Doom From The Sky

"Nature has no mercy at all. Nature says I'm going to snow. If you have on a bikini and no snowshoes, that's tough. I am going to snow anyway."
Maya Angelou.

Meet my Principal, Mr. Kim. Next to him is my co-teacher (my hero), Mr. Kim. No. They are not related. Probably a million times removed, but no direct relation. My principal is in white while my co-teacher is in a suit. The clown wearing red is just an infinitesimal run-of-the-mill English conversation teacher trying to figure out this land they call Korea. I've been teaching now for about a week and my initial impression is that Korean High School kids are almost similar to their American counterparts. They goof off, they talk a lot, and they whine when homework is assigned. HOWEVER, the discipline here is palpable. If a student acts up they are sent into the teacher's office where they are yelled at, humiliated in front of other teachers, and given a moment to reevaluate where they stand in life. I've seen teachers screaming at these kids so harshly that I wonder what they did to deserve that. In America, they'd have to find a joint in your bag for them to belittle you in that way. These kids probably forgot to carry the one in a math homework, and hence the public humiliation.

Anyways, my classes have been alright. The freshman classes are harder to teach because they are so shy. The Senior classes are pretty proactive, because they love to talk about Jessica Alba and Barack Obama. Sometimes they over do it. The Seniors are the ones I always have to say: "Joyonghi haseyo!" (be quiet) or "Dak Chyeo!!!" (STFU). Overall, they're really fun to teach.

In other news: It snowed in Busan two days in a row. The roads and sidewalks were slippery, so walking was pretty taxing. I'm not sure if I mentioned this but my school is built on top of a steep hill. So imagine me trying to hold onto an oiled walrus. I know, it's a pretty sexy mental imagine, but that's pretty much my adventure this week. Snow and ice are my cryptonite, I figured out.

So this was taken on top of my school. You can see a panoramic view of Busan. That's how high up we are. You can smell Heaven from up there.




The staff at the school are awesome. In Korea, you're supposed to give your employer (my principal in this case) some gift of some sort. However, through the hassle of paperwork and moving I forgot to get him something. The fun part is, I've been getting gifts from everyone. Oddly, though, the principal and the vice-principal both have given me boxes of soap. I take a shower everyday, so I don't know what they're trying to tell me.

The principal took some of us out for Korean BBQ, Bulgogi, and, of course, Soju. LOL.



The guy on the left with the brown shirt will probably be the coolest old guy I'll ever meet. He is now my adopted grandfather. He's also Mr. Kim. I want to call him Lolo. We karaoked (called norebang in Korea) with the guy and I find he's the most impassioned singer..uhm, ever.

I also have received my Alien Registration Card today, so I got a cellphone! I have to get used to answering my phone with "Yaboosayo?", because I get stares if I go "Hello? Hey, Gringo! What's up?!"

It's 10 PM now and I'm gonna call it a night. I've got some sort of cough/cold thing going on with a fever that's not going away. I'll try to find Tylenol, but I'll probably walk it off using Vicks Vapor Rub, Vitamin C, Zinc, and a big steak. It's just how I roll.