CS4

I just acquired CS4. I have no real idea what I am doing, but I have watched some pretty cool tutorials and look forward to playing a little bit more. Looks like many hours of practice are ahead.

Don't Kill the Messenger

My blogging has hit a brick wall this week. Burning the candle out both ends doesn't even give justice to how my week went. We had one of our best English speaking staff members quit and our manager was out on vacation. I have had to have numerous meetings with teachers to inform them that their schedules have been changed. The greatest was when I had to tell a teacher that her schedule was changing an hour before the class started! Good Times! I'm afraid that pretty soon, teachers will avoid talking to me for fear that I am going to give them more work. Thank God we have a strong and flexible staff. Our teaching staff has been really accommodating to the changes. I do see a sit down coming soon with the owner, his wife and the manager. I only hope that the disorganization doesn't get any worse before that time.


I just finished listening to the Seoul Podcast. I have been meaning to link to them for awhile now. You should give it a listen. I listen every couple of weeks and enjoy their podcasts, but the music in the background drives me crazy.

Saturday was spent hanging out with an old coworker and his girlfriend. I was holding onto some luggage for him while he traveled around America and Malaysia. It was nice to catch up on his travels and to fill him in on the scoop from our school. We ended up chatting for a couple of hours and then heading out for some Galbi and beer.

Today JJ, Alex, Vic, Patrick and myself headed to Myeongdong to do a little shopping. Well, actually Pat and I went over to Namdaemun and hit up a couple of the camera stores and walked around and took some pics. I spent all day looking for a Lowepro 75 Toploader. I literally went into every store on the strip. It didn't help that the main Lowepro store was closed. I ended up ordering it off of G-Market for a lot cheaper than I originally thought it was going to be. I only paid 75,000 won. B and H has it now for $99 and Amazon does as well. We will see if I get what I paid for. At today's crappy exchange rate, I paid a little over $55!!!

I hope that this week will be easier than the last one. I have to sign up with the US embassy to schedule an appointment to drop off JJ's paperwork for her Visa. I have almost secured all of the paperwork and this week will be spent editing and putting the package together. I will have to make a early morning trip into Seoul probably in the next two weeks to take care of tha, along with dropping about $390 to apply.(Good thing I saved some money on that camera bag) I don't think that I have that much going on work related. I have a new teacher coming in March. Her paperwork should be on my desk tomorrow I hope!

Here are some photos from last week and today's outing!

This guy had perfect timing. He is not with us, but really does look like he belongs.




Lights of Myeongdong. I really wish I had the PS skills to edit that tall guy out. I should have really held my camera higher!


JJ on the street in Gangnam!

JJ and Jack playing at her sister's house last weekend

Day 31

Day 29 Recovered

My hard drive and card reader seem to be working after the coffee incident, so here is a picture from my walk to work today! I really wish there would have been more snow in the picture!


I have recently added a few more blogs to my Google reader and now have even more posts to read in the mornings. I won't link to them yet, but will probably do so later. I found them via The Hub of Sparkle. They are having a Korean Blog Award contest(No I wasn't nominated) but I think that I would have given Amanda a good run for her money in the "Doesn’t Massively Overestimate Their Korean and/or Teaching Skills" category that she suggested! I read about 90% of the blogs that are mentioned and really should have posted my nominations.


I am almost finished with my intensive class. For the past month, I have been teaching a late debate class. "Debate" is debatable, but overall they have done a pretty good job. I also don't have my other "extra class" as my student is on vacation. That will start back on Monday and it will be nice to get back into my routine. I am stuck doing report cards tonight. I just won't have enough time tomorrow to do them. It seems that every time I have a little free time, I am handed some more work. My new standard answer is "Yes, I am too busy, but when do you need it." I gotta learn to say no. I have been shifting the work off on to other teachers. I guess that is fine, since they made me head teacher, but I wish they would just give me all the extra work and then let me divide it between the others.

More of my random thoughts....
My grandmother is on Facebook now and added me as a friend?????

My mother doesn't know how to add my as a friend on Facebook?????

I have about 9 months left in Korea????

My brother is now a father????

I am looking forward to the next long weekend...>Which is in May????

My baby sister just passed her boards to be a nurse????

The won to dollar rate is still crap????

My Korean language ability is actually getting worse????

Day 28/29

No photos. My portable harddrive and card reader are being dried out as we speak. I woke up and poured a whole damn cup of coffee on top of my desk.


I am enjoying the short week, but it feels like I have been away for a month at least. I am in the process of hiring a new teacher(again) .

We have to go into Seoul this weekend for Seollal II with JJ's oldest sister. I will again be forced to eat more than I can physically handle. At least, we will be coming back home, so I will get to sleep in my own bed.

We are still trying to procure everything for JJ's visa. I hope to get to the embassy next week. We have all the forms handwritten, so Saturday will be spent typing them out and getting the package ready.

I am also trying to get as much skype video time in with my brother, his wife and their new baby.

Day 27 Hanbok

JJ got her hanbok that she will to our reception. She wanted my mom to see pictures before we arrive in Mississippi, so here you go. We still have like 9 months before we return, but it feels like it will be tomorrow.

I know that I am going to enjoy this short work week. I do have report cards due on Friday, so that will take a little extra work, but still only 3 days of work will be great. We are also traveling this weekend again to see JJ's oldest sister in Seoul. Her mom will be joining us again and I was told to bring extra bags to carry home all the food that they will give us!

Day 26 Sewan

JJ holding Sewan. We survived our trip to Daejeon. I have never eaten as much as I did this trip. We started off with Jeju fruit and from there moved on to fish, meat, soup, noodle, kimchie, Korean pancakes, more rice, more fruit, more soup, a different fish. I read a lot while the girls caught up. I finished a James Patterson book that was decent. I played a little Go Stop and lost a few dollars. I did get in good gracious with JJ's mom with my present to her ,Namdaemun spending money. We entertained JJ's niece most of the trip. She had more energy than me!

The bus trip back was only about 30min. more than normal due to traffic. We were lucky. I know that some people will spend all day in the car. It is good to get back. I have a lot of projects that I need to start on, especially getting ready to visit the embassy next week and I have to put in a little bit more time on my Korean studies.

I am also debating on what lens to get for my camera next. I decided agaisnt getting a large zoom, but may end up with the 24-70L or the 17-40L. I just can't decide. I have read all of the reviews numerous times and really keep going in circles.

Day 25 Snow Day

We went to Coex today to grab a gift for Jaeyoun's niece. It was nice without all the crowds. It was surprisingly easy to move in and out of Seoul and through the mall.

Day 22 Over The Moon

I like this perspective!

Day 21 You Reraised With What????

HDR-Overprocessed

I am still working at this and don't really know if I will like it even if I get better at the technique.

Day 20 Metapolis

Metapolis is being built not too far from my house and I pass by there every day on my way to work. I can't believe that I will be gone when they finish. Actually, I am happy that they will not people moving in while I still live here. It is still quiet in this area and I think that after they finish more and more people will move in!

Day 19 My Desk

I have been a little busy. This desk is ......well unfortunately, it always looks like this. I gotta get reorganized again..hahaha

Day 18 30 Days of Night

I did some blogging last night while Jaeyoun watched 30 Days of Night. To say that she was scared is an understatement. I have seen it a few times and while it is not a great movie, it does have some scary parts.

We spent the day in Suwon and had a mediocre lunch at Bennigans and then spent a few hours at Fashion Island. I dropped by a friend's birthday party for an hour or so and then made my way home. I am trying to get my schedule all worked out for the next week. I also have a few posts that I am working on for here and my other blog.

Day 17 Hwaseong

I spent the day wandering around Hwaseong Fortress. It was turned out to be a great day weather wise and was not that cold until the sun dropped. I ran into some interesting people along the way as well. I talked to a bunch of families that were spending the day walking around the wall and one guy who couldn't understand why I was taking so many photos. I made the whole circle and will probably sleep pretty good tonight!

Day 16 Rerun

Ok, So I missed a day. I forgot my camera when I headed into to school on Friday. I took this photo last year when we went to the Korean Folk Village.


Last night, I went out with a few teachers after school last night at bar near our school. There was a middle-aged Korean guy that kept staring and smiling at us. I usually am proactive at people that stare and go on and say hello in Korean and get it over with. Usually, they just want to say hello and give the usually interrogation* This guy stopped me in the hallway when I was coming out of the bathroom. It turns out that his daughter goes to our school. I taught her phonics last year. She is very popular with all of our teachers for a variety of reasons, but mostly because she is so spacey and has a serious case of A.D.D. She has made real improvement over the last year. He asked me if I knew Jason teacher and was quite happy when I told him that I was Jason teacher. We talked for a little bit and he sat back down with his friends. The next thing I know the waiter was bringing over a huge fruit plate that he bought for us. After Jaeyoun urged me to go talk to him and his friends, I finally went over to thank him for the fruit. He asked me to sit down and began to ask me all about time in Korea. They of course were surprised that I could eat Korean food and use chopsticks. They asked if Jaeyoun was my girlfriend and I said no, she was my wife. They gave a series of loud Bravos. This made her night. They were leaving to go to a singing room, but not before we made plans to go eat Samgyupsal and soju.

We had another interesting meeting last night, but I just don't have the energy to type it all out. Let's just say that we met an older Korean guy who was drunk and wanted to be friendly with our female teachers. He wanted us to all sing with him in the bar and then proceeded to try and hug everyone. He even followed us to the elevator. I got so flustered that my Korean was horrible, but I was able to get out that is was not ok for him to do that and to stop.(which he laughed at) I could only think what would happen to him if he pulled this stunt in the States.

Jaeyoun's handling of him was pretty funny and I will try and transcribe the whole conversation later tonight when I get back from Suwon. I am off to see if I can get some sunset shots of Suwon Fortress.

Day 15 Cold Old Golf

The golf course near my home. I have been wanting to play here since I arrived in Dongtan. I found out about a month ago that it is only for senior citizens. It is not really golf but a golf/croquet mix. These two ladies were fighting the cold to get a couple of rounds in.

Day 14 Fast Pizza

Day 13 Christmas Gifts From America

Our gifts from my parents arrived today. It was great to open presents when we have already gotten out of the Christmas season. My mom and dad hooked us up and on top of that I got a rebate check for my taxes that I filed a little too late. I filed about 2 months ago for the years 2005, 2006, and 2007. I was not expecting a refund and was very happy with the $400 that I received.

Day 12 New Glasses

We went to Emart yesterday and stopped by an eye shop to get my glasses fixed. They couldn't fix them, but were able to hook me up with a new pair for a little bit over 100,000 won and these frames were on the more expensive side. I was pleased with the deal that we got and the service was great with only a tad bit of an upsell. They did want to sell me the more expensive type of lens. We did some grocery shopping and they were ready by the time we checked out.