SPAM!

It's Lunar New Year so we get a 5 day weekend. Even better, we got gifts from school. We've been joking that this might happen ever since Chuseok, but never really expected it. We got the Spam gift set.

Obviously we were really stoked about a big box of spam and canola oil.

Brad was so excited.

Mmmmmmm....Spam!

18 and ONE!!

I woke up at 540am today. Nick and I met downstairs a little after 6 and headed to the subway. It's about a 45 minute ride to Itaewon. Unfortunately, Rocky Mountain Tavern (a local Canadian sports pub) was the closest, and only, place we knew of showing the Super Bowl. That's right folks. I just had my very first Super Bowl MONDAY.

It was definitely different waking up early for the big game. The pub served their famous "Truck Stop Breakfast" which consisted of eggs, homefries, bacon, toast and coffee. It may sound pretty run of the mill, but over here, there aren't many places that serve an American breakfast like that.

The first quarter was pretty rough. They were streaming the Super Bowl from a website and it was constantly freezing. We missed almost every play and just saw the moments in between plays. "Hey look, it's first and ten. Something must've happened on that last play." After the quarter, they switched to a Korean website that was showing the game. It was a much better picture and no more freezing. Of course, that meant no Super Bowl commercials, but that's a small price to pay to see the big game, and since the place was so packed and loud, we couldn't hear much anyway.

It's always hard to root for the Giants. As an Eagles fan, you're conditioned to hate them, but I hate the Patriots even more. This was, by far, the best Super Bowl in a few years. There were a few Pats fans at the pub, but the place EXPLODED when Manning hit that game winning touchdown in the last 35 seconds...yes, apparently Eli really is a Manning after all.

To top it off, as we were leaving the pub, I was celebrating with a couple guys and mentioned how it is hard to cheer for the Giants since I'm an Eagles fan. The one guy just froze, looked at me and yelled, "oooooooooh!" and we all know what comes next.......E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES!!! Turns out he was in the same boat as me. We exchanged the usual, "There's always next year," and headed out. It had been a good morning, but it was almost 1pm, and Nick and I had class in a few hours.

Odds and Ends

It's been a busy couple weeks for me. I've had a lot of meetings, finished intensives, found a new apartment and am starting my last month of work at EG. I went snowboarding again today too. That was a lot of fun. Overall, it's normal life. Nothing out of the ordinary, but things are going well.

I Earned That Nickname

They didn't call me "The Puppet Master" at camp for nothing. Being a teacher is fun. These kids will do almost anything if I tell them it's cool. Enjoy the videos....

1. "No kids, you may NEVER sing this song while sitting or wearing a hat. Yes, it is ABSOLUTELY necessary to put your hand over your heart. No, those aren't ACTUALLY the last two words of the song, but everyone expects to hear them."



2. "Yes, this is the coolest way to celebrate that you did your homework."



3. "Don't worry. There are only two things you need to know about American Football. First, it is THE greatest sport in the world. Second, there is only ONE team that matters."



I know. I know. I'm a genius....an evil genius, but a genius all the same :)

A New Way to Spend Money

Yup. That's exactly what I don't need. I went snowboarding this weekend for the first time in about 10 years. It was great. I had an amazing time and am hooked. I'm planning to go again in about 2 weeks. Fortunately, it's MUCH cheaper here in Korea. We went to a small resort. A full day lift ticket and rentals (board, boots, pants, jacket....yes you can rent the clothes too) cost about 50 bucks total! We snowboarded all afternoon and had lunch (kimbop and granola bars) at the mountain. Then stayed at a pension for the night. We barbecued for dinner and then just hung out and played games the rest of the night while eating waaaaay too much junk food. In the morning we had kimchi soup with ramen noodles and diced spam. I know what you're thinking. Maybe I've just been really Koreanized, but it was delicious. Overall, it was a great weekend with my friends from church. I'm really blessed to have these people.

Lunch at the Mountain

Dinner at the Pension

Slowly Waking Up

A Group Shot Before Leaving

Bloody Immigration Office!!

Despite my last post, there are still definitely times where I know I'm a foreigner. As many know, I lost my passport a while back. I have a new one now. My old passport had my E-2 Working Visa stamp. I asked my current and soon-to-be bosses if I needed to go to immigration to get a new stamp on my passport. They both said yes.

Today was the last day of my 4 day weekend. I went to the Immigration Office. I took a number right when I got there. It was 644, and they were on number 403. At that moment, I knew my last day of vacation wouldn't be very enjoyable. I spent 3 hours waiting for my number to be called (I thought there was going to be a riot at one point. The computerized number system crashed suddenly and people who were waiting started to freak out!). Luckily, I'm reading 1984 and had brought it with me.

When the time finally came for my number to be called, I was so excited. I'd waited for 3 hours but would finally accomplish something....I thought. I got to the desk and was informed that everything is computerized now. The Korean Government knows that I've been issued a new passport. They have my alien registration number, old passport number, new passport number and working visa number in their central system. Since I have an Alien Registration Card/ID, I don't need anything new physically stamped on my visa. I felt so defeated.

I'm trying to be more optimistic these days so I keep telling myself that at least I know everything is worked out. The hard thing to swallow is that I need to go back in about 5 weeks to get a completely new E-2 Visa because I'm starting a new job. I really DO need to go for that one. I hope the line is shorter.

A Milestone

Today marks 6 months since I arrived in Korea. I can't believe how quickly the time has passed. It's that strange phenomenon where I feel like I've been here for so long, and yet, it's like I just arrived to. If the next 15 months go by this fast, I'll be home in no time.

I was talking with Pastor Robert a few weeks ago, and he said that 6 months is usually the moment where you can tell how the rest of your stay will be. People either start counting down the time until they head home or they settle in. I definitely have fallen into the latter category. I don't mean that I want to stay here forever. If I've learned one thing, it's that I really do love life in the States. However, more often than not, Korea doesn't feel completely foreign to me either. There are definitely those frustrating moments, whether they be the language barrier or the rigid, sometimes nonsensical rules that govern so much of life over here. But despite those times, I feel comfortable here in Korea. I've met great people and am enjoying myself.

It's snowing outside. It's the first time it's snowing enough that it's actually laying on the ground :)