Easy Grocery Shopping

I can't believe that we have never used this service before. 2,000won for somebody to shop for you and then they send it straight to you. I don't know if I will ever step foot inside Emart or Homeplus again. I actually had nothing to do with this as JJ did everything online. I have no idea if it is even possible with my foreign ID number. It was so much easier using their grocery delivery service. I saved like two hours of my weekend and didn't have to worry about catching a bus with arms full of groceries. There is no telling how much this would cost me make home if it was even available.

Saturday's Shopping Saga

JJ had to work on Saturday as usual and I grabbed the bus to Gangnam as she left to go to work. I made my way via Subway to Namdaemun to hit up a couple of stores where I have made contacts. I was looking for a Canon 70-200 f/4. I was trying to pick up a 내수 model, but really did not have any luck. I have seen a few advertised on the net, but could not find one for a decent price even in the slums shops in Namdaemun. The prices for the 내수 model were not that much cheaper than the Canon Korea version. I changed my mind and started looking at used models. I think that I visited every camera shop in the area. I did have one store that was trying to give me a great deal on a 70-200 f/2.8, but the thing was 1. a little too expensive, 2. way too heavy! I don't think that I could have held the thing for most of the day. I really wanted to buy a lens that I would get some heavy use out of. I finally found a used copy of the f/4 version. It has a couple of dings on the body, but the glass appears to be in excellent condition. So far, I really like shooting with it, but can already see that it is not a walk-around lens, a great tool to have, but not as a walk around. I did meet some different store owners in the area and will definitely be heading back before I go back to the states. I still want to upgrade my 50mm.

I made one store owner pretty mad for trying to get a better price. Store is not the right word. Booth in a basement is more like it. His price was about 500,000 won more than everyone else. I told him that he was trying to rip me off. He called me 개새끼 and I took that as my cue to leave.(or maybe he had a puppy that he wanted to sell me) I am trying to give him the benefit of the doubt that we were having a language difficulty and talking about two different lenses, but I really think that he thought I was going to pay that much for his used lens. Maybe it was a face-losing situation. I don't know.

The whole process above took about 3 hours. I walked around for a bit and then decided to hit Youngsan. I have also been wanting to upgrade my kit lens. I have heard good things about the Tamron 17-50 2.8. I couldn't decide if I wanted to wait or go on and buy on the same day that I bought my other lens. I looked around at few stores and found one that was actually cheaper than the American price, especially with the conversion. I know there have been some quality control issues with this lens, but I'm pretty sure that I got a good copy.

I took the Tamron out last night for a little test when we met some other teachers, but we did not stay long at all. JJ and I ended up hitting a 만두 restaurant and then coming home and watching BedTime Stories with Adam Sandler. Out of 4 stars, I would to give it a one, but it did have some funny moments.

Nice Pour!

Adam contemplating life

Me telling JJ how much I love her for not getting mad that I spent so much money today~!

The home plus deliverly guy is knocking on my door. I will write soon about our first grocery deliverly. If this works, I am going to love it.

Long Day

I will update with a full report tomorrow. I bought a couple of lenses and spent the day in Namdaemun and Youngsan.

No Rest For The Weary

JJ found a wedding dress on Sunday. I spent most of the day working on her visa. JJ apparently found a dress that she loved and it is being made as I type. She said she would be able to get it until sometime in March. The lady was quite surprised that I was not with her. JJ told her about the superstition of not seeing the dress before the big day and the lady knew what she was talking about, but that in her experience many couples go on and pick the dress together. I think that maybe the whole background for this superstition is to get us(men) out of shopping. I know that I would not care to spend 5-6 hours looking at dresses that all tend to look the same. The shop owner was also quite sad that JJ did not bring any friends, but she was also happy. She said that friends get in the way. I thought that was hilarious.

I have a new teacher arriving in a week and half and I guess that means that I will be doing some extra hours training. I hope to be able to pawn most of it on another teacher who has more free time than myself. The new teacher will get a whole two days of training before starting her classes.

The exchange rate is hurting me. I still need to send about 600$ a month to the states to cover some bills. I checked the rate yesterday and it was well over 1450. At this rate, we may be settling in for more time in Korea. Our savings are looking smaller and smaller and we may have to put off going to America if the rate gets much higher. I think that we would still go back to Mississippi if the rate is at the current level, but we would probably keep most of our savings in Korea. I would love to see 1100-1200 by the time October comes, but I don't know if we will see it.

Tonight is my only free night. I will probably catch up on some studying that I have been putting off. I also have to organize a few more details of JJ's visa and hopefully will be ready to get an appointment with the embassy soon. I also gotta make a bunch of calls that I have been putting off for a few months now. I really got to be better about keeping in touch with folks.

I am so ready to get to Namdaemun on Saturday morning. I am looking forward to picking up that new lens.

Scattered

Our Visitor


Adam and his new guitar

I woke up early on Saturday due to the our small furry visitor that we were watching. According to her parents, she is an early riser and they were telling the truth.

Later, I took Adam to Songtan, so that he could buy a guitar. I wanted to make the trip because I needed to pick up a bottle of whiskey and also had an urge for some Thai food. It was interesting to go back to my black market that I usually go to. They have completely torn down most of the roof that covered the back allies and it does make it look a bit better, if not less seedy. The area is still run down, but at least you are not walking in the dark. Adam got a good deal on a Fender and I actually got my whiskey for the same price as normal even though the exchange rate has changed drastically.

JJ and I didn't do much for Valentine's. We ended up going to our favorite restaurant and then coming back home and watching Bolt. The movie was actually pretty funny.

My Afternoon
As the above picture shows, I spent the afternoon with paperwork. I am trying to organize all of JJ's visa work. I have to go get some pictures made, finish writing a cover letter for the I-130, get a few addresses that I have forgotten, verify my parent's date of births, and get a little bit more info on JJ's old addresses. I am almost ready to book my appointment to drop off all of the paperwork and then the waiting game begins.


Canon 70-200 f/4 Photo from Roadcarvin


I almost ordered this jewel tonight from an online Korean company, but the company will only take a cash payment via bank transfer and I am just not that comfortable doing that. It is grey-market, but I don't feel too worried , as I will be back in the States in less than 9 months. I found the address of the company that was selling the lens and will make a visit on Saturday. I am curious to see if they give me the same price that they published on the internet. They had a bunch of deals and if they treat me right, I will be back to pick up a Tamron 17-50 or a Canon 24-70 in a few months.

Walking Out the Door

JJ and I are heading to Daejeon where I will be forced to speak lots of Korean and eat way too much food! I am looking forward to being away from Dongtan for a couple of days. I will be back late tomorrow night, hopefully with a few CF cards of great shots.

Waiting for Good News

I woke up at about 6am to about 3 text messages that my mother had sent me from America. My brother and his wife are expecting and we are all waiting for good news. It seems that they will induce tomorrow! Jaeyoun and I can't wait to go home and hold little Jack Roberts.

In other news, Jaeyoun and I spent the morning gathering documents for her visa. We are sending off a package to the translator this morning to have a number of documents certified and translated. At this rate, I am going to need to hire a moving truck to carry all of our evidence with me to the embassy for my first interview for the I-130. I have been getting some great advice on a random forum I found. I actually messaged someone going through the same process in Korea that we are about to go through and she has been super helpful. I hope to make the trek to the embassy in the next couple of weeks. That should give us plenty of time before our October departure date.

A Comedy of Errors

Yesterday was a day where everything seemed to go wrong.

Ryan and I decided to have lunch before he flew back to Vancouver. We tried out a nice little coffee shop near my house. We ordered two open face-sandwiches. They turned out to be neither open faced nor sandwiches. It was basically a salad with 4 pieces of bread stuck into the bowl. This was your kitchen sink type salad with different types of lettuce, kiwi, 3 or 4 stinky cheeses, salmon, tomatoes, oranges, almonds, Italian dressing, and whipping cream. It was not necessarily bad, but not what I had planned either.

We left lunch not being quite full. We had Jaeyoun call for a taxi to meet Ryan at an intersection near my house. After loading all of Ryan's luggage into the cab, the driver realized that he was not supposed to pick us up, but was intended for a man that had just arrived at the scene. So, we had to unpack all of Ryan's luggage and wait for about 10 more minutes.

I got home around 3pm and choose to clean up the apartment. I have been needing to clean out the coffee maker, so that was my first task. My coffee maker is getting a little old and doesn't work exactly right. You used to be able to remove the pot while the coffee was still dripping and have your first cup while it continued brewing. These days it will not stop dripping when you remove the pot. So, guess what happens when you turn it on and forget to put the pot underneath. I guess I was lucky that it was only a mixture of vinegar and water that I was using to clean the thing, but it was a whole pot's worth.

I cleaned up the water and never noticed that water was pooling underneath our kitchen table. The water actually pooled on, in, around, and on top of the power-bar that most everything in our kitchen is plugged into. I obviously didn't notice this and went on cleaning the house. I did notice when I heard a pop and the saw that the microwave and rice cooker's displays were not showing. Somehow, I threw a breaker and it took me forever to find the magically hidden panel that hides our breakers.

I started to clean up the rest of the house and moved back into the kitchen to put our dishes away. I was putting glasses into one of our cabinets when the damn door come off the hinges and almost on top of me. The only thing keeping it from falling down and shattering was a small thin rod. I was stuck there trying to figure out what to do. If I let go it was going to fall down and there was no screwdriver in reach. Luckily, I was able to unscrew the thing with a butter knife.

I think today will be much better. I am trying to get caught up on some work and Jaeyoun is off getting a perm. I gotta pick up some new glasses and try to get organized for the week. Jaeyoun and I are also talking about going to Thailand or Bali when our contract finishes. We talked about it shortly last night and wanna check some prices for that kind of thing. So, if anyone knows of any great hotels/beaches that we should check out feel free to send me an email. I may also have an interview for a Saturday gig that I am trying to pick up to pay for the trip I also have my eye on a Canon 70-200mm lens that I would really like to buy. I don't think that I can afford either unless I pick up a little Saturday work.

I also want be posting any more of my Korean studies here. I started over at The Learning Dog last week and will be posting all of my notebook, vocabulary lists and struggles over there. I hope this causes me to study a little bit more and to help me with my Korean typing. I am still struggling to make the time commitment that is needed to getting a handle on this language.

Last Days of Vacation

My vacation is almost finished. I didn't accomplished everything that I planned to do. I am still working on Jaeyoun's VISA paperwork and will be for the next couple of months. I didn't get my visa medical checkup due to a big mistake on my part. I got up and I had lunch yesterday and was ready to go to the hospital when Jaeyoun called to make me an appointment. It seems that I am not supposed to eat anything 6 hours before going. They would not allow me to take the physical since I had already had lunch. That means that I have to get up early on Monday and head in to Suwon to Aju University hospital.

We also have two friends arriving here tomorrow night from Vancouver. Ryan and Summer have been on vacation in Jeju. Ryan and Summer introduced Jaeyoun and I almost 3 years ago. They are very dear friends and I am happy to have them come and stay with us. I hate the timing though. School starts on Monday and have intensive classes. I will finish at 9 or 9:30 every night. I hope that we can hit a few of our old haunts and have some great late meals while they are here.

I don't have much on the agenda for today. I may go Seoul to pick up the third book in the Twilight series. Kyobo is holding a copy for me. If I don't go to Seoul, I will probably stay around here and take some more photos of Dongtan. I really want to try some HDR photos and really need to read up on the techniques before I try.

Here are some photos from last night. We all met up at a duck restaurant and then spent some time at Beer Garten. It was Mathieu's birthday as well. Good times were had by all. I ended up having too much fun and Jaeyoun was stuck taking care of me...........One more item to add to the list of things that I will not do in 2009!

Happy New Year

I can't believe that 2009 is already here. There is so much that I failed to do, but I have already started to work on my list for this year! We thought we were going to have a quiet New Years Eve, but we ended up hitting a couple of bars and then of course ended up at a singing room. It was a great welcome for our two new teachers who have only been here a few days.

2008 was a great year for me and I hope that 2009 is just as good!

Crunky!

We had two new teachers arrive yesterday! They both are very cool and very excited to be in Korea. They both are young and make me feel a lot older than I am.(not a bad thing, but I'm about 10 years older than they are) We have a couple days of training and then they will be set loose. The training is really not as much as they need and they will really be baptized by fire. They will get to observe some classes and I know that will really help. They have had many questions about Korea and I really enjoy watching them see and realize what Korea is all about.

Jaeyoun actually has a couple of days off this week and I end up having to work on her first holiday, so it looks like we will not be going anywhere far. I imagine we will end up spending the day in Seoul.

The weather was killer today and I was happy that I ended up buying a new hat and scarf while I was in Seoul last week. I still can't get use to the cold and am happy that this will be my last winter in Korea for awhile.

The shot above is another attempt at using the lightbox. I haven't had much of a chance to practice over the last few days, but will try again this weekend.

New Flash

Me way up close!

Shabu-Shabu
Jaeyoun playing with her hair.

I bought a 430EX for my camera. I don't really know what to do with it and am still trying to download a couple of tutorials. I spent all afternoon at Youngsan trying to find an off-camera sync cord with no luck. I just used Gmarket and pieced one together. I find myself hating Youngsan more and more these days, but I am going to have to go check out the guy that Mike suggested. I got so flustered dealing with the drones at the store in the station that I didn't think about his recommendation. I also think that I am done with the guy at Namdaemun. Long story, but if you can't say anything nice......

Today Jaeyoun and I went out for Shabu-Shabu and hit up Buzz coffee. We spent most of the day doing our regular lazy Sunday routine.

I have exactly a week and half to Christmas break. I am ready to lounge and not have to worry about anything for awhile. I hope to spend the time getting organizing our Visa paperwork and playing around with the camera. I also have some good friends that are coming back for a wedding and they will be staying with us for a few days as well. I do have a little work to do over the break as well. We have two teachers that will be starting in January, so I have been preparing their training.

On a side note, our neighbors above us just acquired some kind of rat dog. I am actually a huge fan of dogs, but this one sounds like a rat every time in runs around their bedroom which I assume is exactly above ours. That on top of my high coffee intake last tonight equaled a bad night of sleep. I hope to be asleep tonight before their dog decides to do his 3am runaround.

Jaeyoun's First Attempt At Homemade Kimbap

She did great and this was her first attempt. I was really impressed. She said she had seen her mother make it a few times. The tuna was my favorite. It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, which we spent with Billie and Alex eating kimbap and just generally being lazy.

Changes, An Important Update

The last two weeks have been a blur. I have been handling my regular workload and been working on some serious paperwork. I have traveled twice to Seoul on Friday mornings to visit the American embassy*. Jaeyoun and I are now officially/legally married. We got engaged during our vacation in North America. Soon after that, we started discussing what kind of wedding we both wanted. I was all in favor of having a Korean ceremony and another one in the Catholic church back home. For a few months, the plan was to have both, but Jaeyoun decided that we could save a lot of money by only having one. We decided to hold the ceremony in November of 2009 in my home parish church. . We are planning to move back to Mississippi and start graduate school at that time. Basically, now we are trying to save up as much money as possible, so that we will not have to work for the first couple of years of graduate school**. We also wanted to have her come into the states on a immigrant or permanent visa and not have to worry about things at the last minute. I also wanted the opportunity to teach some extra classes, i.e, legal private lessons. For these reasons, we went ahead and signed all of the paperwork to make us legally married. And of course we are madly in love and were ready to make the promise legal!!

Our parents have been great. My parents will arrive in Korea next month for a a week and half visit, during which we will travel to Jeju, so that they can meet Jaeyoun's parents. The really made Jaeyoun feel like a part of the family when we visted last year. Her parents have been awesome as well and have really taken me into the family. There is still a huge language barrier between myself and my new parents-in-laws, but I am studying hard everyday and trying to overcome my diffiuculties in learning a new language. I have been here for almost 3 years and honestly I should speak more Korean than I do. I pretty much didn't study for the first 2 years and have only really been studying hard for the past 6 months. I could kick myself for the vast amount of time that I wasted in learning Korean.

We are looking at spending 5-7 years in America before coming back to Korea. The plan as of now is for Jaeyoun to get her M.A. in Math and then to start working on a Ph.D and I will be working on my M.A. in Teaching Languages and hopefully will start working on Ph.D in Linguistics later.

We have almost a year and half to get alot of things done. We both have to take the GRE and Jaeyoun will have to take the TOEFL test. My mother, who works for the Church, will help with all of the wedding plans. It will be interesting to see how many members of Jaeyoun's family make the trip to Mississippi for the wedding***.

The next few weeks will be spent getting the apartment ready for my parent's visit. We will also be trying to figure out what we will do while they are in Korea. I have a list started, but there is so much that I want them to see/do. We will spend a couple of days in Jeju and then after that the schedule is wide open. We do have to make a trip to one of the large markets to have my parents fitted for their Hanboks. We will take a few pictures in Mississippi all decked out in the Korean traditional clothing before the wedding. I really am interested to see how my father handles the food. I think my mother will love all the seafood and spicey food, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed about my dad. I can't wait to show them all of things that I have written about in emails/blogs and spoken about on the phone. My dad is super excited about visiting Jeju and I think that mom will love all the shopping.

I also walked into a new apartment yesterday. Jaeyoun had the day off and rearranged the whole apartment. It looks great and I finally have a real desk where I can study Korean.

I have rambled on for long enough and there is still so much I need to write about, but it will have to wait for another day. I keeping promising myself that I will be better about posting, but we will see.






*I also wanted to note that the staff at the American embassy was great and very helpful. They answered all of my questions and everything went smoothly. It helped that I had filled out all of the paperwork correctly before we arrived. They even commented that most people don't follow the instructions on the website. I hope that they are as accommodating when we apply for Jaeyoun's visa.

** We also want to have enough money to buy a car and to furnish an apartment when we arrive. We are also going to need to buy 2 new computers. My computer is 3 years old, slow and the Caps Lock button has broken off.

*** I can't wait to see how her parents and other family members take to Mississippi. I don't think they are going to enjoy the food. I am sure ,after a couple of meals of fried catfish/cornbread/grease and other fried goodness, they will be asking for some kimchi.

Fast Dial and other news.

I need to send thanks to A Geek in Korea for this post. I had seen Fast Dial on a list of add-ons that I had saved for later. I read his review and decided that I would go on and download it. I can't be happier. I am already in the habit of opening up blank tabs and this just make it a lot easier. Here is a screen shot of what it looks like.









I have been busy lately and have not updated in awhile. I have some pretty big news to report and will give a full update after I finish some last bit of business in Seoul on Friday!

Lazy Sunday

I just got back from watching a one man protest near my apartment. Apparently, a customer at a restaurant near my house had a problem and decided to destroy everyone of their plastic chairs outside. With all of the bad weather we have been having, I thought the noise was coming from transformers exploding, but it was only him smashing the chairs into little bits. He wasn't happy with just breaking them. Oh yeah, this was in the middle of the pouring rain too. The police finally showed up and now all the excitement is over.

In other news, my package from my mother finally arrived and it was filled with some great things. I have fully supply of taco seasoning and Chex mix and stickers for my kids. She also sent me a new razor and some blades. The best were the Yankee candles.

Shrimp and Beer

I didn't have any crab boil, so I had to make my own.

I couldn't live in Korea without Tony's

The finished product.

Jaeyoun enjoying them; notice the gloves!

If you visit this blog regularly, you have seen that I have not been that diligent in posting. I was spending too much time here and actually was spending too much time on the internet itself. I found myself being drug into hours of looking at Korean blogs and basically wasting a lot of time. In the last few weeks, I have fallen in love with google reader and now use it to read all of my favorite blogs. This has cut down a considerable portion of my time on the net. I have also been trying to convert more of my free time into study time. I am still working on the Sogang series and am a few chapters into 1B. I also picked up a couple of other books to use for supplements and review.


I really can't believe that it is already May. My parents are coming in late July, so my dad and I have been busy trying to find the perfect flight for them. We will be spending most of their visit in the Suwon/Seoul area, but will spend a couple of days on Jeju, so that they can meet Jaeyoun's parents. Jaeyoun will be coming to Jeju for the first day, but will have to leave early the next day due to work obligations. Her departure will leave me without a translator and her father has already announced that I have 2 months to study and that I can translate anything he needs to say to my parents.(If you know my Korean level, you know how funny that is) This has been one of the main motivators for studying. Every time I think I am going to surprise him with my improvement, he stumps me on the phone with something that I know, but that is phrased in a different way. 아이구.

I also found a couple of videos on youtube that really want to make me study harder. I am regular reader of his blog as well.

Children's Day!

Near Seoul City Hall, The restored Cheonggyecheon creek in Seoul. I left Dongtan with one of our new teachers, Alex, and we headed into Seoul for the day. I didn't think it was going to be this crowded. We headed for Gangnam first and then over to Seoul City Hall. We also ran into Roxy, who I haven't seen in a long time. I also have a great story to tell about the kid who tried to bite me on the subway!(Look for that in a later post!)

Mikeal's Mom came to visit and we went out for dinner and drinks. I don't have any good pictures though and will try and get some tonight when we all have dinner again.

English Park Part II

One of the missions that the children had to complete.

I have no idea who they were supposed to be.

If you speak any Korea, you will know why this was funny.

Dinner for working overtime.