Ding Dong the Communist leader is dead

Just moments ago the news of KJ-il's death made its way around all the korean lunch tables.  I have only gotten the opinions of the English teachers' office, but it was much gloomier than I had anticipated.  I was the one who broke the news to them, so of course they went off to do a bit of personal research before talking with me.  I was most surprised by what they think might happen next.  One teacher thinks revolution, one thinks China will drop on by, and they both think the US will have their fingers up North Korea's nose regardless of the situation.  I think a whole lot of thumb twiddling will occur at first, but it would seem the time is right for something a tad bit on the crazy side.  South Koreans want to be reunited with their lost relatives, and others might see economical incentive to take part, but I hope who ever takes over (probably his equally crazy son, KJ-un) something is done about the known labor/prison camps.  

I'm a bit excited to be in South Korea during this historic time.  Perhaps something spectacular happens, or maybe it'll be like 4th of July and you convinced your mom to buy the really big and expensive firework that turns out to be a dud.  Fingers crossed for something to happen that's both safe and leads to progress on the peninsula.  

In Keith news, I had an extremely easy day today as I had 5 of 6 classes get canceled due to the end of the semester.  I should be working on my winter camp plans, but I still have 1/2 a day to make some sort of constructive effort in that department.  For now I will sit on facebook and either share KJ-il jokes, or discuss what will happen in the coming months in regards to SK and NK.  

Hope your day is better than KJ-il's

-keith

heating wars

I've been apart of an ongoing war within the school the past few weeks that got extra ridiculous this morning.  An interesting fact about Korean schools is that they are only partially heated, and the same goes for AC in the summer. For some reason my school has appointed the copy machine guy at my school as the heating czar.  I don't have a clue what his name is, but for the sake of simplicity I'll give him a western name for this blog.  So, Frank is the heating czar.  I can't communicate with Frank, but from his body language it would seem that he doesn't much like foreigners.  I don't deal with Frank outside of my heating and cooling needs, and the occasional fix in my room.   Frank checks my lights and heat use every day multiple times.  if I leave for more than a few minutes I'm expected to turn off my heat, which seem absolutely absurd, but I comply since that is easier than explaining why I think it's ridiculous.  I'm not sure if I forgot to turn off my heat during lunch or while I was teaching in a different class, but it seems like I pissed Frank off a little extra recently.  Frank, as heating czar, has the ability to control my room's heating... and I know when he adjusts the heat or turns it on/off because it makes a certain noise each time he touches it.

Today, I came to school per usual and turned my heat on as I walked into my room.  No more than 5 seconds later I heard the him turn my heating off.  I thought it was a mistake so I turned it back on... and bam, 2 seconds later he turned it off!  For him to respond that quickly to my turning the heat on would imply that he watched me enter the building and waited at the controls to turn the heat off as soon as I turned it on...  I thought it was funny so I shared this with my co-teachers, but they didn't think it was funny.  They tried turning it on only to find Frank turning it off immediately.  Finally, we called down to the office and shared our displeasure with them.  Finally, Scrooge (Frank) turned my heat back on at a lower than usual temperature and locked the controls so that I can't adjust them.  I don't much care since I prefer a lower temperature than my co-teacher, but I'm sure he's enjoying the thought of winning the heating war.  

Regardless, it's Friday and I don't give a shit if my room is hot or cold.  Tonight is the opening of a new bar in Suwon that everyone is excited for.  It's called Sam Ryan's, and there is the same bar in Seoul that everyone goes to on the weekends to watch sports from back home.  They have a ton of big screens showing sports, and customers can request any game they want.  They also have the cheapest beer and the best western food in town.  Their ribs special will be a staple in my weekly routine, I'm sure.  

 

Happy Holidays to everyone

keith

the most important eraser

Standard activities to kill time before the next class.

Guest blogger, Matt Marx

A friend and fellow UW-Madison graduate posted this on his blog, and I thought it was funny, unique, and a hell of a lot better than anything I could have come up with.  I asked him if I could share it with people who read my blog, and he agreed!  So, here is a funny story about jelly beans.

The Dangers of Jelly Beans

 

Dec8by Matt Marx

This diary excerpt, torn and smeared with blood and jelly bean remains, was found in the halls of Hamhyun Middle School in Siheung City, South Korea.  Readers beware:  Some of the content is graphic–and stupid–in nature.

Day 4:  08:44 LST

What drives the hellions to such madness?  What dark thoughts do they harbor, twisting their hearts to such insane cruelty?

In my many hours of solitude, I’ve often thought about The Swarm.  It’s been the only activity I’ve had  to keep my sanity, which is under constant assault from the jeers of the enemy.  And yet, answers still elude me.

Holed up in a freezing, abandoned classroom, my supplies are now dangerously low. Perhaps hope is in the shortest supply. I’m surviving on a jar of what has started this whole ghastly ordeal–a jar of Jelly Beans.  If I could only turn back the clock four days….my god, four days? Has it really only been that long?  I feel as if I’ve been on the run for a year.  I  look back at the naive fool I was, thinking I could brighten the student’s dreary exam schedule with jelly beans, newly arrived from home.  I grabbed the jar, and left the warm embrace of the heated teacher’s office into the adolescent chaos.  As I entered the arctic hallways and into the realm of the conch, I met with my first group of students.

And my doom.

Their cheerful eyes darted from mine to the jar, then slowly back to mine–and then they changed into something else entirely.  The smiles never left their youthful faces, but their eyes…I shudder to even remember…their eyes suddenly became monstrously old–gleaming with hateful avarice forged from the fires of primal wrath. I saw my own death reflected in every pupil.  The hallways suddenly seem unbearably hot from the greed burning through their gaze.  I ceased to be their teacher–or even human–and became a mere obstacle to sweetness.

41 flavors. 41 reasons to kill.

I don’t remember much after that.  I do know I miraculously escaped, torn and bloody, into this classroom.  My accursed tomb.  I think I perhaps used some kind of distraction.  “Look over there!  What’s Girl’s Generation and Super Junior doing here?!  And they’re giving out free cellphones?!”

But the ruse is up. I hear them closing in, and every one of the demons in the school–oh god, their eyes!!!– have been alerted to my presence. With my last shred of sanity being chipped away by The Swarm’s war cries (“Teacher!  Nice to meet you!”), I now realize it’s only a matter of time.

The din is now ear-piercing, and it’s only getting louder.  They’re at the door. Strange–when you accept the inevitable, a warm peace enters the body.  A welcome feeling in the frigid airs of a South Korean classroom.

Well done, Matt!  It's funny for all of us that know the ridiculous lengths that these kids will go to for a 1/2 inch square of chocolate.  The zombie-like description of the students is great, and their war cry of "Teacher! Nice to meet you," is spot on.  For most of you it is just a well-written and funny short story.  For us it is our every day life.

Hope you enjoyed the story!  


-keith

keeps

they play for keeps here in korea.

student murders overbearing mother.  student forges grades to make her believe he is a top 100 student in Korea.  She expected #1, but in reality he was around 4,000th.  crazy.

FTA update

Thanks to by buddy, Nate, who posted this on facebook.

my faborite part is about the sledgehammer.  #politics

FTA

Perhaps this will change in the near future, but so far the US media (cnn) has done a poor job of covering an outrageous story that occurred in S. Korea recently.  I assume most people have heard about the Free Trade Agreement that was finally agreed upon last month regarding a handful of countries; South Korea was one of the countries included in the FTA bill that passed through our Congress.  However, it still needed to go through the approval process in South Korea.  There has been fierce opposition to the bill in Korea by the minority party, or the Korean version of Democrats.  I had been shallowly following the korean news about it recently and misinterpreted many of the headlines when they read "opposition party prevents vote on FTA."  When they say they prevented the bill from being voted on, they meant the KDs (korean dems) physically blocked the vote... can't vote if you're not in the building!  So, for today's vote there were security forces to prevent the physical blockade of representatives. Today, the GNP (elephants) members called an unscheduled session to vote on the measure. The Repubs didn't even have the courtesy to even mention it to the KDs (sounds like a play straight out of the wisconsin republican party's play book).  When the KDs found out, they understandably went apeshit.  I'm assuming I'm missing a handful of facts on this because I don't speak Korean, but it also appears that a KD let off a tear gas canister next to the Speaker's podium.  In the end, the GNP, who have enough of a majority to pass the legislation without the dems, skipped the whole committee process, and brought it to a vote immediately.  It passed w/ 7 nay-votes.


Tip of the hat to you if you made it this far.

Recently there was a Mayoral election in Seoul, which is used as an indicator for the upcoming Presidential election.  If things continue the GNP is in for an ass whooping in 2012.

In Keith News, my schedule is again changing...  Really annoyed by this, and it started to show today.  Oh well, I suppose it's more likely to happen again if I don't let it be known that I don't appreciate the volatility in my schedule.  Starting in December I'll be teaching my littlest students only twice a week, not four times.  Kinda nice, but now that I've got the hang of it I'd like to have the extra income.

Well, it's feedin time here, and I'm about to devour a bowl of traditional korean porridge.  NOM NOM NOM.

-keith

confirmation

I received confirmation on a previous suspicion.

This note was left for me on my whiteboard after walking out on a game of apples 2 apples after the girls admitted to not picking my card because I am the teacher.

hi mom, hi dad, hi josh

ron swanson

sponge bob

funny vid

here's just one video, but there are many on youtube that are similar. 

new classes

I was surprised a few weeks ago when they asked me to teach 4 more classes each week.  These classes are grades 1 & 2, and I think one or two 3rd graders as well.  I've only completed one week, but it seems to be more of a daycare class than it does an english class.  I still use English lessons to fill the time.  The head teachers of the program said that many of the students don't have the luxury of learning English at a hagwon (private after-school academy) like many of the other students, so they thought it'd be a great opportunity for them to learn a bit of English to help them get a jump on the language.  It's my first time with such young students, and to be honest it was a bit daunting.  Teaching 5th and 6th grade was a shock after college, but these kids are a whole new ball game.  Describing both 1-2 grades and 5-6 grades as elementary is ridiculous.  I was most nervous about general communication and safety of the kids, but luckily so far another daycare person has been with me.  These kids speak zero English and are all over the place, so naturally I'm a bit worried about them getting hurt.  I'm not the best with crying kids, especially ones who do not speak English.  If kids cry in my class I generally just ask them if they want to see the nurse, or get a drink of water.  I don't know what else to do... Maybe that changes once you have kids of your own, but I've never had any experience comforting little kids that got a boo-boo from walking into the corner of a freakin' table.  Oh well, another opportunity for me to learn something.

There are two perks to teaching these classes.

1-  These students have nearly zero English ability, but are overly excited to learn English.  They have a ton of Energy, and they want to put all of that energy into participating in class.  IT'S REFRESHING.  It is the first time I've had the problem of deciding who to call on.  I have to be very careful to distribute attention to everyone equally, or I risk a major tearfest.  Teaching the ABCs is pretty easy, and can be done in so many ways that it's quite easy and fun.  Even things like cleaning the board of the letters is hugely popular.

2- I get paid extra to teach these classes.  It is quite a bit to plan 26-28 lessons per week, but the money will be nice in the end.

Within the English department there is a teacher that we have come to our school once a week for two hours to teach both of our advanced classes.  She is either trying, or is already preggo, so it looks like I'll be the one to pick up these classes.  I already teach these kids two hours each during the week, and have been struggling to find new subject matters to keep them interested. So, to teach them an extra hour each week is kind of weighing on me.  3 hours per week of special classes for two different classes is a lot.  There isn't a curriculum for me to follow or get ideas from.  Hopefully after this semester I'll get a new batch of kids so I can use some of my old lessons on them.

 The 5th-6th grade kids are horrible, and never want to do fun things.  Nothing seems good enough for them... It's been the most aggravating thing thus far in my 14 months in Korea.  The 3rd-4th grade kids are more willing to participate, and their English is better than the 5th-6th grade class, but they require a certain treatment that can be REALLY obnoxious.  All 27 kids demand attention at the very same time, and it seems everyone has something earth shattering to share with me.  It tends to be something like "I have a pencil case," or "Teacher, I don't want to do activity today."  Which I respond to with things such as "congratulations!" or "That's too bad, sit down and do the activity with your neighbor."

I found out this week that it doesn't look like my winter vacation is going to go as planned.  I re-signed for this year with the intention of doing much more travel.  Last year I had 20 days of vacation, and did not get to use all of the days.  Since the days rolled over to this contract I now have 32 days off.  I guess they want me to take two one-week vacations which makes it difficult to make travel plans.  Most people go to Southeast Asia for 10-12 days.  I will have 7 days off at a time, so this makes it quite difficult.  The flights are too expensive to go twice, and flights to places near Korea (japan) are really expensive.  I'm not so sure I'll get to take a vacation worth mentioning this year.  I'm not happy about this.  That'll have to suffice since I don't know who reads this, and I don't need more problems.

We got the results from our English competition, and our school took 3rd.  I guess special private schools that are mostly made up of students who lived abroad were allowed in the competition, making it almost pointless, so silver is REALLY good.  The principal called our office to tell us that he was happy with the results, so that's nice.  Can't hurt my situation, that's for sure.

Well, last week was really long, and I spent the weekend catching up on sleep.  I planned a few lessons so my next week won't be quite so busy, and went to the gym a few times.  The gym membership is a bit spendy here, but has been well worth it as a stress-reliever.

I've finished my coffee, time to go home.

-keith

packers rock anthem

PACKERS and scantily clad women... perfect video!

bad teacher

Recently, a student learned the words bad and teacher.  she even managed to put the two words together!  (maybe I am getting to these students...)  Anyways she kept saying it since it's the only thing she knows how to say, and it got me to thinking whether or not I was a good or bad teacher.  I do believe I put a lot of time and effort into teaching, and overall I'm quite happy with my performance.  However, I realized there are certain things that I do, or don't do, that might make me a "bad teacha."

Example 1:  I have two doors to my room, and we ask the students to use the back door to enter and exit the class.  This has been a rule for a long time, and is even stated in Korean to make it abundantly clear.  Sadly, students seem to see the sign and find joy in breaking my simple request.  Actually, it wasn't my request, it was a different teacher's, but I'm annoyed when kids don't adhere to simple rules.  So, to break this bad habit I have taken a liking to letting students use the front door to leave the room to go get a drink of water or go to the bathroom.  Keep in mind you PULL this door to leave the room, and PUSH this door to enter the room.  After the student leaves the room I casually walk past the front door and lock it to make sure the student uses the back door.  What could possibly go wrong?  Well, every kid knows they shouldn't run in the halls... so what do they do???  RUN.  Usually, they bust into the room at 100 mph, look at me with a smile, and give me a look of satisfaction that they broke the rule and they don't care if I don't like it.  Locking the door while they're out fixes this.  Ever heard a small bird hit a glass window?  It gives a pretty good thump!  Well a 6th grader sounds like a flock of eagles hitting a window.  It will also elicit a good laugh from the class as well.

Example 2:  unless there is blood or actual fists getting thrown, I DON'T CARE.  slapping is way too common here...

Example 3:  after school I pretend that my ipod is playing even when I haven't picked a song yet.  see you tomorrow kiddies...

Example 4:  the student who named himself golden now has a new nickname.  Aluminum.  and it's sticking.

Example 5: More worksheets have been distributed during football season than the rest of the year combined.  when Green Bay opened the season on thursday night I made the most difficult word search known to man.  I win.

Example 6:  I spent 30 minutes writing this blog entry instead of planning my lesson that'll occur in an hour.  better wrap this up...

Example 7:  I spent 20 minutes, before the aforementioned 30 minutes, trying to find the best video clip of the teacher from charlie brown.

I'm sure there are more examples, and I'll post them as I think of them.  Perhaps some will be more elaborate such as example 1.

sincerest regards,

a tired teacher

English class in Korea...

English Competition

On Wednesday we took the kids back to Hwaseong Fortress to take part in the English competition.  The kids were really excited, and it was fun to see them work together to do well.  There were about 15 or 16 different locations around the fortress for the competition, and luckily ours wasn't at the top of the "mountain."  One of our kids was on crutches, and wasn't looking forward to helping him up the hill if we got Seojangdae (command post at the highest point).  Maeyeoul, my school, was the first group to go in our fleet, and it was evident that they were nervous!  Luckily the native English judges were very helpful and clear.  The students walked away from the questions jumping and yelling as they answered every question with quality answers.  I'm proud of how hard they worked, but I'm also happy it's over.  I get my lunch break and passing time back.  Some other teachers took photos from the competition so I'll try to get some from them and post them on here.  I do have some photos from last week when we took them around the fortress for practice.  

this weekend is the yearly school festival, so the school has been in busybeaver-mode.  Today we managed to hang about 100 pictures and put out another 100 plants.  It's quite the show, and all the homerooms put on a skit or dance or song.  I'm looking forward to seeing all the different songs and dances, the kids did a great job last year. 

Also, I was just penciled in to teach 4 more classes starting in November.  I'm not exactly excited to teach more classes, especially because the kids are so young.  This will be 1st and 2nd graders who speak zero English.  Personally, I disagree w/ having someone taking care of 20 kids when the adult can't communicate with the little kids, but they want them to have the opportunity to learn a bit of English at that age.  It's when some students begin English academies, but these kids don't have that option.  I suppose the silver lining is the extra pay.  I also have absolutely zero experience with kids this young, so I don't know what I'll do.  It'll be a learning experience for both teacher and student...

time for bed, g'night

keith

sunday funday

I just finished watching the Badgers get embarrassed at Michigan State... I think the Badgers were the better team, but if you have four straight possessions of turnovers/blocked kicks you're going to have a hard time climbing out of the hole you dug.  Still they almost did just that.  I have a feeling we'll be seeing the MSU Spartans again in the future.

On to more important things...

In continuing my effort of writing more I thought I'd share a couple recent things at school.  The kids stories seem to be more popular than stories from my day to day life, so I'll stick to those for today.

I began my Halloween themed classes on friday, and the kids went nuts for it.  I can't blame them because they're smart enough to know that Teacha Keiss is going to bring in copious amounts of candy to give them right before I send them home, or to someone else's class.  I certainly am not getting 10 year old, candy-deprived children a lot of candy before I ask them to sit quietly and listen to me.  Friday's class was mostly just pictures of autumn foliage and kids costumes to make them jealous of my country and american holidays which was quite successful.  I showed a lot of american cartoons about halloween, and even a clip about haunted houses which had the girls scared outa their minds, and the boys screaming to watch it again.  The last half hour we made halloween masks which was a lot of fun, and I noticed the kids getting more and more creative.  Creativity isn't common among young Korean students because there is no time for creativity.  It's a sad fact here, and I think most native teachers try to encourage creativity whenever possible.  Here are a few masks the students made:

more creative

less creative

My co-teacher put some of the projects about the fortress up around the room.  I never took time to really look at the posters, however I probably should since things like this get put up.  I decided not to take it down because it provides a quick laugh every time I pass by.

In case you didn't notice, it clearly says "Porn" on the bottom-center sticker.  As far as I know there was zero porn related structures in the Hwaseong Fortress. 

Next week is the Hwaseong English competition which I've been helping out with for the past month or so.  The two women in my office (Julie & Annie) have taken the grand majority of the work for this, but I help with the pronunciations and general tips to sounding more "american."  It isn't so much an English competition as it is a "who can memorize the most" competition.  So far my kids are doing pretty good.  Last Wednesday we took the kids to the fortress to walk around the entire structure and show them what exactly they're talking about.  I think it worked pretty well, but it lasted a long time.  The entire circuit is a bit over 3.5 miles so the kids were pretty exhausted afterwards.  Mt. Paldal is in the middle, and one leg of the wall runs up the "mountain."  I tried to explain to the kids that if it only takes 10 minutes to get to the top it probably isn't a mountain.  However, I didn't want to detract from their accomplishment.  It was actually really nice to walk the whole wall, finally.  I visited it a few times when I first arrived, but have found little reason to go back until now.  The last time I went there was with Chrissi and Enna which was october of last year.  WOW, how the time flies.  

Last week I was sick on Monday and Tuesday leading me to miss work on monday.  This was not good, and I plan on going to work even if I'm puking in the future.  Lesson learned.  I'm not going to delve into detail here because it wasn't a fun situation, and doesn't merit any more blog space.  

That's all for now.  Time to finish up some side-work that I'm doing to help a teacher at school.  

Hope all is well with those who read this.  

GO PACKERS

  

students' story

I gave some students a packet of pictures to look at and write about.  The only rule was to use past tense, however they've come to realize that I prefer funny stories.  Here is my favorite.

Bad Family

Once upon a time, a family lived in Canada, but they smuggled squirrels.  This bad family came to Korea.  They were arrested by policemen because they smuggled squirrels in South Korea.  They ran away to Suwon Station.  They took the KTX.  They went to Sokcho Station.  They climbed Seoraksan and they ate bananas.  But they were arrested again by policemen.  The bad family went to jail forever.  

The End.  

Those squirrel smugglin' SOBs... great story though!

hostage

thought of a story that happened about a month ago that I wanted to share.  probably the funniest hostage situation ever to happen.  Wolfish (my friend) and I were leaving my apartment to get lunch, so we hopped in the elevator.  A grandma and her grandson entered the elevator but the lady forgot something in her apartment.  the little kid walked out of the elevator and stared at wolfish and me.  We thought it was kinda cute and so we waved to the little guy who immediately started to laugh.  Then, the kid started pushing the elevator button to hold the door open... essentially holding us hostage on the 15th floor.  we laughed the first time and the kid burst out into laughter.  I thought it would end there, but the kid wouldn't stop... we said bye to him and eventually, after about 20 seconds he let the door close.  FINALLY.  Unfortunately, this kid had the timing down so that as soon as the doors closed he would hit the button again and keep us on the 15th floor.  It was like an epic game of peek-a-boo for him and wolfish and I were stuck there for his entertainment.  He did this approximately 10 times... It was the funniest thing I've ever seen a kid do, and I couldn't really be mad at him.  At last the grandma showed up and apologized to us.  I didn't really care, I kinda got a kick out of it.
Not much one can do either... go kick the kid so he falls over??? nope.
yell at a kid in public for pushing a button?  nope... just a funny event.

Monday is a holiday to celebrate the founding of the current government after the japanese occupation.  This allows me to watch football w/o having the longest day of classes, so it's a welcomed holiday.  I suppose I'm happy that korea found its independence from japan, too.  congrats korea, ya did it!  (with a little help from the state of the world in 1945...)

Big week in wisconsin sports as well.  I think all brewers fans are relieved that we finally made it to the post season with the ability to make a splash... we've had quite a few good years with little ability to do much in the playoffs.  Badgers are playing Nebraska in Madison in a night game... I'm almost happy that I don't live there anymore because I'm not sure I could handle the day's activities.  notice the emphasis on almost.. there's nothing I'd like more than to be in madison on a cool fall day celebrating the badgers with all my friends.  maybe next year.  Last, the packers stand to start the season 4-0 with the majority of our team all healthy, CRAZY!  Prediction:  GBP 42 :  DB 13.

I also predict wins for the brewers and badgers in what ends up being one of the best weeks of wisconsin sports, EVER.

enjoy the games!

keith

awesome day

I found my old barber who I thought retired.  awesome.

ROK update

G'afternoon,

I'll catch you up on some of the recent events in Korea.  The end of August brought a mass exodus of friends and fellow English teachers.  It was both fun and sad at the same time as we celebrated everyone's successful year in Korea.  Now that is all over and I am left to adjust to my new social scene (or lack there of).  I have not noticed my sudden lack of friends so much due to my recent discovery of a partially torn labrum in my shoulder.  I had experienced quite a bit of pain while playing volleyball at my school which led me to visit the doctor to solve the issue.  Eight x-rays, an MRI, and several hundreds of dollars later we discovered the problem, and I have been told to take a rest for the next few weeks.  I'm also on a heavy concoction of pain killers and muscle relaxers that leave my shoulder feelin' reaaaalllyyy good.  So far the process has been pretty good thanks to an awesome doctor who speaks nearly perfect English.  We discussed his English ability as he stuck me with the biggest freakin' needle I've ever seen.  I don't think he was purposely taking a long time to administer the three shots, but he was clearly in no rush, either.  So, I'm poppin pills like they're tic-tacs every day, and that has thrown a kink in weekend plans as I can't drink while taking the pills.  I had a couple beers during a recent holiday ending with poor results, but that story is for another time.  

The weather in Korea has taken a turn for the better as the temperatures have been hovering around 70 during the day, and mid 50's at night.  Finally, I don't show up to school with a darker shirt than when I left my apartment...  Sweating balls and trying to hide it really sucks at a school full of kids that feel the need to point out every imperfection the teacher has.  I usually respond to their jabs with my ability to pronounce the letters 'l' 'j' and 'z'.  But I digress... the weather is beautiful leading to more time outside.  Throwing a frisbee has been doable w/ my shoulder, but a football/baseball/basketball has proven to be a bit painful.  Hopefully this weather sticks around for a few more weeks before jackets are needed.  

A new crop of UW grads has landed in Korea to teach, but Korea is in the midst of downsizing the number foreigners in public schools.  Last year I landed in Korea with 50 or 60 other UW grads, and this year there was 20 or so.  It's too bad that this opportunity will not be available to young graduates in the coming years, as I do believe it has been and continues to be a unique opportunity.  I suppose many other countries offer such opportunities, however for less pay/benefits.   

Hopefully I meet some of these new UW people soon.  Perhaps we can watch a badger game or two.  

And lastly, this weekend is the big Oktoberfest weekend in La Crosse (probably Germany too) and I am jealous of everyone who gets to celebrate.  Hopefully the weather is nice, and the parade is sunny.  

over & out. 

keith

some vids of the kids

My first few weeks back from the US were a bit easier than regular classes.  I taught summer classes that lasted only 1/2 the day, then I got to go home.  That was a treat, and it was a bit difficult to get back into the swing of things once the days went to 5 O' clock opposed to 12.  

I thought I'd share a few videos that my kids did during the summer camp.  The students spent part of an hour making their own scripts, then they practiced, and finally we video taped them doing a morning news show.  Overall I was VERY impressed with the kids' abilities and composure.  Here are some videos from my 3rd and 4th graders.

If I get time I'll post a few more from different grades.  

In other news, everyone I know in Korea is departing in the coming days.  It's hard to believe that it has been a full year since I came to Korea, but indeed it has been.  It's a bit sad to see everyone go, however I'm sure the coming year will be good and full of surprises (it is korea, after all).  The last week or so we've tried to get together as much as possible, and had a solid day/night in Seoul yesterday.  

The weather has also gotten better.  It has actually been really sunny and a bit less humid, but still REALLY hot.  Anything is better than what we had for the entire month of July... that was simply torture.  

That is all for now.  I'll try to think of more things to say next time.

-keith

Walk to Work

Sometimes when it is raining so hard I try to take a bus, even though my walk is about 20 minutes.  I figure it's faster and dryer, so why not?

I was waiting for the bus today and a car did this in front of the bus stop.  Everyone screamed and acted dramatic, I was too pissed off to say or do anything.

When I got to work the co-teachers told me they have never seen a typhoon season like this, and that it usually lasts between one or two weeks.

Here is an article (English) about the typhoon season from the Korea Herald.

I also just realized I could use hyperlinks and thus the three links in the last two posts.  COOL.

stay dry,

keith

typhoon season

It's been over two months since I've blogged and I'm afraid if I don't use it I'll lose it.

A variety of things have happened since I last wrote and I'll try to touch on a few of them.
First, typhoon season is in full effect and it is quite possibly the most depressing thing I've ever encountered.  The rain is unrelenting and sometimes unpredictable.  Looking at the 5 or 10 day forecast is useless because every day it just says a 90% chance of rain and sometimes thunderstorms.  Initially the rain was welcomed because the humidity was brutal, however some how the rain doesn't reduce the humidity to a manageable level... I'm still sweating an absurd amount and the kids think I'm a monster.  The walk to school is the worst because I will sweat through a clean shirt by the time I get to school and I have to either change shirts or dry out with a fan quickly before the students arrive.  Also, the mornings of heavy rain make for a difficult walk to school because my pants are soaked and usually parts of my shirt are too by the time I get to school... Umbrellas are no match for this weather!!!  I've killed 4 or 5 umbrellas in the last two weeks, and the most recent one (bought it yesterday) doesn't seem like it'll last much longer, either.
This sums up typhoon season rather well.
The rain has been SO ridiculous that we had landslides near Seoul and it derailed a subway on line 1 (my line).  I don't think anyone died, but a handful of injuries I'm sure.  The initial storm that kicked off the season was particularly brutal as it killed 7 and a handful more were missing for quite some time.  Luckily, I slept through the typhoon and woke up to clear skies.
I'm certainly looking forward to the Wisconsin weather when I get back in late July!  I suppose it'll be the dog days of summer, but hopefully we have a few hot/dry days so I can get a few rounds of golf in with friends.  Warm weather and the ability to hangout outside while grilling has been one of the more common daydreams I've used to get myself through the long afternoons of doing nearly nothing.

Classes are somewhat over for the semester, which has been kind of nice.  For some unknown reason the students have their finals day two weeks before the end of the semester... this leads to two problems.  1- students do not care about anything and thus are the most unmotivated/horrible creatures on Earth.  This is scientific fact... they're worthless.  2- my curriculum is finished and now I have to babysit/teach for a week and a half... movies have been my most effective weapon against the monsters.  Luckily, I have not shown many movies (none actually) to them, so I've been picking out pixar movies to show each class.  This has essentially ruined all pixar movies for me since I watch the same 40 minute clip 2 or 3 times in a row and repeated for the next 40 minute segment the following day...  Oh well, I'm just trying to survive until next friday.

Weekends have been a mix of dinners, drinks, and rec team sports.  My attendance to frisbee was poor, but I had one good excuse and a handful of other excuses that pass in my book but not for nearly anyone else.  However, my attendance to volleyball league has been perfect and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time playing with my new team.  The whole team is a good group of people who enjoy the games and make a point to laugh along the way... I can't say the same for some of the other teams so far.

Next Friday I'll be finishing up my first week of English Summer Camp 2011, and I'll be high-tailing it to Incheon Int'l Airport to make the long trek home.  Excited would be an understatement, but I'm sure the time will fly before my vacation.  It'll be nice to see the family all together which seems to be hard to do for many reasons.  This may be a good time to also mention and congratulate my brother, Josh, and his girlfriend/fiancee, Angela, on their engagement and recent move!  Couldn't be happier for them, and I couldn't have asked for a better family as a whole... now I just need to get out to Wyoming to visit them! (more travel!!!)

This year is quickly coming to an end, and although I'll be here for another year after I return from the US in August, it definitely is a bit sad to see this year come to a close.  I've made a few great friends and I'm positive we'll be good friends when I return back to the US permanently.  It'll be sad to see those people go back to the US while I stay here for a whole year alone.  Of course those are the same words I said about leaving my friends in Madison to come to Korea, so I'm certain I'll make new friends and be more than fine.

Well this post was going to be a quick rant about typhoons and it quickly got out of hand.  Semi-sorry about that.  Not really though.

Best regards to those who've made it through all my blathering,

Keith

things I've laughed at recently

The students got a much needed breather this week due to our school's sports day followed by Children's Day (national holiday).  Last week was their midterms, and clearly the students were running on fumes the last few days.  Wednesday was sports day and the entire school was out on the playground to cheer on their team.  It was a good mix of running events and random games that I had never seen before, so I got a kick out of the whole thing.  Koreans have a warmup routine that is used before every gym class or sporting event to loosen up the body, so the students lined up by class and went through the motions of the 'national stretching song' while I laughed and tried to take pictures.  It reminded me of George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-four' as teachers scoped out the crowd for the rebels who were unwilling to bend all the way, and the heavy usage of the term 'big brother' strengthens the comparison.  

hana, dul, set, net

Next up were some running/relay events.  The little kids race was hilarious as they haven't quite developed their running skills enough to do a whole race without a lot of falling over.  They're too concerned with where their neighbor is to focus on not face planting.  Those races ended in a fair amount of tears, luckily there was an ice cream stand near the school to quell the sobs.  Also I found it funny how the kids would run with their heads pointed up/chin first. 

Next up were some of the games.  I'll share just a few that stuck out to me.  One involved a large ball that was perhaps 4 feet tall.  They had little kids (1st grade?  2nd perhaps?) push the ball to the middle of the field and turn around and push it back where they would give it to the next group to do the same thing.  The kids got a big kick out of pushing the ball as fast as they could, but they didn't put much thought to how they should stop the ball.  This led to a lot of casualties in the waiting line as the ball would come barreling in and the kids weren't paying attention.  The ball won that battle every time, launching kids a few feet and into tears.  

some kid is donebar

Another event was quite similar to a piñata, except instead of using a stick the kids were given a bunch of hackysacks to throw at the ball.  A few unfortunate teachers were tasked with holding the pole that held the ball, needless to say they were pelted over and over again.  The students were too weak so parents rushed the field to take care of business... the teachers were none too pleased.  

sooo much homework was given out after this event

Two events that went over really well were the adult races and tug-of-war, more commonly known as pull the rope in korea...  Nothing better than moms running as hard as they can in street clothes and flimsy shoes or high heels.  The mens races were impressive with one dude wiping out pretty hard.  

winners

losers

other things that have recently made me laugh...

Nate and I were at a local watering hole the other evening, throwin darts and sippin on some barley water when an open mic session started up.  The MC was rockin out his first song, Wonderwall, by Oasis and when he got to the line 'after all, you're my wonderwall' it came out as 'and afterawrrrrr, you're my wonderwarrrrrr' and i couldn't keep it together.  South Park's interpretation of a korean accent is spot on!

That'll do it for now, hope all is well with whoever reads this.

-keith

sad day

My barber shop has been boarded up and barber pole taken down.  I'm not sure if there is any place else in the neighborhood that can make me feel so relaxed one moment and scared for my life the next like that guy could.

of course it's the day I go to get a haircut too...

correction

I will be home July 22nd-August 5th.  I should land in La Crosse around 8 PM.

I never knew this, but I guess La Crosse airport also flies to Detroit!  I'll be flying Incheon --> Detroit --> La Crosse.  Not bad!!!

take care

update

The long stretch of only school related activity continues, but I thought I would update a bit on what I've done.  My after-school classes have been keeping me really busy as there is no curriculum for them, simply what I want to do.  I describe those classes as a welcomed burden... they can be an absolute horror to plan for, but I see the genuine interest in the students as I teach.  That is a welcomed change from the slow and boring national curriculum that I teach every day!!!  Thus far I've taught about natural disasters with my 5th-6th graders, and animals with my 3rd-4th graders... The younger students gave presentations about animals and I was very impressed with about 85% of my class.  Next up is alternative energy with my older students, and my younger students' class is being taken over by an actress who is teaching a play for the English festival that is coming in June.

School volleyball has continued with an increased intensity.  I'm split on how I feel about this, as a local restaurant has a banner proclaiming they're the official hangout or restaurant of the school's vball team.  We also have been coached by an ex-member of the S. Korean national volleyball team.  I enjoy the exercise and bonding it has brought on, but it can be difficult to plan around the volleyball schedule since I usually get less than 24 hours notice about our matches.  Recently we played in a tournament between 8 or so schools and took first place.  You had to be over the age of 40 or be a female to participate so I was tasked with cheering on the team via "highting" yelps.  "highting" is the korean way of saying "fighting" and is a team unity cheer to get everyone revved up.  or so i think?

Here's a photo of the team and fellow "highting" yelpers



Not much else is new.  I should be home from July 24th-August 5th, but plane tickets have not been purchased yet, so don't bank on that.

That'll be all for now.
Hope all is well with whoever reads this.

keith

Birthday!

I was quite surprised how word spread in the school about my birthday.  Approximately 2 or 3 weeks ago the students asked when my birthday was... I told them but actually thought they'd forget or not care when the day came.  Sure enough the kids remembered and I was bombarded by happy birthday wishes from every kid in the school.  It was fun to listen to them sing Happy Birthday to me in English, and funny when they all pronounced my name as Keeeiiisss.  Furthermore, I had a couple students write me birthday messages, give me candy, and best of all they were well-behaved for the WHOLE day.  I never realized how much of a treat that is for a teacher!  I only taught a couple classes on friday, so I was amazed at how many students ran down to the English room in between classes to see me.

Saturday was the actual celebration with friends, as I planned a small dinner with a few close people at a brazilian steakhouse.  This may actually go down as the best decision I ever make in my life, as the food at the restaurant was phenomenal.  Seriously, quite possibly the best meal I've had.  Many people know of these restaurants, but in case you have never happened across one of these gold mines allow me to paint you a beautiful picture...  The restaurant was a smaller place on the 2nd floor of a small building.  Nothing on the outside or walkway up seemed special or of significance.  However, as soon as I walked in I realized this place was going to blow my toupee away.  They have long metal spears that they place chunks of rump roast, sirloin, and other steak on.  Then they roast the meat in a hellish contraption that I imagine is unique in some way or another... I didn't worry about that, I was more concerned with my plate.  Then, a server comes to your table with one of the spears and a knife.  You eye up the chunk of meat and try to stop drooling as the server places the spear near your plate and slices off a PERFECTLY cooked slab of meat.  CHOMP CHOMP CHOMP.... DONE!  at this point I would have thought "wow, that was delicious."  However, as you finish your first slab the server comes out with a new kind of meat that has been kissed by the fire spitting hell-machine in the back.  The guy asks if you want a rare slice or something else, all I really remember is not caring, because I know anything thats about to come off that gigantic piece of meat is going to be delectable.  This process continues until you can't feel feelings anymore or when they think you might actually blow.  Besides steak they offered chicken wings, chicken hearts (chewy, not bad though), and BACON.  

Bacon deserves its own paragraph... the bacon was thick and smokey.  It was also wrapped around smaller pieces of steak to give it a bit more to chew.  It was unbelievable...

Anyways, I went to the restaurant with Nate, Braden, Wolfish and Diana.  For followers of the blog you might recall this group from my trip to Hong Kong (minus Diana).  These guys have been the bees' knees when it comes to friends (this sentence would include Diana).  I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to enjoy such a great meal with.  I'm very thankful for them showing up on their saturday night to saturate themselves with meat on my birthday.

Following the dinner we went out for some celebratory drinks, however that is not newsworthy.  Although D did drop a flaming shot on the floor of the bar and I couldn't stop laughing.  In her defense there was a fan in the bar and it did threaten to start her on fire as well.  Oh well... no one got hurt so it's all good.

Finally, the last of the birthday celebrations was today.  Fran, a co-worker and more importantly a friend, from last semester, has her birthday tomorrow.  We had been trying to meet up for dinner since she left Maeyeoul, but our schedules have been conflicting.  Luckily we found time between our two birthdays to meet for dinner and celebrate.  I got her a small assortment of dessert cakes along with a bottle of wine, and she gave me very nice wallet!  We dined at a restaurant called VIPS in Suwon, and I was lucky enough to meet her son, Ryan.  He seems like a bright young man (6th grade), who already speaks great English (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree).    Overall a great 23rd (or 24th in Korea) birthday!

Here are a few photos from the celebrations:

throwing up the twos

happy bersday, teacha keeeiiisss

tried to make it bigger so it is easier to read

happy

full

energy is high

not much to say, but I was swarmed by students today and took out a camera to snap a few photos.  pictures of students never get old.

response after every photo: "AAWWWEEE TTEEAACCCHHAAA!!!!"

I don't know what they were expecting...

resign or re-sign?

I decided to re-sign.

I've been tossing the idea of staying in Korea for another year ever since I returned from my visit home in January, and I finally decided to stay for a 2nd year.  I'm very excited to do some more travel around Asia, SE Asia in particular.  Re-signing with the same school provides some extra benefits that sweetens the deal as well such as 5 extra days of vacation, and a pay raise.  I don't have anything better going on, and I do enjoy the lifestyle in Korea so it makes sense to me.   

I will still be returning home in late August-ish for two weeks between my contracts.

thats all for now.  take care.

not much new

Not much is new in my world currently, but I thought I'd add an entry to the blog for fun.  This week has been a bit crazy due to the new teaching style of the co-teacher.  It is a welcomed change from last semester as I think students are a bit more motivated in class.  We now give light homework and a test at the end of each chapter.  both are super easy so it was rather disappointing when students didn't grasp everything as well as I thought they had.  Oh well, it shows me where they need help... something I can't say about last semester.  

So I gave/graded tests for both 5th and 6th grade which turned out to take up most of my time.  I also had to test students for my after-school program which is hugely popular this semester.  I had over 110 applicants and only 50 spots (25 for 3&4 grade, 25 for 5&6 grade).  I interviewed each person too, which was draining to say the least.  

But, it is all over now, and the weekend is about to begin.  St. Patrick's Day is being celebrated in Seoul this weekend, and everyone and their imaginary friend seems to be attending.  I suppose I'll partake in some of the festivities.  

heres some photos from the chaotic week:

He's... interesting

what else do you expect when you let them use your itouch

"picture us"

"picture us, too!"

New Semester

I'm trying to write blog entries a bit more often now.  We'll see how it goes.

Last week was the beginning of the new semester for my school.  Korean schools seem a bit backwards compared to schools in the U.S.  Last Wednesday marked the first day of the new school year, thus my old devilish 6th graders have moved on to be someone else's problem, and my two favorite classes have each moved up a year.  Also, due to new national education policy I will teach each class three times a week.  I'll spend my time with the 5th and 6th graders for 20 of my 22 classes, and I'll teach an advanced class of 3rd and 4th graders twice a week to complete my required 22.  I'm excited for the new semester for a few reasons, but the biggest being that I get to focus on two grades and hopefully get to know those kids a bit more than last year.

Also, the English department is looking a bit different than last semester due to Fran's departure, and Edward becoming a homeroom teacher for the 2nd grade.  Now I share the office with two women, Julie and Annie.  They both speak a reasonable amount of English, and they're both very nice.  I'll be teaching with Julie; so far our classes have gone well.  Julie is a bit more active in the classes, and it allows me to work some more one-on-one with some of the students who struggle.  Julie seems to be just what I needed to recover some of the energy and excitement I brought to the classroom for the first few months here.

My school has also become an English Specialized School, which is good news for me.  Prior to the certification my school doubted they'd have the money to retain me for next year.  However, with this certification comes a larger budget for English, and last week the principal asked me if I'd like to resign my contract.  I haven't decided what I'll do next year, but it is nice to have options.

Finally, another weekend has come and gone.  Nothing of substance really occurred, I only reaffirmed my my commitment to beer and sleeping.  I saw the movie 'Rango' with Nate and was not impressed, but it did get me out of my apartment for a few hours.


here are some pictures of our farewell faculty dinner:

Fran in the middle

Mr. Saw, hilarious teacher.  Moving to Seoul.

Clapton

Rocked.

I seriously considered stopping my post after that first sentence due to its overwhelmingly perfect recap, but I’ll continue. 

We walked into the venue (Olympic Park in Seoul) as Clapton is getting into his first song.  We took our seats and take in our surroundings.  I’m pleased with the seats especially because of the gigantic HD screens on each side of the stage.  They were showing close-ups of Clapton and his nifty guitar work.  I couldn’t help but smile as I sat back and listened to him play his music.  It is amazing to see a guy play every song with so much passion after so many years. 

His setlist was a good mix of classics and new songs from his newest CD.  Nothing surprising there.  He rocked each song and after each he screamed his same “THANK YOU!” into the microphone.  I’m not sure which song I enjoyed the most, but I’m going to say Cocaine only because of the enthusiasm it brought out of the Koreans who came to watch.  Clapton could have played 5 more concerts of equal length and he would still not have played all of the songs I wanted to hear. 

So, Clapton rocked.  I’m sure this statement doesn’t blow you away, as it is a FACT.  Go ahead, look it up.  

I got longwinded and now this post is boring.  I guess I should write these in a timely fashion so it’s fresh in my memory…  I should have left it at “Rocked.”

HK

            February 1^st, we three dudes from Suwon departed on our journey to the epicenter of where East collides with West, Hong Kong.  In the early afternoon we met at our usual meeting spot at Suwon Station (exit 1) to take a bus to Incheon International, where a bus limousine picked us up.  It’s a great service that I’ve used multiple times now.  For only 12,000 won (little more than 10 dollars) we get an 80-minute bus ride to our terminal at the airport.  With high spirits and a shared excitement for the trip I realized it was really nice to travel with a group of like-minded guys.  Our flights to Shanghai and Hong Kong were smooth and short, however it seemed like every 10 minutes the flight attendants would ask us to buckle up due to turbulence.  By about 9:30 we had arrived in Hong Kong, and by 10:00 PM we were on our way to our first hostel.  The first thing I noticed was the abundance of double-decker buses waiting.  We found our bus and rode about 45 minutes to our area of HK, which seemed to be at max capacity yet normal.  The area, Mong Kok, seems busier than many of the other places we visited.  Street markets in full bloom due to the up coming New Year celebration dominated Mong Kok.  That first night took some time to find our hostel, but eventually we found our way.  At first I was a bit skeptical due to the dirt and grime on the outsides of the building.  Buildings doused in soot surrounded our hostel and clearly the city’s pollution had had its way with the exteriors.  However, even in these dirt-blasted buildings one can find Rolex stores, Citi banks, and numerous jewelry stores. 

The first night was short due to our late arrival, but we still managed to find a great dim sum restaurant.  I was a first time dim sum eater, but luckily I was with two knowledgeable eaters.  Dim sum covers a wide range of options, but I found some version of a dumpling was common.  Filled with items such as chicken, pork, seafood, and veggies, dim sum can please even the pickiest of eaters.  One aspect I liked in particular was the amount per order they gave you.  Each order was only 3-4 pieces, which allows you to test the many options and not be screwed if you get something you don’t like (liked everything but the seafood).  My first meal was exciting and delicious which only heightened my anticipation for the remainder of the trip.  We finished our night with a couple beers at a local bar and called it a night in order to get a full day’s worth of activities in the next day. 

Day two contained a lot of activity.  We wandered the street markets to get a full feel for the magnitude of the New Year celebration that was gripping the entire city.  I was in awe of the produce they had.  It was also unbelievable the disparity between the nicest parts of Hong Kong and the street markets that the average person attended. 

Following the street markets we took the metro down to Tsim Sha Tsui to see the Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong’s version of Hollywood’s sidewalk of stars.   It consisted of a lot of unheard of names and over zealous Asian people finding their favorite movie stars (probably very similar to Hollywood…).  Also, there were a lot of statues of Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.  People lined up to take pictures with the Bruce Lee statue in his famous pose (about to strike while screaming).   We ended our afternoon by walking through Hong Kong and finding Kowloon Park.  It was a nice find in the dense city; a handful of city blocks were transformed into trees and ponds and bird displays.  A breath of fresh air was enjoyed, but we had to hurry back to the hostel because we were expecting our last member of the trip to meet up with us back at the hostel.   

Once the 4 Hong Kongeteers were together we hit the streets in search of some food.  We made a point to only eat good foods, foods that were not available to us outside of Hong Kong (for the most part).  We found a similar dim sum restaurant on one of the side streets we were searching, and it turned out to be amazing.  A lot of dumplings, soup, and ended with a cheese&bacon crepe-like creation that the owner gave to us.  Perhaps the best part of the food scene was its price.  I don’t think we spent more than 7 dollars/person on any of the meals except for our last dim sum experience. 

After our dinner we covered the area around our hostel in search of something to do.  We knew of a flower market from our first night’s expedition.  We decided to grab a handful of beers and do some people watching and provide commentary.  We saw some hilarious sights, and it was amazing how so many people were buying flowers at 1 AM. 

Thursday, the actual New Years Day, was a late start.  Everything was closed for the most part, and it took a great effort to find a decent restaurant to eat at.  Even the restaurant we found was questionable, but it got the job done so we could start looking around the city some more.  We worked our way down to Central Hong Kong to take a gander at all the big buildings that define the skyline.  After exploring on foot for a while we came across the Rickshaw tour.  This was a double-decker bus without a roof so we could sit on the top and have a great view of everything around us.  For about 3 or 4 dollars we got driven around the city to see all the metropolitan sights.  It was an excellent way to see A LOT in less time and have the opportunity to snap a few photos as well.  As we rolled around the town all I could think about was the amount of effort and wealth it would take to grow such a skyline of magnificent buildings.   That night we attended the annual Cathy Pacific Night Parade, only to be disappointed.  For a city as magnificent as Hong Kong I expected a parade on the level of the Macy’s Day Parade.  That’s ok though, we managed just fine.  We got drinks at the Intercontinental Hotel, where we had a beautiful view of the Hong Kong skyline.  After that we taxied it over to Lai Kwai Fong (spelling?).  This is kind of a hip and happening area of HK, where people are drinking on the streets, walking in and out of bars, and a general party vibe echoed through the narrow streets.  It was a great end to a great day.  We managed to cross off many items on the to do list. 

Friday, we woke up and suited up.  After throwing our bags at the next hostel we worked our way to the Ferry terminal where we boated down to Macau.  Macau is the Vegas of Asia, so you can imagine the type of night we had.  I learned how to gamble, and didn’t lose my ass at it, so I’d say it was a successful outing.  The other guys, who know how to gamble, all left with extra cash lining their pockets as well.  Macau was the last city to gain autonomy in the region, and the Portuguese influence is evident.  We strolled around the city square and it honestly felt like we were in Europe.  We didn’t have a place to stay in Macau so we just stayed awake until the first ferry in the morning, and we headed back to Hong Kong.  There we crashed for a few hours to feel better, and we were back out to enjoy our last night in Hong Kong.

I will always remember the last night in Hong Kong.  We got dinner in an area called SoHo, another foreigner friendly area (really all of HK is…).  We ate at an amazing Mexican restaurant, and worked our way back to Lai Kwai Fong… we had a lot of fun there the other night so we figured we’d end it on a positive note.  We found a hookah bar and enjoyed a round there before finding a bar to drink at.  Standard drinking practices ensued, no need to go into detail there…   We ended the night at a rooftop bar that was nestled nicely in the skyline.  It was a great way to take it all in one last time.  I headed back to the hostel and woke up at 5 AM to catch my flight home.  Hong Kong is definitely an advanced city; from the octopus card, to their buses, HK just seemed great.  I got to chat with my dad on the way to the airport because their buses have wi-fi… I can’t imagine that in the U.S….

Sorry for the long delay about Hong Kong.  I’m not much for blogging. 

Me, Nate, Wolfish, Braden

Macau city square.