A Nice Gift from a Friend

My old friend Paul recently returned from a trip to New Zealand to visit friends and family. He brought back a small gift for me in the form of two amber ales. A very thoughtful gift and delicious to boot.

This Amber Ale was more like an IPA

Anyway a delicious brew from New Zealand's North island, and it just adds to an already long list of reasons I was to visit New Zealand sooner rather than later. Thanks again Paul.

I am a Published Author

well sort of.

Moonkkang has been having a drive for new storybooks and biographies for schools in Korea and China. Anyway, after a few edits my biography on Babe Ruth was accepted.

It's cool to actually know that something I designed will be taught (for one week), and the 150,000 won bonus wasn't bad either ($140).

Though I haven't heard back about whether they want me to do another one or not, so they may not have been as excited with me as I am :P. They may also have enough materials already.

Regardless of it I do it again it was fun to do and I am happy to have that experience for myself and to put on my resume.

The $140 wasn't bad either.

Open Classes

This week y academy has open classes, where parents can come in to see how their children are doing. It is interesting to see which kids go with which parents. The kid who always interrupts me and the other student has a mother who answers her phone in class. The kid who chews like a horse has a mother who chews like a horse (thankfully not during class). The kid who is way too uptight for his age has a mom with a stick so far up her ass she must choke on it.  The kid who participates and has a great attitude has a mom who is smiling and interested in the materials I am using. Thankfully the last group makes up all my students save the three first examples.

I know that by the time they become teenagers their parents have about as much influence on them as I do, but at that age you can really see it.

The kids were certainly on their best behaviour, which didn't allow me to show off what really happens, though one girl made a sentence using her mom as an example that got laughs (except from before mentioned rectally challenged mother). The laughs from the parents were delayed as I think only one mother actually spoke any English.

Anyway I have my last one today then it is all done.

10 Years Ago

I am getting old.

Today is a bit of an anniversary for me. Ten years ago today I left Canada to head to Australia for a year on a working holiday visa. While that trip seems like ancient history the last leg of it, two nights in Hong Kong, changed the way I saw the world. It motivated me to get my degree so I could go out and see the world. Well ten years later and I've hit 11 countries and lived in three.

Anyway, to honour that I drank a VB

but no Carleton Draught was to be found

Anyway, I hadn't actually remember it until last night and it came back. I remember I had all of June 1st in Hong Kong airport. Just my luck, the free internet had been suspended from May 31st. Hard to believe it was so long ago actually. 

Before that time I had thought California was exotic (I didn't get on an airplane until I was 14, and it was to Los Angeles). I walked around thinking "palm trees? How can I be somehwere with palm trees?" Well I was only 14.

Anyway, a neat moment to look back on those 10 years. Some good, some not so much, but always fun. I am also happy to note that I actually feel better and happier now than I did then, so obviously whatever I am doing works.

A Working Saturday

Not esl teaching, but school work.

I had managed to get a bit behind on my schoolwork the last few weeks. Not being lazy, but after Manila I had a bit of trouble getting back in to the swing of things.

However, after yesterday I have managed to catch up on reading, hammer out a real outline for my paper and now I just need to get a few more sources/ideas and get writing.

With 9 weeks left I have plenty of time, but I want to start early...... I may have a working Saturday next weekend too.


I also managed to organize stuff for my Mom's visit in October. Now hat there is a lot to do at this point. Tickets from Busan to Osaka are booked and all the days I can get off are now reserved.


I also managed a run and a shop.


Not the most exciting weekend, but a productive one. I may have a few more like this in the next two years.

Buddha's Birthday

Last week was Buddha's Birthday, Friday to be exact, so I went around to a few of the temples around me to see the lights, enjoy the great weather and take a few pics.

Anyway here they are:

Woobang Tower from the Mountain

Small Temple Grounds

With Pond and Garden

Statues

Nice Flower

Sign for Next Temple

Grand Hall

Walking Path

Largest Building

Again

To be honest all three "temples" were a building or a small hut and a garden, but up on the mountains in the warm spring air they were very beautiful. 

In fact Korea in general is beautiful now, winter is finally over!

Korean Students Cheating.... Again

I got this post sent to me today, an article on how the American SAT's have been cancelled because private academies and even parents have been encouraging cheating on the test.

Not that cheating is unique to Korea by any means, but the attitude seems to be that it is only a problem if you get caught. The ethics of it are not an issue. This has led to many problems with Korean students in the west who are suspended for cheating, often without realizing they did it.

The article cites a few great examples, and is worth a read.

I certainly see it in my classes, though my current school has a tough stance on cheating (unlike other schools I have worked for) which is nice and leads to more honest results.

In the meantime Chinese and Indian students have a few more places next year at U.S universities.

Not Renewing at the Gym

With my membership set to expire this week I had thought about whether or not I wanted to renew. The truth is I don't.

Not that I am giving up getting healthy, but I find myself running outside, using the outdoor exercise machines, hiking and using the batting cages in Sangin. It's 27 degrees and sunny every day and the idea of running on a treadmill or being in a hot room lifting things up and putting them down again seems painful, and not motivating.

Also, gym workouts seem to be about getting stronger or cardio. Since I get better cardio outside and looking like Arnold is not my long term goal it seems better to be out and about.

I'll renew in November I am sure, but when the weather is this great I want to enjoy it.

Coworkers Wedding

On Friday night Paul came up from Ulsan to hang up. he had been back in New Zealand and then I had been off in the Philippines so we hadn't caught up in ages. We had bbq and a few beers and crashed out by 3.

On Saturday morning Paul got up and left and I got dressed up and went out to see my coworker get married.

The process of a modern Korean wedding deserves its own blog, but picture large wedding halls with several weddings going on at once at 60 minute intervals. It's a wedding factory, though there was no smoke machine and light show at this place.... but the karaoke was good, as was the buffet.

What was really nice though is spending time with all the coworkers outside of work. It doesn't happen a lot outside of formal work dinners.

I ended the Saturday off with a run around Sangin with Nathan, an old Sangin Moonkkang coworker who is giving me a crash course in running.

It was a good day and a half.

Buying Shoes

I guess I should consider myself lucky. At a U.S 9.5 size (Korean 270-275) I am usually able to buy shoes that fit me here, though not always. This month I have had to get two new pairs, a nice pair of runners and dress shoes. Now the runners I got in Goyang and there was no problem (even liked the style). But that is up near Seoul. In Daegu I was able to find a total of six pairs of shoes that actually fit me, two of which were actually decent looking. This was after looking at a couple of places. They were located bottom right of the rack where the biggest of the big shoes are put away.

I can only imagine what it is like for people with a size 11 to get shoes here. I know westerners have a hell of a time. The thing is that I do see large Koreans (over 6 feet) and I assume that they need bigger than 9.5. Maybe not?

Anyway, I have them with no real hassle. Just never thought of myself as having large feet before I moved to Korea.

Musings

With my life getting very busy I can't help but start to think about what comes when it is all done. To be honest I have written posts like this before and about 50% of them actually happen, but it can be good to throw ideas out there. Anyway here goes:

I am happy with my current job. Moonkkang is a good school, my bosses and co-workers are all great, kids are good and the pay and vacation are as good as you can expect from a hagwon. I have no complaints there.

However, it IS a hagwon and resigning would make it my fifth year in one. At this point it does nothing for me but provide a paycheque. A public school job would open more doors and look good on my resume. As would a university job and I will be looking in to that as well.

There is also Daegu. At one point I loved this town but I feel my time here is not as useful as it once was. Daegu is home to a host of westerners who come to Korea for a year or two to basically drink and piss about. Not that there's anything wrong with that but it amazes me how many esl teachers here have no idea what a verb is. It is not an environment that generates professionalism in anything. Seoul seems to have older people with real educational experience and a desire to improve themselves. Not that that is totally absent in Daegu, but the average age of an expat seems to be about 25, as opposed to 30-35 in Seoul. A new city would be a new adventure, regardless of the job I got there.

So options-

Daegu and Moonkkang are comfortable and I would certainly be happy enough to stay until my dissertation is about to start. In fact that may be the smartest thing to do. However, my school is based in Seoul, the centre of esl development in Korea is in Seoul. Most of my friends are in the greater Seoul area. Seoul and Gyeonggi-do would be a new area to explore. A public school gig would be a new challenge and one that would benefit me in a number of ways, heck even a hagwon in Seoul would provide new challenges and a new environment.

The fact is that I still have six months to decide so it's not a rush, just food for thought.

Philippines. A Few Thoughts

Well it is very hard to sum up a country, or even a city, after only a week so I am not going to try. However, I will point out a few things I noticed.

- Diversity. Not to make this a dump on Korea thing, but Korea can often lack for real diversity. Everyone seems to like Kpop, Korean or Koreanised food and dress in a very similar way. In contrast the Philippines has guys who looked like Iron Maiden roadies, businessmen, beach bums etc. Various cabs and stores had music ranging from Metallica to Billy Ray Cyrus. There was western fast food, high end cuisine from all over the world (that was authentic) and various Filipino food as well.

- Latin feel. I guess being a Spanish colony for so long it was bound to happen, but the Philippines felt almost Latin rather than Asian. Catholic churches instead of Buddhist temples. Spanish names. Shopping malls. In fact wealthier parts of Manila reminded me more of Los Angeles than of Bangkok, Seoul or Taipei.

- Why does Manila get so much hate? As a tourist destination everyone dumps on it. I sort of get it but not really. The poverty is intense, as is the begging and touts. However it is not much worse than parts of Bangkok and certainly much better than Cambodia and India from what I have heard. Not to be dismissive of poverty but if it bothers you so much why did you travel to a third world country? Also, much of the poverty is related to drugs. In some ways it seems like east Hastings st. in Vancouver. However most Filipino's seemed very hard working and were getting by. Also their attitude was amazing, but more on that below. As to the city, there isn't that much to see in Manila, in fact a day is probably enough, but there is lots to do. We found a few cool places to eat and drink and shop. Taxi's will overcharge but so what? It's like $1. Plus if you are on your way to Boracay you will paying triple the norm for everything in the Philippines anyway so who cares?

- Island time. 20 minutes for a beer, 17 hours for a 9 hour bus ride. Island time.

- The countryside. Much though I just defended Manila, the countryside is where it's at. It is stunning and very clean.

- People. Filipino's may be the friendliest people I have ever met. Even coke head cabbie was nice. Friendly, honest, laid back and hard working. I was about to have a dig at Koreans here but in fact Canadians could learn a thing or two from Filipino's as well.

Banaue

After two days in Manila we decided to head up to Banaue. Our bus left at 10pm and was supposed to arrive between 6-7am the next day. However a massive traffic jam had us halted for hours and we finally rolled in at 3pm! Worse is that it was an old Korean intercity bus that I know for a fact makes the rounds between Andong and Daegu (around 1.5 hours) and is designed accordingly. Anyway it was a story.

However it was well worth it as when we made it to the hotel, the Native Village Inn up in the mountains, we were treated to absolutely stunning views of the rice terraces.

You can read all about them here.

This is among the most amazing places that I have ever been and the fact that it is relatively inaccessible, usually requiring a driver and often a guide, makes it quite remote and thus not a touristy as other parts of the Philippines.

We did two days of intense hiking (though the heat and humidity made it worse than it actually was I think) but saw some amazing scenery. We also managed a dip in a hot spring and swim in a cool river next to a huge waterfall. I can't say enough about it so here is a few pics:

Manila

So I am not sure why this city gets so much hate. It is big, polluted and has some fairly intense poverty, but no more so than other third world cities. However the people are friendly, the place is a safe as you can get with those conditions and there is a lot to do, if not a lot to see.

We landed at 1030 and made our way quickly to our hotel, Casa Bocobo (an amazing hotel, I would recommend it to anyone). We then went to explore Intramuros, the old Spanish centre of government (and after 1898 American/Japanese). It was actually really run down except for the sections that you paid to get in to. We spent two days walking around the walls and exploring the neighbouring Rizal Park and National Museum. It was fun.

Intramuros is the old fortified city built in the 16th century by Spanish conquerors. From here they ruled the Philippines until 1898. The area has several huge churches (unfortunately closed for repairs/maintenance), huge walls with a fort and a golf course (seriously). Inside the walls (what Intramuros means in Latin) there are many old Spanish buildings, small shops and a few too many touts. Still a great place to see.

We started out by grabbing a cab to San Augustine Church, which was unfortunately closed. We then walked around the wall and shops. On the way we had a great view of the city, some good street food and several children running around exposing themselves to tourists (seriously). They seemed to think it was funny and they were like five so no real harm I guess. The next day we also got a look at the Pasig river, which cuts through Manila to the bay and is notorious as one of the most polluted rivers in the world, which unfortunately was true. We also managed to visit the old fort and Rizal monument (Rizal was an independence figure who was executed by the Spanish in 1898 for treason - we wrote about Philippine independence - after he was executed the Philippines descended in to chaos and when the Americans showed up the Spanish were in no position to put up a fight. Thus Rizal is credited with being a martyr for Filipino independence). The fort was amazing and well maintained.

South of it is Rizal Park, an area that is very clean and well maintained in a city that is not otherwise so. There are several huge monuments to various Philippine independence fighters (independence from Spain and Japan). It is a great place just to hang out. There is a noticeable security presence there which may account for the cleanliness and safety. In the park is a fountain and Chinese gardens. On the east side of the park is the National Museum of the Philippines which is actually interesting and informative without being overly patriotic and one sided (not always the case in Asian museums).

On the Saturday night we also found a small Aussie bar and an open air place with live bands. The Aussie bar was actually really depressing, as it was just old expats drinking by themselves (we were the youngest guys in there by twenty years). Some were married to Filipino's but none seemed to be there for any reason or have any purpose, just boozing until they die. Sad actually. the open air bar however was amazing. Two live cover bands and a guy who wanted 100 peso's to give a massage and would ambush you while you were using the urinal. We also had beer towers and decent food (though heavily fried).

We also managed to visit the Chinatown, though the only thing Chinese about it was a sign that welcomed you to Chinatown. We also visited Makati, a very upscale part of Manila where most high end hotels are located. However there is nothing to actually do there besides go shopping.

Other notable stuff included our cabbie who was clearly on something getting us to Oyahami bus terminal in record time and the Starbucks with an armed guard as a sort of greeter.

Manila seems to get a lot of hate but I don't get it. It is a bit stressful at times and in some areas the poverty is painful (we did see a homeless child using a plastic bag as a toilet in the middle of a crowded sidewalk) but if you have any common sense you can enjoy it well enough, though two days is probably enough.