Cola Zombies

Ok, so I've got another video for you guys, taken by Hollis today. My first class after lunch goes absolutely insane whenever they see a Coke. Something just snaps, and they all start chanting "COLA... COLA... COLA...", it's really pretty adorable. I have to spend the first 5 minutes of that class just getting them to settle down and sit in their chairs. Lately I've learned to hide the Coke if I get one, but today we kind of set them up, because we wanted to get some video of it.


Haha, I love that class. They may be crazy, but they're always in a good mood. And I need their energy after lunch, because big bowls of rice and fish oil make me sleepy. I was kind of dreading starting work again today because, hey, it's work, and everyone hates work. But the kids were all really well behaved today, and I feel like this week is going to be just fine.

This weekend was a lot of fun. On Friday night I attended two birthday celebrations, which were both quite fun (we actually determined that there were at least THREE foreign teachers from Suji all with the same birthday). Friday turned into kind of a late night at Exit, and because of that I unfortunately was unable to go on my planned trip to the DMZ. They were meeting to catch the bus at 6am, and I got there at about 6:07. And then I didn't know what bus to take, or where to go, or anyone's cell phone number. You just can't make mistakes like that and expect to get places in Korea.

Looking at the situation optimistically, I'm actually kind of glad I didn't go though. I've got a pretty bad cold right now, and travelling to the DMZ on two hours sleep probably wasn't going to help it. Instead I ended up travelling around to a few different places in the area with a friend of mine, and learning a bit more about my surroundings. I can now walk from my place to downtown Suji (takes about 15 mins). I can also walk from downtown Suji to the Jukjeon Subway stop, but I still haven't figured out to walk from my place to the Subway closest to me. Everyone out there - hear these words - everytime you ever need to know how to get somewhere and simply type it into Google and immediately know what to do - know that I am out there somewhere, hating you. I really need to find a map of Suji. Even if it's all in Korean, I'd take it.

So we went to Shinsaegae mall (picture to the right) and looked around for a little while. Everything was really fancy and expensive. I was worried I was going to be tempted to buy stuff, but once I looked at some prices I realized I would be able to easily refrain. The top floor has a movie theater. They were playing about 10 movies, 5 of them were in English.

1) Valkyrie - I am not sending any of my won, even indirectly, to Xenu.
2) The Flock - Ok, so I am about 99.9% sure this movie was called "Trap", but I just googled it, and unless there are multiple thrillers with Richard Gere, Claire Danes, and Avril Lavigne, it's called The Flock. Why were they showing this? It came out in 2007. It was directed by a Chinese guy, so maybe he's popular over here. But why did they change the name to "Trap"? Crazy Koreans. Or maybe I'm crazy. Whatever.
3) Changeling - I just felt like this has been out too long for me to justify seeing it in the theaters.
4) Madagascar 2 - This comes HIGHLY recommended by nearly all of my students, and I considered it simply because it would earn me enormous points with them, and probably improve my conversation making ability about tenfold. You would not believe how much they love this movie. You would also not believe how badly they pronounce Madagascar. Ok, you probably can believe that pretty easily. Anyway, during my first week or so here I remember being quite bemused when I heard a bunch of kids outside singing "I like to move it, move it. She like to move it, move it" in their Korean/Jamaican accented English. But hey, it's Korea, and the fact that a bunch of kids were singing some early 90's rap song was nowhere near the top of my WTF moments. When it kept happening I finally asked another teacher about it and they told me that it's from Madagascar 2. So now I play that song during musical chairs, because everytime I hear "Nobody" by Wondergirls I go a little more insane. I played "Nobody" about 17 times one day, and thought it was pretty cute. Then I realized you can't go anywhere without hearing that song.
5) I can't remember what the fifth movie was, but this little story ends with us deciding not to see a movie.

Instead we went to Samsung Plaza (picture below is one of the entrances to the Subway station) which is just a couple of stops further north on the Subway line. There's a lot of nice shopping around there. In fact there's a lot of nice shopping everywhere. It's really weird getting off of the subway and seeing a Gucci on your right and a Prada on your left. I'm not talking about outside, you don't even leave the subway station, and you are immediately doing some high end shopping. I mean, can you imagine taking the red line to State and Lake, and picking up a pair of $800 jeans before you even saw the light of day?

So the main reason we went down there was because there is a real deal Mexican restaurant. And it was so delicious. The margaritas were a little weak, and the chips and salsa were anything but endless, but the burrito was cheesetastic. For an extra 1000 won you could get your burrito "enchilado" style, which meant that you got lettuce, sour cream, mole, and extra layer of cheese on top. I asked him to put the mole on the side, since I'm not really a fan, and ended up getting my guacamole on the side. Even doused in mole, that burrito was top notch though.

After that we headed back to the Jukjeon station and did some shopping for food and other household items at E-Mart. I had been hearing about E-Mart a lot because it's one of those places that you can buy anything you can imagine at. It was good to finally get there because I got of lot things I had been needing. I also got to see these lovely mannequins. From there we could walk back to Suji.

By looking at the Bundang line you can kind of see where a lot of the places I've been talking about are. Apparently the closest subway stop to where I live is Ori, but I know how to get to Migeum via a 4 minute bus ride, so that's the one I normally go to. Jukjeon is the closest one to downtown Suji. And then my school is near the Bojeong stop. The Seohyeon stop is in Samsung Plaza.

On Sunday I cleaned and reorganized my apartment (new discovery: hangover-less Sundays are awesome!). Below are two pics of my current setup. That now-empty space used to be taken by the table on the left in my bedroom. But now I have a super wall-long desk area. And on top of that, I totally have room for some furniture in my outer room now (I'm not going as far as calling it a living room). But I could theoretically entertain if I found some places to sit.

Also on Sunday I learned how to use my rice cooker and attempted to make some fried rice. I wasn't entirely successful, but I learned some good lessons, and feel like I came out on the positive. That night I went to a Vietnamese restaurant and had fried pho and fried rice served in a pineapple. Besides the burrito, I think it was the best meal I've had in Korea. I even drank half a pot of tea with the meal. My mouth is so used to weird tastes right now, that I'm starting to come around on tastes I've always disliked. I think my taste buds are getting "good" and "familiar" confused. Works for me though. Recently I have actually been actively looking for tea, because it makes my throat and sinuses feel better.

So I ended up not watching the Super Bowl. Today at work I couldn't resist the temptation and read an article about it. Once I knew how it ended I couldn't justify expending the energy it would take to go somewhere and watch it. Apparently they replay it during prime time in some places. I know a few people who said they were going to Hooters in Seoul tonight to watch it. It sounds like it was a really exciting game, although I wish the Cardinals would've won.

I watched Revolutionary Road yesterday. It was pretty good, kind of sad. I like Leo and Kate Winslett though, they were both really good. It's kind of about deciding whether it's best to make your life decisions based on what is smart and logical or to go with what is exciting and will make you happy. The whole theme of the movie was pretty applicable to my situation, minus the love story part. I mean, the thought has crossed my mind that I could have knuckled down in Chicago, worked a bunch of hours, made good money, and been well on my way to being successful(rich?). I know there are a lot of people out there saying "blah blah blah money doesn't buy happiness blah blah blah". But money makes me pretty happy! Seriously! I am really into money and would marry it, if it meant I could have an unlimited supply of it. Anyway, jokes aside, I don't think the comfort of stability should be discounted in favor of flights of fancy. And this is coming from the guy who quit his job to move to Korea. So, sometimes in my head, I weigh the pros and cons. And I'm really glad I came to Korea, but I hope it's only for a year. I still want to have a career. And I'm not sure if I want my career to be teaching. Or engineering. One thing I do know though - and I didn't factor this in before I got here - there is something psychologically therapeutic about working with kids. And I'm really glad that I'm getting a chance to do it, because I think that a year spent with little kids is going to have almost as big of an effect on me as spending a year in a foreign country. Anyway, some of that is kind of what Revolutionary Road is about.

I love the new Animal Collective cd "Merriweather Post Pavilion" so so so much. It's so light and airy and happy and is perfect for wandering around lost in a strange city. The harmonies around 1:30 in "Bluish" (video below) sound a lot like the Beach Boys to me. I recommend it to everyone from ages 8-80.



Ok, I could go on and on with the random thoughts, but I want to get in bed in time to make it to the gym tomorrow, and I also want to watch an episode or two of Lost. I'm planning on talking about more school-related topics soon. Also I REALLY need to tell you guys about Korean tv... I know I keep saying that, but it's just such a massive topic that I want it to get its due space.

Later dudes!