i'm not sure exactly what's going through their minds, but i'm sure they've mistaken the bus for a sports car. these bus drivers honestly swerve in and out of traffic more than i ever did with the honda accord i drove. i'm constantly amazed.

actually, i've never had car sickness until i start riding the bus here. i'm almost positive that they need change the bus brakes every 500 kilometers. they stop at every bus stop as if at the very last second they realized they actually need to stop there. and if you are not looking directly at the bus you want on, the bus driver will drive away faster than you can turn your head. either that, or he won't even stop. i've had it happen where i was just looking in my wallet for the right change, and the bus was gone as soon as it stopped. now, whenever i want the bus, i am overly emphatic about showing that i want on that particular bus.

i think they have a stop watch at the bus starting point, and they are always trying to get the best record.

i won't even tell you about the taxi drivers.

i have a lot to say. i'll divide it into 3 sections. Three's seem to be pretty numbers. For example, I think 3 times is the minimum for something to be a trend.

anyway...
Chinese New Year!
A friend and I went to Busan, the 2nd biggest city in Korea, and right at the south end of the country.

we started out here in the "present situation".

we walked down the busy side alley...
and met up with a friend...after the first night of staying up too late. we were both exhausted the next day. Chase, the guy on the left was a little more tired because he got really drunk and couldn't find the motel for most of the night. the next day was great in the most penultimate of relaxing days.

we went to the aquarium and watched fish. became hypnotized by fish floating in the simple life. i wanted to be a fish for that moment. this sluggish day continued to a buffet, which then led to the pinnacle of relaxation: a Jimjil bang. basically a sauna. we took an elevator to a floor of all naked men sitting in hot tubs, or lying in saunas. then we could take the elevator up one floor after we put some pajama type clothes on. this area was a communal area. chase discovered how easy it is to accidentally go to the wrong floor. he stepped out on the naked lady floor and was quickly rushed back in the elevator. i guess koreans have the system figured out though.

later that night we walked around to the bars to waste time until our train home. and we met this drunk uzbekistan guy who bought us drinks and danced with us. i had to talk to him in korean since he didn't know english. he was hilarious.


SECTION 2...
Valentines day.

I have had a valentines tradition for about 5 years now. Each Valentines Day I play guitar and sing songs to strangers. and this year was no different. These are the receptionists at my school. I don't really know them.
my 5 song selection was:
1. Blue Rodeo - lost together
2. Stand by me - Ben E. King
3. Falling Slowly - Glen Hassard
4. All I want is you - U2
and of course...
5. Hero - Enrique Iglasius

I sang to in this order...
-the convenience store on my corner - (all i want is you)
-the coffee shop lady at my favorite coffee shop - (stand by me)
-the girls at my favourite sandwich shop - (lost together)
-the girl at the bakery - (Hero)
-the girls in the cosmetics area at the department store - (falling slowly)
-the girls at my school's reception area - (lost together)
-another convenience store - (hero)
-almost a girl at the street corner - (almost all i want is you)
-some girls at baskin robbins - (falling slowly)
-a girl at a hair salon (lost together)
-the teachers i work with (hero, falling slowly, lost together)
-and then i just sang as i walked around (i made up some songs, i also sang glycerine by bush)

i hope i can put the video of it on here some time.

what i noticed is that most koreans have such an idea about propriety that even when something as odd as a foreigner singing and playing songs while walking around is there, they will try hard not to look at it. or maybe they really didn't think it was that odd.


SECTION 3...

work is good. but the new schedule has thrown me off-cantor. but i will be back on track in a week. strange fluctuations at work have it that 4 people are leaving at the end of this month all of which before the end of their contract. the head foreign teacher is supposedly being fired for starting a rumor that may or may not be true about the manager. two korean teachers are taking off for australia. another foreign teacher is leaving because he's grumpy. i don't know the details. and i have heard that several others may be going. it's a good place to work i think as long as you aren't involved in the politics. although, there is an option for me that i may be offered head foreign teacher position. interesting prospects. who knows...

that's all for now.

It's chinese new year here. So i think this is still semi-appropriate.

there are stages of cultural acclimation. people say it's at about the 3 month mark that you really feel the homesickness. i forget the other stages. let's just imagine there's the sad stage, and mad stage, and glad stage, etc.

anyway, i've reached the point where i just don't feel like eating any korean food. it's kinda funny. i used to try it out and enjoy it, but now i just want burritos, and pizza and pasta, and sandwiches, and no korean food. i still eat it sometimes. maybe in a month i'll be different. i'm not homesick, i just don't want the food.

tips on writing to someone that has english as a second language.

1.cut out unnecessary colloquial grammar.
-so no: "check it out man, i was hitting up mickie d's, and some dude standing in line reeked like a mofo"
2.use words that have obvious dictionary definitions
-so no: "i'd tap that."
3. keep it simple.
4. spell words right.

now i just wish some koreans would follow these rules when writing in korean to me.

funny anecdote. i met a korean the other day and i told her my name was malcolm. and i spelled my name in korean. the problem is that the one korean letter called rieul can be transliterated as an "r" or an "l". so when this korean wrote to me in english she called me marcolm. so i wrote back in korean and said, no it's malcolm. but my korean is terrible, and she thought i meant marcolm is right and malcolm is wrong. so she's called me marcolm several more times since.

anyway, it's actually kinda interesting learning a new language because you get to feel like a kid again. i even get told often that when i write in the korean script it looks like a little kids writing.

koreans seem to be less concerned about bathroom proprieties. i think it's hilarious when i see some of the students during the break trying to go to the washroom. the boys are crowded in the washroom, the door isn't even closed. they don't care. and the kid at the front taking a pee is being shoved from behind by the boy waiting. i couldn't imagine being jostled while peeing, but there's no problem with that here. i don't think it happens when you're older, but i could be wrong.

other notes:
i should never play poker. 7 of us played, i was out of money before the end of the first round. luckily it was only $10.

people are easy to meet, hard to keep. what i mean is that i meet so many people, and get some numbers, but then the next day when i ask if they want to go to coffee the usually give an excuse. the best one so far is that "i'm afraid of english". i thanked them for their honesty.

holidays are coming this week. i forgot to buy tickets to go someone far away, so i'm just going to the south of korea, the 2nd biggest city in korea. busan. maybe later i'll go to the phillipines. speaking of which, why is the phillipines one of those places that need "the" in front of it?

lastly, i'm planning to make a video soon. if i do it, then i'll post it here.