update

hey readers - I'm just kind of killing some time before I meet some friends so I figured I'd update this. Nothing special, just some highlights from the previous few weeks.



Police

Sometime last week I was heading over to get some dinner at my favorite Chinese restaurant for JaJaMyeong - a noodle and bean sauce dish that costs 3,000won (less than $3) and is delicious and filling. I usually top the meal off with a fat kimchi mandu (dumpling) from next door.

Anyway,I stopped at the ATM and to avoid some extra walking I just jaywalked across the street. As it happened, a car pulled up and happened to be a Korean police car.

Now, a bit of background.....Korean police is not much like American police. For one thing, there is no crime here. They are less needed, less seen and less relevant. They don't carry guns and, as we found out playing our scavenger hunt, they also do not carry handcuffs. Some carry BB guns, some carry those twist ties - most don't. They are there for traffic and civilian unrest.

But I had no idea what kind of penalty jaywalking involved so when they stopped and slowed down next to me I was a bit nervous.

I bowed and did my annyong haseoyo. The cop driving looked at me, insanely puzzled, and just said, "megook?" ("american?").

I nodded. They left.

Crisis averted.


Classes

So I started my new classes. I'm 2 weeks in now - the first week being introductions. This week has me teaching them a bit of slang (so they can now say "what's up?" to me) and playing a certain kick-ass soccer game that I invented that has new teachers abuzz. (parents also, since today was an open day - parents could come in - and apparently many had good things to say about me. understandably so, I wore my best blue shirt!)

Anyways, the introduction lessons are always fun, since the kids don't always know what they are saying and some are willing to say anything that comes into their minds. So, some observations and funny sentences put together in the last week....

First, the new grade of Korean boys are still perverted. Less than last year, but still so. Most classes had at least one student tell me his hobby was "adult movies".

Many classes asked how I old I was for my first kiss. I told them. Many of them haven't had theirs. Shucks. One student had enough bravado to ask "When This" as he simultaneously did the round squeezing motion with both his hands.

I didn't answer that one.

During the game this week, one student got up and said,

"I'm happy because I have a girlfriend" (he had to make a sentence with "because" - it's what the book has them practicing this lesson)

The very next student got up and said, "I'm sad because I am not the girlfriend".....my co-teacher and I got a big kick out of that and no one else even laughed. He meant to said he didn't have one - but the slip, mixed with the timing, was priceless.


Golfzon

My buddies and I have been as active as ever on the (simulated) links. Quinn and I are on an average of nearly once during the schoolweek and most weekends don't escape without a round. We now found out we can just play 3 or 6 holes, which could change everything - I'm sure much to the dismay of the girls in the group, who hate it when we aren't around (though they won't admit it).

I've gotten my handicap down, shooting somewhere in the range of 85-90, which hopefully will translate to the real thing once I get back to that. If they decide to start some operations in North america I may just have to jump on the corporate bandwagon.


As it happens, I am currently taking any and all suggestions for what to do when I am done with Korea. My cousin Neal was so kind as to provide me with 26 options which I am currently considering. So thank you.

But serious, send some suggestions my way. Anything but "get a job" will probably be met with consideration.

Okay. That's all for now. St. Patrick's Day celebration in Seoul this weekend. A bar has all-you-can-drink Guinness for about 40 bucks. If that's not bliss, I don't want to know what is.


Pyonghwa,


-e.g.