KOREA Week III Review

Sun, May 17, 2009 at 11:57pm

So I recently learned that one of South Korea's most notorious serial killers lived not far from here, and was caught only four months ago.

Seriously, check it out:

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/south-korea/090209/serial-killings-grip-south-korea

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE51312120090204

Saturday morning class went well. Three students showed, and it was a Step 6 class so the students were well versed in English. In three hours time, I learned about their backgrounds, their reasons for studying English, and we read/discussed a travel article from the Wall Street Journal. I have used this article in two prior classes, and it allows the students to read aloud, makes for great group discussion, and introduces new vocabulary. It's a good article written about the Chollipo Arboretum, located an hour from here, so the students seem to enjoy reading about it.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124167666204195343.html

After class, I met with student and friend B.H. for spicy lunch, followed by a train ride to Seoul. Lily, unfortunately, called the school that morning and was not feeling well so she bailed on the trip. Fighting the wind and rain in Seoul, we visited the National Museum of Korea, and completed the first floor of the giant 3 floor complex. They say it takes over 11 hours to completely view all the galleries housing it's 12,000 exhibits, and it stretches over 4 kilometers long. It was a great museum and we agreed to return again soon for the other two floors. In an article I prepared for Monday class, I read that the museum's 10 millionth visitor was celebrated Sunday and was given a special prize. We, unfortunately, missed this occasion by only one day. B.H. rented me an English audio tour, but it did not work well and the headphones were too small for my large Western ears, so I stop using it halfway through the tour. I also met a cute blonde student from Washington D.C. and we exchanged email addresses. She told me she enjoys her time in Korea so much, she would like to return here after graduation and teach English. True to typical Ethan form, I later realized my fly was down this entire time. Most smooth. After the museum, B.H. and I returned to Sanbon for spicy chicken dinner and discussion on a variety of topics. Aside from the rain and the fly mishap, it was a very good day.

http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=040000&biid=2009051662648

Late night Saturday I met up with Marcus at Jack's Bar, and we visited the Pirate Bar. My dart game has not improved much, but after only three months in Korea, Marcus has become quite good. Because of the damn pirate bar, and my inability to sleep late any day this week, I missed Sunday morning hashing. I'm a little pissed at myself, but it sure felt good to sleep in. The congestion seems to be going away so I hit the gym Sunday afternoon to help sweat out any remaining traces of this. I also used Sunday night to help prepare for this week's classes and organize my teaching materials. Most good.

I am excited by the thought of soon receiving care packages from parents back home. This thought has made me think of what I miss most my first three weeks here. I miss Chipotle very much. I'm not sure if there is one in/near Seoul, but I would travel far for this. Mexican food, in general, does not exist in Korea and that's really too bad. Koreans, especially considering their love of spicy food, have no idea what they're missing. I miss pizza, but James and I had a pretty damn good pizza Sunday for dinner at Mr. Pizza. Strangely, I also miss American television. No clue why, but the World According to Jim is very popular here, as is CSI Miami, and NCIS. American movies are also broadcast on a few channels. All are in English with Korean subtitles at the bottom. I'm ashamed to mention some of the crappy movies I've watched in the past three weeks, so I will omit this. Korean softcore porn is sometimes found on Channel 30, which is always good for a laugh.

Late Sunday night I strolled around Sanbon and took some photos. During my stroll, I viewed some crazy Korean sculptures, was almost hit by a bus (they really are crazy drivers), and I saw a drunken Korean man being arrested for driving. He was standing un-cuffed next to two police officers watching while the tow truck hauled his car away. It was kinda funny to watch and I should have taken a photo of this. This made me wish I had a video camera to post videos. Perhaps in time. Perhaps..

Question to you: I am curious to learn the preferred online photo viewing website. Snapfish? Flickr? Photobucket? Others? Please let me know your thoughts so I can post my photos for all to see.