Korea Life Blog - Sold

I sold my notebook computer three months on for a little more than I paid for it. Not a bad deal for me or the person buying it - I had gotten a really good deal. Also, I kept it like new and installed some extra software. Now I'll be getting a desktop or a higher end notebook. I liked the Compaq, but the graphics card was insufficient and with all the downloading I do, the hardrive, 30 GBs, wasn't enough. It's not worth the price to upgrade a notebook, so I sold it. I won't have to hear that noisy fan anymore either. Now I'm back at the pc bang, but I'll be off to Yongsan tomorrow and see what I can get.

It amazes me how trusting some people are. The guy who came to get it said he didn't know much about computers really. As soon as it started he was happy and gave me the money. It made me think how easy he could have been cheated by somebody else. For all he knows, there's a Celeron processor in it/10GB hardrive, and a virus, etc. I think everybody who buys a used computer should check it out thoroughly - at least the system specs. Then again, it was nice to see someone so trusting and I appreciated it.

In other news:

My adult class likes to go out to eat every Friday. Today they took me for sam gyeop sal. There's finally a good combination of students and I'm starting to enjoy teaching them. It was rough for a while because the original students could speak English really well but many more joined and couldn't understand anything. My boss didn't care of course, as long as they all paid. But it may have backfired on him cause all of the lower levels have since quit. He should have made two levels. Oh well. I'm happy. Basically with the 6 students I have now, we just talk and laugh for 50 minutes. Everyone's happy. It's a breeze.

Julie's had the flu for the past 4 days. We're supposed to meet tomorrow. I'm sure she'll enjoy walking all over Yongsan in the blistery cold. I hope she's feeling better.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Taiwan

The Taiwan section is finally finished. It's long and I hope you enjoy it.

Note: Anyone who read this part within the first few hours after I published it should check again now that I've made considerable corrections.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - New Kitten


This is the best pic I could get of the new kitten today. I'll call it a he, and I'll name him Scaredy. He's really cute. I hope he got some food. Why, I'm not sure, but I love cats! Even cats that hiss at me and/or run away when I feed them. Someday if I sell my book and make some money, I hope to open a shelter for cats in this area. That's something that would really make me (and the cats) happy. It would probably make people who hate cats happy, too... getting the "rat-like" creatures out of their site.


In other news: I got a donation today. Check it out.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Local Restaurant Ajumma

I just posted this on the ESL discussion board, but then I decided to copy it here too:

There's a restaurant nearby where the food is really delicious. I love it. I always get Kimchi Chigae or Dwen Jang. They make an ever-changing variety of side dishes which are 95% of the time wonderful. The problem is the ajumma. She is too kind but she cannot fathom I can't understand what she is saying. I've told her a hundred times I can't speak Korean well, but she keeps talking and asking me questions. Sometimes she'll even sit with me. I really wish I could speak Korean, but even when I do know what she is saying, I'm afraid to reply because I learned most of my Korean in the banmal form and my pronunciation is terrible, especially to older people and kids, they never understand me.

Well, it made me feel really uncomfortable so I stopped going there. I feel awful because I pass her place everyday and sometimes she asks me why I don't eat there. I went there tonight for the first time in ages and she was so happy. She kept telling me to come everyday, but it was the same story. She sat down and started talking to me again and everyone was watching and laughing. I'm in a small town and there's not many places to get such good food. Perhaps I should have a Korean write her a letter for me? or just eat there and feel stupid. I guess I should just learn how to speak Korean better, but that's not going to happen soon.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Taiwan Section

I got a good start writing the Taiwan section, but I've decided not to publish it to the web until I finish the whole thing. There's a lot of pictures, so I'm not sure how long it will all take. I'll let you know on this page when it's done.

In other news, there's a new kitten on the scene, but I've had a hard time photographing it because it's a scaredy-cat. It won't come within 50 yards of me and hides, meowing loudly, whenever the rest of the gang is eating by my feet. He's orange and white like the rest of them (except Fatcat, he's gray and white - not sure where he's getting his action.) I think it takes after the father who is also a paranoid. He eats by me now but he'll sit there hissing at me like crazy while I put out the food. Then he calms down and digs in, sometimes grabbing a chunk of whatever and running into the weeds, only to come back out for more a moment later. I wonder what goes on in his mind.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Stressed

Well, here I am, behind on updates. I just spent an hour editing down pics from the Taiwan trip. I have to update here, the Geoje-do section, and figure out what to do with the new Taiwan section, which pics to use, what to write about. Then there's the bottle of duty free wine staring at me. What will I choose? I'll try to start the Taiwan page but no promises. I really did have a good time there. It never ceases to excite me to try new things. Boarding an airplane to some foreign destination is one of the greatest feelings. I'm lucky to be able to travel and do things that I enjoy. I hope anyone reading this blog who is thinking about going overseas to teach or just to travel should really stop thinking and just try it. If you fail, so what? You tried your best, you gave it a shot. I think trying and failing is much better than wondering. Too many people put it in our heads early on that life is about marriage, responsibility, professionalism. A career - the sound of the word makes me sick. I still remember my first job interview at a high school, how belittled I felt, like because I didn't sit up straight I was totally unworthy of being a teacher. Luckily I was able to shrug it off and do what I wanted. I'm not rich and to some I probably look like a loser. I can't deny wanting more money, but I can't say I'm not happy with the choices I've made. When the only stress in my life is about updating my website - that's proof that I'm doing OK. Well, enough of that and back to working on the next update.

written by shawn matthews    -|link

Korea Life Blog - Back From Taiwan

I just got back from Taiwan. A short experience, but I had a great time all in all. It's 11 PM and I'm too lazy now to say much about it. Check back tomorrow when I've recovered.

written by shawn matthews    -|link