If you're gonna fuck up...

...do it with class!


The Korean article about it, is here

Korea has had this coming for a long time. Yep, English does have a "long E" vowel sound, and now you know it, don't you! ㅋㅋㅋ

But, let's just treat this as a learning curve. Sure, there is a time for teasing and making fun of something or someone, and once we get past that, we can learn from it.

Here's how.

In the image below, it is just a simple translation, with the English and Korean words.


But the question I have for Lotte (or anyone else out there for that matter) is: How far you wanna take it? How far should the envelope be pushed? Well, I've come up with a solution for that too.

Here at andyinsk, options are always a good thing. So, here's five options (thanks to the help of a Korean friend) depending on how much you wish to insult your customers (who can actually read and understand English, and more specifically, read and understand the word "bitch").

If you're not a fan of foul language, I suggest that you don't click the image below.
욕이 싫으면, 아래 이미지를 클릭하지 마세요



* I've been advised that 악녀 is more of the "written voca" kind, but an equivalent of 악녀, in a spoken form, is 계집년. But, because it has a fairly weak meaning, it's not really an insult.

DISCLAIMER / 단서
** This just a bit of fun, by the way. Nothing serious. If you're Korean (or anyone else who knows the Korean language), and insulted by bad language, well, I did warn you before clicking it. If you clicked it, and you're pissed off, you've only got yourself to blame.

** 당신는 이미지를 주의 읽은후에 크릭하고 모욕되면 andyinsk의 저자가 책임이 없어요.

T-shirts and Work

My t-shirts from babotshirts.com on Wednesday (along with my 2 Fan Death stickers, and a bonus 똥침금지 sticker), which was great. They're roughly the same size as the shirts I bought in Australia, but they'll stretch a little after I wear them. I wore the 짱! t-shirt to work on Thursday, and damn, were Koreans checking it out. The attention factor multiplied a bit. It's like moths to a flame, or foreigners to a badly designed t-shirt with English on it, made by a Korean. ㅋㅋㅋ


My 짱! shirt is in the wash.


The 똥침금지 sticker is on the back.
Still contemplating the purchase of the "18 dog baby" shirt, and wearing it on my last day of work.

The middle school classes weren't too bad tonight. I only have them once a week, so it's a nice break from just elementary classes. When they behave well, they're great. Most of the time, they're pretty good. I've got one kid, who has definitely got some kind of Attention deficit thing going on, and he was pretty good. Just made it my mission to keep him focused and on task. When he's a bit "off", it really messes up the whole vibe of the class room. For example, last week, one of the other students was ready to fight him after class.

Here's a sample of what I do with the middle school kids:

When class starts, I allot 5 - 10 minutes for them to ask me about anything they learned during the week at school, any homework they're not sure about. If there is something that a majority of the class

I choose a random article that is around their level (The boss has a stash of "Kids Times" and "Teen Times", so I choose one at random), skim though the article to see if it's okay. Sometimes, I'll get 3 different articles, and make one for each class. I'll photo copy and take it home Thursday night and make some questions.

On Friday, I photocopy the articles for the students, and after discussing problems and homework, I'll hand it out.


Students scan the article for the words listed in the Korean vocab section. When they find one, they circle the word in the article, and then write the Korean word next to it. While they're doing this, I write the questions on the board. After they find all the words, they write the questions on the back of the paper.

I then read it to them, and then they read it. I get students to read it a paragraph at a time, and then when they're done, they choose another student to continue.

After we read it, they do the questions, and they can ask me any questions (other than "what's the answer"?) if they need help or clarification.


Who is Jeff? Only one student noticed that mistake.
Then, we go though the answers. This takes about 40-50 minutes, depending on the students, and how well they're behaving. Normally the goes and plays tennis when I've got middle school, so he doesn't really care anyway. But, I do. In Korean English tests, there are almost no open-ended questions. Mostly multiple choice, grammar and short answer questions, which involve finding and regurgitating information from the article. I try to expand on that a little, for rewording information that they find *^^*

So glad that it's the weekend.

The F Word

Just a quick post before I go to "work". Sent a 11.2kg parcel back home (cost me $87), in which the post office staff asked me if I was moving back home, and how long I have lived in this small, little, quiet, redneck mountain town (sing a long with me *^^*). Then, did a spot of shopping. Also cleaned up the apartment, and heated up some brocolli cheese soup for lunch.

Anyway...

The F-word. No, I'm not talking about the word "fuck". I'm talking about the word "foreigner". It's how Koreans address people who aren't Korean or aren't Korean enough. Koreans identify others by race, not nationality. Hence, everyone who is caucasian being American.

I never used the word "foreigner", until I came here. When communicating with Koreans, in both English and Korean, you'll say/hear it enough times to make you cringe and grind your teeth every time you hear it, in context or not.

I read a news article about Korea's readiness for globalisation from Digital Chosunilbo:

Thanks to improved domestic education, Korea ranked third among OECD member states for adaptability to globalization, according to the Global Benchmark Report 2008 published recently by the Confederation of Danish Industry.

The KITA said, "Korea outperformed many advanced countries in adaptability to globalization. But it needs to improve many things in terms of internationalization and openness to emerge as an advanced, globalized nation."

Korea has a certain way of doing things. Their way. Being open, means to take in all advice from all angles, find a solution that works best, and then go with it. From my experience, this is one thing that Korea and Koreans (in general... very general - also from my experience with working/interacting with Koreans here) need to do. Think about things before they do them. Things about the outcomes of their actions, before they act.

Then, I read articles like this one from The Korea Times:

Marijuana consumption, once rampant at nightclubs and foreign communities here, is likely to lose its popularity.

So... Koreans don't like Marijuana? Or, do they only smoke it in nightclubs? Do all foreign community members like/smoke/sell/buy Marijuana? Or, do Koreans just like other drugs? :p Maybe, they like the ones that make them more 빨리 빨리 (bballi bballi) ㅋㅋㅋ

In Korea, if the drugs, cheap alcohol, all the passive smoking and/or people who can't drive won't kill you, the fans will ㅋㅋㅋ

We need proof... in Korean! (aka Fuck That)

When the kids from yesterday's class came to the hagwon, I had my ammunition ready. Australia was 6th, Korea was 7th. But, did they believe me? Of course not! So, we turned on the computer, and went to wikipedia. But, the students didn't believe it because it was in English. So, we checked out the Medal Tally from Naver.com. Doesn't matter what language it's in. If you got beat, you got beat! *^^*


So then they started talking about how Park Taehwan got gold, and how Hackett finished 6th in the same race as Park. The "poor us" victim role was showing it's sorry face again, so my response: So what? (그래서 뭐?) Who cares? (누구 알게 뭐야?). My students know these ones. Taught them those specific sayings so they know what they're saying is irrelevant.


This is yet another pointless argument that I'm not going to use the magic "Rock Scissors Paper" on, coz I know I'm right. When you lose, you lose. Deal with it! haha

Me and Korean humour just don't gel well, especially when it's not funny. Today, I told the boss the results of emailing four people about my job, which were not all that positive, so this is what he says:

You can't leave until you fill your job!

(insert the fake "i'd better laugh at my boss' joke, even though I'd rather just tell him to fuck off)

So, he gives me his ID and password to the site where he's posted the job, and he wants me to find a replacement. This is the main reason why I bought my own ticket outta here on the day my visa expires. I told him a bit over 3 months ago, I'm not renewing my contract for a fourth year.

Three years in the Korean countryside, with 25 months of them being the only white guy in town. He's attempted to convince me to stay longer, with the incentive of "it's easier for you to renew than to get a new job, and it's easier for me too.". After three years in Korea, I need a break from it all. Also, with the new visa laws, I can't be bothered getting more paperwork sorted just to stay in this job. I've been a good, quiet, clean, little foreigner, behaving myself for three years, and now I gotta prove it with Korean-ish paperwork. Fuck that. If my job was worth staying in for a fourth year, I'd probably tolerate it.

Then there's the stupid PELT Exercise book that he's thrown to me, for one of the classes, which has more Korean in it than English, and is basically a watered down mix of TOEIC and IELTS anyway. Also, a student's mother telling the boss and his wife that she doesn't want her daughter in the classes with one of the boss' son, coz he's better at English and maths than her daughter. Fuck that.

I noticed something on the package of my bread rolls tonight, when I was getting stuck into my Campbell's Chunky Grilled Chicken soup...


Not sure what it means by "tasteful living". Is the Korean bread product judging me on my chosen lifestyle? Is some genius at the design company thinking tasteful has something to do with being tasty or delicious?

그래서?

One of my classes started giving talking about how Korea finished 7th, and got 13 gold medals. Then they asked me how did Australia go. To be honest, I didn't follow the Olympics. I didn't really care (그냥 상관 없었어). So, they took my "I don't know" as "not as good as Korea, so I'm gonna pretend I don't know".


(from here)

I'll set them straight today *^^*

Other highlights of my day:

* Went to the bank to change all my 10 and 50 won coins laying around. Managed to get almost 9,000 won. lol
* Ordered three t-shirts from babotshirts.com, and sent them two ideas of my own.
* In my last class, for a free feed of fried chicken from the boss, to eat with his sons in class, since they had a TOEIC test yesterday.
* weighed myself while I was waiting at the doctor's yesterday. I've dropped 1.5kg since I last weighed myself, and that was without doing much exercise (meaning, I've been lazy lately).

My boss also asked me to email four people about my job, to see if they were interested. To quote him, he said:

Can you email these people about the job.

"What do you want me to tell them?" I replied. He just looked at me like I was stupid. He said "about your job.". Last week, I wrote a few paragraphs about the job, and where I'm living, etc. So, I found the link to my job, and wrote a basic email asking the people on the list, if they had found a job yet, and that I'm writing on my boss' behalf. My main question I was thinking (which almost came out of my mouth) was:

Why can't you do it yourself?

I did have the link to my job here, but I removed it, since it had a bit too much personal information on it for my liking (as in my phone number). Already got one response back, but that person has already found another job somewhere else.

I've got just under 8 weeks to go, and I think my boss is leaving it a little "last minute". But, that seems to be the norm in Korea.

You need to conform!

So, with the wonderful weather of the weekend, I decided to go to Gwangju, just so that I wasn't at home all bored. There was a "foreigner" mart that I was tempted to find. Which I found pretty easily. The range was very limited, but the guy working there (who was kinda cute) said that they're moving next month to a different place in downtown Gwangju (near the McDonald's), so everything was 10% off. Bought a few tins of Campbell's chunky soup and a few packets of instant pasta. Also checked out the CD shop downtown, but there wasn't anything worth buying.

Got the subway to go to Sangmu (the other end of the subway line), and noticed this ad:


There was other parts of the ad, which were in Korean, and I should have taken a photo of those, because it might have explained the whole "Love for women" thing (maybe next time). But, i thought, I'd check out the Mr Pizza website when I got home.

Got the subway down to Sangmu, and thought I'd check out the Adidas store at Sejung outlet, but it's closed down for renovations. So, went to McDonald's and pigged out, then made my way to Lotte Mart, bought a few things (the usual stockpile of Dr. You bars and other gear) and a big of other food as well, bought a gym ball thing to sit around on in the house, a Korean map to take home with me.


Just as I was leaving Lotte Mart, it started bucketing down rain, and I wasn't impressed. A couple of old guys next to me, heard me swear under my breath in Korean, and just laughed. So, I got a taxi to the bus terminal, and got the bus home. Met a Pakistani guy on the Jangseong-Sachang bus, who has just moved to the area (well, over in the next 마을, about 5 mins away by bus).

So, when I got home, I unpacked all my stuff, turned on the computer to search for the Mr Pizza website, and what do I get?


Just a regular Korean website message. They either consist of: You need Internet Explorer, or You need to put in your Korean Citizen Number thingie.

So, I can't check out the Mr. Pizza website, because I don't use Windows. Regular ol' internet discrimination in Korea *^^*

My attempt at an all Korean entry

Not using a dictionary for this one, so my spelling and word usage might be a bit off.
(전자사전에 단어가 확인 안해서 아마 틀린것 있을 거야 ^^)

어제 여수에 가고싶었지만 날씨가 좋지 않았어. 그래서 그냥 집에서 머무렀어. 2주전에 "다크나이트"를 봤어서 오랫된 batman영화를 보고싶어서 다운받고 봤어. 첮번영화는 (그냥 Batman) 관찮았지만, Batman Returns, Batman Forever 하고 Batman and Robin는 진짜 재미 없었어. 웃기지 않는 sexual innuendo 하고 웃기지 않는 농담이 있어서 영화를 못 증거웠어.

6시에 배가 고파져서 집을 떠나고나서 식당에 갔어. 김치찌개랑 치즈라볶이 (떡볶이랑 라면의 면이위에 치즈가 있어) 먹었어. 김밥나라에 많이 가서 김밥나라 이모는 착해서 서비스 가끔씩 받아. ㅋㅋㅋ

10시에 진짜 심심했어서 PC방에 가서 맞고 했어. 근대 PC방에서 담배 피우는 아자씨들은 많아서 거기는 징끄러워졌어. 그리고 그때 맞고 했을때 행운이 없어서 많은판을 이기지 않았어. ㅠ.ㅠ 내 누맞고의 급은 아직도 초보자 이다 ㅋㅋㅋ

요즘에 밤의 날씨가 시원해서 내가 사는것옆으로 걷었어. 사진을 가끔씩 찍었어.








난 55일후에 한국을 떠나지만 느낌이 아직 안왔어. 근대, 내 소지품을 느리게 준비하고있어봐. 약간의 것을 호주로 보날게. 약간의 것을 필요없어서 여기서 남게 할게 아니면 내비릴게. 22이치 모니터랑 전자레인지를 팔아보고있지만 누군가 아직 안 샀어.

어짼든... 샤워를 하고 광주에 갈게. 집에 2일동안 머무르면 미쳐질게! ㅋㅋㅋ

아... 모리가 아파 ㅋㅋㅋ

Random Rant/Who gives a shit?

I was reading a recent entry on a blog that I have recently found (click here for the whole thing), and this sentence came up:

Another writer mistakenly believing that just because the name in Korean is "East Sea" that it thus has legitimacy as the English name. Does no one see how ridiculous that line of reasoning is? Nobody's trying to change the name in Korean from 동해 (East Sea) to 일본해 (Japan Sea), they're just objecting to forcing the name change in English.

It's a valid point. Here's an example:


These are flip-flops. But they have other names. In Australia, they're called thongs. In New Zealand, they're called Jandals.

Here's an except from Wikipedia:

Thongs were inspired by the traditional woven soled zōri or "Japanese Sandals", (hence "jandals"). Woven Japanese zōri had been used as beach wear in New Zealand in the 1930s

The modern design was purportedly invented in Auckland, New Zealand by Morris Yock in the 50's and patented in 1957.

Where are all the New Zealanders telling the Australians that they're wrong, and they, nay, the whole world has to change?

Sure, thongs/jandals is very different to the whole Korea/Japan hate-hate relationship. But still, the point is that (any groups of) people have different views/perspectives/outlooks on things, but at the end of the day, it's still the same shit. If it's referred to as "Sea of Japan", people will associate it with Japan, and could possibly see it as Japan's. If it's called "East Sea", won't people look at a map and think "it's east of Korea, so is Korea indirectly saying that it's theirs"?

It's like the Dokdo/Takeshima/Liancourt Rocks thing. In my opinion, it should be called "Liancourt Rocks" because (said in a very "teacher-esqe" voice) Liancourt, you can play with it, because Japan and Korea can't share. They can't have it until they learn to share.

Does the water give a fuck if it's called "East Sea" or "Sea of Japan"?

I'm reminded of a line from an Austin Powers movie:

Got an issue? Here's a tissue.

Could Korea and Japan make a huge tissue to soak up the water, so that they're not bickering about a damn sea name? But then again, they'd probably bicker about it being "East Sea Bed" and "Sea Bed of Japan".

Friday Night Dinner

반찬: 단무지와 김치
Side Dishes: Pickkled Raddish and Gimchi


김치만두
Gimchi Dumpling


돌솥비빔밥
Dolsot Bibimbap

More of a diary this time...

The plan was, to go to a beach in Jeollabukdo (전라북도) with a friend this weekend, but he had to cancel due to some last minute changes, something to do with something happening at the place where he does military service, and had to change his dates for his holidays. He found out the night before the change. Basically, in a nutshell, that is Korea - Borderline randomness, or as I like to call it "chaotically organised".

So, we rescheduled for next weekend, and hopefully, it will stay scheduled. I know the change of holidays was out of his control, but this has happened to me a lot of times. If I were to generalise, I would say that Koreans are just used to doing things last minute, sometimes even without thinking things though first. As my boss would say, when making a new time table the day before it kicks in (and then telling all the students, rather than checking it with his employees first), "This is Korea. This is how WE do things.". The "we-ness" and "This is Korea" excuse is another whinge for another time. *^^*

With only 57 days to go until I leave, I could go and meet some friends. Actually, I tried to make a plan with some good friends of mine, but they're busy this weekend, and some other friends that I want to meet, well, I've made plans to see them in mid-September. Also, other friends know where I live. I've been to visit them a few times. It's about time they got off their ass, stopped complaining that it's too far, and made their way down here.

For the people who live in bigger countries, (if I were to generalise again) many Koreans think their country is big. Also, they have a lack of patience. The combination of these means that many of my Korean friends are unwilling to travel 3 hours to see me. A few have, and they're the ones that I have no problem with going to see. Also, some people will think about the things that they can do, rather than the people/person that they are going to see. So, some Korean friends won't come to meet me, because they think Gwangju (a city nearby) has nothing exciting to do in it.

The change of plans leaves me with a free weekend. I am thinking about going to Yeosu for a day. I could relax, and make it a weekend, but that means staying in a hotel, but I'm on tight budget for the remaining time I'm here. I've thought about going to Yeosu for a while now, and this seems a good time to go, with the weather being good, and having some free time. It'll take me about 3 hours to get there (a bus from my place to Gwangju, then Gwangju to Yeosu), so, I'll have to wake up early, and leave Yeosu, to get back to Gwangju by 9pm, for the last bus back to my town. It's just an idea for now, and the idea of a day trip does sound nice. I don't want to spend my whole weekend, going to Gwangju, and just going to the cinema. With my change in timetable, I could do that in the morning before work.

I'm glad that there have been no major hassles at work lately. The boss asked me to write up a bit about the job, and the town in English, so that when people start looking at jobs, they've got a bit of info. Just had to keep it basic. But, I don't think that he'll be able to find someone. I mean, 3 years ago, when I was there, there were 3 other non-Korean English teachers here, which didn't make the town too bad. But now, there is only me that lives here. I'm not sure how many people would want to live here. Maybe if it was closer to Seoul, it wouldn't be much of an issue. Even though Gwangju is only 40-50 minutes away, it's no Seoul. But, there are enough non-Korean English teachers in Gwangju to meet and get trashed with. That's just not my thing.

Sure, if they're after a unique experience, and something that will challenge them, life wise, it would be good for them. Mainly, that is why I chose the countryside, rather than living in a big city. Out here in the countryside, I'm forced to use Korean, which is what I wanted. I wanted to learn Korean in a natural environment. Also, learning about the culture, and general Korean lives can be done in the countryside too. Another reason for choosing the countryside, was from seeing what my Korean friends did when they were in Australia. They would meet other Koreans (sometimes from their English classes), speak Korean, eat Korean food, do Korean things, etc. So basically, they didn't learn about Australia, the culture, or use the language in real situations. Then they said to me that it was too hard. I didn't want to be like that. I knew that if i lived in a city, it would be just too easy to just meet other non-Korean people, and turn into the borderline alcoholic that many of them do.

My students still don't know that I'm leaving yet. Well, three of them do - the boss' sons, and one of my other students, who I've known since I got here (he has come to the same hagwon, and we did Geomdo together) and is leaving to go to Gangwondo in September. So, I changed my cyworld a little, with a new skin that says "마지막 인사 (last greeting) - goodbye" and wrote in the diary section: 난 비밀이 있지만... 아직 못얘기해... 아마 곧 알 거야, meaning: I have a secret but I can't tell you yet. Maybe you will know soon. (I think I should have written 아직 얘기 못해... but anyway). The boss doesn't want me to tell the students yet, until at least he finds a replacement, also from a business point of view, he might loose students, if the parents know that the only hagwon in town with a foreign English teacher is leaving (without any info on a replacement). I feel that if I tell the students, they'll get a lot more restless and bad behaved than usual.

I bought some large boxes from the post office yesterday, so that I could send some things home. A few people saw me carrying boxes home, and some students as well. I'm waiting for some mothers to start gossiping and getting some rumours around that I'm moving or something. That is one thing I won't miss here. Mothers that go out and gossip and shop with other mothers, and send their kids to the hagwons a few hours before their classes, rather than being a real mother and looking after their kids.

Anyway, I've got mixed feelings about leaving Korea, but I know it's the right thing to do. I've been counting down since about day 300 (since I came back from Australia for a short holiday), and going to Japan for a holiday just reminded me of the same feeling that I got after coming back from Australia. It's time for me to move on. I'll miss some things in Korea, but I know that in Australia, I've got a better life, and a better future.

Lately, I've been having some strange dreams. Last night, I dreamt that I went to visit my family, but they had moved to America. Mum had divorced, and was now married to Hugh Jackman (but he never came to see her. lol). My family were doing the usual things that they do (such as jobs and schools). When I got off the bus, at a place near their town, it was snowing, and I was lost, and i found some kind of amusement part, but it was all weird and strange and no-one was making any sense. I tried calling a high school friend (who had also moved to the same place as my family, go figure), but he wasn't answering. Somehow, my family found me, and met up with them, and they showed me around the new place. Their house reminded me of the house my grandparents owned when I was young, especially the layout. I think it's just my subconscious telling me that when I go back home, some things will be the same, but some things are gonna be way different. Another dream was one of my cousins having her own sitcom. From what I remember it was pretty funny.

If I do go to Yeosu this weekend, I'll post some pictures here.

Korea's definition of "ironic"

Taken (without permission, of course ^^) from the online newspaper The Korea Times.


Yes, a Korean newspaper making a comment about another country being too nationalistic.

Stuff at Work

So, the boss ordered some new books. They're based on some kind of English test called PELT. I'm not sure what the abbreviation means (possibly Primary English Level Test - just a guess, with some help from M), but the name of the books made me laugh a little:


Okay, sure, it might not be funny to some, but in the Korean alphabet, there is no 'f' sound, so they use a korean letter that sounds like 'p' to replace it, so I automatically thought "felt up", and how totally inappropriate that name is, for a child's English book. For the Korean viewers, this is was "felt up" means (from my 전자사전):

Felt Up (과거) - Feel up (현재):
(특히 여성의) (허벅다리, 볼기 등을) 만지다 (touch up, touch someone in a sexual way, without their permission in a way that is unpleasant and annoying).

Examples:

Some guy tried to feel me up on the subway this morning.
오늘 아침 어떤 만자가 지하철에서 나를 만지려고 했다.

When a man felt up a woman on the bus, she slapped his face.
한 남자가 버스에서 여자를 만지자 그녀는 그의 뺭을 때렸다.

Today, in one of the classes, they were writing about excuses (핑계) to say to their parents, so that they could get the day off school. They asked for some "funny" words in English, so I helped them out:


and here is what one of the students came up with:

2 months to go

Friday was a public holiday here. Gwangbokjeol (광복절 - Liberation Day), for celebrating the day that Japan left Korea in 1945. I'm happy for a day off, especially friday, since that is the day that I would teach middle school.

So, G and M made their way down here. Found a nice galbi restaurant in Jangseong, which, by chance, is owned by the same people who owned Hangukgwan (a restaurant in my town) before they moved to Jangseong. They recognised me, and had a bit of a chat and gave me a business card to pass on to my boss. We then went to a small supermarket, and got the bus back to my town where we chilled for a bit, chat, and then headed out for some stirfry duck and noraebang.

Saturday, a bit of a late start, but got to Gwangju and had lunch downtown, then went to Art Street. We got there a little late, but had a look, and walked around other places in downtown, in which we found the 덝갈비 restaurant named Cock. I'd seen it before, and told G and M about it before, and we decided to eat there, and it was tasty.

After the food, G and M made their way to Gwangju train station, and I went back to the bus terminal. Thanks for making it down here. Had an awesome time!

I had a bit of time to kill before the last bus, so I bought a book that I saw previously that day.


It's a Korean cookbook for various kinds of soups and similar things. I bought it so I can cook some Korean things at home. I also checked out Artbox (a cute stationery/accessory shop) and bought a funky stick on cover for my ipod.


You can also see the funky colored stickers on my keyboard in the background. At night, it's too difficult to see the keys, so I bought some cute (and childish) keyboard stickers for the keys.

On Sunday, I was tired, but didn't like the idea of staying home all day, so I forced myself to go to Gwangju, and I did. I went to Lotte Cinema to see Wall-E. It was awesome!


I've been to Lotte Cinema in Gwangju 3 times, and I've been served by the same guy. Today, he saw me standing, waiting for my number to come up, and he smiled, so I smiled. Also, next to him, for the 3rd time as well, was the same girl that has said hello and chatted to me in English.

About a month ago, I walked around a uni that one of my friends studies at after we had dinner together. The girl at the cinema asked me if I was a teacher at (insert name here) university, in which I said no. So she said "I saw you walking around there with someone.", and I said "Oh, Ok.". I had completely forgotten about going to the uni with my friend. But she remembered that she saw me. hehe. After I watched Wall-E, I almost gave her my number/cyworld-nateon ID, but decided not to. I'm leaving in 2 months. But, maybe I should anyway. Next time, eh? ^^

Tomorrow

Off all the letters the student could have missed, he had to miss that one!

The Whitlams / Tim Freeman

After some decent Aussie tunes? Can't go past these:

Charlie #2 (Buy Now Pay Later)


Thankyou


No Aphrodisiac


Blow up the Pokies

Weekend in Busan

Had a weekend in Busan, and hung out with friends. Here's a few photos:

Arrived at Sasang (사상) terminal in Busan just after 2pm, and went to Lotte Cinema to get 2 tickets for Dark Knight, for my friend and I to watch when he finished work. Had some KFC for lunch, and found a PC bang to hang out in until he finished work. Met him at Home Plus, but he had to take a work mate home, so we missed the start of the movie (he has no 시기센스 ^^), but didn't miss much, just the first crime involving the Joker.

After the movie, we met a couple of other friends at Home Plus, just near the cinema, then went off to have some Galbi, play some pool, and then went to a very expensive noraebang *^^*



On Sunday, we got some Pizza for lunch...


...waited for the car in the carpark...


...then headed out to Gwangalli Beach (광안리 해수욕장) for a bit of sun.

Short Update #2

So, on Sunday, I went to Anyang (안양) to meet TJ. I hadn't seen him for almost 2.5 years, because he had to do his compusory military service. So, it was good to see him. We did a bit of shopping, had lunch, went to 오락실 and had some icecream. Then, went back to his house to meet his family (they were interested in meeting me, since they had heard about me from TJ), and that was cool.

Then I got the subway to downtown Seoul, and met HM and BG and had dinner, and had coffee. BG went home, and HM and I came back to Bucheon, and went to a bar for a few drinks. Met a decent girl in the bar, and had a chat. She asked for my cyworld, and I got hers. She's studying English Education, so her English wasn't too bad. The other bar staff (which were also good looking, and the uniform being sexy schoolgirl style was nice too) were a bit worried about English, but after they saw that I could speak some Korean, it wasn't an issue.

Yesterday, I went to 신촌 to meet JH형. I met him in my town, when I started doing 검도. He's a pretty cool guy. We talked about a lot of things, especially 검도 and his latest endeavor to get into the police force here.

Went to 건대입구역, to meet GY and a few of his friends. Most of them had an English speaking test the day before, and one will have it this Sunday. It was cool to see GY again, and to meet his friends too. They were all pretty cool.

Anyway, I'm getting a train from 영등포 (Yeongdeungpo) back to 장성 (Jangseong) today, getting the Mugunghwa train. Slow, comfortable and cheap. *^^*

Short Update

Work is closed for the 2 days after this weekend, giving me a long weekend. H was gonna come down and check out Gwangju, buht with summer and the rainy season and shit, she decided not to (which is understandable, travelling during Korean summer is totally not comfortable).

So, I decided to come to Seoul a bit early. Met up with K, and then later, met up with her friends in Sinchon, and hung out, had coffee, dinner and then 2 and a half hours at Noraebang. Meeting up with a few other friends, which will be my last time to see some of them.

When I was at Red Mango with K, I decided to check out my camera, but, found out that both of my battieres were dead! Not cool.

Anyway, after meeting up with friends, I'll be heading back to my place on Tuesday lunch time-ish. I wish I had more days off work. They make me feel more positive about Korea.

Speaking of positive, getting a Taxi from Guro to Bucheon last night, (a 12,000 won taxi ride), and I got it for free. Had an awesome taxi driver, and we were talking away in Korean. When we arrived at Bucheon station, he said not to worry about the fare, which was awesome.

Just when I am getting ready to leave Korea, all these good things happen. haha. But, Korea, I've been fooled by that before *^^*