Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Catch up...

Lot's of good and bad lately, but even the bad was good.

Yesterday I listened to "Dopethrone" by Electric Wizard at least four times before I came home from work. When I got home I checked out a music site and realized they released a new album a few days ago (Witchhunt Today). Finding this out was like an early Christmas present. I'll be listening to this a lot over the holidays. It's good Christmas music, it really is...

Also a new Ghostface and Wu album.

Going to China on Sunday. Should be cool. Don't really know what to expect and I haven't looked into anything yet. Hoping someone else who's going is a diligent trip planner type because I'm definitely not.

Looking forward to some time off, even if I know that English Camp Hell is going to follow

Now the baddish...

I was seeing this girl for about two months. Liked her a lot but she's going away to school after this summer and she thought it would be better to just end it now before it gets too serious. Very disappointing but there are lots of octopus in the sea. She was a smart one though, and cool, and she spoke good English, and a music school student. Shit...

So that's done with and there's no hard feelings. "We're still friends," whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean...

But.

Luckily I met another girl this weekend. She speaks decent English and likes to drink. She finished a fashion design program is just studying English now (wants to go to London and study in a couple years) and taking dance lessons (?). The good thing about this is that she isn't one of those SUPER busy Koreans with no time for anything. So if things work out I can actually see her regularly. And she lives relatively close to me (just 7 stops away on the same line).

Now I just gotta get her to breakup with her boyfriend who is gone away to the army for two years. There's always a catch...

What else, what else?

Um, a new president was elected here today. That means about dick-all to me...

It's cold now.

My brother is in Fort Mac becoming a man and working way too much.

My cousin is coming to visit in February and I'm tryna convince a few other friends to join him. Save some money AC.

My eyesight is flawless.
I wish I was a cheesier, eviler guy. I'd get this tattooed on me somewhere...

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Toilet house...

Remember that toilet house? Well check this out!

I've been told you can spend the night for 50 bucks!

Apparently the owner is Sim Jae-duck. He's a Korean congressman.

He's also known as Mr. Toilet. For real...

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

I just feel like technology, it doesn't impress me...

About twice a year I find myself listening to nothing but Kool Keith for about two or three weeks. The guy has so many albums that it's not a problem to always listen to something new.

He gotta be one of the most inconsistent artists ever, but his last couple albums have been surprising good.

Anyone who has any interest in hip hop and weird things should listen to Kool Keith.

He's one of the crudest and most clever rappers ever. He's at his best when he's not really making any sense...





Sunday, December 02, 2007

DIY...

Yesterday I had laser surgery to correct my vision. More specifically, I had LASIK surgery... Laser-Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis.

The surgery took less than five minutes in all. They numbed my eyes with some drops then I went in the "operating" room.

It took about 20 seconds to cut a flap in my eye, then 18 seconds with the laser, then another 20 seconds to put the flap back. Then onto the next eye.

To think that I payed nearly two grand for this makes me feel a little ripped off, although I can see perfectly and there was absolutely no pain, and just minor discomfort for four hours afterward.

If I had my time back, I would have saved a bundle of money and instead just purchased the LASIK@Home kit.
Seems legit I s'pose?

Thursday, November 22, 2007

PC police...

"If we can put a man on the moon, we can put a man with AIDS on the moon. Then, someday, we can put everyone with AIDS on the moon." SS.

Just randomly watched an episode of the Sarah Silverman Program. Might have to download them all simply based on that one line.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

May I make an observation...

I've finally gotten around to sending some pictures from my cell phone to my computer. I was really surprised with the size and quality of the pictures. Kinda makes me wish I used my phone to take a lot more pictures of stupid shit.
This is probably the manliest sign I've ever seen outside a men's bathroom. I felt super-hetero walking in there...
Keeping to a toilet related theme, this truck was on the edge of Olympic Park. It was kinda like a play area for kids. Children here love shit, as you can see by the dude's hat and his finely tailored Brutus The Barber Beefcake styled pants. Ddong, as you know, means shit. '97 was a good year for feces here in S-K.
I went to one of the many Woodstock bars with a friend. This particular one was in Sincheon (near Jamsil) and the place was empty. We sat around for about five minutes contemplating stealing guitar amps when finally the bartender arrived. Turns out he was the owner and he played. He plugged in his guitar, turned on some amps, and finally put on his aviator sunglasses. Then he played a few tunes, the best one being a song titled "Michelle" that is about a foreign girl he has a crush on.

This dude was about 50 years old. He didn't look it.

He tried to call Michelle and get me to talk to her but thankfully she never picked up. After that me and him jammed for half an hour or so switching from drums to bass (he had no electric guitar there). Decent laugh, but our styles didn't mix too well. I'd like to back sometime with an electric and blow a few of his amps some night.
This is a homeless guy I saw. He was walking up the sidewalk and suddenly stopped and started talking to the ground. One of the few times I really wish I spoke Korean.
Now, back to the theme. Me and Matt were out around not drinking one night and came across this in one of the subway stations near Olympic Park. Can't remember the station name right now. Anyway, I didn't have to piss but I made the extra effort to use "Seoul Best Toilet 2000." The effort was definitely worth it.

Just a little sidenote. I'm gonna go to Beijing for a few days during Christmas with my cuz Karen and some of her co-workers. It's gonna be freezing there but the trip is cheap and there's just about no way it won't be interesting. China kinda mildly scares the hell outta me for some reason.

Maybe it has something to do with that one stray hair on the chin of the old lady who worked at the Tai Lee Family Restaurant in Dar Lake. The one 12 millimeter hair that was always there until one day I found a black 12 millimeter hair in my Chi-Besso.

Valid reason to fear a country if there ever was one right?

Monday, November 12, 2007

Jake's truck jump...

Me and Matt were drunk one night surfing the internet. We ended up on Youtube and I felt this was worth sharing. It's only 9 seconds long.

And you can thank me for saving you a lot of time later. This is the best truck jump on the net so look no further.

The internet makes me dumb...

Friday, November 09, 2007

Wha??

I was just surfing the net and ended up reading the side effects of some prescription drug. These are some of the things you don't want to happen if you take it.

...nervousness, nausea, dry mouth, diarrhea headache, drowsiness.

Hold on a second there. Diarrhea headache?? What in the hell is a diarrhea headache??

I hope I never find out...

Hello lasik...

Yesterday was Friday and it was a school holiday. In all of his glory, the principal planned a big outing that day for the teachers. Most teachers just wanted to stay home because these outing are a 12 hour ordeal. I was willing to do that stuff last year but this year I feel much less inclined to participate so I needed an out.

I found it.

I made an appointment at the Dream Eye Center in Myeongdong. I've been thinking about getting the laser surgery to correct my vision so this is the first step. You have to find out if you're eligible for the surgery by under going numerous tests during first consultation. If all goes well, you can then make your appointment anytime after.

I went there at 2:00 and was out by 4:00. First, they did a number of regular vision tests, then some stranger ones. They tested me for astigmatism, cornea thickness, pupil size, cornea symmetry, eye pressure, and some other things I don't remember the names of.

They put a two different drops in my eyes. One drop was an anesthetic which enabled her to poke at my eyes with a pencil-like machine to test for some crap. The other drops inhibited my pupils from working so they were really dilated. Again, this allowed them to do some other tests that I can't explain.
I looked like this for about seven hours after the tests. It didn't matter if I was in a dark room or light room, my eyes looked like this.

My vision was also blurry for a few hours and that's normal. I could barely read text's messages on my phone, and texting has become an integral part of my life these days. How lame is that?

Anyway, all is well with my eyes. My cornea kicks some serious ass with it's thickness, and my pupils are well above average size. This isn't really a good thing for the surgery because it means the results will be better if they use the "Wavefront" machine for my surgery. This cost's a little extra money, but I'll be able to see through girls shirts so it'll be worth it.

So here's what they're gonna do to me when I go through with the surgery. You can click the numbers and it shows you the steps. They say it's pain free and it takes just a few hours to heal. Technologay is awesome... I think...


Yeah, and you know what they say about guys with big pupils.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

The Sensuous Black Woman Meets the Sensuous Black Man...

Check this out (click it!) even if you don't like hip hop.

Skip to the middle of the page for the good shit.

Big Bear is definitely my favorite.

Don't try to tell that this isn't the best thing you've ever seen. He got pimped out bears on his album cover! That is brilliant, and I don't even like bears one bit. I've compared bears to terrorists in the past, but that viewpoint may well soon change.

I'm downloading this as we speak...

Monday, October 29, 2007

Doctor Dave...

I had to go to Corner Brook to see the doctor. Myself, Lana, Sam, and Daniel went down there together.

I walked into the building holding the clinic. It was in an old apartment building and first I walked into the wrong office, but the tenant told me what room I had to visit.

I knocked on the door and Doctor David Mustaine opened up. Paint was peeling off the door.

The dresser was covered with medical equipment and empty beer bottles with no labels. The doctor let out a wry laugh as I walked in.

He checked my sore throat and said I didn't need a prescription but I insisted that I did so he wrote one up.

I asked a few questions about being on tour while being a traveling doctor and he said it was quite manageable. It was a serious conversation.

I walked over to the window and on the street below Jeff Hewitt was getting roughed up by some tall sketchy guy and Jeff ran inside the building.

Dave said he was hungry and I told him and the band could stop by my parent's place in Deer Lake if they were passing through. Maybe they were getting sick of eating on the road and a good home cooked meal would go a long way.

The next thing I knew I was in a car with Greg, Chicken, Boomer, Lana, Cardoulis, and Dave Mustaine. We were in a taxi in St. Johns trying to get to a McDonalds.

The cabby took a wrong turn and Greg freaked out at him but we were soon at a McDonalds anyway. Greg had a different McDonalds in mind.

We say down and ate our McDonalds and it was raining outside.

I woke up craving McDonalds and Megadeth. It turned out to be my lucky day.

Six Nuggets, a Big Mac, and a few hours went by and I was sitting in the hall waiting for Megadeth to take the stage.

Dave and co. soon arrived and it was an awesome concert. They played a lot of old songs, but not enough for my liking. I definitely could have used more songs from "Killing is my Business... And Business is Good..." They played just one tune. Not enough.

Dave Mustaine actually seemed happy and like he was having fun. I expected someone much more bitter cynical.

The best part of the show was his in between banter. He said that the Seoul set would be longer than their usual set because the promoter was great. I don't really understand the politics of that but I was glad to hear it.

As the show progressed the sound go better and I didn't get bored with the 35+ guitar solos. Just deadly b'y.

They ended the set with "Holy Wars" as I figured they would. That's a fucking metal masterpiece right there.

Like I said in an earlier post, I'm getting stoked for the Usher show that's coming up.

STOKED!!!!!!!!

Friday, October 12, 2007

Dream home...

Here's a great little read from a good technology site.

Toilet House Won't Flush, Smells Like Ass

In celebration of the first General Assembly of the World Toilet Association, the founder, Sim Jae-duck had this commode house built south of Seoul. The home boasts four deluxe toilets -- whatever the hell those are, and its center has a showcase bathroom, where "the toilets have features that range from elegant fittings to the latest in water conservation devices." The Assembly's goal is to provide clean sanitation for the more than 2 billion people who live without toilets. So why they're building a giant toilet house is a mystery to me. If you happen to be in South Korea go check it out, right at the intersection of Shit Street and Urine Avenue. You can't miss it, it's the house shaped like a f'ing toilet.
I seriously gotta somehow find this place...

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Who cares? I care....

I've never really had a reason to care about the economy and the strength of the Canadian dollar until now.

When I send money home I'm getting raped. Just a month or two ago I could send home 800,000 Won and it magically turned into a little over $900 Canadian,.

Now it only transforms into about $850. That's lame

Here's a chart showing the Canadian dollar compared the Korean Won.

Please come wipe away my tears...

The Blacks...

There's a new season of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I didn't realize this until a few nights ago. Catching up on the episodes and they are as funny as ever. I wonder if Koreans would get that type of humour?

And the South Park about Tourettes Syndrome was also amazing.

Truly /asspiss/ amazing!

If you wanna be great, you gotta do heroin...

The title is a quote from Dave Mustaine. Good philosophy I suppose. Worked for him, and a bunch of other musicians.

Unlike a lot of the others Dave is still alive and picking. The last 10+ years of Megadeth has been pretty much embaressing but the olds albums still tear shit up. They'll be playing here at the end of the month and I'm in. Don't know if I'll find anyone to go with me because most of the people I know here are pussies and not into metal.

Sorry people. That's a sad thing for me to say b'y. But that's the breaks I s'pose, right?

Machine Head will also be playing at the end of the month. I liked them when they first came out then they got all nu-metally and shitty but they've sort of redeemed themselves with their last album or two. Nothing great, but at least it's metal again.

But what I'm truly excited about is the Beyonce and Usher concerts.
I bet the Usher concert will be an awesome place to meet girls...

And fags...

Monday, October 08, 2007

Save me a P.I.F.F...

I went to the Pusan International Film Festival this weekend. It was in Pusan, which is the second largest city in Korea. It's down south and it's known for it's beaches.

Pusan is an alright city. This was the first time I was there and I checked out most of the main areas. Spent the first night in a motel in Haeundae, which is a beach area. The second and final night was spent in Seomyun, which is one of the nightlife party places I suppose.

Although my reason for going was the P.I.F.F., arguably the most popular film fest in Asia, I ended up watching just one film. "Kremen," or "The Hard-hearted" in English. It was a Russian film and it was surprisingly good. Kinda had a "Taxi Driver I'm out to do good in a fucked up way" feel. My kinda movie.

Not much to really say about the trip really. Just a lot of exploring and wandering around so I'll let the pictures speak for me.
Christmas comes early in Pusan. So damn cute ain't it?
Not sure what the deal is here, but it's confusing at least.
I didn't know I made such an impression so quickly.
Disgusting. I hates octopus but somehow I keep ending up with it in my food. I really gotta learn some more Korean if only to avoid situations like this.
No comment. All I know is that this is creepy. I'm glad it was daytime, otherwise I may have lost my cool and freaked out...

Seriously...

My brother was tough as nails. He was the only kid I knew who could handle the "Gorialla Press Drop."
This was my brother's signature move. I don't remember what it was called but it's kinda gay I s'pose. Maybe it was called "The Ass Cracker."

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

My childhood hero...

Team impulse...

Long time, no writing. Back in the groove at work. Don't have as much time to write while I'm getting paid sitting around doing nothing. That's because I don't really sit around doing nothing anymore. I teach afterschool classes so the days I am free I actually have work to do.

I'm sick now. Got a sinus infection/cold. Tomorrow is a holiday but I know I'm better off staying home and getting myself better. Then I can get drunk on the weekend.

Last week was Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving. Or something like that. Went to a small island off the west coast with Matt and some people who work at his school. Good time. Too relaxing. In a good way though.
Only a handful of stores on the island and two or three restaurants. No bars. Really small town. Lot's of pensions and guesthouse type things.

The highlight of the trip was a "hayride." Well, not really a hayride. The lady who owned the place we were staying at said she'd take us for a ride around the island.
We got to the other side and she drove down this crazy steep hill Boomer-style. We got to the bottom and she put a dirty fishing net covered with bugs in the dump (or bed of the truck for you non-Newfs) with us. It was gross.

Then she attempted the drive up the hill. I had faith. Her first try was a bust, so she backed down the mountain. Her backing up skills were terrible and she drove us into thorny trees. We had to jump off the truck.

Her second attempt was also a failure, and this time she backed up into a bunch of Korean alders and brush. The trees and grass got wound around that axl thingy that spins on the bottom of some trucks. We were stuck there.

Matt helped the ajumma clear the grass while me and one of the Davids went down on the beach looking around.
They yelled for us to come back and we walked up the hill and got picked up by her co-workers in a van.
Corn ice cream was also quite the event, although this didn't happen on the island. We discovered this in Incheon, a dirty port city near Seoul that is home of the international airport.
We stayed in a love motel the night before we went to the island. This stuff made my skin really smooth. It also turned the other guys on, so I had to have a shower and wash it off.
Before we left the island, me and Matt rented a quad and dirted around the island. It was awesome. We could drive onthe streets, but cruising around the dirt roads and trails was more fun. We managed to not get too lost and returned the quad with a few minutes to spare.
There were poisonous snakes on the mountain so it could've been the end of us if we got a flat tire or something. But shit, it woulda been a cool way to go out.

The day before, I went out and my sandals were gone. Some Korean dude was wearing them. I went over to try to get them back but before I could ask, he was pouring me scotch. It was about two in the afternoon. Sat around with him drinking beer and scotch with his three nieces. I thought they were his daughters at the time. They were embaressed by him.

He was soon plastered and his head began to dangle. One of his nieces looked at me and spun her finger around her ear, the universal sign for "yeah, he's crazy."

I kinda forgot to get my sandals so I just stole someone elses for the day.

When we got back to the place we were staying, the Korean family who was occupying all the other rooms on the floor were trying to bust into the room next to ours.
Thanks to our Korean-American friend Hahna, we discovered the dude who stole my sandals was passed out in the room. They were worried about him. Someone tried to picked the lock and busted the clip. Then someone came with the key but it couldn't work. So they slammed the door with a fire extinguisher and eventually got it open with a clam digging spade.

The sandal thief was alright. Luckily, he survived fan death.

We played asshole one night and got really drunk. My friend bet the president 5 bucks he would lose. I made the same bet, but if I lost I'd have to pay him 10. Thankfully, we teamed up and he lost. He called us cheaters for the rest of the night. We didn't break any rules so we didn't cheat, right?

Here's a photo of the place we ate at in Incheon. Mmm!
The island was nice. People fishing, digging clams, catching crabs. Not crowded. Nice beach. Good place to disappear if you never want to be found again, or if you're a North Korean defector.
And Matt's nuts b'y.
Just imagine, we used to call this guy pitiful...

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

NIN...

Saw the Nine Inch Nails concert last night. It was so much better than I thought it would be. I'm even going to go as far as saying it was better then seeing Slayer. I thought no concert would top that, but this did.

They played a wide selection of songs and the show lasted for a little over two hours. The venue was small, I guess holding about 2500 people, but it wasn't nearly sold out. We had seats but we were free to roam which we did. When the light and screens show started getting cool we moved to some seats in the middle so we could take in the effects from a central vantage point. It was pretty awesome.

So awesome, in fact, that I'm gonna post some clips below so anyone who missed it can be really jealous...

The last video I have posted, Eraser, had the coolest effects live but it's the worst video of the three.





Monday, September 10, 2007

Some tired...

Read a full book yesterday. It was called "I Have the Right to Destroy Myself" and the author is South Korean, from Seoul. I believe his name is Kim Young-Ha.

The book was only about 120 pages and when I finished it, I felt sick. It's not that the book of gory or gruesome, but man, but was it ever hopeless. The final sentence vaguely summarizes the idea of the book. It went something like this...

'I have traveled such a great distance but still everything is unchanged.'

I don't have the book with me now so I can't quote it exactly.

The unnamed narrator is in the business of helping people commit suicide. He works at his own suicide help line, but instead of helping the callers, he helps them find a graceful way to kill themselves. The book focuses more on his "clients" (only 3-4) than himself, although the narrator is present throughout.

It's impossible to describe how this book made me feel. I've never felt anything similar before. My dream that night was even loosely formed around this book and it's characters.

Here is what one review said about the book:

"Such is the real horror of the novel: that planning a tidy death could trump living a messy life."

Well, going to see Nine Inch Nails tonight.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Professional...

Yesterday I had an open class. 25 new foreign teacher were invited to watch as apart of their orientation. I did the same thing before I started teaching at my school last year.

You guys well done today, I'm very proud of you also I've learned some good ideas from your class.. The supervisor from Kangdong OE (office of education), made a phone call to me and said your class was so great, she gave thanks to you two.. She asked me don't forget to tell you that you two people were chosen specially by SMOE (Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education). I asked back her that is true and she was sure about it..

So I searched public document once again, I could confirm that just 3 districts of OE (There are 11 districts OE in Seoul) and 4 schools (And also over 100 NTs work at each Seoul) were chosen..

It must be honorable to you, uh?

Now, get some rest...

Thanks...
Park.

One more thing I want to say to you, school principal and two vice principals are extremely sensitive these days because of school accident(1-4 child)

Be careful.

So apparently I'm pretty awesome kick some serious ass when it comes to teaching. Someday I'll be the ruler of this land.

And if by "rest" you mean "go get drunk" then sure!

You can count on that, uh?



Way to go b'ys, I mean brothers and sisters...

So the Taliban freed those South Koreans. From what I've been reading and hearing from genuine Koreans, those people weren't Christian Aid workers but instead missionaries.

What kind of retards go to Afghanistan on a Christian Mission???? That would be like going to Africa (Not South Africa ;P) looking for new Ku Klux Klan recruits. Just a terrible idea.

Some Koreans I know don't feel much sympathy for those who were kidnapped. One girl even said something along the lines of "Why don't they just stay and die. Martyrdom is a part of their religion." Yes, she was talking about the S. Korean Christians, not the Afghaners.

Here is a link to another blog. I met this guy a couple times a long time ago but I'm not going to say I know him. Anyway, the pictures he's collected and posted on that page are interesting. If you try to search for those pictures within Korea, you won't find them. The government has actually censored these photos out of respect for the families.

I think that is bullshit and the Korean government wants the Korean people to think these dummies were aid workers and not irrational Christians.

But what do I know right?

So now to the thing I intended to write about...

The S. Korean government actually made a deal with the Taliban to free these people. The deal goes something like this...

The decision to free all 19 remaining hostages followed a deal struck Tuesday between South Korean officials and Taliban representatives in which Seoul reaffirmed its pledge to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and to suspend South Korean Christian missionary work there.

Seoul claims it was going to pull the troops at this time anyway. And to be clear, I don't think they are even ground troops, just some type of support, I'm not sure.

So Korea may have set a terrible precedent here and given new life to the Taliban. "Kidnapping works so let's kidnap everyone!!!!!!!!!"

But I'm not going to directly blame the S. Korean government. That finger should be pointed at those Christians for going there in the first place, ignoring multiple warnings from Seoul, and ignoring their god-given brains and better judgement.

Yup, God can sure be a hassle sometimes can't he b'ys...

And I'd like to smack this guy in the mouth... There's really no need to go fucking around with monks. No need at all.

I wanna say something about Thich Quang Duc, but I just can't fit in in so here's the picture anyway.


Monday, August 27, 2007

Not my style...

Anyone who knows me or reads this know I'm not a Bush bashing hippy. I'm not exactly a supporter either. But I thought this was funny, or maybe cute is the better word.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

I've got the whole world in my hands...

During my teaching internship in St. Johns, my cooperating teacher called in sick one day. The school got a substitute teacher. It was a dude a couple years older than me.

The class had a field trip that day so we had to take all the kids to Signal Hill for some walk against cancer.

Last night I stumbled into the Woodstock bar in Gangnam with my cousin, Karen, and some of her co-workers. Sitting in the corner were a couple people who work at Matt's school, the people we went to North Korea with.

Sat and talked to them for a bit, but they were pretty wasted and took off.

There were a couple white guys at the table next to me. One of them looked really familiar. I asked him where he was from and looked at me strangely and said Newfoundland.

We introduced ourselves and were talking for a bit.

Small world.

We started asking some questions, etc. and he said he had a teaching degree and subbed in St. Johns.

Then it clicked and we both realized we worked together that day when I was doing my internship.

Smaller world.

Got around to talking to his friend. Asked him where he was from. He answered "Pasadena."

He knew all the people I named and said he was good buddies with my cousin Jamie.

Smallerer world.

Sat and drank with those guys for a while got good and drunk. It's the first time I've really been drinking since I got back. I have a feeling I'm gonna be drinking a lot less this year. Don't have the will to get wasted all the time.

But chances are that's likely to change...

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Smarten up b'y...

Here is the schematic for an airplane security collar.

If a passenger is acting up, he gets a syringe of poison in his neck to contain him. Not in use yet, but who knows right.

If they end up using these on planes (which they won't), why not use them in school too.

It'd be deadly.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

A good string of bad luck...

I lost my wallet in a taxi a few days ago. The good luck is still rolling...

I don't care about the 50 bucks I lost. I'm much more irritated by the fact that I lost all my I.D. and cards, plus god knows what else I had stuffed in there.

On the up side, I lucked out at camp and was teamed with the cutest teacher there. If it wasn't for her, camp wouldn't be as good. Losing the hard drive, then the wallet hasn't exactly put me in the best mood.

But I gotta admit the English camp has been fun. I'm the lead foreign teacher at the camp and tomorrow it's all done. Then I have another camp at my school next week. I know my school camp won't be as fun as this one because there are a lot less teachers and students at my school camp, plus I already know all the kids. It's more fun when you don't know the kids, and the kids don't know you.

There's this one girl at my current camp named Ally. This camp is for disadvantaged kids so many of them aren't the best students and it's quite likely that this is the first time they've ever experienced such a camp.

So this Ally girl, she can never get my name straight. Every time I see her I ask her "What's my name?" and her answers get progressively better. Reet, Reeksar, Ratch, Ratcher... She almost got it right today and called my Richy. That's the closest she's gotten yet.

On another topic, my school wants me to teach an extra 10 afterschool classes a week. I'm all for it but there is a possibility that they will interfere with my holidays. I told my school that there's no way I'm taking the job if it means I can't leave the country during my holidays because I gotta teach those afterschool classes.

But, on the other hand, if I do take this job and everything pans out with the private lessons I supposedly have lined up for September, than I could theoritically be making over $4000 Canadian a month tax free.

That's just as good or better than the oil patch suckas. Just gotta see what happens...

Monday, August 13, 2007

Back in China...

So I just got back to Korea. Had a decent time back home for sure. One of the best things was hearing this question all the time...

"Richard b'y, heard your over in China or sumthin'?"

Yup, I'm in China. It's all the same.

Too bust and jet lagged and tired to write much anytime soon. Teaching an English camp now and trying to re-adjust to the working life.

I also had my external hard drive stolen from my checked in luggage on my way to Canada.

Great.

Lost a looooooooooot of shit. All my music, all the music I recorded. A bunch of pictures. A friend put it best when he said losing data is like losing a limb cause you ain't ever getting it back.

If anyone got anything I ever recorded, lemme know so I can get it from you.

And to make matters worse, I also had the special USB cable for my MP3 player in the same box so now I can't even change the songs the thing. Fuck right off b'y!

Airport workers are scabs that deserve to be picked.

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Renewable resources...

Hmmm... Many tangents...

No class this week. Tomorrow, being Tuesday, is a holiday. Going home on Thursday. The next few days can't go by fast enough.

I just made a powerpoint presentation that I'm gonna use during English camp. I'm gonna get the kids to act out a news program, and the theme song is gonna be the Danger Bay theme song. I spent all morning trying to find the tune, and ended up having to rip it from Youtube.

Last week I went rafting. I wouldn't exactly call it white water rafting, but there were some decent waves and rapids at a few points. I went with the foreign teachers in my district so everything was arranged and paid for by SMOE, the schoolboard.

One of the girl in my raft got hit in the face by a rope. The rope goes across the river and it's purpose is for people who fall outta the raft. They can grab the rope and haul themselves to shore.

The rope was kinda low and the dude in front of me lifted it up, and I hit the deck. When he let go of the rope it flicked back and got the chick right in the eye, ricocheted (this word looks retarded) off her face, then hit another girl in the helmet and actually cracked the helmet.

Good times!

So I fly into St. Johns at noon on Friday, July 20th. Diggz is gonna get into SJ on Tuesday and then drive across da rock with me.

I'm hoping to get into DL at 7 or 8, depending on what time I'm able to get outta SJ. I got lots of partying to do at home because that day is the beginning of Strawberry Festival, the best festival East of Lollapalooza.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Everland...

Everland is a big amuesment park a little outside of Seoul. I went there a couple months ago with the grade sixes but didn't post anything about it.

And I'm not gonna post much about it now. Here are a few pictures. Check out my facebook for more pics.

See all the buses? This is kinda typical in Korea. They love going places on buses. There were 3 or 4 rows. Too many Koreans b'y.

This is me kicking a birds ass in a staring contest.
Here's a happy polar bear loving the summer heat. Look how happy he look! Why would anyone ever say a zoo is "inhumane"? This guy got it made. Paradise. It gotta be way better than living in the Arctic.

This next photo is a good warning. Life is sometimes too easy for people on this lovely planet and we often forget about the many threats that are trying to eliminate the human race.

Somehow, people have managed to become very passive towards our worst enemy!
BEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They are definitely a threat to our freedom, and economy.
This guy is just cold chillin'. Representin'. Keepin' shit real. Loungin'. Maxin' and relaxin'.

My type of dude.

This guy could learn a thing or two from our friend above. Here he's tryna eat a rock. Just a moment before this he was hitting himself on the head with the rock. I can't decide what's a better idea. Eating it or bashing your brains out?

Monkey, or gorillas, or whatever this thing is, sure have weird asses. I also like the Korean high school girls who decided to flip me the peace sign. It's about time monkeys and Koreans get along.
Here's my favorite grade 6 class, I think. I don't really like any of the grade 6 classes so these guys may as well be my favorites.

I like their homeroom teacher.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

The city is a labyrinth...

I just saw an awesome t-shirt. One of my grade three students was wearing it.

On the front it said "People of the Labyrinths."

The back had something to do with basketball. Said something like "Basketball training" and then some really technical sounding words like "high definition skills" and "fundamental structure" or something like that.

I wish the kid was bigger because I woulda made him an offer he couldn't refuse, like a big bad of candy, or an action figure...

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Buckle up...

It's been a pretty uneventful couple of weeks. I sent home most of my money after I got paid (I only get paid once a month) so I ain't got the dough to get out of hand every weekend. I think I'm gonna need a lot of money when I'm in Newfoundland so the sacrifice should be worth it.

Yesterday I had to get a medical exam. All of the English teachers who renewed had to do the same and this is standard practice in Korean. Even the Korean teachers have to have the exam once every five years.

I hope I passed. And I hope I don't have AIDS or something...

I also looked a few apartments yesterday. Well, technically, they aren't apartments. They're officetels. To me, they are apartments.

I viewed three different "rooms" all in the Seokchon area, one subway stop south of Jamsil. Two of the apartments weren't suitable but one was decent and I think I'm gonna move there. The other incentive is that the girl living there now said she'll leave her TV and bed for me (both are bigger than the ones I have now).

There is a "lake" about five minutes from my apartment called Seokchon Lake. This is where I go jogging, when I actually go jogging. It's been too hot these days.

Seokchon Lake is next to Lotte Department Store, Lotte Mart, and YES, Lotte World. Lotte World is an indoor/outdoor amusement park that has been closed until recently because someone died on one of the rides.

I was told that it wasn't a problem with the machinery, but instead, the guy who died actually worked there and was using the rides on his free time. Apparently, he didn't use the safety strap/bar and went flying off the roller coaster. The people working at the time are at fault I guess because they should make sure everyone on the ride is strapped in.

But the dude who died also sounds like a bit of an idiot.

Jamsil, which I said is just a ten minute walk from my potential new home, has a lot of really nice apartment buildings. To buy three bedroom apartment, you're gonna pay 670,000,000 Won. IN Canadian dollars, you're talking exactly $764,757.48!!

That's kinda nuts for a three bedroom apartment.

You could buy about all of St. Judes for that price, and probably a large chunk of Cormack and Reidsville to go along with it.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Nothing to do with the French...

So Paris Hilton is outta hail and as much as I don't want to watch her Larry King interview, I have it downloading on my computer right now.

I pretty much feel the same way as the dude who writes for www.thesuperficial.com. Here's what he had to say...

"It's pretty hilarious how seriously she takes herself. If you've got 40
minutes to kill I totally recommend watching it. Although you'll definitely
want to kill yourself afterwards, so watch out for that."

God, she sucks, and so does everyone in the world who watched that interview. I'll soon be added to that list.

I'm just relieved I have no guns or sharp knives in my presence...

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Mmm...

Every morning I eat two bananas and drink a glass of orange juice at my apartment. I then brush my teeth and head to the corner store to buy the main course of breakfast. Usually it's a ham and cheese sandwich, but sometimes the store only has these crazy disgusting sandwiches that it's impossible for me to describe.

If I don't get my ham and cheese sandwich here, I jump on the bus and go to the corner store next to my school. I've only gotten a ham and cheese sandwich here on one occasion, but it's still worth a shot.

When this happens, I have to go for the second option which is a Bonito Bread. It's just a round piece of bread with some sweet brown stuff in the middle. I'd much rather a ham and cheese sandwich but what can you do?

For the last week or two I haven't been having much luck with the sandwich hunt and I've been eating Bonito Breads almost every morning. Today I finally read the package. This is what it says...

"Bonito is a fresh, elegant and dignified bakery goods for the young generation that the meaning of it is 'pretty', 'cute' in spanish. And it gives value above taste to consumer."

I'm glad to know that the company has it's priorities straight in giving me value above taste. That's how all food products should be? Don't you think?

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Download your floppy...

I've had the same MP3 player for years now. It works fine but it's just so damn big and bulky. I can't take it with me on the weekends because it fills up one pocket, but I can't really justify buying a new one until this one dies.

So I made a decision. I decided that it's okay to have two MP3 players. One with a hard-drive and large capacity like the one I have now (20 gigs), and another flash-based player for being on the move.

After too much time searching the net, I decided on the Iriver S10. It's super compact, has 2 gigs of memory, and has a ton of great features.
Look how tiny this thing is yet it still has radio, a microphone, a full EQ, and too many other features to mention.

Okay Iriver. Pay me. Pay me now.

I never really understood what a "consultant" does...

Mercer Human Resources Consulting (who ever they are) released their list of the most expensive cities in the world.

Apparently this list is used to "measure the cost" of placing Expat workers around the globe.

The list says I'm living in the third most expensive city in the world. It sure doesn't feel that way.

I'm able to send money home, buy clothes, eat well, and party like it's 1999.

Calgary is the 92nd most expensive city but when I was living there I felt like a bum with no cash and no partying.

I can't understand how living here is more expensive than living in Calgary. Even if I had to pay my rent, I would be better off financially than in Cow Town.

I'm sure this "consulting" company knows what it's doing, but it seems like a bunch of bullshit to me.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Rites of passage...

I've never been one for tradition, but some rites of passage are important.

For example, some Indian groups have their boys go live in the forest alone with no food or supplies. They are banished from the village for a temporary period, and when they are allowed to return they are officially a man.

Fair enough. That makes sense to me. Being able to survive on one's own is something that makes sense and is relevant to their culture I suppose.

Hockey players also have to go through a hazing. For example, nine "freshmen from the Vermont Catamounts spent a dazed and hellish evening in the team captain's basement, where they were made to strip naked, grab each other's genitals and drink until they vomited."

Sometimes there are "initiation parties that include group masturbation, the shaving of pubic hair, and forced drinking."

Remember, this all makes sense right? If you wanna be respected by the team, you gotta earn it right.

Some "Tilbury Hawks players, Hawks, a junior C team in the Ontario Hockey Association, were told to do pushups and positioned on the floor so that their genitals would dip into cups of beer; whoever did the fewest pushups had to drink both beers."

"In another contest, the team captain placed marshmallows into the rectum of two rookies, with the last one able to push it back out being forced to eat both. Players also were blindfolded and told to lie face-up on the floor with their tongues out, as another person sat on their faces."

Other "rites of passage" include "rookies stuffed naked into the bathroom at the back of team buses, and games of tug of war in which skate laces were tied around rookies' penises. Players had strings tied around their penises, which were then connected to a hanging bucket that other players threw pucks into."

I realize I'm just copying and pasting an article here but it's too good and I can't help myself.

According to "Laura Robinson, the author of Crossing the Line, a groundbreaking 1998 book on violence and sexual assault in Canada's national sport.'The (hazing) you see in hockey is highly sexual.'"

"Robinson, noting that many young players are new to sexual experiences, argues that some of the initiation acts serve as a hidden way for players to explore homosexual urges. 'I think the boys are curious about bodies, but because of their homophobia they had to turn it into something else' -- sexual forms of hazing, she said."

Once again, just a rite of passage.

My intention here was to talk about my experience at the horse track this weekend and how that is also a rite of passage. I was gonna talk about how I feel like more of a man since I blew some cash betting one horses.

But I went over board on my lead in to my little joke and now I'm sitting here kind of disturbed. The next time I watch a game of NHL hockey, all that will cross my mind will be "Shit, I wonder what that poor dude had to do to get to where he is today."

Then I'll wonder "During his time exploring his homosexual urges, I wonder if he enjoyed eating that marshmellow?"

The song I am listening to just said "I remember the fear, I remember the taste." (Shadow by Neurosis).

Damn, how fitting.

Slave...

What a terrible day.

I only had two classes, so now I'm sitting here in front of the computer trying to look busy. I have nothing to do or prepare that needs doing right now.

The worst part is that I also have no classes tomorrow so it will be the same.

Actually, tomorrow afternoon I teach the teachers for two hours so I'm grateful for that, believe it or not.

It's 2:32 now and I still have another two hours and forty minutes until I can go home. I need to think of an excuse to leave early but I'm having a hard time being creative in the lie department.

That's strange.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Holy shit the NBA finals sucked...

No final best-of-seven series in any league should end in a four game sweep.

The NBA playoff format needs a facelift of some kind.
The East is just terrible and the West is a power house.

Tim Duncan is a bore and Tony Parker is French.
The Cavs never really had a chance. The only team in the East that could have possible put up a fight were the Pistons but they completely unravelled this year. Maybe Big Ben was a lot more important than anyone thought.

I wanted to end this post with a picture I had of Tim Duncan and Coach Popovich hugging and looking like fruits.

I can't find the picture so this is the next best thing I suppose.