KLB - No Alarms and No Surprises



Going on a week now without a single hassle at work. That must be some kind of record. The kids are great. Then again, I never have problems with them. My D-class students sound like native speakers now that they can speak in present and past tense. I have a lot of fun with them.

Came home and relaxed a bit, then went to the health club and did a lengthy tricep work out and a load of situps. Back home, Julie had dinner on the table. She's on a health kick herself, so we had boiled regular and sweet potatoes, broccoli, olives and kimchi. I ate mine with a glass of vegetable juice then followed everything down with a strawberry protein shake. Mmm...feeling pretty damn good at the moment though I can feel a faint grumble in my stomach, like the subtle roar of distant thunder.

Julie's stretched out on the floor reading Walden, by Henry David Thoreau (Korean version). I read it in college and remember thinking at the time I wanted to quit school, quit my job at the furniture store and build a hut in the woods myself - spend my days fishing and living off the land. In fact all that kind of inspirational literature, American Romanticism, had a great effect on me. That's half of why I'm so idealistic and unwilling to conform to the common, present day American way of life. Half of why I ended up in Korea. I could never work for a company or a corporation. Never.

Now Walden is inspiring Julie. She's on this kick where she wants us to live a simple life in the middle of nowhere, someplace like in the movie, The Way Home. She keeps asking me if I know how to farm. No, but if we bring our cell phones, assuredly some kind of delivery guy can find our hut - hopefully pick up some beer on his way.

Seriously, she's gotten me interested again, so I've been going through a few of the sections online at this terrific site: (click here). Especially living in a city, with its immutable noise, illimitable concrete, perpetual air pollution, and the never-ending scramble, you sometimes wonder what all this modernity had gotten gotten us - why we made our lives this way, why most of us blindly accept the calculated destruction of our scenery and our air. Wouldn't it be nice to quit your job and give up your complicated existence and go live that simple life in the country, in a small hut in the quiet woods, like that old woman in The Way Home - who, by the way, really lived in that hut and chose to stay there after the movie despite her new found fame and fortune.

All this reminds me of one of my one favorite song lyrics:


A heart that's full up like a landfill,
a job that slowly kills you,
bruises that won't heal.

You look so tired-unhappy,
bring down the government,
they don't, they don't speak for us.

I'll take a quiet life,
a handshake of carbon monoxide,

with no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises,

Silent silence.

This is my final fit,
my final bellyache,

with no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises please.

Such a pretty house
and such a pretty garden.

No alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises,
no alarms and no surprises please.

Anyway, something to think about. Walden will do that to you. If you're bored and unispired, check out that website.

Wait a minute, what's Julie doing now? She's put Walden down and is cracking up at Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Despite her love for a "simple life" she still loves TV. I'm going to snuggle beside her and read A Civil Action...an excellent read.


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written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - More Cute Kiddie Pics



I can't get enough of these pics. Here's my nephew sleeping, awww, and another shot of him and my niece on Easter. They all look like they're having a blast in that one, including my poor, exhausted sister.








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written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - The Apple


I brought home one of the CDs I use and ripped a couple of tracks so you can get an idea of what I'm teaching lately. These tracks are from Spot Light 4, which I use in B-class. The students generally like the stories and songs. Imagine a classroom full of cute Korean kids bobbing their heads merrily as they listen, repeat and sing.


The Apple.mp3 (Story)


The Apple.mp3 (Song)


Cathy cried today. The ever-kind vice principal gave her a new job. In addition to her highly detailed monthly plan write-ups (takes about 10 pages for each class), she now has to write up a full-page plan for each class every day. That means 20 pages of new lesson plans per week and, with the monthly plans, an unmanageable total of 120 pages/month. I feel sorry for her and for the tree that's cut down for that waste of paper. Keep in my mind she also has to write separate plans on different forms for the agency and you can see why she was crying and why she's quitting. At least she has a lot more time to work on things in class, now that she no longer roams around the room all day. I keep encouraging her to use the class time to get some work done.

The vice principal is just being an ass about everything. I can't imagine what it's like for a real Korean teacher at the school. Must be hell. Does he really need all that paper work? No, not at all. It's all pointless busy-work. Don't forget I also write up a brief daily plan for every class in English too. Our file folders are huge! Maybe if they get big enough I can use them to clonk him over the head with.

Well, Blogger was down almost all night and it's going on 2 a.m. I'm going to get some sleep...


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written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Comments are Back



I had another great day at school. Hope this can last through the week. Sure is nice now that Cathy sits quietly in the back and doesn't do anything unless I ask her. She's actually spent her time making useful materials for me lately, including, lo and behold, a word search puzzle about classroom objects that kept C-class busy most of the period. Nice.

Back home, I got a pot of sam gae tang (whole chicken soup) simmering before heading over to the health club. So much for going in the morning. Lately I've been staying up late reading my new book, chatting to my family in NY or watching videos with Julie. Oh well, it hasn't been too bad going at night. It's still not very crowded then. A couple of other foreigners have joined. I met a Canadian guy named Alex who has been in Korea for 10 years. He teaches at a high school down the road. His job sounds pretty hard. Only five classes, but he has to be there from 8:00 - 4:30 and has over 40 kids in each class. He gets good pay, sure, but not that much more than me. He does get free housing, but they stuck him in some old, gloomy apartment that depresses him. Anyway, we're going to hang out and get some beers soon, I guess. It'd be nice to meet some people who live nearby.

The sam gae tang came out pretty good. I'm trying to eat low fat foods that are high in protein like chicken and boiled eggs (minus the yolk). Though I haven't been back at the gym long, I feel better already, more confident and more energy. It doesn't take long. I just hope I can keep it up.


Finally, I'd like to apologize to a lot of people who have sent e-mails that I've never responded to. I read them all, but I spend too much time online as it is to write everyone back, though I do reply to as many as I can. So, what the hell, I decided to turn the comments back on and see how it goes. At least if I can't reply to everyone, maybe some other readers can give some feedback - but then again, maybe not.


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written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Michael and Sierra


My sister's sent me a bunch new pictures of my niece and nephew. She's getting the hang of using the new camera. I know this because in one picture she sent, I could see a bunch of photos she must have printed out and stuck to the refrigerator. That made me feel really good. Also, every time we "chat" now, she doesn't say anything. She logs on Yahoo messeger and just starts sending pics. No hello or nothing. Hmmph!


The photos make me homesick though. Look how cute little Michael is. I'm dying to see him in person. What a character. And the little girl, Sierra, looks exactly like my sister did as a kid. And apparently she's just as badly behaved, driving my poor sister nuts. My mother gets a kick out of this, of course. "Someday you're going to know how it feels," she would always say to her. She was right. Strange how things like that work out, isn't it? Karma, I guess. Little Michael, on the other hand, is turning out to be a quiet little doll, my sister said. Just like I was as a baby. Check him out:













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written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Mixed Bag Monday



My feelings about Korea are deteriorating rapidly from Saturday night's binge of sentimentality. With foreigners locked away for fighting Koreans who go uncharged, to locked up sex workers burning to death, to thick, stagnant pollution filling the skies lately, it's quite depressing.

Police did not rule out the possibility that the deaths took place because they were locked inside.

Luckily I had a great day at school. Cathy didn't bother me once. She sat in the back day all doing her paper work and preparing materials. A dream come true. I should have flipped my lid ages ago.

The kids were fantastic, as usual. Class A is rapidly improving. They know all the classroom language and are masters of the letters A-I. That is, they know the letters and, more importantly, the sounds. For example if I say, "Internet," they can recognize the first letter is I. They can also write in lower and uppercase form - though some need more help with that. My other classes are also moving along. Class B and C can read pretty much any 3 or 4 letter words. Class D is learning all the verbs in the past tense. Today I reviewed 25 verbs and focused on five they will have to try and incorporate in their diaries for homework.

It looks like the pollution is dispersing a bit. I've had to clear my throat frequently the last few days and it feels dry and scratchy. I thought I was getting sick, but if it's a cold it hasn't progressed out of my throat at all yet.

Time to down my protein shake and head over to the health club. I was going to go this morning but my triceps and shoulders were killing me. They feel a bit better now. I'm going to stretch awhile and then do my chest again. I know, I know - when am I going to do legs? I hate working out my legs, to be truthful. Especially squats, though I don't mind that machine where you sit down and lift your legs. Maybe I'll do that one. See you soon.


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written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Don't Fight


Another reason not to fight with Koreans:


Parents cut off from son in jail


No mention of the Korean party involved, but I'm assuming they went home that night scot free. After all, I'm sure it was all the foreigner's fault. He probably jumped the poor unsuspecting Koreans as they were innocently eating a bowl of noodles.

To put it simple, if you're in situation here that could lead to a fight, especially with a Korean, do yourself a favor and swallow your pride - avoid the fight if at all possible. It's not worth it.

My guess is this guy is fine and will be back with Mom and Dad soon. From what I've learned - I had a friend who went to jail briefly for another reason and gave me insider information - the usual sentence for fighting a Korean, not another foreigner (apparently that's OK), is 30 days and deportation. You get no access to any of your belongings - so goodbye computer and whatever else you've accumulated. You share a small cell with a number of Koreans and are allowed only a 7 minute visit once a week.

The worst part is that you have no access to the money you've saved here (can you imagine?) and have to file a petition to get it after deportation. In other words, good luck ever seeing that money again basically. Finally, you're not allowed back in Korea for 5 years - not that you'd want to come back after such an ordeal, I'm sure. Oh, and about lawyers. You can get one, but somebody has to pay the piper on your behalf. My friend's lawyer cost his parents $5,000 (and he had to pay them back). They can't change the sentencing and are pretty useless, he said. A total waste of money and a total nightmare.

Julie just pointed out how ironic the timing of this post is. "Where's your 'I love Korea blah blah, now?'" she said, waving her arms in the air. At least she's talking to me again. I bought her some coffee-milk (her favorite) and a package of facial masks.


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written by shawn matthews    -|link

KLB - Last Night


With nothing else to do on this fine Sunday afternoon, I went through and reread a few weeks worth of posts. Though I actually laughed a little at some of the things I talked about, I found myself cringing over every poorly worded sentence and typo. When I write a post, I usually write it at one time, then push "publish" and that's that. I probably should leave it for a bit and come back, do a spell check, re-read and fix mistakes and then, finally, publish. On the other hand, that isn't as spontaneous and authentic. I don't want every entry to sound like a well crafted piece of writing - at least that's what I keep telling myself. The truth is I'm just lazy.

Why am I not out enjoying the day? Because I have a hangover. The first one I've had since the last time I hung out with John. That's right - it's all his fault. He forced them down my throat, every shot. Well, he always buys me shots of something and I have a hard time refusing. I should have stuck to beer.

The night started well. Julie and I felt like idiots because all this time we've lived here, we had no idea that right across the street there's a bus stop for a bus that runs directly to Hongdae (the party capital of Korea) no stops. 20 minutes. Until last night, whenever we went there, we had to take the subway which, with the transfer in Sindorim, takes over an hour. Thats partly why we rarely went. Upon this new discovery, I felt particularly bad because my friend James, who couldn't make it last night, used to live right where the bus drops you off at Hongdae station. I probably would have hung out with him a lot more, whether to have a bite to eat, a few beers or practice at the band room there had I known about the bus.

Anyway, to get to the point, Julie is mad at me now because I acted stupid after all those shots of tequila - go figure. At 4:30 AM, I pleaded with everyone to go to a norae bang (karaoke room - they are open all night and are everywhere) and/or restaurant and I wouldn't shut up about how much I love Korea. You see, John's friend, who's from Hawaii of all places, says she doesn't like it here. It's ugly. In fact, she referred to Korea as a third world country and she's hated the trip and never plans to return.

Being from Hawaii probably makes most places in the world look ugly, but for some reason, this pissed me off. I hate when people don't like Korea. In my drunkenness, I took her remarks personally. I wanted to show her the fun side. Where else in the world can you feast on delicious strips of meat in a crowded restaurant (kalbi) then go sing your heart out at a bustling karaoke at 5:00 a.m.? I guess I went overboard. John was up for it, great guy that he is, but his sidekick wasn't. She doesn't like karaoke, of course, and she wasn't hungry.

Then my mouth flapped on about things it should have shut up about in the taxi home, nostalgic rambling about nights in Koje-do and, um, oops, my first Korean girlfriend and those first times she took me to norae bang and how much fun that was. To top if off, when we got home, as if I didn't make an ass of myself enough, I wanted to go shopping at Walmart for munchies. At 5:00 a.m. I drove Julie nuts, basically, and she won't talk to me now. It's a real bummer when one member of your drunken group is dead sober - especially when that member is your girlfriend. Aigooo!

That was the first night I went out in months. Now that I'm getting a bit older, it's lost a lot of it's appeal. It's still fun, sure - I like to hang out with friends and listen to good music - but I always end up overdoing it and feeling like crap the following day. I hate the way I feel right now. I want to enjoy the day, go to the health club, but my record is warped and won't play. I should feel better in a few hours though. I'd better go buy something nice for Julie. It's pretty lonesome out here in the dog house. At least I have DSL in here, though.


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written by shawn matthews    -|link