Seoul Seraching

There is a smell which belongs solely to Seoul (the place I live in). It can be identified by it's ability to grab your mind's attention away form whatever it was that it was enjoying and immediatlely introduce itself again and again. It is a smell which never fails to make me melancholy. On the plus side, it is least potent in winter, perhaps because the chilly air neutrilizes any sense of smell to begin with: it is winter now. On the plus side if there is one, it conceals any attempts at breaking wind from other parties, which such odor is utterly lost in what can only be described as the Seoul's far stronger influence on your nostrils.

A birthday party

Well what do you know. Birthday parties can still be fun, especially when it involves fire breathing English teachers (from the blazing shots) and all night romps on the town. What a crazy time that was. A friend (another English teacher) decided to drink a vodka shot which was on fire without bothering to put it out. A burst of flame spewed from his mouth and gust upon his onlooking friends. It was a sight I don't think I can easily forget. The rest of the birthday party was mundane enough. We eneded up at a karoke place, but I opted not to go and instead headed home for a little rest.

It's a bird, it's a plane no it's...

A green cross signal! Yes friends, I was walking around today and noticed people running in the opposite direction for no apparent reason. They were running like a flock of gazells being chased by a pugnacious lion snapping on their heels but when I looked back, I discovered the answer: the walk signal had turned green. Those things don't last long.

I wandered around the area known as Gwanghwamun and discovered a new pretty section which was nice. That is the fun of being in a large new city: so much to see, I couldn't see it all if I stayed only a few days.

It's gettin ga lot colder. Tomorrow is monday, which I don't dread, because I have two periods free in the morning to prepare for lessons. I will play the softball game with the teachers tomorrow too. we practiced a few times last week. Even the principal came out and hit a few balls around.

Karaoke is noraebang in Korean

And yes I did noraebang(NB) on Friday for the first time. It was a little different from the Japanese version I was used to. Despite Seoul being much larger than Kobe, the rooms at the NB place were large. I would think real estate would dictate the opposite. I was wrong. But the machine blasts this ridiculous music in the middle of songs which it's japanese cousins never did. I guess its an incentive to quickly load another song in. I brough two friends with me and as is customary these days, left at 3 am . Taxis are way cheaper in Korea so the cab fare is not a big hit. Trains run till 12 or so, which is really when things get rolling in Seoul.

BTW please feel free to post your comments.

I'd walk a long way to get to McDonalds

.. Because near my work, it has the only Western toilet. At my school, there is one bathroom next to the teacher's room which is shared by students and teachers. It's not that clean and the toilets are "the other kind" meaning they are squat toilets. I would not advise recruiters of bomber pilots to work at this school. Not much talent here.
Another thing about McDonald's: they actually use a roster in English for scheduling the bathroom clean times. What a great thing!

Halloween Fun

I skipped a class at the free Korean school that I usually go to on Tuesdays to go to a Halloween club. It was pretty nice. I dressed up as a cowboy (a very easy thing for me to do, since I have a cowboy hat). It was pretty nice. I met a few people, and got back at around 1 am. What a crazy life style. Someone asked "how do you stay awake after going out so late?" and I answered: " I don't drink caffeine" She was obviously puzzled by what would seem to be a contradiction but really, I think caffeine makes people more sleepy. Me at least. I've been off caffeine for a year (since last nov). No cola, tea, coffee etc for me. I even limit chocolate considerably. I feel great! I would recommend this to anyone. Caffeine is actually addictive according to Wikipedia because it contains some withdrawal symptoms. Some health articles I read online speculate that soft drink makers include them as ingredients, not because the taste is better ( I can 't tell the difference) but because people are addicted to caffeine.

Agent Molder runs..

In Sports day, which was today, Friday. Sports day is an all day event where students compete in sports such as basketball, soccer and volletyball. There are also tons of relay races, and tug of war competitions. There was a race with students and teachers running against each other. I ran in it and everyone cheered like I was a rock star! Afterwards everyone said I was a fast runner. Well, who needs the NBA, or the NFL? I've got my middle school job and 700 students cheering me on on my little stretch of running along the track.

Some of the students displayed their artwork during Sports Day. You can see the pictures.

A class invited me to their room for a party after the fesitivites were over. Naturally, I accepted and I mingled with the students while eating some dongbukgi (pictured). Afterwards, the principal ate dinner with me and drank soju (almost exactly like sake in taste, alcoholic beverage). I left and ran to my Korean class which started at 7. Then I went out with a girl who is in the class with me till midnight and stumbled home.