Some Strange Some Glad

Greetings...

I'm officially 28 years old now but I remain 29 in Korea's eyes. I won't turn "30" until Jan.1. My birthday was on a Saturday but a few students were awesome enough to congratulate me on Friday. I even received a couple hand made birthday cards which was totally awesome. Here's a couple, transcribed faithfully:

"To...Dunham TEACHER. Hello Teacher. My name is Gyeong Lim. Happy birth day!...:) Vary thank you. English study vary English spiking do. Thank you. Teacher I love evry day smil" (Spelling mistakes and all...with a birthday cake and happy face drawn at the bottom)

"To: Dun-ham Teacher. My name is Jong Eun. Hello my name is Jong Eun (yes, twice). Today this is your birth day! You must be very happy. Me too. I happy I think. Your family is a nice. Bey-bey. See you---:) Happy Birth to you. Love."

"To Teacher. teacher HAPPY tommorrow teacher's HAPPY birthday present is monday give to you. Today hears about your birthday. Teacher come day. Some strange some glad. What do you want anything present? Teacher comes Korea. First Birthday. Happy birthday after read." (What the heck does "some strange some glad" mean??)

Two things are obvious from these letters: 1) I have awesome students and 2) (as Cari astutely pointed out) I'm apparently not very good at my job.

For my b-day, I went out with Rob, Ji-won and two of her friends (Young and Lisa) who are rapidly becoming staples on the hang out circuit. While waiting for Young to arrive, we played pocketball at our usual haunt (a very nice pool hall on the ELEVENTH FLOOR with an amazing view of the city at night). Then, the group eventually assembled, we went to dinner. Actually, we went to a bar, had some fruit flavored soju and exquisite apps (appetizers...apps was stolen from Michael Scott on The Office). If you know me, you know that I've never been one for bars. Lucky for me, bars in Korea are way cooler than our domestic locations. Sure, there's hammered college kids vomiting sometimes, and people talking way too loud and/or smoking and I'm sure there are actual bar fights (we've yet to see one), but I still prefer this version. Often there are awesome couches to sit on, we have our own semi-secluded booth, the flavored soju is AWESOME and since everyone's drinking it, there's a pleasant lack of "girly drink jokes." After dinner, we tried to go bowling but the place we went to was busy so...we played more pocketball...at the same place! The look on the guy's face was priceless: "Wow, you guys really like pocketball, eh?" (that's what his face said) And, can I can just say that I ruled that night? My team won every game! We've been playing so much that my skills are visibly improving...now I know why I'm here...my destiny as a professional billiardsman is unfolding.

Part of Rob's birthday gift was taking me to this incredible movie theatre. So, last Thursday, Rob, Ji-won, Lisa and I went to "Cine de Chef," the most luxurious movie going experience I've had. We ate dinner at their restaurant (great Italian food) while "Mamma Mia" played on mute across a ginormous screen (we guessed maybe 150 wide and 30 feet high). They've got classic movie stills as framed posters on the walls and classic film star biographies as coffee table books in the lobby. Then, we went into the theatre that had only 32 seats. "32 seats? Really?" "Yes." "Well, it must've been a very small auditorium." "Nope...it was normal size." You see, when I say "seats," what I really mean is chairs. Lounge chairs. Recliner chairs made of leather with YOUR OWN COUCH PILLOW TO SNUGGLE WITH! We get complimentary drinks and snacks...this means coke in a glass with ice and a bowl of biscotti-esque bread. Give me some popcorn and twice as much coke in a paper cup and I'm right as rain but this was cool too. So, with our shoes off, our legs elevated and our minds blown, we watched Transformers 2. I remember thinking the first film was too busy and spastic for it's own good...and as sequels go, this one didn't fall far from the tree. It's dumb, loud and everyone talks 200 words per minute. On paper, watching giant robots fight each other on our planet couldn't be cooler but, somehow, Michael Bay makes watching these scenes an exercise in frustration: "Wait, which one's the good guy? How many robots are actually fighting right now??"

Today, I found myself working on a Saturday as a volunteer. A week or so ago, a woman came to my school and had a chat with Mrs. Lee about this new Community Center opening up that holds one day camps for kids from low income families. The camps are based on English education which is how I got involved. They needed some volunteers as some other English teachers like myself had dropped out. Of course, I felt bad and said I'd help out. As today approached, especially this morning, I was regretting my decision. Not only is it a Saturday but I've started feeling slightly under the weather. But, as soon as I got there, my mood improved. There were probably a dozen students from my school there and seeing them was quite exciting. All the kids have balloons and everyone just seems in a great mood. I was in charge of one activity that was kinda like musical chairs with English. One kid would pick another kid and have a short dialogue...at the end of the dialogue, the kids would get up and switch seats leaving someone without a seat to lead the next dialogue. I also got to work with 3 attractive Korean college girls (wink wink).

And, finally, I've got a bit of news. Over the next year or so, I will be editing a collection of interviews by Danny Boyle for the University of Mississippi Press. Mr. Boyle (if you weren't aware) is a fantastic film director from England--he's done some great work (Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine (my favs)) but things got a whole lot more interesting on Planet Boyle when his latest effort, Slumdog Millionaire, slam dunked the Oscars this year winning Best Picture and Best Director. My job will be to do a ton or research, looking for interviews he's already done, that I will then edit and put together as one book. I get to write an Introduction, Filmography and Chronology. AND! "Edited by Brent Dunham" on the cover! And, the cherry on top...it looks like I'll have the opportunity to interview Mr. Boyle myself specifically for the book. ALSO! In my first email to the press (I was responding to an ad they placed), I mentioned my plans to write a book on Woody Allen. When the woman wrote back, she asked me about it. I sent her a brief paragraph of my idea and she's interested in that book also! She wants me to keep her posted as it progresses. Writing my own book from scratch vs. copying/pasting other people's writings are two very different tasks but I think when there's a contract to honor and money being exchanged, my motivation will have no excuse but to kick it into gear.

I'm very excited about this project and it will be great to be productive again.

Stay tuned...

-Brent

p.s. If anyone happens across a Danny Boyle interview, you'll be my hero if you send it to me :) I might even thank you in the book!