Wednesday, April 27, 2011

California Dreamin' & the Last 24 Hours

"I'm California dreaming, on such a winter's day"


So I know it's spring, but come on, it's a pretty great line from a great song. Aside from the original The Mommas and the Poppas version, I enjoy Queen Latifah's jazzy reinterpretation of it.


So I have an anecdote that I totally left out of the last blog that I thought I'd share. On Easter Sunday, I was in Long Beach.


No joke. I left my apartment headed towards an Easter gathering and I was on the corner of my block when I saw a Hummer (H3) go by. A Hummer in Korea? Not a likely sight at all. I might get struck by lightning now. Then what came after the Hummer driving right behind it? A Ford Mustang! A Mustang in Korea? Now I'm really going to get struck by lightning. Then what followed the Mustang? A too familiar sound did. Skateboards. Not once since I've been here have I seen skateboards. And of course the sound didn't originate from Koreans, but it was two blonde Caucasian guys skating in typical surfer-Cali clothing. The "piece de resistance?" Me overhearing a bit of their conversation while they skate past my block while saying "Whoa dude!" in a totally Malibu-esque way. So for a weird paralleled-universe of a second I honestly thought I was in Long Beach. Pinching self commencing.


"Stopped into a church, I passed along the way"



So because it's midterm exam week, I've been working half-days this week, which give me a flood of free time to run errands. So I've been meaning to go to this one landmark I always go by whenever I'm at the Seojeong-ri Station in Songtan, and that's the Catholic church a block away. It's a huge cathedral, and in typical Western style, houses a Catholic school. What has caught my attention since I've been here is its beauty. You have to give architectural kudos to Catholics, you can't deny that. So I went in thinking what an appropriate time seeing how lent and Easter just went past us. I was taken back. The church was very beautiful inside and out. I did some soul searching because I honestly believe there is a lot to be said for prayer (BUT, I'm from the school of prayer combined with "God doesn't help those who don't help themselves"). So I did my thing. And as my mind and body had both gained satisfaction today (I had my vanilla latte fix from Starbucks right before, hence the mention of body), I was very content.



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As a matter of fact, I've been extremely content with the last 24 hours. Aside from the excitement that's builds up day by day knowing I'll be home soon, a lot happened that made me very happy. It made me look forward to what's coming up. I'm pretty stoked about it.


p.s. I think I've avoided getting struck by lightning for a while

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Easter Weekend


I must say I had one of the best Easters I’ve had in a while. Went to two gatherings, and they were both great with great people who attended each of them. The first one was hosted by Julie & Jason (who have access to the base). You know what they made? Turkey! An over 20-pounder! It was really good along with all of the other dishes everyone else brought. The entire thing was really fun, filling, and it all ended with a round of Apples to Apples. Round two was over at Jaudrey’s where they had a nice gathering of people, but even better, home-made truffles. Hallelujah for the commencement of lent and the celebration thereafter. A nice round of "chubby bunny" followed. Ate lots of sweets and lots of good food, I really can’t complain.

The day before I went to Seoul Tower, which is the main landmark in Seoul and I’m pretty sure one of the main landmarks in all of Korea. It was great despite some initial meeting “technical difficulties.” You take a cable car up to where the tower is and when you’re walking towards it there’s a big stage. Since there was still time before the martial arts performance, I headed up to the top of the tower towards the observatory. It was a really nice and clear day, and therefore you could see all of Seoul bow before your feet. After that, I watched the performance of martial artists, which was pretty neat alongside traditional Korean dancers, which was reminiscent of what I had seen during my visit to the Pyeongtaek Cultural Center. I then took the hike down from the tower and the hike was beautiful. The entire hills and mountains were just filled with cherry blossoms. The foliage was quite nice and I just took it all in. Seeing how I’m leaving SK in a little over a month, I started thinking during that walk of how much I’m going to miss this place. Living somewhere so far and foreign to what I consider home, I started to think in that moment of how far I had come from when I first got off that plane and into Korea about 11 months ago. It’s crazy.








Happy Easter to everyone!
Yaya, hope you enjoyed your birthday, Lisette, hope you enjoy your birthday, and Scott, happy upcoming birthday! Whooooo!

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Dynamic Busan, Aloha Hawaii, & Comtemplative Comments

Busan (부산)







Why Dynamic Busan? Well that’s because that’s the city’s slogan. Every city in Korea has a slogan, for example, Super Pyeongtaek, Happy Suwon, Seoul of Asia, and Fast Cheonan. Well I was in Busan this past weekend at it was AWESOME. Why have I not been there every weekend?! Busan is on the other end of Korea, the south part of South Korea. After a friend’s 80s birthday party on Friday, a couple of us headed over to Busan on the overnight train. We left 11:40pm and got to Busan at 4am on the midnight train (no, not to Georgia). Getting to the station was just, well it was breathtaking. Because the holiday that commemorates Buddha’s birthday is coming up, the entire station was lit up by different types of sculptures, like Rose Parade floats. They were awesome and then we proceeded to head to our hotel.
After our cab driver found our hotel, the Dawn Beach Hotel where we had a reservation, we saw the hotel doors were closed, and it wasn’t lit. We were worried. Aren't hotels open 24/7? After we went to a neighboring hotel, they informed us that our hotel was in a fire the day before. So then we panicked and began looking for hotels in Busan. Do you know how difficult it is to find a beachside hotel in Busan on a Saturday when it’s cherry blossom season?! Extremely difficult! So we found a hotel, and it was a gold mine. Great room, great price, great service. We wandered around the area then headed to the Busan Tower area, which alone is very beautiful. After some time doing that, we then headed to the beaches for food, more food, and some beachside cocktails. We spent the nighttime around our hotel’s area, which has an arcade district and countless blocks of restaurants. I now equate Busan as if it were Los Angeles’ and Las Vegas’ lovechild. Sunday was spent in Chinatown, the only Chinatown I’ve ever seen that has a strong Russian presence. The food there was great, reminded of the Seafood Port restaurants in Torrance. Coming back on the express bus was a breeze too. It baffles me that in four hours one can go from one end of a country to another. In California, four hours later, and you’re still in California!

Side notes: we almost got killed by the taxi driver from hell who had way too many driving close calls. We made him drop us off in some obscure location by a police station. I mean, who lets their tire get hit by a two-by-four on the freeway and doesn’t pull over to see if they have a flat or not? I mean, Come on! Btw, I’ve never heard my friend Josh swear so much before (i.e. “We need to get the F out of this cab!” Also, we almost missed our bus terminal stop because the driver decided to make a “California Roll” style stop where he opened the door for a whopping two seconds. That’s not enough time for us to grab our bags and jet. That’s the complaint list. Nothing about Busan though, I loved that place!





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Aloha
So my school is planning & paying my ticket home. In my contract it states that my school is responsible for paying for my ticket to my “home country.” This is where I had an amazing idea, why not get my school to pay for me to go back to my home country, but not my home city? So I’ve decided to go to Hawaii. I have family in Hawaii, so I’ll be staying with them. Free lodging PLUS my cousin’s husband is a La Cordon Bleu chef, what could be better? So I’ll be in Kauai for a few days before I return to LA on June 9th to visit my family and friends. I’m really stoked about these trips, and hopefully the LA trip converts into an LA (or at least So Cal) stay. Summer in Hawaii!! Whoop whoop! Funny because as my plans were coming into fruition I later found out my friends Phoebe, Pati, and Nick are also going to be in Hawaii this summer around the same time, but unfortunately not the same days. Phoebe will be going first, then Pati & Nick, then it’s my turn to hit up America’s Busan.





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Contemplative Comments

So in the span of three days I’ve heard from two different people that they got a comment from a student about them. They are both in different schools and these are two completely different people, so I was thrown back not only these comments happened, but that they happened within a short window of time. I won’t mention the comments because they’re not worth repeating, but worth noting. Both people were hurt and it put them in a crummy mood, I just hope that those around them and the people who made these comments put away their ignorance before it creates escalating and unnecessary problems and prejudices. Comments like these definitely won't help in others seeing you in a positive light. Although this didn’t happen to me, I can’t help but to think about it and its effects.

Lesson: Think before you speak. On that note, I bid you ado.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

School, school, and more school









I'm not going to lie; I've been too busy to blog recently. I do the occasional tweet and Facebook status because those take mere seconds. A blog on the other hand requires some premeditation, and I’ve gotten in the habit of having them mean something. The overall umbrella of “school” has been covering my head for some time now. I’m in the midst of trying to find a job back home, all the while planning my trip back home. This was also my last week of my extra classes alongside planning this weekend in Busan, and since I’ll be gone I have to be assured that next week’s lesson is done. I will say that I’m blogging now because I’ve obtained some breathing room. Busan is pretty much planned for, the lesson is done, my extra class came to a close yesterday, and the trip(s) back home are moving along nicely (especially today).




As such, I wanted to note that in my school, my students have had speech exams this entire week. It’s the best week for someone in my position because the students shower you with compliments in thinking that flattery will get them everywhere. The theme for their first speech exam of the school year is to tell me what they would do if they were either the principal of this school or the president of South Korea. Here are some snippets from their replies that I found noteworthy:




IF I WERE THE PRINCIPAL OF OUR SCHOOL….




...I would have a siesta time.


...teachers would be made to wear uniforms.


...I would make all electronic textbooks.


...parents may not support me because I won’t focus on studying.


...if teachers are late, then they have to write standards.


...I would change the school statue from an eagle to my face.


...I would increase Mr. Navarro’s salary. 


...I would switch to the American school system.


...I would make a Christmas party.


...and if you sleep in my classrooms, well you shouldn’t, because I would get very angry. …I’d change the design of our school skirts, it’s terrible!


...I’ll extend Mr. Navarro’s contract period because he makes students understand very well.


...(and my personal favorite) Finally, Hey, Mr. Navarro! Look at me. I'll would give you a lot of money in your paycheck this month because you decide my score. You cool with that?






IF I WERE THE PRESIDENT OF SOUTH KOREA…




...I would have reunification of South and North Korea, there are many separated families. (This was a common theme in many)


...I would have more trash cans in South Korea.


...well in Sweden education, healthcare, insurance, and elderly welfare is free, but the people pay 50% tax.


...and if people wanted alcohol or cigarettes, they would have to give evidence that they work like my father.


...I would leave a lot for my husband.


...my mom and dad would live like a king and queen!


...I would enlist my brother in military service.


...I would invite Lady GaGa to my inauguration.


...I would get Barack Obama’s autograph.




They’re pretty good, right?




While on the subject of school I got an update from my mother about my niece Jujubeans. She said my sister (her mom) had a conversation with the teacher and that they want to enlist her in gifted classes. The teacher said she observed something in my niece’s behavior. That is that Julie talks a lot in class, but when asked a question about the material, she’ll ace it. Well right off the bat the level of familiarity in that statement caught all of my attention. I vividly remember Ms. Arabe, my first grade teacher, telling my mom, “Oscar is smart, and he understands everything, but he’s just too social.” Blast from the past! Isn’t it funny how history just repeats itself? I expect nothing but great things from that kid.




Well on those positive notes, I’m off. Though my load has been lightened there is much to do still, especially today. Big happenings.