|
|
|
November 21st, 2009
05:16 am - Cleaning Day
unless I've got plans, Saturday is my cleaning day. This week's chores included the bathroom and the sink, as well as getting rid of the storage of pop cans and bottles (omigosh, I almost said soda! I'm losing it). Anyway, the bathroom was a nightmare. I" had no idea I shed so much. >_< The drain was clogged thanks to that, and I spent some time just cleaning that up. I find hairs everywhere nowadays, which is absolutely gross to me. I'm not going bald, so why do I shed so much?
The next step was the sink. The sink is even worse than the bathroom. Korean sinks just stink. Literally. They have a bucket to catch all the food particles. You're supposed to recycle them. I guess. I just throw them away and try not to throw up.
After my second water mat started to break, I bought some water shoes. These shoes are made specifically for the bathroom and are not meant to be used around the house! I also bought some indoor shoes as I'm sick of walking around in my shoes or in my socks. The shoes always leave crap all over and the socks just get dirty. So instead I bought some shoes. Whoot me, I am turning Asian. *rolls eyes*
Tomorrow is laundry day!
I have no life.
I finally got a mood theme. I spent a great deal of my short morning uploading the image and then setting it to livejournal. The theme I chose was DNAngel. The images are in black and white which is depressing, but DN's characters have a lot of great expressions, and the characters are just adorable.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd8/nanoklik/bored-1.png) bored
|
November 20th, 2009
12:58 pm - Korea has an open portal to hammer space. If only I knew how to control it....
I'm a little bummed I lost my flash drive. I put it in my mini purse in my purse and it just disappeared. That was a nice USB with fifteen gigs on it.... First my Armitron watch and now my USB. What really makes me mad is that I put it in a special area of my purse so it wouldn't get lost instead of just shoving it in my pocket like I normally do and THAT'S when I lose it. I have such bad luck. >_< I hate you, Korea! Give me back my stuff! XD
I guess I'll have to suck it up and buy a new one next time I visit Ikasu. I don't think I'll find a better deal on USBs here. I miss my USB ;-;
I went to a sort of party tonight, which was a little weird. It involved people eating pizza, drinking too much alcohol and talking. If this is socializing, I don't want much of a part in it. It actually seems kinda boring to me. The guy who hosted it has his hous really trendy, which kind of made me jealous. My house is basically a glorified dorm room, and I have to admit that sometimes I feel like I'm in a dorm, what with all the ruckus I hear outside all the time.
In addition to all this, I started a new drama. At my friend's request, I started to watch "Full House", a Korean drama about this girl who loses her home and ends up working for this j-pop singer who's actually Rain as his housekeeper. Apparently they get married later on, a marriage of convenience, but as most korean dramas go, he winds up falling in love with her. So far the whole reason she lost her home is dumb and her reaction even worse, but other than that it's enjoyable. I notice a lot of Korean dramas have ridiculous storylines. One is about a woman who's not sure of the father of her baby, so all three men decide to help her take care of the child. I'm like, "hello? DNA test? Figure out which one is the real father? Duh." But whatever.
It's suuuuuuper late so I go to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd8/nanoklik/sad.png) sad
|
November 16th, 2009
10:33 am - Video Spam!
Video of Lelou and Suzaku
Suzaku is the brown/gray one and Lelouch is the white/gray one.
|
November 14th, 2009
09:55 pm - New camera! Expect camera spam in the near future
So I bought a new camera at Yongsan. I even asked for a receipt, which seems to have vanished somewhere along the way on my trip back home. This ticks me off immensely since I had to special ask for one, though I'm not sure if the receipt would have worked anyway. I just have to hope it doesn't crap out on me any time this year or I'll be extremely ticked off. The people kept trying to sell me Kodak when all I wanted was Nikon or Canon. I looked up reviews on all the cameras and most people recommended those. But Canon was way out of my budget, so I stuck with the Nikon. The guy even threw in an extra battery and a 2 gig SD card for it. Yay. But I still spent way too much. Why are cameras so darn expensive anyway?
I'm just not going to think about it and hope my mom's camera disaster was a fluke.
So today I finished FullMetal Alchemist. It had be eons since I first saw it. I didn't realize at the time how much the show was prepping for the movie. Like before, I liked and disliked the ending. It was full of hope, but no results. Those who watched Metropolis with me can remember how I feel about that. XD
Anyway, now that I'm done with FMA I'm going to start Brotherhood. It's only 26 for now, so I think I can handle it.
Looked into FF13's battle system a little more and decided against getting it altogether. I was a little tempted since I have the system for it and I have so little 360 games, but I can't say any of the characters really impress me, and the battle system is still turn based. Sure it's action turn based, but when you get down to it it's the same old thing. I guess we should be thankful they aren't going the FF12 route again. But for me, I've grown tired of ATB. I can handle it in some games like Shadow Hearts of Legend of Dragoon, but that's because they add something extra to it. There's not enough work in normal ATB, so I try to avoid it. And now the most horribly shallow reason of all, I don't really want to play as Lightning. As much as I liked FF9, I have to conclude that I'm just not that into final fantasy games. Never have been, and it doesn't look like I ever will be. Sorry, Squeenix, but no money from me!
I kind of want to play VS 13, though I have to admit that the game has disappointed me a little since they are not trying to go with the whole "realistic" look instead of the original semi-realistic look. It would work, except for the fact that main character has blue hair that's styled in a funky way. Now it just looks like he soaked and gelled it, as it's plastered to his head in an odd attempt to make it look more "realistic". Disappointing, Squeenix. Very disappointing.
I guess the Xbox 360 will have to suffer from lack of love until something else comes along for it. >_<
Student evals are done and so is my article for my church's newsletter. I'm a free man woman again! Now if work would improve life would be just grand.
Current Music: Everclear- I Will Buy You a Garden
|
November 11th, 2009
08:34 pm - free time is a go go.
[about Borderlands]The game is described by Gearbox Software as an "RPS," or "role-playing shooter."
Let's hope a name like this sticks. I'm sick of people trying to tell me games like Half-Life and Fallout are RPGs. Shooter + role playing does not always equal RPG to me.
It's funny how most people seem to think "hardcore" gamers play shooters and games like GTA. When I was younger, my brothers were into those sorts of games (except GTA. Thankfully, we never bought that game) and I, nor they, ever considered themselves "hardcore gamers". If anything, they were casual gamers. Even now, my brother only really plays casual games with his kids. It's either Mario Kart Wii with the kids or some shooter or racer on his own time. I can't call that hardcore. So it's funny that people who play those types of games are considered hardcore.
I've always felt that people who play niche games are really the ones who are more "hardcore" since they play titles that are not very well known. This means they keep an eye on games that are coming out and actively seek them out. They don't play what's popular, they play what looks appealing to them.
Speaking of videogames, now that I'm done with my student reports I can play Destiny again! I am really looking forward to that. I might even try playing as Leon. I played as him in VS instead of Kyle, and I actually preferred him. He's much more agile and lighter than Kyle, so he was able to jump from platform to platform much easier.
I played a little bit of Heartgold last night and I'm up to the red Gyrados. I was surprised by how easily I caught him, though I did use a speed ball. I pitted Ampharos against him, used thunder wave to paralyze him, then thunder punch. By that time he was nearly dead. Then I used a speed ball and BAM. He was mine. I don't remember it being that easy when I was a kid, and I was a little surprised since the rest of the game seems a little tougher. It's not that that's a bad thing, it just means I have to level up more before I fight gyms.
I'm now on a quest with Lance, I mean Wataru, to fight the evil Rockets. I think I may level up some of my pokemon first though. Does anyone remember what level Sandshrew evolves to Sandslash? I think it's 21, but since I never got a chance to have Sandshrew in my party thanks to my affinity with the red version which doesn't have him in it, I don't remember exactly,
Got to work on the letter for Church tonight, since I think it's due this Sunday. I think I know what to write about now, so now I just have to do it!
Apparently the people my dad's working for might have a job lined up for them for the next five years, if they can get the permits for it! Please pray that he gets it!
Current Music: The Devil went down to Georgia
|
03:15 pm - Pepero Day!
And no one noticed my mess up the whole grading thing. I am awesome.
Student Reports are finished! I kept the other save copy of EC2, just in case how I did them before was right. I'm not sure I did an awesome job, but I did it! And I'm one of the first ones done. haha. I guess sometimes I'm not as bad of a procrastinator as I thought.
I've acquired a few blog claims these past few days, so I'm thinking about changing my profile layout. Maybe I'll work on it this Saturday...It'll probably be Graces related, to match my current layout. I've never really made a layout before though, so this is gonna be interesting.
I got word from my mom about my digital camera. She told me to go buy a new one next time I go to Seoul. Aw, darn. I was really kind of hoping she'd let me use hers, though since she bought it for school I guess there's no way. I'm gonna read reviews online and look for a good brand, though I'm kind of leaning toward Nikon since I'm family with that kind. I guess this means I won't be getting a new mp3 player any time soon. Oh well.
One of the office ladies gave me a Pepero today. I thought that was so sweet considering they hardly know me! To explain it more clearly, Pepero is a knock off of Pocky here in Korea. November 11 is Pepero day, and it's sort of like Valentine's Day in the US. People exchange pepero or candy with others. It's supposed to be a romantic holiday, though I guess it's really for anyone.
Well, work will begin soon, so it's time for me to get started. Hope everyone has a great day!
Current Location: work
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd8/nanoklik/blah-1.png) blah
|
November 8th, 2009
08:36 am - ....
Aya is struggling not to rant about the stupidity of Wii bashers. I hate Wii bashers. Absolutely hate them. Sometimes I can agree with them, but their arrogance and ignorance just pisses me off. Most of them complain because, heaven forbid, the Wii is not targeting THEM. I mean, how DARE it target someone other than them. That kind of behavior just ticks me off immensely. The world does not circulate around you, buddy. There are other types of people who like to play games, and not all of them want shooters! BAH. I don't even know why I bother with those morons. All they do is tick me off. I need to spend more time playing games instead of talking about them, I guess.
I really need to start avoiding video game discussions.
On a better note, I'm nearly finished with my student evaluations. I decided to let some of my newer students reports go, as I just recently got three new kids and one who returned to take the exam last week. I'm not sure if she's staying, but if she does I have to write a report on her as well. I haven't had much experience with any of these students, so I'm giving them one more day until I write up their reports.
I hate writing reports because I never know what to say. I end up making up a bunch of crap. It probably would have helped if they had told us from the get go that we were doing evaluations instead of just springing them on us. I would have liked to know so I could evaluate my students' progress the entire term instead of trying to remember what they were like then and compare and contrast it to how it is now. Some of them I don't even know what to write about...
I began marathoning FullMetal Alchemist in English.... Yes, In English. I had never seen the dub besides the movie, which I actually bought. It's taking a little getting used to, but for the most part it's all right. I know like 3/4 of the VA from other stuff. Well, that's funimation for you, I guess. I skipped the earlier eps because the Nina one always makes me sad, but I ran smack dab into the Hughes death. I was completely fine until his daughter, Elicia, started crying that they couldn't bury daddy because he had work to do. Yeah, he comes the water works. Okay, not really. But I will admit that I teared up. I usually don't CRY, but I do tear up at moments like that. Ah...and this is why I originally didn't want to rewatch FMA. But once you start you can't go back. Heh.
Maybe after this I'll actually be able to finish Brotherhood. Maybe.
Played a little bit of Pokemon Heartgold as well. I beat Goldenrod's gym. The gym leader there is a major pain. I hated her Miltank back when I played the original Gold, and guess what guys? I still hate it. Killed my entire party except for my level 16 Sandshrew, which I knew would die in one hit, and Quagsire, who I managed to keep alive thanks to super potions. I ended up winning, but just barely. And now I'm headed off to the next town. I'm a little miffed I missed Goldenrod's poke park contest by one day. For some reason I thought it was on Sunday, but it turns out it's on Saturday. Bummer. The game is super addicting and I spent nearly the entire day playing it while pretending to work on my evals. I am such a horrid procrastinator. Granted, my evals aren't actually due till Wednesday, so I guess I'm not THAT bad.
And now I have to start thinking about the article for my church's monthly newsletter. >_< Will I ever get a moment to sit back and enjoy Tales of Destiny? I'm beginning to think not.
PS. You know your English is starting to fail when you can't remember how to spell "nobody" and the first spelling that pops into your mind is "no buddy". Um, yeah. That really works.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd8/nanoklik/annoyed-1.png) annoyed
Current Music: Wada Hiroki- Mystic Eyes
|
November 7th, 2009
04:33 am - Exam week over!
So exam week is over at CDI. Overall it was a good and bad week. Good because I didn't have to do much in means of teaching, but bad because my EC2 kids misbehaved and got in trouble with the director (I was out of the room doing speaking tests somewhere else ata the time), the computers were acting up, and my boss thinks that one minute after break is way too late to be handing in papers and actually came to my room to get them. Now that wasn't embarrassing. X_X
But I'm glad they're over. Now we can go back to normal classes and my normal, routine life will continue.
I spent the majority of the morning working on Student Evaluations. I checked my mail and got some more from my coworker and only then did I realize I was doing EC2 wrong. My HI never bothered to mention to me that EC classes use a different form. Thanks to that, I had to do it all over again. >_< I was about ready to kill something at that point, so when I finished I turned on the PS2 and released some steam by playing Destiny. We met up with Leon, who we're to accompany with to fight some people (I'm not really sure why. I was really tired at this point). My characters are "bad guys" at this point, so Leon got a nice shocker that shocks and paralyzes my characters whenever he feels it necessary. Which is basically whenever they say or do something he doesn't like. Also met Marianne who calls Leon by his real name (PSST!It's Emilio, guys), and we headed off. And then I stopped to take a nap. Why do I always stop right when it's getting exciting? I have no clue.
So everybody's talking about it: The Wii version of Vesperia. Even IGN, which is freakishly slow when it comes to news. This is only a rumor taken off of a bad translation that comes from the guy that does Duke's voice in the Japanese's blog. Personally, I think it's a bad way of phrasing or a mistake, but whatever. If it comes, it comes. If it doesn't, it doesn't.
So when did Tokyopop license Bloody Kiss, anyway? I guess I'll have to pick up those volumes when I get back to the US...
I took some shots of the images from the Kor novels with my cell phone the other day and wanted to post them, but the quality was so bad it was embarrassing. Nevertheless, if anyone wants to see them, lemme me know and I'll send them via AIM or email.
Well, back to student evaluations.
Current Music: Dr. Love- Don't Stand so Close to Me
|
November 4th, 2009
09:15 pm - Currently Playing: Pokemon Heartgold
( Pokemon Heartgold talk )
Current Location: home
Current Music: Plain White T's- Hey There Delilah
|
November 2nd, 2009
07:46 pm - Pokemon Haato Gold wo getto shita
So my package arrived at work last night. I spent the whole day thinking about it, which wasn't hard since we're doing testing and there's not much for me to do but walk around looking busy. Anyway, the moment I got home I opened the stuff and voila! There it was.
My package contained:
Pokemon Heart Gold
Kratos cell phone charm
Kratos prop plus petite figurine
I haven't put together the kratos figurine because I'm afraid if I open him up I'll end up losing the pieces somewhere along the route from Korea to the US, so in his bag he stays.
But I did take some shots of the others. This was taken with my cell phone, so quality may vary.
( My Stuff )
This week is exam week for school, and with student report due soon as well, we are extremely busy. I don't know how much I'll be online for the next few days. Please pray I get through exam week and student reports sucessfully.
By the way, the pokewalker is awesome. Epic win, Nintendo. Epic win.
Current Mood: ![[mood icon]](http://i226.photobucket.com/albums/dd8/nanoklik/stressed.png) stressed
|
October 31st, 2009
04:56 am - Hunting for a PS2
( Hunting for a PS2 )
Watched Vampire Diaries 7. Vicky apparently dies. Well, that was a waste of time. Though maybe the producer still has something planned for her...
EDIT: My camera has decided it doesn't want to work again. This is so irritating. I seriously regret not bringing the Nikon. But I'm probably not going to buy a new camera. I don't really use the digital camera much in the US, and my parents have a perfectly functioning camera that's only a year old. Too bad the DSi are so expensive. I could just use that to take pictures. XD
Current Music: The Supremes- Please Mr. Postman
|
October 30th, 2009
11:43 am - Happy Halloween and stuff
So work was pretty lousy the other day, but today it was better. Even though Halloween is on the 31st, we celebrated it a day early. I gave candy out to my kids, cuz I'm such a nice teacher and everything (LIES). I am SO glad that it's Saturday and I have no work till Monday. Weekends are the best thing ever invented.
Next week is level up (or testing) week. Whoot.
On a better note, my pokemon game shipped to its location, and Omi, who is the most awesome friend ever, has mailed it to me, along with a few other things. Pictures once I get the stuff! Hopefully it should come by next week. I am looking forward to reliving my childhood again.
I had a dream about my church in the US the other day... Man, it made me miss home so much. I haven't been sleeping too well lately, and when I do I get dreams like that. The church I go to here is okay, but it's definitely not as uplifting as the one back home. Well, c'es le vie, right?
I changed my AIM name to "castignier" because my mom keeps using my nanoklik one. I actually wanted "feder" or "yaminokaitou", but AIM was stupid and wouldn't let me. So Omi and I were joking about how we should put in castignier and it worked! Emil Castignier didn't work, but castignier worked. Go figure, right? So don't be surprised if I talk to you on AIM and you get a message from castignier. That's just me.
Time for bed. Ja
Current Music: McCoys- Hang on Sloopy
|
October 27th, 2009
08:28 pm
So I ordered Pokemon Heartgold yesterday and my order went through today. Yay. It should ship to Japan on the 30th, meaning I should get it sometime in November. I'm ridiculously excited about this....
I watched Ponyo last night with my friend Charles. It was super cute, but it kinda left me wanting more. I guess the problem is that it raised a lot of themes and thoughts and didn't really develop them as they should. The version was in Korean and Japanese. We played 3/4 of it in Japanese, but every so often we switched it to Korean because he liked that version better.
I don't know how much I've been writing about this, but I'm now past the first season of Hetalia. I'd been meaning to watch that show forever, but I could never find downloads for it. I'm now around ep 30. How do I like it? It's hilarious. I'm not one for comedy anime, but Hetalia is the exception to that rule. I guess it's just funny seeing all the countries stereotypes put on a platter in front of you like that.
AMERICA IS SO FREAKING ACCURATE THAT IT'S SCARY. We just want to be everyone's HERO! That's all. The world police. Yep. That's the US for ya. Though we're no THAT obsessed with hamburgers.
China is awesome with all the china towns (they need to start up some buffets. They have loads of them in the US), Japan is awesome (all the mini boats that turn into a mecca), and Italy is Italy. I think Germany's the only sane one. XD
I'm probably going to try out the manga. I really want to see South Korea and I really doubt he'll ever be in the show.
Well, time for work. Today is a half day, and I am stoked.
Current Music: Faye Wong- Eyes on Me
|
October 25th, 2009
10:15 am - You might be a Dutch Calvinist if.....
This is for those of you grew up thinking John Calvin was God's right-hand man. You know what TULIP, total depravity, and creation-fall-redemption means and you are not afraid to share it. You live in a world where everyone and their neighbor's dog is descended from some Dutch immigrant and your grandparents still talk about the "old country". You live with the hope that one day you'll go into another part of the world and someone will say, "Whoa, you're DUTCH? I've never met anyone who's Dutch" (there must be places like that somewhere!). You have worn klompen shoes on more than one occasion and you live for a good game of Dutch bingo.
Maybe you're not proud of it, and maybe it's only by association, but you are a Dutch Calvinist.
This is freaking awesome. See how many are true for you and post your results!
( You might be a Dutch Calvinist if... )
My own personal:
*you think a little less of your sister-in-law's Dutchness because she writes your, and now her, last name wrong, even though she claims to know its meaning.
*Your parents still use Dutch words occasionally, even though they know no Dutch and neither do their parents. (my niece calls my mom "Oma". And that's just the tip of the iceberg)
*You are depressed that the 'old country' isn't what it used to be.
*You insist on calling it the Netherlands, even though all the non-Dutch people call it "Holland".
*You have heard, or used, the phrase "If you ain't Dutch, you ain't much"
*half your decorations are blue and white dishes and cups or wall hangings; most of which have been passed down through your family.
*You have an album dating back to your ancestors' first arrival in the US, complete with pictures, news clippings and letters.
*You have wooden shoes.
*You have a Bible or hymnal in Dutch, even though you don't speak the language
*You know what PR and PK means.
Yeah, it's good to be Dutch. I guess.
Current Music: Toby Mac- I'm Yours
|
October 24th, 2009
09:06 pm - Pokeymanz and school
So I talked to my mom last night and she told me it was A-OK to buy Pokemon Heartgold online. Thanks for making me feel worse about doing it, Mom. The biggest problem is that it goes over my $50 budget. It may have free shipping to Korea, but that doesn't justify paying $60 for a game I could get for $35 in English. But the other problem is that I don't want it in English. I've played the game years ago in English, and this time I really want to play the game in Japanese. But my biggest concern is my family's lack of money. My mom says it's okay and I can just pay her back later, but I'd feel bad draining her credit card when my dad's not working. My bank account does have my mom's name on the pass book, so I'm hoping that she can just withdraw money herself from my account. That would make me feel infinitely better. But I need to talk to Omi first before I even think about hitting the purchase button....
So my mom's thinking about going back to school to get her master's, which has prompted me to think about my future again. My mom suggests I go back to school and get my master's, but in what? I was looking at Purdue's Master's program and there wasn't anything that I really wanted. I took the opportunity to look at Valpo's list too. I couldn't find any master's classes there, but I did get hit smack in the face with Japanese again. I couldn't originally take any classes there because they interfered with my work and class schedule, and then in my senior year I just didn't have any time, but I'm kind of tempted. If I study very hard, especially on kanji, I could probably test into intermediate Japanese, at the very least. The program also allows you to get a chance to go to Oosaka, which would be really cool. Oosaka's not exactly where I want to go since I don't know much about the kansai dialect, but I'd love to go to Japan and study. After Korea it might be refreshing since I know at least some Japanese.
But I don't know. The more I play Japanese games and the more I'm in Korea the more I want my Japanese to improve, but I'm not sure if going to Valpo and taking classes would reap any benefits long term. I could get a minor in Japanese and take the JLPT, but would that help me get a job involving Japanese? Could I do it without a master's in the language? I don't know... that'll be something to look into. But at the same time, isn't it okay to do something you like like that, even if it doesn't reap rewards? Is there something wrong with finally pursuing something I like even if it gives me nothing but satisfaction in return? That's also something to think about.
So, my wonderful f-list, what do you all think?
Current Music: Azu feat. SEAMO- Jikan wo Tomare
|
02:55 am - I am such a horrible person
So I went from having no books to tons of books, all thanks to the wonderful internet. The only things that makes me feel better about it is that I can't buy the books here without a credit card, which I don't own and can't get since I'm not a Korean citizen, and I own a majority of these books. I just couldn't bring them with me due to space issues. I can't understand how people can use kindles or e-books to read their stuff. I mean, I can handle reading manga on the computer because it's mostly pictures, but I can't stand reading large amounts of text on the computer. I don't know what, but there's something irritating about staring at a screen with nothing but text. I guess I'm just lame like that.
I've been playing a lot of Tales of VS lately, and now I am nearly finished with Lloyd and Colette. To be honest, playing as Leon and Kyle was much easier. Colette is powerful, when she hits. But unless Lloyd is there to distract the enemies she has no way of successfully casting without getting interrupted.
I like VS, but it's also incredibly annoying sometimes. I hate monks, and the voice acting grates on my nerves at times. Neverless, I continue to play it in hopes of unlocking some of my favorite characters and seeing how the stories end. I'm not too sure which story I want to do after I beat Lloyd's. I wouldn't mind trying out Yuri's, I guess, though the whole Yuri and Farah team is a bit of a turn off. I like Yuri, and Farah's okay, but together? I don't know. I can't really see why Namco paired the two together.
Instead of working on my homework, I spent the afternoon watching some old movies: Star Wars IV: A New Hope and Unleashed, though mostly the were on for background while I played through VS. We were watching March of the Penguins at school and the whole Morgan Freeman voice over made me want to watch Unleashed. I actually have the DVD back home, though here it's download or nothing. Apparently in Korea the movie is called "Danny the Dog". ....I think I like the title Unleashed better.
This weekend is going to mostly revolve around doing student evaluations. Now if I could just find the motivation to actually do it.
Current Music: Kaida Yuki- Maru Kaite Chikyuu ~Chuugoku vers.~
|
October 21st, 2009
10:50 am - なんか悲しい
AURGH. I hate children. Had an okay day at work today until one of my students accidentally poked the other in the eye. I was about to yell at him, but one of the students was in the middle of reading her report, and I didn't want to interrupt her. But next time I'm gonna have to. Next time I will take of points for that sort of thing. I am gonna have to learn how to toughen up.
In two weeks we're having testing, and then hopefully these kids will move out of my classes. I might also get new classes, though I don't want to do any of the level 2 classes. I'm perfectly content to stay in Memory English and English chip.
To console myself, I went out on a bike ride after work and biked to one of the shopping stores. Every time I have a 500 won coin I go to the gashopan. There's one they have here that has pokemon figurines. The closet pokemon fan that I am, I always waste my 500 coins on that. This time I got Shinx! Whoot! My main target is Scizor, but Shinx is pretty cute too. After that I went to McDonald's and ordered myself a cheeseburger and then went home and watched Kimi ni Todoke episode 3. KnT always makes one feel better. Kazehaya-kun is like Sawako said, refreshing, I guess.
I had a dream Pokemon Heartgold was on sale on yesasia for $40, and I couldn't buy it because I don't have a credit card. Am I lame or what?
I've also started to learn a bit of Hangul, the Korean alphabet. I still can't write anything, but my reading is improving. I've been practicing writing the characters over and over again, and I seem to finally be picking it up a little. It also helped that Yuri-san helped me by explaining to me how Hangul works. But I can't get the Hangul to work on my computer right. I type in the letters, but they don't shape together like they're supposed to. What a pain. Anyway, hopefully I will soon be able to read and write it fluently.
I electrocuted myself again tonight. I've really got to stop doing that.
Current Music: Kansas- Dust in the Wind
|
October 20th, 2009
11:53 am - Room clean up
Somehow I feel ridiculously cold, even though my room is 25 degrees celsius (77 fahrenheit). What's up with that? I think it wouldn't be so bad if it weren't so windy outside all the time. It chills you to the bone, and so even when you go inside you're sitll cold. My co-worker asked me if I was running the heat and I said no. I'm cold, but I think the heat would just make me sick since it's not cold in my room, really. It's just my body's poor circulation.
It's starting to get colder at night, so I moved my bed around. I can no longer go online from my bed, which really saddens me, but oh well. My computer now sits on a desk like it should, next to my microwave. I actually cleaned my room nicely and it makes me feel SO much better. I posted a video of it on my soul_to_seoul account if you'd like to see.
We're doing student reports this week, and in a few weeks the kids will take level up exams to see if they are ready for the next level. Here's hoping my Tera kids all pass so I don't have to deal with them anymore. XD
I started a Japanese journal on ameblo, mostly because my Japanese sucks and I thought it could help me improve. I have the site as a link on my main page, so visit that if you're interested in seeing it. Ameblo has quite pretty layouts, and I really am enjoying mine.
Classes were decent today. Tera didn't even do anything bad. I was amazed.
Well, work tomorrow. Time for bed.
|
October 19th, 2009
10:38 am - Pros and Cons of Korea
It's starting to get chilly here. Today was sunny, but the wind was really strong. It nearly blew me into work. I'm going to move my bed once it gets too cold to sleep. I haven't had to deal with that yet, but it may change soon. Korea doesn't have very good insulation, especially around the windows.
Today was slightly better. I wasted more time with Memory Giga during the lesson so we'd have less free time. We still had about five minutes left, so I talked bands with one of my students. She's really into this Korean band called Big Bang. She also listens to j-pop. She knew how Ellegarden was, which made me happy.
EC2 was good, until the last half hour. I am trying to think of things I can do to keep these kids busy, because if I try to get them to watch a movie or something else, they just go psycho. Kids that young should not be locked up in school all day. They need to run around and burn off that excess energy. Bah. I'm not any more of a fan of Korean schools than I am of Chinese ones. >_< I think Asia in general is far too obsessed with school and doesn't let kids have enough time to go out and have fun. I'm not saying they all need to be as awesome as American schools (*heavy sarcasm here*), but kids need to be kids!
Anyway, from what I can tell, I like Korea, even if I don't completely love my job here. There are plenty of things that bug me, but it's not like my own country didn't either. Some things I dislike are:
1) I get yelled at for talking on the bus/subway, even though other Koreans are talking too, some even on their cell phones. Not fair.
2) People have to use special garbage bags here, and they throw their garbage on the streets instead of in a can. It's kind of gross.
3) The lack of a dryer for clothes
4) The lack of a dishwasher
5) crappy insulation
6) clothes are expensive
7) Dominoes and Pizza Hut. The two pizza parlors I hate most are the only American pizza places in Korea. WTF. They have "weird" toppings too.
8) no free refills. This makes me very sad
9) Korea's obsession with alcohol and smoking. LAME.
10) Korean food is spicy. Aya cannot eat spicy food.
11) the inconvenience of shopping at Lotte Mart. You cannot get food at Lotte Mart then go and look at a different floor. You have to drop off your bags somewhere, like in the car or whatever, before you can go to another floor.
12) People littering like crazy.
Some things I like about Korea:
1) cheap good transportation. I don't even have to drive!
2) cheap video games and electronics! If you know where to shop
3) fun monuments and old buildings like castles and shrines
4) the presence of McDonald's, Subway, Burger King, Outback Steakhouse, KFC, and etc
5) Busan
6) being so close to the ocean
7) how everything closes at 12 am
8) it's a very safe country
9) Pepsi! Cheaper than Coke!
10) convenience stores. Especially the fact that they have one in my building
11) Book Off. Even if I have to go to Seoul to get to it
12) good side walks and bike lanes
13) pretty clean, despite all the litter. They have people who go around and garbage pick all day
14) good internet
15) Bulgogi. Soooooo good.
Do the benefits outweigh the cost? I don't know....
Speaking of which, someone from my church asked me to write an article about my time in Korea for the church newsletter. They want me to do a thankful theme since it will be printed a little after November. I have no clue what to write about. If anyone has any ideas, I'd be really grateful. Thanks!
I'm really tempted to do an America pros and cons one now. Hetalia's got me convinced that America is the coolest and lamest country ever. He is lame because he is made of fail, and he's cool because he is lame. That makes no sense, I know. Too bad Korea is so badly represented. XD
Current Mood: meh
|
October 18th, 2009
08:05 pm - Shopping and Sightseeing in Seoul
So yesterday I went shopping with Yuri in Seoul. As we all know, I am not the sort who likes to go shopping on Sunday, but I wasn't able to reject a free trip to Seoul. I am such an awful person. X_X
Anyway, we got to Seoul and Aya, of course, discovered a Book Off, so I made Yuri go with me shopping there. The bookstore had more Korean books than anything, but they had a small section of Japanese manga as well. I wound up getting volumes 5 and 6 of Duck Prince. I also got an artbook for Ikasu, maybe (depends if she wants it). My Korean fails, but luckily I was able to ask all the questions I wanted in Japanese since the cashier knew some of the language. I was asking about some Tales of Symphonia: Knight of Ratatosk novels, but they didn't seem to have them. What a disappointment. Oddly enough, when I went to pay for the manga and artbook she reverted back to Korean, which reverted me back to nodding and shaking my head like an idiot. Fun times.
After that we went to a Korean market where a lot of foreign tourists go shopping. There were a lot of knick-knacks there. I wound up getting a table cloth thing for my mom that has hangul (Korean) characters on it. Here's hoping she likes it.
Yesterday I also got the chance to talk to my mom and dad. That was really nice. I keep forgetting I can buy phone cards now that I have a cell phone. I'll have to pick one up sometime soon. Anyway, most of the stuff she told me was repeat info, but it was nice just hearing her voice and surprise at my calling. After all, it was way out of the blue. We were sitting in Krispy Kreme's watching the people shop outside and she just randomly asked me if I wanted to talk to my folks in the US. We checked the time and my parents were up, so I called them and yeah.
Getting to Seoul is not an easy walk in the park, unfortunately. The bus ride lasted about an hour. Some Korean lady got mad at us for talking on the way there, so on the way back we mostly slept or read. It was a long, long ride.
Nevertheless, I'm eager to go to Seoul again. At least to go to Book Off once more. XD
Current Music: Motohiro Hata- Kimi, Meguru, Boku
|
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
yaminokaitouさんの日記を閲覧中です
