Many of my students could really learn (a taste of American culture) from this: http://ping.fm/EdgPO

is grinding some more....

was pleased to learn Ho Kyung-young (http://ping.fm/uMmBw) can now heal your illness if you say his name five times loudly, and can drive his car with his eyes.

WHHHYYYYY do web sites TELL you what language to use based on your location rather than ASKING what language you want to use???????

chalkboards. Why do they still exist??

Although Huh Kyung-young claims to focus his psychic energy to heal the sick, I promise to channel thought waves to power your car and microwave. http://ping.fm/AiA9t Brilliant!

can't stand pandering to/negotiating with a regime that is truly irredeemable instead of demolishing it as done to a regime that was basically doing nothing.

has been feeling the hints of fall for the past three or four days.

is grinding.

has a grueling schedule, and can't wait to drop his so-so students, but his awesome students are awesome.

has students with talent! I don't have to beat my head against the wall anymore!

just ate 보신탕...in a way that makes all other experiences I've heard sound like vegetable soup.

finds sixty+ hour work weeks a bit draining

is getting hungry for dinner.

http://ping.fm/1Rqh3

Anybody need to start work at a hagwon end of August or beginning of September?

is looking forward to a billion work hours over the next few weeks.

is intensive. Luckily I get to drop another one of my part-time jobs.

marvels at his students getting excited watching decades-old Michael Jackson videos for the first time.

maybe

is worn out by his elementary and middle school students.

students intelligence has dropped in proportion to the number of daylight hours.

is eating potbingsu.

is hiking at Suttongol.

had incredible raw seafood last night...and ammonia fish for the first time...and it is both shocking and addictive.

didn't know G was a two-stroke character. Dunno if
I forgot or just never learned....

just got back from Busan. Thanks everybody for the kind birthday wishes!!!

left his phone in Daejeon, so, if you wanna reach me, call Ann or use Internet.

now has a Korean driver's license and will have to get an international license to legally drive in America. Weird.

is growing in power.

is mentally prepping for school.

is going to go try to get his Korean driver's license.

would like one more weekend. Joosaeyo.

is looking forward to relaxing, reading, getting out, and a dash of hanging out; i.e. another perfect weekend.

is getting bored with mediocrity. As usual, I suppose.

hopes grandpa makes it through.

's fiancee has nigh 100% Simpsons (i.e. "The Simpsons") English fluency.

is reading everything...thanks to Zuae's bringing some order to his life.

's TOEFL students improved their scores by several percentage points on their recent practice test.

hopes Korea's TOSEL, "Test of the skills of the English Language," is not as konglish as its title.

gets to teach TOEFL more and kindergarten...zero. (Yes!)

was disappointed by hole-filled story of T4, and the direction it took.

is cleaning and such.

side view mirrors should self-retract upon turning off the engine and unfold at start up. This feature could be disabled via a switch.

yeah

is tired

is not looking forward to teaching in front of his students' parents. Hopefully, the day will go by quickly.

will soon be drugging his students if that's what it takes.

doesn't get it...it seems like it should still be a parabola despite the fact that it may look like a straight line from the train.

wants a nap

"better start climbing 4 the dopest flowr on the top of the mtn. I know what you want...they don't grow the ground." Mebe only Van gets this

can't believe how hard Flock can crash. Jeez it's a pretty good app...what the heck???

other car is a Jawa Sandcrawler. :D

is driving around Daejeon like he knows what doing.

is too sleepy to teach...but the show must go on...and on...and on.

sent in the forms.

may try to pursue a masters degree in English in Korea...but may not speak enough Korean to do it. Ha!

wonders if any of my more scholarly friends are in tune with the current hot topics or trends in graduate English?

is now super full.

is super hungry.

is okily dokily.

lost the damn' cell phone...reach me through Internet or house phone (can receive texts and voice mail).

is Korean overload.

is trying to understand this crazy phone.

http://ping.fm/eLPAX

http://ping.fm/OZyJ2

wonders what it's like to teach kids with a mother tongue closer to English.

http://ping.fm/OZyJ2

is back in the phone business. Same old number...

finally got his stupid taxes mailed off.

is too hot (already).

thinks, "Why do I have to declare NON-taxable income AND then exclude it???" DUH!

had a party-filled weekend. Happy to have a nice space to host.

we know m toms a j.all time low3

wants more nap.

just needs to get through two classes...and then it's back to the palace!

's cell phone is broken again. House phone works, though. Will post number soon.

http://ping.fm/p/aFFnW - coffee outside apt

has some pics of the new apartment. http://ping.fm/rHBUK

is going to sleep.

is wondering who the heck these people are showing up on his Flock's Twitter feed? I mean I only follow like six people....

is a bit tired and sore from moving and cleaning.

needs to remember to finish filing his taxes.

http://ping.fm/p/ne7TP - if u zoom bottom window third from left u can c clock

is busy moving, and everything...sorry everybody.

can't get more than a few minutes on a computer at a time these days.

got served for AFs' Day.

http://ping.fm/p/KFU0N - cherry blossoms in korea

2Steve Sounds good man! :)

is Sunday

wants to know if anyone wants to eat, go out, etc... @20:20 03/28, home (cool)

is 배고파! (hungry) :( ...@20:18 03/28; home (cool)

2James There are a few notecard apps, dude. @15:09 03/28, home (sunny, warm)

Character Fair, Brasilia, and UFO

Last weekend, Ann and I visited the Seoul Character Fair 2008 at COEX Convention & Exhibition Center (which is exactly right here). Check out our experience here. Afterwards, she introduced me to Brasilia (approximately here), an excellent steak buffet restaurant. Pics here, and another foreigner's take on the restaurant here.

Finally, as we were leaving Brasilia and COEX we stumbled upon this "sculpture," a very cool-looking, crash-landed flying saucer. Ann realized what it was and explained to me that the Korean musical artist, Seo Tai-ji, was known for making surprise art installations to promote his music. The artist installed the saucer overnight ( here), ripping up the pavement in the process. Meanwhile, COEX seems to have been in on the gimmick as they prefer to preserve the "mystery" of the event rather than comment too much about it.

Fight

Had a minor disturbance outside my window last Monday morning. One of the annoying things about my neighborhood are are all the ajashi's and ajummas, and the fights they get into outside my window anytime after 2am. My old neighborhood was much younger, had more of a festival atmosphere, and no fighting. One of the “features” of my neighborhood is that it's saturated with forty and fifty year old residents.

View Album

Get your own

PMPn'

You see these PMP ("Portable Multimedia Player") thingies in taxis a lot, providing navigational data or showing Korean TV shows. Ann got one the other day, and I watched Harry Potter on it on the way to Seoul.

View Album

Get your own

oosamgyeopsal and autoduckies

This weekend I hung out with Tremendous and the new teacher Friday night. Ate OOsamgyeopsal (beef samgyeopsal. Delicious!), and hung out at Lucky Strike in Dunsan. Later we introduced the new teacher to Bubi Bubi.

Saturday, Ann and I headed to Seoul to see Man of La Mancha on Sunday. We went to COEX Mall when we arrived. We toured the mall, visited the aquarium, and ate at "O'" Kim's, a popular Seoul microbrewery. The next day we ate some lunch and then saw the play. It was great...except that it had been translated into Korean. Other than that it was true to the original - they did not adopt Korean mannerisms, and the performance was top notch.

After that we headed over to *** Resort, near where many parts of 괴물 (The Host) were filmed. We road duck boats, and unlike the unfortunate paddlers, Ann wisely upgraded ours to an upscale "autoducky." (it had a motor). Then, we had a nice wine dinner at the restaurant connected to the duck boat rental. Finally, we barrelled home in speeding buses and taxis.

I learned many things about tying shoes today.

Earlier today I was replacing the shoe laces on a pair of my shoes, when I couldn't decide what would be the best lacing technique. Twenty minutes later I had settled on a pattern that fit well and looked good. Some months ago I had read about a tying technique that reduces heel slippage, but couldn't figure out how it worked, so after I got to work I looked up lacing on the Internet. There is a lot more to tying shoes than you may possibly realize. Two sites in particular stood out. The first, by far the most extensive exploration on shoe lacing and tying you could hope to

http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/index.htm

My shoes are now well-tied.

There be parrots here...

Today I slept in late. I just felt like enjoying myself after being so busy for so long. After I got up, I looked up running shoes stores, and found Fleet Feet in the Marina District had good reviews. I walked down there, and tried on some shoes. Excellent service, but unfortunately they didn't have shoes in the width for me. But, now I know exactly what I need, so I may be able to order something.

After that, I headed over to the wharf where it was pretty crowded. I stopped into Mickie D's and then ice cream on Pier 39. Then, I continued to telegraph HIll in search of wild parrots.

As I was making my way around, I noticed a flock of birds, but the distance was so far they could have been blackbirds. Eventually, I got to the foot of the hill, where a steep stairway greeted me. Anyway, it wasn't long before I heard the parrots. Then, looking up I was able to locate a few. They were a bit high up in the trees to see well, but I could definitely make out that they were parrots. As I made my way up, it became obvious why the parrots chose this place to hang out. At either side of the stairway were gardens of flowering plants, mostly tropical, in the yards of the hill (actually cliff) houses. I never stopped very long on the stairs or took too many pictures. The intimacy of the gardens and private homes gave me a 'keep it moving' feeling. But, the gardens themselves were worth the climb, and seeing the parrots firsthand made it all the better.

http://blinkdog.smugmug.com/gallery/3117058

Today's number of steps: 21,703

Presidio, Crissy Field, Marina, Fort Mason

Did a lot of walking today. After running around getting pics for and initiating my visa application, I wandered off into the Presidio (the Korean Consulate is way the heck out in residential neighborhoods), from there I wandered until Ghiradelli Square. Then, taxi back to Korean Consulate (more time wasted waiting around - in the cold). After that, bus to Market, and San Francisco Shopping Mall. All in all, a good day. Pictures here.

Steps: 34,291