Rapid Ascent Inadvisable

So, as I previously mentioned us no longer having a working camera. Since then I occasionally snap off a shot on my cellphone. It's a handy camera that I always have with me. Due to Mel's ingenuity, I've found that I can email them to myself. So, now I have a couple interesting shots. Most of the interest is provided by the spontaneity. Usually I find interesting stuff in places I'd never have bothered to bring a camera. Also, even if I had a working one... I'm really too forgetful to remember to lug it around

So, a while back I mentioned that we went to Yongsan. It was there I found the following gem.

Oh, wow! An Mp3 player! Amazing! Am I right? Boring! Look closer...

Yeppers, that's an "All In One Pragmatic Player". According to Merriam Websters:

1archaic a (1): busy (2): officious b: opinionated
2: relating to matters of fact or practical affairs often to the exclusion of intellectual or artistic matters : practical as opposed to idealistic <pragmatic men of power have had no time or inclination to deal with…social morality — K. B. Clark>
3: relating to or being in accordance with philosophical pragmatism

So, that's pretty funny.

In all of my classes we eventually played the monster game. This usually involved me stating a number of various body parts and the kids drawing monsters with the quoted amount of each body part. It works well because they all better learn the parts of the body. The higher level classes I add wings, horns, ie extra vocabulary. Also, they get to draw, color, and have a good time.

After every class had had a chance, I collected all the drawings and they now adorn a wall in my f


Sorry the pictures are so shitty all I have is a cellphone camera. Give me some slack!

Usually while the kids were busy with their monsters I would draw one to the same specs. This is my favorite. There are three heads each with distinctive personalities. I am amused every time I look at it :D

Wednesday afternoon we went and played sports with other teachers at another elementary school. It was raining so we didn't get to play volleyball as intended. The school we visited was quite well off and actually had a gym. We played a game that I have no desire to describe due to the inanity of the rules. Then we played floor hockey....

It appears that in South Korea, I'm pretty good at floor hockey. I had to explain that I'm from Michigan. We live right near the place where hockey was invented. Everyone has a rudimentary understanding. No I have not played professionally... ect...

They also played cho-gu. That's volleyball, but you can only use your head and anything below your waist (mostly feet). It's odd and I was happy not to have been asked to participate.

On Thursday it was fieldtrip day for the 5th and 6th graders. Well, all the grades really, but the 5th and 6th was the trip I went on. Long story short, it was a good time. I got to spend some time bonding with the kids and got out of a day of school.

So here's some pics with appropriate captions.

A giant pagoda statue. I have no idea the significance. It's in the national museum in Yongsan. Those kids in front are some of my 6th graders. It was a big statue.

Il-kyu and I outside of the Egyptian exibit. No photos inside and I only have a cell camera anyway. Wasn't much that would be interesting via photograph anyway. In other words... you had to be there :D

We went to the war museum too (also in Yongsan). There's a big boat, but I'm not really sure why it's there. The whole museum is pretty much dedicated to the Korean war, so it seemed a bit out of place. Nice to look at though.

Lastly, we recently went to a castle in Suwon with a couple of our friends. At one of the gates you could head on up and check the view out from the top. The stairs were huge though and really old stone. Of course, there was a warning sign...

Later!

Aaron

A Roll of the Dice?

Well, I suppose I should post something new. After all, it has been about half a month since our last update. The problem is that we settled into normalcy and complacency. Usually we do travel about some on the weekend. However, a lot of places we go look generally the same. Unless we find a really clever sign, there's little to report. One significant other problem is that our camera has went kaput. Hopefully we'll do a little research and get a new one soon.

So, let's see what kind of recent developments have there been? Well a couple of weeks ago I went out to dinner with the teachers. We went to a place specializing in mushrooms. I don't care how many varieties you throw in front of me, I still don't like mushrooms. So, that was not the best of dinners for me.

Afterward we went to a bar in Osan. While we were there a couple of my fellow foreign teachers happened in. It was then that I noticed a glorious thing. This bar has a patio. Outside there a ton of tables and chairs. All the details on the rest of the night? No matter. The important point is the discovery of the patio bar. Now, provided there's not rain, the patio bar is foreign teacher central on Friday nights.

So that's pretty nice and all. New bars are always great. They have really huge amounts of beer. You can order the standard 2000ml or 3000ml varieties, or you can be awesome and get the 5000ml oaken barrel looking super pitcher with a spout on the side! 5 liters of beer! They also have soju cocktails that are pretty amazing. Like they take a few fresh kiwis, a bottle of soju, and throw that shit in the blender. Instant yummy. Well, not instant. It takes them forever to make the damn things. The wait is worth it though.

Mel is now happily addicted to World of Warcraft. She's a busy little Shaman. The biggest problem there is when our net drops. Then we have a really angry shaman :D

Last weekend we had a bit of travel. We recently decided to start playing some Dungeons and Dragons with some other teachers. Melissa and I have dice that we brought from home. The other gents do not. We looked around a bit online and found a store we could check out. So, we went there on Saturday. It was a bit over an hour by train. Maybe 1.5? We found the place without much problem. The walls are lined with games and there's a few people sitting around a table playing a board game. There is a display of various tarot cards. There is a shelf with what appears to be collectible card games behind the counter. Yet, there are no dice. Not anywhere. We motion to the clerk to suggest what we're looking for. After a minute she understand and heads off to the back room. She rummaged about for a bit and came back with a three 30-sided dice and a handful of 6-sided dice.

I know of no game that uses 30-sided dice. We were looking for standard D&D sets (a 4, 6, 8, 12, 20, and two 10s). We were a bit disappointed. I did buy one of the 30's however because I thought it was a curious novelty. She charged me 6000w for it. I found out later that they're commonly available on the net for like $3. Still don't know what it's used for. I'll probably add it into some kind of drinking game.

Following that we went to Yongsan. Our friend Len was accompanying us. He was after dice as well and also some camera gear. Having been here for several months longer than us, he knows his way around a bit better. That was nice.

Anyways, Yongsan is geeky nerd paradise. This is an entire city devoted to electronics, tech, and gadgets! If you dream of fields of motherboards and cpus, this is the place for you. If you are in the market for a new mp3 player, but want to be able to chose from a field of thousands, this is the place. Love video games? Want to pick up a new 360 game and buy a Super Famicom at the same time? Well then, come on over.

Yongsan was pretty damned cool. Gadgets galore! I had some video game needs which were easily fulfilled. Now I'll be able to keep busy during Mel's Warcraft raiding sessions. :) Len was easily able to find the new bits he wanted for his camera. It was a fun trip. There was a downside however...

Mel and I are now considering getting a second computer. It would be nice for me to have the ability to use the computer at times when Mel is way too busy with it. I think she might also enjoy having a more easily portable laptop that she could take to school. Also, I figure that it is only a matter of time until Mel convinces me that I need join her in scouring world of Azeroth. So, there's that.

Saturday evening we joined some friends in Songtan. We had some sushi (which wasn't bad despite my previous aversion) and then hung out in a random bar. We learned a new drinking game from a nice military guy. The bar owner and wait staff even played along.

The game is Titanic for those who are interested. You float a shot glass in a cup of beer. Then everyone takes turn dribbling a small (or large if you wish) amount of alcohol (beer or liquor, pick before play) directly into the shot glass. You sink it, you drink it. Easy enough! It appears to be okay to take down half a glass or even a whole glass in someones sted if they are having particually bad luck. Play proceeds by having the sinker do the first pour. It was a blast!

So, I guess that's pretty much what's been going on. This afternoon it looks like I'll be joining the other teacher in some volleyball. We have a game coming up versus another school, so today is practice. I'm sure I'll have some more words to add on that sometime in the near(ish) future.

Bye!

Aaron