oh sony, why do you toy with me so much?

EA Sports NHL 2010, called the best sports game ever by gamespot, not produced in Asia, and region locked in the West. Fuck you. So even if I buy an American version, it's one of the few PS3 games in existence that's actually region locked. Total and complete fucking bullshit. I hate EA. They fuck everyone. Has anyone ever tried that piece of shit hype-machine 'Spore' that was supposed to revolutionize sim gaming and turned out to be a mosquito smudge on my car window? Yeah, eat my nutsack EA, you fucking suck.

Anyways, I have lots to write about, but I'm just too busy. Intensives started this week so I just don't have any time for anything. Pretty much all my free time is spent preping classes, and the rest of my time is spent in class.

I'll try to update later this week and tell my tale 'o' Christmas. I met my girl's parents finally, and we set a date for the wedding, and a bunch of other shit happened, but I just don't have time now.

Don't worry though, I haven't abandoned the blog, I'm just too busy.

Plus, I finally got the PS3, so I've been spending a bit of time playing that too.

Later.

ASA!!!!!

Amazing.

I miscounted on the change. The actual number is 600,360. I thought I was going to have a heart attack carrying it all to the bank.

An adjumma who happened to be sitting near the change machine was amazed. "이 해" I told her. Two years it took me to collect all that change. I'm almost sorry to let it go.

My girlfriend can't complain about me buying the PS3 now.

I'm still shocked. I thought I did a pretty accurate count, but I was off by 25,000.

I can't believe I thought I only had about 250,000 before I counted it.

the things we do

Next weekend I'm meeting my girlfriend's parents for the first time. She is worried about the age difference, even though they know how old I am, and doesn't want them to notice that I'm older than her. So she insisted that I dye my hair. I am still only 34, but I've got quite a few gray hairs up there.

I was resistant. I don't really like the idea of dying my hair, it seems kind of fake. I just want her parents to like me for who I am and not care whether I have a few gray hairs. Is that too much to ask? Her parents actually seem like really nice people. They've given me gifts without even knowing me. Every few months they get me some fresh juice from a farmer they know. Their nice people. I don't think they would care that I have some gray hair.

My girlfriend cares though. So yesterday I went and got my hair dyed. It actually looks pretty good. I was worried, but it turned out okay. I can still smell the shit in my hair though. A constant reminder of what I'm willing to do to keep my girlfriend happy.

Other than that I've just been very busy with classes.

Yesterday morning I took some time and counted how much change I have. I've saved 575,000 won in change. Looks like the PS3 is coming earlier than previously expected. I think I'm going to order one this week. I've already ordered Dragon Age, so hopefully around Christmas I'll get the game, and maybe the day before I'll get the PS3.

I'm psyched because last week I bought Call of Duty 4 and I'm fucking seriously disappointed with it. After all the hype I thought it'd be great, and the graphics really are. However, if I spend $50 on a game I want to actually be able to play it for a while. It only took me 5 hours to finish all the missions. Fucking waste of money. Maybe it's just because I usually play RPG's, but I'm used to having 50-100 hours of gameplay, not fucking 5 hours.

Don't waste any money on that piece of shit.

The online part is supposed to be good, but I don't really feel like getting massacred by a bunch of fat 12 year old kids who play it 16 hours a day.

Listed

Well, I got my listing on the Korean Blog List. It's cool, I guess. I've already gotten some traffic from it. Although, I'm not even sure why I care. It's not like I'll ever put any ads on here or try to sell anything.

Nothing much has been happening lately. The new term started at my hagwon (academy), so I've just been busy with classes and getting to know my new students. It's too bad that we are only with each class for three months. I don't think that's really enough time to get to know the kids. I'm a much better teacher when I have kids who've been in my classes for a term or two. That way I know the methods that suit those particular kids the best.

Hagwons can be a little bit like fast food sometimes. Get them in and out quick, punch the little hamburger button on the cash register, and move them along to make way for the next customer. Sometimes I wonder if the average kid is learning as much as they could. The best students will always learn, but the average kids suffer. They get pushed through the levels to keep their parents happy, even though they should be staying at the same level.

We have to make it appear as though the kids are actually learning, even if they aren't. So we push them up a level if the parents bitch enough. It results in kids who are reading shit that's college level English, when they're barely high school level, sometimes even lower.

Anyways, I'll bitch about Korean education some other time.

This weekend my girlfriend was all pissed. For once she wasn't pissed off at me though. That was actually nice, to have her pissed off at someone other than me.

She's pissed off at her parents, and she's pissed off at her brother. Her brother is getting married in January. His fiance's parents want them to get a nice apartment after they get married. The way it works in Korea is that the guy has to pay for the apartment and the girl buys the furniture. It's all bullshit if you ask me, but hey, it's their traditions, who the hell am I to tell them the way they should live their lives.

The apartment the girls parents want them to get is like $80,000USD. A pretty fucking hefty chunk of change for a 29 year old Korean guy to come up with. I think he's only actually had a job for about a year. The 28 year prior to that he just lived off his parents.

This brings us to the reason why my girlfriend is pissed off. Her parents are giving them $50,000USD. Because of this, they have to move out of the apartment they now live in and move to a smaller place in Dongnae. My girlfriend loves her culture, but she understands how fucking stupid this is. She said to me "It's Korean tradition, but why the fuck do they have to give him the money?" Yeah, she even said 'fuck'.

So she's pissed. We'll get $0.00USD from her parents when we get married. And personally I don't give a shit. The last thing I want is to be indebted to her parents. I wouldn't want it even if they did offer anything like that. But it bothers her. She's upset with her parents, in part because it means that she has to move also, and because they're following the retarded tradition that the first born son is king of the shit heap. She wants her parents to treat her equally, and I don't blame her. And she's pissed off at her brother, because he's receiving this gift that causes his parents the hassle of having to sell their apartment and find a smaller one. And she hates his fiance because she thinks she's a greedy bitch.

Anyways, that's the conversation we had this weekend on our way to church. Then we left church early because the 4 year old kid in front of us kept getting up and down, and spinning around in the aisle. The little pain was so antsy that my girlfriend got so dizzy watching him that we had to leave because she thought she was going to get sick.

Sir, yes, sir!

Some funny shit here. A facebook friend posted this video of elves doing "Full Metal Jacket".



Anyways, I know it's been a few days since I've posted. I'll put up something soon. I've been busy.

Exactly what the FUCK is your JOB???

Hello. I work at the front counter of your apartment building. I know my job looks easy, but it really is very difficult. There are many parts of my job that you just don't understand. You may think I'm a lazy dick, but that's only because you fail to put yourself in my shoes.

First of all, I'm always tired when I get home. When you spend 90% of your time at work sleeping at your desk it really wears you out. My adjumma wife is always complaining. I get home from work, have a bottle of soju and go back to sleep. She also doesn't understand the severe physical and psychological toll that my job takes. It's really not easy.

I realize that every time you walk by me you see me sitting there watching Korean dramas on my cellphone TV, but I'm really doing work. You see, in my spare time I keep up a fan blog of The Kingdom of the Winds, so it might look like I'm just a jackass who spends all his time watching TV when I should be working, but I'm actually doing research. In fact, I was so emotionally drained when Boys Before Flowers ended, I had to take an entire week off from work. Of course, I didn't tell my employer that I was taking a week off, and I didn't actually stop coming to work or accepting my paycheck, I just slept a little bit more often at my desk.

You also don't know how my work is killing me. Literally, it's killing me. Because I can't just sit at my desk all day and do work. I have to take my fifteen cigarette breaks. This job is giving me cancer. I only wish I was doing it in the USA so I could sue my employer for polluting my lungs. I have worked so hard here that I really deserve to be able to retire.

And you also don't understand how difficult it is to send all these text messages about packages to tenants. Of course, I could take the packages up to your apartment, but why should I exert myself in even the slightest of ways. I'd rather just send you a text message. That way I won't miss any of my shows.

I realize that you also think I'm supposed to be a guard of sorts, but keeping tabs on who comes in and out of this building is really not my responsibility either. I'm not really sure whose responsibility it is, but I'm pretty sure it's not mine. So when I'm out smoking my fifteen cigarettes with the door open it's not my job to care about how anyone can come in and out of the building. My only responsibility is to make sure that when I'm at my desk I don't buzz in anyone who is delivering any kind of food. I really hate those delivery guys, so I try my hardest to keep them out of the building, they are the real threat.

So please, Mr. Waygookin Renter, keep all these things in mind if you ever need my assistance. If you ever have a complaint, like someone living above you pounding on the fucking floor from 2:00am until 7:00am every night, understand my position. I realize that it's not only you that's complaining, I know that both of your neighbors have also complained. But what you don't know is that if you live in 513, I have no way of figuring out what apartment number is directly above you, I mean it could be 613, or 612, or 614...that's a lot of apartments to check. Things like understanding the layout of a building are not part of my job description. And logical thinking, like reasoning out that 613 might be the apartment directly above 513, is just too much thinking for my job.

Because of this, if you ever hear those BOOM, BOOM, BOOM's again at 4:00am don't call me and ask me to do something about it. You need to come down to the front desk, wake me up, and hold my hand while you walk me up to 613. I can't find 613 on my own, I need your help getting there. I'm not even sure how to work the elevator, do I just say "613" out loud? What are all those buttons for? Why isn't there a 613 button? I understand that you don't speak enough Korean to actually do anything or explain anything when we get up to 613, but I think it'll be funny for the renter up there and myself to laugh at the silly foreigner who thinks his complaints matter.

Anyways, please, I'm just a tired old man who needs to watch his dramas and get 18 hours of sleep when I'm not outside smoking and criticizing you for not knowing which trash bucket is for colored plastic and which is for clear plastic. It's not my job to tell people to stop banging on the fucking floors constantly or to address the complaints of the people who live underneath said floor bangers.

Thank you for your time. Anyeongi gah sayo.

P.S. Fuck you, you silly, stupid, waygookin.

New PS3 on the horizon

It's definite. I'm getting a PS3 after the holidays. And I'm a sneaky bastard.

I planted the seed with my decision not to get the iphone. When I told my girlfriend that in the long run it would cost me less money to get a PS3 than an iphone she started warming up to the idea. She knows that sometimes I'm going to spend money on things like that, she just wants me to keep it under control. Of course, I haven't mentioned how much the games actually cost, but she's not my wife yet so she doesn't have to know that Final Fantasy XIII is going to cost me about a hundred bucks.

This weekend the decision was made. 100% certainty now. I will get a PS3. I was smart. What I did was I told her that first of all I would buy her engagement ring first. If I spend $1000-$2000 on a ring for her, she really can't complain if I spend $400 on a game for me. The next step was that I told her I would use change to pay for half of it. That's right, change. She laughed when I said this. She said, "Haha, okay, if you want to use change to pay for half of it, then you can buy a PS3 anytime." Little did she know that I've been holding onto my change since I moved here over two years ago. I already have like $200 in change. I am a sneaky bastard.

I said, "Great," and walked upstairs to the loft to get my gigantic load of change. It was great seeing the shock on her face when I came down the stairs with a bag that had so much change in it I could barely carry the damn thing. The bag was so full that I think my downstairs neighbors must have thought I dropped a bag of bricks on the floor when I put the bag down.

Now all I have to do is hit the gym a few times a week so I can actually carry all the change to the bank to exchange it for cash.

I can't wait. I predict I will have my PS3 by the end of February. Intensives are coming up in January so buying her ring will be easy. Then it's all PS3 all the time baby.

If you notice a big lapse in my blogging for a two month period after I buy it, you'll know why.

월요 병

월요 병 means "Monday disease".



Fortunately, I don't have Monday disease. Probably because I only have to work 3 hours on Mondays. That makes breaking the week in a little easier.

Today, I had my Korean class. It went well. I need to study more. Now there are a lot more students in the class though, so I don't feel like I'm at the lowest level anymore.

We learned some adjectives today, and how to conjugate them. It seems like it'll be easy to learn them. The conjugations are all the same as the verb conjugations, so I just need to learn the vocab. I think that's what I really need to focus on, learning as much vocab as possible. I should make some more flash cards and actually make an effort to study them for an hour or two everyday.

I had a really great weekend. On Saturday we finally got to Nampo-dong and we finished all of the Christmas shopping. I got t-shirts for almost everyone, at least all my nephews. I let my girlfriend pick out the present for my niece. That makes it a lot easier. I never really know what to buy my niece, being a dumb male, so having a girlfriend pick out her gifts is a load off my mind. Now that I'm done with the shopping all I have to do is actually mail the gifts to the States. That'll probably be the hardest part. Shopping is easy, but getting together the motivation to go to the post office and mail all that shit will be difficult. I'm so lazy sometimes. Anyways, I'll try to get them out within the next week or two. They might be a little late, but a little late is better than never.

Nampo-dong was nice. They had some Christmas decorations up. I would post some pictures, but I forgot to bring my camera. If I'm going to really make a run at this blogging thing I need to get better at remembering to bring my camera with me.

After Nampo we had Daegi-galbi. That's my favorite Korean meal. I used to love Samgyeopsal, but now I prefer the galbi. They're both BBQ'd pork, but galbi is marinated.

When dinner was finished we came home and relaxed. We watched something on TV but I can't remember what the hell it was. It wasn't anything exciting. Maybe 30 Rock or something? They've started playing American sit-coms on one of my Korean channels so we can watch something in English now without my girlfriend complaining or falling asleep. I just wish they would pick better shows.

The only other news I have is that my nephew tried to hoodwink me with a trade on fantasy hockey. He actually tried to trade me Daniel Alfredsson for Marc-Andre Fluery. Crazy. No way am I going to give up my number one goalie for Alfredsson. I really don't need another right wing. I have Doan, Kessel, and Semin at right wing, so I'm stacked as it is. I counter offered Kyle Quincey and Thomas Vokoun for Dan Boyle and Nittymaki. It's a fair deal. He gets the goaltending he needs, and I get the producing defenseman I need.

Anyways, time to put in my 3 hours of work...sigh...life is difficult.

Church day

It's Sunday morning, and all of you who read this know what that means. Church day. You also know that I'm not really a church guy. I told a friend of mine I went to church and the only reaction I got was "Wow, you go to church?" Yes, I go to church. It's the best hour of pure reading time I have all week. And I don't understand anything of what the Korean pastor is saying, so it's really more like an hour at the library than church. I don't mind. It keeps my girlfriend and her parents happy. That is enough of a reason for me.

Yesterday morning we woke up and my girlfriend was mad at me. I never did find out why she was mad. My suspicion is that she was mad because I woke up an hour earlier than she did. Not only that, but I'm actually in a good mood when I wake up in the morning. I told her my theory and she neither confirmed nor denied. I'm pretty sure that's the reason. She just won't admit it because she knows how crazy it is for her to get mad at me for that.

We didn't have this conversation until later. She stormed out at 8:30am yesterday without saying a word. She just had an angry look on her face and refused to talk. I can tell when she's mad. It's not that difficult.

After she left I watched the Bruins get their asses kicked by Montreal. That's why I posted the old PJ Stock fights, it was better than watching the game. It was Montreal's big 100th anniversary, so I expected it to be a tough game for the Bruins. They came back today and destroyed Toronto, so all is right in the world. Savard got a hat-trick and Kessel ended the game a -3. Hockey justice.

When the game was finished I had to go to the bank and withdraw some cash from my US account. I'm still a little broke because of my vacation, so I had to dip into my funds back home. My phone rang when I was getting back to my building. It was a friend of mine. He told me he just saw me outside the building. He called me an ignorant bastard. I asked him why.

"Why? Because you're wearing the stupid fucking White Sox hat." He's from Chicago...guess he's a Cubbies fan.

"I know. I have to wear it once in a while," I said, "_____ bought it for me. She gets pissed off if I don't at least wear it once a month." My girlfriend heard me say I'm a Sox fan, so she went out and bought me a White Sox hat. It's the thought that matters. She told me later she knows I'm a Red Sox fan, but she thinks the color of the White Sox hat is better.

I don't really care. She later bought me a Red Sox hat, which I wear constantly when I'm not at work, but I have no problem wearing the White Sox hat. It's the least I can do to keep her happy. If I was back in the States it'd be different, but it's not like anyone here knows the difference anyways, so I'm fine with it.

The only place I refuse to wear the White Sox hat is poker night. I've taken enough shit for wearing it there already. Now it's Red Sox on poker night. That is if I ever have enough money to go back again. Like I said, I'm broke because of vacation. I'm also trying to save enough cash to buy a PS3, so poker night will have to be put off for another couple of months.

Anyways, we did manage to go to Nampo-dong for Christmas shopping yesterday. This blog's getting a little long though, and I have to get ready for church, so I'll fill you in on the Christmas shopping details a little later.

Pj Stock on the Habs broadcast???

Apparently little big-man PJ Stock is part of the Montreal broadcast team now. I thought I'd put up a little post of some of his best fights back when he was wearing the spoked B.

This first one was back in 2002 against Stephen Peat. The funny thing is that it looked like he wanted to take on Chris Simon before this.



Here's a long one between Stock and Barnaby.



Here's the little trooper taking some serious damage from a guy who is about 4 inches taller and outweighs him by about 30-40 pounds.

Stock Vs. Boulton



And finally Stock and Vandermeer. At about :42 you can see Vandermeer break Stocks nose, then Stock gets a good shot in. The best part comes after though when Stock uses Vandermeer's jersey to wipe his nose.

Stock Vs. Vandermeer

Chicken Licker!!

Normally I don't delve into international news. I tend to stick to stuff in country. I'm not saying I don't keep up on news outside Korea. It's just not that relevant to my daily life. Also, I don't post my thoughts on news in general, and politics specifically, because I don't feel like getting schooled by a bunch of people who are much more intelligent than I am. Hell, on most days I have a hard time spelling intelligent. Is it an 'e' or an 'i' that goes in the middle? I don't fucking know.

Anyways, I couldn't resist posting this little gem out of the UK.

Chicken Licker

Maybe he just really liked the chicken? I don't know.

Anyways, time to put in my 3 hours of work. I'll be pretty busy this weekend. I'm going to Nampo-dong tomorrow, so long as the lady and I don't get in a fight. I'll drop a post sometime Saturday or Sunday and let you know how my Christmas shopping adventure goes.

Have a good day.

Gatsby

Don't forget to sign up for a page of the English-Korean-English translation of The Great Gatsby over here Deo Geureat Kechupi Project

I've been assigned page 8.

Here it is:

Across courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of summer really begins on the evening I drove over there to have dinner with the Tom Buchanans.

See bay well-mannered? There Caucasian big house to trendily East (not Japan) Egg sparkling with water. The summer history start on evening drive there to many eat evening with the Tom Pukecannon.

Daisy was my second cousin once removed and I’d known Tom in college. And just after the war I spent two days with them in Chicago. Her husband, among various physical accomplishments, had been one of the most powerful ends that ever played football at New Haven-a national figure in a way, one of those men who reach such an acute limited excellence at twenty-one that everything afterward savors of anti-climax.

Daijy my cousin was removed one time, I knew Tom removed Daijy, it was college. Two days he removed her and war them in town Chicago. Daijies husband, with many bodily finishing’s, had one powerful end. Modern Haven football he play. He nation’s person. One reaching a cute limit. He excellent twenty-one years old and after he saves and will not climax.

His family were enormously wealthy-even in college his freedom with money was a matter for reproach-but now he’d left Chicago and come east in a fashion that rather took your breath away: for instance he’d brought down a string of polo ponies from Lake Forest. It was hard to realize that a man in my own generation was wealthy enough to do that.

His family was many money. He money free college and many approach. Now he leave town Chicago, come east like fashion, and breathing. He buy tiny rope horse from water trees. It was hard to see man age money like that.

Why they came east I don’t know. They had spent a year in France, for no particular reason, and then drifted here and there unrestfully wherever people played polo and were rich together. This was a permanent move, said Daisy over the telephone, but I didn’t believe it-I had no sight into Daisy’s heart but I felt that Tom would drift on forever seeking a little wistfully for the dramatic turbulence of some irrecoverable football game.

Why they come east? They no like west? They spend French year for reason none specific. They drift, rest no, and play rich polo with people other many money. The move solid. Daijy told me. She call me on phone. I don’t believe. In Daijy heart I can’t see Tom float. He like dramas on airplane shaking and football game that he not find.

-----------

It'll be published here after page 7 goes up. Don't forget to sign up for a page of your own and join in the fun.

I'll probably try to do one or two more pages myself, if I have enough time.

another plug

Just stopping in for a moment. There is this blog that I read. I read a post on it this weekend, I revisited it again today and between then and now he sneaked in a plug for my blog. This is his blog Here and There and it's a good read. I hope he will continue to write. He is another expat living in Korea and has some interesting insights. I won't mention where he's from, because he's chosen more anonymity, but I will say that I feel a certain kindred because of where the large majority of my ancestors come from. We certainly both have the cynical nature that is common among our people. You should read his blog.

Speaking of cynics. It reminds me of a story that my philosophy teacher told me a while back about the genealogy of the word cynic. It's probably bullshit, but I'll relate it to you regardless. According to my professor when Aristotle first opened his university there was a certain group of philosophers who would rabble rouse outside the gates. If they heard something they thought was pure rhetoric they would throw chickens over the walls. Because of this they became known as chicken throwers.

Now, according to wikipedia the word cynic actually is derived from 'dog-like', so all I can hope of my cynical brethren was that they weren't actually throwing dogs over the walls. Unless they were ankle-biters...I hate those fucking rats.

Anyways. Yeah, read his blog.

i need a 30 hour day

I wasn't going to post this because it's just a rant. But it's my blog, I'll rant if I want to. If you don't like it you can just read some other blog.

24 hours just isn't enough. I have too much to do. Too many things I want to accomplish. It isn't helping that one of the people I'm taking the Korean class with is now obsessed with learning. I wish I would have never asked him to take the fucking class. There was only four of us at the beginning. We've lost one already because of his bullshit. We're in danger of losing another, and I'm barely hanging on as it is.

I don't have time to study Korean for two hours a day. I'm also trying to study Korean history, study writing, keep up with my blog, prep for upper level classes, and keep my girlfriend happy (which is a full time job itself). I wanted to read one chapter of "The Elements of Style" everyday. When I finish the book, I want to go back and read it again, and again, and again, and again. I want to memorize that book.

I'd also like to continue studying Korean history. I've found some interesting books on Korean traditions and I'd like to be able to really put some quality study time in. Not just a once through novel read. I want to study them. Take notes, do some research, even go to some of the places mentioned in the books.

It's also important to me that I continue to keep up with my blog. I haven't written consistently in a long time. So far I'm doing great. They might not all be great posts, but at least I'm working at it and putting in the effort that lacked earlier in my life.

On top of that I also want to continue the Korean classes. I just don't want to be crazy about it. It'd be nice to be conversational in a year, but who the fuck am I kidding? I took Russian for a year at uni and I wasn't really conversational. Unless you count being able to say "Hello, my name is Michael, I love Rock 'n' Roll," conversational. I could say some phrases, and understand a bit, but it's pretty fucking tough to be conversational in a language in one year. Besides, I'm most likely a lifer in Korea, why should I hurry? Do I really want to understand everything Koreans say about me? Do I really want to have political conversations with my girlfriends father? But, one guy in the class is fucking it up for the rest of us. He wants to pick up hot Korean girls. Fuck him, I already have my hot Korean girl.

As if that isn't enough, I asked for all low-level classes this term so I wouldn't have to do any prep work. What do they give me? They give me all fucking high-level shit, so that adds about another 10-15 hours a week of work just prepping the fucking things. Yes, I get paid 15% more for those classes, but I just wanted to have a relaxing term in which I could focus on myself for once. Apparently, that's not an option.

The only time I really get for relaxation is in the morning. In the morning, I like to watch hockey. I prefer the Bruins, but it really doesn't matter, I'll watch anything. I'll watch Toronto and hope they lose. I'll watch Washington to root for Ovechkin for my fantasy team, even though he's a punk who does pussy shit like today's knee shot on Tim Gleason. I don't care. I'll even watch the west coast games just to see if Joe Thornton is still playing half as hard as he could be, or if Vancouver can continue to be pseudo-contenders.

Now, even my hockey watching is tainted. I can't just relax and watch hockey. I have to prep. I have to study Korean. I have to do one of fifteen different things on any given morning. Fuck.

Anyways. This was a bit of a rant. I feel better. I need a macjew and some hot chicken. Hope everyone is having a good week.