I probably had too much fun on Friday night, but still taught a solid 3 hour high level listening class. We counted the minutes down to midnight on Christmas Eve at the Holy Grill and then played a bunch of bar games. On Saturday night Brent and I went to Emma's after work for dinner, drinks and a gingerbread house contest (I won. Hands down). We opened presents and did a white elephant type thing. Super fun. Yesterday (Sunday), Emma and I got some vegan food at the Loving Hut and then decided we would be able to stomach the smells of the pending clean-up. After that we went down to the zoo. None of the big animals were out, but we had a great time just wandering around in the cold. We then went to get some food downtown, when to our surprise and excitement, it starting SNOWING! Now, I've been told snow is a very rare thing in Daegu. You can imagine how excited I was!
When we decided to head back to her side of town to go bowling with Travis, we figured the bus was the safest route (considering that we were pretty far from the subway). The bus we were in totally hit a car! The car started fishtailing and spinning, and the bus couldn't come to a full stop. Emma and I were the only ones on the bus saying "yes, yeS, yES, YES!!!!" until we finally hit the car. It wasn't too bad. Just crushed up the car's trunk up a bit. Either way, it was an awesome evening.
Here's some photos:
Zooland Animal and a Puff Ball
Dalseong Park
An old lookout tower (?) on one of the oldest earth walls in Korea (200AD)
So I've been slacking the last couple weeks on posting on this. It's been crazy busy at work and on the weekends I want to relax, which i rarely have had time for. I'll catch you up:
So let's see, two weekends ago, Brent, Emma, Young and I all took the KTX up to Seoul on Saturday night after school. When we got there, Emma and I met up with Jojo, Joe, John and Carolyn from training for all you can eat sushi. It was awesome! (It's called sushi sushi and its pretty close to the Hongik Univ. subway stop). After that we met up with Sean at a super cool rock bar that had a big screen that played clips of live shows (it's called Motto and it's also in Hongdae area). Then after a lot of dancing in the street (Joe) and a laughing at a bunch of people dressed up like Santa (Sean), we went to another club that pretty much polished us off for the evening. The next day, we weren't as motivated as I hoped we would be to see more of Seoul. We went to a shopping district and got some food and I waited at a coffee shop for a bit while Emma did some shopping. We made it back to Daegu by about midnight, totally exhausted.
All through the last week at work, we had to do reports on every student by Wednesday, which took a lot of time. Also, we had a parent seminar on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. So we had to be at work from 1 till 10:30. On Friday, Young and I had to perform a lesson that we had prepared in front of parents that didn't speak English. Not sure how effective that was. Pretty busy week, considering that we were trying to workout everyday as well. Friday night, I met Emma, Chuck, Jeromy, Travis and others for dinner at The Holy Grill downtown for a much needed beer and burrito. I taught an easy class on Saturday and then we met downtown again and started the evening at Bennigan's (which has a Denver theme!). Yesterday we got breakfast at about 1:30 pm (after much needed sleeping in) and then spent the day downtown shopping and drinking coffee. Emma and I also FINALLY made some red chili. I've had the Santa Fe red chili powder waiting long enough (I had some on my eggs this morning, it was super tasty).
At one point on Saturday night I got talking to a guy from Denver named John. He comes from the capitol hill area in Denver (6th and Ogden) and I think he lived up in Vail. I had met his friend a couple weeks before, she was from Lakewood (right next to Carino's, I think). Anyway, he is new here but has already been skiing once. He told me that he was setting up a trip on New Years weekend. Coincidentally, we have Saturday off on New Years, so I agreed to go. We are going to leave at 1am on Jan. 1st. Oh man, thats going to be an interesting one. Brent is coming to. I am really looking forward to skiing again!
On Saturday everyone is meeting up in Sigi-area for an Orphan's Christmas. We will be making "Holiday Themed Movie Snacks" (gingerbread houses) and probably gorging ourselves on whatever awesome food Emma cooks. So those are some things that I am looking forward to.
Here's my Top 10 albums of 2010 list:
10. Punchline - Delightfully Pleased
This lowest spot on the list was highly contended for by some great albums. Punchline came on top because of the history I have listening to this band. All of their albums since Action have become some of my most listened albums. This album has a positive spin and some great songs about drinking and moving on. It will always remind me of trying to find new hiking trails in the Denver area with Jordan and Jeromy.
9. The Gamits - Parts
This album was recommended to me by Jordan and Grant as I was leaving the states. I got a copy and it became one of the most played albums on my ipod. I love their new vocal stylings (one man army meets jawbreaker). Even though they are a Denver band and should remind me of home, they will remind me of first walking the streets of Daegu listening to my headphones.
8. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You
When Jordan and I took our completely improvised trip in September, we were totally ready for anything and had no plans at all. We had listened to a lot of music on the week long trip too. When we got to Spokane, WA after our time in Canada, Rylan greeted us with a bunch of dark beer and a new album to fall in love with, The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You. I think we probably listened to the album 30 times over the next 3 days while we were driving through Montana, Idaho, Utah and back across Highway 40 over the mountains to Denver. This album will always remind me of the freedom and beauty of that trip.
7. The Unwelcome Guests -
I bought this album at the beginning of summer on vinyl. It is the soundtrack to the summer days that I spent by the pool or just playing guitar in the apartment. This quickly became one of my favorite summer listens. It's just good rock and roll with great lyrics and guitar layering.
6. Stars - Five More Ghosts
Sharon introduced me to this band. I love them. This is one of those albums that you can just put on your headphones and lay in the park (which I did in wash park alot this summer).
5. The Flatliners - Cavalcade
This band has been one of my favorites since the first time I heard them. This new album pushes their sound in every way. They do sound like a seasoned punk band. The lead singer is exactly one year younger than me. We had a conversation about that at a bar in Calgary one night. This album will always remind me of going mountain biking with Jeromy at the beginning of the summer. We played it loud.
4. None More Black - Icons
Oh man this album. I waited and waited for this album ever since I heard they got back together. It has grown on me with every listen. It flows with my blood. When I listen to it in my headphones it calms me down because it exerts the built up tension for me. I have run many miles around the hills in Daegu listening to this album.
3. The Menzingers - Chamberlain Waits
I knew that this album was going to be one of my favorites the minute I heard it. It mixes the clash with sound that I love in punk perfectly. The show that they played in Denver is one of my favorite nights this summer with Jordan Pepper and Lauren. I kept this CD in my car from the minute I got it and I never took it out of the player. This is the soundtrack of driving around Denver and singing to my car stereo.
2. Sundowner - We Chase The Waves
Obviously. When Jordan was sleeping on our living room floor all summer, I would come out from my bedroom in the morning and play this vinyl. He said that he loved this morning routine. I love this album.
1. Margot & the Nuclear So and So's - Buzzard
There was a lot of build up to this album. They released the track "New York Hotel City Blues" early in the spring. I remember because Jeromy and I listened to it on repeat as we were driving the peak to peak highway when the peaks were still snow covered. This album came out right before I left for Korea. The gritty basement rock sound of this record is exactly the way that they should have headed. This album was a saving grace for me. All of the anxiety that comes with leaving home and being somewhere strange and completely new was wiped away when I listened to the controlled rage of this album. This album highlighted some of the most beautiful moments that I have experienced over the last 3 months. It has also played while I have fallen asleep almost every night for the last 3 months. This is the number 1 of 2010 for me.
Honorable Mentions:
Butch Walker - I Liked It Better When You Had No Heart
...is usually what I assume is being said constantly over the intercom when I am at costco. Speaking of, I made a monumental purchase of 'kirkland signature' brand tuna yesterday. I guess I'm giving up on tuna that comes in a cat food can and doesn't taste too far from. By the way, I made an immortal mistake yesterday (I am going to use as many synonyms for monumental that Thesaurus.com will provide me throughout this blog entry) by not buying the 'kirkland signature' brand tequila yesterday. It's pricey, but it is a good value considering the unforgettable difficulty that presents itself when shipping my favorite tequila, Jose Cuervo Traditional (no, it's not your simple cuervo), in from the states. Speaking of shipping items into the danger-zone (which I am now going to refer to South Korea as, due to the lofty sensationalism that is happening on news websites such as CNN.com [I say as a bomb hits outside Daegu {not really, lets cross our fingers}]), I want to tell you about the surprise that I received when I arrived at work today.
I was asked to sign for a USPS box, that my Dad sent me containing some essentials, upon entering Chungdahm in an awe-inspiring mood while holding a Single Origin Drip coffee from 'Coffee Coffea' (next to home plus, i recommend it. It's won some awards I guess, but how would I know, I can't speak Korean). Something seemed a bit fishy to me when I noticed that the box that I was signing for was really a bag of cardboard that was squishing all over the counter. It did smell tremendous, however as I was later toweringly disappointed to find out because the large bottle of Tapatio had been crushed/broken/exploded/tampered with during the two week trip that the box (or what used to be a box) had taken. Got everything cleaned up during the five 5 minute breaks that my school allows to me within a 6 hour teaching stretch.
Here is what I salvaged from the deliciously fragrant disaster:
1/2 lb of Santa Fe red chili powder
1/4 lb of Santa Fe green chili powder
1 package of dry brown rice (there were originally two)
2 spice jars of cumin
1 lb of Kenyan whole bean coffee
and some melatonin. (Thanks again Dad)
Speaking of random, Brent and I made it down to 달성 공원 (Dalseong Park) where they have a zoo that an animal activist more motivated than myself would probably write a letter to a governmental official or something about. Seriously, the wolf pen had 4 wolves in a room the size of a small bedroom and the visitors were throwing them crackers over the bars. Other than that, the park was pretty prodigious, especially in reference to the exercise equipment that they provide (I promise I will make it back there and take pictures, its worth it).
Other than that, its been pretty stupendously cold for a city with no snow. Yep thats about it. Thanks to those who stayed with me through this entry, especially the ones who get my mammoth-ly underrated/misunderstood humor. Love you all. 'Til next time!
P.S. for those of you keeping track, the synonyms that have been utilized in the place of monumental are, as far as I can recall: immortal, unforgettable, lofty, towering, tremendous, awe-inspiring, prodigious, stupendous and mammoth.
