Update coming very soon

I know I am slacking off a little bit, in updating you guys.  I'll try to have some pictures up in a day or two, and also let you know what's going on.  Mostly, a bunch of family bonding with my Korean family.  I have been to the gym and my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu place as well.  Lots of hugs from folks of all ages yesterday.

Anyway, i'll send updates soon.

I've moved again

so I'm back where I left off from last summer.  I am staying with the family I was living with, before I came home last time.  I'll do the best I can to update everyone on a daily basis.  There won't be as much stuff here, but I'm already missing those kids for sure.
 Take care and hope your weekends were great.

Disney's Cars Soundtrack - "Find Yourself" -- To the end of Camp!!!

This song describes what the last month has done for me -- the words "When you find yourself, in some far off place . . . . ", that's me!!  The last two months of last year were two months of my life where I really wasn't myself, and thought I was happy, but on the inside I wasn't.  These last two days, I've been really humbled though.  Kids have hugged me and hugged me, and even one of them cried today -- If I had held her head on my shoulder much longer, I would have been a wreck as well.  I didn't realize how close I was to this group, in comparison to the MWF group.  I definitely realized it when my student John was practically stuck to me all day.  If I don't enter February with more confidence than ever, then something is wrong.  Anyway, I'm gonna leave you with a few pictures to check out of some things that my kids wrote.

Have  a great weekend, and you'll probably get a few more posts with some photos on them.

From the MWF group

With all the TOUGH love I gave this kid, I was still his favorite?

This was too cute

Notice the paragraph John wrote at the top

Awesome Day

Normally, this wanted be the title of a blog post from a day where I was upset with students for part of the morning.  Honestly, I was happily upset with my kids at times during our numerous play rehearsals today.  Since it was our last day together, I couldn't feel upset at all with them -- make any sense -- nah, that's what I thought. I just wanted to savor this day, and that's what I did.  I was nervous for the little ones, when their parents watched them perform, but I think the mothers were all pretty happy (plus the one father, I think that came from my class).  

Throughout the day, my kids would follow my downstairs to the office, almost glue themselves to me, and even write sweet things on my hand -- see the picture below soon. My little Julia was all over me literally -- climbing, beating, hitting, swinging, sitting on my lap -- you get the point here.  We had this time called rolling paper -- where the kids write things on a sheet of paper about one another (hopefully they are nice things).  I got to be a part of it too -- the kids write some pretty cute things on my piece of paper -- hopefully that paper is at work somewhere.  I'll upload a picture or two of it tomorrow or the next day.  

The play could have been better, but the kids were cute, and that's all that really mattered.  I actually wrote the script myself using characters from Kung Fu Panda, and combined them with what the kids wanted to be one day.  The name -- Kung Fu Panda Goes to English Camp.  I had to fill in for a kid who quit, and play a tiger for a minute.  

When performances were over, we got a little slideshow presentation so the parents could see some of the things that the kids did during camp. When that was over, we took a small break and then Zach and I spoke. Zach did a speech for the parents in English, and I played translator.  I did some of the translating on my own (honestly), some with the help of google translator, and our manager did the proofreading.  I didn't know all the words, but my reading turned out pretty good.  I was proud of myself for doing something such as that.  

My little Grace, gave a speech as well, and she did a wonderful job.  I had her practice a few times, because I wanted her to be proud, and of course, I love playing Mr. Speech coach.  When there were little breaks during the ceremony my kids ran to me so they could "swing" or "ski" one or two last times.  Some of the mothers even came over and took some photos as well.  The other classes' performances were great also.  Zach's group did a rendition of Alice in Wonderland, Holly's group sang the Do-re-mi song, Savannah's kids did a cool take of Hansel and Gretel, and Brett's older group did Wizard of Oz.  It was fun to sit back and watch what we all worked hard on as well.  

Playtime in Brett's class

From little Julia

Nice portrait from a kid

I have one more last day, and I know tomorrow will be as good as today -- probably not better, but I hope it's as good as.  It's amazing what this month has done for my confidence level.  This may be one of the best months of my life in all honesty.  

Gonna have an awesome new gig

The details for my new job are awesome -- Living on a college campus (maybe not so cool, but close to work), round trip plane ticket is paid for (super awesome), pay is decent, and I get to work at a college, teaching English (just what I've wanted to do)

Happy Hump Day

So this evening I've been to the local police office, dry cleaners, food mart, and got some dinner.  I've been adding and deleting some Winter Camp photos  from the office computer (thanks to Zach) that the assistants have taken over the last few weeks.  Don't worry, you'll get to see them soon.  Anyway, I'm gonna call it an early night.  Hope you all have a happy hump day, wherever in the world you are.  It feels weird to be sleepy at 9 pm, and not having worked out at all today.

Take care and talk to you soon

Guess who's going back to College -- this guy

only it won't be for learning -- it will be for teaching.  At least for now, it'll just be a three month gig -- but I've been wanting this for quite a while, so I'm pretty stoked!!

The coolest dog I've ever met in Korea

No offense to the shelter dogs for this one (although, I've met some cool ones there).

This is hilarious, and this dog is pretty famous as well for being able to do what he does here.

Some awesome pictures (thanks to the Koreans)

I searched through a dozen or so Korean blogs, to find my and Robin's pictures.  These guys did pretty good, and their captions were humorous as well.

Great shot of me holding the Korean flag.  

These guys were great - I got the USA and Robin got the Korean flag here

Posing with the Korean flag again

Good shot of us!!

Some pictures from the event

I will be searching Korean websites for pictures of us waving flags (Korean and U.S.), as well as pictures with the Mayor of Haeundae, and anything else I can find.

Here are some pics  that were taken with my camera from the event and the afternoon.  Read about the event in the post before this!!

This lady is a local singer

Robin says, "flex"

Stretching time

Blimp

We are excited again for a COLD swim

We are way out in the water already

These guys are always great

Hands up to the right is me, and Robin is on the left (this was after the first trip in the water)

The after shot

After a trip to the medic tent (boo)

Eating noodles, cuz' I wanted something warm

With my friend So Hyun

Get a look at that wound, Mom!!

Stylish

With So Hyun and her friend

The Daegu crew

Loving our new towels

We were supposed to jump in this shot

Anna (from the same hometown as Robin) and I

Refreshed and finally ready for a meal

Showing off pictures of my nephew, and Grandpa

Great shot guys!!

The 24th Busan Polar Bear Swimming Contest (completed again)

So today was the Polar Bear Swim, and let me just saw it was an AWESOME time.  I'll start from the beginning of the day, because I started off with a little bit of an adventure even getting out of Pohang.  One of our Korean assistants told me the other day that I was supposed to take the Express Bus Terminal to Busan, instead of the Intercity Bus Terminal.  Well, it turns out that he was wrong.  Luckily, I was only about a twenty minute walk to the other bus station.  I was too lazy to get money out of the ATM last night, so instead of catching a taxi, I got my early morning walk in.

I managed to board a bus to Busan around 8:20.  Only problem was, I still had another hour and fifteen minutes on the subway to the beach when I arrived.  I was supposed to meet my boy Robin (who's from Milwaukee) at 9:30.  I didn't realize my trip was as long as it was, or I would have left town sooner.  The only thing it turns out that I missed, was Robin in some Ice Breaking contest. This contest consisted of him breaking through ice with a hammer, just to get a banana.

I did arrive exactly at 11, and found Robin right away (hard to miss a guy who is 6 foot 6).  We were pretty pumped about the event and made friends really quickly with mobs of Koreans who wanted their pictures with us.  There weren't as many foreigners as last year, so Robin and I got to be "media whores."  Excuse the expression, but it truly seemed like it.  It didn't matter if we were stretching, dancing with other foreigners, taking our clothes off and get ready for the water, there were photographers eying us all times.  The best part of all, was taking a group picture with the mayor of Haeundae (the beach area where we were) standing next to me.  The man introduced himself to us, and I think we were interviewed at that point as well, by a local media outlet.

Somewhere around 11:45 am, people started to jump in the water and begin swimming towards little soccer balls, that could be traded in for prizes.  The only catch was you had to swim 50-70 meters in some really cold water.  Robin and I both managed to be some of the first ones out there, and by the time we got out there, the normal Polar Bear folks were piddling around splashing in the water with their friends and family.  Robin and I came back to shore, hid the balls, and jumped back in for a bit.  Mind you, the water was probably between30-40 degrees, but we were having a blast nonetheless.

During the time we jumped in and splashed around, I saw two of my friends from the English Club in Daegu.  They had remembered I was coming to the event, and by chance they found me there.  So Hyun, who is a really cool girl, and is also a sculptor, was there with my good buddy Stylish who has played a large part in running the English club.  I was so excited to see them that I gave them big hugs in the water, and we splash around for a good bit.

As I was splashing around with other Koreans, I was attempting to pull a wrestling move on a guy and dump him in the water.  Instead of doing that, my face hit some part of his body (I don't really know), and he freaked out, because there was blood coming from some part of my face.  I just thought it was a nice bleed and shrugged him, but apparently it was a laceration above the eye.  I pleaded and pleaded with the medical staff to let me play some more, they insisted I go to the medical tent instead, which was probably a bright idea  .

Anyway, I spoke with them in Korean (trying to put a good impression on them), letting them know that I felt fine, and I was not hurting.  The Chief Doctor, or Medic, whatever he was, explained to me in Konglish -- that I had a 1 cm laceration.  I just wanted a bandage, because spending time with my friends on a wonderful Sunday afternoon was more important than kickin' it in an emergency room for a few sutures.  I may get it looked it tomorrow, but my friend So Hyun bought me some fancy Johnson and Johnson band aids, after we all got our time at the spas in -- of course that was when all the swimming ended officially.   The thing about my Korean friends -- they'll go out of their way for me, time after time, and won't think a thing of it.  I think that's why I fit so well over here sometimes.

Anyway, we ate afterwards at a Thai restaurant that was good, but the servings could have been a lot bigger for what we paid.  I know I'm spoiled eating four dollar Korean meals nightly, but that's the way it is.  This lunch cost four times that much and just didn't have much sustenance to it.  The curry sauce was great, because it had some kick to it.  Busan is well-known for some great foreign restaurants.  So Hyun's friend (whose name I forgot), had actually brought donuts along as a gift for Robin and I, so we did have some sugar before the meal even got close to starting.  Her friend actually owns a little coffee and donut place and is an artist as well.   Robin talked all our heads off during lunch -- he is quite the talker, but the guy is awesome, and has had some interesting life experiences all around the world.

When the meal was over, So Hyun's friend who drove her and Stylish down for the event even took me to the bus station.  It was definitely not along the way -- thirty minutes out of the way, but she was really cool about it.  I didn't ask them too at all, but they insisted on me not riding the subways for over an hour.  Once I got to the bus station, I then was able to hop right on a bus that was just about full (rare for my rides lately), which took me to Pohang, so I could make it back to this wonderful dorm room of mine.  Anyway, from becoming a temporary "media whore" (excuse my language very much), to getting a "laceration", to braving chilly, chilly waters, to enjoying some good times with friends -- it was an awesome, awesome day.

Enjoy the pictures!!!

Today was an AWESOME day!!!

stay tuned, because this post deserves a lot of attention.

Naptime

It's 5pm on a Saturday after a great, great day of work and all I want to do is take a nap.  So, that's what I am doing.  We had a garage sale today and yesterday -- the kids brought random items, like snacks, books, hats, etc, and they got play money and were able to purchase items from random stores of their choices in one of the big classrooms.  It was pretty fun -- they even paid to arm wrestle some of us by the end of the period.

Brett, one of my coworkers, and I had a well contest match, and well, the big fella' beat me.  It was a darn good match though. The students seemed to be pretty entertained, with both of our faces turning super red.  Finally, I had to give in, because I didn't see myself slamming his arm down or anything cool such as the sort.  We have one more week to go, and I've been having a blast with these kids.  The staff is great too -- Koreans and my  fella' Americans.  It's been great having that energy I am so well known for, back.  I just need a little more sleep though from time to time.

Anyway, I just felt like laying some thought down on this old screen that sits in front of me so often -- everyone have a good Saturday.  This guy's is almost over for now.

South Korea's Navy Does Some Pirate Killin'

Read this here  South Korea Navy vs. Pirates

FYI -- Brother Wooyeup told me some interesting stuff this past weekend.  A friend of his, has a friend that was over on the island that the North Koreans fired at a few months ago.  As a result of the events that happened, the soldiers slept for a solid month with loaded machine guns, and grenades ready to launch.  Talk about being prepared for the next fight.

Blah Blah Blah!!!

My self-declared ADD is kickin' in again.  I have laundry going. I need to take some stuff to the dry cleaners.  I want to work out.  At the moment I was writing tests, but have decided to take a break from that.  I'm almost finished with my test writing though, and will be able to finish tonight or tomorrow morning, since I got my little ones anyway for a fun-filled Saturday.

I've had job offers thrown at me left and right here over the last week or so. Part of me wants to stay here, and today I was shocked to see someone come into the office this afternoon before I left.  There's a lady who worked for the company that employed me at the last camp and apparently she's with this company too, or they are all associated in some way -- heck, I have no clue.  She recognized me -- sort of, minus all the hair.  I don't remember her name, but she said there's a decision that's going to be made about the company employing someone at Pohang University (which would be awesome).  Honestly, the only reason  I'd stay in Korea longer would be to work at a college, because those jobs come with some sweet vacation time.

I really want to do this teaching in Georgia program, but you don't exactly make much money doing it, so if this job is open on Monday, I'll see if I can just simplify the process for everyone and say "gimme." Otherwise, some folks are gonna get stood up, and I'm gonna come home for a few weeks, and then head on over to the Republic of Georgia and do my thing there instead.

Here are a few more pictures of me at work with the young ones.  This Ipod of mine spoils me a lot -- the kids are always wanting to take some pictures with it.  I have an attachment problem -- sometimes I do -- it can be to women, cities, college basketball teams, sports, and now my camp kids (there could be more things I am attached to, but we'll keep at that for now).  I always give the boys a hard time, and treat the girls like they are just perfect little angels -- they deserve for the way they act though. I need to get back to making my last test -- I'll get my sleep though - no worries!!

Little Suri

This kid is a nut -- but she respects me

One photogenic child

Dear Clara, You can smile once in a while

As if I didn't take your picture enough already

Sweet little Lillian

First try

This one worked out better

Test Making on a Thursday Night

So we have to have tests made for our classes by Saturday morning -- at least I don't really have anything going on these days anyway.  Zach and I have been making good use of our gym memberships, so that'll help me sleep good tonight.  We were informed yesterday of these tests (maybe Tuesday, I already forgot).  The days are starting to run together a little now.  Anyway, I just now finished making my first test and will get one more done before bed.  In the morning I'll work on another one as well.  Here are a few pictures that I'll leave you with for the evening though.

Slogan on the wall at Star Fitness (where Zach and I workout)

One of my students did this today 

Dinner -- yummy -- Jajangmyeon

Some onion and radishes for a side dish (no fries here fool!!)

Time to call it an early night

My kids wore me out today (Wednesday).  I think I pulled an ab muscle or did something else, because I had to deny them of their "swing me" privileges today.  I did invent this new thing called skiing though, that they seem to enjoy.  I take one student or two -- they hold on to my hands, and I pull facing them, like they are on skis.  They enjoy it, but it's just not the same as two of them being picked up at the same time and being swung over my head.  It wasn't just my boys (because two of them weren't here).

 The girls were rough.  It was an 8-3 ratio today -- and they were pretty hyped up about it.  I still had Grace being her usual Angelic self, along with a girl named Emily, who usually comes on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  My assistant Yebis, told me repeatedly that I looked as if I was really tired, or sick.  I felt fine, just a few of them old man pains though (when you over work your body a lot at the gym, you can use that line).  I did manage 2.5 miles on the treadmill today, with some foreign girl, kickin' my butt on the one next to me.  She's in pretty good running shape compared to me, and that's just fine -- I won't go on a rant about being inferior to her, just because she can run better than me.  Stuff like that happens these days.

Anyway, I'm off to bed for now.  Happy Hump Day wherever you are folks.

Josh Turner - Another Try - song of the week

Day 3 of Week 3 (Yay!!)

So it's hump day already -- one of my more favorite days of this work week -- my kids on Wednesday are much more respectful to me -- at least the boys are.  Plus, I will be begged over and over to pick my kids up and twirl them over my head numerous times.  We were told yesterday by the manager that we have to make tests to give to the kids next Monday and Tuesday.  Only problem is, the curriculum is too easy for some of the classes, then it's too difficult for others.  There's really no balance whatsoever.  My kids are doing well in this Non Fiction 2.1book they have to do every day.  Then they have this Gold Pass Reader -- yeah, some of that stuff is just over their heads.  Talking about settlers, boomtowns, fossils, plants, stuff that kids who learn ESL under ten years shouldn't have to learn.

Anyway, today should be a fun day - I definitely slept like a babe -- I seem to be dong quite a bit of that here.  I'll leave a picture or two of little Julia -- who is one of those who really loves to yell "Teacher swing, Teacher swing"!! She's a cute one too though, and she makes the work fun.

Little Julia (one of my rockstars)

This time with a  little help from her friends