Climbing a mountain, indoor version.

So I decided to get out tonight since it's Friday. Well, technically, if you've been reading along you know I was supposed to have choir practice tonight. I walked down to the church and it was full of people listening to a guest priest talk. I saw my friend Hwan Jo's dad and sat beside him. Using a combination of facial gestures, his cell phone's calendar and my cell phone's dictionary, he silently told me that choir practice was canceled this week. So now I had no plans.

I took a taxi to Mega Mart and walked around there for a bit, to see if they had any Christmas decorations for sale yet. They're slowly starting to bring them out, so maybe I'll go down there again next weekend and pick up a small tree and some lights for the apartment. Speaking of next week things, last week I went to ETLand, an electronics store. They promosied me that they would have the iPod Touch in stock next week, which is now this week. Conveniently, ETLand is right next to Mega Mart, so I strolled in, only to be told that the Touch isn't going to arrive until December 16th or so. I don't know if this is a sign that I should order one online or if this is a sign that I don't really need one at all.

Anyway, I was already halfway downtown by this point, so I took a cab to Hyundai Department Store. Assuming they closed at 9 (it was 8:30), I went in and took the escalator to the second floor. Then, abruptly, the escalator stopped. "Hm," I thought. "I guess they shut the escalator down half an hour before the store closes. I'll just walk up the rest of the way." Big mistake. By the time I got up to the sixth floor where the iPods were, I was about to die. It was like climbing a mountain, part two, this time in public and wearing a winter coat. I arrived to a deserted electronics section. There were a few guys in suits over by the big screen tvs, but I don't know if they were employees or what. At this point I noticed there were dust covers over everything. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe the department store doesn't close at nine.

I was wrong. The department store closed at 8:30.

So anyway, in no shape to mount the escalator for a manual descent, I looked for the elevator. Finding it, I was dismayed to discover it was not functioning, it being after store hours. Frantically looking for an alternative to climbing down the escalator from the 6th floor of an empty department store, someone asked, in English (!) if I needed any help. Luckily, the 6th floor manager was walking around and spotted me. He took me to the employee elevator and rode it down too the ground floor with me. Then some Korean girls (who were simply amazed that I knew any Korean at all) talked with me for awhile and gave me directions to Bennigans. I knew where Bennigan's was, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless. We said goodbye, I walked for about a block, stepped inside a Paris Baguette for a pastry to fortify myself, and took a taxi home.

Not a bad Friday night. Sure beats sitting at home.

Results of the first experiment--subject is a hopeless failure.

I lasted about thirty minutes last night in my quest to not become a screen zombie. Part of the problem is that the view out of my apartment window isn't as much scenic as it is facing the side wall of the apartment building beside me. There's only so long I could look at the posters on my walls before I just had to get on the internet. Oh well. I accept my defeat.

Tonight is my first choir practice at church. Should be interesting.

Nothing like a little K-Fed talk in the morning...

One of my little joys in life is talking to one of the office girls via the school's IM client every day. Here is a transcript of one of our recent chats. Unfortunately, you have to read from the bottom up. I've also changed her name, so no stalking! ;)

자님이 보낸글 >>
That is , a good father

John님이 보낸글 >>
Ah, I see. He is not a good father?

자님이 보낸글 >>
He is a merciless demand to brittney spears.

John님이 보낸글 >>
why?

자님이 보낸글 >>
I think a bad man.

John님이 보낸글 >>
k-fed = Kevin Federline

자님이 보낸글 >>
k-fed ?? What mean??

John님이 보낸글 >>
what about k-fed?

자님이 보낸글 >>
I remember . She's exacting.
Paparazzi always picks on her.

John님이 보낸글 >>
Remember when she shaved her head? Why did she do that?

자님이 보낸글 >>
Take pity on brittney spears. Not crazy.

John님이 보낸글 >>
i dont think brittney spears is dignified any more. she is crazy!

자님이 보낸글 >>
She's a dignified appearance, Good~


John님이 보낸글 >>
i think every korean girl likes brittney spears and beyonce ^^

자님이 보낸글 >>
like a Korean girl????

John님이 보낸글 >>
You sound like a Korean girl ^^

자 님이 보낸글 >>
Britney Spears, Beyonce , Ne-Yo(Shaffer Chimere Smith)

John님이 보낸글 >>
do you have a favorite american singer or band?

I'm a screen zombie.

I need to get away from the screen. What screen? All of them. Television, computer, you name it. Since coming to Korea, whenever I'm not teaching, I'm usually in front of my laptop (at school) or my television (at home). This can't be good for my eyes. I've got to find something to do to make my eyes relax. I think tonight I'm just going to go home, lie down, turn off the lights, and put on some music. No screen time tonight. I'll let you know how it goes tomorrow.

In the meantime, why don't you read Azreal's (of Gaijin Smash fame) editorial on his quest to overcome the dreaded screen zombine syndrome.

OLPC

I've never found a way to accurately describe what a waste of time, effort, and resources the OLPC (one laptop per child) project is. Luckily, someone summed up my feelings in a comic.

It's Desert Bus for Charity!

I went to these guys' website to check it out--it's super cool how you can watch both a live stream from their house and the "bus cam." Watch and donate (if you're so inclined) at desertbus.org!

This article says they will raise $5,000, but they've almost raised four times that amount!

Article Link

Three, oh three, it's a magic number

In class this week I'm doing a lesson on numbers. As a treat at the end, I printed up the lyrics to Three Is A Magic Number from Schoolhouse Rock and showed them the video featuring the Blind Melon song. Have you ever heard something so funky?