What and where is Korea?

2006-07-10T10:59:00.000+09:00

2006-07-08T23:56:00.000+09:00

Me with my homies. Much respect! While I am typing this I took my tall-can beer outside and poored some out on the street to respect my dead brothers.

This buddhist woman was giving me shit for taking pictures of the bell (see below). Man if she saw me putting my arms around these statues she would have FREAKED. But I would have said "Yo grrl! You're Buddhist! Ya gots to be chillin!"

That's what's so great about arguing with Buddhists. As soon as they get all frustrated you say "I think you need to go chill and meditate. Buddhists shouldn't be getting all argry like that." Boom I won the argument right then and there.

2006-07-08T19:12:00.000+09:00

Is that guy homeless sleeping there under that bridge?

No! He is tired. He just wanted to take a nap under a bridge. Perfectly normal thing to do in Korea. Find some dirty ground under an industrial bridge next to a polluted river. Great place to relax.

There was this old man watching me take the picture. He was wondering why I found that interesting enough to photograph. What was so fascinating? Sleeping under dirty bridges is not an exciting photograph at all.

Think about that whenever you see tourists taking lots of pictures in your home country. It may be normal to you but not to them!

2006-07-08T19:06:00.000+09:00

This one is TOO easy. But I'll comment on it anyway:

Okay so here's the deal, I went into the store and asked "Hey why is your store called Hunt Kids!? Do you really hunt kids because that sounds great! I hate kids."
And the owner said in fluent English, "Well sir, all these clothes are from children we hunted and murdered. That's why all the prices are so high, the clothing is the best trophy when hunting children."

and there you have it. That's the absolute truth of the matter.

2006-07-08T19:04:00.000+09:00

GOTTA LOVE THE BUDDHISTS!!

2006-07-08T19:03:00.000+09:00

2006-07-08T19:00:00.000+09:00

2006-07-08T18:55:00.000+09:00

2006-07-03T13:26:00.000+09:00

Imagine your school's backpacks all the same and with flags of Switzerland or China. How bizarre would that be? Then on top of that imagine your school teachers wearing shirts that say in foreign languages that you can read, "Feel Like SHIT." You feel like shit? Ugh I'm not even going to touch any further on this one.

2006-07-02T23:51:00.000+09:00

I'm going to miss a great snack for one dollar with 24hr availability.

I will not miss the pig that has been murdered and then grinded up and processed into brick form to be placed in my kimbap.

That goes for the egg and the fake crab also in the kimbap that I selfishly eat.

2006-07-02T23:13:00.000+09:00

My last weekend going out and about in Korea. I wanted to make it damn good so I invited my bros.
We swam in arguably "The best swimming ever experienced," climbed some rocks, hiked in the forests, and drank a bunch of shitty beer.

This photograph really depicts these guys really well:

Here I go from left to right - like you are reading this:
Ryan: Seems normal but then he shows faces like this and you wonder what's under the skin....
Kim Lee: Calm and collected and likes the word monochromatic but does not like to dress monochromatically.
Paul: From some sticks in Canada and super eccentric. That thing on his head, that's the sleeve of his shirt that he cut off last night and put it on his head proclaiming "I love these things!" He wore it ever since.
Dave: All-American intelligently sly
Me: Confused

And Eric who is taking the picture.. ya he's new to Korea so who cares about him. That's right. I said it! You are a bastard! Think you can win this photo contest with the theme being Westernism,
Well you can go to hell!
Ahh the internet! The best way to be completely passive and directly aggressive at the same time. I mean when I see Eric I'll be super nice although I'm telling the WORLD how much I want him dead!

2006-07-02T23:05:00.000+09:00

Here is me on a big rock looking at other rocks and a lake. wow.

What I am thinking is more important such as "Holy shit I've been in Korea for a year. God damn Korea for a whole god damn year."
OKAY! maybe not important and you don't even need to know that sort of stuff because who gives a shit I'm thinking when it is completely self-centered and useless to everyone.

But another thing, that is important to at least one person, What I was thinking went along the lines of "I wish Eric would stop photographing me and would come down to this rock so he can "accidently" slip off the rock and break his head open. Then maybe he can't officially win the photo contest if he can't live any longer." yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.. good thought

2006-06-29T01:30:00.000+09:00

Ya know you're a teacher when you got a sling-shot in your desk confiscated from a student, but when ya got a sawed-off shotgun you know there's trouble. Looking at this piece! I feel like my situation is worse than when my sister was teaching in Brooklyn.
I use more karate here than I ever have, seriously. I'll demonstrate when I'm home
c
By the way, that's my peanut bag at the top left of the drawer. They are a yummy stack between karate chopping 4th grade Korean kids.

2006-06-26T02:59:00.000+09:00

The young employees of Kaist Educational Institute of Bullshit

The guy on the right is a genetic engineer major and speaks fluent English cause his parents are now American but he isn't.

The girl on the left of him kept say "bora-get-ah-say-yo" which means "I don't understand."

The girl on the right of me says some pretty unenlightened selfish statements and speaks pretty good English. Maybe if she acted like she doesn't speak English then my comment about her would be "She seems nice."

And the guy on the far left used to smell funny but then he discovered Alum.

NOW don't be mistaken. The center of attention is that little green bottle.

Here is a typical night for these Korean people. Drink and eat spicy fish soup until 7am and yet never get fat.

Hey also notice that red cross in the background. Gotta love the neon christian neoism

2006-06-26T02:53:00.000+09:00

The bathrooms at restaurants and other private businesses in Korea are so gross. Grosser than the hole the refugee is using in Sierra Leone.

But the publicly owned bathrooms! My god! In the subways or at highway rest stops, they are just fucking amazing. OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD. By far the nicest bathrooms I've ever used except those bathrooms in the Alexis hotel in Seattle or the W hotel in NYC.

I mean these truck stop bathrooms in Korea have fountains and bonsai trees, and are shinning like diamonds.

Why did I take a picture of this shithole and not the nice bathrooms? I'm sorry.

2006-06-26T02:50:00.000+09:00

and when ya party with Koreans you will definitely be seeing the sunrise.

The female co-worker I was with said "I don't care about this sunrise! I just care about money!"
Uhhh.. you're dumb

2006-06-26T02:48:00.000+09:00

I hate you power-line. Ruining my shot.

You know how long it takes to photoshop that out?
Probably 3 hours of my life wasted on a mop and a few pieces of brick not perfectly stacked.

2006-06-26T02:39:00.000+09:00

I think this picture parallels my mood right now.

Feeling a bit stale but looking forward to that not-too-far-off sunshine although the means to the end are a bit cloudy.

2006-06-24T22:00:00.000+09:00

So that video below: That's me harassing some drunk crazy korean guy on the bus. I was all ignoring him but then I decided to do nothing but entertain myself and everyone around me by talking to him.

When the video was finished I ignored him again. He was confused and tried to talk to me. I just made faces at him and didn't speak. He tried to poke me in the ear but kept missing.

What a loser. Couldn't even poke me in the ear.

You know I've taken lots of little videos: time lapses of the streets of Osaka, Japan. Boat rides in Southern Thailand, Bike rides in Korea, etc and yet this is the ONLY one I put on the internet to show my friends, family, the Pentagon, and everyone else looking at my blog and youtube.

What does this say about me? Hopefully something good!

2006-06-21T01:41:00.000+09:00

SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET SAVE THE INTERNET

CLICK THE BANNER ON THE TOP RIGHT NOW!!

CALL YOUR SENATORS!

2006-06-21T01:39:00.000+09:00

2006-06-18T00:18:00.000+09:00

I'm now worth 5 digits, and I worry and fret about money as much, if not more, as I did when I was worth 1 digit.

I'm now worth five digits, and I worry and fret about money as much, if not more, as I did when I was worth one digit.

I'm now worth five digits, and I worry and fret about money as much, if not more, as I did when I was worth one digit.

I'm now worth five digits, and I worry and fret about money as much, if not more, as I did when I was worth one digit.

Plus when I was worth $8 bucks I'd think "Oh man I'd love to have an extra $100 right now.
Then when I had $300 bucks I'd think "I wish I had a $1000"
Then once I had a $1000 I'd think "Oh I wish I had $5000. That'd be awesome."

WHAT THE FUCK. I GOT THAT DISEASE I HEARD ABOUT WHEN I WAS LITTLE AND I THOUGHT THOSE PEOPLE WERE CRAZY. I'M ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE. If you are like me stop it before you are at a later stage in life and you find yourself greedy, friendless, and with high-blood pressure.

2006-06-16T20:19:00.000+09:00

I have not altered these photos. These are my students after I bought them ice cream.

Also these are two different people. They just look them same cause they live in a homogeneous society.

2006-06-16T00:53:00.000+09:00

LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME. THIS IS MY BLOG. I'M REALLY IMPORTANT. LOOKAT ME. I'M REALLY COOL BECAUSE I PUT PICTURES ON THE INTERNET. MY CAMERA HAS AN AWESOME SELF-PORTRAIT SETTING. SO HERE IS ME. I'M HOT. I'M SMART. I'M EVERYTHING. READ WHAT I SAY. READ IT. READ IT READ IT! YOU ARE MY FRIEND!!!!!

2006-06-16T00:51:00.000+09:00

Here is me being bad by stealing coffee.

See those weird symbols in the background. I can easily read those. I'm so smart.
Look at my forearms. They are so big. I'm really strong.

2006-06-16T00:49:00.000+09:00

Here is me with a random Asian woman.

Because I am the best ever I thought she would want to get her picture taken with me.
During the photo I was totally wondering if she wanted to have sex with me.

2006-06-16T00:47:00.000+09:00

Here is me eating tofu and kimchi. I am just so super awesome the way I eat food and that fact I can use chopsticks. I am SO international

2006-06-16T00:41:00.000+09:00

Here is another really cool picture of me on this rock next to these trees doing that really cool move a black person once showed me.

2006-06-16T00:38:00.000+09:00

Here is a toilet that I, ALEX, used. It was so cool and awesome. The toilet seat heated and sprayed water all over my asshole so I didn't have to use toilet paper.

In high school i figured out how to take a "number 2" as some people call it, HA, without using a squirt-gun or paper. It is all about relaxing those muscles!

But now I have stresses in my life so I can't do it anymore!!

anyway I wish I had a picture of ME and the toilet seat but I just don't because it was too small of a room even with my awesome super cool camera.

2006-06-16T00:35:00.000+09:00

Here is me next to some plants and rocks.

Wow. It is amazing how I can just be anywhere and make it awesome! I am just awesome. totally!

2006-06-16T00:22:00.000+09:00

As most of my students hated having their picture taken this particular student loved being in the spotlight.

I would be taking a picture of something else and he jumps in!

Man, Asians and their eyes. Some of my students make me wonder if they can see at all when they are smiling or laughing. I will test this out by throwing things at them when they are laughing.

Speaking of tricking them, today a student was pretending to be asleep so I opened his pencil case and took a nice pencil out and put it in my pocket. Then when he stopped being "asleep" I said "LOOK THERE!!!" and pointed off in the distance. When the student looked away I put the pencil down on his neighbors desk. Then when he looked back I said "Yaaah (yah is hey in Korean) he stole your pencil!!"
The neighbor said "nono!! Alex teacher did!" I said "No!! I am teacher and I don't lie. You are a bad student." And then student who owned the pencil didn't know what to do! WHOAHAHAHAHA

2006-06-16T00:20:00.000+09:00

Personally, I love beating my students. Pressure points cause the most pain and leave no mark.

2006-06-16T00:15:00.000+09:00

2006-06-13T01:29:00.000+09:00

2006-06-11T22:24:00.000+09:00

"All your friends who were going to come visit you, Alex, but didn't really have missed out." - Brynne of the BI crew.

She said this multiple times during her weekend (June 10th to June 11th) visit.

2006-06-11T22:17:00.000+09:00

2006-06-11T22:14:00.000+09:00

dude buddha
sorry man but i'm so torn.

Do i love jah jah or do I love you?

the jah jah people got some bomb music but you always chillin in these dope temples..

2006-06-11T21:39:00.000+09:00

on-yo-he-ca-say-yo Songnisan Boochow, jay-bar jay-me-so-yo-ha-me-da. Hanguk san GIN-CHA choo-why-yo grande eep-poo-da yo.

good bye Songni Mountain Buddha. please have fun for me. I REALLY like Korean mountain because they are beautiful.

24 working days to go. and 4-5 weekends left.

2006-06-07T00:53:00.000+09:00

Kim Lee and I travel the rice paddies eyeing the crag. We approach Cheong Seok Gul with an anticipation of how our bodies will adapt and move on the crag like water flowing around stones.

But before we climb we must prepare ourselves mentally by familiarizing ourselves with the eco-culture surrounding us. Once we understand we can conquer the rock.

2006-06-07T00:49:00.000+09:00

smelled the growing rice

2006-06-07T00:46:00.000+09:00

Surveyed the landscape

2006-06-07T00:42:00.000+09:00

We felt the cool air in the cave

2006-06-07T00:37:00.000+09:00

After standing Seon meditation I flowed up the rock like schziophrenic monkey.

At top my neophyte sport climbing technique get the best of me. I fell 25 feet but my motion was like leaf landing on water.

2006-06-07T00:30:00.000+09:00

But Kim Lee was chillin. He only on-sited this 5.11a in flip-flops totally dissing Vice Magazine. (http://www.viceland.com - Vice Magazine hates flip flops). Ya you show em up! Those middle-age pervert wanna be hipsters! (Vice staff i'm sayin)

and thanks Kim Dae Eel for the belay and the ride home in your sweet ride!

2006-06-05T00:17:00.000+09:00

I don't care that Korea is #1 in cell phones or that they sell a lot of cars or that they cloned a dog. WHATEVER. A cellphone still makes calls, cars still run on fossil fuel and a dog is still a meal for 20,000won at some Korean restaurants.

but this. NOW THIS. is an invention. They install couches up on the 15th story of an apartment building through the window using these things!

Here they are removing building materials from a remodeled gov. building.

2006-06-05T00:09:00.000+09:00

Roses are everywhere in Korea! Roses do so well here. On the contrary, on Bainbridge Island I spent a lot of time nursing roses in gardens and I always ended up with sick roses.

One special feature of the Korean rose is that it does not smell.
The story on the street is that the Korean Government genetically engineered the roses so that the people do not have a reason to stop. This way productivity will continue to be full blast ahead! NO STOPPING!

2006-06-04T23:59:00.000+09:00

Arrive at campsite after dark. Koreans begin frantically cooking a meal equivalent to the idealistic dreamful meal I always wanted to have at thanksgiving... minus the large quantity of pig meat which is, off topic, the reason why I could really never date 99% of native Korean women - they eat too much pig.

anyway that's how these people cook- every meal is a huge mother fucking event. It is incredible how they do this. You go to a campsite in USA and you will find me eating chilli out of a can and I'll even have to ask the campsite next to me for a can opener (remember that Nick?). You go to Korean campsite you find a ton of people handing me everything food item they got (which will be a lot and a variety) and if my cup of alcohol is almost finished they immediately jump on that to refill it. ANY TIME ANY WHERE!

hey. so the following pics are my Saturday night and Sunday this weekend. I went to an area near Songni Mountain along this valley.

2006-06-04T23:56:00.000+09:00

ahhh 5am and time to go for a walk up the mountain.

ahhh another weekend of sleeping on a table. Man my back hurts! But at least this time I had $14 sleeping bag. W00T

2006-06-04T23:53:00.001+09:00

After going up 870 meters, climbing around cliffs, and getting threatened by ravens I reach the top.

The view is simply bombastic simply fantastic

2006-06-04T23:53:00.000+09:00

I dig the abstract lookin trees.

2006-06-04T23:22:00.000+09:00

Once down from the mountain I was served ramen noodle from the extremely hung over aid climbers.
Here is what you do if you are Korean and the next day you will be climbing mountains. You buy a liter of soju (25% alcohol) and you drink it all between four people and then get up early in the morning and feel like shit and then climb rock.

Speaking of drunk guys. Later in the day one of members of the climbing gym, who got really drunk, said "Ramen noodle is the brain and heart of Korea"

By the way, I love to look really scruffy and dirty. I did before I came to korea but now I REALLY LIKE IT. I think the more money I have makes me just want to look more and more homeless. My shirt is stretched, my pants are dirty and ripped and my face.. well.. just look at me.

When my students see me outside of school they give me this look like "Alex.. are you ok? Do you need hospital?"

2006-06-04T23:18:00.000+09:00

Then I lazily spent the rest of the day climbing all these routes these guys are on. Man I never knew how much fun rope climbing can by... except when I went up the rock sport climb style and didn't have any quick draws and had to down-climb.

In between climbing all these groups of Koreans fed me green tea soy milk, soup, water melon and of course alcohol!!

If you ever go hiking in Korea and wonder what are in all those huge 500 dollar north face hiking bags I can ensure you it is Korean food dishes and alcohol.

2006-06-04T23:08:00.000+09:00

I wish this could be my best friend. I am just not cool enough. Sometimes we have conversations of gibberish on both sides and sometimes she lets me give her rides around the climbing gym as if I'm a big bear. But most the time she is so cool for school that she doesn't even notice me. She doesn't want to be rude but she is just in her own world of party dancing. This girl GETS DOWN like I have never seen before. She, no joke, is a better dancer than everyone I know. She will spend the entire 2.5 hours I am at the climbing gym dancing her heart away to 50 cent and britney spears. Ya she knows the artists suck but she doesnt' care. She just gotta shake her hips and move those arms.

2006-05-30T01:39:00.000+09:00

people seem to think that since a lot of photos on my blog are me doing stuff that means I'm doing stuff all the time and my life is great.

This picture depicts how I spend at least 50% of my time.
sad isn't it.

I mean, I only work 24 hours a week and those hours run in the middle of the day. The rest of the time between Monday and Friday is spent at this desk or biking to the climbing gym.

2006-05-29T00:42:00.000+09:00

The next set of photos is from this weekend when I went to Songoon Mountain. Took a long ass time to get there but it was worth it. The best sport climbing in Korea, beautiful mountain ridges, Many peaks, buddhist sculptures in caves, temples, great mountain vegetable bibimbap (veggies picked from the mountain and then cooked up and mixed with rice - a speciality of the province), views of the ocean, and finally a crap load of rain.

2006-05-29T00:41:00.000+09:00

Graves.

2006-05-29T00:39:00.000+09:00

Once past the lake I follow a path through a japanese maple forest along a river. Not a person in sight, a rarity among Korean mountains.

2006-05-29T00:35:00.000+09:00

If those spots are a disease it is the prettiest disease I've ever seen.
Unless it was on my face.

2006-05-29T00:34:00.000+09:00

Always obvious when arriving at the ridge by the look of the pine trees: Small and curvy.

2006-05-29T00:28:00.000+09:00

the far corner of the lake is where I started the mindful-walk after I ascended from the campground aka the picnic table I slept on with a thin blanket while dark clouds dumped rain drumming a plastic covering/roof and I used beer as medicine to fall asleep.

2006-05-29T00:24:00.000+09:00

To my left of the ridge are beautiful rock formations and trees churping within the japanese maple and pine trees. To my right are rice patties.

AHHHH ASIA!

One of the characteristic Grande lines is "ahhh life!!" with a strong exhaul. I say this when I really feelin' life and it is overwhelming with pleasure or with pain. I don't really say that in Korea for some reason. I usually say "AHH ASIA."

2006-05-29T00:16:00.000+09:00

Buddhist rock stacking

2006-05-29T00:12:00.000+09:00

wha.. oh the ocean. I haven't seen you for a while. What a pleasent suprise! Hey, lets meet again real soon but next time lets make it more intimate. So intimate that I want you to embrace my body.

2006-05-29T00:04:00.000+09:00

buddhist temple.
in middle of forest

smells nice.
I almost bought a wind chim

2006-05-28T23:50:00.000+09:00

So this Buddha sculpture is the largest of its kind in Korea. The sign said it dates to the Gejopa period or something. You see the sign makers are obviously not very Buddhist because they are all hot and heavy over the fact that people don't know their Korean history so they don't actually put dates on any of the signs at all the parks in Korea. They just put the period so I just gotta assume everything is really old.

I think it said he is 6meters tall.

2006-05-28T23:46:00.000+09:00

this tree has a huge ego.. if it had an ego since Eastern philosophy doesn't believe in an ego and since this tree is Asian I can't give it shit for always checking itself out in the water although I love to criticize others and other things to inflate my ego.

2006-05-28T23:36:00.000+09:00

yo girl. check out the custom pimped out multi-angled front wheel support. you like what you see? how about you jump on the back and i show you my world

2006-05-22T12:57:00.000+09:00

Now that my stay is coming to end I want to say something important about my blog and my expressed opinions and views of Korea.

I live in the sticks and the sticks is different from living in the city.

Imagine growing up in Seoul and being hip to the jive and knowing the scene and feeling urban and worldly.
Then you move to a small-town-USA 1.5 hours from a major city and the only food is american food and everyone is ignorant and whitetrash. You would get pretty sick of it real fast and have some different opinions of USA right?

Okay that's important to consider when reading my blog. At least take it with a grain of salt because many of the things I talk about do occur in Seoul as well. Even so if I was living in Seoul I would probably have had much more fun and spent thousands of dollars more as well. But that's not why I came here. I didn't come to Korea to just have a good time.

2006-05-18T13:02:00.000+09:00

However, I must remember and understand that although I look forward to all the items on my list (seen below) none of them will bring me true internal peace and bliss that knows no time limit. Yes visiting Fort Ward park on Southern Bainbridge Island or smoking a fat bowl with my friends will bring me happiness, even intense happiness and bliss, yet those events and stimulates will fade like the morning dew and the evening clouds.
They will even bring me sadness after the fact for I will long for the return of incredible happiness. This unfortunate mindset is caused by my misunderstandings of change and adhesions with worldly illusionary desires.

True happiness will not be found on that list but within myself. I already have it, we all do, but we have not realized who we are.

2006-05-16T11:30:00.000+09:00

I stayed a day in a buddhist temple near my apartment. It was a nice cheap vacation! For breakfast (6am), lunch and dinner I ate veggies and rice. I spent most my time walking the gardens, breathing in fresh aromic air, reading buddhist texts, and meditating. I had three teachings with a monk: two while drinking tea and one in the court yard where he taught me some Tai Chi.

This is a picture of the room I stayed in. You can see the medtation pillow and the window looks out into the court yard.

2006-05-16T11:25:00.000+09:00

After being taught some Tai Chi by a buddhist monk who is a master of Tai Chi, I moved to the top of the temple grounds to practice the move. Interestly I had already learned the move during my short study of Tai Chi at WWU. The difference is this time I learned the martial art application for the move, or what the move actually means-its hidden truth. Tai Chi is not orginally simply pretty movements that are relaxing but a deadly martial art. I knew this but few in the West know its true applications.

2006-05-16T11:23:00.000+09:00

I enjoyed my walks in the woods between meditation. It acts as a meditation of its own. I especially enjoyed taking a long look at all the botanic diversity not found in the Seattle area.

2006-05-16T11:18:00.000+09:00

Looks like what is in my nipple.

2006-05-14T01:29:00.000+09:00

2006-05-14T01:11:00.000+09:00

uhhhhh. well i guess monks have sense of humor. the big letters read chul keo oon which sounds like a korean name so maybe a monk at the temple. the message on the right I don't know what it means.. The first part is "We" and the rest I don't know....

BUT JUST THE PICTURE I MEAN COME ON!!!! HAHAHHA

2006-05-14T00:59:00.000+09:00

Today I flaked on my climbing buddies for reasons out of my control and went to the local temple. Ended up having a tea session with a buddhist monk that I have pictures of before. Awesome dude. He's been around the world, he's driven a car from Boston to Miami, serves tea in 300 old cups from China (he said to be careful), speaks fluent English. True Buddhist in that no meat and no sex.

Sunday night after I finish climbing boulders in Insubong I'll be doing a temple stay for 2 nights from Sunday to Tuesday morning. No school Monday because it is Teachers' Day and my school is awesome and not open!

2006-05-14T00:46:00.000+09:00

Vance Pryor ( http://www.myspace.com/anandam)
visited me in Korea from Thailand. Man has he changed. jesus.. traveling sure does weather the body. But he still has his great smile!

2006-05-12T23:15:00.001+09:00

In 1 month, 3 weeks, and 5 days I'll be home. But things are going well here. My I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT TO GET HOME!! isn't strong anymore. Weather here is awesome, I'm eating what I love to eat since the new megastore opened down the street from my house, I am climbing so much with people I really like, and I have some great friends here - quality over quantity, and my job has become completely natural and the students really like me... maybe too much sometimes.

but anyway here is a list of things I will eat, smoke, drink, and do, as well as places I'll go when I return home in 1 month, 3 weeks, and 5 days.

Drink:
1. Kumbucha
2. New Castle beer
3. Pike Ale - IPA
4. Rasputin Stout
5. Boundary Bay Ale - scotch ale
6. Cheap organic wine

Smoke:
1. Weed

Eat:
1. burritos
wraps
veggy burgers
annies dressing
couscous
chinese buns
Vietnamese sandwich
thai food
veggy dogs

Go to:
bloudel reserve
baltic room
siagon deli
bellingham coop
madison market
warroom
the globe
jesse's dad's house
toad lake
sehome hill
chuckanut beaches
the Fin
point no point
zietgiest
lighthouse cafe
peppy's house
fort ward
vancouver
squamish
stone gardens
kissaten
casa que pasa
black cat
emmy's
asian veggy market
triple door
pike ale house
boundary bay (reggae night)
nature reserve beach (hansville)
lost lake
the locks
cafe flora
broadway
zion's gate
respect records
gorditos
maharaja (that indian restaurant on pike)
top deck of ferry
Blakely elementary school
secret beach deck near battle point
Bellingham food bank
atlas clothing
zebra club
central market in Pousbo
stumbling monk

To do:
smell fresh seattle air (not that Korea doesn't have sweet pine tree air sometimes)
dance with friends
ride my cannondale road bike
drive my mom's car
climb rocks with friends
climb rocks alone
hug friends and family
swim
inhale herbal smoke
DJ and listen to my vinyl
listen to my party speakers
listen to my studio monitor speakers
play jazz with jonah
inspect my new crash pad
cook
air hockey with alicia
huge french press of mate with Skyler
Sauna with friends at jesse's dad's house - thanks Ken :)
Play with Cisco and run through grand forest with Cisco
Play with my mom's dogs
Show off my korean language skillzzz
sleep in my feather bed
camping
beach fires
visit old WWU professors
read many books from the library on political issues
register for classes
resole my la sportiva climbing shoes
take jesse and mac to dinner for loaning me a bunch of money last winter
read old college notebooks
review powerpoint
walk

2006-05-09T00:32:00.000+09:00

2006-05-08T23:54:00.000+09:00

2006-05-08T23:47:00.000+09:00

2006-05-08T23:33:00.000+09:00

2006-05-08T13:17:00.000+09:00

Many many buildering going on in this country. Although we must recognize I'm the only one participating in the sport.

2006-05-08T13:13:00.000+09:00

So we go to the "white ghetto" also know as Itaewon. This is where the USA military base is. There are many knifings, rapings, and human trafficing going on in this area. FUN!

But they got some bombass middle-eastern food where you can puff on some apple.. WORD.

2006-05-08T13:11:00.000+09:00

YA DAN. YOU CELEBRATE BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY WITH THAT NAP CHAMPA INCENSE. YOU JUMP IN THE AIR LIKE A FLOATING BUDDHA CHILD!

2006-05-08T13:09:00.000+09:00

2006-05-08T13:05:00.000+09:00

2006-05-08T12:57:00.000+09:00

2006-04-29T01:39:00.000+09:00

The beautiful wedding hall! Where hundreds of plastic and cheesy psedo-Western / Korean-influence weddings take place every year!

2006-04-29T01:34:00.000+09:00

Your gift is an envelope of cash. It is counted and written down who gave how much.

I like this system because you won't get any crappy toaster gifts from boring Aunt Jane.

2006-04-29T01:31:00.000+09:00

Dress up or dress down. doesn't really matter I guess.

That's Chawn on the right looking good in his suit that he'll only wear once.

2006-04-29T01:25:00.000+09:00

just some old woman eating pig and she seems uphappy about it. Nevermind what I wrote before abou this...

um about the wedding. the eating happens before the wedding, which is opposite in Western culture although this wedding is a Korean/Christian Western wedding fushion. You eat not only with people for your buddy's wedding but with all the other wedding parties going on that day in this massive wedding house.

2006-04-29T01:23:00.000+09:00

I thought, "I have never ate kimchi with a fork before and probably never will again..."
Then June Yung said, "Oh, the wedding has started 5 minutes ago. I guess we should go wander in."

uhhhhh.. ok

2006-04-29T01:20:00.000+09:00

I like the video camera next to the priest.

Really why would you want to relive in your wedding when it is all just close ups on your face and the sound of people talking in the background?

2006-04-29T01:18:00.000+09:00

Nice place. But everyone kept getting up and leaving and coming in and almost everyone was holding a conversation or on a cell phone. The wedding was a second attraction.

2006-04-29T01:14:00.000+09:00

Bust out the fog machine!

2006-04-29T01:10:00.000+09:00

Now lets pray to jesus!

Oh wait Chawn is Buddhist.... He's gotta be doing this for either money or good sex and it can't be the beauty of his now wife that's for sure! He was right when he kept telling me she was ugly! She isn't as fat as cow as he described.

This has to be an arranged marriage or Chawn is secretly gay. We thought this for a long time cause he always gave me funny looks and wanted to go to jimjilbongs (sauna houses) with me and kept talking about how ugly his fiance was.

2006-04-29T01:06:00.000+09:00

One unique activity to distract themselves from the wedding was head-massages by cowboys. Being too aweful to be actual Korean fashion, this cowboy must have been an employee of the marriage-house. Wait... what am I saying!! Koreans love to wear ugly shirts!!

2006-04-29T01:02:00.000+09:00

Finally a large cake is brought out. They cut it with a small sword. All this is directed by the marriage-house employees in the left of the photo.
The cake is wheeled away without anyone eating it.
The employees fix the brides dress one more time for a photo and then they all walk out. Few in the audience notice.
And in about 1.5 hours it is time to go home. A true tradtional Korean wedding lasts 2 to the 3 days!

2006-04-19T00:21:00.000+09:00

I've extensively complained about my students recently and my school situation. I talked to the head teacher at my primary school and now my class sizes have been decreased. Many of my students are really great actually and I look forward to their classes. I've found you play fun educational games or maybe a short non-educational game in the beginning or end of the class and your behavioral problems will disappear. You'll have a lot more energy and loud talking though...

At my secondary school the classes are still large and I only see them on Monday and Friday so as typical students they don't give a damn about me and so they just goof off in my class. Plus I am not allowed to carry a stick to hit students so they act up in my class knowing they won't be punished.

I personally think having my hands or my butt hit with a stick is less of a punishment than detention. I mean you (a student) call a teacher a moron and you get your hand slapped 5 times or maybe get your butt hit a few times but in USA you'll be doing a Saturday school or an after school 1.5hr detention. I rather take the 5 minutes of getting my butt hit than having to sit in a boring classroom for 1.5 hours at 3pm on a Friday afternoon while all your friends are chilling in some park.