The Reemergence of Alex

Just when I thought that even my Korean friends had moved on, I bump into Alex in a military uniform at a Hof (drinking establishment that serves snacks). The establishment was located right next to where his Tandori Chicken restaurant was. He was sitting in the outdoor seating section as I was walking home from work. Both of our jaws dropped in surprise, he flagged me over and introduced me to his other friends that are also doing their mandatory year of military service. One of them I did meet before, but the details are a bit hazy as that night Alex woke me up at 1:00AM and begged me to meet him at a hof near my house for food and soju, I had to excuse myself after a little while so I could remember how to get home.

So after our "long time no see" greeting he invited me to sit down and have a cold beer with his four buddies. It was good to see him again. Sometimes it is little surprises like this that reall make me feel good. It was good to see an old friend and have a cold beer with him on a warm summer night. I believe that he mentioned that we would be going to Carribean Bay, a water park inside Everland, where he will be competing in a surfing contest on a wave machine. If all goes well, I might even get wet; that would be a relieve from the warm weather.

30 Days and counting

I know, I know. I have not been a very active blogger lately. But, as I see it, the stress of some more unforeseen circumstances that I cannot control, and the loss of intelligent conversation (in a language and cultural context I can understand) for several months, have reduced my brain to mush. I need some human interaction other than "May I go to the bathroom please?" just to get out of being in the classroom.

So there you have it, nothing to say, thirty days to go, and looking forward to having a break... Embracing the culture here is not as easy as it is in other countries. In fact, it is, in my opinion, very difficult. My opinion is based on circumstances so I am hopeful that one more year in different circumstances might be different. Let's face it, it takes at least six months to a year to get into the groove. Now add a bit of conflict or things like having your counterparts and supervisor not be able to speak English and you just prolonged that process. I am looking at another contract where the director actually speaks English, and good English, not broken English--And so does the Head Teacher. This is not what I have endured over the last year. I guess this accounts for the high number of mis-communications.

So, yes, I am in the process of negotiating another year here in Korea, but in Seoul and not over two hours away on the very outskirts of the province. At least I will be able to walk to the subway instead of taking a bus and subway just to get to Seoul. Not only that, the population is higher (at least double what it is in my village now).

I am off to bed, but if you have GoogleTalk or Skype please do look me up and talk to me. If you don't then ask me for my Skype In number; it is a Southern California based number so send me an email and talk to me because I need to brush up on my English before I finish...LOL And don't be surprised if seem confused by your big words as I am having a hard time coming up with them myself...LOL

My return to the US is going to be breif. Send emails and make time now or it might not be available. I haven't been there much in the last five years and some of you have been good about taking advantage of my time and many others have not. I encourage at least an attempt to so at least I know you care. 8-)

See you soon!