So much for that...

Well, the gig is a no-go. I talked to the school owner today and he said that taking March 2 off is "impossible." His reason was that it was the beginning of the month and there would be new students coming. Fair enough. I'm a bit disappointed that I will miss my first, and possibly only, opportunity to play in front of a live audience (the dead audience has been a bit of a let down, really), but I'm also a bit relieved. I didn't feel all that ready to do this and I was feeling pretty nervous about the whole thing.

Actually, today has been one of the most anti-climactic days I've ever had. I went into it expecting to teach my full day of classes, begin a new class afterwards, and practice with the band in preparation of our upcoming show, and I expected this to be my pattern for the rest of the week. Only the first of those things happened. The regular work day went as planned. I talked to the owner and, despite his smashing my hopes of playing in the show, I still fully expected to practice tonight. However, Han Tae called almost immediately after I finished talking to the owner and said practice tonight was cancelled because he was too sick to sing. Then, after my extra class at Oxford academy, I was expecting to start a brand new class with the Oxford director and another of the Oxford teachers, but when I went to the desk to ask about it, the director just smiled and told me "good-bye." On top of all that, I found out that after this week, my Oxford class is no more. So now, instead of preparing myself for what was supposed to be me at my busiest since my time at "the Farm," I'm now sitting here at the computer, looking at what should be a rather free week. I swear, every time I think I have a handle on things, it turns out that there is no handle and the "things" I thought I had a handle on are really just formless masses that sometimes only seem to go in the direction I steer them but really just ooze along in their own bizarre and meandering way. I should just learn to sit back into the ooze, let it contour itself to my shape and take me where it will. At least the class with the doctors starts up again tomorrow.

Anyway, in other news, I was so inspired by the case of canned ham I received a few weeks ago, I wrote a haiku about it. As well, Laura has now posted those Seoul pictures I was referring to, so check them out. And finally, one of Laura's friends sent out this brilliant work of digital art.

That is all.

Guy

Surprised, once again...

After weeks of inactivity and practices that never happened, the band finally got together last night and played some music. As well, new information regarding our upcoming show (March 2) came to light. It seems the show isn't in Milyang at all. In fact, it's at a festival of some sort at Jirisan Mountain, which is quite a ways away. On top of that, it was revealed that we would be adding two new songs to our list bringing the total to six. Oh yeah, we also seem to be the headlining band. Well, sort of. We are the last band on for the entire day. Han Tae tells me there should be close to a thousand people there.

You'd figure I'd have learned by this point that plans here can change abruptly and dramatically and to expect all things unexpected. Well, apparently, I haven't.

So, in a little over a week, I have to learn to play two new songs, master playing all six songs while standing up, something I have never done before, and figure out how to get the day off at work (March 2 is a Wednesday). I'm fairly nervous about the whole thing. I'm not even sure if I'll be able to go. Laura is pretty certain she won't be able to, which changes the one song she was going to sing and eliminates the chance of having her take pictures. We'll be practicing every night until the day of the show, thus I'll likely not be posting much nor replying to many emails in that time, but I will catch up afterwards.

Oh yeah, Laura will be posting some of the pictures she took in Seoul soon, so keep an eye on her blog for those.

Guy

Fun in the chilly north...

Well, Seoul was a blast. The three of us (Laura, Andy, and I) managed to fit, into a span of three days and two nights, a visit to Deoksugung (a palace from the 17th century), a trip to the World Cup Stadium where we attempted to obtain tickets to the match between Korea and Kuwait that was to take place the next night (we failed), two nights out drinking in Itaewon (the designated "foreigner district" in Seoul), a long and memorable journey through the Seoul Contemporary Art Museum where there was an exhibit of digital art and its ubiquitous presence in the world (especially Korea) and how that effects the way people think, look, feel, etc. (it was pretty great), meeting up with some of Andy's friends as well as my friend Dave, shopping for clothing and gadgets, numerous subway trips, a trip up Seoul Tower (Laura and I did that, Andy went off on his own having done that before), and just an all around good time. Many pictures were taken by Andy and Laura (a few by me, but nothing all that memorable). Laura is busily sorting out the good ones and will likely post some up here soon enough. I'll send a notice when she does so that those of you interested can take a peek. My one regret is that we weren't able to meet up with my other friend, Myza, despite repeated attempts. Worst of all was that we had arranged to meet at Seoul Station for dinner before we hopped on our train home but somehow didn't see each other. I'm not exactly sure what happened and haven't heard from her since, but I hope all is well and that we'll be able to meet up in the future.

Hmm, that paragraph contains what may be the longest sentence I have ever written. Hurray for bad grammar!

Anyway, now it's time to concentrate on the arrival of Jon, Laura's brother, and our subsequent trip to Japan. As well, we're still waiting on notice from SFU whether we are in or not.

That's about all from me today. Oh yeah, just so you know, blogger has made it a bit easier to comment on stuff now, so please feel free to do so. The comment posting window now is a pop-up, so for those of you who block those, be aware.

Guy

I am attentively pink.

The best wrong answer ever.

This is a sentence given to me by a student on a test where I had her and her classmate write sentences using specific words. The word in this case was "attentively." I'm not sure what "attentively pink" means exactly (and I guess she isn't either), but I like the way it sounds.

In another interesting English malfunction, Han Tae and Yong came into class yesterday and immediately asked me to give them English names. I've known them for months now and found it strange that this was the first time they have asked for this. I wasn't sure what kind of names they wanted and told them that if they were concerned about English speakers not being able to pronounce their names then they should just spell their Korean names using the Roman alphabet. They agreed with this but immediately informed me that Yong had already come up with a name for himself and wanted to ask me my opinion of it. The name he had chosen: "Cock Wild." I'm not sure where he got it from or why exactly he wanted to be called that, but wow, did I ever have a good time explaining to him exactly why it wasn't such a great name to have.

An interesting side note to this naming business, Han Tae and Yong told me about a common Korean name that always catches foreigners off guard. The name is 박규 (pronounced "Pak Kyu"). Just say aloud, "Hi, my name is Pahk Kyu," once or twice, you'll understand.

And finally, one last bit of strangeness to to end this entry. I mentioned last time that next week is the Lunar New Year. Koreans treat it much like we treat Krissmuss; days off, travelling to see family, and gift giving. Well, I got a gift. It was a very nice gesture by the owner of the school to get me something and I appreciate it. I'm just a little confused and, frankly, extremely amused in his choice of gifts. I took a picture of it because I don't think describing it quite does it enough justice (plus, I just LOVE using Laura's new camera and any excuse to do so is fully utilized).



Yes, you see that correctly. I was given a case of canned ham. Happy Lunar New Year, everyone! I hope you, too, get ham.

Guy

The new colony is progressing nicely...

So, my life in the world of education has gone full circle from my days as an elementary school student. I am now teaching nuns. They arrived in my final class of the day yesterday. They were shown into the classroom by the director and immediately dove into their work. I was slightly startled at their sudden appearance, dressed in full habits (brown ones, if you were curious), but managed to continue on with my class without interruption. I think that I would be able to establish a successful colony now with my students, preferably on a tropical island as it's horribly cold here right now. My students are of varying ages from young children to adults, and all are fairly evenly distributed between male and female. I have doctors, Laura and I are educators (of sorts), and now I have nuns. (Un)fortunately, it's not the 17th century anymore and no one is shipping out boatloads of people to colonize the "uncivilized" parts of the world. Nope. It's planeloads now and we're here to spread the word of Angle-land. The Mormons, etc. have their own agenda.

In other news, Laura, Andy and I will be heading up to Seoul next week for the Lunar New Year (Sollal). For those of you unsure what that is, it is otherwise known as Chinese New Year, but keep in mind that when I said that to one of my doctor students, he seemed a bit offended and rather clearly stated that it is celebrated in Korea and Japan as well. Thus, I will just stick to calling it the Lunar New Year. Apparently, on the day of Lunar New Year, we can go to the Han River in Seoul and watch the kite fights. Not sure exactly what that will entail, but it sounds entertaining, regardless.

For those of you asking for news about the band I'm in, Junior Panthers, well, not much is going on. We're supposed to have a show on Feb. 20, but we can't seem to get together to practice very often and when we do, half the time we don't actually do anything. It shouldn't be too much of a problem as we're only doing four songs for the show and we all know them pretty well, but it can be a little frustrating to sit around a cold practice room, not practicing, while listening to the other three band members talk to each other in Korean. I'm sure we'll pull it all together in time, though.

Well, gotta go eat. I think pizza sounds good. Hopefully it tastes good, too.

Guy