Class discussions

I've had a lot of interesting class discussions with my adult classes in the mornings. This is a bit surprising in itself since classes start at 6:30am when my brain is still asleep.

The book I'm using for topics has short (one or two page) articles on Korean perspectives on certain issues. The usual length of a time we spend on an article is about 2 or 3 days. The article about marriage and divorce in Korea lasted for about a week. We got into such issues as sexual compatibility and good or bad reasons for divorce. Most of my students are Christian chuchgoers and some said there were no good reasons for divorce. The oldest student, a staunch Christian lady completely opposed to divorce, surprised me when I explained the term "sexual incompatibility"; she said, "I think this is good reason for a divorce." The discussions (and debates!!) were really interesting...

Another student told me a story when mentioned a business-speak saying ("Work smarter, not harder."):
Two farmers were neighbours. One farmer worked hard from sunrise to sunset cutting his fields without stopping and the other farmer took frequent breaks and sat around for a while during the day. At the end of the day the hard-working farmer looked in his relaxed neighbour's yard and saw that the neighbour had gathered twice as much hay. "How did you gather so much hay? I've been cutting all day but you have stopped to rest frequently and still have more hay than me." The relaxed farmer held up his scythe and a stone, "While you were hacking at the grass I sat down and sharpened my scythe to a razor edge. The grass was cut without effort."

Well, it's not exactly as he told it but more or less. Sounds a lot classier than "Work smarter, not harder" doesn't it.

I have to say that all of my adult students are interesting people and I look forward to the morning classes despite having to get up so early. They all have their own reasons for learning English and they vary in their ability to express themselves. Some of them are really shy when they first come to class because they're afraid they'll say something wrong but I encourage them to ignore mistakes and just talk freely. The fluency will come if they speak more. I'll turn them all into firebrands and public speakers maybe. :D Well, not likely, but they do at least talk a lot more than when they first come to class.

Angel Burger

There's a little shop with a sidewalk grill near the Busan Nat'l University subway station. These things are absolutely delicious; they're served with mayo, teriyaki sauce and ketchup on a sesame seed bun with lettuce and sweet pickles. Well worth the half hour subway ride to the neighbourhood.

Wet Season

Seyoung sent me a text message the other night: "How do you like the wet season. Sooooo sticky! *-_-*"

It's very true, it rains about once a day and the humidity is crazy. The temperature is about 25 or 30 celsius and the humidity has to be about 500%. I've taken to using the air conditioner to give myself little holidays at my native 15 to 20 celsius and low humidity so that I can think and sleep.

Everything is lush and green and the mosquitoes have come out in full force. Time to buy a bug zapper, I'm tired of gassing myself with mosquito coils.

Mountain and Ocean

Well, it's been too long since my last post, as usual.

This past weekend Keith Howard and I climbed Mount Geumjeong, the tallest mountain in Busan. Busan is full of mountains, kind of like if you took Montreal and multiplied Mount Royal by ten. The whole city is partitioned by them and there are tunnels through them to join the different districts. They are well traveled by hikers; Koreans are the most avid hikers I've ever seen.

We started out a bit late and asked about the best route up at a cafe on the Busan National University campus. The guy at the cafe said to follow a rope that marks the easiest trail up. Somewhere at the foot of the mountain we lost the rope and climbed the slope over a lot of boulders and brush along little tiny footpaths. Near the top we thought we might be coming to a dead end but an old was coming up behind us so we just kept going. "More UP!" was the slogan of the day. We finally topped out on a small peak to the east of the main mountain and followed an old fortress wall back down.

We casually proceeded to get a little lost. After ambling around for a bit in the rain we ran across some nice-looking public toilets in the middle of nowhere. I said something which Keith has recorded as the best quote of the day: "Well, we may be lost but at least we can shit in comfort." Keith was also highly amused by my bright snot-green poncho, which can be seen in the photostream. It was actually too hot for raingear once we came down from the peak, we were wetter from sweating than from the rain.

The whole trip took about 5 hours or so. The easy route was supposed to take 2 or three hours but we made it to the top in a bit under an hour and a half. I think the easy route would have been less interesting. The best thing was the cool breeze and fresh smell of mountain air; the scent of pine trees and plants, the city air is a bit less than savoury.

Next weekend we're going to get lost on the main peak.

On Sunday Keith, U-sun and I went to Haeundae beach where we lazed around and let the Pacific Ocean beat us up (you couldn't call it swimming, the surf was too strong.) I had forgotten how salty seawater is, next time I'm going to tape my mouth shut. According to Keith's calculations we also consumed about 60000 calories of various fried Korean snacks. I'm going to have to do a lot more swimming and hiking if this keeps up.

In the Land of the Man-purse

So the other night I went for dinner with my friends Chris and Tanya. I've known them since high-school, introduced them, in a manner of speaking (it involved a large party I shouldn't have had in high-school :D at least one good thing came of it) and I was best man or something at their wedding. They've lived here for about six years now.

We finished dinner, at an Outback steakhouse, and went shopping for something at Migliore. Migliore is a market like an open air market but indoors. These types of places are common in Korea. Each vendor has their own stall in something like an open floor mall. We were looking at handbags or something when I joked that I was going to buy a big great-aunt style purse to keep my junk in. Chris said, "Well, dude, you *are* in the land of the man-purse!"

He's absolutely right. I hadn't noticed it before but I'm not sure why. I've been going around with a satchel or a beltpack while all the Korean men are running around with what appear to be purses or handbags. They aren't frilly or feminine, but they are definitely what you'd call a handbag. They range in size from a little leather thing with a handstrap, reminiscent of Jerry Seinfeld's "European carry-all", up to what looks like the great-aunt-sized jumbo shoulder purse suitable for carrying a range of accessories.

I think I'm going to join this trend of man-purse carrying guys, I usually have enough stuff to more than fill my pockets and it'd be damned handy. I remember remarking on my jealousy of women's ability to carry a purse to a female friend once back in Canada. The taboo doesn't exist here.

On the way to dinner with Seyoung, the previously aforementioned lovely lady, I remarked on my jealousy that she was able to wear a dress, a real comfort in the warm and humid evening air. She said that she could loan me one if I wanted to try it out. Maybe I'll start a new trend!

Social Agendas

Sorry, for not updating more often. Lately I've been escaping from my self-imposed exile to Jungang-dong to move around the city and socialize more often.

I've been to see a Lotte Giants vs. Kia Tigers baseball game, been to a couple of bars to listen to a funk band and been out for dinner with a lovely Korean college student. I'll post some pics and more info tomorrow. I promise.

Expat Carpentry Project

I've drawn some plans to make a bedframe and a trestle table. It took me a while to find the tools I need and I still have to find a drill bit that I need but a tool merchant on Texas Street said he'd get me some.

I've got a decent stock of cheap pine lumber and a few basic tools (the minimum tools required.) In a couple of weeks it should be mostly done.

The pictures of tools and joints I drew really caught the attention of the guy I speak to at the lumber shop. Not because they're so great, but I think he thought I was crazy at first. Now he knows that I'm crazy but that I can also build furniture...

dweejipgae

dweejipgae
Originally uploaded by gregarious_monk.

Last week I learned the Korean word for spatula. I also learned my first few words of Korean swearing. It's funny how much eaier it is to remember bad words than normal vocabulary... :D