernized than Korea and more accomodating to tourism (especially Kyoto). I think there are more high rise apartments in Korea. I stayed with my family in a hotel, so I didn't have the opportunity to make too many cultural generalizations, or try the Japanese nightlife. Like Korea, it seems like drinking is heavily involved with social occasions.

One thing that caught me by surprise is the way some Japanese people say "yes." It's "hie" in Japanese and is sometimes sharply shouted, contrasting with the Korean yes, which is "ney" and is often softly and much more slowly pronounced.

"How would you like your steak?"
"Medium, please"
"HIE!"
[momentary pause and startled look on my face where I want to ask if that is okay before I remember the waitress said yes]

Cultural field trip

Yesterday rocked. I joined the 3rd grade middle school students on their field trip to Buyeo, a small cultural city. I wish there was a field trip every week because I don't have to teach and can just hang out with the students and the teachers. The kids didn't have to wear uniforms, and got to act like kids. Which means I also get to act like more of a kid, as if I need an excuse.

First we went to a pottery place, and one of the potters did a demonstration, spinning the wet clay on a round surface with one hand and shaping it with the other. I couldn't understand anything because it was in Korean, but at the end I think he asked for volunteers because all the students started saying my name. So I gave it a try, and the kids and I laughed as the pot soon became pretty disfigured.

Next everyone got to make cups or bowls or whatever you wanted out of clay. I sat down with the students because I didn't want to miss this. My cup came out better than the pot.

After pottery it was lunch time. And on a Korean field trip, that means Soju time. After the pottery place we went to a museum, but after taking pictures with the students, I joined some of the teachers for makoli (rice wine). Then we went to the set of a famous old drama TV show, where I was feeling pretty good because of the alcohol, great weather, and all around good time.

I think I played my cultural cards right, because today I was invited to go to lunch with some of the male teachers, and there weren't any English teachers there to help with the language barrier. We attacked our kalguksu (noodle) dish like only Korean men can. I try not to think how soon this experience will be ending, because I'm going to miss days like these.

Brad gets the rock star treatment

My family visited me last week, and came to school with me for a day. The girls loved my little brother Brad because of his blond hair. He was having a great time too. Having a whole school full of Korean girls go crazy over you and tell you that you're very handsome... why didn't this happen to me during high school?

The girls all want to meet him...

As the day went on, the disruptions in the hallway became louder and louder, and eventually we had to put Brad in the principal's office. That didn't stop students who really wanted a picture.

My family is coming to Korea!

I'm meeting them at the airport tonight. We'll stay in Seoul and then come to Gyeryong tomorrow afternoon. I had hoped to spend the entire weekend with them in Seoul, letting them get adjusted to the 13 hour time difference and different culture. But my host family wants to show them around Korea on Sunday, so that's the plan. My brother will make a big splash at school on Monday when he joins me in class. Imagine what a school full of Korean girls calling you handsome can do for an American high school freshman boy's ego. Only good things.

Next Wednesday I'm going to Japan (Kyoto) with my family because my school has midterm tests next week. Sweet.

North Korea and South Korea breakdancing

Soldiers at the 38th parallel DMZ breakdancing. If only real life was like this. via Kottke

'Purple' Woman Joins Race for Seoul Mayor

Via Seth Godin, this article is an interview with a woman running for mayor of Seoul. She describes herself as a "purple cow," which Godin has talked about in his latest book, The Big Moo. People who are remarkable enough to stick out like purple cows have the greatest chances of changing things. She likes changing things, and so do I.

The last Fulbright conference

Last weekend I went to Jeju-do, the island off the southern coast of Korea. It's billed as Korea's Hawaii, but really... it's kind of like Charleston, S.C. temperature-wise. It was supposed to be a momentous occasion- the Spring Fulbright Conference, the last time everyone on the program would get together.

Back during orientation, we looked ahead to the Jeju conference with wonder, awe. "Who will have dropped out? Who will have been sent home? How awkward will the conversations be with people I haven't talked to since August? How much will this crazy country have changed me?" These questions were on all of our minds. Jeju was supposed to be a turning point. But it didn't have that feeling of finality. No tearful speeches from Korean teachers that I've gotten used to at every transition point so far. Most of us ETAs don't see many other ETAs very often anyway, just our close friends. And we still have to teach for three months. So, it just kind of happened. I guess it only makes sense that since we've all been on our own we'll have to deal with getting ready to go on our own.

Jeju was great, don't get me wrong. These pictures with flowers prove that much. Forest and I got there early Thursday night (we didn't have to be there until Sat afternoon) so we helped Henry teach Friday morning and then went to lunch with his vice principal. The VP bought us so much meat. I ate raw beef- complete with a raw egg yolk mixed in... maybe salmonella and ecoli cancel each other out. When we met up with the rest of the ETAs it was great. I love the excitement of having 70 people I can talk to together. Quite the opposite of my town. We went to singing rooms, we drank traditional Korean wine, and we talked about what we're doing next year. We lived it up.

Advice

My friend Beth did a lesson about giving advice. Her 2nd year high school students wrote messages to the 1st year students. Sometimes I wish I could teach high school students. One of them wrote:

"Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."

Top Ten Reasons School is Better this Semester

10. The students aren't stressed out by midterms yet.
9. Two great, energetic new Korean English teachers outweighs one unenergetic new teacher.

8. The new English department head wants me to make the weekly teacher classes more intense so the teachers actually improve their English.
7. Weather: It's getting warmer instead of colder.

6. Less corporal punishment anguish: My desk got moved to the main teacher's office, and I don't have to hear students getting hit and students' crying two feet behind my desk on a daily basis.
5. New coteacher who doesn't hit her students.

4. Lunch: The teachers' food is self serve at lunch now. No more cutting students only to be served tons of food I will inevitably waste. And to the horror of a few teachers I'm not eating nearly as much rice at lunch, and instead, making peanut butter sandwiches at my desk after I get back from lunch.
3. I get to teach a basketball club class once a week. I'm pretty sure my middle school students would beat the high school students in town.

2. Soju Cred: I didn't hold back when the teachers had their beginning of the semester dinner and I now have "Soju cred" (like street cred) with the male teachers.
1. I still have every other Friday off!

V for Vendetta

I saw V for Vendetta yesterday. Like Andrew, it is now one of my favorite movies. I highly recommend it. Especially after I read things like this, about packaged news vs real news (via Alex).

Dinner Conversation

When I was young, my brothers and I would sometimes argue with my mom before dinner. We wanted to watch TV, usually the Simpsons. She always resisted, like she resisted and fought many of the things we wanted to do as teenagers. The reason we couldn't watch TV was because we had "to learn how to make conversation." That reason never quite satisfied us. But before long, my younger brother and I were telling our youngest brother to stop watching TV at dinner.

Living with my host family has been very interesting. I don't ever judge, but occasionally I think about how I would act as the parent in a certain situation. Tonight we went to a restaurant for dinner. My host sister and I were the last ones to finish, maybe because we're slow eaters, or maybe because we talked the most at dinner (both true). My 15 year old host brother, Ji Hyun, got up and went somewhere. Ten minutes later I asked my host mother if he went to the bathroom.

She answered, "Oh no... haha... he went to car. TV."

My host family is rich and has TV's in the car. We went on to joke about how TV was Ji Hyun's hobby. I said, "Yes, I know..."

Jordan XXI Part 2

I linked to the new Jordan video a while back, but here is a bigger resolution version I've been watching on dimemag.tv. I've heard it's being shown before movies, and I saw it on TV here in Korea, which means it must be big. People living in America?

The man in the suit at the gym

Stories from the cultural ambassador vault #1:

It was sometime early last fall when i was still an unsure and hesitant cultural ambassador. I was exercising at my gym on a Friday night, excited to leave my small city the next day, and almost done with my workout. Two ab exercises away in fact. I was lying on an exercise mat about to start flutter kicks where I always do them, in the open space near the owner's desk at my cosy (small) gym. And then the man in the suit walked in the door.

He was flanked on his left by an underling. He commanded immediate attention from the gym owner. Within a minute all the men in the gym (about seven, I said my gym was cosy) formed a circle just in front of me. I had just started the flutter kicks when the man in the suit started talking.

Of all the exercises to be doing at that moment. Anything other than abs and I would be safe behind the "foreigner" excuse. I would not be on the floor lying on my back looking up awkwardly at the man in the suit starting to make a speech while everyone else in the circle bowed their heads with their hands behind their backs. So I stopped, stood up, and joined the circle. He quickly finished his speech, which I couldn't understand, and then shook everyone's hand, mine included. I felt included. I wasn't sure in what.

After he left I finished my remaining minute and a half of exercise. The owner told me that the man in the suit was the deputy mayor of my city. Apparently some people who train at my gym were going to be competing somewhere soon, and he was there to wish them well and thank them for representing Gyeryong. I laughed with him. Of course, none of them were there on Friday in the late evening, so the owner just had everyone there come listen. No need to tell the senior official what was going on. Just listen to the senior.

And I had listened. But I also learned something whenever we made eye contact during the speech. He was just as unsure about what was going on as I was if not more so. The awkwardness at the gym that night and in similar experiences isn't me, you, the man in the suit, or anything one thing. It's everything, it's the situation, and when you can step outside of it and enjoy it- it's great.

Written at the homestay in Gyeryong, South Korea.

Thursday evening linkfest

How to tie your shoes 16(!) different ways. I don't know if I'll actually implement this, but it's good for keeping yourself on your toes and "rejecting the status quo." via Seth Godin

Fitness and health genius. Art De Vany's site is called Evolutionary Fitness and tackles exercise, health, his life, and living from an evolutionary perspective. He's almost 70 and has the body of a 32 year old. If you want to lose weight, get stronger, or just live healthier, check out the Evolutionary Fitness archives. Check out his essay (pdf format) for an introduction.

In honor of the Fulbright Jeju spring conference being two weeks away, and the fact that the big topic is how to improve the orientation for next year's Fulbright ETA's (our orientation had a TON of meetings), I thought I'd provide some thoughts about how to improve the efficiency of meetings:

• Why do we still believe in group brainstorming?
• Meetings considered harmful
• You still want meetings, here's how to make them useful
• The best presentation is sometimes no presentation

Recent Observations

1. My host grandmother ate dinner with us the past two nights. My host father also ate dinner with us. I can't remember the last time he had eaten dinner with us two consecutive nights. I'm wondering if it's a coincidence...

2. My first year students are too cute. I might be the first foreigner they've ever met. One kid today maybe wins for best first impression of a student in a class. He was very loud but not interruptive, said that he loved me several times, asked for my phone number because he "loves me," and acted like he was rapping into a microphone a few times, complete with hand gestures and the "oh yeah's!" After class my co-teacher said that student will be an entertainer because he sings and dances. I believe it, and I'm excited to see him on stage already.

3. Sometimes I think the students take on the tone of their regular English teacher. If the class is not energetic (or too afraid to be too energetic) I look at the teacher and their attitude makes sense.

4. Apple and CBS are offering "condensed versions" of the March Madness games on iTunes. I don't know what condensed versions means, and the resolution of the video won't be great, but I will probably buy it. All 63 games for $20? In Korea, I think it's either that or nothing. I have Duke, Gonzaga, BC, and UConn in the final four, with UConn beating Duke in the championship.

What's better than a white Christmas?

A white White Day! It snowed last night in my town. Today is White Day, the day a month after Valentine's day on which boys give girls candy. Or just another excuse to promote cuteness and couples in Korea.

I went to Daegu last weekend and didn't do much

I went to Daegu last weekend and met up with Jes and Beth. It was fun and had a lot of those "oh, Korea" moments.

1. It took us a long time to find a motel. "In Korea??" you're thinking. I know! The first motel we found was closed. The second wouldn't allow us to stay there because we were three people of different sexes. Two women would have been fine. Three men would have been fine. One man and one woman would have been fine. But one man and two women? Take your business elsewhere?

2. Sunday we tried to go to a mountain so we could take a cable car up the mountain. When the bus came, the driver wouldn't let us get on it. We found out later there was a fire on the mountain.

3. I saw two foreign films "2046" (Chinese) and "Let's go to Seoul" (Korean) that just didn't make sense.

4. The temperature dropped 20 degrees between Saturday and Sunday. Today, it is now snowing.

Also today, I taught some of the new 1st year middle school students for the first time. They're so cute and so excited to meet the foreigner.

My brother's birthday

My little brother Brad's birthday is on Saturday. He's going to be 15, and is a freshman in high school. I miss being there for these sorts of things, and because I went to college far away from home and now am in Korea I don't really get to see him grow up.

He's also trying to get a job at the grocery store where I started working. I had started working there in the fall of freshman year of high school, and I remember it was just as educating as parts of high school. Which got me thinking about how different it is to be a 15 year old high school boy in America and Korea. I would not want to be a Korean high school kid. Whenever I hear the about endless mindless studying, I kind of feel sad and remember the Mark Twain quote, "I never let my schooling interfere with my education." In Korea, schooling is all education is. So I'm sad and happy my brother isn't here - I can't see him, but he isn't a Korean high school student. He has a chance to learn outside of the classroom... now if I could only give my students the same chance...

Sweet new air jordan commercial

Read about it on ESPN, and then watch it

Opening Ceremony

A new school year has begun. This semester arriving at school I feel like a veteran. The chaos, wildness, lack of information, and the amount of English my students' have forgotten is thrilling. All the teachers are changing desks, getting new schedules, meeting new teachers, etc. I'm not alone. I have a new coteacher even though my old teacher is still teaching at the school. And my new coteacher is the one I would have picked. It's amazing.

Of course our opening ceremony was outside, and it was lightly snowing. The students had to be out there for more than an hour, while the teachers were out there for probably 15 - 20 minutes. I don't know exactly, I was daydreaming as usual.

I have moved to a new desk on the first floor in the main teachers' office. Right next to the vice principal! I have cleaned the desk and moved all my stuff from my old desk, but I'm not setting up shop yet. According to the Korean law of averages, I will probably have to move to a different desk later today, and then move once more next week. Why? I don't know. It's just the way things work.

Around 10am a new English teacher asked me if I was ready to teach.
"When?" I asked.
"mmmm... maybe 5 minutes later. Do you have a lesson plan for introductions?"
Smiling, I said "I do."
"So can you teach them? Maybe the class will only be 20 minutes today."
Laughing, "I'm sure I can think of something."

In class there was a new student who lived in America for two years. He can speak English well. After he said something the rest of the class cheered, and then proceeded to take 5 minutes to think about how to answer "What did you do during vacation?"

It's lunch time and it's time to be a rock star in the hallways once again.

New semester new attitude

I just got back to my homestay Monday night. I have to start teaching tomorrow. I'm feeling kind of indifferent to start teaching again. My coteacher is sometimes hard to get along with, and because I feel like most of us are in a teaching situation where we can't be very effective. I spent February in Seoul, and I loved it. Mainly because it's not like Gyeryong. Seoul is big, and has people my age. It would be great to keep living in Seoul studying Korean... but unfortunately that's not what I'm here to do.

After talking with Annie though, we decided this semester is going to be much better than last semester. We know what to expect - not knowing what goes on at school, being ready for last minute changes that could easily have been explained to us in advance, and not being understood by many students. I'm going to try to change my lesson plans so that each class has a routine and hopefully interests the students more by continuing a story of my college roommate Gammby every week. The weather will get warmer as the semester goes on instead of colder. I'm eagerly awaiting cherry blossoms, playing basketball outside, tracksuit day, and not being kind of stuck in my homestay during the week.

This time around, we know the framework in which we're here... so basically we have 120 days left to rock and roll Korean style.

2006 NBA Dunk Contest

Youtube video of most of the dunks

Andre Iguodala's behind the backboard dunk

Andre Iguodala lost by one point to Nate Robinson, but Iggy's dunk was still incredible.

Milk and Basketball

A short time ago, I realized I hadn't drank milk in about a week and a half. That's an eternity for me. So I bought some milk and have been storing it in the communal refrigerator at my hasuk (boarding house). But now it smells like kimchi because there's kimchi in the fridge. Milk smelling like kimchi is not something you want to wake up to.

Also yesterday I played basketball at one of the only indoor courts in Seoul. It's decent, but it's crowded, and far. From leaving my door of the hasukjip to returning to the hasukjip, it took 4 hours. I only played one 20 minute game. This court is only open for basketball 3 sundays a month from 2pm -4:45pm. Let's just say I'm not getting any better at bball in Korea.

On the way to the basketball game, the canadian guy who also lives in my hasukjip told me that on United Nations standardized high school tests, South Korea usually scores 1 - 2 in the world, but by the time the students graduate college, they have the 88th most capable workforce in the world. Now this is just hearsay, but even if it's half true (and I feel like it is), that's staggering!

Why study at Starbucks in Seoul when you don't drink coffee?

I bought something at Starbucks for the first time in my life yesterday. I didn't want to, but I felt bad about using Starbucks' wireless internet for the second day in a row while drinking something from another store. It's not that I think Starbucks is evil; I just don't drink coffee, and prefer donuts at Dunkin Donuts or tea at a non chain coffee store.

But I might be spending more time at Starbucks, and not just for the wireless internet (The Internet cafes that are everywhere don't offer wireless, and I haven't found anywhere else to use my laptop in Seoul yet). I realized it's a great place to meet girls who are studying English. And also practice my Korean conversation skills.

Living in Seoul

I arrived in Seoul last Thursday. That meant I wouldn't get to spend the lunar new year with my host family, but that's okay with me because it seems like a repeat of Chusok, and I'm really excited to be living in a city with tons of things to do.

Gabe from W&M came up to Seoul on Friday night, and Mike and I picked him up at the train station and then went out. Mike left for China on Saturday. He works for a private english academy and the longest vacation time he gets off is 5 days, right now. I'm jealous of all the great Chinese food he'll get to eat. I tried going to a 'Chinese street' (according to the guide book) today, but there was nothing. It was great to see Gabe and hang out with him, we capped our Saturday adventures with dancing in Itaewon, and taking over the dance floor.

I live in a small boarding house type room now, and it's great so far. I get breakfast and dinner everyday, and the room is only $400 for the month. It doesn't have internet, which is kind of a blessing in disguise because there's not much to do in my room except study Korean, and that's what I'm here to do. I think the language classes start wednesday.

Links for 1-24

I posted a ton of pictures today. See all of the new ones here. They're from last december, my trip to America, and this past weekend. There's 58 total, but they are in a convenient thumbnail size so you should be able to see most of them easily.

Funny flash animation of George Bush and our country.

My friend Keith will one day be famous. He recently made TV, and I can almost hear the masses echoing Keith's wisdom, shouting "get them on their feet or at least off the streets!"

A dog bit my leg

Friday. Midday. Gyeryong, South Korea.

I was walking to school to play basketball with some of the students. I had finished my winter camp the previous day, I had just mailed some letters to America and transferred money successfully, and the weather was beautiful. I was riding high.

As a student, Jun Yong, and I were walking to school, we walked past a yard that usually has dogs chained up. I noticed one of the dogs barking and running toward us. Funny, I remembered thinking, his/her chain isn't chained to anything.

The dog run right up to us, and barked as we kept walking. Then the dog BIT MY LEG!

I continued on to school, where I checked out the damage. Just a scrape really, with a little blood. I thought since it was a crazy dog I should wash it off, and I did. I played bball, then had lunch with Jun Yong and then went home.

Then things got interesting. I have a history of not going to the doctor's when I should, and so I decided to google rabies since I know nothing about it. What I found wasn't comforting. The big symptoms of rabies don't really appear until 1-4 days after the bite, but by that point it's too late to do anything and the victim dies. I didn't want to die, and had few options sitting alone in my room in a city where I can't really communicate well with anyone, so I called the Fulbright program coordinator.

She told me to call the doctor attached to Fulbright. He wasn't in and I had to convince a doctor to answer my questions, because she hasn't seen me before and doesn't have a record about me. She said it didn't sound too bad but I should probably ask the dog owner about the dog. I couldn't really do that though. So I called my host mom, and then told my host sister what happened, and she told my host mom. Then my host mom called my host uncle, a doctor, who said that Korea doesn't have rabies. That wasn't that very comforting, considering Korea 'doesn't have homosexuals,' among other things.

So I went to a doctor. I knew I would have to endure a visit to the doctors in which I couldn't communicate sooner or later. My host sister brought me to the doctor and translated, and the doctor gave me antibiotics. Antibiotics doesn't do anything for rabies and I didn't think I needed them. They were also the same pills that my host brother took when he sprained his wrist.

From the doctor's office, I went straight to the gym. I was leaving for Seoul in a few hours, and that crazy dog wasn't going to ruin my chance for a workout. At the gym, the gym owner shows me a picture from the internet on his computer, and asks if I've ever seen this kind of dog. He says it's a nice dog, 'kind of like... man's best friend?' It was the same kind of dog that bit my leg today.

Some South Korean moments since I've been back:

1. Getting stared at on the subway in Seoul. Okay maybe that's because I had a hiking backpack on my back, a regular backpack in front, and was carrying a duffel bag.

2. The random Korean conversations with the old man sitting next to me on the train which I can't understand. Nice guy though.

3. Arriving at my homestay, saying hi to everyone, asking where my host brother is.
"He went to Seoul."
"Oh. when will he come back?"
"Maybe in February."
"What will he do in Seoul?"
"He will study."
"oh. how about that."

4. Getting woken up two nights later by my host brother watching TV late at night. He was back just for the night because he had a toothache.

5. Having my plans for the winter camp crumble because the students don't want to speak English.

6. Second day of English camp - I get to school almost an hour early because I want this day to go better than the first and need to prepare. But the classroom is locked, the office staff is out to lunch, and I can't reach my coteacher on her phone. The classroom gets unlocked right when class is supposed to start, my coteacher comes in and throws a bunch of papers and 6 cassette tapes at me, exclaiming that students 'must like these materials.' As if the students need anymore practice reading. That's all they know how to do. And I should magically teach which I have never looked at before. And the projector in the classroom doesn't work. No, this day would turn out to be my worst teaching day ever, so bad it was hilarious.

7. But I rebounded. The kids got different seats, and I changed the exercises. And I didn't need to use the tapes.

8. Some of the family's cousins came over today. They are in their early 20s, and live in Seoul, so they have seen Americans before. When they came in I said hi and the girl cousin ran into my host sister's room an the guy cousin went into my host brother's room.

The Impeachment of George W. Bush

Cities I stayed overnight in during 2005

I'm back in South Korea! I need to readjust to Kimchi. The states were great, an awesome time to reconnect with friends, family, football, food, and the American way of life.

Cities (and towns) I spent at least a night in in 2005:

Needham, MA
Westwood, MA
Honolulu
Boston, MA
Williamsburg, VA
Hilton Head, SC (UPDATE: thanks Blairo, how could I forget!)
Washington, DC
Chicago, IL
New smyrna beach, FL
Florida Keys
Tokyo, Japan

And now for South Korea:
Seoul
Daejon
Chuncheon
Cheonan
Cheongju
Seoraksan
Songnisan
Jeju city
Busan
Haenam
Gyeryong
Gwangju
Gyeongju

I think that's most of them at least. Happy New Year!

Geography Prejudices

This is a collection of prejudices people in the world are known for according to Google (via kottke)

Since South Korea isn't represented (it is the hermit kingdom after all), I'll add my own.

Drinking
Karoake
Eating kimchi
Fashion frenzy
Inexplicable historic trend of only teaching the reading component of English

ETAs, feel free to add to that list!