Happy 4th of July to my friends and family back home! Mine already passed, in fact it's the 5th here. I still love doing that whole "I'm speaking from the future" thing, it's yet to get old. This holiday reminds me of so many things. It reminds me of going to Huntington Beach and enjoying the parade, having a bqq, and that one time I got a parking ticket for being in front of a fire hydrant...good times. Then 4th of July changed in a blink of an eye to the ultimate excuse to head to Las Vegas every year. I remember the first Vegas 4th of July there was when Claude was still bouncing back and forth between LA & Vegas and we made a weekend of it. The first night there was hysterical as we burned down Claude's air mattress (it's not important how) and gouged a huge hole of her carpet. Hunting for an air matress with Yaya while Jaz kept Claude occupied was pretty hysterical, not as hysterical as coming clean about the whole thing the next day over breakfast. Seriously, good times.
The goo portion of the title corresponds to the humidity, which this Angelino is yet to get used to. It rained pretty hard on Friday and it was sprinkling in and out yesterday. Rain is fine, but rain when it's hot causes like this humidity on steroids, super-jumbotron humidity if you will. It's something to really get used to that's going to take some time as I come from the land of the dry (and the home of the brave).
I had a great 4th of July weekend that consisted with hanging out with my coworker's friends for a dinner gathering, going to Seoul on Sunday for a gathering with some awesome new people I've met, and heading to Camp Humphrey, the base in Pyeongtaek, for the actual fourth of July. Friday's gathering was pretty kickback as I hung out with some people I had already met through Lizelle, the middle school teacher at the middle school next to my high school. Great food I might add. Earlier that Friday, because I only had to work a half-day, I took it upon myself to explore around my neighborhood more and came across some pretty awesome establishments. This included a market, a DVD viewing room business, the 25 Mart (a bigger version of Family Mart, which is just like a 7-Eleven), Pizza Hut, and I went to get a latte from the Dunkin' Donuts I've been eyeing for a while, which isn't far from my place. Saturday I headed to Seoul with the other GEPIK teachers I met at the training retreat, Audrey & Miranda, and others including new people I met, Josh (Audrey's husband), Susan, and more I would meet later in the day. It was my first time going on the KTX (fast train) to Seoul...wish there was a station for it in Songtan to be honest. We all headed there for the birthday of a mutual friend the others had, Andy, which was to be initiated in the Itaewon area. Had some Mexican food, hit up and Irish pub, and headed to Monkey Beach, a bar that serves cocktails in buckets and proved that I am less than an adequate pool player. We managed to take the KTX back to Pyeongtaek that very night. Side note: we had eaten and the AK Center mall at the Pyeongtaek station before heading to Seoul, which was nice getting to know as I had never been there before.
Sunday consisted of finding an open base to celebrate 4th of July. I made my way to the Osan air base by my place to figure out if they were open, but they were closed and fireworks could only be viewed from the Main Gate. Last minute Audrey's co-teacher had informed her that Camp Humphrey in Pyeongtaek was going to open for 4th of July with fireworks so we all kind of hauled ass over there. It was pretty neat, even with the humidity there to play its role. Saw fireworks, had a pretty good dinner, got a temp American face tattoo, saw some stage performers, and witnessed some amazing works of fire in the air. Depite there being this hovering cloud that would blanket some of the fireworks, it still looked pretty cool and I must say that the loud roar (my favorite part about fireworks) was unmistakably there. So there you have it, my first holiday in South Korea in a nutshell.
p.s. that "in a nutshell" expression always reminds me of Austin Powers (I forget which one of the movies) where he says "hey look, I'm in a nutshell" while making a reference to that same expression.
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Day 2 of finals, so these kids are nowhere to be seen today other than testing classrooms. They're not even on the same floor as I am. If I see is a student it's because I'm in the other hallways making my way somewhere else or because they want water for the cooler next to my classroom. I'm pretty tired right now and my feet are in some pain, so not having to be standing in front of students and actually teaching is pretty nice on this Monday morning.
I still have to make it a point to find a good bookstore here in S. Korea. I've gotten various recommendations from people, but I've yet to embark on "mission-find-a-book." I always need something to read, just my nature. I have some books in mind so I'm hoping I find them when I go hunting for them. I've only been to one bookstore and it was in Yongsan and their English book section sucked. It was four shelves jammed with books like Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, and Catcher in the Rye. Don't get me wrong, these are great reads, but I have no desire to read things designated to high school curiculums.
On a completely different note (as this blog has an array of topics to cover), I met another cook from that one Mexican restaurant mentioned earlier. He was really nice too and he's from Puebla. He said he saw me on the train the morning I was heading to my GEPIK retreat. Really nice guy, the whole staff is too. I honestly think I've eaten more Mexican food in my month here than I have back home in the last 3 months combined. I do miss Chipotle though with their chubby burritos and fax order forms that would allow you to cut through the line because you ordered ahead.
This blog was a pretty random list, no real deep thoughts these past couple of days I guess. My brain, like the weather, must be goo.
The goo portion of the title corresponds to the humidity, which this Angelino is yet to get used to. It rained pretty hard on Friday and it was sprinkling in and out yesterday. Rain is fine, but rain when it's hot causes like this humidity on steroids, super-jumbotron humidity if you will. It's something to really get used to that's going to take some time as I come from the land of the dry (and the home of the brave).
I had a great 4th of July weekend that consisted with hanging out with my coworker's friends for a dinner gathering, going to Seoul on Sunday for a gathering with some awesome new people I've met, and heading to Camp Humphrey, the base in Pyeongtaek, for the actual fourth of July. Friday's gathering was pretty kickback as I hung out with some people I had already met through Lizelle, the middle school teacher at the middle school next to my high school. Great food I might add. Earlier that Friday, because I only had to work a half-day, I took it upon myself to explore around my neighborhood more and came across some pretty awesome establishments. This included a market, a DVD viewing room business, the 25 Mart (a bigger version of Family Mart, which is just like a 7-Eleven), Pizza Hut, and I went to get a latte from the Dunkin' Donuts I've been eyeing for a while, which isn't far from my place. Saturday I headed to Seoul with the other GEPIK teachers I met at the training retreat, Audrey & Miranda, and others including new people I met, Josh (Audrey's husband), Susan, and more I would meet later in the day. It was my first time going on the KTX (fast train) to Seoul...wish there was a station for it in Songtan to be honest. We all headed there for the birthday of a mutual friend the others had, Andy, which was to be initiated in the Itaewon area. Had some Mexican food, hit up and Irish pub, and headed to Monkey Beach, a bar that serves cocktails in buckets and proved that I am less than an adequate pool player. We managed to take the KTX back to Pyeongtaek that very night. Side note: we had eaten and the AK Center mall at the Pyeongtaek station before heading to Seoul, which was nice getting to know as I had never been there before.
Sunday consisted of finding an open base to celebrate 4th of July. I made my way to the Osan air base by my place to figure out if they were open, but they were closed and fireworks could only be viewed from the Main Gate. Last minute Audrey's co-teacher had informed her that Camp Humphrey in Pyeongtaek was going to open for 4th of July with fireworks so we all kind of hauled ass over there. It was pretty neat, even with the humidity there to play its role. Saw fireworks, had a pretty good dinner, got a temp American face tattoo, saw some stage performers, and witnessed some amazing works of fire in the air. Depite there being this hovering cloud that would blanket some of the fireworks, it still looked pretty cool and I must say that the loud roar (my favorite part about fireworks) was unmistakably there. So there you have it, my first holiday in South Korea in a nutshell.
p.s. that "in a nutshell" expression always reminds me of Austin Powers (I forget which one of the movies) where he says "hey look, I'm in a nutshell" while making a reference to that same expression.
=====================================================
Day 2 of finals, so these kids are nowhere to be seen today other than testing classrooms. They're not even on the same floor as I am. If I see is a student it's because I'm in the other hallways making my way somewhere else or because they want water for the cooler next to my classroom. I'm pretty tired right now and my feet are in some pain, so not having to be standing in front of students and actually teaching is pretty nice on this Monday morning.
I still have to make it a point to find a good bookstore here in S. Korea. I've gotten various recommendations from people, but I've yet to embark on "mission-find-a-book." I always need something to read, just my nature. I have some books in mind so I'm hoping I find them when I go hunting for them. I've only been to one bookstore and it was in Yongsan and their English book section sucked. It was four shelves jammed with books like Great Expectations, Jane Eyre, and Catcher in the Rye. Don't get me wrong, these are great reads, but I have no desire to read things designated to high school curiculums.
On a completely different note (as this blog has an array of topics to cover), I met another cook from that one Mexican restaurant mentioned earlier. He was really nice too and he's from Puebla. He said he saw me on the train the morning I was heading to my GEPIK retreat. Really nice guy, the whole staff is too. I honestly think I've eaten more Mexican food in my month here than I have back home in the last 3 months combined. I do miss Chipotle though with their chubby burritos and fax order forms that would allow you to cut through the line because you ordered ahead.
This blog was a pretty random list, no real deep thoughts these past couple of days I guess. My brain, like the weather, must be goo.
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