today

everywhere once in a while I decide to carry around a small notebook and document the days happenings. hoping, naturally, that the day would be filled with anecdotes that I could use to describe my experience as a whole.

Unfortunately, today was not one of those days. It was, however, filled with a lot of laughs and fun. I'll quickly go over some of what I remember.

1) JibJab.

I decided it'd be a nice/funny gesture to JibJab some of the teachers I sit next to and eat lunch with. If you are not familiar with this website, it allows you to insert friends/anyone's face into a video and make it seem as though they are performing. It's harder to explain than that. You can check out their website. I doubted Korea might have an equivalent service and I was right. I was also correct in my assumption that they would enjoy it. And LOVE IT they did - we must have watched 5x in a row and then I had to e-mail it around for everyone to keep.

Oh, and we were a Holiday Themed Metal Band. 4 Korean teachers & I. awesome!

2) Homer Simpson.

a student in first period told me he thinks I look like Homer Simpson. This was meant as a compliment. I know - how? I don't know. I've chalked it up to my theory that those who think all Asians look the same works the other way around. Other white people I have told I look like: Justin Timberlake (although "chubby"), Russell Crowe, Wayne Rooney, my dad, Stephen Colbert......

ps - is homer even white???

3) Lunch/Recess

The lunch period at my school goes something like this for the students (all boys). Eat as fast as you can. Play soccer or basketball for the remaining time. The period is 50 minutes long - I'd say each student gets in a good 40 minutes of sport. I call this "recess" naturally - although students did not understand. Anyway, every so often I venture out - to challenge a student in basketball or just to hang with them. The teachers really like it when I do this (at least one told me this) because it makes the students speak English OUT of class. I just want to play sports. Today, I played goalkeeper for a few minutes and got OWNED. Then I played a three-on-three basketball game outside - on a completely wet court and in my work "slippers". so slippery. i still put up some decent numbers, though.

and just to set the scene - the percentages break down to this: 85% of students play soccer, 10% play basketball, 3% watch, 1-1.2% frolic while holding hands/combing each other's hair, <1%>

4) PCbong Dating

Pronounced PeeShee Bong - this refers to the ever ubiquitous Computer Rooms here in Korea. They are EVERYWHERE. Most are large rooms with 20 or more computers, stocked with the latest games and filled with students killing some precious time between their 9.5-hour study sessions. Needless to say, Korean boys LOVE their rooms.

One student in my after-school class, a nice but goofy kid, tends to skip my class with some excuse.

(note: in order to miss my after-school class, students have to run an excuse by me and I have to say OKAY. no one told me this for the first four weeks so everytime a student told me he wanted to go home and rest or go to the hospital for some medicine I said okay, even knowing they were going to the PCBong. They had it SO easy).

I know he is going to the PCroom because every tells me. So, when he does show up, I let him have it. Every joke is about his obsession with the room, the games, etc....I do this one for good fun and two because PCBONG is one of the few korean words I can say flawlessly and they GET my jokes!

Today, I ask Wooks, his "english" name, if he has a girlfriend.

He says yes.

I ask, jokingly, if he takes her on dates to the PC-Room.

In complete seriousness, he says "only once".

Says it as if it's a huge accomplishment on his part to not be tempted to take his girlfriend to a room where she can watch him play videogames.

Now I know there are some girlfriends out there who have spent time watching their boyfriends play video games. I've made mine watch. But to TAKE them there, well that's another thing.

I laughed for a while.

5) Dinner.

I found an awesome galbi (korean BBQ - the glory of which will have to be served by another blog post) place near my house. Not used to megooks (americans) in their place - the waitresses found it necessary to wait on me hand & foot. This included, but was not limited to; cutting my meat (on the grill), pouring my water, adding a pillow under my butt.

I ate too much.

i'd leave you with a quotation or a song or something written, but I think this picture says so much. I just don't know what.

e.g.