Today was the first day back to school after summer vacation. I wish I could have traveled during summer vacation, but I was sick. For the first 4 days of vacation I didn't leave the apartment because my head hurt too bad to see all the bright lights and be around all the people. I did get to the zoo though. The Seoul zoo is really great. It's clean, which was a huge surprise, and the animals all look really happy in their habitats. I saw some really small baby monkeys, and they started fighting while I was there. I also may have gotten too close to this tortoise, I crept up to it to take a picture and this bird started shrieking. Later that day I even went bowling, still not very good. I did however do way better than last time, my previous score (2 years ago) was 36, this time I got 91. I was pretty proud, and Koreans aren't that good so it made me look even better. There was 20 lanes, and on each lane there was 1 good person and everyone else was real terrible.

I was kind of glad to get back to work this week, I mean, a lot of my kids are on vacation for August, so it sort of makes it an easy time. Everything is going real smooth right now, I still really like it here. I finished a pretty long book recently (630 pages) and that felt pretty good. Oh yea, I saw Inception, really liked it. I thought it was smart, but right at the end when you realize the movie was over there was a wave of grunts that went throughout the audience. My friend and I laughed about that because it seems like Koreans can convey any emotion within a grunt.

Ok, I'm done for now, bye!

This is from a few weeks ago.

Today was really busy. I watched my friends dog for couple of hours and played some videogames, which was pretty fun. The dog is huge and loud though. (its a pitbull)

but after that, that was when the fun really started. me and my friend went to to Seoul to look at some electronics stuff. I got some chords that I've been looking for and then we played a game of Putt Putt Golf. I started out doing really great, which I is pretty normal, but everyone always starts really well and then starts to do very badly, needless to say, I did very badly. So we finished up our game and started getting ready to go to our next stop. We went to this place called Lotte World, which is an amusement park. We actually didn't go inside Lotte World, we just went to the stuff outside of it. We grabbed some Jajang Myun and Mandoo. It was super delicious, all of it. Then, I swung by Smoothie King for a quick Mango smoothie, I mean, theres a reason they are king. The next part of the story is something I was really looking forward to. We went to a shooting range and shot Magnum guns. There was a lot of kick-back, and it made my ears ring, but I def did pretty well. it was a really great day. I had lots of fun. oh yea, and my favorite kid in my class, Judy, learned a new phrase: "What are you doing here Mr. Steinsland?" she just keeps repeating it over and over again. It nearly kills me, its soo cute. sometimes when she says it i say "what are you doing here Judy?" and then she pouts because i always win. ok, thats all internet.

In one of my finer moments, i made 6 kids give speeches about their thoughts on aliens. They all thought that the aliens would kill them after the good aliens taught us about science. my boss recorded the speeches. i want those speeches.

im trying to brainwash my kids into thinking that cute animals dont eat meat. i think i just got a little too bored and decided that that could be something to fill my time. i also have a 9 minute video documenting the beginnings. (somehow they think only the dinosaurs that eat plants are cute, so i just went with it) anyway, i suppose they will all be vegans soon. then im going to bring in some bacon wrapped steak and see what happens. if all 10 don't vomit i haven't done very well teaching. but i will eat that steak. its bacon wrapped.

WELL, its been a long busy while.

Lets start with today. My kids were really loud today, it wasn't so bad because they were cute as heck, but why do they all have to be so loud at the same time. I could handle one at a time, but not more than that. Ok, so work was good though. When I got home I decided to make some macaroni and cheese. That may seem simple but I don't have any mac and cheese packages. So i i could a little bit of water, mixed in a dash of mustard and salt, more than a dash of pepper, and lots and lots of shredded cheese. Colby Jack and Chedder. It was great. Now I am watching No Reservation about Korea. I don't know exactly why, but it feels surprisingly good to see a white guy taking in Korea and trying to be professional. His first impression was the exact same as mine. I have had a lot of crappy flights this year, but the Korean Air 14 hour flight seemed the most draining, and then right away, it was just a blast of neon. I was just thinking about that as I watched it. I am in tonight, I have a headache, KIDS.

Last night was really incredible though. I went out with a bunch of people from work to a bar to watch the Argentina vs. Korea game. It was a lot of fun, even though Korea got their butts kicked. Also, I seem to have developed a new nickname: Princess. Hopefully, everyone was too drunk to remember, I however, was wide awake and clear, which makes the dread all the more real. We have been watching tons of soccer this week. The World Cup....its more TV than I have watched in a long while. Oh yea, and Im buying an Xbox real soon.

Well, I thought I had a lot to say, but it seems to me that whenever I try to sit down and summarize what has been going on my mind just blanks out. I've been reading this book, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle right now, and I'm really enjoying it. The ebook reader is saving my life. I haven't read a ton so far, but I was trying to travel throughout Seoul and now I have made it to most of the places I wanted, so now that I've got some downtime I have started reading more. alright, I am out of things to say for right now. Sorry, but this week we have a field trip, so I will be posting pictures of that probably on Friday at some point.

the bad part about not drinking soda is that when i go to the movies and drink some, i cant fall asleep. thats whats happening right now. i recorded a cd because ive been playing guitar a lot. http://www.mediafire.com/?ynmtm0zwtiy

some people say its ok. george lopez gave it 2 hispanic mayonnaised corns way up. im noticing a serious lack of bugs in this country. its slightly unsettling, i keep thinking that they are waiting till im off guard, and then they will crawl in my mouth while i sleep. bugs are jerks.

hello, i realize it has been awhile since ive written anything here, but i assure you that i have not died. i have just been to busy for the internet. heres the past 2-3 weeks. i started making dinner with these thin pork things, which took a couple of days to get used to. but i am learning to make more than 8 things, which will help me save money. also, i have a 2 lb block of cheese. i am making grilled cheese sandwiches and quesadillas. it is glorious. also, my friend dave came, bringing no american gifts, and we made a bunch of videos to send to people. that was a fun evening. oh yea, and there has been like, 5 holidays. Childrens day, Parents Day, Teachers Day, Norwegian Independence day, and Buddhas Birthday. so lots of present. (not for NID) I have been going to a bunch of places inside Seoul lately. for 2 weeks i was there pretty much everyday. The other night i went to see the Doosan Bears, they are a baseball team. that was a really fun night. I was cheering and stuff along with the rest of the koreans. it was really fun, but it seemed like cheering and dancing was way more important than the game. they took tons of breaks to take pictures and to have the cheerleaders dance and then they kept shooting silver streamers into the air. oh yea, and the food and drinks are cheap. i got a BK meal for like 5 bucks at a ballpark. and then i felt sick. On another note, i have been teaching my kids songs from the Where the Wild Things Are soundtrack. thats turning out ok, music classes are some times rough because after 3 times of singing a song they are done. so i have to keep things changing. and now i will put some pictures up.

BROWN SHIRT: LOOK AT HIM, HE IS RIDICULOUS

I mentioned this dude to dave, i said "Dave. Look at this dude. He is frolicking"

Korean Pantera cover band

dragon. i call him Mooshou

this is dave giving money to a band playing some spanish song, i cant remember what it was.

Went to a new grocery store today, not new, but different then the other one. I like it a lot. Its about 15 minutes farther, but its a little cheaper and i like it better. so that was good. then i saw Iron Man 2. it was real good. oh, and i talked to a whole a heap of people today. that was also good. well, i am going now, this was short, later i will expand on it.

It's really late, but about a half an hour ago I was working on Hangul (the written language) and it just clicked all of a sudden. so I guess what I'm saying is that I can now read Hangul.

8 weeks in

Today marks my 8th week gone from the ol' U.S. of A. I've been riding bikes a lot at the gym, its making me tired, but I've also been sleeping very well. In fact I haven't had a bad nights sleep since I arrived. My kids are getting sick, I don't know what because everyone else got sick weeks ago. This Friday we have a picnic, so I am sure I will get a lot of great pictures. My kids new favorite activity is making videos on my computer. They only get to during music class, and only if they are good.

Today I decided to try out a hot dog place that is really close to my apartment. I like it, but lets be perfectly clear, they are not hot dogs. They are huge spicy sausages shoved into a tiny bun. Also, there is ketchup, a leaf of lettuce, and something that looks like mustard and tastes like horseradish. But again, I did enjoy it. Also I had a grape slushy. Slushies are good, you should know that, you live in America. I wish I had more to say, but right now it seems like things are becoming more day to day, and the whole excitement of living in Korea is becoming less of a novelty for me. but I still love it. I am thinking about buying a second mattress pad, I mean, I still remember how much the first one improved my life, so I've been thinking that a second one would also be great.

Oh yea, I just found out today that some volcano exploded. Its about time, I mean, these dang earthquakes are shaking up the earths stuff and so I kept saying to myself "Any day now" and why? Because I watched a special on Volcanoes on the Discovery channel.

i feel exhausted. i joined a gym last night and i've been using the bikes and treadmills. today i biked 40km, and i got off and it felt like i was walking in peanut butter. good golly. so then i cooled it down with a brisk 1km walk. A lot of the workout machines have TV's on them, so while doing all that i watched some Community, a little bit of the Batman Begins movie, and then topped it off with a 'lil House. Overall a good night, but now im sweating real bad. so im going to jump in the shower. Just as an update though, there was some alarm, not sure how much because my grasp on korean is terrible, regaurding a South Korean defense boat that exploded a week or two ago. Initially they were saying that it could be the North and so i was told about the safe zone, which isnt terribly far away. I haven't heard anything about it since last friday though, so i think we might be in the clear. It may be too soon to thank anyone, but i think Obama may have had his hand in this.

I have finished the book i started reading upon arrival, it is called You Shall Know Our Velocity. It's really good, i recommend it, it was written by david eggers, so if there are any fans of words out there then this might be a collection of words that your mind finds appealing.

Yesterday i got some street food, thats what i like to call it because its not a sit down place its a tent that you buy food from. So anyways, i bought this street food, Street Chicken, to be exact, and it must have been the spiciest chicken i've ever eaten, and the funny thing is they put this honey mustard on it, which is delicious, but i dont see how anyone could sell something that spicy on the street. I loved it, and i will probably be getting more soon. That is all internet.

Tootles

Hello Interneters!

This week has gone by really quickly. Nothing too exciting really happened until Thursday. Let me set up it all up for you. So I get to school, and it seems like just a regular day, the kids all run to me when they see me and they I count down from 5 to have them take there seats, but then theres some other kid in my room. I ring the button (we have a summons button for our assistant teachers) and I say "who is this kid, is he in another class" and that is when I am informed that I have a new student named Patrick, and that that is that kid. So then I spent the whole day trying to get him to talk to me, but he wont even smile. UNLESS I HAND OUT JELLY BEANS. I handed a lot of jelly beans out on Thursday. OK, so then comes Friday. Friday was field trip day, and I didn't know where we were going, all I was told was "a museum" so we get loaded in the buses and start heading out. 40 minutes is a long time for kids to sit in a bus. a real long time. We get to the museum and we get all the kids inside and start looking at stuff, and then after what seemed like 20 minutes, we go to a playground and then board the buses and leave. So quick. I have uploaded some pictures from the field trip, I took about 90, but I am not putting them all up on here.

Jake and Juliet

Leo, I think he saying something along the lines of "Hello Mr. Steinsland" The reason I think that is because he says that ALL the time.

Patrick (the new kid), Judy, and Jake

This is when we learned karate, but before I taught them the high kick.

Meriel.

Patrick and Judy, Judy looks pretty crazy here

Juliet and Jake

Judy and Leo in front of the fake castle.

Racheal. It's not very often she does something cute, but I think this was one of those times.

Leo and Racheal

Richard (he will be a fine Korean Elvis someday) and Meriel

Jimmy and Katie. Every girl loves Jimmy, he's a regular kindergarten Zach Morris

My class, in front of the fake castle. (there is a floating head in the background)

Me and my class. and Ms. Joel is in the picture too. (She is my Assistant Teacher, but she does a lot of work. especially when the kids cry.)

Pots. they are playing with pots. Except Judy, I have no idea what she is doing, probably touching a plaque?

Leo got bored with this real quick. I think he is the oldest kid in my class, but he gets real emotional real quick. (one time he cried because he answered 3 questions in a row and I said "good job, but now we need to let someone else answer ok?" and he cried because he still wanted to answer the questions)

Patrick and Katie. There were some oddly shaped blocks that you can build some building with, Im not too sure on the specifics because I cannot read nor understand Hangul.

Tall guy is Phil, he taught my kids last year. I am conditioning them to think he is terrible, but we are pretty good friends, I just want my kids to stop running out of the room when he walks by. So they must hate him.

This is a hut, I have no idea if it is supposed to be a Korean hut or not, quite frankly I'm still not sure if this was a museum of Korean history, Asian history, or just mishmashed cultures. It pretty much looked like a Native American hut though.

Today I got my Alien Residence Card, which means I am officially an ex-patriot. Also, as of today I have a bank account in Korea with a balance of $0.00, next wednesday I get paid, but till then all my money is cash. Also, my Korean age is 26. So as of nearly one month ago, I am 26 years old. It feels great. It's a bit strange to be 6 months younger then my brother now, but I will get over it. I think Korea might be the place dude's come to stop aging. Once they get here it seems like they are stuck in their twenties, like a sort of ending-adolescence Neverland. Just a thought I had today. My room is in disrepair, so I'm going to bust a move and clean up later. It does feel nice to have my own place, but I wish my neighbors were a little quieter, but it hasn't stopped me from sleeping at all, so I shouldn't complain.

Weird story. So this morning my alarm goes off, but I was still tired, so I just hit snooze, no big deal because I wake up real early anyway. Well, after about two minutes I hear this weird tone, in my loft, and then some guy talking in Korean. I was pretty worried so I put on my glasses and looked over the railing and no one inside, and i checked the intercom and no one was outside (I would have seen them from the camera). So I shake it off and go back to bed. Three minutes later my alarm goes off so I snooze again and then the tone comes back, followed by the Korean. At this point I'm fully awake and confused so I turn my alarm off and go downstairs. The tone went off again about 10 minutes later but no voice. I have yet to find out what was happening, but apparently it went into everyone's apartment. (there are speakers on the walls)

ok, tootles internet.

I have begun my decent into the cold electric hands of technology to breathe life into a week dead blog! This film is tentatively entitled "Korea Video Blog: Uno"

OOH I'm soo cute. Believe me, when I watched the part about the pineapple soda I was nearly swooned myself. Ok, now I gotta bust a move because its almost 1am and I really do want to wake up by 8 (probably wont happen)

Tootles internet, tootles

This is my kindergarten class, there are 9 of them.

hello friends and wanderers,

today was pretty great. i realized that it was wednesday, which was something to realize because it doesn't seem like it should be. The week has really flown by. this will be short, but tonight after work we went to this restaurant in the building next to our apartment building, we being me and some guys from work, and we ate dinner. it was really great. it was some sort of soup that is really hot, and then you dip thin pieces of meat in it to cook it. phonetically spelled, it is called Shabu Shabu, (or shaboo shaboo). It was really great. really. oh, and then me and this guy Phil from work went to see Alice in Wonderland. we have a movie theater a block away from our apartment and so we left 2 minutes before the movie started and we made it in time. (i should add that here you buy movie tickets and they come with a seating assignment) we made it because we already had tickets, not because we were able to get there buy tickets, and then get to our theater. I liked it.

Tootles internet, tootles

Everybodies workin for the weekend- loveryboy

SOOOOO, i spent my saturday cleaning some more. around the middle of the week i started noticing these long black hairs everywhere, and when the Ring girl never came (i dont have a VCR) i figured the last person to live in my apartment was some girl who was balding. So after the internet guy came and hooked up my internet (i was leeching from someone else before) i washed some clothes so i could start washing the floors. the whole washing thing took a lot longer then i expected, so i took a dinner break. I went out to this barbecue place, the grill is in the middle of the table, and got some Dak Galbi. http://www.trifood.com/dakgalbi.html that will show you what Dak Galbi is, but i got mine with rice instead of noodle. (when you are finished eating all the meat and veggies you dump the rice into the pan and stir it in the left over sauce) it was really good. then i started walking around the marketplace, which is huge. there is a lot of really crazy stuff depending on which part of the market you go to. and i managed to take 2 pictures, the second one is a little blurry, but my focus was to see as much with my eyes, later i will go with my good camera for pictures, but today i brought my small one so i wouldnt be very obtrusive. (it seems like most koreans just use their cell phones as cameras).

Yesterday we had our teachers dinner in Seoul. It was pretty great, but i was surprised to find out that we had it at a restaurant that sort of looked like an american country club type place, it was called Seven Springs. i got a crock-pot filled with clams, oysters, shrimp, and fish. oh man, on the top there was a really huge shrimp, and what took me off guard was that the shrimp still had its head and legs, so i was actually pretty nervous to touch it because i have been watching a lot of zombie movies lately.

yep, i think thats all for now.

Pay Advance

Good news! I have received a pay advance. why is that good news? my atm card didnt work anywhere. in celebration i went grocery shopping, i go grocery shopping a lot. The difference is last time i shopped like a college student and this time i shopped like someone who has money. I bought some soda, i bought tons of veggies, tofu, some spicy tofu broth that will make a reallydelicious tofu/shrimp/crab ramen one night. oh, and i bought tea, which i am looking forward to because it is called Pumpkin and Yam. Odd combination, yet i cant help but think it will be totally awesome. if you ever have a chance, please pick up a bag of honey sesame chips. went back to the ramen house tonight with some guys from work. oh yea, and today was my first day of classes, the kids are really dang adorable. There was one class with the elementary kids that i didnt know what to do. fortunatly i had some coaching during a break and the second half was a lot better. my feet hurt a little right now though because i am not used to wearing dress shoes, and i think that they are slanted. anyway, today was a good first day and i will now show you what one girl in my class looks like.

yep, who knew that Boo was korean? ok, well. i am going to go, not for any particular reason, i just dont think i have anything left to say right now, but i hope you all are doing swell.

GREETINGS!!! it is Friday night and i have just come back from 0the mall, it was pretty alright. i had most of the afternoon off today so i took some time to take some photos of my loft and some of the city. its mainly just me on my way to work, but at a really slow pace because it was gorgeous out and i decided to take pictures.

There should have been a couple more pictures to like, signal out which building i work in and all that, maybe a quick picture of the inside of the first building and the mini mart i frequent, but i was running late to work and really needed to hurry. so that was it. the picture with all the arrows next to it is of the building i work in. actually, it is 2 buildings, the building you mostly see, and then one right to its left that looks the same. i work in the one on the left on the 4th floor. ok, well, it is still pretty early in the morning and so i am going to try to watch an episode of fringe, which is really good.