Chinese Drinks

Last night the owner of the English cafe where i go often to meet my Korean friends and one or two other foreigners took my father and me and a few of the aforementioned friends to a chinese restaurant slash bar and bought us a lot of chinese liquor. There were two types. The first came in a porcelain vase like bottle and had masks all over it. It was strong but good. The second was a little smoother and sweeter and had bamboo in it but I'm not a fan of sweet and while one shot would have been okay, the remaining uncountable number was not good. A little hungover today but we had a good time and I think my dad made a new friend.

Last and This Weekend

Just a few pics from last weekend in Gangchon. It was a lot of fun and made me want to get out more and see more of Korea. I'm going to Gyeongju with my dad and brother in a couple weeks. Dad's coming in tomorrow night and I still have some apartment cleaning to do. I'm also on the verge of finalizing my summer vacation in China.
I'm really proud of my students today after reading some of their speeches that they have to give for their English class. I'm really interested in what kind of people they'll become in the coming years. These are my third graders who are graduating high school next March.
Yesterday I was given a huge jar of this ginseng liquor. I teach some moms and one of them brought it for me. It's expensive stuff but she made it. I tried some last night and it's definitely an acquired taste. Another mom brought me some pear juice. They're kind ladies.
Yesterday after school I went to the photo shop to get my visa photos. The man that worked there was really nice. It was all proof that I need to get out more during the week because I think I'd forgotten how nice people are in this country. Sometimes they ignore you and make you feel like an eyesore but you are, you're white and tall, well at least I am. But yesterday was great. I was totally gay for Korea yesterday.

Great Albums, etc.

I expected Animal Collective's Merriweather Post Pavilion to be my number one this year but so far it's received scant listens and it lacks a lot of the things I love about the band: the chaotic elements that they can turn into a beautiful tune. Instead there's none of avey tare's screeching yelps. I do think bluish is one of their best and panda bear's song about a normal day is nice, but there's no grass or fireworks or for reverend green. Well, what I want to get to is what I can't stop listening to these days and it hasn't even come out yet. shhh. I pre ordered a copy of it on vinyl, so I'm going to support this band hands down. It's a group called The Dirty Projectors and the album is called Bitte Orca. It's something you have to listen to and listen to again and maybe a few more times. It's not the easiest music to like but it's really grown on me and has helped me get through the last couple months, which have been extremely difficult at times. I don't know exactly what it is about the album that I love, maybe it's that they have created that beauty out of chaos, but while I haven't heard the much hyped Grizzly Bear Veckatimest yet, I don't imagine it will hold a candle to Bitte Orca.

I woke up this morning dreaming about opening a coffee shop in a Korean neighborhood in the states.

This week's been rough. I didn't get enough sleep most days and then I sacked out yesterday from when I got home at 430 to about 10, ate a snack, watched a tv show on the pc then crashed again around midnight. School's been stressing me out but I think it's just because I had to work last saturday and only had one day when I didn't see good ol chunghun high. I'll be glad when the final bell rings today and I can have a real weekend.

I'm really looking forward to summer vacation, coming up the first two weeks of August. And the chinese teacher at my school is teaching me a little chinese. Dad's gonna be here soon, too. Only about two more weeks, which is exciting.

There's a going away party tonight for a korean friend who is moving to work somewhere far away in Korea. Wednesday I met a Korean girl who worked with Oren at the College. She's pretty cool.

Skype is set up on my computer, so I'll be utilizing that soon.