Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Um...Rain?







Pics:
1-Playin' pocketball--not pocketpool.
2-Apparently, this 6th grader thinks I'm completely bald. Not yet, little Miss.
3-Me in action during an after school class.
4-Me, Rob and Lisa at my birthday dinner...if you squint, she looks like Leah.
5-Our friends Ji-won and Young (left to right)

Greetings...

Today was the last day of school for the first semester of 2009. We had a half day at school and all the teachers drove almost an hour to this restaurant for lunch. The school rented a luxury van for us but I'm not exactly sure what was so luxurious about it. It had a TV screen folded up into the ceiling with some intense speakers right behind the driver so I'm just about positive that this van could "Optimus Prime" into a mobile noribong (karaoke) if we desired. Luckily for me, we didn't desire.

The location of this restaurant was pretty cool. It was nestled into this wooded area with a waterfall, a babbling brook and their very own catfish pond out front. We spotted a couple of man-made beehives buzzing with activity, some chickens and even a couple geese. I even made friends with this really cute white puppy who was chained up--there's something about a chained up dog who is completely grateful to see you and falls madly in love with you if start petting it. Now, a few days ago, I was given the choice of which dish I wanted for this lunch. My options were "Catfish Soup" or "Duck" which is the culinary equivalent of "Do you want a punch in the face or a punch in the groin?" I hesitated because I really couldn't decipher the lesser of the two evils but ended up voting for duck. Like Rob's first encounter with his co-teacher talking about duck, I too thought Lucy was saying "dog." I'm telling you Korea, sharpen up those "K's" at the end of your words to avoid these situations in the future.

So, they bring out the tray of duck meat topped with potatoes and onions and I think, "Well, this doesn't look too bad." And it wasn't. Before our food's done cooking on our little portable, gas stove, they bring out another tray for the table of teachers behind us. It was obviously another bird meat of some variety and I asked Mrs. Lee if it was a different duck dish or something and she said, "No, that's chicken"....um....what?? I find it hard to believe that Mrs. Lee, in that moment, didn't know what I was thinking. "No, it's okay, instead of eating a totally acceptable and delicious meal, I'd rather struggle through this inferior poultry quietly." The duck wasn't horrible and I did eventually get my hands on some of that leftover chicken but THAT'S NOT THE POINT! Korea is so weird sometimes!! And this is just the latest evidence of such.

This past Thursday, meteorologically speaking, was very interesting. We're currently in "the rainy season" here in Busan. Up until last week, it rained a good deal but I still wanted more. Well, someone was listening, and we got it. I woke up Thursday morning and outside was WET! Little did I know exactly how wet it was because I left house expecting a slight dousing until I could get into a cab and ride in style the rest of the way to school. As I descended the last half flight of stairs, I saw the street...or where the street should have been. Instead of a street, it was a river. No joke. I saw NO asphalt. This was serious business. I stepped outside and looked down towards the main street and it too was completely flooded. As I stood, staring in disbelief, some random neighbor walked by, sloshing through the river/street like it was completely normal. "Well," I thought, "it looks like I'm gettin' wet today." I managed to shimmy along the 8-inch sidewalk towards the main road where cars were completely stuck in the direction I needed a cab to take me. I stood there, on the edge of lots and lots of water, running all the options in my head. I couldn't call Mrs. Lee because I was positive she was dealing with her own mess and traffic was so intense that it'd take forever for her to get to me and for us to get to school. Taking a taxi was out of the question because there weren't any and if I did find one, it'd cost me $50 to get to school with all the traffic. Yes, the only thing to do was to take the first step. I was wearing my "soon to be not so nice" suit pants and the high tops I got from Dad. After a good 2 minutes of debate, I stepped in and instantly soaked myself up to my calves. It got even worse when I crossed the street. UP TO MY KNEES!! I sloshed across the road, honestly worried that I'd lose a shoe in the current and couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous and fun this was. Truthfully, as soon as the damage was done, I really enjoyed this little adventure. I walked all the way to school and got completely soaked. Even my umbrella had fun by actually leaking down on me from above! There are no holes in the fabric but apparently it was raining hard enough that the water could not be stopped.

As an apology for almost drowning me, the Universe has provided me with an amazing gift: a month long Woody Allen Film Festival showing 18 of his films!! It is safe to say that my cinematic itch will be blissfully scratched over the next 4 weeks. Rob and I went down the theatre by the beach where it'll take place so I could get an actual schedule. For those of you blog-readers who were reading from the beginning, this was the same theatre we tried to find on one of our first adventures down to Haeundae Beach where we got lost. Thankfully, we were able to find it a little easier this time. Of course, the schedule was all in Korean but I was able to spend a couple hours on Saturday morning creating my own English calendar and plotting my attack. I plan on seeing all 18 films, either in double or triple feature mini-marathons and I will love every minute of it.

I am a moron. Most of you are convinced of this already but for those of you on the fence, let me prove it to you. After our return from Seoul: The Sequel, I did a load of laundry. As I took the clothes out to dry, I discovered that anything left in your pockets will ALSO get washed. In this case, my passport. It flopped on the floor like a dead fish as I pulled the clothes out and my jaw fell as well. I picked it up and surveyed the damage. The outer cover, what used to be stiff fabric, was now frayed, faded and curled up in the opposite direction. It reminded me of a butterfly emerging from the cocoon (washing machine). The travel stamps were completely washed away but my visa sticker was amazingly intact. I set it in front of my air conditioner hoping to dry it. When it 90% dry, I stuck it underneath some really heavy bottled water to flatten it out again. Today, it doesn't look that bad but I plan on making sure it's still usable with the Embassy before I get arrested at the airport for tampering with government identification.

And, on that note, I will call it a night. I start summer camp in two days and I'm pretty excited.

I'll leave you with a video: this is a magic trick performed by my vote for the cutest Korean kid ever.

Stay tuned...
-Brent

2 comments:

  1. "I was wearing my "soon to be not so nice" suit pants and the high tops I got from Dad."

    You chose to wear suit pants AND high tops???? Are you serious, Brent?!? Oh boy.

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  2. Hey! Save the fashion tips for someone who needs 'em! I wear the high tops cuz my tookis walks 3 miles roundtrip to/from school everyday. True, I did wear spandex to school in 6th grade but I've got my "gear" in order now, thank you very much.

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