I'm still here...

Sorry for the lack of updates lately...I've been dating someone and haven't really had much happen that warrants blogging about. Classes start next week though, so I'm sure that will lead to something interesting :) In the meantime, enjoy some Tom Waits.

I'm a yellow belt! Yay!

To celebrate, I had to take part in "promotion exercises", which involved 600 overhead sword strikes, 100 kneeling strikes, and various other means of torture. Kind of makes me dread my next promotion :)

Fortune Telling

Fortune telling is big business in Korea. People set up booths almost anywhere, enclosed in transparent tarp to keep out the cold, and folks queue up on benches to wait their turn. Once you're in the booth, there are the old standbys--tarot cards, palm reading, etc, but last night I saw something new.

I was on my way to meet a friend last night and the taxi driver has his tv tuned to a fortune telling show. Apparently, from what I could gather, the fortune teller would make a prediction about someone based on whether their driver's license floats or sinks when it hits a bowl of water. One lady brought in her husband's license, and when it sank like a stone she started bawling.

I'm not sure if the news the fortune teller imparted was of imminent death or an extra-marital affair, but either way this woman was reduced to tears at the sight of a piece of plastic sinking to the bottom of a bowl of water. Strange.

End-of-school ceremony

So today was officially the last day of school for the students. When they come back after spring vacation, they will go to the next grade.

The highlight of the ceremony for me was when one of the teachers lit up a cigarette while congratulating the students.

Two great records.

I listened to two great records yesterday. One was the lone release of Zwan, Billy Corgan's band after Smashing Pumpkins broke up. This record is great because it actually sounds more like Siamese Dream and Pisces Iscariot than the last 3 Pumpkins records do.


The other record I listened to was Sunshine Hit Me by Band of Bees. You might as well call this a one-off also, because the rest of the records by this group sound nothing like this.

Spiiicy!

Last night after gumdo class some of us went out for beer and chicken. I ate quite possibly the hottest chicken ever. Well, probably not, but hot for me. I'm paying for it today--my stomach is not appreciative. While at the restaurant, I had to snap a pic of the restroom sign. It's good they were so descriptive, lest you forget how each gender relieves themselves. Sorry the pic is so blurry; I took it with my phone.

You know it's the 70's...

...if somebody's singing in front of some lattice.