Juveniles in Sagada

After starting the season off with a tough luck loss the OutKasts have started to find their groove after winning 3-0 Saturday in a game that was not nearly as close as the score line would indicate. In addition, fifteen of us would engage in a game of "pub golf" that evening where we went to nine different pubs and narrowly avoided being arrested and deported. This weekend's game is against the Kurkadurkastanis of KG Top, and we are looking for our third straight win. Enough about OutKasts though, it's time to magically transport back to the Philippines, where our heroes [sic] have just left Baguio en route to Sagada.

The drive to Sagada would take about six hours of winding up and down perilous mountain roads, some of which would seemed undrivable, if not for the skill and experience of Joe and the tenacity and durability of the Toyota Camry. Having spent so much time driving under similar conditions in Brazil Joe knew exactly how to attack these roads which would be challenging to an SUV, let alone a sedan. The car bottomed out too many times to count, each time inducing cringes from the passengers and a genuine fear (at least for me) that the car wouldn't make it. I had pictured a Blues Brothers scenario where we would arrive in Sagada and the car would completely fall apart as soon as we got out of it. Amazingly, it held together for the entire week.

What does a group of four guys do for six hours in a car? When we ran out of things to talk about after the first twenty minutes it turned into a series of twenty questions games. While that might seem to be enough to drive anyone insane, the incredibly scenery of mountains, jungle, waterfalls, and valleys made the trip not just bearable but quite enjoyable. We made a few stops along the way to different scenic spots, of which I got no pictures of course. Joe was kind enough to send me some, including this pic of Leo and I in a rice terrace. We look like a couple of guys that have been in a car for four hours playing twenty questions with a bunch of dudes. Seriously though, we were all getting along beautifully.

After taking a break at the rice terrace we continued forth toward Sagada and a little event took place that would set a theme for the next couple days. In the Philippines there are chickens all over the place, particularly in Sagada. The male chickens wander around the streets and are everywhere. As we were driving away from the rice terrace on a rocky and somewhat treacherous road we saw one of these chickens and one of us (gee, guess which one?) dryly commented: "Nice cock!", which drew the kind of laughter a fourteen year old watching Beavis and Butthead would appreciate. Heading to a small farming community where we would be surrounded by male chickens and would constantly hear them crowing... well, you can probably see where this is going.
We would arrive in Sagada just before dark and got cheap rooms at the Alfredo Inn, which was clean and charming despite the unsophisticated plumbing. The above picture was taken at night in the pitch dark with no flash necessary due to a certain someone's belly being whiter than snow and brighter than the sun. (Bottom to top: My white self, Joseph, Leo, Zach). Actually this was taken the next day but it's the only picture I have of the four of us. We had chosen Sagada because of it's ample hiking opportunities and its hanging coffins, caves, rivers, waterfalls, etc. Also the small community has a well-earned reputation for being laid back and low key with many coffee shops that make it comparable to say... Amsterdam (hint, hint, that's all I'll say). Our hangout of choice was the Kimchi Grill, which seemed the logical choice given the irony that Zach and I were trying to get away from Korea. The nice folks at the Kimchi arranged a guided hike for the four of us the following afternoon, which is when the picture was really taken.
The next morning we were up and out bright and early to check out the nearby cave and hanging coffins and begin the onslaught of entendres that inevitably happen when four fourteen year old male brains are "surrounded by cocks." I should say at this point that despite going during the raining season the weather couldn't have been more ideal for our hike.
After our morning hike we had lunch and then went to the Kimchi to meet our guide. The guide took us through the mountains to many scenic and awe-inspiring views that made my beat myself up for continually for having lost my camera. I appreciate that Joe was nice enough to send some of his pictures. Our very pleasant hike led us to this waterfall where we could climb to the top and jump into a deep and very cold pool, which felt amazing after the hike. This is the scene of the group picture and also of this action shot of me jumping off the top. After hanging out for a bit we headed back towards town as there were a slew of "big cock, white cock, fat cock, black cock, small cock, skinny cock, proud cock... any other variety you can imagine" observations about the ubiquitous chickens. It just never got old. The funny thing is that this is not lost at all on the locals. I actually heard them making the same kind of jokes as if they never get sick of it either. Juvenile, a little dirty, yet simple and very funny--we found this a constant source of amusement.

After our hike we had dinner and had planned to take an early evening hike, but the monsoon season showed it's true colors. That evening, through the pouring rain, we would hang out at the warm, dry, and cozy Kimchi House having San Miguels and the local coffee with our fine local friends. It was Tueday night and Leo had to leave on Thursday, so the next morning we would make the long drive back to Manila to get him to the airport and head to an island. Before we left I had wanted to get a picture of one of these fine local creatures but also knew that they belonged to people and it's always a good idea to ask people in foreign countries if you can take a picture of them or their possessions. For some reason the guy at the Inn declined when we politely asked: "Sir, may we take a picture of your cock?". Geez, that guy was pretty sensitive about his chicken!

Road Trip in Luzon

Friday night is here after a third consecutive week of the nose being planted firmly to the grindstone. Since returning from the island I’ve been fully entrenched in classes, preparation for classes, creating lesson plans, making quizzes, grading quizzes, and, oh yeah, soccer every weekend all weekend. OutKasts have begun their fall campaign and fell just short in their first match last weekend 2-1. The game took place in a muddy lake on a dirt pitch in the rain with our only healthy and in-country players totaling eleven—and fighting valiantly 90 minutes against a strong Moroccan side. Life in Seoul is good despite my workload getting much, much, much heavier. The days of blogging during office hours may be over; I must now do it in my—GASP—free time. Despite the constant barrage of rain (the monsoon season is working overtime this year), the huge increase in workload, and the games on Saturdays and Sundays (I joined a Sunday league team because I figured I should play as much as I can while I still can because that’s what I LOVE to do) I am fully relaxed, rejuvenated, and committed to sucking every bit of marrow out of my charmed life in Korea. Had it not been for my wonderful and relaxing 18 day stint in the Philippines, my attitude might be quite different.

There’s so much to cover and I’ve already divulged a teaser for the end of the trip in my last entry, so I presume the best place to begin is from the, ummmm, beginning. Friday, July 23rd I flew into Manila and got there late. Ugh, Manila. I think I made my point in my last entry so I will skip the city (and I didn’t do much there) but need to include a few details before I get to the meat of the first week. One, my camera was stolen. For those keeping count it was my third point and shoot that I’ve lost. I like to think it was a world class pickpocket for which Manila is renowned but it may have just have been your dumbf**k narrator foolishly losing yet another camera two days into an eighteen day trip. I would spend the first week beating myself up over this while my travel partners facetiously kept reminding me of it. Two, on my first night I spent time in a pub by the name of The Red Lion Inn and spoke at length with the owner, Lyle, an American expat who gave me many useful tips on traveling around the Philippines. Lyle owns two Red Lions, one in Manila and the other in Baguio. Third and last point on Manila: I saw the most AMAZING cover band! A five piece Filipino power ballad band started off with Air Supply and then continued with an array of Journey, Boston, 38 Special, REO Speedwagon, and every other cheesy eighties band you could name. They were so good at what they did that I honestly believe that if the actual Journey had performed “Don’t Stop Believing” that night they wouldn’t have sounded any better.

Having mentioned the “travel partners”, I went to the Robelle House (a decent hotel in Manila) to meet them Sunday morning. Digressing a bit, I have to explain my motivation for choosing the Philippines for my vacation over Vietnam or another destination. The timing had worked out where I had vacation at the same time as my long time friend and former long time neighbor Zach. Zach and I met in 2006 when he moved in next door to me and we were immediate friends and later (not much) discovered to be doppelgangers. Last year we were in Austin and went to South by Southwest together. The timing provided an occasion where we would hang out in our third country together. Twice in the last three years Zach has spent working holidays in Brazil with his best friend from Austin, Joseph Carter, who would be meeting him in the Philippines with his younger brother Leo. Joe is a documentary filmmaker who was born in Italy and later moved to an even better place: Austin. Joe speaks Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, and (of course) English and has been living in Brazil for the last four years or so. Leo, right after graduating from university, spent a year in China teaching and his older brother decided to meet him and Zach at the end of his contract for what would be his first trip to Asia. I tagged along and never lost sight of how interesting and fun my company was.

We rented a car and the plan was to get the hell out of Manila and drive north through Luzon (the name of the big island where Manila is located) to Sagada. After meeting at the Robelle around noon we began our drive to Sagada, which was a good 8 hours away with the ideal conditions. We were on the islands during the raining season, and at no other time was it more apparent than when we drove out of Manila. Manila—not the best laid out, structured, or efficiently planned of cities has NIGHTMARE traffic, and the heavy, heavy, beating rain only made getting out of the city that more tedious and difficult. “Yeah, road trip! Road trip! This is going to be a great week! Wow! Look at all the sights—we’re in a totally different country; can you believe this?... Wait a second, we’re totally stuck and not going anywhere.”

Eventually we did get out of Manila, and later in the afternoon the rain subsided. Of all the days I was in the country (comprised of many different islands) this was one of the three rainiest. Eventually we got on the highway (if that’s what you’d call it) and headed north. It was pushing three by the time we got out of Manila and it wasn’t looking like Sagada was happening that night, so we decided, upon the recommendation from Lyle, to make it as far as Baguio and stay at the Red Lion. Having taken the recommendation from Lyle I was amazed at how friendly and welcoming his co-owner Tony was. He had been told that I might stay there and to my surprise was expecting me and the boys. Being treated like royalty there we consumed many San Miguels at this fine establishment and chatted with Tony late into the night. The next morning we profusely thanked him for his hospitality and set out toward Sagada.

I have to say that it has been a couple of weeks since I wrote this and I have been waiting for pictures but have nothing to use on this particular entry. The next one will have some great pics sent to me from Joe and I will go into more detail on Sagada. Thankfully I have this entire upcoming week off where I can escape editing papers, speeches, letters, placards, and everything else that has been landing on my desk (There is now a shortage of red ink in Seoul.) and frying my brain and finally dig into my trip. Perhaps it’s ironic that I’m spending my week off blogging about my last vacation but I’m happy to get into it. On a final note until next week… It’s Friday night and OutKasts have a game tomorrow. Our last game, the follow up to Morocco, was an historic come from behind victory where we beat a very good Itaewon FC team when we scored twice in the last twenty minutes to win 2-1. It was proclaimed the greatest victory in the history of the OutKasts and there was much, much rejoicing. In my next opener, expect good news from the game tomorrow and look forward to a few pictures to accompany what should be an interesting story with some good old fashioned dirty jokes

Deeper Shade of Seoul

After slaughtering a couple of pigs I went back to the guest house, took a long shower, and packed my few belongings. It was the day that I had been sweating for the last week—the day I had to leave the island of Bantayan. Over three weeks my pisos had dwindled down to just enough to cover travel expenses, airport terminal fees, and a meal. Just before 8am I took a tricycle (usually a motorcycle, in this case a bicycle, with a sidecar) to the ferry terminal. Then I took a two plus hour ferry ride to Hagnaya where I caught a 50 piso (about a dollar) bus back to Cebu City. Over four hours later and after reading the rest of No Country for Old Men I arrived in Cebu City and took a cab to the airport. On the way to the airport the taxi driver took me through a McDonald’s drive-thru, where I devoured a Quarter-pounder combo. Compared to what I’d been eating, this was one of the best meals I’d had in a week.

Not wanting to risk getting stuck in the country I went to the airport with 4 hours to kill. One of the expats on the island gave me a copy of James Patterson’s London Bridges and I burned through that while waiting to check in. At 9:30 I boarded to fly to Manila, where I would be flying out from the following morning at 6:20. The plane had a mechanical difficulty and was delayed nearly an hour and I arrived at Manila after midnight. I had landed at the domestic terminal and needed to get to the international and had to wait over an hour for the courtesy shuttle. It was past two when I arrived at the international terminal and was relieved when I checked in nearly two hours later. I had made it from the island and was cleared, through, and on my way back to Korea with ten pisos to spare! Flying the very comfortable and amenable Cathay Pacific, there was a stopover in Hong Kong, a quick plane switch and the home stretch back to Korea. When the plane landed I finally arrived at the round-about point of this post—I was SO happy to be back in Seoul!!

Thirty hours after leaving the island I got off the plane and was welcomed to one of the best international (maybe THE best) airports in the world—Seoul Incheon. It took less than half an hour to clear immigration, customs, and pick up my bag and I was back to civilization. I bought a bottle of water for 500 won—the same amount that I would pay in Suwon, at the subway station, at a baseball game, or anywhere. It wasn’t jacked up because it was sold in an airport. When I walked outside I didn’t have 50 people come up to me and say: “Sir, taxi?”, “Taxi, my friend?”, “Sir, Where are you going?” and what not. There were rows of air-conditioned buses that would take me anywhere in the city and I took one to my neighborhood. The bus was clean and comfortable, the driver friendly, and the roads were wide open, well-paved, and orderly. A little time in the crazy, chaotic and filthy city called Manila gave me a new found appreciation of just how together Seoul really is.

While I may get aggravated at the day to day annoyances of Korean society I can’t deny their work ethic and the amazing infrastructure they’ve built up in a short time. Seoul is a modern city, with a sophisticated and efficient mass transit that would rival any city. Its wide-spread system of buses, trains, and taxis is convenient (unlike most cities), safe (unlike many cities), and cheap (unlike Tokyo). Coming from Manila it is refreshing in that Korea has uniform standards for everything. Every taxi you take here is going to cost you the same and the drivers are not in the practice of trying to pull a fast one when someone new to the city gets in their cab. Food prices are pretty much the same everywhere and prices are clearly posted. I have never been ripped off in Korea (not by a stranger, at least) and have never at any point felt that someone was trying to take me for all they could because I’m a foreigner (cough, Manila). As far as security goes, Seoul is one of the safest, most convenient cities in the world. Coming from a place where I felt I had to constantly guard my wallet it was most refreshing coming back to a place where I could relax and let my guard down with absolutely no worries whatsoever of being robbed or scammed. Here I can walk down the street without a stranger pushing a box of Viagra in my face, asking me if I want to buy some (that happened in Manila in the middle of the day—no thanks, stranger… no Viagra for me today).

For nearly four years I’ve lived in Korea and there have been many different cities I’ve been to. Never, at any time day or night, in any place, in any city was there a time where I felt unsafe or hassled to buy something I didn’t want. Korea is barely on the radar as far as tourism goes, and the economy does not rely on it whatsoever. By contrast, the economies of Cambodia, Thailand, and Philippines are heavily reliant on tourism and it can be a hassle being in the touristy areas of these countries to varying degrees (Indonesia was no exception either). When I traveled to these countries I felt (in certain areas) that I was constantly a target. People assume that just because I’m white and American that I’m rich, which is far, far, far from the truth. Korea has an economic stability that is the envy of many or most southeast Asian countries and no one here seems too impressed with my financial status. I heard many times in Philippines how they wanted to go to Korea because that’s where the money is. I had heard that in other countries as well.

One thing that I think a person should accomplish on vacation is the ability to see their own position from a different perspective and either appreciate their situation or change it. Being so happy to get back to a civilized, safe, and lucrative country I certainly gained an appreciation for my situation and am happy to be back. The batteries are fully recharged and I’m excited to embrace my life in Seoul and a new semester teaching. In a closing remark, I don’t want to give the impression that the Philippines was a negative experience—far, far, far from it! Manila was, but that was a tiny part of an otherwise great trip which I will give details of in a short time. In the meantime, it’s great to be back!!

And don’t worry, I’ll explain the first sentence of this post in due time. Stay tuned.

The Beautiful Game

The World Cup is here at last but it will be a bittersweet experience for many of us due to the senseless and horrific fatal shooting of one of our brothers last weekend in St Louis. A man whom I have played with and against for years and who has been a staple of the University City soccer community is no longer with us leaving behind a grieving and stunned group of players, friends, and comrades who will undoubtedly be watching the games with a heavy heart and sense of loss.

Ahmed was from Libya and had immigrated to America over twenty years ago. He owned the fabulous Gyro House (a place where my parents are regulars and I’ve enjoyed the massive gyro salad many times) on the U City loop and was a stalwart on the U-City seniors team, who have collected an impressive array of hardware over the last five years. I can’t say I knew the man very well off the field, but on the field I was in awe, as was everyone else, of his ridiculous right-footed shot that would somehow find the net the moment the defender let down his guard conceding a nearly impossible angle—we’ve seen it countless times and we will not see it again. He was never offsides (so he thought), would let you know exactly where and how he wanted the ball and if you could deliver it he would never disappoint.

Backing up for a moment, it’s important to explain how and why I was playing on the same field as a Muslim from Libya who is nearly my dad’s age. As anyone who knows me at all could tell you I obviously love football (American soccer). I’ve been playing with my dad and brother since I was a little kid and have met so many great people through my experiences. I have been fortunate to be a part of multi-cultural groups of various backgrounds in both Columbia and St Louis where age, W-2’s, religion, skin color, gender, and political affiliations have absolutely no bearing when we take the field. We all share a common bond, which is our mutual love for the beautiful game. Through this bond many of us have made the unlikeliest of friends whom we probably would have never met, talked to, or known otherwise. University City has a wonderfully diverse soccer community where this quality of friendly camaraderie draws people of all ages and colors together for kick-arounds, indoor games, and pub gatherings to watch football. Whenever I go home I enjoy the Perlow cubed, which is where my dad, brother and I play on the same team. The last time I took the field with the other Perlow boys Ahmed was on the other side.

Having so much free time in the office I read the news every single day, and it’s rarely good. After filtering out all of the ridiculous and banal Sandra Bullock, Gary Coleman’s divorce, and Lady Gaga distractions I read about BP, North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, the deflating Euro, and so on and so on and so on. With this daily preponderance of scary and horrible news there are “smaller” tragedies such as Ahmed’s which happen all over America every day that don’t so much as make a ripple in the headlines. One might think this world has gone completely insane and things have spiraled hopelessly out of control.

But then, I take the field with my brother, my father, and my multi-national family and suddenly everything is right. Differences are forgotten and everyone is equal. The rich businessman is no more important than the poor waiter. The Persian auto shop worker scores a goal and is embraced by the white college student. A bulky African defender fouls the Jewish Professor and helps him up and asks if he’s okay. There are no trophies and we’re all going to work tomorrow living very different lives but none of that matters because we all love playing the game and love playing it together. Ahmed was a paradigm of this and because of it he leaves behind a diverse group of friends of various ages and ethnicities who will surely be thinking of him throughout the World Cup. We will honor his memory the best way we know how: by playing the beautiful game and celebrating our diversity.

On that note, it is my hope that this World Cup will be a beacon of hope for a world that sorely needs it. I wish that just for a month all of the world can stop and appreciate the uniqueness of every culture while knowing that they all are playing the same game that we love. Maybe for a month guns can be put down, politicians would stop bickering, BP would… alright, you jackasses get to work and plug the hole--no breaks for you, and we could all appreciate what is great about the world: The beautiful game. As USA beats England this weekend I’ll be thinking about my old teammates and extended soccer family back home and wishing them a great month as we pay our respect to Ahmed by celebrating his passion together. May he rest in peace as we spend a peaceful and entertaining World Cup with our families, teammates and friends.

Outkasts, Lost, and an 11 year old girl.

Once again it’s Friday and another week of classes is in the rear view mirror. Yes, there has been a lag in the blog (a blag, as my brother would say) as last Friday was a holiday and faced with the decision of sitting in the office recounting a typical week’s activities or playing outside I chose the latter. To appease those who spent the last week going through a blog jones (Yes, I’m humoring myself) I’ve actually included this week… A PICTURE!!

That’s me in front of a group of students in front of a fort on a mountain in a city on a cloudy hazy day. Looking out the window as I type it’s hazy once again. While the last couple of days were beautiful by Korea standards Monday was so hazy and foggy that I couldn’t actually see the mountain across the street. The forecast for the weekend calls for… drumroll ……………………RAIN!! Anyway, that’s my weekly weather digression. The rare picture was taken during a field trip a couple of weeks back that wasn’t particularly notable so I didn’t mention it. One of the other teachers took this and it took two weeks of prodding to finally get a copy and it finally arrived this week for your viewing pleasure. With that out of the way it is now time to get down to business.

First order is to congratulate The Outkasts on their successful season. It’s going to take a while to type this paragraph as one hand is typing while the other one is patting its own back but I will manage to get through it eventually. Last Saturday was our last game where we played the Kurka-Durkastani team with an outside shot of stealing first place. Having lost our first two games of the season we had re-grouped, recruited, and roared back with five straight unbeaten with our only blemish being a previously mentioned draw against the first place Malaysian team. Having won the rest of their games, the first place squad gave us new life when they lost in unlikely fashion to INTS the second to last game of the season. Going into the final stage a loss by Malaysia and a strong victory by Outkasts would have propelled us to a shocking championship. We took care of business 4-1 but had to finish for second place after learning that the Malaysians squeaked by the team we destroyed 9-0 the previous week by a count of 2-1. Give them credit for a good season, but we wish we could play them again. I’m proud to say that this team has grown considerably since our first game together and we are confidently marching into what will be a successful future together. And, by the way, I failed to score in the last game, breaking a six game scoring streak and a perfect season where I would have scored in every game played… I’ll just forget about that and enjoy the victory.

The second order of business this week has to deal with some pop culture and a couple of things I watched this week. First I have to address the long-awaited ending of Lost. If you haven’t seen it by now, don’t worry about reading on—I am not going to give anything away. That being said, there’s really nothing to give away. The ending was just like the rest of the series: schmaltzy and emotional while leaving a ton of unanswered questions, macguffins, and red herrings. Yet despite not having every little thing about the island explained I’m not bothered with the ending. Can’t say I loved it, didn’t hate it… actually I don’t really feel anything at all. I can’t say I expected the producers of Lost to explain the origins of the universe and nature of our existence—that might be setting the bar a little high. The show throughout its history has constantly set things up that went by the wayside, abandoned storylines, and wasted time with characters that had ultimately nothing to do with the grand scheme of the expected to be ultimate, end-all, be-all ending. To expect the last episode to explain every last detail and answer every fanboy question is way beyond unrealistic. For that, the ending was sufficient in bringing closure without being overly trite or arbitrary. Yes, it was sappy and emo, but the show has always been sappy and emo so this was no shock whatsoever. As far as the unanswered questions go, I’m glad they didn’t try to explain every little thing because really, who knows all of the answers to the mysteries of life, the universe, free will, time, and love. I sure as shit am glad it’s not the producers of Lost that hold the keys. My final take: Not every little single thing happens for a reason. Sometime things just happen and can’t be explained. And if you think I’m done sermonizing just wait until I address the notable movie I watched this week…

Normally when the religious protestors are up in arms over a movie I tend to roll my eyes and think: “Lighten up, people.” However, after viewing “Kick-Ass” this week I have to admit the morality police might have a point with this one. Without going into detail on the general premise (it’s a comic book movie cross between Spiderman, Mystery Men, and Watchmen—who gives a sh*t?) I’ll focus this particular discourse on the subject of controversy: Hit Girl. Now I understand the appeal of this character to pervie comic book geeks who love the Matrix but have to wonder where the line is drawn as to what is entertainment and what is, in a sense, child pornography. I admit I didn’t dislike the movie—it was at times an entertaining, “hip” spin on your typical superhero move. However, it also must be said that there is something fundamentally disturbing about watching an 11 year old, f-bomb, c-bomb dropping girl lopping off heads and limbs with swords and knives, ruthlessly capping bad guys in the head from point blank range, and getting her face pummeled by the main villain in the final showdown. Let me repeat this part: 11 year old girl. Not being all opposed to stylized violence, I do take pause when it children are brutally stabbing men and women alike to death with complete moral impunity.

Perhaps my favorite film of last year was “Inglorious Basterds”, which while brutally violent in its own right didn’t involve children and brilliantly set up its violent scenes through escalating tension and what is in my mind the best dialogue in any movie since Pulp Fiction. I was absolutely hooked in the very first scene which consisted of two people talking at a table for ten minutes before the machine guns went off. There was a long (and most brilliant) set-up, tension, and violent climax. The violence in Kick-Ass was more the variety of the infamous Matrix scene where Neo and Trinity walk into a guarded building and mow down everyone in sight—no set up, no tension, just a couple of people walking into a building and killing everything. The problem I have is that Neo and Trinity were in a computer shooting pixels, while Hit Girl and her dad, a.k.a. Big Daddy are in New York City mowing down humans. Now I realize this is a comic book movie and didn’t take so much issue with Watchmen, another graphic blood-fest. However, the issue with me is involving a child actor in this carnage which makes me wonder where the line is when it comes to children on the big screen. As I watched this admittedly entertaining gore-orgy I had to wonder to myself throughout: When did we get to a point where this passes for entertainment? And why am I aroused?

Okay, that last line was totally a joke… couldn’t resist. And with that, I’m done sermonizing and back to being the usual smartass. It’s Friday evening now and time for me to commence another weekend that will pass in a blink and crash into Monday. Next Friday is not a holiday so I expect to see you all again real soon. Until then…

Last Minute Replacement

I hate Windows Vista. Truly hate it. Not that Vista is wholly responsible for the thousand plus words describing my hellish week with a happy ending that disappeared entirely this morning when I carried my computer from my room where I spent the evening writing to my office where I would upload my fancy words onto the blogspot but Vista sure as shit didn’t do me any favors with the recovery process. That was the longest sentence I’ve ever written and there are absolutely no commas, dashes, or parentheses.

Anyway, it’s gone. A perfectly fine Friday evening was spent conveying frustrations of what was by far my longest and most stressful week and my small triumph over bureaucracy, but alas, it’s gone. It was quite long and not one time did I begin a sentence with the word “I” and I was quite happy with my work. The long treatise also contained a recap on last Saturday’s action where the now mighty Outkasts worked hard and endured 70+ scoreless minutes against the team that handed us our last and my only loss, a 6-2 drubbing nearly two months ago just before we turned the corner. To paraphrase my lost recap: I scored off a header in the 72nd minute to break the damn. Blind squirrel found acorn. The damn exploded and we scored three more in the closing minutes to win 4-0. Spirit of elated satisfaction after game. Excited about the game this afternoon. Soccer good, fire bad.

Starting last weekend and carrying over through this week—and still lingering—was a horrible cough that seems to always be going around. It was the first week of the new term and I had four new classes during the day and new evening classes. Needing to be prepared for this I wanted nothing more than to lie in bed and even contemplated quitting my job for that opportunity Monday and Tuesday morning. Not having the energy or time (I have a game here shortly and have to go but didn’t want to leave the blog empty over the weekend) to recap my daily absurd back and forth with administration, which is explained in great detail somewhere in this universe in a floating ether pocket, I’ll say three things. 1. The evening classes were disastrous due to poor communication (imagine that), lack of any support or curriculum and general confusion. 2. Despite being sick and exhausted I worked hard this week for the first time and actually felt, dare I say, stress. 3. In one of my many meetings with admin I asked for a definitive answer to a question I posed weeks back, a carefully planted seed involving vacation.

Really long story (and last night’s story was really long—you might thank the ether for making this week’s entry mercifully shorter) short, the week ended on a happy note. Turns out the seed sprouted into a beautiful flower and I am relieved of proctor duties during finals week so I can pursue my dream of climbing Mt Fuji with my old mountaineering partner of past blogs yonder who is still in Suwon. That’s right, I’m going to Japan in July! Having talked about this for years, the omp and I will conquer Japan’s tallest thanks to timing and administration finally conceding a request. I’ve wanted to do Japan every year I’ve been in Asia and it’s always eluded me somehow but NOT THIS TIME! It only sweetens the deal that I get to share this experience with an old friend who shares my love of hiking, outdoors, and food. Can’t wait to try the sushi!

The story was so much more eloquent and lengthy last night but alas, I’m short on time and ready to kick. Before I take off I would be remiss not to mention today’s festivities and how a frustrating and exhausting week ended with victory. Today is Saturday and I actually spent the day in the office, which I never do. Last time they asked me to I just said that it’s not in my contract to work Saturday’s and they haven’t asked me to come in since. However, today being Teacher’s Day, a Korean holiday honoring…yes, teachers, I thought it would be worth hanging around and it was more than well worth it. Our ubersweet students showered us with flowers and letters and performed a show of which I took no pictures. I know, I totally suck. Having been really pissed all day and frantically searching for my lost document, this took away the sting just a little. Then when administration handed me an envelope with money in it the sting went away completely and I decided to sit down and grind something out before I head out to score goals and conquer. In summary, Vista sucks, I had a rough week, it ended really well with a Japan trip and envelope with money in it, and Outkasts are playing this evening. Have a great weekend everyone!

Days late and a picture short.

It’s not Friday, it’s Tuesday. There was a mistaken notion that last week, since there were midterms and I had no classes that there would be a plethora of time at my disposal to work on the blog but somehow it ended up being a very busy week. I have no classes this week yet here I find myself busy again… actually working. Well, sort of.

Actually last week Monday and Tuesday was a wash after falling victim once again to my strange back nerve syndrome where I make a random movement, pinch a nerve in my lower back and am crooked and in pain for three days after. This particular movement happened in warm-ups during our game last Saturday, where the surging Outkasts were poised to take on the first place and undefeated Malaysian team that had beaten the ever-living bejeezus out of us in week one, not that I was there for that. This Outkast team, which had lost 24 straight games had won their last two and was a different team than the one that lost 11-4 in the season opener.

Long story short, we didn’t win. The opposing squad was nearly two hours late to the remote location and we were looking for the forfeit as I knew I was unable to move, much less run. However, my spirited new teammates wouldn’t take the easy way out and talked me into staying, and I did, of course. Since I couldn’t afford to stop moving and endure painful back spasms I opted to play the entire 90 minutes—but I didn’t and couldn’t play particularly well since I could barely move...not sure what my excuse normally is. We went down a goal, came back and leveled. Shortly after leveling we ceded goal number two and the chase continued until the 70th minute when we finally equalized again. Like the first time when we fought so hard to even the score we quickly gave up another, going down 3-2 late in the game. After narrowly missing several hard-earned chances there was a handball in the Malaysians’ box and the referee called a penalty kick in added time. Hmmm, I wonder who would be the choice to take the shot… Yeah, it was me. 3-3 tie, top shelf, an inch away from hitting the crossbar, and there was more a massive sigh of relief that gimpy didn’t blow another one over the bar and we lose the game than a celebration. After all that I couldn’t stand up straight until Tuesday, but I guess that’s not so much a long story short.

Wednesday it rained, because we had practice during the shittiest “spring” ever and we called it off. I had spent all day working on a curriculum for my new evening class starting next week. That’s right, starting next week the party’s over. I’ll be teaching a full schedule of sixteen classes per week and two in the evenings… okay, it’s not that bad but it will require preparation, which I’m still working on, obviously. Wednesday came and went but Thursday afternoon I would have plenty of time to work on my craft [sic], or so I hoped.

Before I get to Thursday’s activities I should digress and mention what had been going on during the mornings. Though I gave no midterms I was asked to proctor the exams which meant standing in the back of a classroom for an hour with my only entertainment being the wall, the clock that didn’t move and the sound of pencils moving… buh-roo-tal! That afternoon I was asked to help the other English teacher’s grade exams and sat down for about thirty seconds before I was summoned to go see Ironman 2 with my office team. Tough call: “Hey Chris, do you want to sit here and grade these insanely tedious sections of the exam a hundred times over or would you rather go see Ironman?” “Hmmmm, gee. Let me think…”. So Thursday afternoon I saw Im 2 and can say I enjoyed it and choose not to nitpick about the typical sequel flaws. That evening I had an appointment to get a haircut and a COUGH waxing COUGH and didn’t make it back home until late after opting to meet my good friend Pam in Itaewon for food after my COUGH gay manicure COUGH. Excuse me, something in my throat.

After carefully observing the process of paint drying for 2 hours Friday morning I had lunch and discovered that the exams were not magically graded while I was watching Ironman and spent part of the afternoon grading and the latter half talking to administration about the upcoming months and working on the syllabi for my new classes. Finally, for the first time since I showed up a week after classes started in March, I got some solid answers and direction. The guidance counselor Yeon Joo, who is the person I go to when I need things and fluent in English informed me that the students like me and the A-students, whom I have not been teaching, have requested to be in my class—hence the extra hours. More importantly, it also turns out we have a five week paid break coming up in July and I am guaranteed at least ten days off!! If I am required to teach or choose to stay through the rest of the break (we’re not sure if I have to, can, or might be able to yet) I’ll get extra compensation. My evening classes coming up will nearly double my pay so I can start sending home some nice chunks of Korean won. Also I found out that there is a five week winter break as well starting January 1st. In short, this job is getting better and better.

With all of this vacation time there may even be some pictures. I saw a complaint that I wasn’t posting any and there are a couple of reasons for this. First, I am terrible about taking pictures and don’t particularly like my camera. I feel this has all been seen and done before and never was a big fan of taking pictures of people—I prefer landscapes, architecture, etc. Also the sky has been so hazy all of the time and the weather been so gloomy that I don’t want to remember this when and if it ever passes over. But secondly and more importantly I don’t want to feel I need to rely on pictures to post something new. My last blog died off after I ran out of interesting pictures to comment on and I want this to be more about my writing [sic] than photo journalism. Not to say there will never be any pictures, but most weeks my pictureless words will have to be endured. Being happy to get back into the blog business after a long hiatus, part of the purpose of this thing, other than to wildly entertain and inform, is to discipline myself to write something every week. Therefore you now have my apologies for not posting last Friday and I hope my explanation will appease your extreme anger. Until this Friday, take care everybody!