Videoblogger: the next frontier

Since I'm wayyyyy to lazy to type and even lazier when it comes to pointing and clicking, i've decided to post videos of my life courtesy of www.youtube.com and Ms. Meaghan Leister.

If you have any requests of things you want to see while i'm in the states, do so until January 23rd. Otherwise you'll have to request things that are in Korea.

and yes, I'm going back.



enjoy this piece on the dangers of "Sharecropping"

A Reason To Blog Again

This is not a joke...

After 7 months of waiting, wanting, wishing, wallowing, and whomping*,
I'm excited to say that the burrito above
is currently residing in my stomach....
I've in fact refused to pass my bowel movements to keep
the sweet sweet tejano treat in my stomach.

It didn't matter it that it was stale,
It didn't matter that the cream cheese was 2 seconds from turning,
It didn't matter that I HATE tomatoes on my burrito,
It was the most awesome 2 minutes and 34 seconds I've had in Korea...


Its the end of an era.

*Whomping was a ficticious word to express extreme hunger for a burrito and btw, my brother brought me this burrito and he and my mother are visiting.

Kids are Greedy and why the board game "Guess Who" is socially unacceptable (a little social commentary to brighten your day)

That title was an earful but its all true.

There have been some bad combinations in history: Ike and Tina, John and Yoko, and the 2003-2004 Los Angeles Lakers. But nothing is as bad as kids and toys.

Sure, kids need their toys but kids these days (said while adjusting my Effergrip laced teeth) don't know when enough is enough. They're just living in the Pokemon generation: they gotta have em all.

We had a "Market Day", where children cash in their reward stickers for money and exchange that for goods like pencils, pens, notebooks, and miscellaneous trinkets. There were also some toys for the children. It should have been a day of happiness and cheer. Instead, it brought on enough jealously and greed to make Tori Spelling blush (OH SNAP!). Their screams was the most horrifying experience ever.

• "Why teacher? Why can't I have that?"
• "Do you hate me teacher? No? then give me more money..."
• "I'm gonna cry until I get something...(15 min later)...I'm crying HERE!"

Never again, will I give out toys and cheer. I know why there were asshole teachers in schools. Because they were the smart ones. You give a kid too much and they'll walk all over you. You give them small rewards and only when the deserve it, you got yourself a happier kid: the kids might be toyless, but at least they're not gonna cry about it.

Market Day has made me cold.

So, on to Guess Who. Boy, there are some serious flaws in this games logic. This game was probably invented in the 1950's for the simple fact that it is damn near all white men on the board. If you ask the question "Is it a girl?" and the answer is "yes", then you're left with 5 people. Last time I checked, the world was pretty much down the middle on the male/female ratio. But children play this game and learn that you can't win being a girl. And the other minorities, at first glance they seem to be there, but when you look at their faces and names closely; there is probably not a middle eastern blue eyed man named "Dave" (my bad to Dave if he really is out there).

So what stared this rant. This is the most popular game at our school. Kids love it. They think this is the greatest game in the world. But I can't keep answering the question "Why are there no people who look like me on this board?" So I've devised only one possible answer to this:

Milton Bradley hates Asian people.

Correction: Soju is made of rice, not potato as I had stated earlier. Potatos can be added later for flavor. Please stop your distilling process immediately and start again with rice. I'm sorry for the inconvience. (thanks Regina)

You have the right to drunk dial (A welcome back story to Blogging)

Dear Readers,

Welcome back.

That was geared more towards me than to you. Its a Thursday night and I've just finished watching my favorite Korean soaps and its on to the zany (but actually unfunny) Korean comedies (for an example, click this ). Then, it hit me. The reason why I haven't blogged in so long. The force that was keeping my brain from typing my pointless blurbs about the motherland:

They've got me.

It was somewhere between my second helping of Kimchi and cheering for the Korean soccer team, that I realized that somewhere along the line, I put down the red, white, and blue and traded it for red, white, and blue...hmm bad example.

But I'm back, and I promise never to stray from this blog which keeps the bridge between me and Americaland (as they affectionately call it here). So lets catch you up on a month of me:

• A birthday has come and gone. It was uneventful. Really. A cake and some beer. Pictures aren't necessary. I'm 23. I eagerly await the day when my car insurance gets lowered.
• I've started piano lessons. Its an hour everyday before work where I play a glorified version of chopsticks in a 5 by 5 cell with a chair designed for a six year old. I mean, look at that book. I hope to swoon Korean women with a rousing version of the "the elephant march" or "goodnight moon".
• I love Lost. Its bad. I wait every week for Thursday morning to come (that's Wednesday night for you). They usually post the shows for download an hour after its on TV and it couldn't come any sooner. As I type, I'm about to watch the craziness unfold on my computer screen through this freshly downloaded episode. Thank you Internet, thank you.
• I use Skype. Simply put, its the reason the Internet is around. I have the ability to place calls from my computer to any telephone all across the globe for mere pennies. Plus, I get a local number where people can call me. I can even forward it to my cell phone, so I can hear all of you sweet voices wherever I might travel to.

So brush up on your Korean. Here's a start.

안녕 everybody! ah hem... I mean, catch you all later.

Fun Korea Fact #1 - Fear the Dust

See what's wrong with this picture?

No...hmm, let me explain then.

Its 3 pm in the afternoon on a Saturday and instead of heading outside, I'm held captive by this creepy murky sky. There's an overcast but no smell of rain. After doing some back thought and consulting my Korea for Dummies book, I found out that this is Yellow Dust.

Sand from the Gobi desert is swept from China by strong wind currents across the country, over the pacific and hits parts of the United States at times. However, part of its journey takes it directly over Korea.

But not to worry. Apparently the dust is only "detrimental" to your lungs and because pollution mixes with the sand, its like ingesting millions of toxic-coated mini-gobstoppers every time you breathe.

I just noticed my window is slightly open, which means that probably cost me 5 years of my life.

Now, I'm probably not correct in my figures here as I'm no scientist (but I should be), so there is no need to worry fellow travelers.

No need to worry at *COUGH* *COUUUUUGH* *AHeeeeeeeeeeeeem* *Cough* all.

For more on Yellow Dust, be sure to visit your local library.
http://www.lakepowell.net/asiandust.htm

Happy Birthday Dewy

When my mom first read Jason's blog (www.jasonjang.com), she told me to "watch out for this guy", in the typical mom fashion reserved for tattoo-covered, fully-pierced, baby seal clubbing drug addicts. But after looking at this picture and spending the weekend in his hometown of Gumi, I see that she's only half right.

Angelo and I took the Friday red-eye to Gumi and after 3 hours and 3 train beers, we found ourselves in a very country area of Korea. Or at least we thought...

Gumi isn't the quiet country life that I once imagined. Gone are the days of horse-buggies and outhouses and ushered in are the KTX bullet trains and Outback's. The foreign community is very tight knit and seeing all those foreigners in one place brings a smile to your face.

But back to my mom's theory. Jason is dangerous. Here are the reasons why:

1. The man cooks on his own. Now, I respect independence but I saw his fridge. Its full of taco shells and peanut butter. I'm no chef but unless you can make a quesadilla with Skippy, he's in for a long trip here.
2. He owns a scooter. True, it might seem cool and hip but he rides them in sandals and while listening to music. You would understand if you've seen Korean traffic. I'd rather take a bath with a hair dryer.
3. His Korean is like mine. When he orders chicken for the group, he usually only gets one piece. This doesn't necessarily make him dangerous, its makes him hungry. But hunger makes him necessarily dangerous (*mind exploding*) (see reason 1).
   
4. He's a good friend and will follow me around when I do stupid things. Its only really dangerous for him because he listens to me.
   

All and all, it was a killer time and a good experience for all.

Actually, I'm just glad I didn't have to carry him home. Happy Birthday buddy!

A Ship in the Middle of Town (As told by Don Kim)

Well...there really isn't a story to this. Its a ship. In my town. Like the captain was steering toward port and took a wrong turn and ended up between an apartment complex. Korea really is silly.

I tried this audioblogger out (www.audioblogger.com). Besides being the stupidest thing I've said on the Internet, its pretty convienent. I promise more content later but for now, its a simple letter to my friends.

The picture below is another shot of my town in the morning. Imagine that scene while listening to my post (it'll help the awkwardness and stupidity pass).

Party on kids!