Thursday, October 28, 2010

soft milk

Shohei, Darae, myself, Hwayeon, Viruck, and Candice at the fireworks festival. The fireworks were nothing to write home about, but it was on the island in the middle of the Seoul river which was cool. And spending time with friends is always fun. It was so crowded that cell phones stopped functioning because of too many signals in one area, so a lot of my friends couldn't meet up with me.

This is at a free concert last weekend in Seoul, hosted by the G20 Summit Committee. There were a ton of big name performers there from Korea and other Asian countries. There were at least 15 performers, each doing 1-3 songs. I was there with Viruck, Candice, and Zou Ying. We went out and had some interesting Japanese food afterwards before calling it a night.

Wouldn't be a Korean Thanksgiving without a night of bowling with Rob & the boys.



Got a math problem? Solve it with some quick-acting "Anti-calculus" toothpaste!

I didn't pass the audition for the play, but Zou Ying did so I'm happy for her. I'm happy for me too. I feel like I don't have enough time and energy to do everything I want to do sometimes, so I can't imagine what it would be like if I had 30+ hours of rehearsal a week on top of everything else. She's a trooper.

I have an interview tomorrow for a part time job teaching 4 hours per week. What I really want to do is find a full time job (or close to full time) teaching at a private school in afternoons/evenings/weekends. Not only would it help my financial situation, but if I have a stable job where I'm not working mornings, I could continue studying Korean beyond this semester (which I really want to do, but I don't have the money/income right now). I've been looking at a couple jobs but haven't found one that fit me, as it would need to be in Seoul and be able to provide a work visa. I am thinking it might be best to just go through a recruiter like I did last time, but I heard its gotten a lot harder in the last two years. I guess being Caucasian and having some experience under my belt helps a bit though.

Next week is the midterm already. I just am getting caught up on homework now (i got behind because i spent alot of time memorizing a speech and planning a halloween party) so I don't really want to think about a midterm. This week is only the 3rd week of class, but when the semester is 9 weeks midterms come fast. My classmates are okay, but I think I enjoyed level 2 and level 3 more. A number of my classmates are hard to connect with because they are a bit older or they live in their own bubble or something, but some of them are cool. Japyeon and Wonbyeo have been playing b-ball with me when we have time and Dusang is just like what I imagined having a little sister would be like. And Dusang and Unseong both speak surprisingly good English. Taking the whole class out for a drink tomorrow night, hopefully will help them loosen up and feel more comfortable.

Yesterday was a field trip to the countryside. We made pear jam, made some traditional rice cookies using flower petals as the designs on top and pan-fried them, picked our own pears off the tree, and dug up some sweet potatoes. We got to take home the potatoes, jam, and pears. I used the time at lunch to teach drinking games to all of my classmates, so we don't need to waste any time explaining the rules tomorrow ^-^

I really enjoy my student life here. Hopefully I can find a job soon.