We're almost ready to drop the puck!

Yes friends and neighbours it's nearly that time again when I am watching playoff baseball and the beginnings of both the NFL and the NHL seasons! I LOVE this time of year! Especially when I don't have to stay up all night to watch. But whatareyougonnadoo????

I've just been looking around the NHL and trying to see who might be good picks for the upcoming season. I've also been following pre-season scores closely. Not like they make much of a difference but... There are a few pretty exciting teams this year! You might be surprised which ones I think they are too. The following are my picks of what I think will be the top ten most offensive, (and therefore most exciting), teams to watch this year.

1: Washington Capitals. Most exciting team will be Washington again. No surprise there I'm sure. Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Green, and they got an old speedy ex-Canuck to add some excitement too in Brendan Morrison. So I'll like them even better.

2: Pittsburgh Penguins. Again, no surprise. These two teams were just awesome to watch and I can't figure how they won't be numbers 1 and 2 in points at the end of the season either. Crosby, Malkin, Kunitz, Guerin, Gonchar and because they lost Whitney I think Chris Letang will be up there in defenceman scoring this year too. Staal, Kennedy, Cooke, just a solid character team! No shame in giving them the cup.

3. Chicago Blackhawks. The list of right wings on this team is incredible! Kane, Hossa, Sharp, Versteeg, Byfuglien... and their number one left wing is Andrew Ladd? Toews, Bolland and Madden are three good centres but I think they'll have to swap a right winger or two over to the left side. Plus they have Campbell, Seabrook, Keith and Sopel on D. Those are some good scorers on D!

4. Columbus Blue Jackets. Yes that's right. I told you this might be surprising. Take a look at their roster and you see absolutely NO defence except for Commodore, who's injured. That's my kind of team! Their top two defencemen, Klesla and Tyutin are both fairly offensive, and also injured. Mason and Garon are gonna see a LOT of rubber this year. But that's okay. If somebody scores on you, just got out and score two goals on THEM. This looks to be the perfect team to use their offence. And it just might put asses in seats too. Rumour has it that there is chemistry between Nash, (who scored 40 goals last year with a plumber centering his line), and Derick Brassard. Remember THAT name for your pools everybody. I've already picked him. With Jakub Voracek on the right side they'll be deadly. I always felt sorry for Vermette on Ottawa because they were so deep at center he couldn't show his skills. Well, now he can. They also have Huselius, Modin, and a candidate for rookie of the year the sharpshooting, young Russian, Nikita Filitov. Some cheap pick-ups for your pools.

5. The Toronto Maple Leafs! Don't look now but there's gonna be some scoring in Toronto! They have three, even FOUR lines who can put the puck in the net! Grabovski, Stajan, Mitchell, they'll all have good wingers to work with. Jason Blake will have no trouble getting 40 goals again. Maybe 50. I like the trade they made for Stempniak. He can score. They'll need him to hold the fort at right wing till Phill Kessel gets healthy. Another good acquisition. And watch out for the rookie Viktor Stahlberg on left wing. He's been a madman in pre-season. Defence is good too. Yet another great pick-up, Beauchemin will surprise many and Kaberle, Komisarik and Finger will likely fill the nets. Toronto could be both fun to watch AND dangerous this year!

6. The Edmonton Oilers. It's no secret that the small market teams who are not getting full houses are the teams who seem to get better by trying this new thing called scoring goals instead of worrying so much about the other team scoring on you. That's what the fans, including me, want to see. They have Visnovsky and Souray on defence. Maybe only Detroit has a better point on the power play than that. They still have old stand-bys like Horcoff and Hemsky but all the really young guys they had last year now have a full year under their belts and they'll be a LOT better for it. Watch for Gagner, Cogliano, and Nilsson to improve a lot. O'Sullivan could get 30 goals or more. And there's a young fella named J.F. Jaques who looks very good! And don't forget Mike Comrie and Ethan Moreau. What about a Gagner/Moreau/Jaques French Connection line? I will enjoy watching this speedy young team again this year!

7. The Montreal Canadiens. As much as I hate to see it, Montreal my be moving in the right direction. I might even have to vote for them a little this year. Any team with 4 offensive defencemen like Spacek, Mara, Markov and Hamrlik is gonna get some goals from point shots. And they shopped around and STOLE Mike Cammalleri one of the best young players in the NHL, and Gomez and Gionta to play with him. That'll be a strong power play even if they don't play together. They still have Plekanec and the Kostitsyn brothers. Plus they have two guys that I think could get more use in Montreal than they got on their former teams. Two GOOD guys named Travis Moen and Glen Metropolit. Trust me, they can score if you put them out there. I hope they play some offence now that they have the team for it.

8. Philadelphia Flyers. They'll be exciting but I don't think they'll be as exciting as last year. They will probably become a bit more defensive.

9. Ottawa Senators. I think they'll be the opposite of the Flyers and with new additions Kovalev and Cheechoo they'll try to be a little more offensive.

10. Boston/N.Y. Rangers. The Rangers have already traded for a guy, (Gaborik), who could win the scoring title if he were allowed to play offense and the coach has told him he WILL be set loose. Unfortunately he doesn't have a superb supporting cast. If the Rangers can get Dany Heatley, and they're trying, then they'll be my number 10. If not the Bruins will be awesome with Savard, Krejci, Bergeron, Wheeler, Ryder, Kobasew, Recchi, Lucic, Sturm, Chara... geez the list goes on. If Washington and Pittsburgh aren't first and second then maybe the Bruins will be.

Anyway, as we all know hockey is a dangerous game. There are always injuries and trades that change everything. It'll be fun to see it all play out this year. THESE are the teams that I will be watching.


P.S. I'm glad to see the Canucks picked up Samuelsson and have solidified an offensive defence with Ehrhoff and Schneider. I'm also glad that Demitra won't be playing for a while to start the season. This might give the Canucks a chance to let some younger, better players play. I wanna see Wellwood bust out this year offensively. And I'd like to see both the Sedins score 100 points. But I'm afraid that when you build your team around a goalie, even if you have the players to play offensively, you likely won't. But I REALLY hope they doooo!

I think it's gonna be a good year.

P.P.S. I didn't include one obvious team, (just to bug Angie), Detroit because with guys like Lidstrom, Rafalski, Datsyuk, Franzen, Holmstrom, even Bertuzzi, it's almost unfair. They'll be up there too, of course.

I think it's going to be a great season and I sure hope we have more than ONE 50-goal scorer this year!

Survivor time again

Wow! That really snuck up on me! Or "sneaked" as the case may be. But I'd say it "snuck". Sounds more surprising than "sneaked" to me. I was just looking for a new show to get from mininova and BAM there's episode one of Survivor. So as usual I'll give my predictions. I DID watch the first episode and there is NO way I would have chosen Marisa to be voted out first! But who can predict what'll happen with a guy like Russ H around? He's gonna make things fun! For a short while. I'm gonna give you what I think of the players in the order that Jeff Probst reviewed them.

Erik: 28, Bartender. Probst likes him. Like me he hates "hooray-for-everything" fake positivity and he's out to bring anybody like that he encounters crashing down to earth. It's terrible but I LOVE that! Probst says he'll double cross. I agree. He loves stealing other men's women and says the only thing better than making a woman cry is making a man cry. I think this will make Natalie irresistable to him. I don't think he really has much respect for women. He dates 4 or 5 at a time and the only special female in his life is his dog. He's well educated but enjoys working as a bartender and feels he's not a "sellout". I think he'll be a very clever troublemaker. I think he could come in second place or even win if people don't get to know him. There MUST be a reason why Probst chose to talk about him first.

Ashley: 22, Spa Sales. Probst is surprised by her "gut". Says she could go deep. I don't think it'll be through any skill if she does but she could be someone people don't feel threatened by. Very good looking and will use that. But she's only camped once, she's a city girl and she seems very naive. However, says she has no qualms about selling stuff she doesn't like. She swallowed Russ H's bogus Katrina/Rocky story whole and is already giving him her trust. Not looking to be too bright yet. Could be an early casualty of Russ H's evil plan.

Dave: 38, Fitness Instructor. Danger Dave could be a danger to others or to himself. Probst expects him to self-destruct. He has the highest I.Q. of any survivor ever, 140. I am not convinced that will help in the survivor situation. However, he likes strategy games and has a LOT of world experience. Used to be a flight attendant, does martial arts, and has a degree in OPERA??? He wants to make life a rich experience. OBVIOUSLY. I liked his quote, "The issue of my sanity doesn't cross my mind that often." Don't know him well enough to guess whether that was wit or not but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. His strategy is to "moderate my mouth". I like his philosophy but I'm not sure he'll be well accepted by others. But that might not hurt him. More people get voted off these days for being popular than not.Plans to retire to Thailand and become a minor warlord there if he wins the mil.

Russel S: 42, Lawyer. Probst feels like he's not built for the deception of the game. Not built for deception? He's a LAWYER! But he DOES sue people who hurt the environment so if such a thing exists, he might be a good lawyer. Still I've said it before, I don't think a lawyer should EVER win Survivor. Yet there always seems to be a whole herd of them on every show. Are there really THAT many lawyers in the States? Seeing him cut off his dreads won't be worth seeing him win. Was chosen as leader because of his suit and proved to be pretty good at choosing the right people for the right jobs. Except choosing John for swimming. The choice of Shambo for the smart person was fantastic. She kicked ass in both puzzles. I might like him but I won't vote for him cuz he's a lawyer.

Russel H: 36, Oil Company Owner. This guy is a jerk who would probably be more at home in jail than Samoa. From what I've seen I wouldn't be surprised if he deserves to be in jail. Even Probst called him evil! He's very intimidating and it has gotten him far. But intimidation won't work on Survivor. And he's not nearly as smart as he thinks. Already Betsy and Marisa don't trust him. But Marisa's gone because of it. He can't get away with that too many times before he gets the boot. But it'll sure be interesting to see what chaos he can cause! And when he gets voted off there might be a few death threats as he makes the walk of shame.

Brett: 23, T Shirt Designer. Probst calls him a "dark horse". He might sneak through. He's not gonna be the best or worst at anything. Perfect guy to slide through without ever getting a vote. I'll be interested to see if he's a REAL businessman and steps on people to get to the million bucks. For example I'm curious why he said Shambo looked like the best leader but then voted for Russ S. Did he want to put a target on Russ? As Russ says, "The highest nail gets pounded down first and I'm sky high right now."

Kelly: 25, Hairstylist. I think she'll be high on Erik's list of people to bring back to earth. Seems like a bubble-head. "Careful" and "Trouble" tattoos could mean, "Careful, this person has trouble." I couldn't even sit through her intro vid. There's nothing to her in my early opinion. One of several girls on this Survivor with annoying chipmunk voices.

Shambo: 45, Sales. She is instantly likeable. Biker bitch with a mullet. I like her voice and the way she talks. She just seems honest. I'm not going out on too thin a limb to guess that she might be the requisite homosexual on Survivor. Like a female Rupert. I might like her better. The puzzle QUEEN! I think she's smart and a great judge of people. Russ H is lucky she's not in his tribe cuz she'd already be on to him. Erik better be careful of her too. One of my early favourites.

Yasmin: 33, Hairstylist. Abolutely GORGEOUS! If I have learned anything from Survivor it's this: the girls I find the most attractive are always the first to be voted out. She'll be gone early. Says she's opinionated and a bitch. Might be kept around for that though. Probst thinks she's a softy but she performed well in challenges so far. I can only hope she sticks around. Maybe her and Kelly, the two hairsylists, will become friends. And go for swims, and tan on the beach and bathe together. Auuuuggghhh....

Elizabeth: 33, Lawyer. She was, (of course), picked for the intelligence task by Russ and got her ass whooped by Shambo in the puzzle. She said herself that the stereotype of Asians being smart also carries with it the negative stigma of being conniving. From my experience with Asians, it's well earned. Says she wants to be assertive without being abrasive. Her profession and her heritage certainly won't help. Says there are definitely a lot of whackos here. Is REALLY worried about annoying people. I wonder why that is... Says people need to be flexible to win. I.e. able to change alliances and/or their stories in a heartbeat. She's such a lawyer! Probst doesn't trust her and I loved when he used air quotes and called her the "smartest person." I hate her already.

Ben: 28, Mixologist. Will him and Erik swap cocktail recipes? They're both womanizers but I don't think I'll like Ben as much. He seems more like a jerk. Likes biking and killing stuff. An intriguing evil duo would be Ben and Russ but there's no honour amongst bad guys. Neither would trust the other. Says he's not a sayer but a doer then totally contradicts himself by bragging about his player life. Don't think he's gonna be Mr. Popularity and I'd be surprised if ANY of the gals like him. Probst calls him a time bomb ready to explode. I don't think he'll be able to recover if he does.

Laura: 39, Office Manager. Another biker. But I doubt her Christian, conservative personality will do anything but clash with other bikers in this bunch. In fact I could see her getting voted off if she's too vocal about her beliefs. Calls herself a fit version of Sarah Palin. Uh oh... She has maybe the MOST annoying chipmunk voice and she has used it to say "I can do it right and I can do it better." I think being in a tribe with Russ H might artificially prolong her stay. Otherwise she'd be given the heave-ho next I think. But Probst thinks she'll go all the way! Gotta disagree, Jeff.

Mike: 62, Chef. He's all by himself in the age category. Luckily not in the same tribe as Laura cuz he hates republicans. Former college football coach so he might use those skills. He's got a cool way of talking. Him and Shambo would be fun to listen to if they were reading cricket scores for crying out loud! But I have a feeling he'll be weak. So does Probst. Got his sleep apnea fixed? Can that happen? He better hope so. He's already gonna be viewed as expendible.

Betsy: 48, Cop. It's important to note that she has only been a cop for a year. Who becomes a cop at 47? Although, her cop-like reading of Russ H was impressive, her comment about Ashley being the weakest was not very peace officerish. Also was a boozer for a while. Sober 21 years though. The second she starts trying to turn Survivor into The Biggest Loser and get people crying about her husband's battle with prostate cancer I'm gonna stop liking her. But I think I just might like Betsy. Probst likes her and thinks she could win.

Marisa: 26, Student. She can go back to her studies. I think she was smart calling Russ H "pretty slimy." Not smart to confront him about it though. Probst said she was on paper made for the game but she'd get mixed up with the wrong people and be out by episode 5. Boy was he right! I think she was a good person. Did some volunteer work overseas. She had noble goals too. Too good to get rich I suppose.

Natalie: 26, Pharmaceutical Sales. She will break a nail in a challenge but probably won't eat a bug. Gorgeous and that might be what gets her voted off. Not much interesting about her except that she had better watch out for Erik. Probst thinks there might be something to her. I'm not sure yet.

Mick: 33, Doctor. Probst doesn't trust him but his tribe does. Voted the leader and he seems to be liking it more than Russ. He tried very hard to make himself sound funny in his profile. Didn't really work for me. And seeing him in the first episode, NAH. He's not funny OR a leader. He could be doing it badly on purpose but I doubt it. Says he's loyal and keeps his word. We'll see if that helps or hurts him. Or if it's even true.

John: 25, Rocket Scientist. Probst REALLY doesn't like this guy! Says he's a poser. Finds idiots and unskilled amusing and will tell them so. He'll stir the pot! Former soccer player but not such a good swimmer as we saw. Says he prefers, "justifyably confident" to "cocky." That's an awfully cocky thing to say. I think he's a bladder full of hot air and can't stand listening to him. I'm sure I won't be alone.

Monica: 25, Law Student. Studying to fill the obvious lawyer shortage in the U.S. She's gorgeous. I don't know if I'll be calling her Parvati or Pocohontas. Again I think she'll be interesting only by the company she keeps. I don't see a lot to her. And I don't want to see a law student win either. Another one of these chicks that thinks she has sales skills but dressed in her bikini, I'd buy ice from her if I were an Eskimo before she said a word.

Jaison: 28, Law Student. Maybe can study with Monica. U.S. water polo team. Good swimming is always a plus on Survivor and he won the swimming challenge in the first episode. Mr. California in Cosmo. Probst says he would love to give him the check. He IS well spoken and I like his idea of snowboarding down Mt. Everest but he's another damn lawyer!

I like: Erik, Dave, Shambo.
I hate: John, Elizabeth, Laura.

I DON'T hate: Russ H. He'll be a lot of fun if he can stick around.

Best shot to win: Russel S, Shambo, Brett, Jaison.

After two years and one month I finally met my boss!

Today was the big meeting. It only took a matter of 25 short months for the occasion to arise but I finally met with this Snuffleuppagus known around Seogang College as Director Park. He's the director of the language department here. Kasia had told me about him many times. How she taught his kids, how his English is really good. She even assured me that at one point or another I had seen him. But I met him today and didn't recognize him at ALL!

To give you an idea how genuinely clueless I was about who this guy was, I was told to go to his office at 11. I showed up at the wrong office. I walked up to the guy who I had always assumed was Director Park, who has an office just off the new office where Peter, one of my supervisors works, shook his hand and said, "Hello, Director Park," to which he replied, "Mooyeoh? 'Recto Pak? 'Recto Pak?'" Then he led me out into the main office helpfully pointing at me and quoting me. "Recto Pak? Recto Pak?" I didn't know Director Park's full name and Peter wasn't there. I didn't know HIS full name either. It's never been necessary for me to know either. Luckily one of the other workers in the office figured out that Peter could probably help and she called him. I talked to Peter on her phone and he told me I was not only in the wrong office, I was in the wrong BUILDING! So I thanked her for her help and went to the right building.

I got to the office and Peter was there. He showed me in and took off. Things have been particularly tense around here lately due to the internet fiasco. I had a big blow-up and have completely stopped talking with Jung and Peter is now in charge of me. Everybody was expecting me to go in there and rant and rave. And to tell you the truth after the year I had last year and the way things have started off this year I really SHOULD have. Both Peter and Jung did there best to keep me from a private meeting with Director Park for as long as they could most likely for just this reason. A few weeks ago when I was trying to get permission to install my own private internet in my room in the dorm I asked Peter to set up a meeting with Director Park and me but he said he couldn't and set up a meeting with all four of us. I said it was completely unnecessary and aparently Park thought so as well cuz he cancelled it. Then I told Peter I would still like him to set up a meeting with Park and myself knowing he would conveniently forget to do so. He did. So I called Director Park and asked him for a meeting. I guess he called Peter and Peter called me into the office one day and said, "Okay I can set up a meeting Thursday at 11. That's the only time all four of us are free." I said difinitively then and there, "You and Jung don't need to be there."

So I'm SURE they were shitting their drawers expecting me to inform on them. Not so much Peter. I hadn't dealt much with him in the previous year but as you will know if you read the boring office politics I write about sometimes on this blog, Jung pretty much took the year off. And I admit to frequent insomnia and daydreaming caused by rehearsing a fire and brimstone, Jung-damning oration in the weeks leading up to the meeting knowing full well it would probably never be heard by human ears.

Sure enough when I got in there even though my compassion was undeserved I went really easy on Jung and just politicked about how when things are tough sometimes co-workers become less friendly and more competitive. It creates a palpable tension. Due to the global economic crisis things are tough all over and I sensed a tension at Seokang last year that wasn't aparent 3 years ago when I first started working here. I even mentioned how much I loved Peter and Jung and that they were the main reason I came back to Seokang and want to stay at Seokang. I oozed about how in 2006 they had made me feel welcome and appreciated and that is all I want from any employer and haven't been able to find anywhere else. But, I said, the atmosphere is different now. So in an effort to help get things back to the way they used to be I offered my services as a director of a kids camp during the summer and winter vacations. I could quite easily make it happen. I have connections. Between my connections and myself we would do virtually ALL the work and the college would make a few extra HUNDRED MILLION won a year for doing next to nothing. Pretty freakin' sweet deal for them! I put on my doe eyes and blathered on saying that if this extra money served to solidify some jobs and make people less combative and friendlier like the way they used to be around here, it would all be worth it. What a wonderful human being I am!

But I also told him that it would be a lot more convenient for me to have a camp here than to continually request permission to work at another camp; interview for jobs at several other camps; find a camp that looks like it might now rip me off; (and really there's just no way to be sure); find a camp that won't be a holiday PRISON; find a camp that looks to have some cool co-workers; move to another part of the country; stay in a strange town in strange lodgings; go through the hellish immigration for the camp etc... It would be a lot easier for me to just do a camp here every vacation. AND it would make me more money.

I continued on to say that I'm working at about 25% capacity here and I would like to maximize my earning potential for the school. I think I even said, "Put me in, Coach!" at one point. Then I said that if all of this worked out I would be responsible for making the school a considerable chunk of change and then the school would most likely appreciate me more. AAAaaaand they could show that appreciation by getting me an apartment off campus.

It was at this point that Director Park spoke for the first time. He said that there was no possibility of getting me a place off campus. Here was the first chance I had to HINT at the failings of others in the program to represent me. I said that there was no way of knowing exactly what Jung had told him as to WHY I wanted a place off campus but I said that if any reasonable man knew all of what I went through and what EVERY teacher goes through here, (all of which Jung had been informed), it would leave no question in his mind that off campus housing is mandatory. I explained all kinds of problems I had been having strategically omitting the problems that were exacerbated by Jung's negligence. Like the door key that took 18 months for him to get me. I didn't even talk about the hassles I had been having with the Idon'tcaretakers here! I should be canonized or at least knighted for my restraint!

Then I told him that I had given Jung an address of a very comfortable apartment that would cost a mere 180,000 won a month. That's about 150 bucks my American and Canadian friends. DIRT cheap. I then told him that if they replaced me with the requisite 4 students in my dorm room they would actually MAKE money by getting me a place off campus. He agreed! By that I assume Jung HADN'T told him any of this information and should be reprimanded. hoo hoo haa haaaaaa.

I then cleverly worked some extra duties I am doing into the conversation. I was EN FUEGO! I said that the dorm room was also tragic to my social life. I've never had less of a social life. I can't invite people to my apartment because it's too small. We can't watch TV because I don't have one. It stinks all the time because of a sewage anomaly whereby all the students' shit passes right under my room and if I don't smell it from my bathroom I smell it from the sewage grate outside my window. It's just not possible to entertain guests. The only friends I have nowadays are people I have to go downtown on weekends to meet with. So, (here comes the clever part), when, on Monday, Peter asked me if I could find someone to teach the President of Seokang's daughter I had to tell him I couldn't talk to any of my friends until the weekend. He wanted an answer by Wednesday but because of my social isolation caused by the dorm, I just couldn't oblige. hee hee hee.

Anyway, I think I did the best I could have at the meeting. It won't ruffle any feathers and it just MIGHT get me out of this gulag - I mean dormitory. And if we do the camp, that's fine. If not, that's okay too. I STILL think I might get outta here.

So I went out tonight to whack a few baseballs at the batting cage in celebration. I bought some new, (and ridiculously expensive), batting gloves and wanted to use them. They are the first pair I've ever owned. I never used them when I played. But teaching has made my hands soft I guess. The crazy part is I got a cut in my forearm from where the velcro strip was rubbing against it every time I swung. It was good exercise anyway.

I'll give you the results of the meeting in future posts you can be sure.

Why ARE Korean Women So Good At Golf?

Look at the results of the recent U.S. Women's Open. There's no denying it: Korean chicks got golf game! Why are they so good at golf? There are many theories. Some are HILARIOUS!

Just as an aside, the Hwang Woo Seok mentioned in the link above was found to have been faking his stem cell research and totally discredited. If you read the article in Time Magazine written about him before he was exposed as the fraud he is, it's really funny how the interviewer sneaks a little hint of his own discreditation into it in the way he describes Hwang explaining how chopstick skills directly translate into scientific skills and how Korean chopsticks are harder to use so they are more skillful. Even in print it was easy to tell the author didn't write that with a straight face. Here in Korea, if you're Korean, you have to at least act like you believe that baloney.

But back on track here: why are Korean ladies so good at golf. The answer is as simple as the people. Using the same phrase as many have used to describe my putting stroke, having been here as long as I have and having no cultural blinders that would lead to silliness like the above link, I feel like I am uniquely qualified to "take a stab at this".

I have met thousands of Korean women. Since my job requires me to meet new women so often I could safely say I've met more Korean women than most Korean people ever will. And since in my classrooms I try to foster a distinctly NON-Korean atmosphere, (that is, informal), people tend to say things in my class they would never say in regular Korean society where they are obliged to constantly act, perform and live by the rules of other people. MANY students and friends have commented on how comfortable they feel when they are talking to me or with other foreigners. Korean men are CONSTANTLY asking why a lot of Korean women seem to go for foreign guys. Well this would definitely be part of it. I won't mention any other parts of foreign guys because they have nothing to do with the subject at hand.

Getting back to the rules mentioned in the last paragraph, I think that this is at the heart of Korean golfing greatness. You see, women the country over are performing every day tasks by rote. Very little if anything they do is done with full consciousness. Walking, operating a shopping cart, a vehicle, talking, studying... if you studied Korean women you would see that they are very well trained to operate in a mental gear I like to call neutral. DATE a Korean woman and you'll find out even more.

I tell a joke in my classes: A Korean man has a really bad car accident. He's bleeding profusely from his head, one arm and one leg are broken but he manages to walk to a hospital on his own. A nurse looks at him and exclaims, "Oh my GOD! How are you?" He replies, "Iamfinethankyouandyou?" It could just as easily have been a Korean woman in the joke although she wouldn't walk to the hospital, she'd take out one of her cellphones and call.

If you hang out with Koreans you will notice that this is the response they've been trained to give to this question. In fact most "schools" I've worked for try their best to encourage teachers to teach the entire English language so that it can be spoken as mindlessly as this. And when you listen to Koreans speaking Korean I'm convinced that it's well on its way to becoming just a list of identical questions and answers used by everyone identically every time.

What a tremendous DRAG! I can't tell you how many times I've asked garden variety ice breakers and received some response like, "I never think of this." So LIVE a little for God's sake! Let language entertain you once in a while.

Speaking of that, language comedy? Doesn't yet exist here. Nothing but slapstick.

Try to be inventive with the Korean language yourself? Good luck. One time instead of saying, "I want dalk kalbi," I said, "I NEED dalk kalbi." (dalk kalbi is a really delicious spicy chicken dish here in Korea). The Koreans I was with not only didn't appreciate my adventurous linguistics, they took a LONG time to understand what I was saying and their final report was, "Nobody says that in Korean."

This is one of the major frustrations about learning Korean that has totally demoralized myself and a lot of other people who have tried to learn it. Say something slightly wrong and even smart people probably won't understand you. They have two sets of numbers in Korea and no discernable pattern as to when to use which. But use the wrong number and even though they know its meaning they likely won't understand you.

Then there are things that you can say a few different ways. For example "next" can be said as "tal men" or "daum". "Month" can be said as "weol" or "dal". If you say "See you next month it's "Daum dal mannayo." NObody will have a clue what you're saying if you say, "Tal men weol mannayo."

This is what happens when everybody operates by the rule. You cannot stray or vary one iota. You must stay the course. What did I say about the Korean national anthem in my last post? Like a steadfast pine standing on "duty" ever still THAT is the ideal Korean's resolute will. Any military man will give a description of an ideal soldier that sounds remarkably similar to this. And the best, most skilled killers in any military are the ones who have done their training drills so many times and they have become so DAMNED boring that they are able, in fact FORCED for self-preservation, to do them without thinking at all. By rote. Mindlessly.

This has distinct advantages in the military. You really don't want your pesky brain to be thinking about the family or friends of the person you are about to stab in the coronary artery. Or why exactly you are fighting at all. Your's is not to reason why, your's is but to do and die.

This brings us to our point. There are huge advantages to practicing golf so many hours a day that you become completely bored of it and are able to switch into that neutral gear while you do it and still do it well. You don't think of the pressure, the other people, the money, the TV cameras, the big crowds, you just do it by rote. There is nobody that I have met better at doing things by rote than a Korean woman and there are no people better at training people to do things by rote than Koreans.

THIS is why they're better than anybody. In my opinion anyway. Yes the Korean women golfers are the first to turn golf completely into a business. It ain't just golf they've done THAT to...

Watch some women's golf and see if you can spot any of these really great Korean gals having a little bit of genuine fun out there. NOT including their celebrations when they have won a tournament and are allowed to stop golfing for a few days. Or maybe only practice 4 hours instead of the usual 10 for the next few days.

The way I personally define a good athlete is I ask myself if he/she would be doing it even if there were no salary at all. Or like 99% of the rest of the world, if he/she had to PAY to do it. I pay through the arse to golf and in Korea it's like 200 bucks a round! Would any Korean gals be out on the links if they didn't consider it a job or an investment? Will they golf when they retire? Did they EVER enjoy it or did someone see an aptitude and force them to do it? And are they playing now out of duty to that person who paid 200 bucks for every round? Not to mention clubs, travel, professional lessons, driving range fees. It doesn't just happen in golf folks. A majority of people here are doing something they don't want to do out of duty. And to me it's most sad when it's something like golf that can and SHOULD be really really fun.

I don't see the enjoyment or love of the game from most Korean gals who play it. They're almost robotic out there. And it's sad but emotion just gets in the way. To go one step further into the barbarism that the lust for money has brought to the innocent, beautiful world of sport, is it possible that people who don't actually LIKE the sport but are forced to play it are even better at it than people who will let love, enjoyment or thrill of competition jangle their nerves? I think this is one of the reasons Chinese athletes are so great. Remember the emotionless, robotic Russians of years ago? Korea is probably just using these models to make their golfers better. But that's just my pointless rambling for the day.

Watch yer language!

***Opinions expressed in the following post may or may not reflect those of the blogmaster.***

I am reading a lot recently about languages. I saw a pole on Facebook about whether English should be the official language of the U.S. Although in some areas and neighbourhoods it's all but unrecongnizable, I always thought it WAS! Is there any chance, or reason that this might be changed?

Then another friend sent me news about the possibility of the Canadian national anthem being sung in Hindi at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver. Although Canadians, who will very soon be the forefathers of the first totally beige country in the world are the last people you expect to get all emotional over such an issue, it seems to have happened. Check out this article.

Now I've posted my comments here before about how stupid I think it is for national anthems to be sung at sporting events, but that's not including the Olympics. It literally is country vs. country so it really DOES make sense there. But at an NHL game in Detroit they sing the U.S. national anthem for a team that they should sing either the Canadian or Swedish national anthem for. In the Canadian Football League most of the players are American but that doesn't stop us from singing "O Canada" does it? Other sports are similar. But when it does make sense to sing the anthems I would think the song of a country should be sung in the official language(s) of that country. It's really a non-issue to me.

The question I'm asking myself is what the purpose or pertinence of singing the Canadian anthem in Hindi might have been. Is it because we have a higher number of Indians in Canada now? Canada's evolving but it's still Canada. I don't see Hindi making a big splash in our popular culture. And I think it will be a VERY long time before Bollywood is more popular than Hollywood and the sitar replaces the guitar in Canada. In fact I'll go way out on a limb and say it will NEVER happen. At least not on MY watch. I have nothing against either, just, (shudder), not my cup of cha.

Besides, who will these new-to-Canada Indians be cheering for in the 2010 Winter Olympics? India or Canada. If we could get all the Indians in Canada to cheer genuinely for the Canadian national team to whoop the Indian national team in, uh, some sport that both India and Canada compete in, let's say for argument's sake snow cricket, then and only then would I even think about thinking about listening to an argument for singing O Canada in Hindi. But it's never gonna happen is it? The former, not the latter.

Just about everyone in India speaks English anyway right? Especially the ones who are immigrating to Canada. They have training, they have education, they have skills, they work for peanuts compared to Joe Canadian AND they speak English. So what's the big deal about singing an English song in English? If they feel they absolutely MUST sing it in another language, how bout French?

I live in Korea. If I were working construction or something like that I'd learn the language. But I'm teaching English so I don't need, (or want), to learn it. But every time I go to a Kia Tiger baseball game I stand up and sing the national anthem. In Korean. Okay, okay, I HUM most of it, but I sing the parts I know in Korean. There's one line in it that translates to, "Like that Mt. Namsan armoured pine, standing on duty still, wind or frost, unchanging ever be our resolute will." It pretty much sums up the country for me. So I know for a fact what would happen if I were to even TRY to sing the national anthem in English. Hey there are LOTS of people in Korea who speak English as their native language! Why can't WE sing their national anthem in English? Cuz they stand resolute and unchanging on duty and it would then be every other fan in the building's duty to lynch my "waygookin" ass. Well don't we in Canada, "...stand on guard for thee"?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying this is better than Canada or worse. All I'm saying is I have no problem at all singing the Korean national anthem in Korean. I've never even thought of singing it in English. And it's not for fear of the lynch mob. It's just the right way to sing it. It's like, it's like... Andrea Bocelli's Con te Partiro sung by Brittany Speares: "I'll go with you baby baby..."

I mean that just ain't right!

Con te Partiro is a song that almost makes me cry every time I hear it. Especially that last note. Damn! I don't really need to know the English translation. It is better without. And there's something about not knowing the meaning that makes my imagination take part in a way it couldn't if I knew.

Contrarily, if the national anthem of Canada were to be sung in Hindi at the Olympic games, not knowing what they are saying might serve a different purpose. You KNOW there would be people saying, "Now wait a minute, for all we know they could be singing:

O Canada
we're glad you're so naive.
We sing this song
but you don't make us leave.

With friends and kin
we barge right in
and pay your ways no care.

Why would I work?
I'd be a jerk!
I qualify for welfare.

gods keep this land
free from sanity.
We'll teach our language
to your kids for a small fee,

but o Canada
we won't learn English for thee.

No Canada
we'll only speak Hindi."

Now don't get me wrong, that's not what I think, but you KNOW there will be people thinking that. It's not a good way to promote the multiculturalism Canada stands for.

I find in life there are three things I turn to when I need a frame of reference or answers to a tough issue: Nature, the Good Book or cartoons. If you can't find any guidance there, just give it up. It turns out that there IS some guidance available. In Southpark season 8 there is an episode called "Goobacks". If you watch the episode, www.southparkstudios.com , and think you might want to talk like the visitors from a million years in the future then just keep on mixing up the languages, Smarty Pants! MAN, can you imagine spelling tests with that langauge? You have to watch it. "Ney nook er nyubs!" You won't get THAT one if you don't watch it either.

So let's stop all this nonsense and have a good, ENGLISH, (and French), Olympic games, shall we?

***Opinions expressed in the previous post may or may not reflect those of the blogmaster.***

Tangled Web

I have to admit to a tiny bit of admiration for a guy like Charles Ponzi, or the guy who invented pyramid scams, or that dude who withdrew a penny from everyone's bank accounts and made a gozillion bucks. These people have taken an unhealthy lust for money, total disdain for their fellow man and a bit of creativity and made it work for them.

I think that anyone who cheats me out of money in a creative way that is a good idea and that I didn't see coming makes me feel just a little bit like they've earned some or all of that money. They have outsmarted me and made me the wiser for the next time.

The term "con-man" comes from the fact that the dupe gives his or her confidence to the "confidence-man", (or woman), who then breaks that trust. The confidence may be acquired by appearing to have lots of money, appearing to be in some official position of authority, or maybe just by being a smooth-talker.

In any of those cases, there IS some skill involved and the con-man deserves some kind of, I don't think "respect" would be the word but something akin to it that we can bestow on a complete asshole.

Then there are these people you hear about who actually DO deserve respect because they are exploiting the unhealthy greed and disdain for man in OTHER people to take their money. A great example of this can be found in the movie "The Sting" in which a con lead by Redford and Newman's characters is run on rich, greedy mobster Doyle Lannegan. They tell him they are getting horse race results early and convince him to bet a big pile of money on one race.

Because of this thing called a conscience con-men often try to convince themselves that they were exploiting some bad quality in their victims. But most of the time that quality is greed, the very quality that lead to the invention of the con in the first place. So I rarely see any legitimacy to this Robin Hood heroism or morality instruction the con-men con THEMSELVES into believing is the main reason for their work. It's almost always just to make cash. Still, there's something to be said for con artists who put some thought into their cons.

There is absolutely nothing to be said for people who just plain lie for money. This is not clever. A person who believes a lie is not stupid nor is he/she in need of moral instruction. You are not creative or more clever than anyone you flat out lie to. You are just a common scumbag.

This seems to be becoming the con of choice around these here parts. And I'm getting real sick of it. My ticket to Thailand I bought at Unique Travel in Itaewon was an example. The guy who sold it positively knew the ticket was only good for a month and impossible to extend. He also knew that he'd be sending me an e-ticket and that little tidbit of information wouldn't show up on the e-ticket. I told him I would likely stay for 6 weeks or more and would need to extend my one-month visa and my plane ticket. He said that would be no problem.

I called the offices of Thai Airways and informed them that this is what was happening. Do you think they cared? Unique Travel will probably get a commendation from the airline. Thai Airways aren't innocent. In fact my ticket HOME was with Macau Air, a subsidiary. Stewardesses and crew all wore Thai Airways uniforms. Macau Air IS Thai Air. And it was the cheapest ticket I could find when I was looking to replace the return ticket I could no longer use. I THOUGHT it was going to be cheaper anyways. It turned out that golf bags are NOT free on Macau Air and they only allow 20, not 40 kilos of luggage. So I paid over 100 bucks extra to bring my golf clubs home. Again, I had an e-ticket and just assumed the free golf bag and 40 kilo rule from Thai Airways would apply to their subsidiary. Think about it. Who's gonna go one-way from Thailand to Korea with less than 20 kilos of luggage? I'm sure they make lots of money on overweight luggage charges. Assholes.

Then there are cable companies. When I was in Mokpo I got scammed by Hanaro Telecom. They assured me that if I opted out of my 4 or 5-year cable contract early there would be no penalty. I was positive I wouldn't be in Mokpo for 4 or 5 years. I got dinged for I think 120,000 won and because my cable bills just came directly out of my bank account, they GOT that money.

Now I am trying to get KT Telecom cable internet. It was part of the deal for me to sign on for another year here at Seokang. I asked for a place off campus and that was refused. So I asked for a raise AND my own internet. I told my supervisor that if I were staying in the dorms another year I wouldn't be sharing with the students. The internet here is WAY too slow. But I said we'd talk about that after I got back from vacation. He said okay, I signed the contract and went on vacation.

He has called KT about getting internet set up and they informed him of a 130,000 won outstanding balance from my account a few years ago when I was in Yangju. I'm pretty sure that this is not regular charges because I met with the landlord, future tennant and real estate agent and paid ALL the money I owed at that apartment before I left. What it probably is is ANOTHER fee for ending my contract with KT early. I am positive they told me there would be no early cancellation fees as well. And I had the internet for almost 2 years there.

But what can you do when people just lie to you? Especially in a country like Korea where I am just a foreigner with literally no legal recourse. I'll be damned if I am going to just start thinking EVERYbody is always lying to me. What kind of life would that be? But it's probably safer here. The lie is such an attractive option! It's amazing the frequency people go with that option over here. What is with that? I have a couple theories.

Firstly it is NOT Confucius's fault! Though he does shoulder a lot of the blame, he wouldn't condone this nonsense. Nor would Sun Tsu who in The Art of War says that almost all warfare is based in deception. Hello? Asia? World? Business is NOT warfare! Sun Tsu lied to save the lives of his soldiers. Assholes who equate that with their scamming, lying and cheating just so they can make a little more money to throw into the pile are just that: assholes.

The population problem has something to do with it too. If you lie to a customer, no problem, there are a billion more to lie to. This in a nutshell is the Chinese business model. And they're slowly learning the hard way that it doesn't work very well outside of China. If you lose a friend or co-worker by lying, again, there's plenty more where that came from.

And if you think you "save face" by lying consider one of the many recent examples I have to offer. It's my fifth semester here at Seokang College. Just about everything I do here goes through my supervisor, Jung. He gives me my schedule, collects my curriculum, attendance, marks etc. He's the guy who interviewed me for the job and gave me my contract. He's the guy who I negotiated my raise and cable internet with. But lately I'm starting to wonder how much of this stuff is really part of his job. And if I make requests to someone that aren't within the sphere of his/her job why wouldn't the person just tell me it's not his job or even better, tell me whose job it IS? No, being Korean, Jung chose the obvious course of action: the lie.

This session, last session and the session before that I have had at least one class where I walk into the room, introduce myself, pass around pictures or my family, friends, me fishing and golfing and petting a baby tiger, hand out the syllabus for the session, usually, (because I never have a class list by the first class), pass around a piece of paper to get the students' names and student numbers, I explain my marking scheme, I show them the textbook, I give them my email I do all this stuff before some brave soul amongst them tells me that I'm in the wrong classroom. Then I call Jung and he says the same thing: "There was some miscommunication." The fact that up until yesterday I've believed him shows what a trusting person I am. Perfect victim for the lie.

I've always thought it strange that when Jung gives me my schedule it never includes room numbers. And he always seemed a bit confused when giving me the numbers. He was confused because he was pulling them out of his ASS! Same thing this session. I even had a class in physical therapy, a class I had last session, and he told me language lab 1 on the fifth floor. I taught them last session on the first floor. I said to him, "Aren't they in the room on the first floor?" He mumbled some answer that really wasn't an answer. I went to the fifth floor classroom and got a call from one of the students telling me the class was waiting for me in the same classroom on the first floor.

Then on Wednesday I was supposed to be teaching dental assistants in, (hmmmm), lab 1 on the fifth floor. I went in and taught one of the greatest classes of my life - to the wrong people. I got them to give back the papers I had handed out, threw away the attendance list and went hiking. While I was out Jung called me. I told him what had happened and that now the dental students are a week behind. I also asked him if he was making the classroom numbers up. Of course he lied and said he wasn't and that there was, "some miscommunication." That's also when he told me about the outstanding 130,000 won fee and said that getting internet would be impossible. He then hung up on me without saying good bye or anthing.

I called back and said, "Get me my own internet or I don't teach." I was angry and started yelling about how I get no results when I try to be nice to him, that he never listens to me when I talk in person or on the phone and I was tired of him hanging up on me. He hung up on me.

He sent me a text message that said, "Please understand I am not your secretary."

That got me wondering. How much stuff had he been doing for me that really wasn't his job? And why in the wild wild world of sports has it taken him two years of working together and many disagreements, lies and arguments to finally grow a pair and TELL me? I had mixed feelings. I wondered how much stuff he had been doing just as a favour to me over the years. I was grateful for that and feeling like I should apologize. But then I thought of all the times when I had asked him to do something and it seemed like he had purposely ignored the request or done a piss-poor job of it. He was probably doing that just to discourage me from asking him to do stuff in the future.

So I sent him a text saying something like okay I'm going to talk to somebody and see what's what. I intended to go to the guy in charge named Park but on the way to his office I saw Peter. In my first year here it was Jung and Peter who shared the duties that now only Jung has. So I talked to Peter. Several times I asked him what exactly Jung's job is and he wouldn't give me a straight answer. I'm sure that some of the stuff he hasn't been doing IS part of his job but I think some of the stuff I assumed was part of his job wasn't. Anyway Peter was more receptive and seemed far less willing to give up on the internet. He told me to find receipts if I could from three years ago. Like ANYbody keeps receipts that long! But I was able to find the number of my real estate agent. I'm sure he could straighten things out. But I'm also sure that because he speaks very little English, if I called him I wouldn't be able to explain the situation. That's why I need someone Korean to do it. Also Peter just looked at a piece of paper and gave me the room number for my dental assistant class. 215.

So, here's the burning question: Jung knows that Peter has this magic room number paper. He knows I know who and where Peter is. Yet when I ask him for room numbers he just lies to me. Does he ENJOY causing me problems? Does he ENJOY lying? Does he think this is saving him face? Is he trying to give me wrong information to discourage me from asking him for ANY information in the future?

Whatever the case may be there is a lot of frustration and anger around here and it ALL could have so easily been avoided if somehow people could just try to be honest while working together. But there's no way Jung could know that cuz it's never been attempted here in Korea. I think this fascination with lying is a very modern part of the culture here. It's not the fault of ancestors, Confucius or Sun Tsu, it's lazy people looking for short cuts and quick fixes. Trying to explain it away through traditional business practices, thinking and morality would just be lying some more.

Settling back into Korea

Every time I think I might post something good about Korea, Korea jumps up and slams me. I swear to God I was just about to sit down and talk about how it's nice to be back here. The air smells great around campus, the Tigers are winning and I'm in a place where I am comfortable. I know what to expect. You know, accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative. And then something happens to get me turned right back around.

Today it was a phone call. Or two to be exact. Some dude phones me and when I answer with "Hello" he says, "Yoposayo!" Not like a greeting, but like an order. As if to say, "No! Not hello! Yoposayo!" So I sez, "Hello?" and he repeats the lesson, "Yoposayo!" Only louder. So in Korean I tell him I can't speak Korean and he has the wrong number. In any other country in the world that would be that. NOT KOREA!

He calls back. I say, (now with a facetious musicality to my tone), "Hello?" and he shouts "YOPOSAYO!" So in English this time I say, "No I haven't learned to speak Korean in the three seconds since you last called." He hangs up.

This has happened to everybody who's ever lived here, oh, a thousand times. The thing of it is this was probably an important phone call. I am trying to get my own internet installed so I don't have to share with the students this semester and was told it would be okay today. So maybe someone called and ordered it for me and that was a service technician.

Now here we go. I'm gonna accentuate the negative now and eliminate the positive. If this was a service tech. or somebody who found my lost Lotte Mart card or someone from immigration informing me that I need to do something else for immigration or SOMETHING important there is absolutely no doubt he would have known I was a foreigner. Not just because he would have my name and David MacCannell doesn't sound like ANYTHING Korean, but because I am not a person here, I am a foreigner.

This is my rant for the day.

I went yesterday, as mentioned, to meet with my supervisor here, Professor Jung. I just call him Jung. Or the Jung. Part of his job is to make things easier for me since he speaks English and I can't speak Korean. They have these liason officers at every school in Korea. They do things for foreign teachers like set up mail service, order cable, internet, change gas/electric and other bills into your name, talk to landlords, repairmen, students or neighbours or anybody that you might need to talk to who can't speak English. At least that's what the good ones do. And there are fewer and fewer of those.

Over the years here I've learned that it is far better an FAR faster to try to get things done on my own. I've had several problems here at Seokang College but most of them Jung doesn't even know about. Like my office for instance. Here in Korea you can expect a certain amount of stuff to be available in order for you to do your job as an English teacher. They have the basics pretty much everywhere. Like a photocopier, a computer, internet, a printer, scanner, desk, phone, mail. Here I have an office with a desk and a phone. That's it. But I've solved the other problems by using my computer at home; telling people not to bother sending me mail; copying hundreds of copies every week at my own expense; using my OWN printer and scanner; giving students my email address instead of my phone number and fixing other problems that may arise.

If I have a problem I just can't fix, then and only then to I go to the Jung. He's got it pretty easy with me lemme tell you. If you read my blog regularly, (and who am I kidding, nobody does), you will know that I had trouble getting into my room in the dorm last year. The Idon'tcaretaker was getting his jollies from locking me out. I told Jung about this and it only took him half the year to solve the problem for me. He made a 30-second phone call. All that work took him half a year to prepare for. So you can see why I try not to involve him.

However, this year I desperately need a good internet connection because I'll be watching the winter olympics in CANADA and I'll need enough bandwidth to get live streams of hockey or video on demand. When the kids are here in the dorm neither is possible. And I NEED to watch online so as to avoid the Korean coverage that will be Kim Yu Na and short track speed skating on an endless loop. I am going to try to catch at LEAST every game the Canadian hockey team plays. Go for gold boys!!! Also I can watch Tigers games, NFL football, the World Series etc.

So anyway, the point I am skirting here is that during the meeting yesterday I asked Jung to help me with this, I told him what books we'd be using and I mentioned that when I opened the door to my office the alarm went off. I needed to get that worked out. Every other teacher has a little keychain thingy they swipe in front of the alarm eye before going into their offices. Last year the alarm was just shut off for the whole year. Now they're thinking of giving me the keychain thingy. Only took a year. So far...

Anyhoo, Jung had a few phone calls to make. He had to tell the people in the bookstore what books my students would be needing so he made that call. Then he called the same Idon'tcaretakers who probably turned my alarm on just to get their jollies while I was on vacation and told them to get me a keychain thingy. Then he called someone in the computer center of Seokang College to talk about the internet. In all three calls I never once heard my name mentioned but within five words "waygook" was mentioned. That's the Korean word for "foreigner".

Now here's the thing: I know why he does this and it's probably not his fault. He's just trying to expedite the situation. You see if he called up and said, "Professor MacCannell needs Interchange Intro and English Firsthand 1 for his classes," the first question would NOT be something like, "How many copies will he need?", or "What are the publishers of these books?", or "How soon will he need them?" or something like that, guaran-damn-teed their first question will be, "Mek ken null? Is he a foreigner?" Jung would say yes and they'd say, "Why didn't you lead with that?" So really Jung is just trying to get past that oh-so-essential step and get some business done. But it still bothers me. EVERYBODY does that too.

My point is pretty obvious: why is it so important to preface everything I do or have done to me or for me with the fact that I'm not Korean? To give Korea some credit, they are pretty good compared to a lot of other countries in some of the ways they treat foreigners here. For instance I pay what Koreans pay for stuff I buy. It's not like that in Cambodia, Thailand, the Philippines, China etc. In fact in Thailand while golfing I met a guy who had worked sevaral years in China and said there they have about 5-10 different prices for different people: One if you're a country Chinese, one for city Chinese, one for Hong Kong Chinese, one for white guys, one for Japanese etc. Most things are not like that here. But there certainly IS a difference in treatment and service. And as I've been saying here I am perceiving that difference to be getting larger instead of smaller.

Just one last ditty then I'll stop. After my meeting with Jung I went downtown to Top Bookstore to get the teacher's casette for one of the books I'm using and to shop for other secondary resources. It's a great store. While waiting for a taxi about half a dozen Korean boys gathered to my right and one Koran girl ate a fudgesicle on my left. They were all about the same age, like 10ish, and I assume they were waiting for their parents to pick them up after school was let out. There's a middle school attached to Seokang where I work.

It seems like EVERY time I come within earshot of the students from this school they are trying to impress their friends by being rude to the foreigner so I wasn't feeling very good surrounded by these little bastards. But none of them said anything! It was the first time in a long time that had happened! I was impressed! I didn't hear the word "waygook" in the boys' conversation, nobody spoke any English to me to be funny, I was actually pretty upbeat until my cab came.

An older guy, 60 or 70, was in the back and saw me flag down the cab and waiting outside his door. It took about 5 minutes for him to get out of the cab. Then after opening the door and getting out he slams the door shut, walks straight toward me and tries to shoo me away like I were a fly. Angry face shooing and he said something unpleasant in Korean as he did it. So in English I said, "Asshole." Then I reached for the door and it was locked. The fucking scumbag actually LOCKED the door before he slammed it on me! Then he proceeded over to the children and stroked a few of the boys' heads and shared some words of wisdom with them. Is it any wonder things are like this? So, there went my positive Korean moment.

All that golfing and sightseeing was therapeutic for me. But I don't think it'll be long, the way things are going, before I need some more of it.

SIIIGGGHHH...

My golfing sched.

I don't think many of you will give a rip about this but I want to put it up here because I want to remember where I golfed on my vacation to Pattaya. It's recorded on gshandicap.com but those are only the cards that were handed in. There are a few missing. So here is, as near as I can figure, my golfing schedule from vacation '09.

June 29 - Crystal Bay A&B 93/44 I got to town June 27, the night of a big golf tourney put on by the Fairway, a bar owned by my friend Gord. That's where I stayed and that's the bar that I golfed out of while there. The next day I went to the driving range and balls were flying everywhere. I sucked. My first day of golf had to be the next day. We went to Crystal Bay. Never golfed there before and it had been two years since I even touched a club apart from that nightmare at the driving range. I DID AWESOME!!! I shot 93 and that included a birdie on my third hole; 5 pars and on the back nine I got three pars in a row! I got a 43 only because I got a triple bogey on number 10. All other holes were par or bog. Needless to say with a 44 stableford I kicked everybody's ass that day in the competition! Almost everybody was worried about the new bandit. I played with Ken, Andy and Owen. Ken-Brit, Andy-American, Owen-Aussie. That's Ken in the cart and Owen writing on his scorecard. The other guy is Andy. In the pic to the right that's my caddy. She was great! I'm sure she saved me like 10 strokes. And she was fun to shoot a round with. Makes a BIG difference to me if I have a fun caddy.



July 2 - Bangpra (Monkey Course) 104 I came back to earth on the Monkey Course. Never golfed very well there. It was my third time including once in a Texas scramble where the other guys wanted my long drives and I drove like a girl's blouse. Didn't do terrible but Larry heard about my drives and wanted to see how I got such a good score the time before. He didn't see too many good drives or good holes. He ended up beating me but I got 3rd. And we only saw one monkey all day long. You can see Andy and Paul and everybody's caddies in the pic. The caddies dressed like ajumas.

July 3 - Crystal Bay B&C 106 That's what it says on the website that figures my handicap but I am pretty sure we golfed Khao Kheow this day. I think I played with Gord and Ken. Ken won. I got 3rd again.

July 6 - Century Chonburi 109 I was getting progressively worse. Not to mention all the golfing and practicing had led to cramping in my lower back. Just had to be at its worst on this day! I played with a pro named Scott and a REALLY good old golfer named Tom. It started raining just after me and Scott teed off. So we all made a break for the clubhouse but didn't make it there till everything was soaked. After we got back out, (and I was even with the pro after parring hole number 1), it rained again as we were teeing off on number 2. Scott was fun to watch. He didn't fare well in the sand because on this course the sand was more like gravel. I absolutely sucked mishitting almost everything but tee shots. Scott got two tap-in birdies but Tom ended up winning the thing. I was just glad to stop. I'm not gonna use the pain as an excuse but it didn't help. In the pic are Scott (l) and Tom (r).

July 9 - Phoenix L & O 102/32 It was good to see Phoenix again. The course I had golfed more than any other in Pattaya. I think this was my fifth time or so. I played with Tony and his big friend Roy. Roy was hilarious. Not good, but hilarious. He was looking for his ball in some shrubbery and got stung by a bee. Ha ha ha. Had a terrible day but he was still happy to be golfing. You gotta like guys like that. Today was my day to get off the shnide and like a Phoenix rise from the ashes of my recent golfing disasters. And I did. I think I coulda topped my first round IF I could have made even one good putt all day long. I got 18 and 14 Stableford on the front and back nines respectively. I could have been well into the 40's if I didn't putt like an asshole. To give you an idea on the last 5 holes 4 putt, 4 putt, 3 putt, 3 putt, 3 putt. Absolute bollocks! Aaron got 34 and beat me but I went out and practiced putting after THAT round. Here's me with the Buddha mountain in the background. You have to click on that pic and zoom to see the golden Buddha carved into the mountain. And the other pic is me trying to get Buddha's help. Buddha doesn't do putting. That's my conclusion. Actually there's a better shot of the Buddha mountain below. Come to think of it I was starting to look a lot like Buddha by this point in the vacation. Golfing wasn't helping my figure much.




July 10 - Bang Pakong 102 I did Walking Street the night before. I was hungover and only managed to get a couple hours of sleep the night before. But that's not enough to stop me! Never golfed Bang Pakong before. It was far away from Pattaya and in my opinion not worth the drive. I actually came close to puking on the drive there. And once we got there although I was golfing okay I had a LOT of trouble with the rough there. It's like muskeg. It sucks up your ball. And even if you miss the green by an inch you can have a completely covered ball for your next shot. I didn't have any solution to the grass. It reached out and yanked your club one way or another. And I managed to have several pretty good shots that ended up DEEP in that grass. Only 5 people came out so we golfed together. Scott, Larry, Paul, Jenny and me. It was a really good day. I managed to get a couple birdies and a couple pars on holes where I avoided that grass. And everybody was putting well including me. Some long putts were sunk. Scott got all the closest to the pins and Larry won the day. Jenny got a par on the final hole. It was her first par on a par 5.

July 13 - Green Valley 102 I just can't seem to get anything but 102! Phenomenal! But after this day Green Valley became my favourite golf course in the Pattaya area. What a pleasure it was to golf such a nice course! Unfortunately I had about the worst caddy on the face of the earth! She was very cute but she was a big sourpuss. Always hanging her head. And she wouldn't give me any clues about what hazards the hole had or which way the greens broke. Cost me many strokes. But it was a good day on a great course.

July 15 - Pleasant Valley 97 This course is under some pretty heavy construction! And it's VERY tight. On some holes you will be teeing off and you can hear the conversation of guys on the green to your left and on another tee to your right. It was target golf. Not my forte! On the third hole I hit my first ball into the water on the left, my second out of bounds on the right and my third out of bounds again. So I was a spectator for that hole. It's so tough a lot of people call it UNpleasant Valley. BUT, I had a really good day. Not spectacular but very steady.

July 16 - Plutaluang 102 Back to my usual score. For the life of me I can't remember anything about this course. Ahhhh, now I remember because of the pic. This course I know better as Thai Navy. I've played it a few times but never played the famous lighthouse hole till this day. Here's a view from where you get the carts. And the other pic is the dreaded lighthouse island par 3. It's REALLY tough to hold the green on this hole! The pic on the bottom is my caddy going to mark my ball. The guys I was golfing with had already been in the water twice each. I got closest to the pin and parred the hole thank you very much. If you click on the pic to blow it up you can see my ball AND the marker on the green. We play closest to the pin in TWO shots so I had one more shot to beat that mark. I think I put it a couple feet from the hole and then made that putt for par.



July 17 - Pleasant Valley 99 I had been put in charge of the golf by Gord. He had to stay at the bar to take care of some business so he gave me the card that had several stamps on it. Each stamp was a green fee but with the card we saved money on the green fees. The girl at the course didn't give the card back to me and I didn't ask her for it back. So I had to hunt around for a golf society playing Pleasant Valley. I went out with the Bunker Bar. A good bunch of fellas. I golfed with a couple Brits and an American guy named Heath. I forget the other guys' names. Heath was funny as hell. And a pretty steady golfer. I had another bad caddy. She argued with me about shots refusing to give me the club I wanted trying to get me to play safe. And she couldn't understand anything I said. They don't allow you to drive the carts on the course there either which totally defeats the purpose and makes for a lot of unnecessary walking. One hole I was just off the green but against some rough taller than the ball. I couldn't putt so I asked my caddy for a 3 wood. She makes the long journey back to the cart and comes back with a 6 iron or something. So I used a club I shouldn't have and screwed up. Again the caddy cost me several strokes. But had a good day. And got the card back. In the first pic is Pleasant Valley hole #1. The pic to the right is Heath and another of the guys I golfed with. Maybe Jerry? I forget.


July 20 - Bangpra 102 Saw more monkeys this time. Had another bad day of putting. But decent score despite the putting woes. You have to zoom in on this pic too. You can see monkeys crossing the fairway. Even one momma witha monkey on her back. On this day my putting was a monkey on MY back. Also in the pic you can see Scott in the middle of the fairway and I think that's Larry headed for a second shot from the bunker. The other pic is the par 3 12th hole. It's supposed to be one of the top 100 short holes in the world. But I don't like it. I always get a bad score on it for some reason. And this time it's Kim wearing the orange. Orange seems to be a popular colour on the courses around Pattaya.

July 22 - Mountain Shadow 94/39 I shot 45/49 94 on the day but in the computer it says I got 98. So I'm wondering how accurately my scores have been submitted. I usually can't keep my scorecard. It gets submitted in order to adjust my handicap and keep things current. But Gord inputs the scores by computer. Maybe he's having trouble reading some of the scorecards or something. I've got the scorecard in front of me right now. The only reason I have it is I forgot to give it to Gord. As you can see my handicap was adjusted. When I got a 93 at Crystal Bay my first time golfing I was playing off 30. That was my handicap from 2 years before. But I don't think that was accurate. Not long after that we just decided to drop me to a 25. I think that was more accurate. And by this time I was golfing off an official 22.6 (23) handicap. But even still I got 39. If I had used the 25 handicap on my first day I would have got a 39 so I consider this day to be tied for my best day. I hope the other scores were submitted accurately.

July 25 - St. Andrews 107/28 This was a long time goal of mine. I wanted to play this course for a few reasons. First it's gorgeous! Secondly it has two par 6 holes. And thirdly now I can say I've played golf at St. Andrews. We were supposed to go on Friday with the Fairway but only Larry and I signed up so it was cancelled. Luckily Larry found a bar called the Rabbi Elephant Bar that was a regular customer at Green Valley on Saturday. Since Green Valley had a tournament that Saturday the Rabbi boys got Green Valley prices for St. Andrews. Larry and I decided to go along with them. And what a group we had! Larry, Larry, Terry and Dave. lol. St. Andrews was as great as I imagined. And I was cruising along pretty well. 107 isn't a bad score at all. I had 27 Stableford after only 13 holes. But I only got 1 on the last 5 holes. What happened was I hit a great drive on a hole that had an elevated tee box. WAY elevated. It went a little off the fairway but it was a wide open area where it must have landed. Problem was nobody could see it land. That happens when you hit the ball really far. And I really layed into that drive. We were all sure we would find it so I didn't hit a provisional. Nobody could find it and there was already a group on the tee box behind us so I had to take a wipe, (8), for that hole. Next hole I hit another good drive a bit off the fairway and AGAIN couldn't find it. So I was just pissed off the rest of the day and couldn't golf for shit. If I had averaged 2 on the last 5 holes I woulda come out with a 37. That's one better than my handicap. A good effort on St. Andrews! So it was a really great day. The first pic is #1 at St. Andrews. I started the day off right by putting my tee shot about 300 yards down the middle of the lake on the left. Sigh. That's Larry wearing orange in the second pic. I was in orange that day too. Just look at the waterfall and the landscaping! Every hole is like that! What a beautiful course! The 3rd pic is a view from the first par 6. The view is from my ball which is, ahem, way in front of the other guys' balls. Sometimes distance is a blessing but sometimes it's a curse. I chunked my third shot but still chipped onto the green for 4 but then 3-putted and took a 7 on my first par 6 ever. The final picture is of Larry and Larry on the 14th hole. This is the elevated tee box where I CRANKED a huge drive that landed on the fairway and rolled off between the 2nd and 3rd knuckle. Shoulda been easy to find right? That was a beautiful drive that was never seen again. And if you look directly above the tee block, that's the rough I lost my tee shot in coming right back on the next hole. It's where everything started to unravel for me on the day.





July 27 - Green Valley 102

July 29 - Burapha B/D 97/37 I would say this was my best day. Not my best score but it was the most fun I had on the golf course the whole vacation. There were only four of us, Andy, Paul, Kim and myself. We all had carts and we all stayed fairly close together on the day and talked while were were golfing. It was a real pleasure. Not just fun but really competitive. We were all within 4 shots the whole way. I ended up winning and Paul and Kim both got 36 I think. So they shot their handicaps which is very good. And Andy got 33. The next day I went to Cambodia.

August 3 - Green Valley 96 I remember having a really steady day. Then I think it was on the 15th hole I made the mistake of saying, "I think this is my best day so far. I haven't had any disaster holes yet and I've scored on every hole." I then proceeded to put two drives WAY out of bounds and just took an 8 and watched that hole. I think the next three holes were pretty rough too but even still 96 is not bad. I think that's 35 Stableford. I probly got something that day.

August 5 - Burapha A/B 104 I don't know what happened! I had caddy #211 who helped me to my 97 round. I felt good. I just lost a lot of tee shots. I got snake bitten a couple more times too. Hitting nice shots and not being able to find them. I hit a really long drive on one hole that was on the fairway to our right. It was wide open where the ball should have landed and there was a group of people hitting their balls when I got there. I think one of them probably hit my ball or picked it up. But that happened to me twice. And nothing pisses me off more. My caddy was so nice too apologizing. She says, "You hit too much far. My eye can't see!" It was not a good way to end my vacation.

However, all in all I had a blast! And it was great golfing with such a fine group of guys. I'll probably golf with them again. I think there were one or two rounds that didn't make it onto this list. But I can't remember much about them any more. I shoulda been more vigilant in taking notes about every day. But when I got home from golf there was eating, drinking and partying to do. Not a lot of time to record the day's events.

Nice courses though eh?

I extended for two weeks

Just to let everyone know, I'm still in Thailand. I ate my return ticket and bought a new one for a price that seemed fair but since it was unaccounted for, kinda sucked. So as I type this I have two valid tickets from Thailand to Korea. Anyone wanna ticket from Bangkok to Incheon? Going cheap!

I extended my stay for a week, which was all I could do under the circumstances. And in a week I'll be going to Cambodia. Hopefully... I won't get into that since it's already 5:30 in the morning and I'm supposed to go golfing tomorrow. Another long story. There's all kind of action here.

I had to buy a whole new ticket and then I had to go to Jomtien immigration to extend my visa for 7 days. That's the max. So in 7 days I'll be on the bus to Siem Reap, Cambodia. Closest city to Angkor Wat. I'll stay a couple days and be back in time for a couple more rounds of golf. Then I'll find my way back to Korea on the 6th of August. More expensive than planned but that's cuz I spent my 6 weeks of cash in one month. My fault really.

The bright side is I get to golf St. Andrews and scratch that off my bucket list. AND I finally get to go to Angkor Wat, AND I get to receive my 10th stamp on my passport. 10th different country that is. So I'm looking forward to that.

Right now I'm at the end of celebrating my visa extension. Went to a couple bars tonight with Gordon. Had a whale of a time. There's PLENTY of news with the bar I am staying at. I'm sure I'll have something to say about that in a future post. Drugs, ammunition, firearms... I'll leave you in suspense for now.

I won't get into the details of the struggle I went thru to get all the paperwork done for my trip. It might frustrate you as much as it did me. Suffice to say it took two full days to do something it should have taken an afternoon to do.

But I've paid for the NEW ticket home and the next two weeks lodging. I hope both pan out. There IS some doubt though. I don't even know if Gord will be the primary owner of the Fairway Bar where I'm staying come tomorrow. He's talking about selling or getting a partner and there are people looking at just stepping in and sort of forcefully taking over as his partner. It'd be the best thing for him I think.

But just tonight he was saying that if he doesn't have a good meeting with his lawyer tomorrow he might have to depend on me to give him 20,000 baht. For bail or some damn thing. I don't know if I know him well enough. In fact I think I know him TOO well. If you know what I'm saying. But I think things will work out for the better. Hoping anyhoo....

As for my vacation, much more golf and I WILL be making a trip to the Crocodile Park again. Pictures are coming soon. I'm sure I'll find some more touristy things to do. The bars are wearing a little thin. Not interested in the same old thing every night. Although I DID have a good time tonight in a new bar that played old rock music. That'll always get me drinking. And, hence, I'm drunk at the moment.

Which might be why I used "and" and "hence" back to back. But every day here I thank my lucky stars that I'm where I am. I've never felt so privileged. Money talks folks. Just go to a poor country and you'll find that out. Even though I don't have a lot by most western standards, I'm a rich man here. And THAT has its advantages.

Although I am one of the few who has earned every dollar that's passed through my hands as a dollar or a baht. For example, I just finished eating a Big Mac set that I ordered with a friend named Jeff while we were chatting at a bar. The bike driver went to Mcdonald's and bought it for us and brought it back. It was dirt cheap but the bike driver and the Mcdonald's clerk were both satisfied with the little money paid. To give you an idea, 100 baht is like $3.30. Not bad eh? And I still have fries to gnaw on in my drunken stupor as I watch the TV trying to get to sleep tonight. It's almost 6 and I have to get up for golf at 8. I don't know if I'll make it or not this time. It's not with the Fairway bar though. If it were I'd be home sleeping soundly by now. We were supposed to go to St. Andrews today but only me and Larry signed up so it was cancelled.

Fortunately Larry knew another club that was going to St. Andrews on Saturday so he signed us both up. And for a much cheaper price. Should be fun!

Well the sun is coming up. I think I had better skeedaddle.

See you all later.

Oh and p.s. this is the first vacation for me EVER where I didn't get sick from the new climate or water or whatever causes it. Call it Bali Belly or Montezuma's revenge or whatever, I get it EVERY time! Not this time. I've been out every single night for a month. Which is why I'm way over budget. Hangovers have that added bonus of being a cheap day of suffering alone in my hotel room. Haven't had one of those yet! And I really don't want one. But I'm banking on it happening in Cambodia.

I'll keep you posted.

UNIQUE TRAVEL SUCKS!

Well I promised to post some pics here but I forgot my little plug that hooks my camera to the usb port. So you will have to wait till I get home to Korea. But that won't be as long a wait as expected. I've already made this trip into a par-for-the-course Davesque travel adventure. Let me splain...

It started early. I wasn't even out of Korea before the shenanigans began again. I had just checked in and took my golf bag to the oversized bag area. Right beside it is a money change area. Since I had arranged for a taxi to take me directly to Pattaya instead of staying on Kao San Rd. in Bangkok then taking a bus the next day to Pattaya as I usually do, I decided to get some Thai money so I could pay the taxi driver. I pushed my luggage cart to the window, (it now had no oversized luggage in it but in the basket by the handle were my passport and my book and pen that I use to take down important info).

I get to the girl at the counter and gave her 100 US dollars and asked for Thai baht. She gives me a snobbish look and says, "Don't you have any Korean money?" What the hell is THAT? I mean REALLY!! She made me glad I was leaving the country. So I just looked at her and said something like, "Just do your fucking job and quit being such an assclown." or some polite equivalent to it. It took her no longer than a few minutes to change the money. While she did so somebody took my cart from right behind me! I turned around and my cart, (with my passport in it remember), was gone.

So I turn back around and ask the bitch if she had seen who took it. She, (of course), asks if I was sure I had a cart. More accurately she told me I hadn't. So I said I had a cart. But she insisted I was too stupid to know what I had just done 5 minutes earlier. So I asked the other three people at the money exchange windows, none of whom were busy when I made my transaction, if THEY had seen who swiped my cart. It was a case of Korean "jung". Some Korean had done it so none of them were going to roll over on him in order to help out the foreigner. Need I say, the now DESPERATE foreigner. They all acted like they hadn't seen a thing. Even agreed with the bitch that I had never had a cart. So I say, loudly, "I HAD a cart and the longer you spend telling me I didn't the farther away my passport gets!" Now other people were starting to stare at me.

I go back to the oversized luggage area and ask the girl there if she'd seen anything. Nope. So I ask the bitch from the exchange counter to call security. She gives me the helpless look like the Incheon National Airport doesn't have any security. So finally I was causing enough of a buzz that someone who had located my passport came to me and told me it was at the check-in counter. Someone had just taken the cart without realizing it had something in it, checked in and returned my passport and book to the check-in agent.

So I go to the check-in counter and ask the girl there how it happened. Who took my cart? She won't say a thing to betray her fellow countriman. She just smiled and laughed nervously in order to protect the fucking jackass. How can Korea ever develop as long as this spineless behaviour continues? Really frustrating!

Anyway, I'm now in Thailand and I've been enjoying myself immensely! I've golfed about 10 times now and it's been awesome! Last time out Scott, (one of the guys who golfs out of the Fairway bar, (where I'm staying)), got a 69. That's -3!!! He got 5 pars and 4 birdies on the back nine! That's some nice golfin! I STILL haven't made it to Cambodia. I had planned on going last weekend but it was some Thai vacation that equates to a sort of Thai lent. I guess they give stuff up and go to the temple and pay the monk to pray for them. To show you that things are tough in Thailand too I'll tell you a local news story. One Thai man went to the temple for Thai lent and asked a monk for a prayer. He handed the monk a 1000 baht bill and asked him for change. The monk pulled out a bag of cash and gave the man change. Then when the monk closed his eyes to pray the man grabbed the bag of cash and ran off. So much for HIS chances at enlightenment!

I bought a bus ticket to Siem Reap, the town closest to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. I was supposed to go today. So I decided to get my plane ticket and my visa extended so I could have more time here AND more time in Cambodia. I don't work till the last week of August. When I bought my plane ticket I asked to come back in the first week of August but the guy at UNIQUE TRAVEL in I Tae Won, told me he'd give me a ticket for a month to coincide with the automatic one-month visa you get here as a visitor, then I could extend my ticket after I get to Thailand. I've done that before in Thailand and the Philippines. It's never been a problem. UNTIL NOW!

I went to a travel agency a few days ago to extend my ticket and they didn't allow me entry. I went to another one and they told me it was yet anOTHER Thai holiday so they couldn't do it. So the next day after golf I went to do it. She said okay I could extend until August 6th but had to get an early morning flight. That's not good for me so I asked about Aug. 5th and 4th. Then she tells me it's impossible to extend the ticket. This all took about an hour. Her English wasn't so good so I couldn't establish the reason why she had changed her tune. But I figured I'd go to the place where I'd bought my Cambodia ticket and see if THEY could do it. The guy there said it would be no problem. And if he could I'd pay him 200 baht. So another hour goes by while I'm waiting for him to take down the particulars and make phone calls to the airline. He then tells me he can't do it because the Korean office wasn't open. I'd have to wait till the next day. Which is today. The day I was supposed to go to Cambodia.

SOoooo I ask him to give me my money back for the Cambodia ticket. He tells me he can make it an open ticket. Then I can just tell them when I want to go. That sounds good to me. So today at about 5 o'clock I get a call from them and they say the ticket is ready. I go there and the girl tells me I can't get the ticket extended because it was a promotional deal and the tickets are good for a month and can't be extended.

If you remember the asshole at UNIQUE TRAVEL in I Tae Won had not only elected not to inform me of that but had told me there wouldn't be a problem extending the ticket. And who the hell can stop him? Thai air? Nope. I phoned them today and they told me that if I had bought the ticket directly from them it would have been printed on the ticket. There's nothing they can do about dishonest travel agents. They suggested I take it up with the good people of UNIQUE TRAVEL in I Tae Won.

The whole travel industry! They've really got us all by the balls! They get away with all kinds of shit like this that really should be illegal.

So now my options are to go back after only a month, (which hasn't been long enough), using the original ticket, or to buy a new one-way ticket, (which will be DOUBLE the price of the original). And if I DO that, Thai air will just sell my seat to ANOTHER person, probably at a jacked up rate and make a whole pile of extra money. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there is no WAY these lying bastards at the airlines of the world are losing money and I feel exactly NO sympathy for them if they really are.

I haven't decided what I'll do yet but it looks very much right now like I'll be going home before I wanted to and before I am able to make it to Angkor Wat. AGAIN I'm going to probably miss my chance to get there! I wanted to go last time I was here but didn't make it for different reasons. What a massive downer!

P.S. Don't buy any tickets from Unique Travel in I Tae Won.