What am I thankful for?

Even though I'm not American and Canadian Thanksgiving was a long time ago, I didn't really sit down, watch football, eat turkey and contemplate the things that make me thankful. Today I watched football, ate other stuff and decided to contemplate what it is that makes me especially thankful this year. As you may know from reading this blog this will be a hard thing for me to do. I'm not one to ramble on about how wonderful life and the world are. But give me a little bit of adversity and I'll blog about that till the cows come home.

Incidentally why are the cows out to begin with? And aren't they technically "cattle?" Who sends their cattle away from home? And what are they homing cattle? Why would they just come home? And, okay, okay, Who let the cows out, moo moo moo moo!

See what I mean? Give me a small opening like a strange turn of phrase and I'll run with it. As long as I can make it sound like a complaint. This could be my calling. I really should be a critic. It really doesn't matter what needs to be criticized, I can do it all. So like all critics Thanksgiving is especially hard for me. Can you imagine Thanksgiving in the home of a famous food critic? That'd be something! Imagine the pressure every year on the person who does the cooking!

Anyway, let's get on with it so I can finish up and leave blog space for another scathing entry about something else. What am I thankful for? I guess I have to say first of all I'm thankful to be working. It's impossible to survive without a job and I really can't complain about my job. Well, I've proven that statement false numerous times in this blog. But all in all I DO like what I do. And the hours are great! In fact after Monday I will just have to do all my marking, grading and attendance recording for the session and I'll be off till March! Pretty sweet. Of course I will be trying to find something to keep me busy in that time and make me some money. I am not planning a vacation during this break. But I still have a pretty sweet job. At times like this I feel like it's worthwhile being away from my country, family and friends, dealing with the crap I deal with, the people conning me and fighting against me every step of the way. Still wish I could bypass all of that but at least I'm working. And I like my job. Not everybody can say that.

I have a pretty good body. I'm sure I couldn't do a Calvin Klein ad but what I mean is I could still do any job out there. I am smart enough to do any thinking job and strong enough to do any labour job. That's a real blessing. Right now I'm doing a job that requires NO strength at all and I'm never intellectually challenged unless it's to figure out what the administration is trying to do to make my life difficult. One of the things they are doing is keeping me trapped in the dorm and that is actually HURTING my health but not to the extent that I can't work. But other than recurrant acid reflux that I will probably never lick, I am healthy as a mule. That's another big blessing.

I'm thankful for my computer and for email, facebook, skype and sites that keep me in touch with friends and family. I can't say I'm thankful for friends and family this year because I'm as socially isolated as I've ever been in my life, and for that I'm NOT thankful. But thanks to computer chatting and email I still keep in touch a little bit. And when I can once again say that I'm thankful for friends and family it'll be my computer that made it so I still HAVE friends and family.

I'm thankful for other internet sites like this one, sports and sports pool sites, comedy central, youtube, and google that make life for a socially isolated person a bit more bearable. I just found out that I lost a very valuable site like this today. Goodbye mininova.org and thanks for all the fish.

I'm thankful for my favourite TV shows that I used to download from mininova. I'm thankful for all the Thai and Filipino people who animate them for ridiculously low wages I'm sure. Family Guy, Simpsons, American Dad, Cleveland, Sit Down Shut Up, King of the Hill, Southpark, I love them all. I also like The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Survivor, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Fringe, Dexter, Big Bang Theory, 2 1/2 Men, 30 Rock, The Ultimate Fighter, Merlin, Man vs. Wild, How I Met Your Mother, Deadliest Catch, Mythbusters...OH MY GOD I need a life!

Who is thankful at Thanksgiving for a list of TV shows?! You know who I'm most thankful for? Two people. Named AXXO and EZTV. These are the people who upload and share the TV shows and movies I spend my down time watching. They're about the most important people in my life right now. That's sad.

But I'm thankful for the Jacksons. Cuz after a long semester like this last one, I can always go visit them and get out of my funk. Some real people time. In fact with the two boys it might be a little TOO much people time at times. But it's a nice change. So that's a sincere one. It's nice to have them to spend Christmas with every year while we're all still in Korea.

Even though my other friends are mostly moved away it's nice to have a few good friends left here in Korea. But because of the isolation at Seokang I'm not making new friends to replace the ones who leave.

I've had jobs that involved isolation before. I was taking care of a logging camp during break-up one spring and it was just me and the camp dog, Rocky. That I didn't mind too much. I drilled and camped in the woods for a few months solid seeing only 3 other guys. That I got through okay. I did lots of security work where I was the only guy in a grain elevator or construction site. But even though I see my students almost every day it's been a really slow year socially. Really slow. Slowest ever. So I'm thankful for every email, chat, letter, blog comment, phone call, text message or communication of any kind I get.

I'm thankful for having a life that even though I bitch about it is better than the lives of most people on this earth. There are a couple billion people who would be WAY more thankful than I am to have my life. I guess I need to try to be more thankful. But don't worry, I'll be complaining about something new soon. Probably next post.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the Americans and people who are being thankful today!

Team Canada 2010

It's a little early but I have been watching a LOT of hockey since I got NHL Gamecenter and I can watch any game I want to online. So I am better informed than I have been in the past few years since now I can WATCH instead of just listen to NHL games online. There has already been a lot of speculation as to who will make the 23-man Canadian Olympic Hockey roster. I think I have some good suggestions.

First and foremost, since you can't win a game when you score no goals, are the forwards. Every team is only allowed 13 forwards. As in Olympics past there will be 13 Canadian boys NOT playing who could probably win the gold for Canada. That's just the depth we have in Canadian hockey. However, if I had to pick 13, these are the guys and possible line matches I would pick:

Line one would be Joe Thornton at center, Patrick Marleau on RW and Dany Heatley on LW. All from the San Jose Sharks. At this time the Sharks are struggling to score a bit but that's just because I loaded up on them in all my hockey pools. These guys have all been producing. Marleau is a center but his speed would be much better utilized on the wing. Take a look at the San Jose power play statistics and you have these three guys to thank for a lot of that scoring.

Line two is more contraversial. You gotta have Sid the kid centering at LEAST the second line. So I put Sidney Crosby at center with Jarome Iginla on RW and the bold choice of Jeff Carter on LW. Why Jeff Carter? He's a center for Philly, true, but he is a right handed shooter. For some reason they are rare in the NHL. And two secrets are becoming aparent to the "experts" in the NHL who are always the last to know and implement them: 1. You should NEVER take a slap shot from the point because these days it'll be blocked over half the time and a wrist shot is hard enough to go in, easier to deflect for a goal and impossible for defencemen to read and drop in front of. 2. A right handed goal scorer playing left wing is more dangerous than an angry tiger with ebola! I played some hockey before and I loved pumping one timers in while playing left wing and shooting right. That extra fraction of a second it takes for the pass to get across the body of a lefty is enough for the goalie to slide across the goal and block the shot. Elementary folks! Jeff Carter is a dangerous goal scorer and Sid the kid will feed him and Iginla all tourney. I doubt this will ever be a line on Team Canada but it sure should!

Third line is iffy. Iffy because there's no way of knowing how healthy Marc Savard will be by Olympic time. He's got a busted foot right now and coaches say he's two weeks away from play. Will he be in shape for the Olympics? I think he will. So he's my choice for third line center. Look how dismal the Bruins are without him! On his left I would put Shane Doan because he's ANOTHER right handed shooter and he's played left wing before although he's on the right side this season in Phoenix. And on the right is a guy who can play with anybody: Rick Nash. It'll be awesome to have Nash and Doan on the same line because they are two guys who regularly score a lot playing with very little support. What can they do with two all star players on their line?

The fourth line will probably have checkers. I hate that. It's the Olympics! Think skill. Score the other team to death! My fourth line center would be Ryan Getzlaf. On his right wing would be his teammate and massive scorer, Corey Perry. These guys are magic together. Left wing for this line is another guy I doubt we'll see in the Olympics but who I think deserves to be there: Dustin Penner. On EDMONTON he's piling up the stats and when I watch the Edmonton games it's HIS name I hear most. He's been a force in the NHL this year and is a natural left winger. I think he'd fit in well with the other two.

As a back-up you can't do any better than Captain Canuck, Ryan Smyth. He's played for Canada MANY times before and he can play any forward position. He's having a great year this year too! I think he'd be the best choice for the 13th forward.

LW C RW
Heatley Thornton Marleau
Carter Crosby Iginla
Doan Savard Nash
Penner Getzlaf Perry

Man that's beautiful!

Defensive pairings are pretty easy to choose in comparison.

Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer know each other well and are two of the best in the NHL.

Danny Boyle is great at joining the rush and Dion Phaneuf has a cannon from the point.

Mike Green is another offensive defenceman and he'd be great with Jay Bouwmeester to back him up.

And you can't go very wrong with veteran Rob Blake as the 7th man on defence.

The goaltending situation is going to be quite different from what I have in mind but I think the best bet for starting goalie has got to be Martin Brodeur. He's got the best save percentage and goals against average of any Canadian goalie this year and he's been steady for Team Canada forever.

For goalie number two I'd pick Marty Turco but I doubt he'll even be considered.

For my team it's a choice between Luongo and Fleury for third goalie. Neither has been outstanding this year. With Luongo you have a guy who could easily be number one but he's been injured and not very spectacular this year. Shooters have found a weakness over his left shoulder. Still I'd have to go with him. Most likely he'll be goalie number one or two and somebody else will get the third spot. But I don't see things that way.

So here is my Canadian line-up:

Centers: Thornton, Crosby, Savard, Getzlaf
Right Wings: Marleau, Iginla, Nash, Perry
Left Wings: Heatley, Carter, Doan, Penner
Extra forward: Smyth
Defence: Pronger, Niedermayer, Boyle, Phaneuf, Green, Bouwmeester, Blake
Goalie: Brodeur, Turco, Luongo

I'd give all four lines, and all defensive pairings, even ice time including penalty kill and power play. For captain I might choose Rob Blake. But there are quite a few good choices. I think I'd rotate the goalies too, but I doubt that'll happen. What a pleasure it would be to coach this team!

Smells like GOLD to me!



Just in case EVERY SINGLE player on my list is injured at Olympic time, I thought I'd make a second Team Canada. I think it's pretty good too.

Centers: Danny Briere, Eric Staal, Vincent Lecavalier, Jonathan Toews
Right Wings: Mike Cammalleri, Jordan Staal, Martin St. Louis, Devin Setoguchi
Left Wings: Simon Gagne, Ray Whitney, Brad Richards, John Tavares
Extra: James Neal
Defence: Ed Jovanovski, Shea Weber, Drew Doughty, Robyn Regehr, Michael Del Zotto, Duncan Keith, Brian Campbell
Goalies: Marc-Andre Fleury, Cam Ward, Steve Mason

The line of Briere/Cammalleri/Gagne will rock because Briere and Gagne were teammates on Philly at one time so they'd have chemistry. I wonder if Cammalleri can speak French.

Eric Staal and Ray Whitney are awesome together and it would be cool to see two of the Staal brothers on the same line.

Vinny Lecavalier and Martin St. Louis have played together for years! Brad Richards didn't usually play left wing but he's versatile and he's played with these two guys in Tampa Bay.

The young guns on the fourth line might make it their highest scoring line. And speaking of scoring: James Neal!

The defence would be more defensive than I'd like but there are a couple young fellas who might make mistakes so they need someone to stay at home and bail them out.

The three goalies are just as good as the three goalies on the first Team Canada.

These guys could win gold! I'd put a few bucks on them.

Only three more months! Only three more months!

Dave's top ten: Brian vs. Bon

It's been a while since I made one of these. Since I'm sitting at home tonight, "saving money", (that's what I call it nowadays when I am doing absolutely nothing), I figured I'd make a top ten list.

Youtube is awesome! Sometimes when I'm saving money I get on youtube and let it take me where it may. It's always different. That's one of the things I love about it. But even though it's always different, I am always the same and I focus in on my favourite things. Oddly enough I usually end up using youtube, a video site, for one of two things, neither of which you need video for. Stand-up comedy and music. Tonight it was music. And before long it was exclusively AC DC. I saw a couple documentaries, listened to a ton of songs and read a lot of comments. It seemed to me like no matter what song or video I watched there was always at least one comment about how Bon Scott was awesome and Brian Johnson sucks.

Well I don't find that at all! Back in Black was Brian's first album and it's still their best selling to date. I think it's the second highest selling in history behind "Thriller". Of course there are those who will say that Brian Johnson just cashed in on the popularity explosion that Bon Scott led AC DC up to. There is even some argument as to whether Bon Scott was the writer of some or all of the songs. "What Do You Do For Money", "Giving the Dog a Bone", "Shoot to Thrill", those titles sound a lot like the randy, rakish Bon Scott that's for sure. But I think the singing is solid and Brian Johnson had a VERY difficult job of replacing a legend and pulled it off. Something few could do. I like Brian Johnson and just about all the AC DC stuff he's done.

However, let's face it, he's not worthy to clean Bon Scott's bagpipe spitvalve. Bon Scott was made to sing rock and roll! While Brian screeches into the mike lyrics that are becoming more nasal and harder to understand as the years roll on, Bon had a lyrical character that few vocalist could match. He told stories. And we understood them. Most of them were filthy and therefore super cool! He was a hard partying, womanizer. Again, super cool! And it gave a ring of authenticity to his songs about sex with the gigantic Rosie, violence like in TNT or Problem Child, ravishing young girls, and then little bit TOO young girls like in Love at First Feel or Squealer, and it made us wonder a bit about his sanity when he sang songs like Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap and Night Prowler.

He had that uncanny knack that is impossible to teach of being able to ad lib a noise, say "Wooo!", growl, howl, bark like a dog or throw in a few extra words between lines that are so perfect you can't even humm the songs any more without including them.

The following is my top ten list of songs that are loaded with Bon Scott character and prove that he was one of the best rock vocalists ever. Not necessarily my favourite AC DC songs, (I doubt I could pull that off), but some are definitely amongst my faves and they are in order. So here we go...

1. "It's a Long Way To The Top If You Want To Rock and Roll"

It's also a long way to the end of that title! But bagpipes in a rock song. How many examples of that do you know of? Bon played the pipes in this tune. And they weren't just a gimmick, they ROCK! It's the one and ONLY good use for bagpipes I can think of off hand. Oh yeah, "Mull of Kintyre". Okay I stand corrected. By myself.

2. "Ain't No Fun Waiting Round To Be A Millionaire"

"Hello Howard. Friend. Next door neighbour. Get your fuckin' jumbo jet out of my airport!"

3. "Whole Lotta Rosie"

"She ain't exactly pretty. She ain't exactly small. 42 39 56 you could say she's got it all!"

4. "The Jack"

Just a little tiny bit of sexual inniendo. "She was holding a pair, but I had to try. Her deuce was wild, but my ace was high. How was I to know that she'd been dealt with before?" and it goes on like this.

5. "Let There Be Rock"

Oh sacrilege!

6. "Dog Eat Dog"

"Woof!" I'm not kidding. Just before an awesome guitar solo. Phil Rudd is at his best in this song on the drums. This song has some pretty good lyrics too! "It's a lie and that's the truth."

7. "Squealer"

It's one of the filthy ones but the way he goes from a dramatic whisper to 'squealing' is great!

8. "Problem Child"

The first lyrics are, "Fuck this!" What a way to get into a song! "I'm a problem child. And my Mother hates me!"

9. "Love at First Feel"

Another song on the Dirty Deeds album that makes you want to wash your hands after listening to it. Then listen to it again. "You never told me where you came from. Never told me your name. I didn't know if you were legal tender but I spent it just the same." One of their first tours was called the "Lock up Your Daughters" tour. Is it any wonder?

10. "Touch Too Much"

The only song on my list from the Highway to Hell album. This was the first AC DC album produced by Mutt Lange and I think he tried to reign in Bon a little bit to make the songs tighter. But he shows some of his personality here. "She had the face of an angel smiling with sin."

I have probably forgotten one or two songs that really show Bon's abilities so why not go on over to youtube now and give them a listen. I think AC DC tunes got better and better but the lyrics and singing really weren't the same after Bon. But I WILL say that it's a VERY lucky thing they got rid of their egotistical first singer, Dave Evans. His voice was good but I can't find too many pics of him without his eyes closed in rapturous delight at his own voice. I saw a pretty good vid of Angus and Malcolm Young talking about that guy. Neither one of them could stand him. BOTH Brian and Bon are better than him!

But that's just my opinion.

This may piss some people off but I've been known to do that.

I'm having mixed feelings right now. It's Remembrance Day in Canada tomorrow. It's already November 11th here. Americans are observing Veteran's Day then too. And for I guess about 90 years the significance of these ceremonies has been diminishing every year. And that bugs me folks. It really does!

I can only imagine the emotion of the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month at the end of World War I. People all over the world were happy that the war was over but gutted about all the friends, family and innocence they had lost during the war. I think they truly believed that they were fighting for the improvement of the future in their respective countries. And as a testiment to that they went home and promptly got busy bringing record numbers of new people INTO that future that they had fought for. This is when I start thinking, "Little did they know," instead of, "Lest we forget," because at this time, (our fighting ancestors' future, and our present), I wonder if this is what they wanted. Is this what they fought and died for? And more importantly, are we getting closer or farther away from their ideals?

I don't want to be too negative because even with the limited world travel I have done, I have seen first-hand that Canada IS a better place to live than a LOT of other countries. And if I were able to live in my own country I'm sure that I'd appreciate it.

The most significant tidbit of knowledge, and by far the most shocking thing I've learned from my world travel is that in countries like Indonesia, The Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, in the country, (not so much in the cities), the happiness of the average person seems to go far beyond the happiness I see in ANYONE in Canada. I've seen people in the rice fields of Thailand working long hours in the sun that made me sweat just watching them. While I was on vacation cursing the heat, they were the happy ones. I've seen people on the beach in Indonesia who had never owned a pair of shoes selling pineapple to tourists for subsistance incomes. While I was sweating they were smiling. And in the Philippines I danced with an island full of fishermen and farmers in one of only a few pubs they had and while I was SWEATING they were singing, dancing and making me jealous.

I think when, (and if), the day comes that I can finally afford to return to Canada I just might try to manufacture a situation for myself that comes close to what these happy people have. I'll get a small house with a little land. Maybe plant some crops. Get a few dogs. It will not be anything like the situation I'm SUPPOSED to have in Canada, but maybe that's the point I wanna make here. Maybe we owe it to ourselves and our ancestors who were fighting so that we could find happiness, to stop chasing the almighty dollar and start looking for it. Happiness that is.

And here in Korea, to complicate my thoughts even further, November 11th is a day they call Pepero Day. Pepero are chocolate covered cookies shaped like sticks. Because November 11th is 11 11 and the ones are kind of stick-like like Pepero, everybody buys each other Pepero to celebrate. They have a Pepero song and games. They even do what we call, "air quotes" to signify Pepero Day.

So everybody here is in a good mood today and I'm kind of morose wondering if my our people have appropriately honoured the efforts of our ancestors. I made myself a poppy and wore it to class and my students asked what it was for. They showed interest in our tradition. They have the same thing here on June 25th. They call it "Yugeeoh", which is not to be confused with "Yugioh" the famous Japanese superhero, collector cards and cartoon. Yuk is 6, Ee is 2 and Oh is 5. 06 25.


So it's a bit of a confusing day here. Nonetheless I hope we never do forget what "The Greatest Generation" did for us. Support your local Royal Canadian Legion. And happy Pepero day!

Halloween in Korea

It's just past Halloween here in Korea. Two nights ago I entertained the idea of turning on the air conditioning and tonight the heater. However the addition or removal of clothing and/or the repositioning of windows and blinds has been sufficient to alter the temperature to my liking. If none of the above works tonight I'll just get fetal under a couple of long unused blankets on my bed. Cold has ever been a friend to me. It's the heat I despise. The transition from one to the other, (rather the other to one respectively), has been almost instantaneous this year. Apart from foliage discolouration and a slight drop in temperature Korea has been all but cheated out of an autumn. And it's tied for my favourite season here in Korea!

I saw a few snowflakes as I walked to the corner store to photocopy homework for my classes today. A five-minute walk that included no less than 15 Korean exclamations of, "Oh chuweoh," which means, "Oh it's cold!" Although, in my experience, this not so hale and hearty younger generation starts with the "oh chuweohs" as soon as you can keep your butter out of the fridge. It wasn't more than a few days ago that the same trip wetted a dry T-shirt with sweat. As I type this my feet are in need of woolen socks and I feel a sudden and overwhelming urge to eat something covered in maple syrup. It's cold folks. In MY room anyway. The air coming in the window has that familiar, full-bodied diesel exhaust bouquet. It's pretty much winter today.

On Halloween night in the German Bar in downtown Gwangju I was sitting directly beside the open door in order to have the coolest seat in the house. And it was raining outside, hot, muggy and there seemed to be no sign of fall. Things changed in a hurry.

But it's not the weather I stumbled out from under the covers to type about on this night. It's not the temperature or precipitation that has made me tear myself away from the good book I was reading. Or re-reading. (The Picture of Dorian Gray). It is an often pondered mystery of this, my adopted country that puzzles me to distraction. Why don't Koreans do Halloween?

Indeed on the very night I did query a few costumed respondents and this is what several of them had to say, "Halloween isn't traditionally Korean." A solid answer in that if it is traditional, Koreans ALL do it. No matter how ancient, antiquated, outdated or inconvenient. Right? I am not so sure of that...

How traditional are cell phones? And if you think for a second that Japan or any other country comes close in cellphone culture, you'd just be wrong. It is a firmly entrenched part of the Korean identity. Cell phones and accessories are pieces of flair in modern Korea that have replaced the societal cues such as clothing, hairstyles, fans, servants, family seals etc. You may not score a date with the best looking guy or girl just because of your cellphone but you could lose one for dropping a call, having last year's model or exhibiting slow texting skills. My phone is about 6 years old. My students think it's "cute". But it's better than when I didn't have a phone and my students thought I must be a serial killer or worse, a "wonkda." That's the Korean word for a social misfit or outcast.

It's anyone's guess as to how social culture will transform in any country, but I think I've been here long enough to give a few opinions. I think Koreans would love Halloween! Here are a few reasons why:

1. Koreans love free stuff and they love candy. Free candy is a no-brainer. And it's not something that's limited by age in any way.

2. Korean girls absolutely love to get dolled up, often to the extreme. Now here is an area where I would say Japan DOES eclipse Korea. But only in a manga, cartoon charactery way. Korean chicks just dig getting dressed to the nines. When I show pictures of girls in Halloween costumes that would qualify as being dressed to the tens or elevens, (like the ones above), my female students moan longingly. You know the princess, angel, cat, French maid, naughty nurse, student, cheerleader, and maybe comic book character etc. costumes I'm talking about. The ones Koreans just couldn't quite get away with on any other day. I'm sure they'd get right into those on Halloween!

3. Korean guys would get into those costumes too! Not so much the wearing of them but supporting the girls who wear them.

4. Drinking! Nuff said.

5. Spooky things and ghosts are a bit different but I would say Koreans like to get creeped out just as much as any culture going.

I've seen a lot of kids wearing costumes and having school parties here so it's starting to catch on. But trick-or-treaters are still non-existant. Every year I buy candy and hope, but nobody comes a-knocking.

There is all kinds of conjecture. Maybe it's just too dangerous to send kids out into the streets here. Not that they'll be abducted so much but I think the fear would be more of kids being hit by vehicles.

Maybe everybody's working, or at least at work, all night so nobody can stay home to hand out treats.

Maybe people are loathe to espouse another foreign ritual.

Maybe it's still more attractive to be too "shy" to wear a costume.

Maybe trick-or-treating or Halloween partying just needs the immeasurable boost of being featured in a Korean drama or music video before it's safe for people to do it here in earnest.

Who knows?

Really, who knows? Anyone? If you have any ideas don't hesitate to post a comment. I just can't figure it out.

And so another Halloween has come and gone and there are no signs that it is catching on yet. Oh well, maybe next year...

Kia WINS!

I hope this link will work.

These are the highlights of maybe the best game of baseball I've ever seen. I remember when Joe Carter hit his World Series winning home run for the Blue Jays but I don't remember the game being quite as exciting as this one.

I was at home watching it on my computer with my friend Guns. We had a few beers and were planning to go watch at a bar somewhere after having only a couple at my place. We didn't want to tear ourselves away from the game. It was that exciting. We finished all our beer and had a couple White Russians before the game finally came to its AWESOME conclusion. It was a long one. I think it was over 4 hours.

So after jumping around, high fiving, high tenning and yelling a lot, Guns and I went to a place downtown for further celebration. There were a couple VERY unfortunate things about the game, however. It started at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. I talked with a few people who had tried to watch it in a bar and they said there really weren't that many people watching in bars. Because of the time. One guy said he was the only one in the place he was at and the owner said to him that he was sad the game started at 2 since he wasn't getting that much business. At 6 PM the day before Gwangju's Olympic Soccer Stadium was opened up and some fans watched game 6 on the big screen there. But the fact that the stadium was opened wasn't very well advertised so not many people went. And, of course, Kia didn't win game 6. I would have gone if I'd known though. The soccer stadium wasn't open for game seven again because it was at 2 in the afternoon.

The other unfortunate thing was that the final was played in Seoul at Chamshill Stadium. I guess that's where all the Kia fans were because when we got to downtown Gwangju after the game there was no sign that the home team had just won one of the most dramatic victories ever. It was pretty dead.

We went to the German Bar. It's one of two foreigner bars in town. Really the only pub in Gwangju. There was nobody there when we arrived at about 8 PM. And there are plenty of foreigners here who are big Tiger fans. But, undeterred, we asked the waitress to put the game replay on the TV and we watched it one more time while drinking German beer.



Above is a good pic of the game 7 hero, Na Ji Weon and the guy I thought should have been the Series MVP, Aquilino Lopez. Na is a second year player for the Tigers. If you scroll WAY back in this blog to find my season predictions for the Tigers I wrote that I thought Na Ji Weon might just "bust out" and have a good year this year. Talk about busting out! I don't think he deserved MVP but it was a popular choice and I can't say I'm sad to see him get it. I've seen a lot of Tigers games and usually I'm there for warm-ups a couple hours before the game. It's pretty clear that Na Ji Weon is well loved by his teammates. He's a funny-looking, clumsy, player with a bad, Kirby Pucket-esque body. The other Tigers often joke around with him on the field. He's got that kind of mascot-like position on the team. Because of this a LOT of people were pulling for him to do well this year. I really like him.

He had a very good year. He wasn't a regular starter but despite that he got 384 at bats. That was fourth on the team behind former major leaguer Choi Hee Seop, this year's league MVP, Kim Sang Hyun, and Tiger superhero, Lee Jong Beom. He got over 100 hits 73 RBI's and 23 homers. I'd call that busting out.

In the first game of the Korea Series he didn't start. But he came in for 2 at bats. He got out both times. Then in the second game he got up 4 times, had no hits and one sacrifice bunt. (which of course didn't work). He didn't start game three but he looked better getting a walk and a strike-out in two at bats. In game four he started. I was nervous that Jo Beom Hyun was going to keep him out of the game but was happy to see him play. He got two strike-outs and an out before FINALLY getting his first hit up the middle and knocking in his first run of the series.

So in the first 4 games he went 1/11, 3K, 1RBI. Not MVP type numbers. I thought he wouldn't start game 5 but he did. Gotta give credit to coach Jo for sticking with him. In game 5 he got another hit, another strike-out and another sacrifice. (which didn't work). In game 6 he got a hit and a walk in 4 at bats. So his numbers were 3/17, 4K, 1RBI, 1BB. Still not overwhelming but he was looking more and more comfortable.

In game 7 he hit TWO homers, got 3 RBI's and even threw in a walk. His final numbers were 5/21, 4K, 4RBI, 2BB. His average in the series was less than .250. Just about the entire SK lineup had a better average than that. But he DID win the final game for Kia pretty much single-handedly. And I didn't see any envy at all from other players. They were all happy for him. And I sure was!

Lopez got 2 wins and a hold in game 7. I thought he shoulda won MVP. But I kinda like it when the MVP is not a pitcher.

Choi Hee Seop hit .320 in the series, (8/25), including 4 walks, 6 runs, 5 RBI's. These are better numbers than Na Ji Weon and his two RBI's in game two won the game 2-1 for the Tigers. I suppose the reason I wouldn't give him the MVP was that he hit zero homers and struck out 5 times. He supposed to be the Tigers' home run guy.

An honourable mention goes to An Chi Hong. I noticed this rookie in pre-season and said he'd platoon with another guy at second base this season. Well the other guy is now history. An Chi Hong was voted to the All Star Game and got the MVP of that! A rookie! Too bad I was in Thailand when that happened! In the Korea Series he hit .286, (6/21) with 2 runs, 2 RBI's, 2 stolen bases and a homer. Not spectacular but it was a defensive series. And his defence was STELLAR as you can see from watching the highlights of game seven at the top of this page. He's number 8 on second base. I think he got about 10 outs in the game.

My two favourite players did well also. Lee Jong Beom hit only .238 but won game one to get the Tigers off to a good start. He also had 4 walks, 4 RBI's and 2 runs. Yoon Suk Min pitched 12 innings giving up 14 hits, and 3 runs. He struck out 11 batters but in all that time the Tigers gave him 2 runs worth of support. He won game two but lost 3-2 in game six. However Yoon won the All Star game and Lee Jong Beom was runner up for MVP.

What a great year it was for the Tigers! I can't wait for next season!

Tigers 2, Wyverns 2

The Korea Series is in full swing and for those who just don't give a crap about Korean baseball, stop reading now. I tried starting a new blog just for my favourite Korean baseball team, the Kia Tigers, but I couldn't keep up with it during my vacation to Thailand/Cambodia and I just couldn't find a good way to pick up afterwards. The Tigers were in 3rd or 4th when I left and first place when I got back. They never left first for the remainder of the year although the SK Wyverns put on a MASSIVE run of 20 games unbeaten to end the season. One was a 2-2 tie, which stupidly counts as a loss in Korea, but they still weren't beaten in their last 20 games. You would think that'd get them into first but the Tigers won 7 of their own in a row to finish out the year.

I really like the way they do things in the KBO as far as their playoff format. The 3rd and 4th place teams slug it out in a best of 5 to play the 2nd place team in a best of 5 and the winner of that takes on a very well rested season champion in the Korea Series. That well rested champion was Kia this year. They sat back and watched while the Doosan Bears beat a feisty Lotte Giant club 3 games to 1. Then they got a 2-0 lead on SK. I was shocked given the finish SK had! They hadn't lost two games in like two MONTHS! But SK came back to win the next three.

So as expected it's the SK Wyverns vs. the Kia Tigers in the Korea Series. The first two games were Tigers home games in Gwangju. OF COURSE I went to see them, right? Nope. I ended up going to my friends' restaurant grand opening that weekend. (which was this past weekend). I had a great time though! Met some nice folks and I was very impressed with the restaurant the Jackson family has set up. It's a breakfast restaurant in the Peng San area. That's near Pyeong Taek. I think they'll do all right. Likely within 6 months there'll be 4 or 5 copycats down the street. Already several people have said they were "thinking about" doing that...


Above is a pic of Moodeung Stadium, the Kia Tigers home field, as I went by in a taxi on the day of the first game of the KBO finals. Known as the Korea Series. I went to about 30 home games this year so I'm pretty comfortable in old Moodeung. It was about 1 in the afternoon when I passed by and already the crowd was REALLY thick for the game at 6 in the evening. I think I'm probably lucky I didn't try to go.

It was good to see the family again and I even went to church with them. A nice cozy, little church that sings songs that I remember from MY church-going days. The pastor is a retired military man and his sermon was on something that has been coming up again and again lately for me. It's not something good. It's the idea that when the shit hits the fan, don't sweat it cuz it just makes you stronger. It actually says that we are to "count it all JOY when we fall into divers temptations and persevere." That's in the Bible. Maybe not exactly like that, but it's there, man. Trust me.

I've been struggling with a supervisor who is doing his best to make things as tough as he can for me. He told me I could teach at camps during vacations, that I'd get my own private internet in my room, and that I'd be getting a raise so I make the bare minimum salary here in Korea:2 million won a month. All three were contract promises and all three were lies. It's VERY hard to count that kind of stuff JOY! Kicking his scrawny, spineless, prevaricating ASS would be a joy though. But not very Christian of me. Just one of the divers temptations I have to power through.

Also this semester, AS ALWAYS, he gave me my schedule without classroom numbers and as always I went to a couple of the wrong classrooms and taught at least one class full of students who sat there for 20-30 minutes before telling me I was in the wrong room. But because this happens every single time I had asked my supervisor if he was absolutely positive of the room numbers cuz they didn't sound correct to me. He assured me, (lied to my face), that they were correct.

Then this past week during midterm exams I had 3 of my 4 exams scheduled at the same time: Monday at 10 AM. The one exam that wasn't conflicting with any others was, of course, the exam for my supervisor's class, the flight attendants. Since I knew what to expect if I asked him to help with the other conflicts, I solved the problems on my own by going to the various offices of the three other departments I teach. Between the deans of the physiotherapy and dental assistant departments we were able to hammer out a revised schedule so that dental was at 9 and physio was at 10. I couldn't find the dean of the E.M.T. program so I arranged with the students to have the exam at noon on Monday. My supervisor assumed I wouldn't be able to do this, (because he thinks his job is actually hard), and he sent me a message around 11 saying, "EMERGENCY! Your class is waiting for you! Where are you?" I called him back and said, "Relax they know the exam is at 12." Sure enough they all showed up at 12. This PISSED my supervisor off!

That's what I'm dealing with here. And there are dozens of other stories I could tell. In fact scroll down my archives and read. You'll find some of them. But it has been really good recently to be talking with some of my friends about this very subject. I have actually been encouraging OTHERS to stay positive in the midst of trials and tribulations and now it's ME who has to take my own advice. I wrote a letter today to my supervisor's supervisor explaining what a jagoff he's been but because I have a pretty sweet deal here, (all things considered), and I like the hours, my students, my long vacations and I don't have a wife or kids so don't need a ton of money, I'm still happy. I'd better just accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative. I haven't sent the letter to anyone although I have the email of the guy who could probably fire my supervisor's ass. I don't think I will either. Why fix what ain't too badly broke?

But back to baseball. I'm hoping I don't have to use this strategy with the Tigers although, here I go. The Tigers won the first two games. Aquilino Lopez, (a former Blue Jay hurler), started game one for the Tigers and I have to admit, I am BLOWN AWAY by how well he's done this year! Early in the season I said he'd probably crap out and be sent home. But he's not only stuck around, he's become one of the best pitchers in the league. He's now known for getting stronger as the games go on. He's the one and ONLY pitcher on the Kia staff that the coach leaves in past the 7th inning because around about that time he's virtually unhittable. I saw some stats on a broadcast that were astounding! Like opponents' batting average after the 6th inning is like .090 or something ridiculous like that! So he pitched game one. He pitched 8 innings giving up 6 hits including one solo homer. It worked out to 3 runs. Not spectacular but it was as dry as the Sahara Desert for the SK hitters on the night. They're not used to that kind of low production.

The offensive hero of the night for the Tigers was the veteran Lee Jong Beom. Everybody's favourite player. He's been around for ages here in Gwangju. The people of Gwangju know him as "The Son of the Wind", (I think it's "Param Adeul" in Korean), for one season when he hit .393, stole 84 bases and got 196 hits. (He was only caught stealing 15 times.) But that was back in 1994! Nobody expected him to star out now, but he had a good season this year and even at 38 he's producing in the playoffs. On a night when the Tigers only got 6 hits, he got two of them and they were clutch hits that earned him 3 R.B.I.'s and were the difference in the game. The final score was 5-3 for Kia. I watched the game at Scott and Minju's new restaurant. They have a big screen there. It wasn't open yet, (they were setting things up while I watched), but next day was opening day.


Above is a pic of the restaurant interior and the TV upon which I watched this historic game. That's Alex in the foreground. Because Peng Sang has a big military presence he got an American quarter and flipped it over to the heads side and asked me, "Uncle Dave, that's Barack Obama, right?" If you blow the pic up you might be able to read the extensive menu. It's mouthwatering. You can also see it in the pic on the right.

On opening day, Scott was all by himself in the kitchen cooking for an army of friends and family that ALL showed up at once. A nightmare for ANY restaurant never mind one that hasn't cooked a single meal yet. But he did admirably. There were even some walk-in customers but it was, of course, too slow for most because of the huge backlog brought on by the festivities. The customers understood. I think.

I couldn't get a picture of Scott. He was a blur in the kitchen making waffles, bacon, eggs, French toast, you wouldn't believe the menu. I wish I could post it but I lost the site. It's online. He takes phone-in orders too. That's gonna be popular.

Anyway, it was a long wait for most but for most we didn't care. We were all socializing and enjoying ourselves while Scott whipped up his magic and Min Ju distributed it all and collected the money. I think they're both going to be exponentially happier now that they don't have to teach any more. Not that they won't miss the teaching, but, like me they're gonna LOVE getting rid of the shit that comes with it. Like having to be nice to students' parents who are unreasonable and crappy supervisors and so on.


Here's Jeff, the Jackson's upstairs neighbour, eating the first order. It was the Hungry Human Breakfast. That's what I got too. And trust me you have to be very hungry or not quite human. And here's Minju waiting on tables. I KNOW she's loving every second of this new restaurant!

But back to baseball, Kia and SK played on opening day for "Bacon 'N Eggs": October 17th at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. This is closing time for the restaurant. We watched the first inning at the restaurant and the owner of the building came by, took a look and said, "Let's franchise!" Then we went home and watched the rest on TV. ANOTHER big Screen! Scott and Min Ju have done well for themselves in their businesses!

This time, MY favourite pitcher on Kia was pitching: Yoon Suk Min. Internationally for Korea he has the best record, PERIOD! But he's largely overlooked by Koreans. Same thing in the KBO. He's respected but not considered elite. I DO consider him elite and in game two he made the SK hitters his bitches! He scattered 7 hits over 7 innings giving up ZERO runs and striking out 7. The reason he's not a pitching GOD in Korea is because his team never seems to give him run support. He's like a Korean Dave Stieb. Boy THAT'S dating myself! I'd like to date myself. I'm a good guy. Good sense of humour. Not bad looking. A pretty good catch really. Eehhhh anyhooo, Kia only got 5 hits in the game and two of them went to their former major leaguer Choi Hee Seop. He knocked in one run each and that was enough for the win. Very dependable closer Yoo Dong Hoon gave up a homer in the 9th but the final was 2-1. I nearly pooped my pants when the home run was hit in the ninth. I even told Scott, who was in another room, "OH NO! Tie game," because I thought there was another guy on base. But I forgot he had been thrown out on a close play. During the season Yoon Suk Min LOST close games like this because of little tiny mistakes by relief pitchers or fielders or whatever. He didn't have a stellar season this year. He went 9 and 4 with 7 saves during an inexplicable stint as the best pitcher in the league being used as the CLOSER! Man that was frustrating for me! And for him! I think I even saw him purposely trying to be bad so as to be removed from that role. Don't blame him. Anyway, I think he'll get to pitch again and I'm hoping he'll win, it'll be for the championship and I'll be there in Seoul to watch! Maybe, just maybe THEN he'll get the respect he deserves.

On to game three. The scene now switches to Incheon, the home of the SK Wyverns. The starting pitcher for Kia was my personal acquaintance, Rick Guttormson. I met him at a pub in downtown Gwangju. We drank for a while together and chatted a bit. I still don't consider him a "friend" because he said he'd give me a signed ball at the game the next day, but he wasn't the starting pitcher even though he though he would be. So I got no ball. Not HIS fault at all. But I don't know if he'd know me from Adam or not. Next time I drink with him I'll consider him my friend. Then maybe he'll overtake Yoon Suk Min as my favourite pitcher on the team. Unless I happen to meet Lopez... I sat beside Guttormson's younger brother at one game too. Nice guy.

Anyway, he had a VERY uncharacteristically bad outing. He gave up 4 hits in the first 2 innings, which doesn't sound that bad, but he also surrendered 2 walks and by the time he was yanked he'd given up 4 runs including one homer. I've watched him all season and I KNOW he's a bit of a slow starter like most pitchers. His worst innings are the early ones. But because of the shitty internet I have here in the dorms and the TV I used to have that exploded, I was unable to watch the game so I don't know if he should have been pulled or not. I'm guessing NOT. The coach Jo Beom Hyun is far too willing to go to the bullpen even though he's got the best starters in the league. And NOT the best bullpen. Suffice to say the next guy, Seo Jae Eung, (another former major leaguer), gave up 4 runs in the next two innings and the guy who has been the darling of the coach and the scourge of the bullpen for a few seasons: Son Young Min, gave up 3 more in his one inning. The Kia batters piled up 6 runs in a late-inning comeback attempt that Son Young Min made sure fell short. Kim Sang Hyun, the league's shoe-in M.V.P. got two hits, a homer and 4 R.B.I.'s but his efforts were wasted by bad pitching. I'm kinda glad I missed that game. I went for a bracing walk after trying fruitlessly to bring it up on my computer. Probly better for me anyway.

Yesterday was the best game of the series. By remarkably good luck I had enough bandwidth to get the game. The starter for Kia was Yang Hyun Jong who had no wins and 5 losses last year. Also a 5.83 E.R.A. Thing is I remembered him from last year as being a pretty good pitcher. I got him mixed up with Yoon Suk Min a few times. Only he's a lefty. I went to a couple pre-season games this year and he was pitching and he was VERY impressive. The games were VERY boring because of him! That's why I remember.

Not that pre-season usually means anything but I wasn't that surprised to see him bust out this year and have a great season. He went 12 and 5 with a very solid 3.15 E.R.A. And he had a very good outing yesterday as well. He went 5 2/3 giving up only 4 hits. The coach, as usual, pulled him WAY too early. I was watching and he should not have been pulled. Only 88 pitches! He DIDN'T deserve to lose either! He gave up one home run on a 3-0 pitch. What kind of megalomaniac swings at a 3-0 pitch? I mean honestly! That went for two runs. Luckily for the megalomaniac. Then Kim Sang Hyun, (Kia's MVP), hit a ball that probably would have been a homerun if not for a spectacular catch by the SK fielder. I think given the right circumstances this will be the Korean equivalent of "the catch". For those of you who don't know just google it. Dwight Clark would be a virtual unknown otherwise.

Yang struck out 6 and walked only 2 in 6 innings of work. Those are awesome numbers. He just made that one mistake probably thinking, "There's no WAY this guy's gonna swing at an 3 and oh pitch!" Or in Korea, an oh and 3 pitch. And that was all she wrote. Lee Hyun Gon went 3/4 with a homer and Na Ji Weon, (who I really like), got his first hit and RBI but it was all for naught. In the 9th inning with two out the third run for Kia scored on an error. Then 3/3 Lee Hyun Gon stepped up to the plate and hit a solid ball RIGHT AT the shortstop. The real difference in the game was that catch. It would have been a two-run homerun and Kia would have won the game if it were like an inch higher. But it ended as a 4-3 loss for the Tigers.

But, oh well. Count it all joy! Now I know for SURE that there will be a game Friday. Today is an off day while the teams make their ways to Chamshill Stadium in Seoul, (a money-making scheme I really hate), which is one of the few things I don't like about the KBO. I have ONE class tomorrow. A bogus hagwon class that was just piled on to fill out my sched. Probably only one student will show! Because of that I can't go to the game in Seoul tomorrow. Unless I just say fuck it! And nothing against this one guy who shows up but, he's a few sandwiches short of a picnic. He's the REASON the other 40 people dropped out of this class. I don't think it'd be too hard to think something up...

But before I get any idears... there WILL be a game on Friday! So I don't have to neglect my duties here. Even though my beloved employers have already breached the contract 3 times I am STILL going to teach a class of one weirdo rather than be a part of history tomorrow. Count it all joy! See what I mean? There's no doubt in my mind that this theme has arisen at an appropriate time in my life. And although I squawk and squeak like a greasy wheel I really do like my job. So I don't think it'll be too big a downer to miss the game tomorrow. Who knows, maybe there'll be TWO games I can catch in Seoul! And the winner of the Korea series will be Kia and I will be there to watch it! Then this will all sound like useless whining.

But I'll have to keep that in mind while I'm teaching my ONE class at 4 PM tomorrow. Oh to clarify, the game is at 6 PM and it takes 4 hours plus to get to the stadium in Seoul from Gwangju. If not for the one student I'd go. But because of him I can't. I am guessing Lopez will be pitching tomorrow and if he makes it past the early innings before getting the nervous Jo Bum Hyun hook, he'll probably win. Then more than likely it'll be my favourite pitcher Yoon Suk Min on Friday. I can't complain.

So anyway, that's how things are this end. Sorry if you are not a fan of baseball but... I warned you.

The Study Card Argument

I heard, and saw, quite an interesting argument for atheism on youtube. Funny thing about youtube for me is when I go there I usually end up watching stuff you don’t really need to watch. I end up surfing stand-up. I love listening to comedians and with a few exceptions like Carrot Top, magician comedians or guys who are spastically jumping around on the stage and making faces, you don’t need to see anything. So you usually get a collage of still photos while you hear the act. I was listening to comedy by a guy named Doug Stanhope. Totally filthy but he makes some really good points. Like why are American people worried so much about the “under God” part of the pledge of allegiance being recited by school children? Shouldn’t they be more worried about the “liberty and justice for all” part? And why do we need to advertise so much? If you have a good product you don’t need to advertise. Almost everybody tries drugs but THEY aren’t advertised. In a democracy we get to pick our leaders, yay! But what if I’m doing okay leading myself? Where does MY vote go? This is what makes Americans Americans. Well would you still call yourself a Christian if you voted in a new Jesus every four years? Or the 4 million people a year who come into America and don’t contribute a thing that should be kicked back where they came from: babies! (I don't know how to post youtube links here but you can find the ones I'm talking about easily)

By remarkable coincidence this atheist guy who posted on youtube looked like Stanhope and I clicked on his video by mistake. But I was intrigued. I listened to the entire argument – something this atheist would most likely discount the possibility of a believer in some sort of religion doing. Likely, but I can’t say for sure. I just got a feeling that this guy had that swagger about him. His monotone voice and half closed eyes gave me the impression of perceived intellectual superiority. And it seemed a bit hypocritical since Atheism is packaged with a belief system analogous to religion. In my opinion anyways.

The scenario was as follows: He had a stack of all the religious beliefs in the world written on study cards so that the stack was massive. All the beliefs except those that I believe myself, that is. The atheist goes on to say that as we go through the cards I explain why I don’t believe in all the things written on the cards and we write my reasoning for non-belief on the backs of every individual card. He says that at some point we wouldn’t have to write anything on the backs of the cards any more, we could just refer back to earlier cards where I had explained why I didn’t believe in something else that was similar. Then he says after days and days of doing this we got to the bottom where he had secretly written all the things I DO believe in and says that when we get to those cards we could just as easily discount them using some of the earlier cards as precedence.

A pretty arrogant assumption in my opinion. First of all I really don’t think that it would have been very easy for me to GET to the bottom of the stack without finding a hell of a lot of cards that I could not discount. There would be lots of cards that are based in the same sort of reason or faith that is at the heart of my own belief system. Therefore I could not arrogantly discount them, rather I would set them aside and say that they could very well be true as far as I know. My beliefs are not always based on something that is easily proved or disproved. Often they are based on things that are impossible to prove. That’s why it’s called “faith”.

For example if there was a card that said, “Allah has always been and always will be.” I would be an arrogant dick to say that this is untrue. Rather, I believe I’d say that it could very well be possible. I just prefer to call the infinite being “God” instead of “Allah”. It’s more a question of preference, culture or geography than proof or logic or any scientific explanation.

Or one of the cards contained the idea that there was a “cosmic egg” of matter that imploded upon itself creating what “science” calls the “Big Bang”, which is the beginning of the universe as we know it. And BELIEVE me this IS a religious belief! I would have no reasoning to refute this argument because the cosmic egg is the infinite matter in this philosophy and it isn’t much different than an infinite Being that I believe in who, through divine design created the beginnings of the universe as we know it. It is absolutely identical in theory if not in terminology. I just happen to think that outrageously good luck is harder to believe in than a sentient Creator.

Indeed even this youtube guy’s atheism is something I couldn’t refute. It could very well be true for all I know and the reasoning he has for it is surely exactly the same as my reasoning on many counts. This guy apparently believes that people who aren’t atheists absolutely “KNOW” every little detail of their entire faith and have readily available streams of logic with which to reinforce those details. Well that’s not faith, that’s training. That’s somebody trying to explain something that he/she will never fully understand with knee-jerk, unchallenged dogma.

I will never claim to understand God and I’m not so arrogant as to assume that I have irrefutable evidence of my beliefs. It is only people who are as dogmatic as to think that everything is, or even CAN be explainable that would fail this study card test. That is, their own beliefs on the cards at the end would have been self-refuted at the beginning. This, admittedly, is the kind of thinking that, when attached to a religion, causes inter-religious fighting and has lead to countless wars, fights, bloodshed and violence. It’s interesting that before stumbling across this atheist’s post I was listening to a rant by Stanhope which noted that you never hear news reports saying, “Credit for the bomb that killed 180 people in the atheist settlement was claimed by the agnostic liberation organization,” or something like that.

I am not this kind of believer and I think there are MANY more like me who believe strongly without feeling any need to force others into our way of thinking. If all religion could be like this perhaps nobody would fail this test. Perhaps religion and spiritualism all over the world would be able to conspire for more good than bad.

But the guy has a point. There certainly are some people who would fail this test. Those people are more soldiers and less believers. And I agree, this kind of mental discipline is detrimental to the world and indeed their own religions. But it’s pretty darn arrogant of this guy to think that nobody who has spiritual beliefs could ever pass this test, or even that atheists themselves would get to the end of the stack and have all their cherished beliefs completely unassailed by the arguments made on the backs of the previous piles of cards.

And if this is, as advertised on youtube, the most compelling argument for atheism, this guy, and this argument, sure don’t make me want to go find a local atheist meeting and hang out with folks just like him. And that’s the point that this guy is making in an unintentional and self-defeating way: a closed mind is a dangerous thing. Anyone who believes in this card stack argument is a dogmatic atheist and that’s just as bad as a dogmatic believer.

Atheism is a relatively new thing. Given time I’m sure they’d cause lots of wars if they continue to believe so closed-mindedly. At least that's what I reckon.

Beware the round-eye

Did I call this or did I call this? If you read this blog you'll know, (and if you don't, just trust me, I said this would happen), it wasn't long ago that I predicted lots and lots of Korean people would be led by the nose onto the popular belief, (or "wave" as they now call popular beliefs in Korea), that foreigners are dispicable, immoral, child-molesters and drug addicts. Not that this wave needed much momentum.

Well here is a VERY well researched account of how ludicrous this whole thing really is. Thanks very much to gusts of popular feeling a blog I follow.

Now I don't know how accurate the statistics are in this article and I am a firm believer in the quote that says, "There are three kinds of lies, white lies, damned lies and statistics." BUT, because of past experience with Korean media, I don't think I even NEED to do the research, I'll just assume these statistics are far more accurate than anything that has lead Koreans to these misinformed points of view. Not that these ideas usually arise from any kind of statistics, newspaper reading or clinical study but...

It would be like asking Quickdraw McGraw's trusty dog, Snuffles, if he would mind finishing off the excess doggie bis que eets. Sorry it's not in English but you get the idea. Sort of the way I react for lasagna. (for anyone under the age of 30, Quickdraw Mcgraw was a dog with a dog, not unlike Goofy and Pluto. His dog, who was much more dog-like than him, would do almost anything for a dog bisquit and when he finally received his reward he would go into a state of bliss that included harp music and softly floating to the ground. Look it up on youtube sometime. Update yourself on the rich history of the great cartoons you have now.)

Anyway, now that I've committed the comedic no-no of analyzing my own joke thus rendering it laughless, I will continue. I've been positing and suppositioning and conjecturing and presuming and postulationing and opining, and word-inventing etc. (I'll put old Roget away now), that this was a very real and palatable "wave" crashing into the shore that is the peninsula of Korea. But surely there were doubters of my voice of reason. Surely there were those who stood by the Asian wisdom of Asians and held that there was no way such a wise culture could create such a harmful stereotype particularly in light of the very harmful stereotypes perpetrated on the Asians of being good at math and knowing martial arts and working hard and getting straight A's and... um... where was I going with this?

Well - HA! There it is in black and green!

The point of all of this is just the ability to show some people how tough it is for us foreign English teachers to live here sometimes. You absolutely KNOW that when you are introduced to your gorgeous 13-year-old student's parents they're not thinking about how good a teacher you are any more. Hell, she/he could be a total boot! It really doesn't matter. I have had more than one job interview that consisted of not a whole lot more than, "Don't "DATE" the students and we'll all be happy."

There was some question in my mind about whether there really WAS a problem with this sort of thing in the past that had lead to this sort of interview or whether it was just plain rumour and gossip. I found out that it was sort of both. In one school, I won't name, there was a teacher found to have "DATED" a student or two and who was fired for doing so. The thing is, he wasn't a foreigner, he was Korean. And he wasn't without a job for very long, he's back teaching as we speak. I don't want to go out on too slim a limb but I doubt this is an isolated incident. I've worked with many a teacher whose "care" for his students, or even "HER" students, transcended that which is rightfully considered appropriate.

EEEeeewwwww! I know! I have been pretty much crawling through the Sahara sands of sex for as long as I care to remember and I still haven't had even an instant with any of my students that made me fear that I'd "DATE" them! It just makes me shiver with disgust! I KNOW Juliet was only 13 when she got jiggy wid Romeo but these 19 and 20-year-olds I have in my class are in so many ways YOUNGER than Juliet. I guess I'm a bit like Roman Polanski in that I see beauty in these young girls, (at least 90% of my students are female), but "YOUNG" is the key word here. I just can't equate sex with them. REALLY! So it's very easy for me to do my job without surreptitiously investigating loose-hanging shirts or wide open skirts. And even though I have no problem saying that there are MANY drop-dead gorgeous girls in my classrooms, I'm talking Hanna Montana, not Angelina Jolie. I appologize for the crudity but to me, taking their underwear off would be pretty much like changing a diaper. And just so you know, I don't get any thrill from that.

I've had many a good session of just shooting the shit with my stewardess classes. They know I love this and it's exponentially less work for them to just carry on a conversation with me than it is to stick to the lesson plan. This doesn't mean I'm creepily keeping track of details like where they live or if they're single or not. It doesn't take them too long to realize that I'm just a harmless guy. And if you know what I'm talking about, this makes it EVEN HARDER to remain harmless! They begin to trust you and to be more physical and touchy-feely with you. I have actually put a limit on this with my students.

I think there are probably quite a few students who wonder if I'm gay! Or at least they wouldn't be too surprised if I decided to come out in class one day. But this is, (rest assured Mom, (and maybe other family members who have doubts)), never going to happen.

Oh now I've gone and done it! I didn't want to give the impression that any of my family members have any doubt as to my sexual proclivity. And I don't want to seem like I have any problem with people who choose to go that way. Not at all. What I'm saying here is I, and I feel pretty sure that all the foreign ESL teaching fellas I know here, are about the last guy Koreans should be skeptical about with their daughters. The statistics, now we KNOW, back this up.

And oh now I've gone and done it! The very act of posting this makes it seem all too likely that I'm doing it to convince people of my high-minded intentions. And how often is that the act of a person with the opposite?

Sigh. I suppose there's no way to avoid suspicion. But, maybe this will help: I'm in my 10th year here and have yet to be suspected, well convicted of any improprieties with my female students. Oh man! That sounds bad too doesn't it? Of COURSE I've been suspected! The interviewer basically told me that that was his one and only job! To suspect me. And let me tell you now, he really REALLY doesn't do anything else. At least nothing else that would help me.

The reason I'm posting, other than because it's been a while, is that when I read this I felt really GREAT! Finally a little bit of evidence that at least some of the Korean distrust of foreigners seems completely unfounded!

Do I think that this will make even a dent in the "wave" of Korean distrust of foreigners? Nope. Do I think that people around here, (my workplace), are gonna trust me more? Nope. Do I think I'll stop asking myself questions? Yup.

It all comes down to how to get over it. How have I dealt with things like this, (which are really par for the course here), for 10 LONG years?! It's something I've had the great pleasure to talk about with a few of my friends recently. I believe that the trials of life should be counted all joy. Like fire purifies the hardest metal. Like steel is tempered with rigourous beating. So am I improved. And it all makes for excellent blog fodder don't you think?

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.