tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34465033529389991472024-03-13T06:25:23.162-07:00the rationality of irrationalityryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.comBlogger34125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-19110030202593893582009-09-07T09:06:00.001-07:002009-09-07T09:06:45.022-07:00cutting bait on Korean<p>A wise man knows when to fish and when to cut bait. </p> <p>I have studied Korean for three months. This has been done through weekly lessons with a Korean friend who teaches and is obviously augmented by the fact that I am immersed in Korea. All that being said, I have but the most meager mastery of phrasebook Korean. True, I can read, but that does not by any stretch of the imagination equal comprehension. My friends who have been here eleven months and have studied the hardest have an extremely limited use of the language which, to my appraisal, is only only slightly above that of a developmentally disabled Korean toddler. </p> <p>So, I have arrived to the conclusion that now that I have a some basic survival Korean skills I ought to walk away. And what to do with the free time you ask? Well, I am already studying hard for the GMAT, but Korean was taking up a sizeable chunk of time as well. I have decided to try to revive what little French I learned and to attempt to build on it. I am planning to Eurotrip my way home, with France being a principle target. I have recruited a coconspirator in this project in one of my fellow teachers, which should help in that it will provide a degree of accountability and someone to practice with. </p> <p>Yes, I am doing the only obvious thing to do while in Korea: learning French.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-16132235600094430722009-08-29T08:21:00.001-07:002009-08-29T08:21:56.964-07:00Moaksan<p>With three fellow teachers I hiked up Moaksan, a mountain outside of Jeonju. We originally planned to go to another mountain, but due to the language barrier and our incompetence we failed to get there. </p> <p>The hike took a couple of hours, and was a bit of a haul, but we had the constant reminder in the form of gaggles of Awjumas (the term for old Korean ladies) barreling past us. There is nothing to put a young man in his place than being bested by a 4’10” elderly woman.</p> <p>On the way up we encountered something that, even now, is totally inexplicable. A well outfitted Korean hiker (these people take their hiking equipment seriously) was heading back down the mountain with an off-road <em>unicycle</em>. One had to step gingerly up the broken rocks that zig-zagged up the mountain, but apparently this man was either capable of unicycling up or intended to unicycle down. </p> <p>At the peak of the mountain, which is handily the highest geographic feature as far as the eye could see, there was a massive telecommunications installation. For some odd reason the powers that be thought it a good idea to allow the public to wander around on the building, and so we climbed this too. </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHWd688EI/AAAAAAAAANU/_3kozurXrc0/s1600-h/DSC_0013%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0013" alt="DSC_0013" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHXNM-ZPI/AAAAAAAAANY/zff1O0rjslM/DSC_0013_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="394" height="580" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHX-2O2cI/AAAAAAAAANc/QQgd_NvvT48/s1600-h/DSC_0019%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0019" alt="DSC_0019" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHYjc8x-I/AAAAAAAAANg/o-eqj3f4Fs4/DSC_0019_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="394" height="577" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHZMvsbCI/AAAAAAAAANk/4EDdMFQvWFQ/s1600-h/DSC_0025%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0025" alt="DSC_0025" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHZ5O7NII/AAAAAAAAANo/fCBNAYpl0mo/DSC_0025_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="396" height="266" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHalhIpOI/AAAAAAAAANs/FnwEx2t01jM/s1600-h/DSC_0033%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0033" alt="DSC_0033" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHbXRqlmI/AAAAAAAAANw/u1JekdqOFyE/DSC_0033_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="398" height="267" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHb2ESZLI/AAAAAAAAAN0/3zgwsEUTBIo/s1600-h/DSC_0040%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0040" alt="DSC_0040" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHce3IKJI/AAAAAAAAAN4/1ZlrHNGIddA/DSC_0040_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="399" height="268" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHc0OTReI/AAAAAAAAAN8/F6fNckvz6nw/s1600-h/DSC_0041%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0041" alt="DSC_0041" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHdu8pknI/AAAAAAAAAOA/c__hF-VCiuI/DSC_0041_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="399" height="588" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHeAv0p6I/AAAAAAAAAOE/9D18YegoXN4/s1600-h/DSC_0042%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0042" alt="DSC_0042" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHe3o199I/AAAAAAAAAOI/5o6JYMvVdYA/DSC_0042_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="399" height="587" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHfdFcfcI/AAAAAAAAAOM/1hPCOcIkqcI/s1600-h/DSC_0045%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0045" alt="DSC_0045" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHgCJ2-yI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/uJpg7M8lGig/DSC_0045_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="400" height="268" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHgtAt8zI/AAAAAAAAAOU/j3AJsF8P3xQ/s1600-h/DSC_0046%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0046" alt="DSC_0046" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHhcTUnwI/AAAAAAAAAOY/esndDdeTwmo/DSC_0046_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="401" height="595" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHhyGiXxI/AAAAAAAAAOc/9A-cJQuZ270/s1600-h/DSC_0049%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0049" alt="DSC_0049" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHicfU2FI/AAAAAAAAAOg/j31gSkPLH14/DSC_0049_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="403" height="273" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHi4OncxI/AAAAAAAAAOk/qMslUPMmOYI/s1600-h/DSC_0053%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0053" alt="DSC_0053" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHj3mS9kI/AAAAAAAAAOo/HEgQRuW66q4/DSC_0053_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="406" height="272" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHkVs3edI/AAAAAAAAAOs/mUVz84CLBRc/s1600-h/DSC_0051%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0051" alt="DSC_0051" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SplHlBNanxI/AAAAAAAAAOw/LHsXstI4pt4/DSC_0051_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="405" height="596" /></a></p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-58525140945201674752009-08-25T17:53:00.001-07:002009-08-25T17:53:40.200-07:00GMAT boot camp<p>I’ve begun studying for the GMAT. This is the standardized test which is required for application to graduate business programs. I scheduled a testing date on December 5th in Busan, in time to complete grad school applications by the January due dates. From my initial studying I believe that I’ll do really well on the verbal portions of the test, but I must spend the next three months drilling on the quantitative portions. I’ve spent two hours of each of the last four days studying, and have made progress, but there’s still a long way to go. Speaking of which, I’d better get back to it!</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-40377632288032068112009-08-02T20:20:00.001-07:002009-08-02T20:20:35.366-07:00Japan<p> I just got home from five days in Japan. Will, Bobby, Alex, George, and I flew to Osaka and then took a bus to Kyoto, which we used as our base of operations. We spent a night in a Ryokan, which is a wood and paper constructed traditional Japanese hotel, and the remaining nights we stayed in a hostel. We spent our days taking in culture: shrines, temples, pagodas, forests, etc and our nights mixing it up. The trip had too many inside jokes and bizarre cultural shenanigans for me to get into here, there were monkeys, there were robots, there were angry Germans. Suffice it to say that we had a good time. Rather than try to describe things I’ll let the mass of pictures I took speak for themselves. </p> <p> <a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWd450bjI/AAAAAAAAAGs/OXHt3xQyEcQ/s1600-h/DSC_0061%5B11%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0061" alt="DSC_0061" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWexR4BjI/AAAAAAAAAGw/34W-CFEDsSY/DSC_0061_thumb%5B9%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="402" height="274" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWftQ5zsI/AAAAAAAAAG0/Qc1ya11e6Kw/s1600-h/DSC_0075%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0075" alt="DSC_0075" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWgDXv9DI/AAAAAAAAAG4/BvwB02VHZGc/DSC_0075_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="404" height="276" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWgmea4zI/AAAAAAAAAG8/rkJHPt8IVdU/s1600-h/DSC_0098%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0098" alt="DSC_0098" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWhjjd_5I/AAAAAAAAAHA/J0NIVewa4T0/DSC_0098_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="405" height="595" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWiFTmv9I/AAAAAAAAAHE/WDyWoa4fNjo/s1600-h/DSC_0114%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0114" alt="DSC_0114" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWi80UD6I/AAAAAAAAAHI/nZNGEDeMb8M/DSC_0114_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="408" height="274" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWjguTktI/AAAAAAAAAHM/Yx8qUbl7GTY/s1600-h/DSC_0126%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0126" alt="DSC_0126" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWkR6Cq6I/AAAAAAAAAHQ/zIXXu2R4u1o/DSC_0126_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="408" height="597" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZWlNhBtVI/AAAAAAAAAHU/d_GzS3-RMog/s1600-h/DSC_0127%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0127" alt="DSC_0127" 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src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZXfJYDlbI/AAAAAAAAANI/05FVQV-STt4/DSC_0615_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="417" height="618" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZXfujqk9I/AAAAAAAAANM/5g-4_7Zr7RU/s1600-h/DSC_0624%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0624" alt="DSC_0624" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SnZXgWoXWkI/AAAAAAAAANQ/KaeNp99D8i0/DSC_0624_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="415" height="616" /></a></p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-3722669152727034032009-07-18T20:47:00.001-07:002009-07-18T20:47:21.906-07:00a reality shaker<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SmKXRd_5aZI/AAAAAAAAAGk/qnys-wE4ems/s1600-h/tom%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="tom" alt="tom" align="left" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SmKXSPIyncI/AAAAAAAAAGo/v2C4WwTHbD0/tom_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="208" height="240" /></a> <p></p> <p>This is tom pfaeffle. he was an audio engineer who toured with and recorded a number of albums from artists you certainly know and probably love. he was also an instructor at the art institute of seattle, where he was my portfolio advisor. I chose him because was the hardest, more no-nonsense guy there and I knew that if my work met his approval I had achieved something. tom opened a studio a few years back where I recorded an album with the band I was then playing with. I occasionally crossed paths with tom after, as the audio industry is a very small world. </p> <p>today I found out that, while on vacation with his wife in eastern washington, he was shot dead. he mistakenly tried to open the wrong door with his room key and the guy inside (who must have been expecting trouble) fired two shots through the door, then opened the door to fire a third. all of this was right in front of tom’s wife. they got him to the hospital, where he died from the wounds.</p> <p>tom had a lot of kids (the total count of which I lost track of at some point), and was the primary bread winner for his family. </p> <p>I have managed to keep this blog expletive free up to this point, but this is just too fucking senseless.  </p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-7388345026151183062009-07-18T19:38:00.001-07:002009-07-18T19:38:54.622-07:00mudfest<p>yesterday some coworkers and I went to daechon to mudfest. this is a festival dedicated to, you guessed it, mud. daechon is a coastal city with a really nice beach, which once a year sets up all kinds of muddy games and activities. there are pools of mud which you can submerge yourself in, mud painting stations, mud cannons, and a mudslides. the weather was warm, although a bit windy, so people wandered around in their swimsuits, caked in mud. once you were tired you then either went into rinsing areas or just jumped in the sea. </p> <p>we all had a lot of fun, and despite the cloud cover, I got quite a bit of sun. on a side note, there was a stage there which had cover bands playing and hanging from the stage were two mccauley sound mla3 arrays (for those that don’t know, I worked for mccauley sound for the last six years). it seems you can run but you can’t hide!</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-36903367787107533652009-07-14T08:43:00.001-07:002009-07-14T08:43:05.988-07:00comics, sweet comics<p>I was feeling a bit low when out of the blue a care package arrived from my comic book store in the states (atomic comics, in tacoma. I’ve been to bigger shops but not better ones). only getting comics once a month (or two months as this period has been) really makes one appreciate them. I spent the last two and a half hours ripping through a stack of them. now I must wait another month…</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-16288236702885680192009-07-12T09:47:00.001-07:002009-07-12T09:47:41.879-07:00another seoul weekend<p> some fellow teachers and I went to seoul this weekend. the goal of this outing was to go on a palace tour and to eat our body weights in western food. both of these missions were accomplished.</p> <p>we went to changdeokgung, a chosun palace. we took an english guided tour. during the course of the tour we took in some of the palace’s 110 acres of buildings and gardens in addition to hearing of the seemingly countless number of times that the palace had burned to the ground. it seems that korean palace builders had a knack for beautiful structures and tranquil gardens while lacking in the fire management skills.</p> <p>my camera was shipped to me a month back and I haven’t taken it out since, so this was a great chance to put it to use. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SloN81yCl5I/AAAAAAAAAGE/i7g4JLG_UQM/s1600-h/DSC_0038%5B11%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0038" alt="DSC_0038" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SloN9mzvZYI/AAAAAAAAAGI/kktbLcGz0zY/DSC_0038_thumb%5B9%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="403" height="275" /></a></p> <p></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SloN-BMuoTI/AAAAAAAAAGM/XHQPEswjPXc/s1600-h/DSC_0053%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0053" alt="DSC_0053" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SloN-3q5FjI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/w-mB6ehcYI8/DSC_0053_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="405" height="276" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SloN_b4-gzI/AAAAAAAAAGU/cywRqum3uWI/s1600-h/DSC_0105%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0105" alt="DSC_0105" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SloOAOT-J2I/AAAAAAAAAGY/cwDscCJ5E-o/DSC_0105_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="406" height="277" /></a></p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SloOAogMXaI/AAAAAAAAAGc/kyWdUMzaCfw/s1600-h/DSC_0013%5B7%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSC_0013" alt="DSC_0013" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SloOBexhvgI/AAAAAAAAAGg/ELjb7yuMapU/DSC_0013_thumb%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="403" height="585" /></a> </p> <p>additionally, I made a pilgrimage to a massive musical instrument complex in insadong. I had heard that this place had everything, and if this was true, I hoped to buy a guitar. it turns out that they do have many things, but none of any merit. the products there were either incredibly cheap knock-offs of american guitars or actual american guitars that cost more than their purchasing price in a america + shipping expense. I am pretty certain that I am going to buy a guitar from a japanese shop and have it sent over. </p> <p>my rock lottery group has met once now, having figured out what everyone can play (we lucked out and got a bassist, drummer, singer and guitarist) and what kinds of songs we would like to play. we are going to meet sometime this week to hammer out a set list, then begin working on getting a set together. apparently there are rock band karaoke rooms here in town, where a group of musicians can go and play with provided equipment, so this should work pretty well for our rehearsals. </p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-18776398270394118722009-07-05T17:50:00.001-07:002009-07-05T17:50:06.410-07:00hiking<a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SlFKO1Xk-jI/AAAAAAAAAF8/ihHc383r2Cc/s1600-h/DSCN0281%5B7%5D.jpg"><img style="display: inline" title="DSCN0281" alt="DSCN0281" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SlFKPXGYQII/AAAAAAAAAGA/tWVzVYqhuFc/DSCN0281_thumb%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="385" height="296" /></a> <p>I finally went hiking on saturday. koreans do tons and tons of hiking and its an essential experience for one living in korea. I was taken by a couple of korean folks that I have met who wanted to show me around a bit. the contrast between the city and country here is amazing. the above pictured piece of serenity is only an hour or so outside of the city. its easy to see why koreans appreciate the escape this provides, as the bustling cities bombard the senses and just a few hours out here can go a long way to recharging ones batteries.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-70376845090671721862009-06-29T17:41:00.001-07:002009-06-29T17:41:21.032-07:00beard-off<p>in constant search of things to entertain ourselves, the lion’s share of the male teachers at my school have started a beard-off. a beard-off is when all participants grow their beards out, with the goal to be the last person to shave it off. usually a few drop early, complaining about how itchy it is. this is especially so here and now due to the heat and humidity. so far we are seven days in and all are still on board, but we shall see. the deciding factor may be an external one. it is understood that korean women generally do not like beards, and some of the teachers wish to avoid anything that my have an adverse effect on their social lives. </p> <p>speaking of ways to entertain one’s self, fourth of july approaches. this is a holiday that will obviously not be observed here but by us few foreigners, and even amongst us there is only about half americans, and amongst them only about half are here without some anti american baggage. so the remaining celebrators are truly a small number. fortunately, explosives need only one hand and a lighter to do their magic. </p> <p>at the end of this month I will be going to japan for vacation. the korean department of education just through us a curve ball by announcing that any teacher that goes abroad must be quarantined for a week before reentering the class. apparently they are still very concerned about swine flu, despite it’s dwindling impact. we’re not sure if this will really be enforced because if it is, the school lose half of its teachers for a week. we shall see.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-68129671931817376942009-06-19T07:35:00.001-07:002009-06-19T07:35:04.328-07:00name googling<p>in a fit of random boredom I googled myself, in the process searching my name associated with my the various bands and sound reinforcement companies which I have been associated with. I figured that I’d find notices of gigs and such but I was surprised by some of the things I found. I found some notices which commented on my value as a guitarist (it was moderately high, so that’s nice) and my skills as an engineer (they were more help than hindrance, as it turns out). the internet is a scary place, and even more so if you create things that are susceptible to public scrutiny.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-1914585764257388712009-06-18T19:04:00.001-07:002009-06-18T19:04:38.045-07:00plague<p>the blog has been quiet for the last week and change because I haven’t been able to do much. I was sick with a common cold for a while but then things got weird. I woke up one morning with massive hives all over my body. after many hours they went away and I assumed it was some random incident. the next morning I woke up with the same thing, but worse. I tried to figure out what new thing I had done or eaten that could account for an allergic reaction, and aside from a new toaster, I could think of nothing. obviously I blamed the toaster. it is the typhoid mary of toasters. the next day I had a similar thing happen so I went to a pharmacist. I got ten days of antihistamine for 4,000 won (around $3.25)!! I’m a couple of days into the medicine and things appear to be returning back to normal. hopefully I’ll have something more interesting to report this weekend.</p> <p>on the positive side of things, I have had the chance to download and listen to tons of music. I have rekindled my love for grandaddy, which triggered a wave of nostalgia associated with the time period in which I first discovered grandaddy, which is weird. I also seem to be becoming enamored with the wrens. I’ve also watched the first season of “it’s always sunny in philadelphia”, which is pretty rad.</p> <p>now back to mending my body and listening to new music.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-18200885165822219512009-06-11T21:44:00.001-07:002009-06-11T21:44:22.953-07:00rock lottery<p>I entered what is called “rock lottery” last night. a bunch of folks enter their names into a hat, and team leaders draw a set of names and must make a band out of them. the show will be sometime in september. I am sick so I did not make it out for the drawing so I don’t know which team I am on but it should be interesting. it will be nice to play with people again, no matter how rag-tag it is.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-29141781560938377192009-06-08T19:52:00.001-07:002009-06-08T19:52:48.803-07:00seoul<p>I took my first trip to seoul this last weekend. it was a blast. seoul is like new york city in its scale, but even cooler for an american in korea. jeonju (and presumably many other korean cities) can be somewhat alienating so it was nice to go to a city more accustomed to foreigners and our strange ways. additionally it was great to fill up on some of the foods missed. I went with a couple of fellow teachers who had a friend in seoul, and between them and and some other foreigners we met up with we were able to find some irish pub grub, a greek place, and some pretty epic burgers. </p> <p>while it was great being in a place where my foreigner ways were more understood and accepted it was also strange to be in an interactive environment; by that I mean that in jeonju most korean folks wont initiate interaction with foreigners and if we interact with them they are very cordial but often uncertain of how to act towards us. this produces a situation where a foreigner acts without regard for the world around him because for all intents and purposes it does not exist. in seoul the world will react or even initiate interaction. this was simultaneously a nice change and unsettling. it was weird to have to discard the assumption that nobody around me knows what I am talking about, and as such easy to inadvertently stumble into some awkward situations. </p> <p>the upshot is this: seoul is a pretty sweet city. the end.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-9526947809373455112009-06-03T19:43:00.001-07:002009-06-03T19:43:04.497-07:00learning korean<p>I’ve been taking korean lessons for three weeks now from a friend. I am through the korean alphabet (hangeul) and can now semi-read most things I encounter in the world, although I don’t understand 99% of it. there are a surprisingly large number of konglish words. this is where an english word has been “koreanized”. sort of like how we have the word “kimchee” in english. the trick is that we have sounds in english to cover all of korean but not the other way around. also, korean is divided up into syllables in a more distinct way than in english. so, for example, the words “cheese pizza” in korean sounds something like “chee-juh pee-juh”. ah the pervasiveness of western culture.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-36225295460184104422009-05-27T19:45:00.001-07:002009-05-27T19:45:08.423-07:00life without a laptop<p>so my laptop power supply blew up. this was really not good, as my primary (read “only”) means of communication is over the web. I walked down the main retail drag, in search of electronics stores. each one I stopped in I repeated the same act: first presented my power supply, pointing, then doing a shrug to indicate that I was asking a question about it. each time they said “ah-ni-yo”, which means no. finally, one of the store clerks told me to wait and he called someone. apparently he knew of a place that he thought might have power supplies so he wrote something in Korean on a slip of paper and told me to give it to a cab driver. I hopped in cab, gave the driver my paper, and off we went. this process was repeated for a few more stores. all-in-all I saw a most of the city by cab. my last stop was at a pro audio store which was able to provide me with my power supply. this whole process took four days.</p> <p>what did I do in the meantime? I studied korean, which was good. I read, which was also good. and in the remaining time I watched korean television. I watched some indigenous programming, but after a hour or so of not understanding what is being said most of the charm wears off. fortunately there is a lot of american programming. and what programming was there to be watched, you are asking yourself? smallville. yes the teen drama about superman. I watched hours and hours of smallville. I have no idea why it was on at all, let alone hours on end. but I watched it. and it was glorious.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-38498031832541342982009-05-20T21:19:00.001-07:002009-05-20T21:19:38.098-07:00to silence my critics (i.e. jessica)<p>the week has been very busy so far. I have begun teaching on my own (although I am still monitored and given feedback by the teacher that I am replacing). the kids are generally good natured and easy to deal with. many are very eager to participate, but others seem wore out. korean children have so much on their plate, especially at my school, which is an advanced academy that is hard to get into and expensive to attend. the stress can be seen on the faces of many of the kids, and it can be tough knowing that you are adding to it. such is life I guess.</p> <p>I’ve had a great time hanging out with my fellow teachers. I typically use the day before I go to school to tend to my affairs (laundry, the bank, etc) and the time after school to go out for food and drinks. last night I attended an open mic night with a teacher from another school and I plan to go back next week with my guitar and some songs ready to play. this should give me a good reason to finish up a couple of songs that I have in the works.</p> <p>in other news, I submitted the last paperwork in the process to get my alien registration card. my medical examination came through clean, which is nice.</p> <p>now to wash some clothes and mold some minds.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-7127357124384068282009-05-17T06:49:00.001-07:002009-05-17T06:49:10.109-07:00eyebrow dog<p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/ShAV0if1ITI/AAAAAAAAAF0/7QM0Auo-Ezc/s1600-h/DSCN0244%5B4%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0244" style="display: inline" height="299" alt="DSCN0244" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/ShAV1YfW4QI/AAAAAAAAAF4/jrZBUD9-qek/DSCN0244_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="395" /></a> </p> <p>this is eyebrow dog. he lives in my neighborhood. I see him wandering around pretty much every time I leave my apartment. as his name implies, he has eyebrows. they look as though they were drawn on with a sharpie. I asked someone about this and apparently this not an uncommon thing in korea. </p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-41719801899277544502009-05-17T06:47:00.001-07:002009-05-17T06:47:00.414-07:00sunyeudo<p>despite having the word “sun” in its name, the island chain of sunyeudo was all but. I went with a bunch of other teachers for a night away, and despite being stuck indoors due to weather, it was a good time. we took a bus to gunsan and a ferry from there to sunyeudo.</p> <p>the islands are very dramatic, rocky outcroppings from the sea that seem to burst from nowhere, linked together by footbridges or sandbars. I can imagine that when the weather is nice this is a pretty cool place to spend time. as it was, I had an opportunity to hang out with my fellow teachers out of the office.</p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/ShAVSHbHBNI/AAAAAAAAAFc/fi3EWR5LWuQ/s1600-h/DSCN0213%5B4%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0213" style="display: inline" height="290" alt="DSCN0213" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/ShAVSxYeekI/AAAAAAAAAFg/t2XGK8CMTpw/DSCN0213_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="383" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/ShAVTaY5vpI/AAAAAAAAAFk/d_oikwJkZ-s/s1600-h/DSCN0227%5B5%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0227" style="display: inline" height="292" alt="DSCN0227" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/ShAVTwL0rOI/AAAAAAAAAFo/PuHfwB3copk/DSCN0227_thumb%5B3%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="382" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/ShAVUbIkCwI/AAAAAAAAAFs/pkWgu3uCTtY/s1600-h/DSCN0234%5B4%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0234" style="display: inline" height="290" alt="DSCN0234" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/ShAVUxoAR_I/AAAAAAAAAFw/seZTztNOdRg/DSCN0234_thumb%5B2%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="383" /></a></p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-89261795420967704272009-05-14T15:35:00.001-07:002009-05-14T15:35:52.781-07:00first night out<p>I went with about fifteen coworkers last night to a makkoli place after work. makkoli is a milky rice wine that is served in big teapot-ish conveyances and has roughly the same potency as wine. these pots are landed along the table and people pour drinks for each other, all the while the restaurant/bar staff keep a steady stream of food coming (which is free with the drinks). each one of these pots costs about 12,000 won (around $9). so just imagine buying a bottle of wine or a pitcher of beer for $9 then getting all of the bar food that you could possibly consume along with it. the side dishes started off pretty conventional and got progressively more “extreme”, with the high point pictured below. this is a live octopus that has been marinated to some degree, that when delivered to the table is still alive and moving around. the waitress then takes kitchen scissors and cuts its legs off one by one, which then continue to wriggle around for about a half hour or so. if you eat the legs while they are still really fresh the little suction cups will grab on to stuff in your mouth. I ate everything else at the table but opted out on this.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgycwWZEd_I/AAAAAAAAAFM/MzeScq-ICYU/s1600-h/DSCN0209%5B10%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0209" style="display: inline" height="268" alt="DSCN0209" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/Sgycw_8vslI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/DIo0OZMM_ds/DSCN0209_thumb%5B8%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="347" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgycxcCM6sI/AAAAAAAAAFU/k_eHa9mOHuU/s1600-h/DSCN0210%5B9%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0210" style="display: inline" height="270" alt="DSCN0210" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/Sgycx7QM0FI/AAAAAAAAAFY/pObZ6lX_lfU/DSCN0210_thumb%5B7%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="344" /></a></p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-86061075642032367022009-05-13T15:02:00.001-07:002009-05-13T15:02:51.487-07:00a photo tour of my apartment<p>here is a photo tour of my apartment. it is only four photos as my apartment isn’t all that big. the photos run counter clockwise</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgtDe1oqYNI/AAAAAAAAAEs/MBwIXLK1mL0/s1600-h/DSCN0203%5B3%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0203" style="display: inline" height="240" alt="DSCN0203" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgtDfWJOTFI/AAAAAAAAAEw/2yE-Kn_UPCs/DSCN0203_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="180" /></a>  </p> <p>desk area, TV, mysterious rack whose purpose I have yet to figure out </p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgtDgAZJEDI/AAAAAAAAAE0/0hJECAOzjEM/s1600-h/DSCN0204%5B7%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0204" style="display: inline" height="180" alt="DSCN0204" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgtDgrRMI4I/AAAAAAAAAE4/OXwIOKV_SF8/DSCN0204_thumb%5B5%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" /></a> </p> <p>from right to left: mystery rack, two burner stove, sink, refrigerator, clothes washer (in the corner), bed. the main area is separated from the kitchen/washing area by a sliding glass door, presumably to isolate the sounds and smells of cooking and cleaning. the windows above the kitchen area look out over the neighborhood. </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgtDhBYAPXI/AAAAAAAAAE8/WqG5Ygb7Xzs/s1600-h/DSCN0205%5B3%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0205" style="display: inline" height="180" alt="DSCN0205" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgtDhkBxVcI/AAAAAAAAAFA/sc_HYuRhgYs/DSCN0205_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" /></a> </p> <p>my bed (with Timbuk 2 bag). the bed is actually really comfortable. despite the fact that everything in my place is small and efficient this bed is longer than a full sized. it’s firmer than my mattress home (roughly between the firmness of a boxspring and a mattress) and I have been waking up with my back feeling great. this bed rocks.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgtDiLwOJQI/AAAAAAAAAFE/nYtP_KlEfHU/s1600-h/DSCN0207%5B3%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0207" style="display: inline" height="240" alt="DSCN0207" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgtDitPLiJI/AAAAAAAAAFI/IcS0hNWBnQg/DSCN0207_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="180" /></a></p> <p></p> <p>the bathroom, basically a little square where the whole thing is the shower. the floor has a slight pitch to it and a drain on one end (seen under the sink). all surfaces are tile or some other waterproof material so that you may use a shower wand while just standing in the middle of the room. this actually works really, really well. my bathroom takes up way less space and has a larger effective shower area. </p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-25143108597127401232009-05-13T01:00:00.001-07:002009-05-13T01:00:20.415-07:00so funny that I could not make it up<p>there are handful of small neighborhood parks scattered around my apartment. I was walking to work to introduce myself to the staff and teachers, and as I passed by one such park, I noticed a group of four or five ladies, all in their 70s or perhaps 80s, sitting around on benches talking. as I passed by I heard one of them yell out a “hello” and turned around and saw her gesturing up in the air with a bottle. unsure what to make of this I called back with a “hello” and continued on my way.</p> <p>on my return from my meeting I passed by this same park and, seeing the same group of ladies, I called out a “hello”. to this the original women who had called to me before started gesturing with the bottle and now a cup. I realized that she was offering me what they were drinking. feeling it rude to decline, and not wanting to see how this all played out, I joined them in the park and then I realized the genius of this whole situation. these ladies were sitting around chatting, working on what had to be about a liter and a half of Coca Cola. they, seeing me wandering through the neighborhood, must've figured that a guy like myself could use a Coke. so I had a small cup with them, and upon finishing was offered another, which I declined and attempted to gesture that I had to be on my way. I said “thank you” to which I got a “thank you” back. oh Korean hospitality!</p> <p>on a more mundane note, I went looking for E-Mart, which is a huge Korean retailer, so that I could buy a few needed items and walked a while looking for it. I went right where I was told to go, and thought that I had all of the correct landmarks where they ought to be, but to no avail. I assumed that I had somehow made a navigational error and so returned home to change into cooler clothes and do some research. so what did I find out? I walked right past it, but because I didn’t see any English signage I was helpless. now I’ve got the logo burned into my mind’s eye, and have wiki mapped it. time for a second go-around! </p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-60721094335173174692009-05-12T16:07:00.001-07:002009-05-12T16:07:14.643-07:00arrival<p>after a fog related delay in San Francisco (you can’t make that up) which forced me to fly through Tokyo, I finally made it to Seoul. unfortunately I arrived so late that there were no more busses running to Jeonju, and so I had to spend the night. I had read about the inexpensive, red light-esque hotels that one can find in Seoul and now I have experienced them. for only 30,000 won ($24.24, according to Google) you get a bed, a bathroom, a television, water cooler, a fridge, an air conditioner, and about every fixing one could imagine. this included all of the bath items, such as shampoo, conditioner, lotion, tooth brushes, tooth paste, etc down to the finer details - a couple of bed-side condoms.</p> <p>despite what one may imagine, the place was actually pretty clean and the stay, although only a couple of hours long, was not bad. I have seen far worse in most major chains of hotels near an airport in the States. </p> <p>I had to get up at 5 am to get ready to catch a 7 am bus, which was not a problem considering that my body clock woke me up at around 2 am. this was not so good considering that I didn’t get to bed until just after midnight. I was picked up from the airport, taken to my hotel, picked up from my hotel and taken to the bus by a guy who was working with my recruiter. although his English skills were limited (although far better than my non-existent Korean skills) he was very kind and made sure that I got fed in the morning and suffered through the same aforementioned sleep depriving schedule.</p> <p>the bus ride was as one would expect. we passed through Seoul’s morning rush hour traffic, which was pretty rough. on the way we passed through a couple of super rest stops; places for busses, and travelers in general, to pull of the road to use the restroom but also to buy food. there were around a dozen or so small restaurants which served quick and portable food. genius!</p> <p>once my bus arrived I was picked up by a guy who works for my school, whose job is to make sure the teachers get to/from properly and to manage their affairs in between. he showed me around to some basic things in my neighborhood, such as a market and the apartments of other teachers. navigation here is considerably different in that rather than using streets and street numbers things are generally referred to by the landmarks they are nearby. for example, my apartment is near a well know group of apartment buildings which serve as the landmark for navigating people to it.</p> <p>my apartment is nice, and outfitted with the basic necessities such as kitchen appliances, bed, clothes washer, etc. it is comfortable and the building seems generally quiet and peaceful. I am the only teacher living in this building, as the buildings where other teachers live did not have any vacancies. this may be a bit of an inconvenience but I am sure it wont be an insurmountable. on the upside, I guess my building is a little nicer. </p> <p>I met a fellow teacher yesterday during lunch, a guy named Ian from Manchester. he was very friendly and had already spent one year here teaching, so I hope that I’ll be able to “borrow” some of his wisdom. what’s cooler is that when he found out that I am from Seattle he was jazzed up because he is a 90s Seattle rock fan… and he plays bass! apparently there is an open jam night at a local bar that he goes to from time to time. so I’m going to have to get an electric guitar and a POD or something so I can get my rock on!</p> <p>alright, now to get my day started. pictures to come.</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-73781426847568206682009-05-11T01:29:00.001-07:002009-05-11T01:29:38.598-07:00laid-over<p>so I’m spending a quality 3 hours in the Tokyo airport waiting for my next flight. it was supposed to be more like 5 hours, but apparently a girl on my flight had a slight fever (detected by some thermo-cams used by the Japanese public health swat team that swarmed over my plane upon arrival) which required a battery of testing and questioning that allowed me the opportunity to bond with my fellow irate passengers, which was nice. now I am taking in the seemingly endless parade of surgical mask clad faces.</p> <p>my flights got shuffled around, where I was originally supposed to fly from Seattle to San Francisco and then from San Francisco to Seoul. but get this… my San Francisco flight was delayed due to fog. yes, sound the alarms, San Francisco has fog. who knew? I am worried that my next flight may be delayed because the sun rises in the morning and sets at night, or perhaps because dogs and cats do not get along together. </p> <p>the upshot of all of this is that I will be getting into Jeonju (my final destination) at early o’clock tomorrow morning, at which point I will have to go to a training session. it’s a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll!</p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446503352938999147.post-46967196469069090132009-05-07T13:52:00.001-07:002009-05-07T13:57:40.371-07:00tattoo you<p>after several years of hearing me talk about it, my buddy Ed got tired of listening to me talk about my idea for a tattoo and paid for me to get it. it is “God Only Knows” in the font from the cover of the 1966 Beach Boys album Pet Sounds, which featured the song “God Only Knows”, which is my favorite song and sentiment.</p> <p><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgNJ5au9NGI/AAAAAAAAAEM/AxyuQmH_n44/s1600-h/DSCN0193%5B3%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0193" style="display: inline" height="180" alt="DSCN0193" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgNJ7mOSu7I/AAAAAAAAAEU/2X_wCYu3EOI/DSCN0193_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" /></a> </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgNJ-h4SoLI/AAAAAAAAAEc/kmfmqXd0ClQ/s1600-h/DSCN0201%5B3%5D.jpg"><img title="DSCN0201" style="display: inline" height="180" alt="DSCN0201" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/__nGbCCzupZc/SgNKALSndbI/AAAAAAAAAEk/SjCm5ACh2u4/DSCN0201_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?imgmax=800" width="240" /></a></p> ryfidelityhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01162020735051538276noreply@blogger.com0