Grandma's Nine: Kyle
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February 7, 2010
December 11, 2009
Ieri, Oggi, e Domani (Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow)
Ieri
Two weeks ago, my dad came to visit Kris and me. He arrived on Friday night (11/27) and he left Sunday (11/29) at noon. I am still caught off-guard of his efforts because, I mean, he flew for about the same amount of time that he was actually here. I remember doing that freshman year of college – NYC to SFO. I was hit with flight delays during my Thanksgiving break, and it turned out that I was in SF for two days and I flew for one day. (For the record, that’s why I never showed up to Thanksgivings during college). As a 19 year old, I made the conscious decision to never do something that stupid again. It was such a big effort for an unrewarding experience (most of the time I was tired). Well, at 50 million years old, my dad did that, and he one-upped me. He changed countries, all-inclusive of a 17 hour time difference. What is more, we didn’t let him rest (actually, he had to let me rest). When he got here, we went to eat, and we went to the bars. We got a few drinks, hung out with a few of my co-workers, and then went to sleep. Kris and my father woke up, walked for a couple hours (while I slept), and then we headed to Seoul. We showed my dad all of Seoul. We showed him 5 of the biggest districts in Seoul all in one day. We walked, trained, cabbed and bussed everywhere. We even made a little time for the sauna. The next morning, he left after having to take care of me (as Saturday was particularly tiring, haha). In all, he asked a million questions, and we taught him as much as we knew about Korea. We enjoyed our short time together, and I guess some things will never change – I am always getting taken care of like a little kid…
Last weekend, it was Joohee’s birthday. The weekend was rather pleasant … just not for me. The weekend was actually really frustrating, and I tried my best to fake it. Let me start over – the weekend was difficult, and I tried my best to not ruin an otherwise enjoyable weekend with any selfish behavior and temporary inconveniences. The logistics: go with her best friend and her best friend’s boyfriend snowboarding. We rented a car, got a pension (a combination of a hostel and a hotel), and had some beer. Sounds good, right? For Joohee and her friends, it was. For me, I had a rather different experience. First, I didn’t sleep the night before so I was exhausted. Second, I had to drive, which would have been more awesome had I slept the night before. Third, the friends spoke Korean. The language spoken 99.9% of the time => Korean!!! Fourth, there was a blizzard. It was 7 below (Celsius), and I was not anticipating for the weather to be that drastic. Let’s just say I was underdressed for snowboarding. Fifth, I didn’t get to snowboard. They were all beginner snowboarders. Joohee was good (enough), but I didn’t get off the bunny slopes … and I didn’t ditch them, either. Guess what my underdressed self did in the blizzard!!! Sixth, they wanted to get wasted when we got home. Amazingly, it’s not as fun when you’re freezing, exhausted, and no one speaks the same language (I seriously felt like I might as well have drank by myself). Otherwise, Joohee had a good time on her birthday, and that’s all that really matters. Happy birthday to her =).
Oggi
It’s the end of another semester – the longest one I will have to endure here at Avalon. As you know, it has come with its ups and downs. I taught the lowest level where the kids were young and impatient, and I dealt with the older kids who are too cool for school. At times, I was incredibly frustrated, and I struggled to hold on to myself. Still, I kept at it. I stayed with them (and they stayed with me). Looking back, I’m glad I did, and I’m glad they did. I have noticed a significant improvement in all my kids in such a short amount of time. And, I had a lot of kids pass to the next level. In short, I’m excited to get new kids, but, at the same time, I’m sad because I will certainly miss the ones I had. Pictures (of my favorite classes) coming soon.
As I am about to embark on my 3rd of four semesters, my campus and my perception of this school is going to drastically change. Not only are we losing a significant amount of children, we are losing many teachers. Out of about 30 teachers, we are losing six, four of which I really enjoy. One of them is actually one of my best friends at the office. She was the one who helped me with everything; she even helped teach me Korean. Another teacher (one that is staying) actually came crying to me earlier today, so it was a very sad moment. But, as I said, when one door closes, another opens…
e Domani
Later, I will celebrate the leaving of my aforementioned friend, and I will get to spend time with her before she walks a different path. I am certainly excited, and I hope that my having to go into work tomorrow morning will not damper my mood. Nonetheless, I anticipate a great night full of joy, laughter, and more laughter.
Anyways, I have to get out of here. This semester was way too long, and I need to go have a little bit of fun. Hope everyone else is doing well. Hopefully, I can update again before or during Christmas. If not, I wish everyone a happy holiday season!
Love,
Kyle
Two weeks ago, my dad came to visit Kris and me. He arrived on Friday night (11/27) and he left Sunday (11/29) at noon. I am still caught off-guard of his efforts because, I mean, he flew for about the same amount of time that he was actually here. I remember doing that freshman year of college – NYC to SFO. I was hit with flight delays during my Thanksgiving break, and it turned out that I was in SF for two days and I flew for one day. (For the record, that’s why I never showed up to Thanksgivings during college). As a 19 year old, I made the conscious decision to never do something that stupid again. It was such a big effort for an unrewarding experience (most of the time I was tired). Well, at 50 million years old, my dad did that, and he one-upped me. He changed countries, all-inclusive of a 17 hour time difference. What is more, we didn’t let him rest (actually, he had to let me rest). When he got here, we went to eat, and we went to the bars. We got a few drinks, hung out with a few of my co-workers, and then went to sleep. Kris and my father woke up, walked for a couple hours (while I slept), and then we headed to Seoul. We showed my dad all of Seoul. We showed him 5 of the biggest districts in Seoul all in one day. We walked, trained, cabbed and bussed everywhere. We even made a little time for the sauna. The next morning, he left after having to take care of me (as Saturday was particularly tiring, haha). In all, he asked a million questions, and we taught him as much as we knew about Korea. We enjoyed our short time together, and I guess some things will never change – I am always getting taken care of like a little kid…
Last weekend, it was Joohee’s birthday. The weekend was rather pleasant … just not for me. The weekend was actually really frustrating, and I tried my best to fake it. Let me start over – the weekend was difficult, and I tried my best to not ruin an otherwise enjoyable weekend with any selfish behavior and temporary inconveniences. The logistics: go with her best friend and her best friend’s boyfriend snowboarding. We rented a car, got a pension (a combination of a hostel and a hotel), and had some beer. Sounds good, right? For Joohee and her friends, it was. For me, I had a rather different experience. First, I didn’t sleep the night before so I was exhausted. Second, I had to drive, which would have been more awesome had I slept the night before. Third, the friends spoke Korean. The language spoken 99.9% of the time => Korean!!! Fourth, there was a blizzard. It was 7 below (Celsius), and I was not anticipating for the weather to be that drastic. Let’s just say I was underdressed for snowboarding. Fifth, I didn’t get to snowboard. They were all beginner snowboarders. Joohee was good (enough), but I didn’t get off the bunny slopes … and I didn’t ditch them, either. Guess what my underdressed self did in the blizzard!!! Sixth, they wanted to get wasted when we got home. Amazingly, it’s not as fun when you’re freezing, exhausted, and no one speaks the same language (I seriously felt like I might as well have drank by myself). Otherwise, Joohee had a good time on her birthday, and that’s all that really matters. Happy birthday to her =).
Oggi
It’s the end of another semester – the longest one I will have to endure here at Avalon. As you know, it has come with its ups and downs. I taught the lowest level where the kids were young and impatient, and I dealt with the older kids who are too cool for school. At times, I was incredibly frustrated, and I struggled to hold on to myself. Still, I kept at it. I stayed with them (and they stayed with me). Looking back, I’m glad I did, and I’m glad they did. I have noticed a significant improvement in all my kids in such a short amount of time. And, I had a lot of kids pass to the next level. In short, I’m excited to get new kids, but, at the same time, I’m sad because I will certainly miss the ones I had. Pictures (of my favorite classes) coming soon.
As I am about to embark on my 3rd of four semesters, my campus and my perception of this school is going to drastically change. Not only are we losing a significant amount of children, we are losing many teachers. Out of about 30 teachers, we are losing six, four of which I really enjoy. One of them is actually one of my best friends at the office. She was the one who helped me with everything; she even helped teach me Korean. Another teacher (one that is staying) actually came crying to me earlier today, so it was a very sad moment. But, as I said, when one door closes, another opens…
e Domani
Later, I will celebrate the leaving of my aforementioned friend, and I will get to spend time with her before she walks a different path. I am certainly excited, and I hope that my having to go into work tomorrow morning will not damper my mood. Nonetheless, I anticipate a great night full of joy, laughter, and more laughter.
Anyways, I have to get out of here. This semester was way too long, and I need to go have a little bit of fun. Hope everyone else is doing well. Hopefully, I can update again before or during Christmas. If not, I wish everyone a happy holiday season!
Love,
Kyle
November 6, 2009
You've been packing since Wednesday. Where you going, miss?!
Hi all,
I hope everyone’s doing well. I try my best to keep in contact with everyone, but it’s certainly a struggle because everyone (myself included) is so busy. If it takes me a while to respond to you, then I sincerely apologize. I don’t mean to be belated or even dismissive, but I don’t always have the energy to message everyone right away. Because I always try to be thoughtful and personal with my responses, I tend to push it off and do it another day.
As far as my health and emotional state are concerned, I’d have to say that I’m rather well. Actually, my eating habits and my sleeping schedule have not been adequate. I sleep late, wake up late, eat trash, and starve myself on a daily basis. I have not been taking care of my body, and, hopefully, I will figure it all out before I acquire too many bad habits. My emotional state has been equally downbeat lately, too. I have been very fed up with work, and I think it’s because I need a vacation. Teaching is a struggle everyday, and my lowest class continues to define how I feel the rest of the evening. Furthermore, I have had a difficult time putting up with the woman at my work. Frankly, there are too many of them, and they all talk, gossip, complain, etc. all the time. I’m somewhat thankful that they speak another language, but they still talk too loud and too often. Sometimes, when I am in the office and they come back from lunch, I have to turn the volume of my music up nearly all the way. In other words, bears can smell menstruation, and the women attract the bears. Consequently, my well-being is at risk EVERY DAY. Part of the reason for my lack of patience might be exacerbated by the simple fact that I need a little bit of a break from noise and from people (who talk too much).
Since I came to Korea, I have mentioned that I was looking to learn about this culture. In the past, I was quick to point out the negative aspects of Koreans. I was unable to see past the obvious flaws – the drinking, the bland architecture, the trash, etc. At the time, I knew that I just needed to spend more time with Koreans to see their charm. After almost SIX MONTHS, I have finally found a few treasures. One lure of Koreans is that they are generally selfless. Their thinking really is consistent with collectivistic societies. Prior to my experiences here, I had always known that Westerners were known for their selfish/individualist nature, while Eastern cultures were known for their collectivist tendencies. At the same time, memorizing a fact is different than experiencing and actually observing that same fact. With that said, Koreans are generally selfless. They help those who need and they give to those who do not have. In school, one of my students shared her food. She had a cupcake, and she shared 99% of it with her peers, even when it meant she only got just a bite of her own cupcake. She did try to give more to her best friends and less to the other kids, yet the fact of the matter remains that she kept little for herself. On a larger scale, South Korea continues to aid North Koreans, and they do so while asking for little in return. They do so because, to them, North Korea is their brother that is lost and can’t seem to find his way. They believe and hope that their brother will, one day, come home, and they will wait forever until they are assured he is safe. In addition to their selflessness, Koreans are extremely thoughtful (I suppose thoughtfulness and selfishness are entangled, but let’s just pretend they’re different). They will give gifts for no reason at all. Last week, I was at a bar with Joohee, and Joohee’s friend gave us movie tickets and a Guinness beer glass for me (I actually needed an extra cup for home). For Koreans (and every other culture, sans Americans), this gift giving is no big deal, even trivial. She gave humbly, and she didn’t even have to think twice about it. She probably never even thought that she could use the movie tickets for herself. That fact is irrelevant because, in Korea, what’s mine is yours. Question of the day: If I (Kyle) had two free movie tickets, who do you think I would give the tickets to? If you answered, “no one. You’re too cheap, and you would use them both on yourself,” you are absolutely correct! Finally, I wanted to note how Koreans are extremely honest. There are two schools of thinking to this idea. The first is that there is CCTV everywhere. CCTV is basically a surveillance system that almost every building in Korea is equipped. (Yes, there is CCTV in hallways. Yes, there is CCTV on the streets. Yes, there is CCTV in the bathroom. … ??? … !!! … ??? … Yeah, the bathroom). The reason that crime rate is so low, according to this idea, is because you would get caught. Duh … ? But, even if they didn’t have CCTV, I’m pretty sure that Koreans would steal minimally from each other. I have two examples. Once, I ate a meal with my friends at this pasta place. One month later, my friend went back and the owners confronted her about whether or not we paid the bill one month prior. I don’t know how it was settled, but Koreans will not get screwed and they will not screw each other because everyone is held accountable. That is something that America generally lacks – accountability. Another example happened a couple weeks ago. Basically, I ordered some food for delivery. They forgot my potstickers/dumplings/mandoo. Joohee called them, told them they forgot the dumplings, and they gave it to us the following week when we ordered from them again. So simple. That is all I have planned for this Chautauqua – pointing out the light in this otherwise dark world.
At this point, it is now 9:36pm on Friday evening. I have been writing this blog all week. I’m not finished with all my work, but I’M TOTALLY GETTING OUT OF HERE. Weekend, here I come!!!
Love you all,
Kyle
P.S. Current GMAIL statuses at my office/MD:
Brian: "Thank God"
Rebecca: "it's"
Kyle: "Fr"
Tucker: "iday"
Marshall: "!!!!"
HJ: "Yay!"
I love my job.
I hope everyone’s doing well. I try my best to keep in contact with everyone, but it’s certainly a struggle because everyone (myself included) is so busy. If it takes me a while to respond to you, then I sincerely apologize. I don’t mean to be belated or even dismissive, but I don’t always have the energy to message everyone right away. Because I always try to be thoughtful and personal with my responses, I tend to push it off and do it another day.
As far as my health and emotional state are concerned, I’d have to say that I’m rather well. Actually, my eating habits and my sleeping schedule have not been adequate. I sleep late, wake up late, eat trash, and starve myself on a daily basis. I have not been taking care of my body, and, hopefully, I will figure it all out before I acquire too many bad habits. My emotional state has been equally downbeat lately, too. I have been very fed up with work, and I think it’s because I need a vacation. Teaching is a struggle everyday, and my lowest class continues to define how I feel the rest of the evening. Furthermore, I have had a difficult time putting up with the woman at my work. Frankly, there are too many of them, and they all talk, gossip, complain, etc. all the time. I’m somewhat thankful that they speak another language, but they still talk too loud and too often. Sometimes, when I am in the office and they come back from lunch, I have to turn the volume of my music up nearly all the way. In other words, bears can smell menstruation, and the women attract the bears. Consequently, my well-being is at risk EVERY DAY. Part of the reason for my lack of patience might be exacerbated by the simple fact that I need a little bit of a break from noise and from people (who talk too much).
Since I came to Korea, I have mentioned that I was looking to learn about this culture. In the past, I was quick to point out the negative aspects of Koreans. I was unable to see past the obvious flaws – the drinking, the bland architecture, the trash, etc. At the time, I knew that I just needed to spend more time with Koreans to see their charm. After almost SIX MONTHS, I have finally found a few treasures. One lure of Koreans is that they are generally selfless. Their thinking really is consistent with collectivistic societies. Prior to my experiences here, I had always known that Westerners were known for their selfish/individualist nature, while Eastern cultures were known for their collectivist tendencies. At the same time, memorizing a fact is different than experiencing and actually observing that same fact. With that said, Koreans are generally selfless. They help those who need and they give to those who do not have. In school, one of my students shared her food. She had a cupcake, and she shared 99% of it with her peers, even when it meant she only got just a bite of her own cupcake. She did try to give more to her best friends and less to the other kids, yet the fact of the matter remains that she kept little for herself. On a larger scale, South Korea continues to aid North Koreans, and they do so while asking for little in return. They do so because, to them, North Korea is their brother that is lost and can’t seem to find his way. They believe and hope that their brother will, one day, come home, and they will wait forever until they are assured he is safe. In addition to their selflessness, Koreans are extremely thoughtful (I suppose thoughtfulness and selfishness are entangled, but let’s just pretend they’re different). They will give gifts for no reason at all. Last week, I was at a bar with Joohee, and Joohee’s friend gave us movie tickets and a Guinness beer glass for me (I actually needed an extra cup for home). For Koreans (and every other culture, sans Americans), this gift giving is no big deal, even trivial. She gave humbly, and she didn’t even have to think twice about it. She probably never even thought that she could use the movie tickets for herself. That fact is irrelevant because, in Korea, what’s mine is yours. Question of the day: If I (Kyle) had two free movie tickets, who do you think I would give the tickets to? If you answered, “no one. You’re too cheap, and you would use them both on yourself,” you are absolutely correct! Finally, I wanted to note how Koreans are extremely honest. There are two schools of thinking to this idea. The first is that there is CCTV everywhere. CCTV is basically a surveillance system that almost every building in Korea is equipped. (Yes, there is CCTV in hallways. Yes, there is CCTV on the streets. Yes, there is CCTV in the bathroom. … ??? … !!! … ??? … Yeah, the bathroom). The reason that crime rate is so low, according to this idea, is because you would get caught. Duh … ? But, even if they didn’t have CCTV, I’m pretty sure that Koreans would steal minimally from each other. I have two examples. Once, I ate a meal with my friends at this pasta place. One month later, my friend went back and the owners confronted her about whether or not we paid the bill one month prior. I don’t know how it was settled, but Koreans will not get screwed and they will not screw each other because everyone is held accountable. That is something that America generally lacks – accountability. Another example happened a couple weeks ago. Basically, I ordered some food for delivery. They forgot my potstickers/dumplings/mandoo. Joohee called them, told them they forgot the dumplings, and they gave it to us the following week when we ordered from them again. So simple. That is all I have planned for this Chautauqua – pointing out the light in this otherwise dark world.
At this point, it is now 9:36pm on Friday evening. I have been writing this blog all week. I’m not finished with all my work, but I’M TOTALLY GETTING OUT OF HERE. Weekend, here I come!!!
Love you all,
Kyle
P.S. Current GMAIL statuses at my office/MD:
Brian: "Thank God"
Rebecca: "it's"
Kyle: "Fr"
Tucker: "iday"
Marshall: "!!!!"
HJ: "Yay!"
I love my job.
November 2, 2009
Tweet Tweet
Three Saturdays ago, I was going to post something about how stupid Twitter is/was. I think I was annoyed because I often read articles online, and I noticed that you can follow a lot of things on Twitters nowadays. After a few minutes of introspection, I thought, "Eric (because that's what I call myself now), I shouldn't knock Twitter until I try it." I created a Twitter account intending to use it for one week. My goal was to show people exactly what I did and thought for that week. I started it before a workshop that I had to attend. Well, I didn't Tweet past Sunday because it lost my attention rather quickly. Anyhow, here's several hours into the mind of Kyle:
1. I just joined Twitter. I wanted to write a post on FB about how much I hate Twitter, but I refrained because I've never actually had my...7:32 PM Oct 16th from web
2. own account. So, I shouldn't knock it before I try it. Right? I am going to use it for one week.7:33 PM Oct 16th from web
3. I think the essence of Twitter is to tell how you feel all the time using less than 120 characters? Well, already, this is pissing me off...7:33 PM Oct 16th from web
4. because I like to write lots of words! ugh... frustrating.7:34 PM Oct 16th from web
5. I feel ... like I'm tired7:34 PM Oct 16th from web
6. OMG! I'm so excited. Grace is going to be my first Twitter friend!!!7:37 PM Oct 16th from web
7. After that short feeling of euphemism, suddenly, I feel ... tired, again.7:37 PM Oct 16th from web
8. Also... wow, my shoulder hurts.7:39 PM Oct 16th from web
9. I just laughed.7:39 PM Oct 16th from web
10. Now, I'm not laughing anymore.7:40 PM Oct 16th from web
11. My goal: Don't knock Twitter while using Twitter (for one week).7:42 PM Oct 16th from web
12. I say "Twi-," you say "-itter."7:44 PM Oct 16th from web
13. "Twi-"7:44 PM Oct 16th from web
14. ...Ah frick. I forgot. There's no one following me.7:44 PM Oct 16th from web
15. ONE FOLLOWER!!!!7:44 PM Oct 16th from web
16. GRACE: "I just scratched my nose." KYLE: *HIGH FIVE*7:46 PM Oct 16th from web
17. Woah, Grace, I didn't see you're tweets in between my tweets.7:47 PM Oct 16th from web
18. Ew Gross.7:50 PM Oct 16th from web
19. I feel uncomfortable.7:51 PM Oct 16th from web
20. Hm... trending topics. I should trend in with what everybody else is talking about...7:51 PM Oct 16th from web
21. What should I pick first?7:51 PM Oct 16th from web
22. A-Rod!7:52 PM Oct 16th from web
23. You are the Man!7:52 PM Oct 16th from web
24. Is he really dating Kate Hudson?! That is so crazy. They make such a cute couple.7:52 PM Oct 16th from web
25. What is the Twitter protocol? Am I supposed to just type everything I think/feel? Ugh, I'm such a Newb...7:53 PM Oct 16th from web
26. I just found out there's a new Office. So excited. Did anyone watch the last one? It was soooooooo cute when they went to the Niagara falls.7:56 PM Oct 16th from web
27. My last post was 140 characters exactly. That makes me an awesome and experienced Twitter-er/Tweeter. I bet I can do 2 in a row.BAM!2inarow.7:59 PM Oct 16th from web
28. Shoot. I need a picture. I NEED A PICTURE!7:59 PM Oct 16th from web
29. I have 3 followers. I'm so amazing.8:01 PM Oct 16th from web
30. I tried to post a picture. It said it was, "probably too big," and it was unable to upload. hehe.8:04 PM Oct 16th from web
31. Grace signed off G-Chat without saying, "goodbye." I feel so alone. Other feelings: betrayal and abandonment.8:05 PM Oct 16th from web
32. Oh. She signed back on. Who's Mill Stone, by the way?! Not cool, Mill Stone.8:05 PM Oct 16th from web
33. Am I funny? I feel funny, but I just don't know.8:06 PM Oct 16th from web
34. NOOOOOO. I wish I had a mobile phone because I have to get ready. How do I Tweet in the bathroom? I suck at this; I am a newb....8:08 PM Oct 16th from web
35. 7 minutes. This is the longest I've gone without Tweeting. I feel so weird.8:15 PM Oct 16th from web
36. Should I gel my hair today? UGH. I wish I had more followers who could respond to my Tweet. I still only have 3. So frustrating...8:16 PM Oct 16th from web
37. I just told my friend, Justin, to get a Twitter. He said, "no." Justin, "why...?"8:18 PM Oct 16th from web
38. Justin was being a little standoffish. What a jerk.8:19 PM Oct 16th from web
39. Shoot. I need to get ready. I'm late.8:20 PM Oct 16th from web
40. One more thing, too bad I don't have a cell phone. How will I tweet on the bus and at the workshop? Shoot.....8:20 PM Oct 16th from web
41. 15 minutes to get ready. I'm amazing.8:24 PM Oct 16th from web
42. Keith just sent me an itinerary of his trip to the Korea and Thailand. It's so pretty. Jenna must've done it.8:25 PM Oct 16th from web
43. I have to blow my nose. I think I have a booger.8:26 PM Oct 16th from web
44. I blew my nose. I had a booger.8:27 PM Oct 16th from web
45. I'm pretty sure Keith didn't make this itinerary. For things to do in Thailand, it lists Siam. Next to that, it says, "for food and ladies."8:28 PM Oct 16th from web
46. For the Galare Guest House, they're "waiting for confirmation."8:29 PM Oct 16th from web
47. I'm late. Crap. It's 12:30pm. I need to run. Twitter is slowly consuming me.8:30 PM Oct 16th from web
48. Cleaning.9:09 PM Oct 17th from web
49. Yesterday, I told all my friends that I had a Twitter. They laughed. If only Twitter allowed for more characters, I would write more.9:12 PM Oct 17th from web
50. Instead, I have to do it 140 characters at a time.9:12 PM Oct 17th from web
51. Is it against the rules if I Tweet about what I did yesterday?9:13 PM Oct 17th from web
52. Anyways, I will because I can. Yesterday, I went to a workshop. It sucked. Then, I ate an expensive dinner (unwillingly).9:14 PM Oct 17th from web
53. Right after the dinner, I went to Burger King and housed a Whopper meal.9:14 PM Oct 17th from web
54. After Burger King, I went to a bar and played pool for 7 hours (off and on). It was nice.9:16 PM Oct 17th from web
55. That's all.9:17 PM Oct 17th from web
56. I feel....9:17 PM Oct 17th from web
57. I feel...9:17 PM Oct 17th from web
58. I feel motivated today. I really want to clean my apartment.9:17 PM Oct 17th from web
59. Oh my gosh, there's a fly in my room.9:18 PM Oct 17th from web
60. This great song just came on. It's the new Black Eyed Peas song, "E.N.D. Energy Never Dies." I love it so much.9:20 PM Oct 17th from web
61. Wow, A Rod is amazing. How does Kate Hudson do it?!9:22 PM Oct 17th from web
62. Why are random people following me? Is this Myspace Part 2?9:28 PM Oct 17th from web
63. People have asked me: Why are you only doing this for one week?9:38 PM Oct 17th from web
64. I'm only doing this for one week because I want everyone to know exactly what I do and what I think in this typical week of Kyle.9:38 PM Oct 17th from web
65. Why are there commercials on AOL Radio? I hate radios.9:42 PM Oct 17th from web
66. I meant "radio commercials." Pardon me.9:43 PM Oct 17th from web
67. I have such a bad taste in my mouth, and it's not because I havent brushed my teeth this morning...9:44 PM Oct 17th from web
68. My friend says that I'm paradoxical. What does that even mean?9:44 PM Oct 17th from web
69. Should I put my plant on the table or on my night stand? So many decisions. Today is not going well.10:05 PM Oct 17th from web
70. Yankees win! Nice...10:11 PM Oct 17th from web
71. Watching Office.10:20 PM Oct 17th from web
72. I'm skyping now.10:22 PM Oct 17th from web
73. It's so amazing. It makes you feel closer to the person, even when you're halfway across the world. Technology isn't all bad.10:23 PM Oct 17th from web
74. Her camera is not working.10:26 PM Oct 17th from web
75. I am teaching Beverly Korean. I just told her how to say, "Your lips are delicious," and "I am a snowman."10:51 PM Oct 17th from web
76. I just came back from the grocery store. I spent too much money. :(12:34 AM Oct 18th from web
77. I'm watching the Office.12:53 AM Oct 18th from web
78. ...and boiling eggs.1:00 AM Oct 18th from web
79. Now, I'm cooking pasta sauce. It's amazing.1:12 AM Oct 18th from web
80. I feel sleepy. Also, I'm really hungry. I think that's the story of my life.1:12 AM Oct 18th from web
81. I keep attracting more creepy followers. I don't like it.1:13 AM Oct 18th from web
82. One guy, apparently, is a doctor. He gives root canals to polar bears...1:14 AM Oct 18th from web
83. Now, I have a follower who follows 500 people. One person follows him. Fail.1:14 AM Oct 18th from web
84. I wish I could tell them, "send it back." (This is an Office reference for those that are saying, "huh?!")1:15 AM Oct 18th from web
85. Tweet Tweet.1:15 AM Oct 18th from web
86. Beyonce plays a lot on AOL Radio.2:00 AM Oct 18th from web
87. Where is Lauren? She takes a long time to get here when she's two doors down from me...2:00 AM Oct 18th from web
88. Maybe she died...2:00 AM Oct 18th from web
89. Yeah, I'm pretty sure she died.2:05 AM Oct 18th from web
90. I feel like I have the record for most Tweets in the first two days of Twitter membership. But then again, there are weird people out there.2:05 AM Oct 18th from web
91. It turns out, Lauren was not two doors down from me.3:28 AM Oct 18th from web
92. This is like a diary, 140 characters at a time.3:28 AM Oct 18th from web
93. Twitter's interface looks like Skype's interface.3:30 AM Oct 18th from web
94. Lauren's on the phone now. I just got bored.3:32 AM Oct 18th from web
95. Hopefully, she'll finish fast.3:32 AM Oct 18th from web
96. I have sensitive skin.3:35 AM Oct 18th from web
97. ...and a sensitive soul.3:35 AM Oct 18th from web
98. Tweet Tweet.2 minutes ago from web
99. Thanks fellow tweeters for reading about one day in the life of Kyle. I'm afraid this will be my last Tweet ever. May Twitter rest in peace.less than 20 seconds ago from web
1. I just joined Twitter. I wanted to write a post on FB about how much I hate Twitter, but I refrained because I've never actually had my...7:32 PM Oct 16th from web
2. own account. So, I shouldn't knock it before I try it. Right? I am going to use it for one week.7:33 PM Oct 16th from web
3. I think the essence of Twitter is to tell how you feel all the time using less than 120 characters? Well, already, this is pissing me off...7:33 PM Oct 16th from web
4. because I like to write lots of words! ugh... frustrating.7:34 PM Oct 16th from web
5. I feel ... like I'm tired7:34 PM Oct 16th from web
6. OMG! I'm so excited. Grace is going to be my first Twitter friend!!!7:37 PM Oct 16th from web
7. After that short feeling of euphemism, suddenly, I feel ... tired, again.7:37 PM Oct 16th from web
8. Also... wow, my shoulder hurts.7:39 PM Oct 16th from web
9. I just laughed.7:39 PM Oct 16th from web
10. Now, I'm not laughing anymore.7:40 PM Oct 16th from web
11. My goal: Don't knock Twitter while using Twitter (for one week).7:42 PM Oct 16th from web
12. I say "Twi-," you say "-itter."7:44 PM Oct 16th from web
13. "Twi-"7:44 PM Oct 16th from web
14. ...Ah frick. I forgot. There's no one following me.7:44 PM Oct 16th from web
15. ONE FOLLOWER!!!!7:44 PM Oct 16th from web
16. GRACE: "I just scratched my nose." KYLE: *HIGH FIVE*7:46 PM Oct 16th from web
17. Woah, Grace, I didn't see you're tweets in between my tweets.7:47 PM Oct 16th from web
18. Ew Gross.7:50 PM Oct 16th from web
19. I feel uncomfortable.7:51 PM Oct 16th from web
20. Hm... trending topics. I should trend in with what everybody else is talking about...7:51 PM Oct 16th from web
21. What should I pick first?7:51 PM Oct 16th from web
22. A-Rod!7:52 PM Oct 16th from web
23. You are the Man!7:52 PM Oct 16th from web
24. Is he really dating Kate Hudson?! That is so crazy. They make such a cute couple.7:52 PM Oct 16th from web
25. What is the Twitter protocol? Am I supposed to just type everything I think/feel? Ugh, I'm such a Newb...7:53 PM Oct 16th from web
26. I just found out there's a new Office. So excited. Did anyone watch the last one? It was soooooooo cute when they went to the Niagara falls.7:56 PM Oct 16th from web
27. My last post was 140 characters exactly. That makes me an awesome and experienced Twitter-er/Tweeter. I bet I can do 2 in a row.BAM!2inarow.7:59 PM Oct 16th from web
28. Shoot. I need a picture. I NEED A PICTURE!7:59 PM Oct 16th from web
29. I have 3 followers. I'm so amazing.8:01 PM Oct 16th from web
30. I tried to post a picture. It said it was, "probably too big," and it was unable to upload. hehe.8:04 PM Oct 16th from web
31. Grace signed off G-Chat without saying, "goodbye." I feel so alone. Other feelings: betrayal and abandonment.8:05 PM Oct 16th from web
32. Oh. She signed back on. Who's Mill Stone, by the way?! Not cool, Mill Stone.8:05 PM Oct 16th from web
33. Am I funny? I feel funny, but I just don't know.8:06 PM Oct 16th from web
34. NOOOOOO. I wish I had a mobile phone because I have to get ready. How do I Tweet in the bathroom? I suck at this; I am a newb....8:08 PM Oct 16th from web
35. 7 minutes. This is the longest I've gone without Tweeting. I feel so weird.8:15 PM Oct 16th from web
36. Should I gel my hair today? UGH. I wish I had more followers who could respond to my Tweet. I still only have 3. So frustrating...8:16 PM Oct 16th from web
37. I just told my friend, Justin, to get a Twitter. He said, "no." Justin, "why...?"8:18 PM Oct 16th from web
38. Justin was being a little standoffish. What a jerk.8:19 PM Oct 16th from web
39. Shoot. I need to get ready. I'm late.8:20 PM Oct 16th from web
40. One more thing, too bad I don't have a cell phone. How will I tweet on the bus and at the workshop? Shoot.....8:20 PM Oct 16th from web
41. 15 minutes to get ready. I'm amazing.8:24 PM Oct 16th from web
42. Keith just sent me an itinerary of his trip to the Korea and Thailand. It's so pretty. Jenna must've done it.8:25 PM Oct 16th from web
43. I have to blow my nose. I think I have a booger.8:26 PM Oct 16th from web
44. I blew my nose. I had a booger.8:27 PM Oct 16th from web
45. I'm pretty sure Keith didn't make this itinerary. For things to do in Thailand, it lists Siam. Next to that, it says, "for food and ladies."8:28 PM Oct 16th from web
46. For the Galare Guest House, they're "waiting for confirmation."8:29 PM Oct 16th from web
47. I'm late. Crap. It's 12:30pm. I need to run. Twitter is slowly consuming me.8:30 PM Oct 16th from web
48. Cleaning.9:09 PM Oct 17th from web
49. Yesterday, I told all my friends that I had a Twitter. They laughed. If only Twitter allowed for more characters, I would write more.9:12 PM Oct 17th from web
50. Instead, I have to do it 140 characters at a time.9:12 PM Oct 17th from web
51. Is it against the rules if I Tweet about what I did yesterday?9:13 PM Oct 17th from web
52. Anyways, I will because I can. Yesterday, I went to a workshop. It sucked. Then, I ate an expensive dinner (unwillingly).9:14 PM Oct 17th from web
53. Right after the dinner, I went to Burger King and housed a Whopper meal.9:14 PM Oct 17th from web
54. After Burger King, I went to a bar and played pool for 7 hours (off and on). It was nice.9:16 PM Oct 17th from web
55. That's all.9:17 PM Oct 17th from web
56. I feel....9:17 PM Oct 17th from web
57. I feel...9:17 PM Oct 17th from web
58. I feel motivated today. I really want to clean my apartment.9:17 PM Oct 17th from web
59. Oh my gosh, there's a fly in my room.9:18 PM Oct 17th from web
60. This great song just came on. It's the new Black Eyed Peas song, "E.N.D. Energy Never Dies." I love it so much.9:20 PM Oct 17th from web
61. Wow, A Rod is amazing. How does Kate Hudson do it?!9:22 PM Oct 17th from web
62. Why are random people following me? Is this Myspace Part 2?9:28 PM Oct 17th from web
63. People have asked me: Why are you only doing this for one week?9:38 PM Oct 17th from web
64. I'm only doing this for one week because I want everyone to know exactly what I do and what I think in this typical week of Kyle.9:38 PM Oct 17th from web
65. Why are there commercials on AOL Radio? I hate radios.9:42 PM Oct 17th from web
66. I meant "radio commercials." Pardon me.9:43 PM Oct 17th from web
67. I have such a bad taste in my mouth, and it's not because I havent brushed my teeth this morning...9:44 PM Oct 17th from web
68. My friend says that I'm paradoxical. What does that even mean?9:44 PM Oct 17th from web
69. Should I put my plant on the table or on my night stand? So many decisions. Today is not going well.10:05 PM Oct 17th from web
70. Yankees win! Nice...10:11 PM Oct 17th from web
71. Watching Office.10:20 PM Oct 17th from web
72. I'm skyping now.10:22 PM Oct 17th from web
73. It's so amazing. It makes you feel closer to the person, even when you're halfway across the world. Technology isn't all bad.10:23 PM Oct 17th from web
74. Her camera is not working.10:26 PM Oct 17th from web
75. I am teaching Beverly Korean. I just told her how to say, "Your lips are delicious," and "I am a snowman."10:51 PM Oct 17th from web
76. I just came back from the grocery store. I spent too much money. :(12:34 AM Oct 18th from web
77. I'm watching the Office.12:53 AM Oct 18th from web
78. ...and boiling eggs.1:00 AM Oct 18th from web
79. Now, I'm cooking pasta sauce. It's amazing.1:12 AM Oct 18th from web
80. I feel sleepy. Also, I'm really hungry. I think that's the story of my life.1:12 AM Oct 18th from web
81. I keep attracting more creepy followers. I don't like it.1:13 AM Oct 18th from web
82. One guy, apparently, is a doctor. He gives root canals to polar bears...1:14 AM Oct 18th from web
83. Now, I have a follower who follows 500 people. One person follows him. Fail.1:14 AM Oct 18th from web
84. I wish I could tell them, "send it back." (This is an Office reference for those that are saying, "huh?!")1:15 AM Oct 18th from web
85. Tweet Tweet.1:15 AM Oct 18th from web
86. Beyonce plays a lot on AOL Radio.2:00 AM Oct 18th from web
87. Where is Lauren? She takes a long time to get here when she's two doors down from me...2:00 AM Oct 18th from web
88. Maybe she died...2:00 AM Oct 18th from web
89. Yeah, I'm pretty sure she died.2:05 AM Oct 18th from web
90. I feel like I have the record for most Tweets in the first two days of Twitter membership. But then again, there are weird people out there.2:05 AM Oct 18th from web
91. It turns out, Lauren was not two doors down from me.3:28 AM Oct 18th from web
92. This is like a diary, 140 characters at a time.3:28 AM Oct 18th from web
93. Twitter's interface looks like Skype's interface.3:30 AM Oct 18th from web
94. Lauren's on the phone now. I just got bored.3:32 AM Oct 18th from web
95. Hopefully, she'll finish fast.3:32 AM Oct 18th from web
96. I have sensitive skin.3:35 AM Oct 18th from web
97. ...and a sensitive soul.3:35 AM Oct 18th from web
98. Tweet Tweet.2 minutes ago from web
99. Thanks fellow tweeters for reading about one day in the life of Kyle. I'm afraid this will be my last Tweet ever. May Twitter rest in peace.less than 20 seconds ago from web
October 16, 2009
Sweet Caroline
Written last week: “Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” has been stuck in my head for several days. What is more, I now associate the song with my friend, Caroline Reyes. So, congratulations, Ms. Reyes, you’ve been stuck in my head at various points in the last few days. Haha.
Anyway, how is everyone? I won’t bash on Koreans this time. Instead, I will talk about this past weekend with Brett and Kris. To begin, I will simply state that it was quite an interesting weekend. When Brett first arrived, we went and got all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. We ate for about 2 hours. After, we went and hung out with my friends where he met the lot of them. We hung out for a few hours and made many inappropriate jokes. Somehow, Enzyte became the subject and, from there, well things got out of hand. I will mention, though, that there was a St. Bernard involved and there was lots of spit coming out of his mouth while his head was hanging out of a car window. Feel free to use your imagination… After that whole situation, we went home, pillow-talked, and went to bed. Brett woke up early the next morning, and I wasn’t too enthused about that…. Jerk. Haha. Anyway, we went to the grocery store, ate some food, and headed to downtown Seoul. We tried to go to a museum, but the museum was not quite what we had in mind. We ditched that plan and headed to the palace. That didn’t work out, either. At some point, we met up with Brett’s friends where we tried squid that was cut up in front of our eyes; it was still squirming when we ate it, and the tentacles were sticking to everything. It was sort of weird. There’s a video on Facebook with us eating the squid, but I’m not sure where it is. Find it! Watch it! After that, we went to get some real food. After the real food, we went to meet up with Kris. We met up with him, put our stuff in the lockers, and messed around. From there, the night went downhill (or uphill, depending on how you look at it). Haha. The first part of the night, until about midnight, we went around eating everything in sight. I ate a hotdog, ice cream, a kebab, and more … and that was after dinner, mind you. Then, we met up with Brett’s friends again, and we went clubbing. The club was lame because it was Korean Thanksgiving weekend. It was quieter than expected, but we still had a lot of fun. Finally, we went home around 5:30 and went to sleep. On Saturday, we went into Seoul again. Most everything was closed, SO we went around eating again. I think I ate 5 donuts that day from three different donut shops. In 3 days, I think I ate close to 7-10 donuts from three different places; they were so amazing!! We found some really good stew, too. It was kind of like oxtail stew. After, we wandered around, ate more random food, and went to … an ARCADE. It was amazing … no, it wasn’t. Well, it was okay… we played some funny game that involved a baby crawling really fast and having him jump really far. Apparently, I don’t press the buttons fast enough, and my baby did not move very quickly. I sucked at that game and just about every other game in that arcade. Oh well. To finish our night, we went to McDonald’s, ate 40 cent ice creams, and left.”
Written today: ”This past week, I have just been working as normal. Lately, I have been doing extra work for my boss that has slowly added up. And, I hate to admit it, but I’m still falling a little behind. What is more, I’m a little burnt out. What is more, I could not sleep last night, and I really haven’t been able to sleep the past few nights. Last night, in particular, I had this huge epiphany. I might’ve come across a good plan for when I get home, but we’ll see. I’m still working out the logistics. Anyways, the idea came at 3am, and my mind raced for over two hours… Blurg!
In the end, I just want to say that I’m doing all right. I’m enjoying everything that I am doing, more or less, despite the many challenges I face everyday. I can’t really complain, even though I really want to….
Hope everyone is doing well. If life gets you down just remember, “THE PLANET… IS YOURS!!!”
"EARTH!"
"FIRE!"
"WIND!"
"WATER!"
"HEART!"
"Go Planet!"
"By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"
Captain Planet, he's our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
He's our powers magnified
And he's fighting on the planet's side
Captain Planet, he's our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
Gonna help him put asunder
Bad guys who like to loot and plunder
"You'll pay for this Captain Planet!"
We're the Planeteers
You can be one too
'Cause saving our planet is the thing to do!
Looting and polluting is not the way
Hear what Captain Planet has to say!
"The Power is Yours!"”
Anyway, how is everyone? I won’t bash on Koreans this time. Instead, I will talk about this past weekend with Brett and Kris. To begin, I will simply state that it was quite an interesting weekend. When Brett first arrived, we went and got all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. We ate for about 2 hours. After, we went and hung out with my friends where he met the lot of them. We hung out for a few hours and made many inappropriate jokes. Somehow, Enzyte became the subject and, from there, well things got out of hand. I will mention, though, that there was a St. Bernard involved and there was lots of spit coming out of his mouth while his head was hanging out of a car window. Feel free to use your imagination… After that whole situation, we went home, pillow-talked, and went to bed. Brett woke up early the next morning, and I wasn’t too enthused about that…. Jerk. Haha. Anyway, we went to the grocery store, ate some food, and headed to downtown Seoul. We tried to go to a museum, but the museum was not quite what we had in mind. We ditched that plan and headed to the palace. That didn’t work out, either. At some point, we met up with Brett’s friends where we tried squid that was cut up in front of our eyes; it was still squirming when we ate it, and the tentacles were sticking to everything. It was sort of weird. There’s a video on Facebook with us eating the squid, but I’m not sure where it is. Find it! Watch it! After that, we went to get some real food. After the real food, we went to meet up with Kris. We met up with him, put our stuff in the lockers, and messed around. From there, the night went downhill (or uphill, depending on how you look at it). Haha. The first part of the night, until about midnight, we went around eating everything in sight. I ate a hotdog, ice cream, a kebab, and more … and that was after dinner, mind you. Then, we met up with Brett’s friends again, and we went clubbing. The club was lame because it was Korean Thanksgiving weekend. It was quieter than expected, but we still had a lot of fun. Finally, we went home around 5:30 and went to sleep. On Saturday, we went into Seoul again. Most everything was closed, SO we went around eating again. I think I ate 5 donuts that day from three different donut shops. In 3 days, I think I ate close to 7-10 donuts from three different places; they were so amazing!! We found some really good stew, too. It was kind of like oxtail stew. After, we wandered around, ate more random food, and went to … an ARCADE. It was amazing … no, it wasn’t. Well, it was okay… we played some funny game that involved a baby crawling really fast and having him jump really far. Apparently, I don’t press the buttons fast enough, and my baby did not move very quickly. I sucked at that game and just about every other game in that arcade. Oh well. To finish our night, we went to McDonald’s, ate 40 cent ice creams, and left.”
Written today: ”This past week, I have just been working as normal. Lately, I have been doing extra work for my boss that has slowly added up. And, I hate to admit it, but I’m still falling a little behind. What is more, I’m a little burnt out. What is more, I could not sleep last night, and I really haven’t been able to sleep the past few nights. Last night, in particular, I had this huge epiphany. I might’ve come across a good plan for when I get home, but we’ll see. I’m still working out the logistics. Anyways, the idea came at 3am, and my mind raced for over two hours… Blurg!
In the end, I just want to say that I’m doing all right. I’m enjoying everything that I am doing, more or less, despite the many challenges I face everyday. I can’t really complain, even though I really want to….
Hope everyone is doing well. If life gets you down just remember, “THE PLANET… IS YOURS!!!”
"EARTH!"
"FIRE!"
"WIND!"
"WATER!"
"HEART!"
"Go Planet!"
"By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet!"
Captain Planet, he's our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
He's our powers magnified
And he's fighting on the planet's side
Captain Planet, he's our hero
Gonna take pollution down to zero
Gonna help him put asunder
Bad guys who like to loot and plunder
"You'll pay for this Captain Planet!"
We're the Planeteers
You can be one too
'Cause saving our planet is the thing to do!
Looting and polluting is not the way
Hear what Captain Planet has to say!
"The Power is Yours!"”
October 12, 2009
It's Amazing How Fast Time Flies...
This is going to be very short. I actually have stuff I've written earlier that I need to post. It includes my adventures with Brett and Kris, and what I've been up to the past few weeks. That post will hopefully come later this week. For now, I just wanted to leave a quote:
"He looks up the trail trying to see what's ahead even when he knows what's ahead because he just looked a second before. He goes too fast or too slow for the conditions and when he talks his talk is forever about somewhere else, something else. He's here but he's not here. He rejects the here, is unhappy with it, wants to be farther up the trail but when he gets there will just as unhappy because then it will be 'here.' What he's looking for what he wants, is all around him, but he doesn't want that because it is all around him," -R. Pirsig.
"He looks up the trail trying to see what's ahead even when he knows what's ahead because he just looked a second before. He goes too fast or too slow for the conditions and when he talks his talk is forever about somewhere else, something else. He's here but he's not here. He rejects the here, is unhappy with it, wants to be farther up the trail but when he gets there will just as unhappy because then it will be 'here.' What he's looking for what he wants, is all around him, but he doesn't want that because it is all around him," -R. Pirsig.
September 20, 2009
Crazy Koreans
This post is going to be about my first-hand observations with Koreans and their culture. I want to make a note that there certainly are things that I like about Korea and Koreans. Like any culture, they have their share of strengths as well as their share of flaws. I am choosing to write mostly about the negative aspects of the culture because, let's face it, they're funnier to read/write. Please don't get too offended by any of this and take these observations with a light heart. With that said, Let the games begin…
To start off my list, Koreans get incredibly drunk - men, women, boys, girls, old, young, you name it. They all get drunk all day everyday (how am I supposed to punctuate that? Ah well, anyway…). Really, they do; it’s sad. Every night of the week, there are old men stumbling along the streets. This past week, I saw a 50 year old man eating outside while his friend is literally passed out on the chair next to him. The funny thing is that the man didn’t even seem to mind. He was completely unaffected. About a month ago, there was an old-aged man completely passed out on the sidewalk. No one was around him, and he just laid there… Of course, this drunkenness is not a gender-specific problem. … … While I cannot think of any women carrying themselves in this fashion, or rather, uh … lack of carrying themselves (haha), they are just as bad as the men. I suppose they are less discrete about it, but don’t let them fool you. They are heavily intoxicated as well. Finally, if you read my last blog, you are aware of those boys pantsing each other. Well, they were intoxicated, too.
Oh wait, now that I think about these funny drunken moments, I never wrote about this one older man one night about 2 months ago. Marc, if you read this, you’re going to have a sideways smile again. Anyhow, I was outside of a convenient store with my friend. The convenient stores are literally everywhere, and this particular one is right next to the entrance of my friends apartment building. Also, these convenient stores all have plastic chairs to sit on and tables to use. It’s quite nice, in fact, and it seems to be the thing to do in Korea – buy soju and anju (beer snacks) and shoot the breeze. When I tell this short story, you have to also keep in mind that there is always foot traffic in this so-called rural city. I say, “rural” because Uiwang is outside of Seoul (in the neighboring province). Still, the area is heavily populated. At any rate, my friend and I were about 5-10 feet from the entrance of her apartment building, sitting there and having some sort of intense conversation, like we used to do. We were probably talking about how I need to improve some facet of my personality to make it more personable when, all of a sudden, this guy walked up to next to the entrance and pulls out his junk. Then, the yellow stream followed. Yeah, he did it. Anyways, I was about 5 feet from him, and his stream started flowing under his own shoes and towards … me! Ew. It diverged, thankfully, but it was definitely a close call. During his water release, I seriously thought we were going to have a second Grand Canyon on our hands. This guy peed for so long. If I had known he was going to urinate that much, I would have brought my swim trunks, a life vest, and a kayak. It might have been a class four or five river rapid, seriously. Holy mother of Porky the Pig. Also during his urination, a couple walked by. So funny, but they were, again, unaffected and somehow desensitized to these acts. They walked right by the guy into the apartment building not missing a beat. They seemed perfectly at ease walking along the cliff of the yellow water rapids. … Crazy Koreans…
Another thing is that Koreans litter everywhere. Koreans think that Korea is a trash can. Now that I think about it, it baffles me how much patriotism these people have when they totally disrespect their country and take it for granted. Whatever the case, my city is a mess, and I know other places, like Haeundae Beach in Busan (the most famous beach in Korea), get completely destroyed on the warm summer nights by kids and adults alike. Thank goodness for those 60+ year old women who work at 4-5am to prepare the beach for the next days thrashing. Today, I was in this area that had a lot of restaurants, karaoke places, etc. and there was trash everywhere. I was eating Baskin Robbins at the time with Joohee. When I finished, I was going to leave it on the bench with the other empty Baskin Robbins cups (there were at least four), but Joohee made me throw it away in the Baskin Robbins trash can. I was thinking, “Wow, if only other Korean people thought like you, maybe the country wouldn’t be such a dump.” Anyhow… while I’m on the subject of trash, let me talk about their garbage system. You need to buy special bags for the city trash that you can purchase at any convenient store or grocery store. It is imperative that trash is thrown in these bags because a $100 fine will be given otherwise. A month ago, I tried to throw trash away in a different plastic bag, and I got yelled at by a random ajossi (A Korean man that is at least 40, ah-joe-she). For the record, I played the dumb American card (because I knew the rules). After he yelled at me, he left his newspaper on the bench and left. Haha. Okay, okay, I made that up, but I’m sure he did!! Seriously, though, it’s a stupid rule, especially when the type of bag trash is thrown into should be the least of their concerns… Crazy Koreans…
Moving on, these Hangooks have 1,000 different ways to talk to people, according to gender, age, familiarity, color of hair, and situation. I’m not even including the different accents of people from different regions, which further exacerbates the inefficient communicational methods of Koreans. There are formally 6 (six?) different hierarchies of speech dedicated to where you stand in the social hierarchy (obviously). From a website, I printed a page that shows 8 conjugated verbs, and they are conjugated for the past, present, and future tenses. For every verb, I need to be familiar with the formal (high), formal, standard (high), standard, casual, and low casual conjugation of the verb to properly address people in every situation. In case that doesn’t make sense to those that are not linguists (I’m not implying that I’m one, for the record), this means that there are certain ways to address everyone depending on age, gender, the social situation, and what bus number they you (and they) are taking. Right about now, you may even be thinking, “Kyle, you’re crazy! This ain’t that bad!” Well, it gets worse. I didn’t include slang or job titles (and state of relationships between the two conversing in the particular job place). Yeah, that’s all confusing, and I’m still trying to figure out left from right. Seriously, I carry around a pen everywhere I go. Speaking of having a pen wherever I go, I once told a friend to borrow a pen from a convenient store. In Korea, they like to make a big deal out of nothing. For some reason, the simple question of, “Can I borrow a ____ for one second?” ended up being a 5 minute debate about a pen or … God? I have no idea what was said because it was all in Korean, but all I know is I came out of the store 5 minutes later with a pencil. From my intuition, I can only assume that the convenient store worker asked, “What kind of pen do you want? Do you want a blue pen, a black pen, or a red pen? Would you like it to be a ball point pen or a quill? Do you prefer Bic or ____? He looks like he has big hands, does he want a 5-inch pen or a Hello Kiddy pen? I’m sorry, sir, I only have a pencil…” I’m going to end this cultural difference with the simple observation that simple requests and questions require a lot of talking for both parties. I still am not sure what is said because I don’t speak Korean, but, man, asking for one small thing sure takes a long time… Crazy Koreans…
I’m going to take a short intermission and state that blogging is getting tiresome. I’m going to quit for the day, soon, but I’ll finish these last observations rather quickly…
Going back to my observations, Koreans haven’t caught on to the concept of street signs (quite yet). Yes, they do have street signs, and they even have addresses. Unfortunately, the numbers are out of order and no one knows the name of any of these streets. I have no idea how things are delivered, but I do know that the maps the delivery guys have are very complex. Every building on the map has a number. I know maps are outdated now, but buildings are not usually individually numbered on maps. Usually, houses and buildings are in numerical order, which results in maps showing the streets and the range of addresses on that particular street. That is, a map might say 100-200 on Main St., and that means that all addresses 101, 102, 103, 199, etc. are on that particular chunk of the street. I hope I’m clear, but if not, go look at a map. Yeah, so anyways, people don’t know where they’re going and, instead, rely on major buildings, etc. to get around… Crazy Koreans…
Koreans also have 1,000 different ways to treat people, according to gender, age, familiarity, color of hair, and situation. Because this is similar to their language hierarchies, I will be brief with this by giving one example – the “cheers” example. When you are out drinking with co-workers and people of various backgrounds and social statuses, there are very particular rules that cannot be broken. If they are broken, you are immediately frowned upon and seen as rude. Let’s start with the basics. If you are “cheersing” with your boss, the top of your glass has to be ½ of an inch lower than his top of the glass. If you are tapping the glass of your inferior, the same rule is in effect. However, if you are friends with your superior, then the top of your glass may be as close as ¼ of an inch from the top of his glass. If the two of you are really at odds, then your glass must be 5/8 of an inch lower than his. If he is having a bad day and you’re having a great day, then the 9/16’s rule, which is really more like the 11.5/16’s rule, is in effect because you can’t make it seem like you’re boasting. Also, if he didn’t play well in basketball, but you sucked more plus you gave him a really nice assist, then we go back to the ¼ rule. In a different situation, with your friends for example, everything changes. If you’re with your friends and he/she is no more than 1 year and 36 days older than you, you may clink at equal levels. If he is … all right, that’s enough for now. Haha. But seriously, I have not adjusted well to these social hierarchies... Let me explain one small facet of the drinking culture here. For this, I will only explain one facet of the drinking scenario, and that is pouring the drink. And, I will be completely serious with this. If you are getting your drink poured by an older man that you don’t know, you have to hold your glass with two hands. If you’re friends, then you may use one hand to accept the drink. Also, for pouring the drink, you must use two hands to pour unfamiliar and socially higher than you, and … maybe one hand to your inferiors. Finally, you may never pour your own glass. After all the drinks get poured, everyone goes to bed because the whole pouring process lasted 8 hours and it’s now 5am and everyone’s exhausted. Sheesh, Crazy Koreans…
That is all for the night. I was going to write about these other things, but I am exhausted at this point. I will, however, list what I wanted to say, and you can try to GUESS what I would say…
6. Koreans say, “Yes,” to an order, even when they have no intention of carrying the order out.
7. Koreans Love, love, LOVE Changu, the perverted animation character who has, for years, captured the attention of the youth. (This may be a slightly inaccurate observation).
8. Koreans push their kids into schools and after-school academies like no other country, except maybe China.
That will be the end of today’s fireside chat… I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope that everyone is keeping up their spirits despite the economy, job market, etc. Also, please … if we haven’t spoken lately, shoot me an e-mail (kyle.lee.13@gmail.com). Bye family, friends, have a wonderful Sunday.
Love,
Kyle
P.S. I didn’t proofread about half of this, so hopefully everything makes sense.
To start off my list, Koreans get incredibly drunk - men, women, boys, girls, old, young, you name it. They all get drunk all day everyday (how am I supposed to punctuate that? Ah well, anyway…). Really, they do; it’s sad. Every night of the week, there are old men stumbling along the streets. This past week, I saw a 50 year old man eating outside while his friend is literally passed out on the chair next to him. The funny thing is that the man didn’t even seem to mind. He was completely unaffected. About a month ago, there was an old-aged man completely passed out on the sidewalk. No one was around him, and he just laid there… Of course, this drunkenness is not a gender-specific problem. … … While I cannot think of any women carrying themselves in this fashion, or rather, uh … lack of carrying themselves (haha), they are just as bad as the men. I suppose they are less discrete about it, but don’t let them fool you. They are heavily intoxicated as well. Finally, if you read my last blog, you are aware of those boys pantsing each other. Well, they were intoxicated, too.
Oh wait, now that I think about these funny drunken moments, I never wrote about this one older man one night about 2 months ago. Marc, if you read this, you’re going to have a sideways smile again. Anyhow, I was outside of a convenient store with my friend. The convenient stores are literally everywhere, and this particular one is right next to the entrance of my friends apartment building. Also, these convenient stores all have plastic chairs to sit on and tables to use. It’s quite nice, in fact, and it seems to be the thing to do in Korea – buy soju and anju (beer snacks) and shoot the breeze. When I tell this short story, you have to also keep in mind that there is always foot traffic in this so-called rural city. I say, “rural” because Uiwang is outside of Seoul (in the neighboring province). Still, the area is heavily populated. At any rate, my friend and I were about 5-10 feet from the entrance of her apartment building, sitting there and having some sort of intense conversation, like we used to do. We were probably talking about how I need to improve some facet of my personality to make it more personable when, all of a sudden, this guy walked up to next to the entrance and pulls out his junk. Then, the yellow stream followed. Yeah, he did it. Anyways, I was about 5 feet from him, and his stream started flowing under his own shoes and towards … me! Ew. It diverged, thankfully, but it was definitely a close call. During his water release, I seriously thought we were going to have a second Grand Canyon on our hands. This guy peed for so long. If I had known he was going to urinate that much, I would have brought my swim trunks, a life vest, and a kayak. It might have been a class four or five river rapid, seriously. Holy mother of Porky the Pig. Also during his urination, a couple walked by. So funny, but they were, again, unaffected and somehow desensitized to these acts. They walked right by the guy into the apartment building not missing a beat. They seemed perfectly at ease walking along the cliff of the yellow water rapids. … Crazy Koreans…
Another thing is that Koreans litter everywhere. Koreans think that Korea is a trash can. Now that I think about it, it baffles me how much patriotism these people have when they totally disrespect their country and take it for granted. Whatever the case, my city is a mess, and I know other places, like Haeundae Beach in Busan (the most famous beach in Korea), get completely destroyed on the warm summer nights by kids and adults alike. Thank goodness for those 60+ year old women who work at 4-5am to prepare the beach for the next days thrashing. Today, I was in this area that had a lot of restaurants, karaoke places, etc. and there was trash everywhere. I was eating Baskin Robbins at the time with Joohee. When I finished, I was going to leave it on the bench with the other empty Baskin Robbins cups (there were at least four), but Joohee made me throw it away in the Baskin Robbins trash can. I was thinking, “Wow, if only other Korean people thought like you, maybe the country wouldn’t be such a dump.” Anyhow… while I’m on the subject of trash, let me talk about their garbage system. You need to buy special bags for the city trash that you can purchase at any convenient store or grocery store. It is imperative that trash is thrown in these bags because a $100 fine will be given otherwise. A month ago, I tried to throw trash away in a different plastic bag, and I got yelled at by a random ajossi (A Korean man that is at least 40, ah-joe-she). For the record, I played the dumb American card (because I knew the rules). After he yelled at me, he left his newspaper on the bench and left. Haha. Okay, okay, I made that up, but I’m sure he did!! Seriously, though, it’s a stupid rule, especially when the type of bag trash is thrown into should be the least of their concerns… Crazy Koreans…
Moving on, these Hangooks have 1,000 different ways to talk to people, according to gender, age, familiarity, color of hair, and situation. I’m not even including the different accents of people from different regions, which further exacerbates the inefficient communicational methods of Koreans. There are formally 6 (six?) different hierarchies of speech dedicated to where you stand in the social hierarchy (obviously). From a website, I printed a page that shows 8 conjugated verbs, and they are conjugated for the past, present, and future tenses. For every verb, I need to be familiar with the formal (high), formal, standard (high), standard, casual, and low casual conjugation of the verb to properly address people in every situation. In case that doesn’t make sense to those that are not linguists (I’m not implying that I’m one, for the record), this means that there are certain ways to address everyone depending on age, gender, the social situation, and what bus number they you (and they) are taking. Right about now, you may even be thinking, “Kyle, you’re crazy! This ain’t that bad!” Well, it gets worse. I didn’t include slang or job titles (and state of relationships between the two conversing in the particular job place). Yeah, that’s all confusing, and I’m still trying to figure out left from right. Seriously, I carry around a pen everywhere I go. Speaking of having a pen wherever I go, I once told a friend to borrow a pen from a convenient store. In Korea, they like to make a big deal out of nothing. For some reason, the simple question of, “Can I borrow a ____ for one second?” ended up being a 5 minute debate about a pen or … God? I have no idea what was said because it was all in Korean, but all I know is I came out of the store 5 minutes later with a pencil. From my intuition, I can only assume that the convenient store worker asked, “What kind of pen do you want? Do you want a blue pen, a black pen, or a red pen? Would you like it to be a ball point pen or a quill? Do you prefer Bic or ____? He looks like he has big hands, does he want a 5-inch pen or a Hello Kiddy pen? I’m sorry, sir, I only have a pencil…” I’m going to end this cultural difference with the simple observation that simple requests and questions require a lot of talking for both parties. I still am not sure what is said because I don’t speak Korean, but, man, asking for one small thing sure takes a long time… Crazy Koreans…
I’m going to take a short intermission and state that blogging is getting tiresome. I’m going to quit for the day, soon, but I’ll finish these last observations rather quickly…
Going back to my observations, Koreans haven’t caught on to the concept of street signs (quite yet). Yes, they do have street signs, and they even have addresses. Unfortunately, the numbers are out of order and no one knows the name of any of these streets. I have no idea how things are delivered, but I do know that the maps the delivery guys have are very complex. Every building on the map has a number. I know maps are outdated now, but buildings are not usually individually numbered on maps. Usually, houses and buildings are in numerical order, which results in maps showing the streets and the range of addresses on that particular street. That is, a map might say 100-200 on Main St., and that means that all addresses 101, 102, 103, 199, etc. are on that particular chunk of the street. I hope I’m clear, but if not, go look at a map. Yeah, so anyways, people don’t know where they’re going and, instead, rely on major buildings, etc. to get around… Crazy Koreans…
Koreans also have 1,000 different ways to treat people, according to gender, age, familiarity, color of hair, and situation. Because this is similar to their language hierarchies, I will be brief with this by giving one example – the “cheers” example. When you are out drinking with co-workers and people of various backgrounds and social statuses, there are very particular rules that cannot be broken. If they are broken, you are immediately frowned upon and seen as rude. Let’s start with the basics. If you are “cheersing” with your boss, the top of your glass has to be ½ of an inch lower than his top of the glass. If you are tapping the glass of your inferior, the same rule is in effect. However, if you are friends with your superior, then the top of your glass may be as close as ¼ of an inch from the top of his glass. If the two of you are really at odds, then your glass must be 5/8 of an inch lower than his. If he is having a bad day and you’re having a great day, then the 9/16’s rule, which is really more like the 11.5/16’s rule, is in effect because you can’t make it seem like you’re boasting. Also, if he didn’t play well in basketball, but you sucked more plus you gave him a really nice assist, then we go back to the ¼ rule. In a different situation, with your friends for example, everything changes. If you’re with your friends and he/she is no more than 1 year and 36 days older than you, you may clink at equal levels. If he is … all right, that’s enough for now. Haha. But seriously, I have not adjusted well to these social hierarchies... Let me explain one small facet of the drinking culture here. For this, I will only explain one facet of the drinking scenario, and that is pouring the drink. And, I will be completely serious with this. If you are getting your drink poured by an older man that you don’t know, you have to hold your glass with two hands. If you’re friends, then you may use one hand to accept the drink. Also, for pouring the drink, you must use two hands to pour unfamiliar and socially higher than you, and … maybe one hand to your inferiors. Finally, you may never pour your own glass. After all the drinks get poured, everyone goes to bed because the whole pouring process lasted 8 hours and it’s now 5am and everyone’s exhausted. Sheesh, Crazy Koreans…
That is all for the night. I was going to write about these other things, but I am exhausted at this point. I will, however, list what I wanted to say, and you can try to GUESS what I would say…
6. Koreans say, “Yes,” to an order, even when they have no intention of carrying the order out.
7. Koreans Love, love, LOVE Changu, the perverted animation character who has, for years, captured the attention of the youth. (This may be a slightly inaccurate observation).
8. Koreans push their kids into schools and after-school academies like no other country, except maybe China.
That will be the end of today’s fireside chat… I hope everyone is doing well, and I hope that everyone is keeping up their spirits despite the economy, job market, etc. Also, please … if we haven’t spoken lately, shoot me an e-mail (kyle.lee.13@gmail.com). Bye family, friends, have a wonderful Sunday.
Love,
Kyle
P.S. I didn’t proofread about half of this, so hopefully everything makes sense.
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