So iWeb has gone under. It keeps crashing, so I'm back to keeping my thoughts here at Livelog for the time being. Since I don't have to teach on Fridays, Thursday evenings are the beginning of my weekend. Tonight I just moved furniture around. The delivery guy brought me my replacement XBox, and that meant redesigning the whole apartment to accommodate it the addition. I've been without XBox for two months, and I've only lived in this placed one month, hence my furniture set-up didn't take the XBox into consideration.

Been watching more of "The Flight of the Conchords" that I downloaded. Every episode has me rolling on the floor! Hard to believe it's an American show. Anyway, if you get a chance to watch it, I recommend it.

Well, that's it for now. Hope you all are well and having a good time.

I'm moved in to the new place, and the guy came to hook me up to the internet; however, the internet connection is run through a central thing... all the apartments in the house connect through a central something (I don't have my own modem box), so my Camarades webcam page will not work. When things quiet down more, I'll call and see if they can come and sort me out.

I tried to connect my washing machine to the hot water (Koreans don't connect washing machines to hot water, so I only had the one hose.) Anyway, I messed it up and now the guy has to come and redo it, but the service center phone just rings and rings as my laundry basket gets fuller and fuller. At my old place, the hot water was centralized, but here you have to throw switches and push buttons in the proper sequence, offer a chicken sacrifice and dance naked around the ancestors' grave to get hot water in your washing machine. You'd think with all their exposure to the real world, Koreans would start using hot water to clean things.

My schedule is pretty good, though I have no overtime :( . Monday is busy, but Tuesday is free, and Friday I only have one class from 3:00-4:15. However, every morning at 8 AM I go to my Korean language class to try to improve my skills in Korean. The teacher is nice, but she doesn't seem to have any idea how to teach a foreign language. Today she came in and switched on a CD where the speakers just babbled away as fast as they could, then she asked us questions about the conversation we heard. No warm-up, no preparatory remarks, nothing. I understood almost nothing on the CD, but then when she showed us the text, it was so easy I breezed through the reading without any trouble! That's embarrassing. This American dude next to me understood everything on the CD and answered the teacher's questions, yet when I saw his homework, he can't even do basic sentences without messing them up! How can you hear and understand but not know how even basic grammar works? I hate him... heh heh Naw, just jealous of people who can understand spoken language, it seems.

Last weekend was Lunar New Year's, so we all got Monday off. Brett stayed over a couple nights. We had to watch some boxing thing off the internet so he could take notes for the article he was writing for the boxing magazine. I don't know what he sees in that "sport" but he loves it. I've been reading up on boxing, and Brett's Master's thesis I found online and read that (it was on boxing, of course). Anyway, they have really built up the psychology and philosophy about boxing to make it seem like some divine gift for man, but in my opinion, boxing is just a vestige of what we as humans should be trying to eliminate from our lives, not incorporate.

The university sent a copy of the letter that my boss was supposed to sign, but he said he didn't receive it. So they sent a copy to me, and I just confronted the jackass and he scribbled on the bottom. It isn't his 'signature', but it's the best we're going to get, and so far it seems that the immigration department has accepted it. He's not going to pay me for this last week, I'm almost sure, so on Monday I'm going to ask for the money for this last week. Joel thinks I ought to ask, and if he refuses, I should just leave. Maybe that's the way to go. He has done nothing but throw obstacles in my path toward this new job and slander me to my new boss. Starting a new job is hard enough without having to live down a bad reputation that isn't deserved.

Joel got moved into his new place across the street from me. Check out his blog. We'll be neighbors for a week, then I'll be gone down to Gyeongsan come Saturday the 3rd. The movers came and assessed my household goods, and the cost, changing it into US dollars will be around $700.
The real estate lady has been letting people look at my place here. The other day she rang the bell, but then walked in just as I was dropping a load from pleasuring myself, so I had to let it go inside my underwear. What a mess. The real estate people here don't call to tell you somebody wants to look at your place; they just show up. Typical Korean fashion. I should be used to it by now.

Friday night Joel and I went out drinking, and when I got home, I had an email from my new job at the university saying they had called my present boss to get a letter of release for me. I'm quitting my job 17 days early to start work at the university, but the boss and I discussed this last December and he said it was OK. Anyway, apparently my boss was rude to the university woman who called, and he was angry and said that I was a horrible teacher and I had to stay until the very last day of my contract. To make a very long story short, I called him and reminded him politely that he had promised to release me at the end of February. He remembered the conversation, but he didn't make any commitment to follow through on his promise. I will have to remain polite and genial to him until this is resolved, because Koreans have a warped sense of right and wrong; they tend to get vindictive if somebody confronts them about something bad they have done.

Saturday I went to the university to deliver my diplomas, and while I was there I signed a contract for housing. It was the best apartment they could offer. I'll get used to it, though it isn't as homey as the one I have now. The bathroom is half the size, but the kitchen is bigger. I'm kind of waiting to see how things are going with my boss before I decide an exact move date. I might have to take off work for that, and he will go livid through the roof if I do. He's such an ass... always has been.

Brett was supposed to come by tonight, but he called and said he got food poisoning... again. How the bloody hell does he get food poisoning all the time?! The dude really must choose better restaurants.

The other night I came home from work and walked in on a friend who was apparently just concluding a penis to mouth activity with his girlfriend. I had a nice chat with Brett on how I felt about that, and that's why Brett was coming up to see me. He thought I needed somebody to talk to face to face about this... and other things.

The apartment is a wreck as I pull everything out and start packing for the move. Saturday I go to my new city and check out the apartments that the university says I can choose from. They also sent an email today saying I need to fax or mail a letter of release from my present employer. He would take for ever to do that if I asked, so I'm going to see if my new boss can call and they can sort it out amongst themselves. All this damned bureaucracy is becoming a major pain in my ass, and not the good kind, either.

Today I went to the lumberyard to get the plywood Joel needs to paint the companion picture for the male nude I have over the sofa. I want him to paint a counterpart female nude so I can have a sort of "yin-yang" thing going on the wall. The paintings will be 132 cm x 80 cm each. He's looking for a model now. Simon's wife wanted something for doing it, but Simon says Eun-joo is too skinny. Since the lumberyard guy wouldn't deliver the wood, Simon came and we carried it in his car over to Joel's studio. Then we went to MacDonald's at HomePlus for BREAKFAST! New thing! Korean MacDonald's now serve a breakfast menu. It was wonderful. I hope they keep doing it.

Tonight Brett and Juyeon are visiting. I'm moving in the next couple weeks, so they wanted to come and spend some time with me before I'm gone all the way down to Daegu. The university sent me the address of my new place. It's in a newly developed area of the city, so it should be nice. That's the kind of place I live in here in Ansan.

Last Saturday I made a trip to Daegu to meet with the Assistant Manager of the office where I'll be working. They need my original Bachelor and Masters diplomas, but I refused to send them through the mail. Koreans don't understand that these items are irreplaceable. They say that because my alma maters can issue certificates that state I am a graduate of their respective schools, then the loss of the diplomas is nothing. I guess since Korea has been beaten and nearly destroyed so many times, that mindset would start to prevail. However, those of us from more stable societies know the value of keeping documents safe for as long as possible. Anyway, after spending $85+ for the trip, the Ass Manager never showed up, and the contact number she gave me was the office which was locked. I could hear myself ringing the phone inside. What a pain. Well, they'll just have to wait 'til I can get back.

Rob T. sent me a package from the States. He included a CD and a T-shirt from the band he's a road manager for. I'm supposed to wear the T-shirt someplace where I can get my picture taken with a bunch of hot Korean girls in an area with lots of neon signs. Brett said he'll help me find girls around the university neighborhoods in Seoul. The neon signs should prove no problem as Korea is blindingly neon friendly.

Yesterday I made a trip to Seoul to finally pick up those suit trousers I had taken in three weeks ago to get the zipper fixed. Since Brett was in the city for his English camp, we met for lunch at Panchos for Mexican food. We had a nice afternoon in the Itaewon district. Note to self: the "apple crumble" at Nashville's is just plain crap with goop poured over it.

Today I made sure to run over to Simon's and say hi to everybody. He was watching the BBC channel, so we watched a program called My Hero. It was funny as hell. I have totally stopped watching American sitcoms, because they don't know shit about comedy. To them, it's just one bad gag after another with some serious crap thrown in to make it melodramatic. But since the American public laps it all up like sugar water, the TV companies keep cranking them out.

My wireless mouse went kablooey, so now I've returned to my old mouse. I also got out my old keyboard. The wireless keyboard was too small anyway. My fingers aren't that delicate. Brett even remarked yesterday how chubby and stubby my fingers are... I can't get mad about that, because it's actually true. heh heh

Vaughan sent an email today! I miss him a lot. I sometimes go sit on his motorcycle in the garage just to feel close to him.
So the new teacher, Eve, and I are doing the best we can with all the changes in the evening classes. The Director promised to get his act together soon. I only have 6 weeks left at that hell hole, and my performance at work shows it. Some days I feel like a million bucks, then walk in the door there and flick on the fluorescent lights and my energy simply evaporates. The idiot class I have on Tuesdays and Thursdays actually went well last night. Not that they were "engaged", but at least we learned and used the new grammar... we learned how to use "-er" to compare things (taller, nicer, bigger... oh my! That sounds like my dream guy! heh heh)

When Joel's not staying over, this place feels so empty! You'd think that with how much I love to have another person in the house with me, I'd be looking for a boyfriend with more passion than I have. That would make a great experiment: Can laziness annul a person's companionship drive? On the surface, apparently so!

Since it was Friday, the kids and I basically played games all day. It makes for good PR if nothing else, though we do have simple conversations in English and Korean. I'm supposed to speak only English with them, but I've grown weary of it all and don't give a shit what the boss says, pardon my French.
Oh, I don't think I mentioned that Monday we got a new teacher. She's a Filipina who speaks very good English. So many people there speak English! She has spent this week confused and nervous, but that's true with most jobs. Her Master's is in Business Admin, but she's in Korea with her husband, and this is just a part-time job. I think she's doing great.

My good friend Rob in Texas sent me a package, so I'm awaiting its arrival. He took a picture of it at the post office as it was being processed. I'm supposed to take a photo of it when it arrives so that he can compare the box's appearance at both points. I love Rob like I love nobody else, but sometimes I wonder about stuff he does.... heh heh

Today wasn't so good. I got pissy at the boss's wife, but not to her face. I took it out on a couple Korean girls. I felt so bad after it. Sometimes I'm such a cock that I wonder how I get along. It affected my whole day.

I took my bike over to the shop yesterday. Robert had said my rear sprocket was loose, but the mechanic said it wasn't. However, he did agree to replace my clutch and fix my turn signal cover. It'll be about $35 for it all.

I went out after work with a friend last night. We went to a few different bars and ended up at some place called Hunter's Run or some such name. One of the bar girls started massaging my friend's hand while we were sitting at the bar. I would never be permitted to do that for him, but any woman could walk up and get away with it just because she's a woman. Jealousy reared its ugly head, though it didn't last long. I am happy that we're friends if nothing else.

Joel had a minor scrape with his bike this afternoon, but he's OK. A sudden brief blizzard blew out of the west for maybe an hour or so, then it cleared up. The temp dropped from 5 above to freezing, so I'm suspecting there will be ice on the roads this evening. It's cold, but the sun is poking through now and again.

Sunday evening I met Robert at the local train stop. His Korean wife let him take a day off to come up and visit me. They had come up from Busan to visit her family in Asan for New Years, and that isn't too far from me. He and I had a good time. He likes to go out, and I hate going out, but we compromised. The standard bars were closed New Years Eve because it was a Sunday, though the Blues Bar was open. We were the only customers, but at least it was open. Robert spent the whole time hitting on the hostess. She had nowhere to run to since we were the only ones there. Poor girl. heh heh
Monday, New Years Day, we went to Outback and enjoyed a nice steak dinner. I had just enough cash to cover the bill! Robert's wife doesn't let him have much money, so he couldn't have helped me with it. Don't get me started on that woman. Robert works seven days a week from 5:30 AM to 11:00 PM and she parcels a pittance to him like he's some scullery jack. Maybe I'm misguided, but I think marriage is supposed to be more equal than that.
It was good to have his company for a day. When I move to Gyeongsan next month, I'll be just up the road from him. They live in a town north of Busan right on the road to my new town.

Brett came by to spend the night last night. We walked around trying to find a restaurant that was open, and we finally found a galbi joint. They served some delicious stuff! Joel has been sick, so he got the bed downstairs, while Brett and I slept together upstairs in my bed. It was so hard to sleep; I wanted to touch him so bad, but couldn't. His smell was driving me nuts, not that he had an odor, I mean his personal smell... pheromones or whatever they are.

Long weekend, yea! Don't know what to do with myself.

I got a text message from Joel about 10 o'clock tonight that it was snowing, and sure enough, it was (and still is) snowing! It's a good solid snow, too! There'll be loads of accidents tonight for sure. Oh, and there was thunder! You don't hear thunder with a snow storm very often.

This afternoon the boss had me and Vaughan go to "The China" restaurant for a lunch with our special (elite) students. I've been sick, and I was a little feverish, but I went to make my appearance, but let me tell you, Korean Chinese food isn't the delightful and tasty Chinese food we all love back in the States! They served us in courses, and the first course was Shark Fin Soup. It wasn't bad, but not great, though I hate eating carnivores. I couldn't finish it after the boss told us what it was. The next thing was sea cucumbers. I thought they were mushrooms, and I nibbled at it, but it was really chewy, and I don't like chewy food. It feels unnatural. Anyway, as soon as the boss said it was sea cucumber, I stopped nibbling at it. Next they served sweet and sour pork, and that was good. Then came a choice: jja jang noodles (which I hate with a passion) and some other noodle dish. I didn't know that one, so I took the gamble and ordered it. When the lady set it down in front of me, the smell hit me in the face and I almost vomited right then and there. I couldn't even get the noodles close to my mouth to try, the smell was so disgusting. It was the most disgusting garbage I have ever tried to eat in my life. The sad thing, the boss paid a fortune for these delicacies. What a waste. I long for mu gu gai pan and egg rolls... Mmmm... I miss egg rolls. You can't get them anyplace here that I know of.

I met Joel at HomePlus after the Chinese restaurant. He bought an electric pad for his bed. We parted company and I tried to do some Christmas shopping. It was too crowded, so I went home. My fever kind of broke about 40 minutes ago. I sort of feel normal... well, as normal as I can get.

I guess I didn't mention that last Wednesday night I was teaching my 7 o'clock class, but they just wouldn't settle down. I spent 40 minutes trying to teach, and when I stood there at 7:40 speaking, and not a one of them even looked at me or stopped chatting with his neighbor, I tossed my pencil in the air, and when it landed on the desk, three students looked at me. I said, "Teach yourselves English," and walked out, told the boss I was sick and went home. Actually, I did have a cold, but I was more sick of those students. Korean teachers smack the kids, but I can't bring myself to do that. This is my "elite" class, the supposed cream of the institute. They shouldn't have to be smacked into learning.

My sister Bonnie wrote me a handwritten letter in response to the chocolate pig I had sent her. I never realized that she was in an old folk's apartment complex. I thought she had just moved to a regular place. She wrote some really nice things and distanced herself from other Michiganians by saying that in this world, it doesn't matter who you find love with, just find it. If everybody thought that, what a more peaceful, friendly country the US would be, and I might move back.

I have been studying up a bit on the new area of Korea I'll be moving to come the end of February, first of March. It's the province that used to be the Shilla Kingdom in the olden days. They say it is the hottest province in the summer, and they are very proud of their apple production among other agricultural assets. It's on the East Sea/Sea of Japan, so there are beaches. The East Sea is really the only place in Korea with decent beaches. The name of the city where I will live is Geongsan, and I found out that it means "Happiness Mountain" ( 慶山 for those that can read Sino-Korean characters.)

Wednesday evening I decided to tell my boss that I was accepted to work elsewhere starting in March. Fortunately Vaughan was in the room with us, so if the boss got upset, he didn't show it. Anyway, the long and short of it is that the boss is going to let me loose two weeks early from my contract so I can start at the university on March 2nd.

Jim, my friend in prison, wrote and said he's in the Honor Dorm now. He gets some new privileges like using the vending machine when he wants, sitting in the courtyard anytime during daylight hours, and since everybody in the Honor Dorm has to have a job, he says it's much quieter in the evening. I worry about him all the same.

We had our first real snow yesterday. It didn't stick or anything, and it only lasted about 5 minutes, but is was the real deal. Tonight it started raining as soon as I got home from work. Vaughan came down and we ordered pizza and watched some Simpsons episodes. Joel is off watching a movie, probably just down the street since his bike gear is here. He might even be on a date. He definitely doesn't have to chase the women very far to get a date.

Saturday morning I took off early to Daegu for the job interview. The KTX train is fast, so I had lots of time to spare when I got to the university. The taxi driver and I had lunch together at the cafeteria. The office worker girl also pointed out that the pants on my new suit had a zipper problem. I can fix the zip, but if I sit down then stand up, the sides pull apart revealing my man package to everybody. Anyway, with the zipper bothering me, I did make it through the 10-minute demo lesson and the interview by three professors. After that I got a ticket for Busan to go see my friend Rob; however, I misread the ticket and missed the train. So they made me pay 70% to get another ticket. The lady was not happy, and I felt like an idiot for not reading it properly. The departure time is the largest time written on the ticket, but I had read the arrival time instead. In Busan, Rob and I had a fantastic time. I got to ride on his bike sitting behind him while we zoomed here and there over 170 kph. I sat in on two of his classes; he's a good teacher. Sunday afternoon I was going to get a ticket home, but all the trains were booked, so I got one for Monday morning early. On the way, the university called me and told me that I had been selected for the position I interviewed for! Yea! It's a sweet job, but I will be sad to leave this place and the people I love.

I figured out how to get to the city where my interview is. The high speed train goes to a station in that city, and the subway systemThe subway has a station near the suburb where the university is. I might go to Busan after the interview to see my friend Rob. He's always too busy to come up my way... slave-driver wife. heh heh

I got an email yesterday that started, "Congratulations!" What could it be? It was to notify me that I had been selected for an interview at the Foreign Language Institute at a university near Daegu! Yea! It's only about a hundred miles away, and that's a long way from the people I've grown to love here in Ansan. However, it is a university job, and I really need one, because without one, I'll never have the time off to go see my family in the States. I just have to remember to be more exuberant than usual, and wear a suit, and maybe dye my hair so I don't look 48 years old. Even though Koreans "honor" old people, they don't like them working for them. The pay is great with a generous housing allowance. I'll get $70 just to go to the interview, so that's nice. It's quite a trip there and back. (There and back? I'm a Hobbit!)

Simon and I spent the morning doing some shopping and then we had lunch at MacDonald's. There were no fish burgers (I think they're called Fillet O'Fish in America). Joel and I had an early dinner at TGI Fridays, and now I'm home getting ready to enjoy a glass o' wine and download something off the net... Joel recommended "Super Troopers". We'll see. I watched "Jesus Camp" with Joel last night, and it was eerie: I grew up exactly like that! It really was scary to think I was like that at one time. The scene with the cardboard cut-out of George Bush and all the church people extending their hands to it like Nazis was not something we would have done back in the 70's, so this modern flair of fascist idolatry is troubling. How can I live in a country where children are taught to Nazi salute a cardboard cut-out of the President? It's crazy.