Alright, I decided to revise my last post a tad. I slept the night and I am feeling much better. I still don't agree with lots of the ideas that were proposed, but I'll just do my own thing anyway. I'm leaving in 2 months so it doesn't really matter.
Anywho, the good news is that I only have 2 days more of work before a long weekend!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
Good times in Korea
Well, as the title suggests, I'm prepared for good times here. First, it's the weekend, and that's automatically a good thing. Second, tonight I will go to a Beethoven concert. They are playing his 6th symphony which is one of his only works of 'program music'. That means that the music is supposed to depict an image in your head when you listen to it - this one is all about nature - there are 5 movements - the first is him arriving in the country side, the second is a calm soothing something or other, I think the 3rd one is the storm, or maybe the 4th... then the 5th is the calm after the storm and the happiness of being one with nature.
It's a good thing I read up on it before I wrote this post! Anyway, before I go to that concert, I will be going to a palace. It's not a famous one, so I imagine it's quite small (and hopefully free to get into!!!). I will take pictures there, so that will be nice.
The other reason that I'm really happy is this - after the weekend is over, I have 3 days of work until another weekend! Yes, that's right - it's a 3 day work week! We get Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of next week OFF!!! So that means even the week after that is only 4 days!!!!!
On top of that, Melissa is coming for her visit on the Friday of next week (during the holiday), so I can pick her up from the airport directly, rather than having her spend $60 on a cab, she can spend $4 on the bus with me!
Such excitement.
The final exciting thing is this - Steph (my best friend back home)'s sister Mary is 9 months pregnant, and we think the baby will come any time now! She has dialated 3 centimetres, but that's all I know for now. I hope little Jacob comes soon! I want to see pictures! I'm so excited to see him when I get home, I will be his favourite not-really-part-of-the-family-uncle-but-we-still-call-him-uncle!
Something else exciting (although not in my life), is that my parents and my Uncle Richard and Aunt Karen are going on a fantastic trip to Greece and Turkey and maybe other places that I don't remember on Sunday. That sounds like an amazing trip!
Alright, that's all my exciting news for now! I feel like the next few weeks will be really good ones.
It's a good thing I read up on it before I wrote this post! Anyway, before I go to that concert, I will be going to a palace. It's not a famous one, so I imagine it's quite small (and hopefully free to get into!!!). I will take pictures there, so that will be nice.
The other reason that I'm really happy is this - after the weekend is over, I have 3 days of work until another weekend! Yes, that's right - it's a 3 day work week! We get Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of next week OFF!!! So that means even the week after that is only 4 days!!!!!
On top of that, Melissa is coming for her visit on the Friday of next week (during the holiday), so I can pick her up from the airport directly, rather than having her spend $60 on a cab, she can spend $4 on the bus with me!
Such excitement.
The final exciting thing is this - Steph (my best friend back home)'s sister Mary is 9 months pregnant, and we think the baby will come any time now! She has dialated 3 centimetres, but that's all I know for now. I hope little Jacob comes soon! I want to see pictures! I'm so excited to see him when I get home, I will be his favourite not-really-part-of-the-family-uncle-but-we-still-call-him-uncle!
Something else exciting (although not in my life), is that my parents and my Uncle Richard and Aunt Karen are going on a fantastic trip to Greece and Turkey and maybe other places that I don't remember on Sunday. That sounds like an amazing trip!
Alright, that's all my exciting news for now! I feel like the next few weeks will be really good ones.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Scrabble
Well, I don't really have a reason to make a post, other than this - I was playing scrabble on the internet with my friend Soohan. My first word was 'unsolved' which got me 110 points right off the bat, then I put down zits a few turns later and got 114 points for it!! I finished the game with 468 points!!!!
Here is a pic of the game.
It was a fun game! And, my highest scrabble score I think. Anyway, that's all for now. Aunt Karen - they took the lobster machine away! When my Mom & Dad were here, we found another one, but that one is gone now, too. Very sad.
Alright, I'll go now. Time to drink my morning coffee.
Have a good Wednesday everyone!
Here is a pic of the game.
It was a fun game! And, my highest scrabble score I think. Anyway, that's all for now. Aunt Karen - they took the lobster machine away! When my Mom & Dad were here, we found another one, but that one is gone now, too. Very sad.
Alright, I'll go now. Time to drink my morning coffee.
Have a good Wednesday everyone!
Monday, September 21, 2009
10 months
Well folks, yesterday was my 10 months anniversary here in Korea. That means a month has gone by since I switched classes, and I think the next 2 will be alright. I got to speak with Jill on the webcam last night which was really nice because we've been playing tag for about 2 weeks now!
There are 10 days until Melissa comes!
In about 6 days, my parents will be leaving for a nice trip in Europe. I am officially jealous. Well, I was jealous when the first told me about it, but I'm more jealous now, because it's happening soon.
I seem to be at a loss of things to talk about, I just thought I'd make a post about my 10 month mark. This Saturday I'm going to a concert of Beethoven's 6th symphony. I am really looking forward to it. A few months back, Lindsay and I went to a concert of Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto and 3rd symphony, and that was pretty nice, too.
Alright, I am going to drink my morning coffee.
Bye now
There are 10 days until Melissa comes!
In about 6 days, my parents will be leaving for a nice trip in Europe. I am officially jealous. Well, I was jealous when the first told me about it, but I'm more jealous now, because it's happening soon.
I seem to be at a loss of things to talk about, I just thought I'd make a post about my 10 month mark. This Saturday I'm going to a concert of Beethoven's 6th symphony. I am really looking forward to it. A few months back, Lindsay and I went to a concert of Beethoven's 3rd piano concerto and 3rd symphony, and that was pretty nice, too.
Alright, I am going to drink my morning coffee.
Bye now
Friday, September 18, 2009
Weekend
Well, it has been a quiet weekend so far, but I like it. Yesterday I hung out at Soohan's apartment with some of his friends. I met another girl from Canada - she lives in Vancouver. That was fun to talk about Canada for a bit! lol.
Today I am going to Seoul with Antoinette (who leaves for Canada on THURSDAY). My goodness, everyone is leaving! We are going to go to Myeongdong I think, because she wants to go one more time. Then we're going to go to Hongdae and go to some kind of restaurant that she has heard of.
I'm excited to go into Seoul, I haven't been for a couple weeks, and I really like the city. I guess one of my favourite things to do is wander around and just stumble upon something interesting. That is usually what happens in Seoul... there is always something going on.
Melissa comes in 13 days. I'm really excited!!! I don't know where my countdown went, but I remember thinking to myself 'Melissa will be here in 70 days' lol!
I should go water my plant.
Alright, she's better now. We have a rocky relationship. Sometimes she starts to sag, but I give her water and she's fine... but I just gave her water 2 days ago and now she's sagging again. I don't want to over water her. Perhaps I'll look up instructions on the internet about how to care for a peace lily.
I have been playing my nintendo quite frequently, and as of last night, I beat The New Mario Brothers game. Although, not with all the secret things and what not. I will go back slowly and find all of those things and beat the game properly now, I just wanted to get to the end.
Alright, I will go now, drink my coffee and get ready for the day in Seoul. I'll bring my camera, in case there are any good picture opporunities!
Have a good weekend everyone!
Today I am going to Seoul with Antoinette (who leaves for Canada on THURSDAY). My goodness, everyone is leaving! We are going to go to Myeongdong I think, because she wants to go one more time. Then we're going to go to Hongdae and go to some kind of restaurant that she has heard of.
I'm excited to go into Seoul, I haven't been for a couple weeks, and I really like the city. I guess one of my favourite things to do is wander around and just stumble upon something interesting. That is usually what happens in Seoul... there is always something going on.
Melissa comes in 13 days. I'm really excited!!! I don't know where my countdown went, but I remember thinking to myself 'Melissa will be here in 70 days' lol!
I should go water my plant.
Alright, she's better now. We have a rocky relationship. Sometimes she starts to sag, but I give her water and she's fine... but I just gave her water 2 days ago and now she's sagging again. I don't want to over water her. Perhaps I'll look up instructions on the internet about how to care for a peace lily.
I have been playing my nintendo quite frequently, and as of last night, I beat The New Mario Brothers game. Although, not with all the secret things and what not. I will go back slowly and find all of those things and beat the game properly now, I just wanted to get to the end.
Alright, I will go now, drink my coffee and get ready for the day in Seoul. I'll bring my camera, in case there are any good picture opporunities!
Have a good weekend everyone!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Nintendo DS
Well folks, on Sunday I got myself a Nintendo DS. I love it to pieces. As you know, I have an obsession with video games, and just anything Nintendo, really. I have Mario things all over my apartment and I sometimes dream I'm in a video game. I realize that I'm almost 25, but hey... boys will be boys.
I have many many games already. I also have a Korean-English dictionary and a subway map of Seoul on there, so I can look at it on the subway while I'm playing a game, waiting for time to go by. I'm quite thrilled about it. It was for the low low price of 150,000. That looks like a lot, but in Canadian it's about $132. Anyway, it makes me happy and needless to say, I have been losing a lot of sleep because of it! haha.
On Monday I brought in my dry cleaning (I am cleaning 2 comforters for when Melissa comes in 2 weeks), so I have to pick them up today, and then I have to go to work. Work is going well, I think the last 2.5 months will go by quickly. Don't get me wrong, there are always those days where I want to hide under my desk while the students take rampant charge of the room, but alas, I can't do that.
There is this sniper range thingy next to the Galbi restaurant (actually, it has been there since May I think), but me and Soohan have been going quite a bit and I've gotten much better the past few times. The maximum you can get is 1040 in one round, and yesterday I got 910, which is pretty good. I think I missed 3 times or so. You can save up your points and get fun prizes. But unlike shotty arcade prizes that you can never get, these ones are pretty good, and you actually have a chance at winning them. It's quite exciting. Perhaps I'll take Melissa there when she comes... IN 2 WEEKS. Actually, it's 15 days until she leaves, and 16 days until she gets here, but I'm just saying 2 weeks now.
Alright, I should go. I might not have time to get my blankets back up here and then make it back to work!
Buh bye now!
I have many many games already. I also have a Korean-English dictionary and a subway map of Seoul on there, so I can look at it on the subway while I'm playing a game, waiting for time to go by. I'm quite thrilled about it. It was for the low low price of 150,000. That looks like a lot, but in Canadian it's about $132. Anyway, it makes me happy and needless to say, I have been losing a lot of sleep because of it! haha.
On Monday I brought in my dry cleaning (I am cleaning 2 comforters for when Melissa comes in 2 weeks), so I have to pick them up today, and then I have to go to work. Work is going well, I think the last 2.5 months will go by quickly. Don't get me wrong, there are always those days where I want to hide under my desk while the students take rampant charge of the room, but alas, I can't do that.
There is this sniper range thingy next to the Galbi restaurant (actually, it has been there since May I think), but me and Soohan have been going quite a bit and I've gotten much better the past few times. The maximum you can get is 1040 in one round, and yesterday I got 910, which is pretty good. I think I missed 3 times or so. You can save up your points and get fun prizes. But unlike shotty arcade prizes that you can never get, these ones are pretty good, and you actually have a chance at winning them. It's quite exciting. Perhaps I'll take Melissa there when she comes... IN 2 WEEKS. Actually, it's 15 days until she leaves, and 16 days until she gets here, but I'm just saying 2 weeks now.
Alright, I should go. I might not have time to get my blankets back up here and then make it back to work!
Buh bye now!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
The next weekend in Sept
Well, this weekend was supposed to be cultural, but really it was an "Ian, you should sleep" weekend. So, I slept quite a bit which was nice. Yesterday Soohan and I went to Itaewon with Howon and his girlfriend. It was their first time going there, so that was fun. Howon is my Korean friend. It was funny taking a Korean to sight-see in Korea! Anyway, that was a nice trip, and we ate at a delicious Mexican restaurant whose staff was Phillipino, Korean and Ghanaian.
Today Soohan and I are going to go to Homeplus (a department store) and eat the free samples. Then we'll go to E-mart and eat the free samples. Then we'll go to Paris Baguette, Village du pain, and Emma and eat the free samples. The shining lives of overseas teachers!
Anyway, I am getting really excited for Melissa's visit which is happening in less than 3 weeks! (19 days). That's going to be so fun! I have her itinerary all set up and I think it will be a GREAT success (Borat moment).
Right now I'm just drinking my coffee and getting ready for a lazy Sunday. The evenings have been getting cool here now. Of course, cool to me means like 20 degrees compared to the oven I've lived in since May. Anyway, it's nice. We got paid on Thurdsay which, as always, was magical. I bought a dress shirt and a sweater, both of which I wore yesterday because I wanted to wear my new clothes. I was a little hot all day, but I think I looked nice.
Yesterday night I had a bunch of people over (Antoinette [she's leaving really soon], Eon [New Zealand], Howon [the Korean friend], Soohan [new co-worker from New York] and for a little bit, Howon's girlfriend [who I still don't know the name of]). We played chess, then pictionary. Then we had the great idea of playing "Actionary" which consisted of acting out the words on the pictionary cards rather than drawing them. It was HILARIOUS. The funniest was when Soohan was holding the margarine from my fridge, and mimicking a bird flying. I guessed a bunch of things, worked my way to 'margarine fly', and about 30 seconds later finally reached the conclusion that it was 'butterfly'. I couldn't get past margarine fly for a while though, and everyone was like yelling "It's so obvious!!" We had a really long laugh after that one.
Anyway, I'm going to go now, I have 10 minutes before our 'Sunday Soirée of Scrumptious Samples' begins. Have a smashing Sunday, and I'll leave you with some almighty alluring alliterations. Bye bye
Today Soohan and I are going to go to Homeplus (a department store) and eat the free samples. Then we'll go to E-mart and eat the free samples. Then we'll go to Paris Baguette, Village du pain, and Emma and eat the free samples. The shining lives of overseas teachers!
Anyway, I am getting really excited for Melissa's visit which is happening in less than 3 weeks! (19 days). That's going to be so fun! I have her itinerary all set up and I think it will be a GREAT success (Borat moment).
Right now I'm just drinking my coffee and getting ready for a lazy Sunday. The evenings have been getting cool here now. Of course, cool to me means like 20 degrees compared to the oven I've lived in since May. Anyway, it's nice. We got paid on Thurdsay which, as always, was magical. I bought a dress shirt and a sweater, both of which I wore yesterday because I wanted to wear my new clothes. I was a little hot all day, but I think I looked nice.
Yesterday night I had a bunch of people over (Antoinette [she's leaving really soon], Eon [New Zealand], Howon [the Korean friend], Soohan [new co-worker from New York] and for a little bit, Howon's girlfriend [who I still don't know the name of]). We played chess, then pictionary. Then we had the great idea of playing "Actionary" which consisted of acting out the words on the pictionary cards rather than drawing them. It was HILARIOUS. The funniest was when Soohan was holding the margarine from my fridge, and mimicking a bird flying. I guessed a bunch of things, worked my way to 'margarine fly', and about 30 seconds later finally reached the conclusion that it was 'butterfly'. I couldn't get past margarine fly for a while though, and everyone was like yelling "It's so obvious!!" We had a really long laugh after that one.
Anyway, I'm going to go now, I have 10 minutes before our 'Sunday Soirée of Scrumptious Samples' begins. Have a smashing Sunday, and I'll leave you with some almighty alluring alliterations. Bye bye
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Good weekend, and 100th POST!!!!!
Hello! Well, I had a really good weekend, and to make it better, this is my 100th post on here!
Friday night I went to Bupyeong with Soohan and his friends. It was really fun! We started off at some random bar where we had some beer and ... get ready for it... another weird food... possibly worse than raw crab, but not as bad as live octopus......... CHICKEN ANUS. I had one bite to say that I've tried it, but after that it was quite enough. It had the same taste as chicken, but a little darker and tougher.
After that adventure (of which I unfortunately didn't take pictures), we went to batting cages! It was so fun! I pulled like 18 muscles though, and now my body is sore.
Saturday I began my "September - month of culture" regime. I went to this place where a bunch of catholics were martyred in the 19th century - it was interesting and there were some nice pictures. After that we went (I went with Antoinette, one of the people I went to Japan with) to the birthplace of General Gang Gam-chan of the Goryeo Dynasty. There were some nice pictures there as well.
Today me and Soohan went to E-mart and we are just making dinner now. He was considering going into culinary studies at one point, so I'm pretty excited to see how this dinner is going to turn out! It has been a nice weekend, and I'm happy that even though Lindsay and Sarah are both gone now, I have been keeping myself occupied and Soohan is a pretty fun guy to hang out with. Alright, here are some pictures from the weekend!
Friday night I went to Bupyeong with Soohan and his friends. It was really fun! We started off at some random bar where we had some beer and ... get ready for it... another weird food... possibly worse than raw crab, but not as bad as live octopus......... CHICKEN ANUS. I had one bite to say that I've tried it, but after that it was quite enough. It had the same taste as chicken, but a little darker and tougher.
After that adventure (of which I unfortunately didn't take pictures), we went to batting cages! It was so fun! I pulled like 18 muscles though, and now my body is sore.
Saturday I began my "September - month of culture" regime. I went to this place where a bunch of catholics were martyred in the 19th century - it was interesting and there were some nice pictures. After that we went (I went with Antoinette, one of the people I went to Japan with) to the birthplace of General Gang Gam-chan of the Goryeo Dynasty. There were some nice pictures there as well.
Today me and Soohan went to E-mart and we are just making dinner now. He was considering going into culinary studies at one point, so I'm pretty excited to see how this dinner is going to turn out! It has been a nice weekend, and I'm happy that even though Lindsay and Sarah are both gone now, I have been keeping myself occupied and Soohan is a pretty fun guy to hang out with. Alright, here are some pictures from the weekend!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
September
Well, here we are September. It's not starting off so well. My friend David left yesterday, and today Lindsay leaves. I feel like I've swallowed a tablet of emotional instability... if that makes sense at all. It's really strange - before I came to Korea I was never really emotional, except for when I left Western... now it seems that more and more often, I either miss my friends, or my family or something changes and it makes my brain go crazy. Now I'm thinking these things: I'm sad because I'm the only one left from who I first met here in Korea, I'm sad because 2 people that I became good friends with are now gone, happy because I have only 3 months left, happy to have had the opportunity to meet these people, sad because I have to leave in 3 months... it's a whole big thing. oh dear.
In lighter news, I have decided that to busy myself and to take my mind off of the loneliness, I will do cultural things in September and see more of Korea that I have wanted to see this whole time but have never gotten around to doing it. This Saturday I am going to a few parks and maybe a museum. Sunday I am going to the traditional Korean music museum with my friend Soohan (the new teacher from New York who's a music major). It will be nice, and I'll take lots of pictures.
In 4 weeks today, Melissa will come!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. Everyday I look at the calendar and wonder why sometimes time goes so slowly, but other times it goes so fast! Before I know it, I'm sure I'll be home and I'll wonder what happened to my year in Korea, but now it seems like forever waiting for a month to go by so I can see my sister!
I'm more than thrilled that I'll be home for Christmas and with the family this year. It's funny... I still remember Christmas day this year in Korea... we went to a restaurant in Itaewon, and foreigners and Koreans were all wishing us, "Merry Christmas" as we walked down the street, or went to a store.
I remember the China trip with Lindsay, Sarah and Jenny and thinking at the time 'I'm so lucky to have met these people'
I remember the Jeju trip with Lindsay, and how it was a miracle that the two of us traveling together didn't get lost! haha.
Anyway, speaking of Lindsay... I have to go to the bus stop and say goodbye to her. She's lucky - she's going to Europe for a month! She's doing a tour around a lot of places and I'm looking forward to seeing her pictures. I'm jealous. When she's traveling around Europe I'll be teaching. I guess the good thing is that by the end of her trip, Melissa will be here, then I'll only have just over a month left!
Alright, I'll go now. Hopefully the next time I write something here it will be a more light-hearted message about the good weekend I had!
Until then, have a good Friday everyone!
In lighter news, I have decided that to busy myself and to take my mind off of the loneliness, I will do cultural things in September and see more of Korea that I have wanted to see this whole time but have never gotten around to doing it. This Saturday I am going to a few parks and maybe a museum. Sunday I am going to the traditional Korean music museum with my friend Soohan (the new teacher from New York who's a music major). It will be nice, and I'll take lots of pictures.
In 4 weeks today, Melissa will come!!!!!!!! I'm so excited. Everyday I look at the calendar and wonder why sometimes time goes so slowly, but other times it goes so fast! Before I know it, I'm sure I'll be home and I'll wonder what happened to my year in Korea, but now it seems like forever waiting for a month to go by so I can see my sister!
I'm more than thrilled that I'll be home for Christmas and with the family this year. It's funny... I still remember Christmas day this year in Korea... we went to a restaurant in Itaewon, and foreigners and Koreans were all wishing us, "Merry Christmas" as we walked down the street, or went to a store.
I remember the China trip with Lindsay, Sarah and Jenny and thinking at the time 'I'm so lucky to have met these people'
I remember the Jeju trip with Lindsay, and how it was a miracle that the two of us traveling together didn't get lost! haha.
Anyway, speaking of Lindsay... I have to go to the bus stop and say goodbye to her. She's lucky - she's going to Europe for a month! She's doing a tour around a lot of places and I'm looking forward to seeing her pictures. I'm jealous. When she's traveling around Europe I'll be teaching. I guess the good thing is that by the end of her trip, Melissa will be here, then I'll only have just over a month left!
Alright, I'll go now. Hopefully the next time I write something here it will be a more light-hearted message about the good weekend I had!
Until then, have a good Friday everyone!
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