SPORTS DAY!!!!

Unlike the last update this title is slightly deceiving.  You would think it would be about sports.  Well it kinda was but really wasn't at all.

Sports day is basically a day where there are no classes and the kids compete as a homeroom class against each other.  Here's where the deception occurs.  They don't actually play any sports!!!!  Just lame competitions that all the kids can participate in. Even though they do lame stuff, sports day is one of my favorite days of the year.

This year was my second sports day.  Knowing that I would have no classes I decided to partake in some alcoholic beverages the day before.  So when I arrived at school that morning I was hoping of taking a quick snooze for the first hour or so.  However, this mission was not completed.  Some lovely 3rd year (ninth grade) student made me a cool name tag thing that I could hang around my neck.  She barged into my room where I was attempting sleep and gave it to me.  Interruption number 1.  About 15 minutes later when I had probably finally fallen asleep, I got a call from my co-teacher saying that I should go outside for sports day with her...yay!!!

Whatever.  I've taught classes hungover, I can do sports day hungover.  As some of you who have experienced a hangover know, you can get hungry.  Well thankfully on sports day the students love to bring food to eat and share.  And I love to eat and eat that food too.

Let me explain the set up.  Were outside in a big rectangle area about the size of a soccer field.  And surrounding the field is where all the students are sitting with their homerooms.  So basically what I did was walk from homeroom to homeroom in search of snacks.  And since I'm pretty much a rock star at my school the students are more than willing to give me some food.  Mission eat breakfast successful.

Ok back to the "sports" portion of sports day.  They have a few different competitions that they all compete in.  Most involve a jump rope.  Why?  I have no idea.  But ya jump rope.  They have one thing where they have a huge jump rope and about 5 kids at a time have to run and jump 5 times in unison.  Then the next group of kids will come running in and jump 5 times.  This continues until all the kids in the class have finished.  Sooooo entertaining (sarcasm).  So ya the competitions are not exactly what I enjoy about sports day. 

What I do love is walking from homeroom class to homeroom class stealing food and messing with kids.  It makes for a wonderful day.  And because I'm a rock star, if I come to the kids homeroom, its basically like a rock star has arrived.  I get VIP treatment to the best seat, best snacks, and best everything.  Me likey.

Towards the end of the morning I decided to sit down next to some of the 3rd grade girls.  These girls happen to have had a huge super soaker squirt gun.  My memory was triggered to a few hours earlier when different 1st year (seventh grade) students had shot me with their tiny squirt guns.  I didn't mind.  In fact I enjoyed it cuz the weather was really hot that day and it helped to cool me off.  However, even though I enjoyed getting squirted did not mean I was not going to seek my revenge on this little kids.

So with huge super soaker in hand, I walked over to the 1st grade section of the area.  Pointed to each individual student who had shot me, they were pretty much surrounded by other students in their class and had nowhere to run.  I preceded to destroy around 15-20 kids who had shot me earlier.  From there I turned evil and thought every kid was fair game.  Now I'm not saying that I shot every 1st grader and started a huge squirt gun fight, but maybe I did...Sorry for Partying?
Oh apologies to the homeroom teachers who I accidentally got involved in the squirt gun fight.  Actually Sorry for Parting this time, but not really.

Face painting!!  Some lovely 1st years girls were painting each other with little cheers and chants. They asked if they could paint on my forehead.  Sure. Why not?  So one of the students decided to write my name on my forehead in Korean (브래디) in black face paint.  She also added her class number (1-3) so everyone could know who I was cheering for. 

So with that done I walked around to the different homerooms.  Most students were not too happy that I had chosen to cheer for class 1-3.  Ummm I didn't.  They didn't believe me.  I wouldn't either I guess.  Anyway, some other 1st years attacked me and erased the 1-3 from my forehead so it now just had 브래디 on it.  I'll get back to this later.

It was about lunch time.  Lunch is ahhhhhh...ok i guess.  But sports day. Ohh baby.(sarcasm)  I guess it was a little better than normal so I shouldn't complain.  At lunch is when I realized that I had "accidentally" involved some of the other teachers in my water gun fight.  They "complained" to my co teachers about it.  But secretly they loved it.  It was really hot that day.

After lunch was the only time in which I was actually interested in any of the sports stuff.  They had 2 pretty cool events.  The first was tug-o-war between the different classes in the grade.  It was actually cool and of course each class wanted me to cheer for them.  I dont remember who won but seeing the boys in that class, I wasn't surprised at all.  If those kids don't become sumo wrestlers I would be shocked.

The last event was a sprint relay race.  There were 6 different races.  1st, 2nd and 3rd year boys and girls.  The race track is surrounded by all of the different homerooms.  Ok so there are 12 homerooms per grade.  So half boys and half girls.  So thats six kids running at a time.  And in some of the areas between the inside of the track and the homerooms there is maybe room for about 3 kids to squeeze.  This made for some very interesting races/collisions.  Is it bad to say I laughed when 3 girls slammed into each other??  Whatever, I had already attacked teachers with a water gun.  The relay races and tug-o-war made for an interesting afternoon and a wonderful end to sports day.

At this time I walked back to my desk because I needed to get my stuff.  It was there that I remembered that I had my forehead painted.  In case I need to remind you, I am a ginger.  Gingers get burned very easily.  It was hot and sunny all day.  As you can imagine even after i had washed 브래디 off of my head, you could still see that someone had written it on my forehead. 

The rest of that weekend every Korean knew what my name was...

How rich are these kids???

The title pretty much sums it up.  If you have followed my blog you realize that I teach in a pretty wealthy area.  The kids aren't rich but their parents are loaded and probably give them whatever they want.  Sometimes I can tell how rich these kids are.  But most times I don't even realize it.

Recently I had one of those moments where I pause and think "How rich are these kids??"

This story isn't exactly PG so if there are any children (or grandmas) reading this blog, you've been warned.

A common bodily function is to release the waste in your body through your bowels.  Aka pooping.  Well normally I have a wonderful poop to start my day.  It just really helps me to focus on the day.  In addition, at my school there aren't separate toilets for teachers and students.  That alone can make for some very interesting situations that I will discuss at a later date.  Anyway, back to my shit...hehehe.

Oh another side story, for some reasons the kids don't like to flush the toilet after they do their business.  And yes its as gross as you can imagine.  However, they remember to put the seat and cover down.  Its as if someone taught them that putting the cover down makes the poop disappear.  Korea, everyday an adventure.

Ok back to my poop/rich kid moment.  One morning I walked into the stall to do my thing.  The cover is down as always and this 'lovely' smell is coming from the porcelain God.  I open the cover knowing what I will find...or do I.  Not only was there a log waiting for me, some student must have gotten himself into a predicament.  Because as i looked into the toilet I saw 5 different 1000 won bills (equals $5) floating with the rest of his business.  Yes, the answer is yes.  Some kid literally wiped his ass with money.  You could even see the little turd stains on them.  I was so stunned.  I thought about taking a picture for proof but trust me you didn't wanna see it.

"How rich are these kids???"

Basketball "Class"

Hello my long lost friends.  I have been told I must blog or the Korean government will be informed about my gingerness.  Apparently its illegal here.  Pshhh racism everywhere I go. 

When I first arrived in Korea I had pretty much no American friends here.  I'm not complaining just stating a fact.  Anyway, about a year after I got here the Americans started flooding in.  With that came one of my good friends, Jeremy.  This Jeremy guy works at a high school here and somehow convinced his teachers and school to let him do an after school basketball class.  He then convinced the school to use a 2nd native teacher for this class.

He asked me to do it and I thought it would be a fun way to earn some extra money.  So basically once a week,Wednesdays, I go to his school at the end of the day and have a basketball "class" with about 20 kids at his school.

Now you are probably wondering why I say "class" with quotation marks.  Well, when we first started doing the class we would practice English and do basketball drills with the students.  That lasted about 2 weeks.  Now all we do is show up, split the kids into teams, and play basketball.  Very educational. 

Actually I should say that the students in his area are not really good at English and probably can not afford extra English classes (most students do this) so having me there is an extra white guy they can practice English with.  There are some outgoing kids who will talk to me, even if I can't really understand them, and I try to seek out the shy kids and talk to them a little.

So basically, once a week I have a basketball "class" and pretend to teach for a little over an hour.  And they pay me.  Ya my life is rough.

The Return of the Blog...maybe

Ok I promised many people back home that I would start blogging again, cuz apparently my life is so cool i must blog... Anyway, today something so, I dont even know how to describe it, happened.  For you old people that read this, theres a popular song by LMFAO called "Party Rock Anthem."  And if u live in Korea u know Koreans love this song so much that it will probably one day become the national anthem for Korea.  Oh ps theres a dance that goes along with it too called the Shuffle

So today between classes, I noticed that a group of about 5 or so girls were practicing they're "Shuffle."  I happen to have the song on my phone and decided to walk up to them and play the song so they could dance to it.  Little did I know what I was doing...

The 5 girls freaked out.  "Buhhraydeee(Brady) you know this song?" 
"Its from America"
"Really?"
"Ya"
"ohhhh"

Anyway, they started dancing a little and some other students were curious and started coming closer.  When the part of the song that you shuffle happened all the students around me (about 10) started singing and shuffling.  Hilarious and amazing all at the same time. 

Other students noticed this and started coming over too.  The second time the shuffle happened it had reached about 20 students and they all started to shuffle and sing along as well. 

And by the third time it had reached close to 50 students surrounding me all singing and shuffling and yelling "Shuffle teacher, shuffle."  So I did.  I think a few kids wet themselves they were so amazed.

So ya, average day at my school and I started a shuffle party. 

1 Year Later: The Terror Continues

Yes I know I havent blogged in months.  Yes I know I dont really do anything else with my free time so theres no excuse.  And yes I am staying a 2nd year here in Korea.  As I sit in my apt (that really does now feel like my home) I remember my many firsts here in Korea.  Getting off the plane.  Being totally and utterly confused.  Going to my hotel.  Orientation in Seoul and meeting many great people.  Then soon leaving to go to Incheon to start my job as a teacher.  I was scared out of my mind.  I left everything and everyone I know to go to a completely different country on the opposite side of the world where I know nothing and nobody. 

The adventure I took could go 2 different ways.  Either it would be one of the worst decisions I made and I would regret my decision.  OR.  It was going to be one of the best experiences of my life and I would fall in love with Korea.  Well as you can guess, the 2nd of 2 paths occurred.  I extremely love Korea.  My friends, my school, the people I work with, the different culture, food, booze and lifestyle in Korea. 

There have been so many different things that I have done and experienced it feels impossible to write about them now.  My first week of teaching, Christmas in Seoul, Thailand with 2 great friends, partying in Seoul, Taiwan, my first whole semester with the students, trips to Busan in Southern Korea, Korean baseball games, the McMahon family visiting me here in Korea, and of course all the amazing people that I have met along the way.  Im sure there are many memories that I am forgetting.

I really dont know how to end this, I just know that this year has been by far the best experience so far in my life.  I am looking forward to this 2nd year very much.  I hope if anyone has a chance to take a big leap that they go for it.  Ya it might end up bad but it also might end up being the greatest decision of your life.

Ill hope everyone is enjoying their life as much as I am.

Godzilla out

SKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!

I have always loved sports.  Basketball is my true love, but i really love all sports.  And the best way to watch any sport is by goin to games.  In the US it can be really expensive to go see your favorite teams play.  In Korea that is not the case.  I have recently started goin to baseball games here in Incheon.  The Incheon SK Wyverns.  They are pretty much the Yankees of Korean baseball.  Its nice that i finally have a team that wins to cheer for.

I first attended a game about 2 months or so ago.  As much as i love America, i must say, baseball games are 100x better here in Korea.  First off, they cost around $8 and its open seating.  So, if you get there first, guess what, you get any seat you want.  Even better than that, you can bring in any kind of food or beverage you want.  So if you wanna bring in a case of beer and a large pizza, go for it.  But the even better part is that food and beer are so cheap at the games anyway, you dont really need to.  While the players might not be as good as in America, the fans cheer like they are 1000x better.  Every player has their own theme song/entrance music.  And all the fans sit on one side of the stadium and cheer for them because of course, each player has his own cheer. 

I have been to 4 baseball games so far.  All have been just as exciting as the last, and all have been booze filled.   One game in particular was quite the experience.  Rachel, Eimer, Logan, Younghee, and myself decided to drink some delicious soju.  The only problem with delicious soju is that it tastes so good so you dont realize how drunk you actually are until its too late.  Unfortunately the game ended and we had to leave, but not before some sweet fireworks to celebrate.  After the fireworks we walked to a popular bar area and on the way an incident happened between Rachel and myself.  I will give you my side of the story, since its the true one.  On the way to the bars Rachel decided to shove me with all her might into traffic, not nice I know.  She claims she lightly pushed me and that i just happened to fall because of the curb.  In no way is that true.  But being the gentleman that I am, I decided to let this incident go...NOT.  I lightly tapped her and she was so drunk that she fell off the curb as well except she tumbled backward and fell into traffic and was very nearly killed by a bus.  Of course, we all know that Rachel started it so she deserved everything she gets.  She then complained all night about how I had tried to kill her, which is partially true cuz I hate her guts.

Anyway, I have been in Korea for over 7 months now, and have made many wonderful friends since I have been here, both westerners and Koreans alike.  Im sure many of these people will be lifelong friends that I will talk with for the rest of my life.

And yes I know that I suck at blogging recently, but whatevs.  You still love me!!

Kim Jong Il, my new bff

A few weeks ago some friends and I decided to check out the DMZ here in Korea.  If your unfamiliar, its the area that divides North and South Korea.  They are still very unfriendly with each other and the North always tries to upset the South.  They are in a state of cold war similar to US-Russia back in the day.  So with that said I decided to head to an area where soldiers on opposing sides are literally feet from each other, sounds smart I know.

Anyway, John, Joe, Rachel's sister, her sisters bf and I all headed to Seoul on a Friday to stay overnight, or we would have to wake up super early because the tour started very early the next morning.  The best and cheapest place for us to stay was a jimjilbong.  Unfortunately, they are awful to sleep in.  A jimjilbong is another one of those things that is very difficult to explain.  But I will anyway.  Picture a basketball court covered with people sleeping all around and the temperature waaaaaaaay too hot.  They do have little mats that you can use for sleep, Im guessing there an inch thick, maybe.  Probably less than that actually.  And then of course the pillows.  How could I forget about the wonderful pillows.  Picture a brick...thats it, its basically a brick, slightly softer but not by much.  Koreans seem to love staying at jimjilbongs, I, however, hate them.

Regardless, we woke up the next day around 6ish or so to head to the meeting place for our tour.  It was run by the USO so the tour would be in English, which is nice.  The tour took about 7 hrs, and I thought it was really interesting, but somewhat anti-climatic.  The first thing we did right away was go to the actual meeting room where the North and South meet to discuss stuff.  Which means I could walk into 'North Korea.'  Technically the area we were was considered North Korea, so that was pretty cool to be there.  We did see some North Korean troops and our tour guide told us that the North always have someone about 300 feet away just watching the South and the tour groups.  Goin into the actual DMZ and stepping foot in North Korea was by far the coolest part of the trip.  Which is why i say the trip was anti-climatic.  Not bad just anti-climatic. 

After goin into the actual DMZ we then went to a few other places that are significant.  We visited a tunnel which the North had dug into South Korea.  Apparently 4 of these such tunnels have been dug into the South.  It really wasnt that exciting and the tunnel was built for short Koreans.  AKA I was waaaaaaaaaaay too tall for it.  It was more uncomfortable to be in it than anything.  But still cool. 

The next thing was we went to an observation point that is just outside the DMZ.  From there we could see the meeting area where we had been earlier that day.  Also there are 2 villages that are actually inside the DMZ.  There is a North Korean village and a South Korean village.  The South Korean village actually has people who live there, while the North Korean village was built to look like it is a big nice city, but really no one lives there.  When the villages were first built each country put a large flag pole in them.  Eventually this turned into a contest between the 2 countries.  The North finally 'won' this contest, because the South stopped building bigger flags/flagpoles.  The North's flag pole is 525 ft high and the flag weighs 595 lbs.  Sounds like they are compensating for something if ya ask me.  Anyway, we could see both villages and the meeting area from earlier. 

Overall, I think the trip to the DMZ was highly interesting and entertaining.  Its crazy to think that the 2 countries are still at war, and goin to the DMZ helped to show that.  Will the 2 countries ever unite?  Who knows but all i know is the DMZ was really cool to check out.  And if anybody comes to visit me ill make sure to take you there.