I have surprisingly few "Korean-y" experiences here with the old culture. Mostly through fault of my own. But this one was a happy accident. Aiming to go to a folk village soon which I guess is the K-equivalent of a old western town you can visit. Yay culture.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
animal whisperers
today we were reading about an american woman who has a TV show in korea where she talks with animals. two of my classes thought she was real, one did not. one of my cynics had the best line of the day: "teacher, if she can talk to animals, then i can talk to paper." then he talked to some paper for a few minutes.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
imagine a walmart parking lot
you've just done something my students cannot do. i showed them a picture of a normal sized parking lot for a chain store in new hampshire, they were amazed.
in my neighborhood at home, every building has parking underneath in the basement, or on the first floor with apartments starting on the second. it's not something i'm aware of a lot of the time, but for areas i've been in the breakdown seems to be: no space; all space. cities or small towns. i'm sure there's some more grey area there, but it doesn't feel as common as back home.
in my neighborhood at home, every building has parking underneath in the basement, or on the first floor with apartments starting on the second. it's not something i'm aware of a lot of the time, but for areas i've been in the breakdown seems to be: no space; all space. cities or small towns. i'm sure there's some more grey area there, but it doesn't feel as common as back home.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
andrew has a conundrum
so it's about t-minus 30 minutes til i'm 24 (in korea i am 26, weird!). i'm not doing anything special really, just sitting at home reading. a few things have happened lately that i'm not especially happy about, but that comes with adulthood, i guess. but still, unfortuante and i certainly hold some responsibility, so i can't complain that much.
earlier, i was trying to figure out what i should do for my birthday. should i do something special, nothing at all, something with friends, something alone. i actually forgot that it was my birthday tomorrow until somewhat late in the evening.
i ultimately decided that a quiet night at home was probably for the best. it's about 11:40 now. in a few minutes i think i'll head down to the nearby park and take some pictures. i think new years and birthdays let you set a good example for how you want to spend the next year. so i'm reading my favorite author, haruki murakami, then am going to go take some pictures. while i'm out i'll try to think about where i want to be one year from now. as much as i love teaching, teaching korean kids english holds absolutely no value over my last job. the differences in what i teach and the connections that i make is worlds apart. next year i at this time i want to be doing something that i love as much as i was doing in 2009 on this day.
making that happen relies on me, and how far i'm willing to go to make it a reality. and at the moment, i think that i'm willing to go pretty far. so here's to a new year, good decisions, and working towards being what i want to be. i'm sure there will be challenging moments, and i will have to make decisions i don't want to make, but that's part of growing up. i need to learn to take those decisions, and even if i'm not happy with them, accept that i have to do what i know is best for me, and the people that i care about.
cheers everyone, i know i certainly haven't done anything to encourage the continued reading of this blog with infrequent and often terse updates. but i think the only people who probably regularly do check it are people that i consider friends. so thank you for sticking with me on my exciting korean adventure's boring blog.
really, thank you.
earlier, i was trying to figure out what i should do for my birthday. should i do something special, nothing at all, something with friends, something alone. i actually forgot that it was my birthday tomorrow until somewhat late in the evening.
i ultimately decided that a quiet night at home was probably for the best. it's about 11:40 now. in a few minutes i think i'll head down to the nearby park and take some pictures. i think new years and birthdays let you set a good example for how you want to spend the next year. so i'm reading my favorite author, haruki murakami, then am going to go take some pictures. while i'm out i'll try to think about where i want to be one year from now. as much as i love teaching, teaching korean kids english holds absolutely no value over my last job. the differences in what i teach and the connections that i make is worlds apart. next year i at this time i want to be doing something that i love as much as i was doing in 2009 on this day.
making that happen relies on me, and how far i'm willing to go to make it a reality. and at the moment, i think that i'm willing to go pretty far. so here's to a new year, good decisions, and working towards being what i want to be. i'm sure there will be challenging moments, and i will have to make decisions i don't want to make, but that's part of growing up. i need to learn to take those decisions, and even if i'm not happy with them, accept that i have to do what i know is best for me, and the people that i care about.
cheers everyone, i know i certainly haven't done anything to encourage the continued reading of this blog with infrequent and often terse updates. but i think the only people who probably regularly do check it are people that i consider friends. so thank you for sticking with me on my exciting korean adventure's boring blog.
really, thank you.
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