Stuck in my Head
It’s disgusting how much I’ve been listening to this Gaga song.
Archive for Lifestyle
Mers, Can you order pizza?
Finished the 3rd graduate course on Sunday. Many of the teachers were like “We’re 30% finished.” I honestly don’t like to think about the program in this way. Learning is a gradual thing. The courses can be hard, but what we are doing is for our own self improvement as teachers. I wont be “done”.
I have many stories from this weekend. It wasn’t as boring as last week. I gained some useful information, and the new coordinator has been asking for my opinion of things. I consider one of my strengths to be my listening and reasoning skills. We are dealing with some lazy and incompetent English teachers, here.
The coordinator has a strong disdain for one of the teachers. She accused him of being an alcoholic and driving drunk. I thought that was a serious accusation, and I held my reservations. Then, the Thursday night before Friday’s class, I went out to eat dinner with him. He was drinking the hard Korean alcohol without any regard of going to classes the next day. When, others at the table wanted their cup refilled, he would rudely order another bottle. What a loser. Somehow he has managed to keep a wife and hold a job.
During the dinner, he said that he skipped 2 grades of middle school. He graduated high school at 16. I thought, “Dude, you’re either lying your pants off or you might want to keep that to yourself, because these days you look like a total ignoramus.”
At one time this weekend, a small group of us were getting briefed from a teacher from the previous 2007-09 program. We were standing around a whiteboard. This ogre like girl saddles next to me. Unconsciously, she starts edging her way in front of me, and I was like “WTF? You show up late to the briefing and then obstruct my view.” I carefully touched her shoulders and guided her back to the side of me. She said, “Oh, I didn’t see you there.” I was like, “F*ing, ogre.”
Last week, I was pretty adamant about buying the Motorola Roi. It’s like the Motorola Droid, and it runs the Android OS. Then, this weekend I found myself overhearing this conversation about jail breaking the iphone. I know that people can jail break the iphone and ipod touch, but I haven’t looked into it deeply. The benefits sounded convincing, and I went back to thinking that I should buy the iphone as my next phone.
Even though I’m studying Korean, I dont have that many opportunities to “use” my Korean. Living in Korea; that sounds pretty unlikely and stupid, but it’s true. (I’m trying to change that.) I’ve studied how to order food in books, but I never do it just because … I never order food. This weekend, I was asked to order pizza and call taxis. I thought it would be a burden, but I approached it as a Korean speaking test. Can Mers pass the test and have pizzas delivered for the starving foreigners? Let’s find out. The verdict was in, and I passed. Twice!
At the end of the course, we had to do course evaluations. And I gave my 2 cents in the comment section. I said that some of the videos and discussions were irrelevant to the course topic. The teacher appeared very passionate about these discussion, but they still had nothing to do with the course. I wrote how the course should be improved for next time and having all the teachers together should have been used more effectively. The class didn’t meet my expectations.
bleep
It’s Friday. The school is having a sports day and Saturday is the Korean Parents Day. Therefore, there is a lot of food and flowers in the teacher’s office. We already have glutinous rice cakes, hamburgers, cherry tomatoes, and sweet potato cake.
This weekend and next weekend. I have Graduate classes. I don’t feel as prepared as I could be, although I know that I have all the required assignments finished … and perhaps better than other students. I want to take more notes before the class and read through the books again. But I guess I can do that after the course. I think this is a meaningful class with respect to teaching and organization.
The professor I was helping in the course “Pass or Fail” has decided not to attend this class, because he is unprepared for the class. I should write more on that later. He says he’ll be ready for the Summer class, but we shall see. I think he’s on the edge of a mental breakdown.
May 21 is Buddha’s Birthday. But again, I’ll be in classes. Some students and the Grad class teacher will be going to the Lotus Lantern parade in Seoul on May 16th. But I have no time for that. There’s no time, MAN!
This week, buying an iPhone crossed my mind, but I will wait for more information about the iPhone 4G to be “officially” announced. I would like an Android phone, but I think the Korean telecoms will muck up the releases. I think many US telecoms are also mucking up Android as an OS.
I’m going to watch Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution.
Yesterday, in Korean, the Vice Principal asked “Mers, when are you getting married?” He kinda called me out in the office. I was like, “If you can find some decent person in this podunk city, introduce them to me, and give me some free time to get to know them. Then, we’ll talk.”
Recently, I talked to 2 male Koreans, they had been dating for awhile with the thoughts of marriage. But they said they were having problems, because their girlfriends mother didn’t approve of them or their jobs. I was liek “Man, that’s f’d up.”
Survivor has me on the edge of my seat. I cant wait for the next episodes.
I’m Happy Green Bear
I updated my resume last night. I’m not saying I’m changing jobs soon, but just say’n.
Wednesday is Children’s Day, so we have the day off in Korea. Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday the students have midterms. I think I have to come to school, but …meh. I have work to keep me busy.
I’m downloading John Frusciante tunes. Omar released a new record.
I watched Kick Ass. I didn’t like the cliche “teen-liness” of it, and some of the music choices was poor. But, I was on the edge of my seat towards the end of the movie.
Updated to Ubuntu 10.04.
Went mountain climbing with an Anseong Facebook Club. Met some new people. One guy and his wife are working for the best school in the city. After talking with him, I was really jealous. Another girl just starting working in the boonies. She’s at the school for N Korean refugees. I’ve heard about the school before, but it’s way out there.
I think I’m ordering a t-shirt from the Interior Design students. I saw a sign from afar and was liek “Cool. You’re ordering shirts. I want one.” Then, I got up close and was liek, “Awww…these designs blow chunks”. Seriously, they were terrible, but I felt I should buy one. Lotte Mart has basic T’s for $5. A plain colored T has more design appeal than what these students came up with.
I think the theme of Saylor’s next B-Day ought to be “Three Cheese” Everyone can wear cow patterned or cheese colored shirts, and of course we would serve cheese. I’d fly in for that.
Still reading “How the Soldier Repairs the Gramaphone.” I started interpreting the text in a new light, and it started to make more sense. It also introduced a character, who they’ve been referencing from the beginning of the book. Now, I feel like I should re-read it from the start. The jigsaw is finally coming together.
I think Spring has finally found it’s footing. Yesterday, there was a sticky hotness in the air.
My frugality. I like to read restaurant reviews and see the menus. I always notice the price of tea, coffee, or beer. It’s in the range of $4-6. I think to myself, “Why would I spend $6 on one cup of lemon tea when I could go to the store and buy a jar of lemon tea that would make me 20 cups? They’re not making the tea any different than I would at home.”
A Lame Saturday
The school owes me a goblet of money. Last month, I checked my statement at the bank, and I thought, “The balance didn’t change … odd.” I chalked it up to a bad memory and math, because I had to pay for my Grad class, I bought shoes, and I took out some money for misc. Maybe I spent more money than I remembered.
Friday, the HotED asked, “You didn’t receive the money for last month?” I played it cool, and said I didn’t know. But I was really thinking, “Ahha! I knew it!” He confirmed that I didn’t get paid last month. So, he said I’d be getting paid for last month, this month, and some contractual stuff. He also said that I’d be getting a raise. I think he’s mistaken on that part, because that would have to be re-written into my contract. Technically, this is my 3rd year at the school, but that’s only because I was hired mid-semester of 2008. But it’s hard to debate these matters, since he is a dumb-ass.
Just pay me.
I have one class on Friday that I despise. The class is with the design students and they’re a bunch of chatty Cathy’s. A few of the boys and girls are dating each other, too, and that leads to drama. It’s the last class of the day, and the HotED is supposed to help with the class. This week, he said he couldn’t come to class, because he had to get his yearly car check up… WTF, man!? The student’s weren’t paying attention or listening to me. So, I was like “Fuck it” and showed a movie for the last 30 min.
Korea has a stupid internet system. You can’t purchase anything online unless you’re Korean descent. It involves social security numbers. Well, I wanted to buy these language textbooks. They’re out of print and hard to find, but they were listed at this one website. I was prepared to go to a city bookstore and ask if they could order them for me. However, once a week, there is this woman who comes to the school. She is a textbook representative and orders bulk books for the teachers. She, also, hands out free demo textbooks and magazines. I asked if she could order these for textbooks for me. I hope she comes through.
Saturday, I wanted to shop for DVDs, books, and clothes in Seoul. I couldn’t find any of the above and returned home empty handed. I also walked a crazy distance. The highlight of the day was coffee and a chocolate muffin.
At the bookstore, I ran into a girl, who I knew. I haven’t seen her in about 4 months, and I find her awkward to talk to. She answers questions with the least amount of thought and information. I asked what she’s been up to. She said, “nothing”, and I was like “Alllrrright, … off with you then.” She used to be in my Koren class, but she dropped out after 2 months.
Monday, today, I was told that my week schedule would change. One of the teachers has a stomach problem and I’m taking over all of his classes. He teaches all 1st grade students twice a week, and I have to teach all the classes alone…. terrible. After school, I guess I’ll buy Iron Man and we’ll watch that all week. I’ll get them ramped up for Iron Man 2.
