Yes...it's an update : D

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..

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

Goseong...in pictures

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

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

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.