It was the 4th of July last week. A big deal in the states. . . nothing here in SoKo. Needless to say, I was missing the BBQ and the fireworks back home. However, it doesn’t take much for the local foreign community to celebrate important holidays. Once again, I was out with my camera taking pictures of my friends. A few of the foreign friendly bars downtown had special events and fun was had by all. Sadly, the monsoon season has hit here and it’s made things tougher if you want to be out and about.
A few friends hanging around the deck @ Club That.
Club That had a live concert going on. Local favorite Sensational Gonzalez was there to perform.
I allow people to take my camera and these kind of pictures are taken. . . believe it or not, i'm not smiling. I can't smile in pictures unless it looks goofy.
It will be a quiet weekend this time around. The vast majority of foreginers are heading out of town to Mudfest. From what I can, people go to some place in the middle of no where, jump in mud pits, hose down, then do random crazy stuff. Strangely not my style so I will be here at home this go round.
Less than a week of school left, then it's off to camps! Whoo hoo!
Let me pain a picture for you: You are used to being able to get a hold of just about any book you want, watch anything on TV or choose any other form of entertianment you please. Now take that easy access away. Well friends, this is where I live. Yes, Korea has English TV shows and Movies. Hell, super action is full of em. However, unless you like watching CSI, CSI and CSI then you might have a problem. The main issue is that many shows either don't come over here or they are seasons behind. Heroes comes on here, but it only comes on during certain parts of the year. A lot of reruns also come on here. The Simpsons and Sex in The City are big ones here so I see them on all the time. . . not so good. I watched The Boondocks, Cowboy Bebop and a lot of very random shows. Shows like "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" don't make the grade here. Ironic humor doesn't go over well with Koreans and I'm not sure why. Movies are the same, only major block busters come here or movies with major Korean actors. So you're choice of movies at the theratre of limited (Thanks for the few choices we have!). So unless I want to watch the Starcraft Channel, I have to download shows. . . and to make that difficult, most American websites (NBC, ABC, etc) that stream shows are blocked in this region. That means' no Aqua Teen Hunger Force for this guy here. But I have found ways around it, and these are a few of those recent selections.
I recently watched the first season of True Blood and I have to say I was impressed with it. I had no idea what to expect of the show because I wasn’t home for all the hype around it. I watched it with no expectations or pre-conceived notions. I was rather surprised with the storyline and the characters. I’m enjoying it quite a bit as the writers are keeping everything tight and interesting. So now that the second season has recently started up, I have something to look forward to each week from home.
So now that I have a little more time than normal and I don’t have any books to read, I developed a K-drama habit. I can thank a few friends from home (and one here) for this, as it caused me to watch a few random shows back in during the winter months. I have watched a few shows recently or scanned a few episodes of things looking for something interesting. The show that’s become my current crack is Strike Love. It’s based off a Korean comic about a baseball team made up of misfits who beat the odds to become pro ball players. Beneath this underdog tale is a love triangle between four main charcaters. Now after the evil that is Boys Over Flowers I had to detox from K and J Drama watching. I didn’t know if I could handle another crazed show. Turns out it’s pretty damn good. The acting on the show is surprising. I’ve watched my share of foreign dramas and I often find that while some of them have endearing moments or interesting ideas, the acting often makes things tough for my western thought process to swallow. But Strike Love has been the exception to the rule. Heck, even the kids in the first episodes are good! It doesn’t hurt that the backdrop for this show is baseball. I’m a sports fan at heart and the idea of the underdog fighting to become more than what the world tells him that he’s capable of tugs at love for all things sport.
So, on to my more. . . sensitive side. In my search for K-drama entertainment, I found another show that seems to work despite my brain telling me I'm insane for watching it. Shining Inheritance (or Great Inheritance as I’ve seen it called) has wiggled it’s way into my viewing rotation. The main character is a sweet but spunky girl who (surprise!) grew up privileged but lost everything after her father’s death. It’s literally a Cinderella story. The alarms were signaling my gag reflex to go off, but I gave it a chance. The first two episodes threw me for a loop and I was kind of impressed. I was thinking “Oh look, someone’s figured out how to write!” Turns out there’s enough character development and story to keep me interested for some reason or another. The heroine Go Eun Sung is who Jan Di (Boys Over Evil) should have been; cute without being annoying. But to me, the most fun characters are the evil step mother Baek Sung Hee, the spoiled silly housewife Oh Young Ran and the best friend Lee Hye Ri. Supporting characters are usually the most interesting. Afterall, the main characters are usually there to just stand around and look either pretty or sad.
So this brings me finally to the big question: "Why the hell do you watch this?" Well, i suppose that's a loaded question. I'm not the typical audience for such stuff and I don't honestly know why some of it appeals to me. I understand why i watch Strike Love. Being an old school anime fan, I'm already used to watching shows with substitles and cultrual differences don't shock me. Strike Love is essentially a Live Action Sports Anime/Manga (it IS based off a manga afterall). Unlike most shows of this nature, the production values are high, the dramatic tension is well done and despite the over-the-top nature of the charcaters (it is a soap opera), it's entertaining. Shining Inheritence is a tough one. I'm not adverse to qirky romances. However, I usually DON'T like the fans of such shows. They bother me. Fan girl squealing over the hot asian boys is a huge turn off to such things. And let's face it, the formula for such shows is more predictable than a dumb action movie. Yet, I can at least see the appeal as trashy TV. It's the same reason i watch the new 90210; it's funny to watch people behaving badly, even if they are cardboard cut out archetypes. I end up enjoying them for what they are in my own way. Sometimes things are popular for a damn reason I guess?
Pardon my American ignorance, but there is this celebration called Canada Day. It’s like the 4th of July only less bloody and more beer. There’s a large population of Canadians here in Daegu so I went out Wednesday night to chill and see what was going on. I used to hit up every Wednesday night dinner, but I’ve been M.I.A of late. It was good to see so many familiar faces out as well as get to know a few new ones. I also had to say goodbye to a few people who were leaving for good. Never fun, but this is South Korea. It’s pretty much the norm around here.
While I was out and about, I snapped some pictures of people as they celebrated downtown.
Early at the Holy Grill. This was my first stop for the evening.
I have to admire the creativity by Kristin here. She pinned the Canadian Flag as a top. Very much about shoing spirit and love of one's country.
Sadly, I had to say goodbye to Tammy. It was her last night in South Korea. She's been a nice girl and I wish her well. Hope to see you again one day. . .
Yeah, this place. . . serves alcohol in bags. . . BAGS. ON THE STREET. Some of us call them "Adult Caprisuns" . . . .
. . . Which everyone seemed to be enjoying quite a bit. But that's a normal night out around here. . . .
The lovely Jasmin shows off the bag drinks. I think these things would cause mass riots in the states.
At this point in the evening, everyone was hovering around the patio of Club That. It was a party in the streets and Koreans were confused as to why the forgieners were randomly packed outside on a Wednesday.
I peresonally think my commentary on my facebook album was halarious, but I'm bias. For the rest of the pictures, click here. Anyways, I'm off to do some weekend warrior work. Peace and chicken grease!
Going to Busan has convinced me that somewhere on Cyworld (the Korean version of facebook) there is a fan site of me. You see, EVERYONE has a cyworld homepage in Korea. They post a lot pictures there (mainly from crappy cell phones) and I was stopped several times by various people to be in pictures with them. As I have stated before, I’m a physical freak in this country. I’m black, I’m big and I’m tall. It’s like some triple crown of oddness for Koreans and there is no place that I feel that freak show mentality more than Busan.
I went down to Busan with friends to spend the day at Haeundae Beach. I rarely leave Daegu, so I was looking forward to being out of the city. It’s only an hour train ride so it’s perfect for a day trip. We took cabs to the beach and grabbed lunch at a bar called Fuzzy Navel that serves Mexican food(!). Finally God has decided to bless me with a decent burrito here in S.K.
God – “I know you've been craving food from Atlanta, so I’m going to give you a preview of home. . . . starting. . . NOW!” (Cue choir singing the hallelujah chorus while lights shine on the burrito as a cute waitress brings me what will be a glorious meal.)
Ok, I’m finished drooling over the burrito. Where was I? Oh yeah, the beach. First of all, I’m a southern boy. Second, I’m a city boy. I’ve only been to the beach a couple of times in life. I get excited about the idea of the beach because the ocean is a foreign thing in my eyes. What really stuck out to me is how different Koreans are at the beach vs. other groups of people there. The majority of the Koreans were on one side of the beach, mostly clustered together under umbrellas. Most of the women were covered up as much as possible and many shirts over their swimsuits. In fact, I didn’t see a single bikini on a Korean girl. It’s fairly well known that Koreans view white skin as a sign of beauty, so they protect themselves fiercely from getting tans. I’m honestly surprised that they would go to the beach much. It was so odd from what you might see in Florida or California. Just another difference in culture I suppose.
Foreigners were on the more open side of the beach and you would see a random mix of people out there. Russians, Tai, Philippine, Vietnamese. . . and each group seemed to be in a spot. I think the funniest thing we saw was the group of guys in man-kinis. The glorious neon colored evil thongs were on display and you could not get away from them. It was just awkward and glorious all at the same time.
Now as much as we people watched, people watched us. . . especially me. At one point, there was this group of about ten guys who just stood by and watched me. I believe they were Vietnamese, but they kept pointing and whispering from about six feet away. Some group of Russians asked to take a picture with me which I thought was insane. Some random Korean people did and I caught a few kids trying to sneak pictures with camera phones. Then there was this group of people on the street who stopped me. Just before we left the beach, some kids walked up to me asking for pictures. At that point, I just shook my head and played it up. Apparently some of them thought I was a rapper (seriously).
I after leaving the beach, we were all sore. The guys (minus me – I didn’t want to spend the money) went to get massages and the girls wanted to shop. I tired some Vietnamese food and was pleasantly surprised. I usually have problems with new food, but I’m glad I tried it.
Every time I go to Busan I’m impressed by it. I really am tempted to look for a job down there if I stay a third year here. I’ve never lived on a coast and I think I could get used to spending time on the beach.
I didn’t do anything on Friday. I’ve cut back to one night out during the weekend unless specific plans are made. Wandering the streets of Daegu with no true destination isn’t worth it on a Friday night. You think it would be, but no.
Saturday consisted of the usual fight club session. I’m finally getting better at some of the little things and I feel a little healthier. Because I had to be home for my washer to get delivered, I had to leave early. I went downtown and stopped in to Justin’s birthday dinner thing. I got to meet a few new people there, most notably a few of his co-teachers. I already knew one of them because she is friends with Korean Mom. After talking with them for a bit, I realized again how I WISH there were Korean teachers I could relate to at my school. As much as I would like to, there is no way I would feel comfortable inviting my co-workers to my birthday party. I wouldn’t think they would enjoy it nor would I feel comfortable.
I eventually made my way over to the Salsa party Susy and Melinda put together (pictures later). I didn’t know what to expect, but I was a lot of fun. It was also something different than the usual around here. Nick, Suzy and company did a little dance number which was pretty damn good. I think between that at the dance clinic they ran that they might get some new students. I was also happy that when the music started I didn’t like a total tool on the floor. I at least know basic steps and once my brain stopped frying I remembered how to do my basic turns. All it shows me is that I REALLY want to stay with lessons.
Korea: Year Two is shaping up to be pretty damn good:
-Fight Club & Gym -Salsa lessons and etc. -Korean lessons.
I always figured that year two would be more of me focusing on getting some things done. The adjustment is over. Time to get to work!
I didn’t come to Korea with a lot of clothes due to a freak accident at the airport. I also can’t buy clothing here because Koreans don’t come in my size. Being the case, it’s important for me to take care of the clothing I did bring with me. Sadly, this also means I wash my clothes a lot. I don’t have a laundry day like most people. I wash something almost every day just so I don’t get caught without clothes.
So when Monday came and my washer broke, I wasn’t a happy man.
Luckily, I had recently cleaned some clothing, but this didn’t help me much the week went by. I was digging thru the drawers for something to wear to work each day. Fortunately my school was pretty quick to get a repair man to look at it. The repairman told them that the washer was dead, so they bought me a new one. I was so thankful that I finally had a washer. . . best of all, the new one is bigger than the old one so I can wash more stuff in it.
Ok, enough domestic stuff, let’s get on to the weekend.
Sparkling Korea hasn’t done this in a while to me, so I guess I was overdue for another headache moment.
For the next three weeks, I’ll be giving individual reading tests to students. I sit in a room and they come in one at a time. Each student will pick from a series of pre-prepared cards and read them to me. I will record and grade each student based on their ability. Simple, right?
Well, here’s the wrinkle in the system. When my co-teacher’s handed me the grading scale to use, they also gave me a set number of grades I could give out per grade. Which means if I have a class of 34 students, then only 5 can be A’s, 6 can be B’s and so on.
Excuse me????
So you mean to tell me that I have a set number of each grade to give out? This means I have worry about the fact that one student might just work their ass of and really do a good job, but because I gave all my “A’s” I have to give them a B? Are we serious?
Somehow they have pre-determined the grades for the students even before they start. How the hell?
I asked about this and while I didn’t get an exact reason, they just explained that I have to use each set of numbers. So I’m forced to be really conservative with my grades. Yesterday I found myself dinging them for every little thing. Plus, I’ve been here a year so I have a fairly good idea of who will do a good job and who won’t. But that doesn’t mean someone won’t harder.
This makes me wonder how many other grades come out like this????
Now it’s been brought to my attention that this isn’t that unusual a practice, even back in the US. To me, the idea of such a practice is insane. What happened to getting the grade you earned?
