Teaching and Life

I've failed at twittering on Twitter, so my daily complaints and egotistical yammerings about life will now be featured on my blog! Yay!

Last Thursday, July 12, 2012, was a crazy day. I don't know why but I had all boys in every single one of classes. In my second class of the day, within the 40-45 minute class time, five of them cried. One cried because boys who were younger than him called him a name, another cried because another boy grabbed his hair and slammed his head against the table repeatedly, another cried because he lost all his pieces in a game called "dak chi" (딱지) and I think the other boys cried because they were sleepy. It was so ridiculous, I almost wanted to cry myself.

딱지. It's like pogs where you flip you opponent's piece with your piece, and if you succeed, you  take it

Continuing this note of ridiculousness, I want to tell the world about the team names some of my students come up with. They are epic. In the past two weeks I've had Team Helicopter Jet, Team Ice Dragon, Team Koopa Song, Team Angel, Team Ace, Team Rocky 3, and Team Angry Bird Rio. They're so creative and silly and weird. I love it.

On a another ridiculous, slightly unrelated note, I am on my ninth day of twelve continuous working days. Which isn't so bad considering my coworkers will have sixteen consecutive days or working. Why do I only have twelve days? Because I'm going to Jisan Valley Rock in 2 days, that's why!

Finishing with a completely unrelated note, and signing off with a rant, three of my favorite bands are going to be in Minneapolis when I'm not there! Insert sad face here. I feel like so many of my favorite bands and DJs have made stops in Minnesota while I've been gone, and whenever I go home, no one will be there. 헐. So for you Minnesotans, if you see Two Door Cinema Club, San Sisco, or The xx (who I just featured on my recent Music Monday) please bring my cardboard cutout and install skype on your phone and skype me throughout the entire concert. Thanks.

Oh well. I'm living in Korea! Insert big obnoxious grinning smiley face here.

IN OTHER NEWS: Congratulations to my brother and his wonderful girlfriend on their engagement!! I normally wouldn't make a news announcement like this on my blog, but they've made it Facebook official, so they cat's already out of the bag.

Music Monday

Mmmm The xx. Sexy and whispery and minimal (in a good way). 

The xx is releasing a new album "Coexist" on September 11, their first since their self-titled debut album in 2009. Their first album was amazing. Delicious. Decadent. Lovely. The combination of the voices of Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft, (I had to wiki their names, don't judge me), is hauntingly beautiful. It sends goosebumps up and down my spine. Seeing them live would be a dream come true.

Here's the studio version of Angels (just released last week! I recommend watching in full screen, HD):

Their first single from their upcoming album, Angels is available for purchase now. I think that The xx will keep with their sexy sound which is so uniquely theirs. And from listening to bootleg concert videos, I have a sense their new album will be just as sultry as the first. Mmmmmmmm, yes.

I'm not sure what this song is called, but YouTube comments suggest Leave:

Inje Ice Fishing Festival

This is long overdue, but it was an experience definitely worth revisiting. And sorry for the long post and excessive pictures, I couldn't help myself.

The Inje English Village crew (Aubyn, Darren and I) went during the first weekend to represent K-Water, AKA smile and pass out water and brochures about K-Water, and met up with other friends when we were off duty. We first met up for lunch where we ate delicious 빙어, which is basically smelt. This wasn't just any smelt, this was special smelt eaten only in the Winter, especially at the Inje Ice Fishing Festival, and this smelt was alive. Yes, you've read that right, it's not raw, it's a live, wriggly, slimy, tiny fish. And it tasted horrible! Hah, jokes! I didn't have big enough balls to stomach that, maybe someday. However, I did try the deep fried smelt, and that was delicious.

Fried  빙어

Live  빙어

I wasn't expecting much from the Ice Fishing Festival but WOW! Minnesota, land of the cold and snow, could learn a thing or two. Hailed as one of Korea's biggest Winter festivals, and conveniently located in my own backyard on the Soyangho Lake. There were so many things to do and so much to see! There was ice fishing (obviously), the novelty of eating live 빙어 (smelt), sledding, people paragliding off the mountain and landing on the ice, ice skating, four-wheeling on the ice, rides driven by snow mobiles throughout the festival grounds, ice soccer, and one of my favorites, an enchanted ice forest. The ice forest was a bunch of trees grouped together that were completely frozen and covered with ice, it looked like something from the Chronicles of Narnia.

I don't know what these were called, but they were a lot of fun, and there were families and children scooting around on these.

Snow Mobile rides!

Ice Fishing!

Ice Skating!

Paragliding!

Sledding!

Ice Soccer!

The Enchanted Ice Forest!

We were roaming around the ice soccer "fields" and a group of Koreans invited us to play ice soccer with them, we couldn't refuse. Ice soccer was a rush. Sliding around with the gut feeling that you're going to slip, the adrenaline of the game running through you, bonding with Koreans despite the language barrier. It was amazing! One of the guys from the other team took a hard fall and the game had to end.

Charlie on the swing

We moped around and ran into another group of Koreans who wanted to play a group of foreigners. Assa! I played goalie, and was surprised with how many goals I actually managed to stop. I think it was my abnormally large dinosaur feet that had something to do with that. Regardless, it was a very close game, so the spokesperson for the team said that the next goal wins, and the losing team will have to treat the winning team to makgeolli. Things got intense. The Koreans were zooming around the ice like crazy, shooting goals at me, luckily my amazon woman feet were blocking most of the goals, our team was zooming around as well and I didn't know what was happening. Next thing I know we got a goal! We win!

Beautiful Soyangho Lake

We all rejoined at the food tents where the Korean team we played fed us more smelt and makgeolli which warmed our numb fingers and toes. This experience of the ice fishing festival was unreal. Playing ice soccer and connecting with this group of Koreans, hanging out with some of my students and sliding around the ice together, and being a part of an event that's so family oriented and community based, and the fact that his event is the proud and joy of Inje, was amazing.

The Foreign Teachers (stolen from Facebook)

Music Monday

This past weekend I attended the last show in Korea by a beloved band, Wagwak. They are an amazing two person band, consisting of Daehyun Kim and Sangyoung Cho, who I personally think helped change the Indie music scene in Seoul. Despite only being a duo, the two play a variety of instruments: guitar, drums, bass, ukulele, melodica, and xylophone. I've only been able to see them live three times before they start their adventure across the pond, but each show has been amazing and these two are full of energy.

Taken with Instagram

Wagwak stands for "we are not gay, we are Korean", which refers to their stylish fashion sense. Another notable thing about Wagwak is they sing in English. Their sound remains Korean indie but you can also sense their inspiration from popular indie folk bands like Mumford and Sons and Noah and the Whale. Korea's indie scene has some big shoes to fill when Wagwak gives it a go in London. In an interview, Daehyun said that he'll finally cut off his 2009 Glastonbury wristband when they perform there, and I'm really hoping I'll get to be there for that performance. Best of luck, Wagwak, I'll miss you in Korea!

LOOSE UNION Presents: WAGWAK from aweh.tv on Vimeo.

If you're interested in hearing what they have to offer, you can check out their soundcloud page here.

Daehyun looks sleepy, but man! Connor and I were stoked.

Things I Miss

I guess it's about time I've made a list of things I miss. I love Korea, but after being here for about 8 (or 9) months there are certain things that I have been deprived of and I would like to take the time to mention these special things.

• My mom's cooking (pancit, chicken adobo, everything)
• My dad's cooking (kebab, he makes the best in the world)
• Beer that is not Korean. (shout-out to Summit IPA or Pabst Blue Ribbon or Nordeast)
• Thrift stores (shout-out to Rewind and M.S.) 
• Real cheese (that I don't have to go an hour away to get)
• Sitting at a bar. (No, not in a bar. At a bar, chatting it up with the bartender. Western style bars don't really exist in Inje.)
• Fireplaces
• Twins games. Oh my gawd I miss going to Twins games so much.
• Jucy Lucys
• Yelping (shout-out to Annie D.)
• Shopping at Target and going in for chapstick and milk, then spending $80 and forgetting my chapstick and milk
• Bar Bingo at Grumpy's after work (shout-out to any OG people reading this)
• A big bed (I'm not used to sleeping in a twin bed, and sometimes I roll into the wall, ouch)
• Golfing. Not screen golf, real golfing with real grass and real tees and on a real course.
• Pizza Luce - Bloody Mary Bar days (Yes, days. Not mornings. Shout-out to CP and BL)
• Block parties/street festivals

These are things that I didn't really love at home, but now have strange cravings for because I have no access to them:

• Ranch
• Mozzarella sticks

Turns, out I miss a lot of things from home. This isn't meant to be a sad, depressing post, like "waa waa I miss home, cuddle with me and pity me." No. This is merely a list of things that I appreciate so much more now that I can't have them. 

A bit of Korea and Minnesota in one image. Perfect.

I still love you Korea, and my list of things I miss from Korea will be much longer than this.

Flooding in Duluth

For whoever reads my blog, I just want to bring attention to the recent floods in Duluth, Minnesota. I went to school at the University of Minnesota - Duluth and spent five glorious years in an equally glorious city, and it hurts my heart to see the beautiful city on the lake completely destroyed.

7th Ave East, just blocks away from one of my old houses

An intersection right next to campus

Downtown Duluth

Miller Hill Mall, I worked just down the main street

Only in Minnesota

Zoo Escapee

Luckily, no one died and no one has been seriously injured. However, the damage is devastating. Water can't be used to drinking or cooking for quite some time, people have been evacuated, homes have been destroyed, and 14 highways have been closed.

The only deaths that have occurred are from the Duluth Zoo. A seal and polar bear escaped, but have been rescued, almost all the farm animals have died, and the turkey vulture and raven exhibit still hasn't been checked out because of the flood water.

I love you Duluth, I hope you dry up soon!

Thanks to Minnesota Public Radio, 95 KQDS Radio, and Facebook users for letting me steal your pictures.

Yesterday Was A Good Day

Yesterday was a brilliant day. In fact, one of the best days I've had in months.

Here's why:

1. We usually have 5-6 class everyday, but the Tuesday schedule had us only scheduled for four.
2. Less students showed up that day, so technically I only had to teach 3.5 classes.
3. My last class was amazing! And it was a small class (about 6 students, and small classes are my favorite).
4. I taught them when to use "a" and "an" and how to say "these are..." versus "this is..." and they understood it!
5. I had yoga, and the crankiest looking ajumma gave me a towel to wipe my sweat off! Friends!
6. Biking home, I ran into fellow teachers at a coffee shop, and we ate ice cream. Even better? When I went to go buy ice cream, I got 2 free ice cream bars. Woo!
7. Everyone went home early, but my friend Connor and I stayed behind to chat while he finished his beer, and we met a Korean, who was born in Kazakhstan. He was awesome; his English was good, he was funny, he talked about soju and pooping, aaand I thought he was easy on the eyes.

How do I summarize this day in one word? WINNING!

Thanks Charlie, me too.