Sticker crazy

What is it about a shiny sticker that makes kids go crazy? I've discovered lately that the stickers I brought from Canada are both my best friend and secret weapon in the classroom. The kids know that they will be rewarded with a sticker if they complete their daily homework, and if they start to get a little too rowdy, I threaten that there won't be any stickers the next day unless they quiet down. Works like magic!

This is a picture of "Jane" showing off her growing collection of stickers. About half the kids have an English name that they either came up with themselves, or somewhere along the way someone gave them.

On my first day of teaching I was told to simply give each kid a name since learning their Korean names would be too hard for me. I didn't feel right about arbitrarily assigning someone a new name, so I just went ahead and learned their Korean names. In a way, I ended up giving them a new name anyway. Initially my butchering of their Korean names brought endless laughter, but by this point they have gotten used to my mangled pronunciation and don't give it a second thought.

Movies at Megabox

One thing that Koreans and I see eye-to-eye on is a serious devotion to movie going.


Despite lightning fast Internet connections that can provide the latest cinematic treats via a two hour download, and even though the latest releases can usually be bought on pirated DVD on the sidewalk outside the theatre, you can forget about just walking up to a theatre on a weekend and buying a ticket. If you haven't bought your ticket days in advance, the show will most likely be sold out. These pictures were taken at Megabox Cineplex in COEX Mall (the same shopping complex as the Apple Store). The Megabox has 19 screens and is reportedly the largest multiplex in Asia. My kind of place!


Movie theaters here are ultra modern and very comfortable. The seating is all stadium style, and all seats are reserved—you choose your seats when you buy your tickets. The only downside is the selection of English-language movies that make it to Korean screens. The menu is heavy on brainless action movies, and light on quality.

The Mac is back!

After a month of chugging along crippled with only half the memory it should have had, my Powerbook is now humming along again at full power!

The saga began one day when my computer suddenly began to feel slow and sluggish. After tinkering with this and that I was left scratching my head. By chance I opened the window that lists how much RAM is installed in the computer and was shocked to see that only half of the installed memory was being recognized by my Mac.

Fortunately, Seoul has an Apple Store (well, actually, it is not an official Apple Store, but the "Apple Experience Center" looks and feels like an Apple Store, and it is owned an operated by Apple Korea). After a quick inspection I was told my baby needed a new logic board. Apparently the needed part was put on the slow boat from the US (even though it was probably manufactured in China, or maybe even Korea!), because it took more than a month to arrive.

Long story short, I dropped off my Mac on Wednesday, picked it up on Friday. It is running faster, and better than ever! In typical Korean fashion, no paperwork was ever completed or exchanged. I assume they got my warranty information from the computer's serial number, but when I walked in the store to pick up my fixed computer, no one asked me for ID or a receipt. I simply gave my first name to someone I had never seen before, and he disappeared in the back and returned with my computer. He handed it over and I walked out the door!

Delicious dak galbi

My favourite Korean dish is dak galbi, a chicken stir-fry that is cooked at your table. On Sunday I persuaded Laura, Jessica, and Anna to join me for a feast at our favourite dak galbi restaurant. Maybe I was just hungry, but the food tasted better than I remembered from previous visits.

Here is the "before" picture, taken just after the raw food was brought to the table:


Then, after cooking for about 10 minutes, it is ready to eat!


The great thing about eating in Korean restaurants (besides the wonderful air-conditioning!!!) is the free side dishes that accompany every meal. Besides the mandatory kimchi, we received a tasty salad, an assortment of pickled radishes, and a tasteless seaweed soup. If any of these should strike your fancy, they are refillable for free upon request!

Sweating in Seoul

I have been complaining a lot lately about how hot it has been this last week, but I wasn't getting much sympathy from people back home when I told them about the 30 degrees Celsius temperatures. After all, 30 degrees is not actually that hot—heck, I dealt with a lot worse in Kuwait and the Middle East.

But after sweating through today's scorching heat (the worst day yet) I was compelled to get on the Internet and figure out just why the weather seems so intense here. Finally, I found my answer: the humidex! And wouldn't you know it, the apparent temperature humidity index is a Canadian invention! Using a formula that combines air temperature and relative humidity, the humidex is the apparent temperature, or put simply, how hot it actually feels.

Using the nifty humidex calculator available on this site, I was able to calculate today's apparent temperature in Seoul and it became clear why I have been sweating out more than my body weight in water: with an actual temperature today of 36°C and a relative humidity of 84%, the apparent temperature today was a whopping 58°C! No wonder I haven't sleeping at night! I knew I should never have taken an apartment without air-conditionning.....

Heat wave!

It's official: Korea is in the grip of a heat wave! According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, temperatures hovering above 30 degrees Celsius are here to stay for weeks to come. My fan is getting a real workout, with near 24 hour a day operation. Unfortunately it just keeps the air moving, and does nothing to cool it. The thermostat in my apartment read 35 degrees today for the first time. I asked Hyeran, the Korean teacher I work with, what Koreans do when it gets this hot. Besides eating dog soup (mostly eaten by men it brings new meaning to the phrase dog days of summer!), she said people take refuge in air-conditioned environments, banks and shopping malls being two of the most popular. So, if my house gets too unbearable today, I might go hang out at the bank! Ha ha ha!

Too cute for discipline?

These girls are in my "basic" level class, which is the youngest group of kids I teach. Two of the girls showed up with masks they had made in another class, and decided to wear them for the duration of the class. When I called them rabbit instead of by their names, the laughter was so uproarious that it took a good five minutes to calm the class down. I never really understood what was so funny, but they sure loved that joke.

Return of the smoke man

The mosquito fogger came by for another pass today, but this time I had my camera ready. The neighbourhood kids were once again chasing the motorbike and sucking up the tasty fumes.

Curbside shopping

This curbside shopping mall appears from time to time on the sidewalk between my house and the subway station. All items are 1000 won (about $1.20).

Rainy days at Yang Hwa

It has rained more in the last week then it did during the entire first three months that I've been here. I don't mind though—at least the rain brings a brief respite from the sweltering heat. This relief doesn't come without a price though: apparently all this water provides a convenient breeding ground for the August mosquito attack. Something to look forward to!

Rumble in Pyongtaek

From The Boston Globe:

Some 7,000 demonstrators clash with riot police officers during a rally against the U.S. troops' move here from Seoul near the U.S. Camp Humphreys in Pyongtaek, south of Seoul, Sunday, July 10, 2005. The U.S. military in South Korea is now headquartered at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, but is set to move its entire command to Pyongtaek by 2008 as part of plans to consolidate bases and reduce the number of U.S. troops. (AP Photo)

Killer Fog

I heard the buzz of the mosquito fogging motorbike coming close, but by the time I got my camera he had become completely obscured by the smoke. Notice the little kid in the bottom right of the picture. A pack of five young kids were having a great time running behind the motorbike chasing it, breathing in the smoke straight from the pipe!

Who chose these colours?

My school is getting a face lift for summer: bright yellow and hot orange. What a combo! I polled each of my classes and 90% of the students think the new colour scheme is great. I wonder how the neighbours in the apartment buildings that overlook the school feel about it...

An interesting side note: the painting crew is using our break room as their storage and lunch area. I guess if there was any doubt about where we ranked within the school structure it has been cleared up now!

My American Neighbour

My house is located on a hill adjacent to and overlooking the largest American military base in Korea.


To reach the subway from my house I have to walk down a steep hill along one side of base wall (the barbed wire is the first clue that this is not an ordinary neightbour!)...


Turn the corner just past this yard often filled with various Hummers and big trucks...


And then walk past this entry gate and along another side of the base wall to reach the subway. If I was able to walk a straight line from my house directly to the subway I could probably make the trek in five minutes, instead of the 15 minutes it takes now.

Take the A-Train

The Seoul metro subway is a wonder. You can go practically everywhere by using a combination of the eleven lines that make up the system. According to some stats I dug up on the Internet, the Seoul system is the third largest in the world by ridership, with 1.4 billion riders each year!


The station closest to my house is by far the quietest station I have seen. Often I am the only person waiting on the platform which is great because it makes getting a seat very easy.


To get to my school I have to transfer to the "Green Line" which travels on a loop around the city. It is probably one of the busiest lines and it is not uncommon for the train to be packed with even more people than seen here.

Happy Fourth of July!

Boom! Crash! Are the North Koreans coming across the border? No! It's just a fireworks display for July 4th over the Yongsan garrison next door. My roof afforded a decent view of the modest show.

View from the roof

The early monsoon rains broke for a few hours this afternoon so I decided to go up to the roof and snap a few pictures of my neighbours. Haebangchon is directly adjacent to the largest US presence here in Korea, the Yongsan Garrison. There is only one building between my house and the base wall (the one with the blue roof in this picture). According to this profile, the Yongsan Garrison "enjoys the life-style of a suburb of a small city." Of course, this is a life style that eludes the 11 million Seoulites that surround the base. Perhaps this tension played a part in the decision to relocate US forces outside the city. Yongsan will be handed back to Korea by December 2008.

Most people will have to wait until then to get an up-close look at the area that makes up Yongsan. The most visible base landmark that can be seen from my roof is the Dragon Hill Lodge. In the distance you can see aparment buildings on the south side of the Han River. Everything between the river and blue roof is the domain of USFK.


This is the view from my roof looking down the street. The base wall is at the end of the street, just out of sight.

As you can see, Anna lives just across the street. Between us is the "Shopette," a small family-run store. Anna and I do our part to contribute to their bottom line by making copious popsicle purchases.