Build a Bridge Outta Her!

I wanted to write a little bit before I go to bed. I don’t like to let all these cool events pass by without me telling you all about it. Unfortunately, that will be the case and hilarious things like drunk Korean kids stripping their friends’ clothes off in the middle of the night will go unrecorded. Seriously, I was hanging out with Joohee one night, and I hear all this yelling (when she’s trying to tell me something important). Naturally, I look over to where the screaming is coming from, and I see all this high schoolers with their camera phones out. What are they taking pictures of? Yeah, their friend with only a shirt on. They did this same thing with about 5 different friends. You’d think the subsequent friends would get the hint to be on guard. Not so much, Koreans don’t think outside the box… Anyways, events like this will not be written about because there is too much to do and not enough hours in the day. My apologies…

In the past month, I have been to at least one new place every weekend. These last several weeks have been amazing because of these explorations/adventures. I have been to traditional museums, the mountains, really cool areas, etc. This weekend, I was in Busan with Kris and Grace. It was fun, but it was very stressful. The highlight of my trip was laying on the beach and eating at a buffet. It was $35 a person, but it was the best buffet I have ever eaten at. In fact, it was probably the best meal I have had in Korea. The buffet was located in the most famous seafood market in Korea, so all the fish was amazing and beautifully presented. (Tiffany, if you ever read this, I meant to take pictures for you because you would have enjoyed them. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera . Anyway, I’ll be sure to visit the place again and take pictures JUST for you).

School has been good. I’m teaching two high levels and one low level. The low level is giving me a run for my money. Unfortunately, I have made one cry. I hit him (on the leg), and I kind of singled him out shortly after. I felt so bad, and I felt like the worst teacher ever. I don’t want to explain too much, but I want to let you all know of how imperfect I am. Normally, I like to be an arrogant bloke, but people (apparently) don’t like that…

But … seriously, I talked to Grace last weekend in Seoul, and she told me how some of my friends or people that I have known a long time think I am an elitist. It’s true, I am. I am not sure if arrogant is the correct term because it implies jerkdom. (Yeah, I’m starting to create words). Well, I’m anything but a jerk because I always mean well. The fact of the matter is that I care a lot about what people think of me. With that, I think elitist is a better term for me; I think that I am better than people, and it has nothing to do with people being inferior. I don’t think people are inferior, I just think that I am/can be superior. Wow, I’m sure you are all thinking how arrogant I am now. I mean it in the least arrogant way possible, though.

The last thing I want to do is defend myself on another, similar issue that has been brought to my attention. I admit that I can be standoffish. Also, I can be rude, especially when I blurt things out without thinking. Going even further, I am just as insecure as everyone else. Depending on the context of the situation, I might feel shy. More often than not, I feel the need to impress everyone with how cool I am. When that happens, I might not say, “hi” to people. I even test people from time to time – to see if they would approach me first, etc. Now, I realize these are all petty and imply that I am anything but “elite.” C’est la vie. I’m not perfect. These are my flaws, and you should know that I am working on them everyday to improve myself. With that, I want to sincerely apologize to those who I have offended. This is, of course, aimed at certain people, but I won’t reveal who. I actually have my doubts that they will read this at all, but I think this suffices. With that, I hope that we can move on. I can’t promise that I will be completely perfect in the future, but I can promise to do my best. I will try to be more composed, but change will be slow.

Hm... I don't want to end it on this serious and somewhat drab note, so i will end by talking about the travelling I hope to do next year. I’ve started to plan for a few trips. Tentatively, I am planning to hit Japan (and Russia?) for 9 days in April. That will be my birthday present to myself, as I hope to go April 17th to 26th (with DJ Joo). When I get back, I will only have a month left on my contract!!! Weee! After my contract ends, I have just two words – BACKPACKING TRIP 2010!!!!! I am shooting to hit 10 countries in Southeast Asia. How long I go for is to be determined... By the way, would anyone like to accompany me to all or part of my backpacking stuff? If so, let me know because that would be so awesome to backpack with one (or all) of my friends!!

Have a great week everyone. I hope something cool happens...