Cliff Richard's "Summer Holidays" song has been playing continously in my mind since I left school today. I can't wait to fly home to see family and friends. Luckily I checked my ticket because I thought I was flying out on the 31st but I'm off on Monday the 30th.
I love Bill Maher. He is so smart, funny and realistic that I'd love him to run for President of the United States to solve all the problems George Bush Inc. have created. I only work half days this week and luckily his HBO Special The Decider came out this week. If you didn't watch it try downloading it or watching it (for now) on Youtube.
This was the last weekend that I was able to meet Heidi and Rachel Lynn together before I leave and they take off for more exotic places. Rachel Lynn will be riding the rails in China and Heidi will be trying not to stare at the overgrown belt buckles in Texas. 
'
It was the first time to go out together since Deok Jeok Island where Rachel Lynn and I got into trouble for running off in the rain to drink on our own. We have a horrible habit of ducking into random places so all night we kept an eye on each other to make sure we didn't drift away from the "party".
The night had many venues all with a different offerings. One of the best was a patio on the main strip in hongdae. Our seats were ideal for the fight across the street which was more like a tennis match. The fight (read: pushing and posturing) traveled one way up the street before running back down our way where it was volleyed back up the street with everyone in headlocks. It finally came racing back our way with a cop car trailing them. About seven minutes later the cop car had a full back seat and another guy ran along side the car hitting its roof before he jumped up and rode the car like he was wresting a steer. (We all agreed that we've been in Korea too long to of been unfazed that he got away with all this without being arrested himself.) 
The action here was too much so we headed off to a dart bar so Heidi and I could figure out who is the Grand Champion (read: biggest dork). Turns out it may be her. We parted with Heidi, Boheon and his friend after the last dart was thrown but Saejin, RL and I had some energy to burn. We found an empty eighties bar that let us dance like the retards we are. 
I refused to take a good picture all night turning my collar up in each shot or crossing my eyes like this picture above. Somehow RL and I got the OK from Saejin who had to work Saturday to continue drinking after the 80s bar so we hit a few more bars where we made friends with random Koreans. All night we kept congratulating ourselves for being very well behaved and decided to have a sleep over to celebrate. This may of been premature. At about 5:30 AM we got into a full on wrestling match in the Family Mart over what we should eat before sleeping. She wanted a sandwich and I was set on a slice of pizza (why we couldn't each have our own is beyond me).
The students can smell the summer vacation approaching. (It disappointingly smells of new books as most kids are off to Academic Camps, private institutions or simply have more frequent visits from their bitter tutors who slog their way from house to house melting in the summer heat.) This has created a much higher energy level around the school but thankfully the majority of my classes have been canceled this week.
I've had lots of time to make up my lesson plans for next week's camp that revolves around food. Unfortunately because I work here, my school doesn't get an extra budget for the camp so we can't actually see, smell, touch, taste or make anything food worthy during this food camp. (Schools without a foreign teacher get loaned one for a week and they have a budget where students can have English food fights all week long and still have money left over.) But no matter how much my stomach rumbles while talking about food it knows that comfort food is coming soon. Those five half days just need to be endured and then it's a month straight of glorious holidays.
I'm heading back to Canada for the month of August because every time I go home it's in the middle of winter. The "Oh, you're from Canada you must like the cold" phrase no longer applies to me and when I get told this I immediately have to catch my hand from reacting as my brain has sent out orders, "Oh you're a dumb ass you must like being slapped up side the head."
First it's off to my parents patio where a lawn chair, cold beer and a pile of new books will fill my days. Then to Calgary to visit friends and my brother before journeying back here for a couple of days of recovery before the second semester begins.
Summer vacation starts in....8 more days.
You know it will be a long week when you wake up Monday morning and question yourself if today's Friday or Saturday. Ignoring that challenging question this morning I think the week should go by quickly. There are no afternoon classes this week because teacher's are too busy (the kids get sent home after eating, I love Korea!) and we will be shown how to use the new computer lab (quoting the Vice principal, "it's 97 percent ready.") The other great news is that tomorrow is Constitution Day and I will definitely try with all my powers to sleep in past 9:00 AM.
During the week, once the sun tucks itself away for the night I rarely venture out of my apartment. (I get tuckered out if I miss my 11:30 bedtime.) On Wednesday I made an exception to watch the latest Harry Potter movie. On my way to the local CGV I had to wait for the lights to change to cross the road.
It was while waiting that a drunk man saddled up beside me and started to stare. This is quite normal practice in Korea so I smiled and waited for him to voice the small talk clicking away in his head. It took some time and just as the green man invited me to walk he dug a hand into his pocket and produced a handful of unshelled peanuts. He then carefully placed them in my hand and I thanked him before doing an Oscar worthy performance of eating them. I know the peanuts were fine (a tad greasy from the humidity and pocket combo) but my mom's voice reminding me not to take things from strangers took over. Some Koreans may stare a lot and carry cold faces but there are also a lot of nice people out there that will make a small gesture no matter how odd it seems to make you feel welcomed.
My friend Sunny (she opened the school with J in Suji) had her father pass away last Friday. He had been sick for quite a few months and finally lost his battle to cancer (I believe). In Korea there are three days of mourning that follow a death. Family members, friends and coworkers of any of the immediate family should make time to pay their regards.
So on Saturday afternoon Saejin and I made our way to the hospital and it's special funeral home wing to pay our respect. As we walked in the door we were greeted by a huge screen that looked more at home in an airport. The information passed on here listed the name of the deceased, their room number along with the names of the immediate family. Saejin quickly made a note of the room and we then found an envelope to put some money in for the family. The marbled interior of this building soften the mood while a hushed silence of people flowed down the staircase to their appropriate rooms.
Black suits were wandering everywhere but you could identify the immediate family of all the deceased by the white arm bands they wore. J was busy working (it's up to friends and coworkers to help out at funerals) collecting the money and having people sign the book of condolences. She then instructed us to go into the room and place a white daisy on the casket, then bow and pray for Sunny's father. After our moment of silence we had to turn and bow any of the family members who were then in the room. It was hard not not feel anything but sadness as his sons standing at attention silently wept.
Once we left the room we made our way directly across the hall to an area where the mourners go to talk. Here we saw Sunny and passed on our sympathy. In Korean fashion she offered us food and drink (booze being a main staple) and sat us down at an empty table. After she left us we sat on the floor picking at the food ultimately trying to not act overly awkwardly. In total we were there for maybe thirty minutes and it was completely exhausting dealing with the weight of emotions people were carrying. I'm not sure how Korean family's cope with it. This was only the second day with a full one more to go.
Friday night was Mee Jung's birthday so Saejin and I made our way out to Incheon for the party. It was a mostly quiet dinner over spicy pork and noodles when Mee Jung's drunkest coworker started yelling in English is was time for "two car", this apparently means the second round.
We went upstairs to a bar with the longest tables in the world where I volunteered to sit on the inside barred from ever going to the bathroom again. After this we went onto a final third round (three car?) at the luxury singing room. It was a quiet night but all round good fun. 
I'm not sure what I'll do when I make it back home and fruit platters aren't on the menu as a side dish. Beer and fruit make perfect sense to me now. 
Beer and green beans is taking healthy drinking just a tad too far. But what is even more strange about this picture is the beer itself. Someone at our table choose hazelnut beer. That's just stupid. 
The final beer snack is from a while ago when I went down to see Martin in Kwangju. This lovely looking snack is Bundaegi which is a nasty smelling snack of silkworm pupae. I once had it on my tongue but that was as intimate as we got before my body hurled it out onto the floor in disgust.
Quick entry today as I actually have stuff to do. Here are a couple of things that have been eating up a lot of my time lately:
1. mental_floss.com: This website has a ton of useless information on it. I love it. After reading the daily blogs by people with even more free time on their hands than me I hit the sidebar and play the games. I take pride in failing the daily quizzes even when they leave me feeling quite lachrymose(adj.) I try to find the positive. I then awkwardly try to use the word of the day (guess today's word), but I what I like most is putting in a solid ten minutes playing the geography game repeatedly. It's all so addictive that I'm pissed off the fact of the day is no longer being updated. (I still have so much to learn.)
2. Big Brother UK: My main source for TV downloads come from a British Website called uknova.com and last summer I got hooked on Big Brother. This year's version isn't as good but I'm still spending 45 minutes absorbing tha daily drama. I know it's shameful and horribly voyeuristic but I keep watching. It's really quite sad.
The plans for the weekend are vague and subject to change. (Exactly how vague I like my weekends.) Tonight is Min Jung's birthday and she has invited Saejin and I to go out to celebrate. I like being invited to Korean birthdays because you pay for nothing, whomever birthday it is has that burden.
Tomorrow, I'll try to get Saejin to call a realtor to show us around to some apartments. For my new contract I will just take the rent money instead of the house (read one room studio) they provide. There is nothing wrong with my place but after years of living in a single room I'm ready to upgrade. If I find the right spot I could end up making a profit from my rent money. In Korea you just have to pay some key money and then there is no rent- mind you the key money varies and usually is a big chunk but between the two of us we can handle it. The only problem we're having is deciding on an area that works out for both our commutes. Once we've argued over that and stressed ourselves out, that night I hope to catch a movie.
Sunday, I have vague plans to meet up with ChanYoung (my friend who went to study in England) after checking out the Monet Exhibition that is in town. I don't get art, don't feel anything looking at it but think I should be more cultured so I'll go feel pretentious.
Summers here in Korea are equivalent to three distinct seasons back home. June really shows off Korea with it's hot days and cooler night, left over flowers from spring can still seen poking out of bushes while unspoiled blue skies roost overhead. Then comes July.
This month has a chip on its shoulder and wants to spoil the summer. Thick heavy clouds thunder in and refuse to budge. They can act nicely and create a shelter from the sun but that's not their goal. Their goal is to pump as much water as they can down onto umbrella's that stare up at them. They then silently mock people for even trying to stay dry. (Yesterday while waiting for my ride to school my pants were drenched from the end of my pockets down.) Of course it is impossible for the clouds to continue at this pace all month long. They take their breaks while I'm inside. This is when they stagnate themselves in place socking in the humidity.
This leads to August which I don't even want to think about. August is a combination of June and July but with the sun's thermostat turned on high. Everything is green, lush and fresh with pools of water catching and reflecting the sun. Sounds romantic until you think about the number of mosquitoes flying about on route to yet another breeding part. Thankfully I will miss most of this month vacationing in Canada.
**The picture above I googled. I had to be specific though: "rain in Korea" gives a million links to pictures of Korea's biggest singer, Rain.
This past weekend Saejin, Heidi, Rachel Lynn and I met for our last collective road trip in Korea. We've been to most of the major holidays areas and have hit Suncheon more times than necessary but as a foursome we've never made it out to any islands. This is why we choose Deok Jeok Island as our destination. 
Our ferry was supposed to leave at 9:30 am but because of a thick cloud of fog hanging off the coast we had to wait for the sun to do it's magic and burn it off. Saejin and Rachel Lynn worked their magic at getting beer out of a can while we waited. I had the decency to wait until on the boat and an hour later before I started in on the beer. 
A fisherman holding his fish is a perfect way to greet tourists to the island as proof of a humble people but to Satanist it could be seen another way. 
More fisherman tools to lure a landlocked tourist's attention. 
The building in the back is the pension we stayed in. Our room was in the middle of the second floor (details I know you're dying to know) 
The view from the pension. One of the buildings is a training centre that companies will rent out for bonding weekends (read booze fest, where managers hit on their underlings.) 
The gang as we walk to the beach. The sun finally won its battle versus the evil clouds that mark this time of year.
Rice paddy and farmers house (another distractions for a city slicker to absorb.) 
Posing in the "forest" that separates the town and the beach. Try to guess what's in the cooler. 
When we first arrived there were maybe 10 other people on the beach. Koreans are creatures of habit and will go swimming in July and August, seeing as it was the 30th of June we were officially a day too early but there wasn't a single complaint from us. 
Enjoying the sun and surf. 
The lifeguard post was being painted when we arrived, more evidence we were a week too soon for the price gouging and crowds. 
More posing and showing off our sunburns. A few days later I was in pain and itched like crazy from the sunburn but today have a decent tan (no pain no gain).
Final shot of the weekend is of the dinner that we ploughed though almost as quickly as the beer.
A lot of times it takes months for English movies to come to Korea (I blame the translators taking too many smoke breaks). Once in awhile the stars line up perfectly and movies will premiere here as a testing ground. We were lucky to have the Transformers Movie open here a whole week before it will in America. This past Sunday Saejin and I went to watch it. Because I used to let the cartoon keep me company after school, I had high expectations for the movie. It didn't disappoint. It's a summer blockbuster that nicely fits the mold and gives exactly what you expect of it. I completely recommend it to anyone who likes mindless big budgeted films.
