Gigantic

(stuporsize me)

It's cold here - officially fucking cold. The fall leaves are still on the ground, but now I get to see my old friend 'my breath' in the chilly morning air. At least chilly air tastes better than the heavy humid sludge that I was breathing all summer.

Breathing is still a battle of it own though, as I've got a damn cold. Still got a damn cold, that is. Teaching kids who love to cling to me in a culture where people don't necessarily cling to the concept of washing their hands after they use the washroom is getting the better of me. Not that post-restroom hygiene is necessarily the cure for the common cold, I'm just taking it as a rough indication of habits of people pressed against me in the subway.

But I'm not really all negative like that. Not about this place. Not even about the unwashed masses in the subway. And certainly not about my kids. Especially when they entertain me so consistently. I certainly take a tiny bit of advantage of the fact that the kids don't always understand what I tell them to write down. It's never anything vulgar, just things that I get a big kick out of. In turn, they're happy if their work makes me laugh.

I also love the pictures. I love how kids this age draw, there's little effort to make it look good, just to convey an idea. I've got some of my particular favourites here, including some giants with great descriptions (I helped with the english) and a picture 4-year-old Thomas drew of me living in harmony with Dinosaurs and airplanes. Like many smart kids his age, he loves dinos. Sometimes we discuss Jurassic Park.

Speaking of dinosaurs, me and Cahill went to the Led Zeppelin bar this weekend. It was good to be back there. Me and Ben used to go there a fair bit, but we got out and I'm not quite sure why. The place is a real diamond in the rough here in Korea. The music is good and it's played off vinyl into old, warm-sounding Bose speakers and the room is shrouded in eggcarton and it's all a feast for the ears. It's also the only place in Korea I've seen a live act in a bar, even if they are classic rock and blues cover bands.

The night itself was quite nice, we just sat and drank and listened and requested songs and enjoyed ourselves a lot more than we would have in the crowded, foreigner mess of Hongdae. Variety, spice of life, and all that shit.

I've had a nice few changes at work lately. Three teachers (Chris, Yoony, and Alley) left last week and I've lost almost half of my classes, replaced with new ones. It's kind of disappointing that you get to know and like this class of kids, and after a few months they switch things up and you don't teach them. Two of my favourite students whom I lost are actually in one of my new classes, though. Plus, it's a class of all the smartest kids of their age, so I'm not exactly complaining.

Even though Christmas is just a three-day weekend, a lot of people seem to be traveling somewhere to celebrate. It gets my mind-gears to grinding about the potential for last-minute travel plans. But I'll see about all that.

It's the Christmas season, alright. Even though Korea doesn't necessarily celebrate in the way I'm used to, it's acknowledged, in advertising, at least. Although the context in which it's observed is a little confusing. To close this week, I've got a picture of a pickle wearing a Santa hat, and a poster from the mall near my apartment, advertising their festive 'Happy Virus Story'.


I can't even begin to explain either one, other than to say they're at least as mysteriously bizarre as they seem.