day 2, andong.

so here's some catchup. the flight worked out just fine. the worst thing about it was walking around LAX, us airport security is truly the most retarded thing in the world. asiana airlines didn't charge me a fee for my flight-change, so that was 75 USD saved. i arrive in busan to my recruiters, and it fills me with a little bit of dread because it becomes clear to me that they are just 3 girls with cell phones and a nice website. it's not like the JET program or anything, just a totally indie operation. therefore the 3 hour ride to andong was filled with a teeny bit of trepidation. but they bought me some snazzy bibimbap in a roadside cafe; jetlag and all i was feeling like a champ.

we meet mr. kim (who the fuck woulda known, a korean guy named mr. kim?), and after a lengthy meeting that was conducted about 25% in english, i got the job. mr. kim "really wanting work with me" according to wonny, winnie and hye-yah. still scared as shit, but whatever, it's adventure.

mr. kim has totally opened up his house to me, he gave me the use of 2 bedrooms, a key to the house, has said that his grandmother will do my laundry, give me unlimited kimchi and rice, etcetera. about the only thing that sucks about it is the brazen cold of his house. it's very drafty and heated by little space heaters.

after a few hours of settling in, mr. kim took me shopping, bought me a razor (we're on 110v here), cereal, juice and beer. it's good so far.

DAY ONE OF TEACHING.

we pull up to the school, mr. kim putters like a champ around his office, i smile and nod. there seems to be a fair amount of down time in the morning here. we split a giant pot of soon-doo-boo, my fave korean dish. i don't see why everyone is warning me about the soon-doo-boo here, it's way spicier in vancouver. the thing that is different is that two of the side dishes are NOT pickled potatoes but tiny dried minnows. they taste like fish jerky really, not half bad.

at 12:30 i am tossed into the fray. tossed to the proverbial lions. i had an idea that the kids would be rather merciless, and some were. some just didn't pay attention. i did my best to speak slowly but nerves got the better of me. "TEE-CHA, speak slower... speak less difficult" was the refrain... i ended up eating a lot of humble pie and getting my waegook ass laughed at quite a bit as the troublemakers yammered to their friends in korean.

the good thing about it - i have been nicknamed "HURK". which i orignally thought was "herc", short for "hercules" but i soon realized that korean kids have not seen all that much shitty 1960s canadian TV. so what i thought was "herc! herc!" was actually HULK with a korean accent... and because of my size i have become this bellowing giant in their eyes. i always knew i was an awe-inspiring dude but it's good to have that idea reinforced by 100 kids.

i survived the day. i think the worst thing is going to be dealing with the constant activity, i had a bit of a stress headache at the end of the 6 hours. i felt really flustered, and with the jet lag i was ready for bed around 7.

mr. kim's brother yong-tak is a cool dude, he's taken to me like an old friend... he took me and his buddy out for this crazy korean stew and soju. soju is gross, like weak gin. but the conversation was pretty good, just "what do you do in YOUR country" kinda stuff. he likes black sabbath and his favorite band is queen so i think we will get along swimmingly.

it's 10:30 am. mr. kim will be here soon to ramble on in broken english. i think i'd better go and get some chow. more soon.