I know, I know. It's been a long, long time. Who knows if anyone is going to even see this post.
Well, just in case someone will see it...here is a 13 minute video of pictures. YES! Pictures of things I have been up to in South Korea (and some in NORTH Korea too).
Shakespeare, DMZ tour, Preschool/Kindergarten teaching, hiking, food, Thailand, and other things.
Sorry that it has been so long. Hopefully this makes up for it...a bit.
In other news, I will be back in America for a whirlwind tour before heading BACK to South Korea for another year of adventure in the world of teaching. I will be in Minnesota for a brief day and a half (apologies in advance to those that I want to visit but won't be able to). After Minnesota is down to Iowa to visit the family. There is an open house planned for the 25th, so hopefully I will be posting the details on here as soon as I get a bit more solidified with that.
Okay, that is it for now. I am off to bed. Thanks for reading/looking.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Welcome back...Todd.
No, that doesn't mean I am back in the United States. Sorry to get your hopes up. I am just saying a welcome back to me, the author of this blog, to this blog. It has been far too long since I have last written, and I apologize to you, the readers. It has been a pretty odd month here because I really haven't had much to write about. Most everything that has been happening has been pretty darn normal really. I go to work and I teach, but even that hasn't really contained many new stories. Add on top of the lack of excitement with my health not being the best for the past three weeks, it makes for a pretty boring blog. I will try to update you all with has happened since I last wrote.
1. I have had some lingering sickness that has mutated into different sicknesses for literally three weeks. It has been horrible and I can't wait to be better. Teaching while sick is just not as much fun. This week has been real bad. It started last week on Wednesday, which meant that I was really feeling horrible on Thursday. Fever, head cold, the whole bit. Friday was a bit better, which was good because I have recently gotten to take part in an improv comedy group here in Seoul and we had a show on Friday. (more on this later) I went home and went to bed pretty early Friday night, but still woke up on Saturday with no voice and still feeling horrible. I then had to cancel plans on Saturday (more on that later too) and Sunday (improv rehearsal). I then slept almost all weekend. I woke up once in awhile to eat and drink (a lot). It was horrible. No voice and a large concern that I had swine flu (I don't). Monday comes and I still had no voice. Taught anyway because we don't have any extra teachers. It was a challenge. Today I had a bit more of a voice, but I am still far from whole. At least I feel better.
2. I am in an improv troupe! I am excited because this means I have met some neat, nice people who think I am funny and I get the chance to show off some comedic abilities. All of my fellow teachers and even my assistant director came to the show on Friday night. It was a lot of fun. I addition to the show, I was auctioned off as a bachelor to help raise money for the homeless. I had a pretty good bit of money raised (80,000 won = $80) because a lot of ladies thought I was funny...I think.
3. I am cast in a Christmas reading/show. I am doing three readings, which I am flattered to do. I like all the pieces I am doing, which is great. However, I couldn't go to the first rehearsal because of my lack of voice. I look forward to the next rehearsal though. My friend Heidi is also in the show. The director was very, very complimentary to me, so that was nice.
4. Halloween. Wow. I had a good time creeping kids out during Halloween. We didn't teach classes, we just planned a game and then different classes came around and played our game. My game was like bobbing for apples, but the apples were hanging from strings. One kids actually lost his tooth IN the apple, so I had to give him that one. Other than that though, no children were able to get a bite out of the apple. I even tried...it was impossible.
I was a zombie:
And here are some awesome kids in costume! My favorite kid is the one in the orange sunglasses who is totally in character for this picture. What is he? I don't know...but he awesome whatever he is supposed to be.
5. I bought some random food. I still don't know what it was. It tasted like dough cooked over charcoals. I think that is what it was. I ate two bites and then threw them away. I bought them from a street vendor. I was curious...and now I know. I also bought a bottle of juice that tasted like peaches. Sadly, it had chunks of peaches in it too and I don't like to chew my drinks.
Okay. That is it for now. I have to go to bed so that I can hopefully have a better voice tomorrow. I am currently drinking hot water with honey in it, listening to James Taylor (that makes me miss my dad, playing Yahtzee, waiting for supper cooked by my mom, and then sitting down with Mom, Dad, Steph, Jon, and Kitty to eat it), and getting really drowsy.
Goodnight all and I will write again sooner.
1. I have had some lingering sickness that has mutated into different sicknesses for literally three weeks. It has been horrible and I can't wait to be better. Teaching while sick is just not as much fun. This week has been real bad. It started last week on Wednesday, which meant that I was really feeling horrible on Thursday. Fever, head cold, the whole bit. Friday was a bit better, which was good because I have recently gotten to take part in an improv comedy group here in Seoul and we had a show on Friday. (more on this later) I went home and went to bed pretty early Friday night, but still woke up on Saturday with no voice and still feeling horrible. I then had to cancel plans on Saturday (more on that later too) and Sunday (improv rehearsal). I then slept almost all weekend. I woke up once in awhile to eat and drink (a lot). It was horrible. No voice and a large concern that I had swine flu (I don't). Monday comes and I still had no voice. Taught anyway because we don't have any extra teachers. It was a challenge. Today I had a bit more of a voice, but I am still far from whole. At least I feel better.
2. I am in an improv troupe! I am excited because this means I have met some neat, nice people who think I am funny and I get the chance to show off some comedic abilities. All of my fellow teachers and even my assistant director came to the show on Friday night. It was a lot of fun. I addition to the show, I was auctioned off as a bachelor to help raise money for the homeless. I had a pretty good bit of money raised (80,000 won = $80) because a lot of ladies thought I was funny...I think.
3. I am cast in a Christmas reading/show. I am doing three readings, which I am flattered to do. I like all the pieces I am doing, which is great. However, I couldn't go to the first rehearsal because of my lack of voice. I look forward to the next rehearsal though. My friend Heidi is also in the show. The director was very, very complimentary to me, so that was nice.
4. Halloween. Wow. I had a good time creeping kids out during Halloween. We didn't teach classes, we just planned a game and then different classes came around and played our game. My game was like bobbing for apples, but the apples were hanging from strings. One kids actually lost his tooth IN the apple, so I had to give him that one. Other than that though, no children were able to get a bite out of the apple. I even tried...it was impossible.
I was a zombie:
And here are some awesome kids in costume! My favorite kid is the one in the orange sunglasses who is totally in character for this picture. What is he? I don't know...but he awesome whatever he is supposed to be.
5. I bought some random food. I still don't know what it was. It tasted like dough cooked over charcoals. I think that is what it was. I ate two bites and then threw them away. I bought them from a street vendor. I was curious...and now I know. I also bought a bottle of juice that tasted like peaches. Sadly, it had chunks of peaches in it too and I don't like to chew my drinks.
Okay. That is it for now. I have to go to bed so that I can hopefully have a better voice tomorrow. I am currently drinking hot water with honey in it, listening to James Taylor (that makes me miss my dad, playing Yahtzee, waiting for supper cooked by my mom, and then sitting down with Mom, Dad, Steph, Jon, and Kitty to eat it), and getting really drowsy. Goodnight all and I will write again sooner.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Namsan Tower
Chuseok is the Korean harvest holiday. It's like Thanksgiving in America. It means that I didn't have to teach on Friday. I had the day off and it was a beautiful, fall day. That meant a hike was in order. One of the veteran teachers took Blake and I to the area where Namsan Tower is located and we began the hike. Here is our destination from quite a ways away. This a meters away from the sub station that we arrived at, and we had a long ways to go.
After we made it to the trail head, we began the climb up the hill and through the forest. The trees had not started to change color yet, but you could hear the rustling of dry leaves. Soon, the leaves will be gold, orange, and brown, but for now it just sounded very nice. Also, there were a lot of pine trees and it reminded me of a forest in Northern Minnesota.
It looked like this was an area for runoff to go in order to prevent erosion. There were a few of them along the way. They had facts about the life cycle of frogs, which, I'm sure would have been interesting to any Korean reading child. I just looked at the pictures and learned...I think.
Here are some mysterious creatures I saw in the woods. Oh...wait...those are English teachers. They are indigenous to this area.
Along the way there were piles of rocks used as trail markers. I added a rock to a couple of them. They reminded me of when I climbed a mountain in Colorado and there was just NO way of knowing if you were on the trail or not. Thank goodness for previous hikers. The trail wasn't as hard to follow here because it was cut through the woods pretty darn well.
Near the top of the hill there was a giant wall. At a time, long ago, this hilltop was used as a strategic outpost, so the evidence of some of these structures could be seen in a couple of places. The first picture is straight at the wall and the second is straight up the wall.
We made it to the top! Here is the tower a bit closer. It is very big...
and on the bottom of the tower is...
These next few pictures are from the observation decks at the bottom of the tower. It cost money to get to the top, which would have been amazing, but I really didn't have the funds to do that. Maybe next time.
There is a tradition for couples that go to Namsan Tower. They buy a lock together, write something on it, lock it on the fence at the top of the hill (base of the tower), and then, together, throw the key over the edge of the cliff. This means their bond will always be locked and they can't break it. Romantic, huh? There was a lot of locks up there and it was pretty neat to see.
There were some great gardens...
More shots from the observation areas at the base of Namsan Tower. Lot of great views, to say the least.
Not sure what the story is with this fountain, but I saw it from kilometers away...yes...kilometers, not miles, away.
Pictures of the Han river that runs right through the middle of Seoul...
A pagoda and also, the signal fires to signal when armies where coming. One if by land, two if by sea...or something like that. I don't know...it was all in Korean.
Hey! Look! It's me! And Seoul!
More scenes from Seoul.
We cheated and took the gondola down the mountain. I was in a hurry because at eight pm the first hockey game of the season was being shown at a great bar. I ate a cheeseburger and had a Coke and some garlic, cheesy bread. It was fantastic. Anyway, here are views from our ride down.
Well, there you go. Happy Chuseok everyone. I am gonna enjoy some of my Chuseok gift from the school: three bottles of raspberry wine. Very good. Also, there is a plum wine in there that has flakes of gold. The director made sure we noticed that so we would think they spent a lot of money on us. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you all are enjoying the fall and the harvest. I certainly miss this time of year in the United States, so you should email me some pictures of the harvesting going on. Fall is my favorite time of year, so it will be interesting to be in a giant city where I will not see anything having to do with farming. Ok. Miss you all. Becky...if you are reading...I thought of you while I had my very own tea time today. It wasn't the same.
Later gators.
After we made it to the trail head, we began the climb up the hill and through the forest. The trees had not started to change color yet, but you could hear the rustling of dry leaves. Soon, the leaves will be gold, orange, and brown, but for now it just sounded very nice. Also, there were a lot of pine trees and it reminded me of a forest in Northern Minnesota.
It looked like this was an area for runoff to go in order to prevent erosion. There were a few of them along the way. They had facts about the life cycle of frogs, which, I'm sure would have been interesting to any Korean reading child. I just looked at the pictures and learned...I think.
Here are some mysterious creatures I saw in the woods. Oh...wait...those are English teachers. They are indigenous to this area.
Along the way there were piles of rocks used as trail markers. I added a rock to a couple of them. They reminded me of when I climbed a mountain in Colorado and there was just NO way of knowing if you were on the trail or not. Thank goodness for previous hikers. The trail wasn't as hard to follow here because it was cut through the woods pretty darn well.
Near the top of the hill there was a giant wall. At a time, long ago, this hilltop was used as a strategic outpost, so the evidence of some of these structures could be seen in a couple of places. The first picture is straight at the wall and the second is straight up the wall.
We made it to the top! Here is the tower a bit closer. It is very big...
and on the bottom of the tower is...
These next few pictures are from the observation decks at the bottom of the tower. It cost money to get to the top, which would have been amazing, but I really didn't have the funds to do that. Maybe next time.
There is a tradition for couples that go to Namsan Tower. They buy a lock together, write something on it, lock it on the fence at the top of the hill (base of the tower), and then, together, throw the key over the edge of the cliff. This means their bond will always be locked and they can't break it. Romantic, huh? There was a lot of locks up there and it was pretty neat to see.
There were some great gardens...
More shots from the observation areas at the base of Namsan Tower. Lot of great views, to say the least.
Not sure what the story is with this fountain, but I saw it from kilometers away...yes...kilometers, not miles, away.
Pictures of the Han river that runs right through the middle of Seoul...
A pagoda and also, the signal fires to signal when armies where coming. One if by land, two if by sea...or something like that. I don't know...it was all in Korean.
Hey! Look! It's me! And Seoul!
More scenes from Seoul.
We cheated and took the gondola down the mountain. I was in a hurry because at eight pm the first hockey game of the season was being shown at a great bar. I ate a cheeseburger and had a Coke and some garlic, cheesy bread. It was fantastic. Anyway, here are views from our ride down.
Well, there you go. Happy Chuseok everyone. I am gonna enjoy some of my Chuseok gift from the school: three bottles of raspberry wine. Very good. Also, there is a plum wine in there that has flakes of gold. The director made sure we noticed that so we would think they spent a lot of money on us. Anyway, thanks for reading and I hope you all are enjoying the fall and the harvest. I certainly miss this time of year in the United States, so you should email me some pictures of the harvesting going on. Fall is my favorite time of year, so it will be interesting to be in a giant city where I will not see anything having to do with farming. Ok. Miss you all. Becky...if you are reading...I thought of you while I had my very own tea time today. It wasn't the same.Later gators.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
I win.
Cold loses. I am feeling much better this weekend. This was a hard week because of how sick I felt all week, but I made it through and have spent this whole week and weekend just resting and sleeping. Here are a few quick pictures. Nothing exciting from this week because 1. I was sick. 2. I am running out of money. In fact, I may have to borrow some from some fellow teachers. I didn't really get paid very much this last paycheck, so after sending a large chunk of that money home to cover bills it is getting pretty tight for this last fourteen days. Ok, here come the pics.
Here are some of the classroom that I teach in. We all have planet names and I am Saturn. I was going to be Mars, but one of the teachers that had been there claimed it. Oh well, Saturn is pretty neat because it is at the end of the hallway and so we are in our own world. I like that. That means that we can shout and yell without worrying about disturbing other classes. We do a lot of noise making in my classes. It entertains me and the kids.
Here is my dryer working overtime in my apartment. Oh...that reminds me...I have to go put in some towels to be washed.
Here is a picture of one of my favorite things I have eaten here in South Korea. Some of you asked if I have eaten a lot of fish. The answer is, sadly, no. I have only eaten fish one time. It was good, but I really am looking forward to the next paycheck, so that I can eat some fresh, exotic fish. However, this chicken is pretty great. It is boneless (woman's style apparently? I don't know.) and covered in deliciousness. One of the kinds comes with large noodles and the other (yes, it comes with TWO kinds of boneless chicken!) is crispy and amazing. I didn't a picture of the actual food, but I am going to order it again and take a picture. I was too hungry and excited to take pictures of the actual food, but I did want you to see the strange person and the "woman's style" on the box. It makes no sense to me, but it tastes great. Also, this place introduced me to an amazingly tasty beverage. Green plum juice. I am going to miss this drink when I leave because it is soooo great. I have been drinking it a LOT.
Well, there you go. Sorry none of this is terribly interesting, but I am just thankful to be over my cold. Ok, well I have to go put away my laundry now. It is dry. Thanks for reading and keep up with the questions. I will try to answer them all.
Here are some of the classroom that I teach in. We all have planet names and I am Saturn. I was going to be Mars, but one of the teachers that had been there claimed it. Oh well, Saturn is pretty neat because it is at the end of the hallway and so we are in our own world. I like that. That means that we can shout and yell without worrying about disturbing other classes. We do a lot of noise making in my classes. It entertains me and the kids.
Here is my dryer working overtime in my apartment. Oh...that reminds me...I have to go put in some towels to be washed.
Here is a picture of one of my favorite things I have eaten here in South Korea. Some of you asked if I have eaten a lot of fish. The answer is, sadly, no. I have only eaten fish one time. It was good, but I really am looking forward to the next paycheck, so that I can eat some fresh, exotic fish. However, this chicken is pretty great. It is boneless (woman's style apparently? I don't know.) and covered in deliciousness. One of the kinds comes with large noodles and the other (yes, it comes with TWO kinds of boneless chicken!) is crispy and amazing. I didn't a picture of the actual food, but I am going to order it again and take a picture. I was too hungry and excited to take pictures of the actual food, but I did want you to see the strange person and the "woman's style" on the box. It makes no sense to me, but it tastes great. Also, this place introduced me to an amazingly tasty beverage. Green plum juice. I am going to miss this drink when I leave because it is soooo great. I have been drinking it a LOT.
Well, there you go. Sorry none of this is terribly interesting, but I am just thankful to be over my cold. Ok, well I have to go put away my laundry now. It is dry. Thanks for reading and keep up with the questions. I will try to answer them all.
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