The Chronicles of an English Expert...YEAH RIGHT!!

Anyone there?

2010-05-28T05:27:00.002+09:00

Just wondering if anyone out there still stops by this blog. I am thinking of trying to start it up again...since my last attempt was...uhhhh, less than stellar.

back from my long hiatus

2009-03-16T16:43:00.002+09:00

Well.....hello everyone. It's been so long, I'm feeling a bit of stagefright. After some much needed pushing, I am finally back to update this blog. I'm not sure if I was subconciously trying to wait a full year to post something, but I'm back...hopefully with frequent updates for those few of you that actually check this site (you know who you are). lol

Let's see now...where did I leave off...oh yeah!! Since my last post (Father's Day '08), a lot has gone on. I finished up my contract in Okaya City, Japan...accepted a position at a well-known university in Saudi Arabia...went home to process the visa...bought a new lappy (HDX Dragon)...went through two hurricanes...started my M.A. degree...drank a whole hell of a lot of Jim Beam...had a few b-b-q's...had to pass on the uni job because the visa process was taking too long to make the start date...interviewed with a BIG company based in Saudi...got good feedback but no offer...decided that I had better get a job somewhere...took a job back in South Korea...arrived in December for three weeks of work...went to The Philippines for winter vacation...got my PADI Divemaster certification during the two months I spent there...got a new tattoo...arrived back in Korea on March 2nd...back to work...and this brings us up to the present moment. Turns out not that much to write about afterall. Over the next couple of days I will be trying to upload various pictures from the past nine months. I'll give you one just to whet your appetite. Bear with me for the rest.

For all you Fathers out there!

2008-06-15T00:31:00.000+09:00

Have a good one!!

Don't send a lame Father's Day eCard.
Try JibJab Sendables!

Sister's visit

2008-06-01T16:48:00.004+09:00

Brattnay visited me here in Japan from May 2nd until the 25th. Now, that's over THREE weeks of us living together...something I had thought of as being mildly IMPOSSIBLE!! lol Actually, with only a few exceptions, it wasn't so bad. I was able to take her to various sightseeing spots around Tokyo and here in Nagano. Let's see if I can recall....Shinjuku, Shibuya, Asakusa, Akihabara, Tsukiji, Matsumoto, Okaya, Suwa, Shimosuwa, Narai-juku, Shiojiri. All in all, not too bad considering I was working during the week and she usually slept till 1:00pm. Lots of pictures were taken, we saw shrines, temples, kimonos, hot springs, castles and she was able to teach a few classes at my school as well as visit some local schools around town.

Anyone who has been to Japan will tell you one thing for sure.....it's expensive. She came with $500 for the three weeks, and I thought that was cutting it close. Turns out she wouldn't have had enough...but, as I mentioned before, she taught a few classes at my school and was paid accordingly....$25/hour. Not bad money for a high school graduate.

We should be expecting some good photos from her as well, as I passed down one of my old cameras to her......my trusty Canon S2 IS. I had used that camera since 2004 and it had been pretty good to me. I'm hoping she'll take the time to learn how to use it.

. . . .

2008-05-13T10:03:00.003+09:00

last weekend pics

2008-04-22T00:11:00.002+09:00

Just a couple of shots I took while out last weekend. My favorite, the first one, was actually taken while I was in my car stopped at a red light.

Spring Hath Cometh....

2008-04-06T17:17:00.005+09:00

I took this beee-u-ti-fulll picture yesterday around Lake Kawaguchi. The Sakura (cherry blossoms) were out almost in full bloom. That, combined with a great view of Mt. Fuji, made for an interesting photo idea that came out quite well. Me and a couple of my students went out for the day. Our itenerary included the Lake Kawaguchi area, then off to Iwara where we visited a huge park with lots of blooming flowers, then our last stop was in Kofu to check out a cool Samurai festival at the old castle grounds. I'll get some more pics up on here....if I somehow snap out of my lazy streak. :D

Day out in Tokyo

2008-03-23T21:52:00.005+09:00

I made my way over to Tokyo today to meet up with an old friend of mine, Asami. She recently found out that she is pregnant and is expecting her new arrival in November. A big congratulations to her!! Well, we met up around 11:30 in Shinjuku. We then walked over to Harajuku and had lunch (cold soba to be precise). I wanted to visit Yoyogi park, as it fills up with some of the most interesting people on Sundays, so we walked over after lunch. As expected, there were a lot of things going on...people dressed up in cosplay, live bands, skateboarders, dancers, and my personal favorite...The Greasers!

It was Asami's first time to visit the park on a Sunday and to see the crazy sorts that hang out there. We had a great time hanging out, walking around Harajuku, and catching up with each other. It's been about 3-4 years since we saw each other last. We first met way back in 1998, when she visited her good friend Wakako, in the Philippines. We've had some pretty funny and memorable experiences together in Manila (Halloween Party) where she disappeared by the end of the night and ended up sleeping on the street, and also in Bangkok where we somehow found ourselves in Patpong , and probably the most disgusting/disturbing experience either of us have had...NO DETAILS!!

Man...were does the time go. The older I get the faster it seems to go, which is true for pretty much everyone else too, I guess. I don't want to get myself too depressed so I'd better go ahead and post the pictures from today. Enjoy!
the sea of people in Harajuku
cosplay 1
cosplay 2
hmmm...well...errr.....I dunno!
Doo-wop dancer

a pretty cool shop sign on a wall in Harajuku

I like.....to play with.......dolls!

2008-02-27T12:28:00.007+09:00

Hahahaha! Well, not exactly.

Last weekend me and a friend went over to a museum to check out a special display it had going. You see, every March 3rd here in Japan, every household with a daughter puts out a doll display to bring good fortune and happiness to her. The average display is about six levels with around thirty dolls. The World Folk Doll Museum in Suzaka City had a display of thirty levels and a thousand dolls!! Here is what it looked like:

.....and a couple of other dolls

Although I'm not a huge doll fan, I thought it was quite impressive. I wanted to visit the snow monkeys afterwards, monkeys that are famous for coming down from the mountains to bathe in the hot springs, but the weather suddenly turned nasty and we had to cancel that part of the trip. I'm determined to see them this winter though so keep posted for updates.

As for other news, well there's not a whole lot to tell. Work is going along nicely, the weather is still cold over here, my car is running fine, and life in general is good. I'll leave you with some more pics I've taken over the past couple of weeks.

Enjoy!!

Bogged Down

2008-02-03T15:04:00.000+09:00

It's been snowing pretty steadily over here the past few days...as you can see from this pic I snapped just minutes before posting.The last couple of weeks have been fairly nice with temperate weather and some really beautiful sunny days. I've been going down to the lake recently to photograph some of the wildlife that shows up around here in winter. There are large groups of swans, ducks, hawks and other birds that migrate down here...I guess.

On the work front, things have been going good...nothing out of the ordinary to report on. I can't believe I've been here for over seven months now, time has seemed to fly by. I'm not sure about my future plans come June (when my contract is finished), but it's probably something I should start thinking about now.

I went to a small town two Sundays ago with a friend to take some pictures of Fuji at sunrise. Well, we met up at 6am and headed for Fujimi. The roadside thermometer read -16.6 C so it was slightly cold that day. Unfortunately, there were a lot of thick clouds at the base of Fuji and I wasn't able to get any great shots (to my satisfaction at least). Luckily, on the way home, we ran across a hot-air balloon that was plowing the skies and got some nice shots of that.I hope you enjoy the pics.

Oh, and congratulations to my brother and his girlfriend, who just had a baby last month....welcome Hunter Charles Sattler.

Happy New Year to ALL!!

2008-01-12T11:52:00.000+09:00

Just want to wish everyone out there a Happy New Year!! I went home for three weeks (Dec. 15- Jan. 4) and so was able to spend Christmas and New Years with my family...which was awesome. It had been over 14 years since we had all been together for Christmas so it was a very enjoyable time for all.

Time flew by and it seemed that there was always something going on. I bought myself a metal detector and went treasure hunting in the backyard looking for the mother load...didn't find it! Also, as part of their present, I treated my siblings to a trip to Graceland in Tennessee. We had a sweeeeet time there and I think by the time we left, they were all a bit more interested in "The King" and his life. Highly Recommended!!

I'll try and prepare a couple of photos from that trip, as well as the rest of my trip to post on here. I haven't been updating this site quite as much as I would like...but a hell of a lot more often than a certain "friend" from Canada who seems to have fallen off the face of the earth. :O lol

Anyway, until my next update, i'll leave you with this funny little video.

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

and here are some of the Graceland pics....enjoy

Ahh...the joys of teaching

2007-11-15T22:50:00.000+09:00

Date: today
Situation: kids class
Kids: two boys..two girls (twins)
Age: 5

As I'm giving the kids their stamps for being good at the end of class, I look over at one of the twins (who is just standing next to her little kinder-sized chair...frozen) to see her look down at a nice big puddle on the floor...she went wee-wee.

What makes Japan.....Japan!

2007-11-11T16:00:00.000+09:00

Over the past month or so, I have had the chance to go out and visit the countryside around here. I visited all of these places with Rumi and we both had a lot of fun together. This will be the photo journal of it all.

Nakasendo Road

One of the historic roads which connected the cities of Kyoto with Tokyo (the two seats of power in ancient Japan), many old post towns along the road have been preserved in their old style. We visited three of the town, Narai-juku...Tsumago-juku...and Magome-juku. In times gone by, it took about 20 days to travel to entire length of the road , which I believe was about 250 km or just over 150 miles. Although the road no longer exists in its historic form, except for an 8km stretch from Magome to Tsumago, the modern roads pretty much run the same course so driving through the area affords a mental image of what it would have been like those hundreds of years ago.

Narai-juku

Tsumago-juku

...more coming later

Tokyo, 47 Ronin, masks, missed buses and Ribs!

2007-10-30T12:16:00.000+09:00

I haven't posted for a while...so I'm here to remedy that. :D Let's see, where to begin. Earlier in October my school had a one week holiday. I went over to Tokyo for a day to get a notarized copy of my passport, and did a little exploring while I was there. I got the passport business done first and had the rest of the day to go around. I had made a list of a few places I wanted to visit including: Japan Sword shop, Sengokuji, some used book shops, International grocery etc. As I was walking to the sword shop, I passed some sort of small festival of people dressed in traditional garb. Very interesting...but i'll let the pictures do the talking.

After checking out some old swords, some costing $20,000 or more, I headed over to Sengakuji. This is the resting place of the 47 Ronin, masterless samurai who, on Dec. 14, 1701, took revenge on the man that had been responsible for the death of their master. After attacking his house and decapitating him, they then brought his head to this place, washed it in a well, and placed it at the gravestone of their deceased master, who was buried here. They were then arrested and all made to commit ritual suicide (seppuku). They were also buried here along with their master.
I did a lot of walking that day, and learned that my cheap-o 500 yen ($5) shoes aren't great for walking!! I had a nice dinner at T.G.I. Fridays (Jack Daniels ribs) before heading to the bus station. Turns out, regardless of being told otherwise by two separate people, it was the WRONG bus terminal. I missed my bus, last one of the day, and thought I'd have to stay the night. I ended up getting a ticket to another city about 45 min from where I live and was lucky enough to have Rumi come and pick me up at like 1:00 in the morning....Thanks Rumi!!! :D

Surfing & Buddha

2007-09-27T09:47:00.000+09:00

What do they have in common? Well...not a whole lot! lol Last weekend I went down to Kanagawa prefecture with Kuniko (a friend of the receptionist at my school) to try my hand at surfing. NOT EASY!! Unfortunately, I didn't snap any pics of the beach or while trying...but I got some of the big Buddha statue in Kamakura that we visited afterwards.

This thing was cast in 1252, believe it or not. Now that's OLD!!!! I snapped some other various pics from around the area.
Watching over the crowd.

Close-up.
Close close-up.
Incense burner.
Details.
Me...Zenning out.
Small stone statue with cape.

Sign leading to the big Buddha.

How it appears on Kuniko's GPS Navigation.
Hmmm...I'm not quite sure.

Kamakura monorail.
Elvis sighting??!!
Have a nice day.....Dog Lover!

Mio's farewell B-B-Q

2007-09-09T19:18:00.000+09:00

One of my students, Mio, has gone off to Germany...no no Greenland...wait, no I think it's Finland...anyway, she went there to study for an MA in Education and chose Finland as, get this, education is FREE there!!! I checked it out on the net and it's true....anyone willing to travel to Europe? Before she left, she had a farewell B-B-Q at her house. It was a perfect day and I brought along my cooler, bottle of Jack and a liter of coke....needless to say I was shitfaced by the end of the day.....but everone else was too!! :D

Here are a couple of vids of people trying to smash open a watermelon while blindfolded...the Japanese equivelant to the pinata I guess.

New Apartment

2007-09-09T19:09:00.000+09:00

I recently moved out of my old apartment and in to a new. The old one wasn't bad....but it was just too damn small. I got lucky and scored Chris' old apartment as I arranged it with his landlady before he left. Now, I'm living large in and nice-sized place with 2 rooms, a nice kitchen and a view of lake Suwa and beautiful Mt. Fuji (on a clear day) from my window. I'll take some pics or a vid with a walkthrough soon. Be patient.

Suwa Firework Festival

2007-09-09T18:30:00.000+09:00

August 15th is the date of the second largest (at least that's what I was told) firework festival in Japan and it's held in Suwa, Japan which is the next city from where I live. Something like 40,000-50,000 fireworks are shot off on that night. I met up with a few students to hang out around the lake, drink, chat, and of course watch the firework show.

One thing that's pretty cool is the variety of different types of fireworks here. There are ones that explode diagonally, ones that form hearts or smiley faces, and others that explode like 4-5 times as they rise then one huge time at top. Enjoy the vids.

Matsumoto Bon-Bon

2007-09-09T17:57:00.001+09:00

Me and a couple of co-workers (Scott and Michael) went over to Matsumoto City last month for the O-bon festival. There were lots of dancers, music, kimonos and of course...BEER!! lol It was crazy crowded and lots of walking, but everyone had a good time. Check out the videos I took with my phone...not to shabby. I especially like the one with Hard-Gay!! :P

Welcoming Party

2007-09-09T17:45:00.000+09:00

A few students at our branch in Chino City were kind enough to throw me a welcome party last month. We had a great time at a small izakaya near Chino station with good food, good conversation, and all-u-can-drink alcohol!!!

From left to right: Tomomi, Me, Mie, Hirohiko, Mineko, Sayuri and Masakazu.

Thanks guys...I really appreciated it and had a super time. :D

August: Festival time in Japan

2007-09-03T11:10:00.000+09:00

Yes, it's been a while but I have a lot to update. August is the month of summer festivals in Japan as well as the time when the O-bon holiday occurs. I was pretty busy having parties with students, going to festivals, watching fireworks, moving into my new apartment, B-B-Q's, etc. last month and put off updating until now. I will, however, be putting up a lot of videos (sorry for those with slow internet connections...Chelle) for all to enjoy as well as a few pics. All of them were taken on my phone so the quality isn't great, but pretty impressive considering. I'll be putting some things up after work tonight (hopefully) and tomorrow morning.

D

Farewell Party

2007-07-31T00:41:00.000+09:00

One of the teachers here, Chris, just finished up a 2 1/2 year stint and headed back to Canada with his wife Michiko. I think they are heading to Europe to do a cycling tour for a month or so before settling back for good. Here are some pictures of his farewell party we had last Friday, as well as a short video.

and the vid.....

!&^&%$))(&^+

2007-07-31T00:25:00.000+09:00

!#&#*(%^&amp;# R%$^%*&#&) $&$T*_$()++($&*^& !^&E*^&)(GH& Y*(_!*Y&*TT&*
&*(!&*!( T&FDF!C!FCAGH()(*(A YU*Y! (*(!&^&%#^&RTSFTGS*&(S&*(
*()*&(&!*^SFYU*&!^&*S
(!&*(^S ^&!^&!*)&^)*^!&_&*()*&)_*_)(**()*_)~* GYGY~IU*YG:

****I have removed the video as I don't want to tarnish the person-in-questions reputation...
.......he can do that all on his own*****

If you have had trouble understanding this.....you now know exactly how I feel about an unnamed co-worker. Enjoy!! :D

I'mmmmm Baaaack!!

2007-07-23T09:33:00.000+09:00

I made it back from my road trip without a hitch. It was a long trip with a lot of driving though, 6 hours there and about 5 1/2 back. It was good to be back in Fukui and the drive over there brought me through some really nice countryside which made it all the more bearable. Here is the happy couple:

I arrived on Saturday at noon and met up with Brad at his place. Later, when Mariko got home from work, we all went over to Hachiban Ramen for lunch. It was nice catching up with Brad and seeing what all has been going on since I visited last August. I told them I would treat them to dinner at a place of their choice as a "Wedding gift" and Mariko decided on a place called Saint Mark in Fukui city. We decided to check out some old friends of mine, The Katsuyama's, before dinner. Mr. Katsuyama sells Japanese swords and I had purchased from him back in 2002-2003 when I had a collection. It was a welcome experience to be back around some awesome swords and to be able to handle them. The one I'm holding here was selling for around $15,000....yikes!!

Dinner was excellent, good choice Mariko, and the bread was all-u-can-eat. I wouldn't mind checking it out again next time I'm in town.

It was a good day.

On Sunday, we met up at the movie theater to watch..........of all movies.............ummmm...........errrr................Ha.....Harry.......Po...Pot.....Potter....ok there I said it. It wasn't bad, wasn't great either. Brad and Mariko showing off their tickets.

Unfortunately, I didn't really take any photos of the drive over or back. There were lots of scenic things but the roads are so small, there's nowhere to stop and photo. I did, however, take some vids on the trip back...not too interesting but damn did the weather changes fast.

Hope you enjoy...till the next update.

The ROAD TRIP

2007-07-20T09:49:00.000+09:00

I'm planning on taking a road trip starting tomorrow. I will be driving from Nagano to Fukui to visit BRAD-O (that's how the Japanese pronounce it) and his NEW wife Mariko. It's a drive that will take me through the mountains and I'm hoping my new car can handle the trip. If no one hears from me for a while....sent out the search party. You can see from the map how my route looks. As you can see, a lot of the trip is through the mountains up those steep and winding roads so it should be a lot of fun and I'll be sure to gets some good pictures. I'm guessing it will be a bout a 5 hour trip there but you never now.

CANYONING

2007-07-20T09:42:00.000+09:00

Went up to the Hakuba area on Wednesday with my boss and three other co-workers to do some Canyoning. The guides took a lot of shots and my boss bought the CD, so i'll post pictures of the day trip when I get a copy of the disc. I won't go into too much detail about what it is, but you'll get a better idea once the pics go up. And, here they are:

Well...good morning to you,too

2007-07-16T10:21:00.000+09:00

I lazily got up this morning at around 10:15am and was greeted about ten minutes later with an earthquake that lasted for a good minute or so of shaking. I ran out of my living room sliding doors and was the ONLY person outside. I could hear the cheers of students at what was probably a local baseball game. Earthquakes are so common in this country, people don't even notice them anymore.....well, except for me.

*update* just had another tremor hit here at about 3:39pm (3 minutes ago). Not too big, though I still ran outside. :D

New Ride

2007-07-04T11:13:00.000+09:00

Perhaps you remember me mentioning that I was able to talk down the price of a used car with help from an unlikely source....and here's...the rest of the story.

As I'm situated in the countryside and required to drive to work three days a week, the company provides a car for teachers to use. We can also use it for personal use, charged at a rate of Y20/km. BUT...I much prefer to have a car of my own to be used when, where, and how I please. I actually brought over an extra $1000 just for the purpose of getting a car, so it was something I had planned to do. Soooo..I have been looking for a decent used kei car since I arrived. Pickings have been pretty slim and the cars were either butt ugly, had to many km, or were just too expensive. So last Friday I mentioned the fact that I'm looking for a car to my student Kenji and he told me a tenant in one of his buildings was selling a couple of cars. Long story short, I decided to go check them out the next day and later meet with the guy.

I made plans to check out the car first, then would go to Matsumoto to check out the castle there. I arrived around noon, and liked what I saw. It was small, but it was what I was looking for. Kei cars have a much cheaper cost of operation than standard size cars. After I gave it a good looking-over, I went to take a look at the inside and was a bit taken back (to say the least) when I opened the door and was greeted by a snake coiled up in the door well!!! Needless to say, I shut the door and took a few steps back. I called Kenji and asked him to let the seller know I was here. After the seller arrived, I explained there was a snake in the car, which he didn't believe at first. When I opened the door to show him, the little bugger looked at us, then took off towards the engine compartment and out of sight. Greeeat...what do whe do now? We know there's a snake...but don't know exactly where it is....and btw, it was of a posionous variety!

Long story short---er, we couldn't find the snake and the dealer offered it to me (with the snake) for a substantial discount. I eventually accepted, and we shook on it. THEN... in a great turn of events, as he closed the hood (it closed with a loud BANG!), the snake jumped down from the engine compartment and started to slither away at which time he jumped in the car and ran over it. Yep, thanks to that poor little guy, I got a great deal!! I'll be picking up the car on Friday.

Pics:

Notice the sporty fin on top....dual wind guards....turbo with intercooler....and...it's a convertible.... Muhahahahahahahahaha!!

Harumiya (Spring temple)

2007-07-04T10:39:00.000+09:00

Yesterday before work I stopped by the other temple I mentioned before...Harumiya. Both of these temples are involved in a festival (Onbasira) that takes plce every six years where huge trees are cut, brought to the top of a mountain, and then pulled and riden down by guys with either a really big sack, or very little common sense. Check out this youtube vid for an idea.

Here are some of the pics I took at Harumiya:

Akimiya (Autumn Temple)

2007-07-02T23:07:00.000+09:00

There are two nice temples just a few minutes from my house. One is called Harumiya (spring temple) and the other one is Akimiya (autumn temple). Yesterday I decided to go check out the Akimiya temple to take a few shots before it got too dark (it was nearly dusk). Here are some pics from the trip.

Akimiya temple

Saturday and Matsumoto Castle

2007-07-01T23:53:00.000+09:00

Yesterday I decided to borrow the company car and drive over to Matsumoto, a city about 33km away, to check out the famous castle there. From what I have read, it is the oldest original castle left in Japan and is designated a National Treasure (follow link for more info). I also wanted a chance to get out on the road and get a feel for the surrounding cities. It was a pretty nice drive and I only had to stop once for directions. I took a crapload of pictures and will spare everyone looking at them all.

having technical difficulties uploading pics...will get to it tomorrow perhaps along with the story of how I talked a used car saleman down from Y100,000 ($811.82) to Y70,000 ($568.27), with some help from an unlikely source.

Matsumoto pics:

Welcoming Party!!

2007-07-01T23:16:00.000+09:00

So last Saturday was my official welcoming party to Global Village. We headed to a little place called YUKI after work to throw back a few and shoot da shit. We stayed til midnight, which I believe was the closing time there, then headed over to the owners house to continue. Me and a few of the teachers were playing poker and blackjack while the Japanese were playing Mah-jong, a Chinese type of chess.....I think. Things started getting weird when one of the teachers, apparently over his limit, got real noisy and started pissing people off (basically a very bad drunk). Unfortunately I don't have any pics or movies of the night (I'm sure they would have been quite enjoyable). By the time I walked home...it was past 4:00 am and the sun was starting to come up so I grabbed my camera and walked over the Mc D's for some Mc Muffins and OJ. I did snap a few pics while walking around by the lake, which I will post here, before heading back home and crashing at around 8:00.

this pic came out awesome...looks like a B&W on the left and color on the right...but actually its just early morning fog. (this is a stitch of 4 photos unedited)
my house is just to the left of this photo (stitch of 3 pics unedited)

somehow caught the bird flyin through

Yes...it's an update : D

2007-06-16T18:13:00.000+09:00

You don't need to say anything...I know it's been a while since my last post (errr, over two months actually). Any~waaay, let's not dwell on that. I have lot of info and pics to share with everyone. Where should I begin...well, from my last post sounds like a good starting point.

Uni Life

So as I mentioned before, I was hired to teach at a University in South Korea back in April. Things were good and I really enjoyed the students I had. Buuuuuuuuuut~, yes, there's always a but. A week before I was to get my first pay check, some co-workers (Korean) told me their pay had just been delayed for a week by the boss without their approval. Hmm, that's not good me thinks, but I was reassured that I would not have the same thing happen to me. Weeelll~ to make a long story short, I worked for a total of 6 weeks and was paid for 4 before refusing to go back until receiving the rest...still haven't. : (

Back Home

I'm really glad I started looking for positions elsewhere when all of this started happening and I found a position back in Japan. I went home for a couple of weeks before heading over to Japan (where I am now). It was a short trip but good nontheless. Since I have some nieces and nephews, I've got to try and make it back more often.

I can't remember the last we were ALL in the same photo

You can see why BOTH Erica and Hanna consider ME their favorite relative.

The JOURNEY

For anyone who has made an internationl flight would agree with me that there is nothing "nice" about it. I left Baton Rouger at 6:05 am on Thursday, June 14th and was in for a loong~ trip. I accepted a position at a school in Nagano Japan. To explain it best, that's where the 1998 Winter Olympics were held. I arrived yesterday in Tokyo at about 1:10pm June, 14th and had to get a taxi ride of nearly 5 hours to get here. It was a very tiring couple of days to say the least. I was dropped off at the school and met some of the staff and other teachers, then was brought to my apartment. I'm still pretty tired and that's probably the reason for my bland writing, but i'll leave you with some pics I took today while exploring the area around my apartment. Enjoy...

This is my apartment building...looking to the right....then the left....so exciting!! ;)

I live near a fairly large lake named Lake Suwa. Here are some pics from around there.

Oh, and did I mention..................................

this beautiful view of Mt. Fuji.

And these too......

Oh, and Jason really did win $400 in the casino in Jeju.....u happy now J-dog! lol

Calling world.......come in world....come in..

2007-04-13T16:34:00.000+09:00

For those of you who have started searching the obituaries...rest assured I am alive and well.

It's been a while since my last post back in January and, to say it mildly, a lot has happened since then. I quite my job in Goseong, South Korea...was unemployed for a week or so and living out of a motel in Busan, South Korea (quite enjoyed that actually), and have now just finished my second week teaching at Kyungnam University in Masan, South Korea.

Why I Quit
My seven-month experience at Jung Chul English Junior in Goseong was a mixture of good, bad, and ugly experiences that came to an end on March 23rd. The kids were pretty great for the most part (although you always get one or two little shits). The teaching was quite easy, and there was a ready-made curriculum in place, and the salary was comparatively high for the location at 2,600,000won/month. My quitting basically came down to the fact that I was being cheated by my boss (who seemed to be a nice woman) by her not enrolling me for health insurance and pension (both legal requirements) for five of my seven months, then under-reporting my income to those agencies when I finally got her to enroll me, just to save money in the monthly contributions she is required to make to those agencies. F&%K THAT!!

Living out of a Motel
So after I quit, I packed up and headed over to Busan. Busan is the second largest city in S. Korea and I had been looking into moving there before I accepted the job in Goseong. I found a clean little motel near the main subway station and started my job search again. I also had an interview scheduled in Fukuoka Japan at a public elementary school on April 12th. I put out my resume and started receiving offers and interviews galore. Most of the jobs were pretty standard (nothing to write home about) and included a bit of a pay reduction :(
Then, through a stroke of luck and good timing, I came across a job at a university and submitted my resume. I got a call back from the university job two days later on Friday, talked to the rep., and was told the job was mine if I would be able to start on the following Monday.

Well, as I said before, I've just finished my second week and things are good. Not only am I teaching university students (no baby-sitting), I also got a 33% pay raise...yipppy!! And for those family members of mine back home, you should see me a bit more often as well since there are 7 weeks of vacation scheduled for this year.

Also, I'm very happy for an old friend of mine in Sabae City, Japan where I spent my first two years teaching English. Brad Lee is getting married to his long-time girlfriend Mariko in June of this year...Way to go Brad Sensei!!

Another love story...my good buddy Ryan, who I worked with for two years around Seoul, is on his honeymoon with his newlywed Korean wife Summer. You can follow their journeys through India, Thailand and Cambodia via the link to his website in my links section.

I'll try to upload some pictures sometime soon. Bye for now.

Trip to The Philippines

2007-01-09T11:26:00.000+09:00

Goseong...in pictures

2006-12-17T17:07:00.000+09:00

Here are the pictures that I promised to post a while back. Just some random shots around the city that I am living in now. In other news, I will be leaving on Dec. 23 for Manila to spend Christmas and New Years with my dad. We may be spending a few days in Borocay if we are able to get hotel confirmations. Should be a lot of fun and i'll have my camera there to document everything :D

this is the playground of the apartments I live in, a couple of these kids are my students and I snapped it before they saw me and came running over.
at the local park...looks like a student studying in the background
ran in to these guys at the same park, they were filming for a school project
typical korean house architecture
more
more
lots of sidewalk shops around here
and people wonder why Asians live longer
view from the top of a local mountain

Friday Night Fever

2006-12-09T01:33:00.000+09:00

Life is pretty slow here in the countryside of Southern Korea. I was glad when my adult class students suggested that we meet up outside of class for my Friday night class. I volunteered to host the shin-dig and four of my six students showed up. We stopped by the supermarket beforehand and picked up a few items eg. soft drinks, snack food, fruit, cups etc., then it was off to my place. We all had a good time,ate some Korean-style food and fried chicken... and yes, it WAS finger-lickin' good!!

Here are a few pictures from earlier tonight. I've inserted the names into the first pic. The two ladies in the back are also teachers at the Math academy underneath my school. That school is also run by my boss. Jeong Ho works as a physical therapist (thanks for the tips on how to get rid of that pesky eye twitch), and Woo hyun is an explosives engineer...man that job sounds like a blast, ha ha ha.

At first I wasn't sure how I was going to like teaching adult classes again. Although I've done it for many years in the past, the last two spent in Korea were strictly spent with children, and this job was suppossed to be as well. I have to say that it's actually quite nice to have them as they are all wonderful students and I like ending my Tuesdays and Fridays with them.

This is the spread BEFORE:
and AFTER:

I'm going to throw some random shots of the city I live in and other stuff. Things are really a lot different than they are back home. I like the excitement of being in a new country and city, but I also know that I'm missing out on a lot of things back home... like watching little Hannah and Erica grow up. :(

Here are the pics: (blogger given me problems at thr moment)

It's raining lights

2006-12-02T20:12:00.000+09:00

Heard some loud booms going off near my apartment an hour or so ago. Peeked my head out of my fifth-floor window and saw this:

I didn't have the best angle as a new building that is being constructed in front of my building blocked my view from the launching point but I still managed a few nice shots nevertheless. I'll have to find out what the occasion was back in the office on Monday.

It's getting pretty cold over here and I'm looking forward to spending Christmas and New Years with my pops in The Philippines, although I wish all the family could be together for it. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time we all celebrated Christmas in the same place...it's literally got to have been at least 12+ years.....DAMN!

**UPDATE** Found out that the fireworks were to celebrate the 1ooth year of a local school. I beleieve it was an elementary school. Thought I would pass it on.

A Tribute

2006-11-24T12:58:00.000+09:00

I'm writing this post as a tribute to a lot of hard work, blood, sweat, and tears. Well, the blood is an overstatement and I don't know about the tears, although it COULD be true. The hard work and sweat are dead on, however. The subject of my tribute goes by many names... most of which have the six-letter word
D - O - N - K - E - Y in them (but that's a completely different story and one better told by him). I knew him simply as:
La Capitan de el Constipaciono'... sounds pretty regal, doesn't it? It was a title bequeathed to him by myself and our good friend Ryan. His legal, and Christian name is Jason Roberts...yeah, I too prefer the other one's.

It was around the end of June or early July of '05 when he showed up at the YES Youngdo branch in Yeongtong, South Korea where both Ryan and I were working. I was introduced quickly in-between classes and took note that this "New Guy" was from Mississppi, right next door to my home state, the most interesting state in the entire US, home of the previous NCAA National football champions and multiple College Baseball World Champions, known for its cuisine, friendly people, Southern hospitality, Mardi Gras parades, and site of the largest single addition of land to the USA bought from France....LOUISIANA. Now, just to let you know, this school had some 22 foreign teachers and a whole mix of different personalities so becoming friends with them (and in some cases staying on speaking terms) was almost an impossibility. While me and Ryan were good friends and had worked together for nearly a year at a different branch of the same school, and the pickings were slim when it came to finding cool people to hang out with after work (besisdes ourselves of course), we decided to see what this "Newbie" was made of.

Now Mr. Roberts, or the "Donkey tamer" as I like to call him, was a big guy when we first met. But all that soon changed once we became friends, started hanging out, and when he finally decided to join me and my other new recruit, Ryan, at the gym. Along with a lot of hard work and early mornings, strange face contortions and grunting, claims of being 6'6", and of course the obligatory making up of names for the hot chicks in the gym, he shedded those pounds and took on a new air of confidence. So, you don't believe me huh? Just take a look at some photos of him before and after on his web album (sorry blogger's not lettin me upload photos at the moment).

I decided to post this after chatting with Jason today at which time he thanked me again for the help, and told me a pretty awesome story of people noticing his results. J.R. As I said to you earlier on messenger, you couldn't have done it without putting in all the effort yourself...I was jut there to crack the whip so to speak. Next step = Quit Smoking!!!

Korean Castle

2006-11-03T23:48:00.000+09:00

Anyone who has ever lived in Asia, Japan and Korea specifically, will know what I mean when I say living quarters for teachers are usually quite cramped. Of course, this varies from city to city and company to company. Moving out of a bigger city may either get you a bigger apartment or a really old, dilapidated one. I've been pretty fortunate over the past six years (WOW...has it really been that long) in that I've always been out in a livable place. I have taken to the country in this contract, the biggest reason being because of the high salary and saving potential here. This is where I am (look for the red pentagon on the southern coast):

Now, the first year I spent here in Korea was a one-room studio type apartment...very, very cozy, but surprisingly comfortable. It was in a new building built by the school I was employed with (YES Youngdo) so things were nice n' clean. Later I found out I was being charged the commercial rate for electricity and gas because the school used the first floor as storage. :( Here it is:

That's tiny compared to western standards, but for a single guy, used to the small sized accommodation, it's Okay. Compare that to my new place here in Goseong...man, not much of a comparison.
Here's my bedroom:
Living room:
Kitchen:
and finally bathroom:
I do have two more bedrooms, but don't use them and feel no need to post pics of them. So, if you counted correctly...large bedroom...separate kitchen...full bathroom...two more bedrooms...plus a rather large balcony. I'm liking the extra space.

I found a little fishing shop (with the help of Mr. Yoon) around the corner from my school. So, I picked up some bait and plan to do a little fishing tomorrow morning if the weather holds up. I'll bring the camera along and snap a few shots of the monster fish I catch.

quote from Gone Fishin, "That's a 10....borderline 11!"

Vandals!!!

2006-11-03T00:02:00.000+09:00

Only a day after posting my "new ride" post, vandals struck at my apartment and I was an unfortunate victim. My precious SUPER CAB was maliciously knocked over sometime between Monday 9pm and Tuesday 10:30am. I was P.O'd to say the least. The thing that got me was how the person who knocked it over, during which time the brake handle was snapped off, picked the bike back up and took the broken handle from the scene. Did they think I just wouldn't notice? I had it fixed yesterday and it cost me a whopping 4000 won ($4.00) so it was virtually painless. When I first saw the bike...I didn't understand what had happened. I thought maybe some xenophobic person had broken it off intentionally.
I then noticed the bits of sand on the end of the throttle, and eureka...figured out someone must have knocked it over. "Elementary my dear Watson."
Apparently this sort of thing happens often here and no one usually steps up to take the blame.

On brighter note...I went for a hike with my boss' husband on Wednesday. I thought it would be a walk in the park but it turned out to be pretty challenging for me...guess I need to start getting back in shape as I thought my heart was about to bust out through my shirt at a couple of steep inclines. Here's a photo from somewhere near the top as we made our way back down. You can see the Fall colors are just starting to show around here and from what I hear, they will be their best around the second week of December.

After the hike, I had lunch with Mr. Yoon (Boss' husband) and one of his friends whom I had meet a week or so ago, Mr. Baek. We had a dish called Chuo-Tang or something like that, and although the taste was quite strong, I found it delicious and gladly emptied my bowl. A few shots of the spread we had.

If you notice, we are all seated on the floor. This is very common here in Korea as many authentic-style restaurants are situated this way. I usually have to stretch out my legs after about 10 minutes or so but Koreans can stay cross-legged for eternity...or so it seems. I'll be back to post some pics of my apartment and eventually a few shots of my sleepy town.

My new Ride

2006-10-29T23:14:00.000+09:00

I'm now in my third contract here in Korea and I've made a major move out of the big cities of Suwon and Anyang to a very rural area on the southern coast of the penninsula. Now, when I saw rural, the area of Goseong has about 60,000 residents...which is actually much bigger than the city I grew up in back in Louisiana, Denham Springs. It might not be a fair comparison though, since I think comparing Goseong itself with livingston parish might be a bit more evenly matched.

Regardless, my reason for writing is to show everyone my new ride... oh yeah baby..it's a doosy. Now, those of you who know me, might remember the maroon Ford Mustang GT 5.0 convertible I drove in high school (picture is only for visual purpose as I don't have a photo of my old car handy),

or the 1970 Chevrolet Impala with a 350 V8 and three-speed hydromatic transmission that I currently have. Its all original (except for the paint) with 54,000 miles on the odometer. You should hear it purrrrrrr.

Well, folks...I've got a new ride now. As I didn't want to have to ride a bike around everywhere here, I got myself a little somethin somethin. I know, you're probably wondering "Did he get one of those sweet as custom cars like I saw on Fast and the Furious", or perhaps a crotch rocket like the ones featured on "Biker Boyz". I can feel the tension building up in the air...man o man, you could cut it with a knife. Ladies and Gentlemen...Boys and Girls of all ages... prepare to feast your eyes on the future of personal transportation, ONLY available here in the "Land of the Morning Calm" (a.k.a. South Korea), not only is it stylish and economical, it also pulls in the ladies like you wouldn't believe.... without further adieu.... I G I V E Y O U

S U P E R C A B

Yeah Yeah, I know what you all are thinking, "Man this guy is pimpin'" or "I bet his phone doesn't stop ringin'"... while those are both true, I see my purchase of this used Hyosung Super Cab scooter ($300) as a tool to help bring me closer to my Korean hosts in my ongoing mission of acting as an American cultural ambassador through the English language....................................

Okay, that was lame. I got it because I'm lazy and didn't feel like riding a bike around this relatively small town which has easy access to everywhere by bike within only 5-10 minutes.

Stay tuned as I will be bringing pics of my small town, as well as my school/co-workers/students soon. Same BAT time, same BAT channel.

Visa run to Fukuoka

2006-10-28T19:57:00.000+09:00

Aht...here it is. The update that's been a long time coming. C'mon, it's only been a week or so since I made this trip. Yeah, I've been quite lazy lately when it comes to updating this thing. It's not like I really have anything else to do, but man it's a chore forcing myself to sit down and do it.

So last Thursday and Friday, October 19-20, I was off to the "Land of the Rising Sun" (a.k.a Japan, Nippon, Nihon) to get an E-2 working visa. I was supposed to have gotten it done ages ago but the owner of my school got curious and opened the sealed transcripts when I sent them to her from Japan in August, which basically voided them in the eyes of immigration here. For those of you who don't know, I went to Silliman University in the Philippines and so it took a while to get another copy sent out here.

Fukuoka is closer to Seoul, South Korea than to Tokyo, Japan. It's only a three hour boat ride from Busan port where I was leaving from. I was offered a ride to Busan by my boss and it was decided her husband would take me Thursday morning and pick me up Friday afternoon. This is how I was greeted at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday while waiting for the boss' husband to pick me up for the 2 hour drive to Busan.

It was unusually foggy that morning and continued to be pretty much all day...even in Japan. It cleared up a bit, but as you can see in this shot from the boat while leaving Busan harbor...not by much.

Here are a few random shots that I took during my stay.

A brief intro to the photos:
School children on what looked to be some sort of field trip. Funny how when Japanese travel in groups..be it children, adults, or seniors...they have these guides as leaders waving flags so no one gets lost. These kids looked to be in either Jr. High or High school. Notice the kid in white flashing the peace/victory sign. I'm not too sure exactly when this became the norm but you will see it in pretty much every photo taken of Japanese.

These are shots I took while walking around town. In Japan, and korea for that matter, it's amazing the number of people you see walking or riding bicycles. I guess that explains why their life spans are much longer than the average westerner's. The first is of some of the beautiful quite interesting architecture. I think it must be a restaurant of some sort (seafood perhaps) with the boat coming out of the building.

The second is a home-grown beauty...only one of many in Japan. The sense of fashion in Japan is top-notch. Even people who's looks are average somehow manage to look either really cool/hip or beautiful by choosing great outfits. I haven't seen anything like it anywhere else that I travelled to.

The subway system in Japan is a marvel in itself. Japanese trains are best known for their punctuality, cleanliness, and the fact that horny old men (and occasionally public officials) like to either grope or expose themselves to women on them. BBC story on the topic. In the event that a train is actually late, which rarely happens, the attendents will give out pieces of paper to riders explaining that the train was late. This is done to prove the fact to your boss in case you were late for work, missed a meeting etc.. as the boss wouldn't believe you otherwise.

Seeing a car that even remotely resembles an American gas guzzling muscle car in Japan is definitely a rarity, especially since gas is about $6.00 / gallon. I was surprised to see this car pass by after I dropped off my papers at the Korean embassy. I wish I could have gotten the camera out quicker as the two "gentlemen" in the car were sporting the huge 50's styles hair quite commonly associated with wanna-be gangsters. Btw, any ideas what that is hanging out of the back?

The last two shot I took from the Fukuoka tower. I believe it's the tower used by NHK, one of the major TV broadcasters. There is an observation deck near the top and it's pretty close to the beach. I snapped this resort or restaurant which actually goes out on the water. The second one is just me showing off my 12X zoom on my Canon S2 IS. Look close enough at the first shot and you'll see a white speck to the right of the resort along the beach...then up close in the second shot. That's not infringing on their privacy...is it? ;D

Well, that was my trip. It was really nice to be back in a country were I can speak the language. I stopped many times and asked directions from friendly passer-byes and had no problems. That is somethng I could never have done here in Korea as I haven't been able to learn the language. I think when I first got here from Japan and realized that I was now back to zero in terms of language skills, I just wasn't motivated to study yet another language. Needless to say, I do alot of gesturing and have actually become quite good at it.

Stay tuned for updates including my HUGE apartment and my new scooter.

Blah blah blah...

2006-10-16T11:20:00.000+09:00

Yes, it's been another typical weekend here in nowhere part of Korea. Me, sitting at home, venturing out only once to get some food at the local supermarket, coming home and watching tv, playing video games, and occasionally reading "The Shogun", a book I am currently into.

On a brighter note, I have heard from my boss that I should be heading off to Japan this week to get my work visa...yippy!! Yes, those of you who are familiar with the immigration process here in S. Korea are wondering how/why I have a "boss" when I don't yet have a visa.....weeeelll, let's just keep that under wraps. lol

I've taken some photos at school and will post them soon. I'll also try to get some photos from Fukuoka when I go and stick them on here as well.

..........until next time

Nukes

2006-10-12T10:49:00.000+09:00

Now I'm not new to living abroad or traveling to not-so-secure places. I spent over four years in the Philippines, have visited Saudi Arabia about six times, spent a month in Thailand, and am living in Korea. As everyone knows, North Korea just entered the nuclear age. It's a bit unnerving knowing that not only all of their conventional weapons are pointed this way, but now they have nukes, too.

There are around 30,000 US troops stationed here....as well as a quite large and up-to-date Korean army and US troops stationed in Japan. All of this helps one relax a bit, but if something happens, there's no stopping it.

Since I'm not in Seoul, I would probably be ok, I think, maybe, I hope, should be...hmmmm. :D

BTW..check out my online web picture album here.

Chuseok = Korean Thanksgiving

2006-10-06T16:46:00.000+09:00

Well, today is Chuseok here in Korea and I'm loving it. Why, you might wonder, would an American living in a foreign country be so excited over a local holdiday... NO WORK!! hahaha
Yeah, basically I've had off Tuesday, Wednesday (after calling in sick thanks to binge drinking while Ryan and Jason were down), Thursday, and today. To find out more about Chuseok, jus click it. I haven't really done much this week..although as I mentioned some buddies from Seoul headed down here Tuesday and Wednesday, you can click on their names to check out their blogs. We went to the Dinosaur 2006 Expo site which is just down the street, had a nice dinner, then drank the night away with good ol' Jim Beam and coke...man o man the next morning was rough.

I'm living in a very small town on the southern tip of the Korean penninsula in a place called Goseong. Things here are quite a big change from the year I spent in Anyang and the nine months in Suwon, both big cities and very close to Seoul. Although boring at times, I'm enjoying the clean air, friendly locals, and the huge three-bedroom apartment (pictures will be posted soon).

That's all for today, I'm headin out for some food.

First post...hopefully many more to come!

2006-10-06T16:16:00.000+09:00

All right guys and gals, I'd like to welcome myself to the blogging community and welcome you to my new site. With inspiration of a couple of friends' blogs here in Korea, I've decided to set one up myself. A quick introduction may be in order now. My name's Damon and I'm from Louisiana...that's right folks, home of the Saints, LSU Tigers (Geaux Tigers!!), the best boiled crawfish in The South, the Crescent City, and unfortunately the home of a major FEMA f@$% up not so long ago. I'll be chronicling my adventures as I live and teach English here in Korea, as well as update everyone on the past eleven years of living overseas....briefly..I PROMISE!

Ya'll come back now.....ya hear.