Here's a snapshot of Korean culture. We had a meeting today which set our hours for summer schedule. All teachers, including foreigners, are expected to stay until 5:30 each night, whether we have class or not. This is marginally fine (but my evening went downhill from there). Apparently the Korean teachers, all of a sudden, want to talk to us in the late hours of the evening. If they wanted to do that, they always could have found me during the regular season, in my classroom, several hours after they left each night. I wonder if this means that they will have to stay until 9:30pm after the summer season, instead of leaving at 7 or 8 like most usually do. Did I mention that I only have 3 months left on my contract and they want to start talking to me now? Our school is a tad bit insular, as I mentionned during our renovations period.
Jealousy on both sides aside, I was supposed to go out with a friend tonight, who called me while I was in class, or in the meeting, and therefore ended up finding my cell phone off. She called the front desk and was informed that I had a meeting tonight- so she made other plans. The meeting was actually over by 4:30. After that, I had to go downtown to finally replace my lost cell phone battery, at which point I called my friend and found out I was being stood up again. So I went to the PCBang.
It was at the PCBang that I got another call from our manager (at 6:30pm mind you) who informed me that all the teachers were being taken out to dinner tonight. Nice thought, but it's finally clicked in that this is the 'meeting' that the secretary told my friend about, this afternoon. My question is that since I was actually supposed to be invited to this dinner- why wasn't I told this afternoon when people were busy cancelling MY plans BEHIND MY BACK so that I could attend !?!? To top it all off, the manager seemed legitimitely surprised when I risked dishonouring my bosses and said 'no'.
Well it's true. I do have other plans that I intend to keep. Whether it means drinking alone or... well... alone.... there's a bourbon waiting for me when I finish this posting and log out of the PCBang. Oh but wait... they want us at work for 9:10am (my first class is at 10:30am and all my prep work was done before I left). Welcome to Korea.
Wednesday, July 25, 2001
Sunday, July 22, 2001
Well, I still haven't managed to pick up a computer- and on top of that I lost my spare cell phone battery and my camera (I think) is busted. How's that for a collection of reasons to support the Luddite cause. Seriously, I am in a bad mood these days. On top of that, we start summer schedule for a month, beginning tomorrow... which means mornings. Still, even if I am not online as much now, I see the counter is increasing so I had better write something. BTW Some people are getting Fortune City logos instead of pictures on this site. It's not a universal thing. Even at the PC방 (PCBang), some computers here show Fortune City and some show pics. Some show an assortment of the two. Anyone wanna volunteer webspace for remotely loaded pictures? Bah... nevermind... my FTP program is on my busted laptop.
Have a better one.
Monday, July 16, 2001
Just a note. Thanks Donna for the birthday greeting :) Yes, in Canada I am 27 today. In Korea I am (and remain 28). It has to due with the fact that here, when you are born you are immediately 1 year old. The following January 1st, you become 2 years old and every successive January 1st is counted as your legal birthday. That made me 28 yesterday, today, and tomorrow- but doesn't stop me from telling the kids that I am turning 80. No big brithday plans, I'm afraid, but I did get a cake from a coworker and I do have a 14 year old bottle of Oban scotch whisky that I trucked over from Canada. I've been saving it, but I think tonight's the night to open it.
Sunday, July 15, 2001
Friday the freakin' 13th, eh?
My postings are going to be less frequent now... and less graphical... and less... a lot of things. My laptop had a brief user interface problem Friday night and now exists in several pieces on my floor. For all you people who told me I need to upgrade my Pentium 150... I hope you're happy. Here I am at the PCBang (PC방) and the only upside is that it's a lot easier to type in Hangol (한글) on their machines. Tonight I am going to HomePlus to shop for a new laptop but my next problems will be that I need a Korean to cosign for any platform I buy (foreigners aren't allowed to buy computers in much the same way cell phones are restricted) oh yeah, and strangely enough, they all come with Korean Operating Systems here.
Friday night had an upside though. I got a chance to visit 'Da Beet' again, which is the Nightclub in the Changwon Hotel. Same story, you have to have a Korean escort to enter which means that I can never just go alone and I have to wait to be invited. Did you know that nightclubs in Korea don't sell cocktails?! You have to buy beer, or hard liquor- but even hard liquor is sold by the bottle and not the glass. A bottle retails for about 89,000 Won or about $100 bucks Canadian. Still, they are a stylish establishment. Seats are all in separate stalls which gives it a 40's nightclub feel. Oh yeah, and when you go to the washroom, you are accosted by an attendant who drapes a cold towel over your neck (whether you were dancing or not) and in one case, doused me with cologne. Then, for the first time ever, since I have come to Korea, I was asked for a tip. I tipped him lots, each time (5000 Won) when the usual is about 1000Won... which meant he was disturbingly happy to see me whenever I visited the men's room (화장실).
Monday, July 09, 2001
New to my K-Pop collection: Baby V.O.X. 5
I don't actually know the title of this CD since it's not consistent throughout. It's either 'Boyish Story' or 'Boyshy Story'. I was embittered over my recent battle to try and order 초밥 (Chobap, which is Korean sushi) at 대동 (Daedong) Department Store so I purchased the CD as a way to brighten my mood. I have gone to Daedong about 5 or 6 times, and each time they tell me I can't order it. I have no problem when I go with Korean friends so I have no idea why they all of a sudden run out when I come alone. Anyway... I settled for 우동 (Udong) which is basically noodles in broth (thicker than Ramien noodles). On my way back through 성원주상가 (Sung Won Ju Sanga) is where I found this CD. It lacks the energy in many songs that most Korean girl groups usually give off... but I think they are just going for the mellow image with this CD, as a change of pace. Click on the image above or here for the official Baby V.O.X Website. Usually they are much more cute and... uh... dynamic. I was introduced to them, via television, at Christmas time when they were the spokesband for Hardee's hamburger restaurant in Korea.
Sunday, July 08, 2001
I'm was dead tired tonight for some reason... so I came home early but then I turned on the T.V. I absolutely had to blog the commercial I saw. The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Korean Style, is running from July 26th to August 26th. I just happen to have some vacation time in there and was planning on visiting Seoul anyway... I am DEFINITELY going to this! And later... when I return to Canada, we can do the Timewarp again.... (my god that was cheesy).
Go check out the music on the site... it's instantly recognizable but very fun to here in translation. Still, the best part is that words like 'transvestite' remain untranslatable in Korean (except as 'transbestite'). Myself, I just made tea and am off to see more of what the nefarious Dr. Puh-rang-ken-puh-tuh is up to. I can't wait!
Saturday, July 07, 2001
I proved last night that you can never go home. No... wait... I proved you don't have to go home. The International Pub closed at 5am (I had only arrived at 3am). Met an old Korean activist who bought me some whiskies as we sat together at the bar. When I left, no sooner had I walked 50 feet when another Korean (a complete stranger) introduced himself and we went off in search of entertainment together, with him delightfully picking up the tab. Koreans are great fellows. After it all, I got home at 7:30.
Wednesday, July 04, 2001
I felt really uncoordinated today. Wednesday is usually my easiest day but I guess it all started when I woke up. I got a phone call at around 11am which was good news this time- at least in practice. As it turned out, my alarm was not working (for the third time since I came to Korea) and the phone call was probably the only thing that saved me from oversleeping. It appeared to be a battery problem so I switched the batteries with all the spares I had available. When that failed to solve the problem I smashed it on the floor. Then it was off to buy a new alarm clock. Now it's not that I have a temper mind you- but I feel I have a finely tuned sense of retribution. I sometimes think I would have made a good Supreme Court Judge.
At school, I picked up an extra class with ten minutes notice- but that wasn't a problem. It's a one-on-one conversation class for a student preparing to go to school in the U.S.A. this fall. I hope I don't scare her to death with my worrying. Letsee, after that I mixed up a couple of text books but I recovered easily enough; We have a new teacher who sat in on twio of my classes; Then, there were a couple of my classes that were supposed to switch time slots but didn't and that took some time to sort out... but not for me as I have refused to be administrative since after my last job. Oh yeah... and we had a couple of power outages and one of the air conditioners is burnt out. All in all, I was happy enough (but I forgot to mention that the coffee machine was broken again BTW) and the kids were still fun- it just seemed hard to get my bearings.
Tonight I cashed in my coupons for free chicken.
Wow. I'm exhausted. Today was killer. Things went so far today as to see one of my students setting off a fire extinguisher in my classroom. On the bright side I finally got my electric bill which isn't due until 2 days from now. That only leaves my Cable TV and Internet bills listed as missing in action... both of which were of course due last week. Paying bills is still my major annoyance here. I know I've complained before but to save you from checking the archives and to give me a chance to vent in text, here goes. IF you are lucky, they arrive the day before they're due and you have to stand in line for 2 hours at the bank to pay them. If you don't pay them by the due date however, they won't accept payment at all until they are reissued next month, when the same problem ensues. John goes further to tell me to save my receipts as any time in the next two years, the company could decide I missed a payment and call me up to demand money, which I am responsible for.
Just to fill you in on the rest of my Canada Day. I did feel jealous reading all of those listings for pancake breakfasts in the newspapers back home, so I made pancakes myself for breakfast. That night I went out for a couple beer with John and Hye Lan to a neighbourhood place called 'All That Beer!'. The place was overrun with kids but you can't beat their catchy slogan, advertising 'Live Beer and Solid Drink!'. That was followed up close to midnight, after I had already returned home, when one of our administrators saw my light on and arrived with more to drink. I spent the rest of the night sitting outside my house with him until we retired to a nearby Hof around the block- where the glasses must be almost 2 litres in size (seriously!).
Last night I also got to check out a movie in 중앙동 (JoongAngDong). The Changwon Cinema is playing 툼라이더 (Tomb Raider but pronounced more like Toom Rah-Ee-Duh). I liked it. But what had me more interested was the huge bug I saw before I went in. I had just sat down outside the LG25 to eat a sandwich, when this thing, 2 inches in body length, plopped down hard on the seat beside me and joined me. It was busy eating this big black beetle it caught, and sat there almost motionless with the thing in its mouth. I had a mild concern that it might want a bite out of me next so I finished up my meal quickly. Any entomologists out there? I have no idea what it was. It looked a bit like a beige grasshopper but its hind legs weren't folded under it for jumping and all six were exceptionally long. It didn't seem to have the typical grasshopper thorax either. It's tail was noticeably segmented. It definitely retracted its wings when it landed though- oh yeah and it was BIG. Recognize this creature? It was like watching the National Geographic channel.
Sunday, July 01, 2001
Happy Canada Day! Or is it?! How does something like this work? It's July 1st here, but maybe since this isn't Canada (and Canada Day does seem to be a geographically dependant phenomenon) it doesn't count. In that case I need to wait another 9 hours or more. Still, the National Post has already published their Canada Day feature well in advance, and it includes a handful of fun jokes and a 100 question Canadian Quiz which is not for the faint of heart.
Closer to home, the Canadian Embassy in Seoul is throwing a bash today. The press release seems to be stricken from the web site (no matter since tickets were sold out ages ago). Jealous?! Sure! Any lucky folks who get into UN Headquarters will be treated to Smoked Canadian Salmon, Alberta Beef, and Canadian Beer!
So how am I spening Canada Day? Watching a rented Tom Green movie and eating imitation Oreo cookies- one of the many treats in the South Korean market made by supercorps (called chaebols) like Lotte (click here for the confectionary branch).
