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.