Quick Thoughts on Diablo III

After finally playing through Diablo III, I have found a quote that sums up the experience well. Sadly, all the hype in the world cannot hide the truth...

"Diablo 3 is like a bad vacation. You spent your money, your time, and now you have realized it wasn't memorable in any meaningful way. You can't help but think there was a million ways to make it more worthwhile. Deckard Cain ends up as the old guy at the pool, Leah as the brainless 20-something at the bar, and Tyreal was only there because he was on business.

The story isn't worth the retelling, and the frustrations are too ridiculous to commit to memory. Overall it's best to just try harder at planning where to spend your money next time."

This quote was found on Kotaku and could not be closer to how I feel. All the hype, all the anticipation only to be let down. It's not horrible but just... uneventful.

TL:DR Diablo III is the Sandals Resort of video games. 

Future DLC

Saying goodbye, Gimcheon style

Working in Korea under a yearly contract is one of the worst things you can do. I’m not talking about the job itself, but rather the people you meet and the unfortunate eventuality that they will, go their separate ways.

I suppose it’s not entirely uncommon to live a life or have a job in which friends come and go, however with overseas teaching jobs, this is a much more common occurrence and an all too common reminder of how easily people and places enter and exit our lives.

At least one person was happy.

Last night, I went to a farewell party for a fellow teacher living and working in Gimcheon. I had first met him only a few weeks after coming to Korea, a friendly guy that I eventually got to know better. He was always funny, always quick with a funny remark and was liked by everyone he met. He was “that” guy, the guy who was always the life of the party, the one who everyone naturally gravitated toward and wanted to be with.

The party itself was not far removed from a typical going away party. Dinner and a few drinks afterwards. Before the party began, I approached the event with slight apprehension, knowing that I would more than likely have a good time, but at the expense of having to say goodbye.

Whenever I was meeting up with people in Gimcehon, it was always a mini event I eagerly looked forward to. We had this amazing ability to take the ordinary and make it spectacular, to turn a small restaurant into a playground of colorful conversation, or a one room apartment into a socially engaging party zone. Our company was what we were after, and our presence was all we needed to have a good time.

This party was no different, despite the somewhat somber occasion; we never let it get to us. Since we were together, there was no excuse to feel sad, but rather celebrate the time that we were able to spend together and the memories we made in our short time here.

Like any outing that we participated in, there were a few ridiculous moments that took place. It wouldn’t be outing with the Gimcheon crew unless something random and in the end, nonsensical took place. This night was no exception.

For your reading pleasure, this is what happened…

1.      

       Met a crazy foreigner living in Gimcheon for over twelve years. He loves to talk about imperialism, is married to a wife who doesn't love him, wants to have children but is impotent and has a strong dislike of foreigners teaching and working in Korea. All this I learned about him the first time meeting him. Some people… some people.

The cake is not a lie. 

2.      Tried to get away from this crazy foreigner and try not to get spotted by him again. This required us sneak around the back of building, double back, travel down an alley and creep around corners making sure he didn't see us. We basically played Metal Gear Solid for about fifteen minutes.

After dinner we planned on relocating to a bar for drinks. One of our friends was nice enough to give her a ride in her car, but needed to stop at another friend’s apart. As we sat in the car, we suddenly came up with the idea to sneak up and scare her. As I finally gained the courage and composure to go through with the plan, I slowly approached her door, only to be greeted with her opening it and wondering why I looked like I was about to break into the place. On this night, I was Solid Snake.

3.     Once we arrived at the bar, the drinks piled up, the laughs became louder and the conversation became crazier. I don’t entirely remember everything we talked about, but I do remember being called a butler, then a maid, then a doorman. I also remember one of our friends deciding that she would be the new ruler and princess of Gimcheon. It’s amazing what we can become with a few drinks in us and how much fun we can have with company…

4.     Until one of guests decided to let loose a barrage of sexist and racists comments directed at one of our Korean guests. She broke down in tears and as he vainly tried to explain his position on how he was “right”, the rest of the people there valiantly came to her aid. As much as the situation was quickly decaying, it was almost inspiring to see our friends so quick to aid and help someone out. They made her feel better and let her know that one asshole wasn’t going to spoil her fun. What could have quickly turned bad ended up being the saving grace of the night.

It was a memorable night. As the night ended and we began to make our way back home, we all said our last goodbyes to our friend. This was possibly the final moment we would see him again. I gave him a hug and told him he would not be forgotten.

I can only hope that he leaves with good memories and years down the line long after the memories of the little town of Gimcheon and the crazy waygooks living there, he remembers the people. He remembers how much they appreciated the time spent, and just how much he would be missed.

So long good friend, we’ll see you when we see you. 

It's simple. We watch the Batman

The Fire Rises

This weekend, I was able to watch The Dark Knight Rises with a few friends. It was opening weekend in Korea and like many other places around the world, was a highly anticipated movie that was eagerly awaited by the public.

I don’t really want to talk about my experience with going to see the movie, as that was rather uneventful. Fun, but still uneventful. Instead I want to talk about the movie itself, as I rarely have the opportunity to geek out about movies in Korea.

Talking and geeking out are two very different things. Anyone can talk about the movie, what they liked and didn't like. What they thought of the performances and if they in the end, thought it was a good movie or not. It’s something everyone does. Everyone has opinions. Everyone is a critic.

To geek out is different. If talking about a movie is well, talking, then to geek out and gush about a movie is to make love to it. A gross analogy maybe, but it’s one that I find the most accurate in trying to describe something that film (or comic lovers) do. Whether they love or hate a movie, they will do either one passionately. They will take ever single aspect of the movie and dissect it down to the frame per second. They don’t just talk about the characters, they talk about their histories. They don’t just talk about the plot; they talk about every comic book storyline the movie borrowed from. They don’t just hate on why the details of certain characters were changed, they talk about exactly why they didn’t like the change and will usually offer hours worth of explanation on how it could have been done better.

So anyway, this is me, geeking out about The Dark Knight Rises, spoiler free and full Batman fanboy mode on. If you hate this stuff, then I suggest not reading more of my future posts because when it comes to movies, comics or games I tend to do this… a lot.

A fair bit of warning before going any further about the movie, if you haven't seen Batman Begins in awhile or at all, I HIGHLY suggest seeing it before watching this in theaters. Trust me on this one, you will be lost if you don't. 

Overall, I really liked The Dark Knight Rises. It was a big and dramatic end to the Nolan Batman trilogy that not only ended on closure but also, for the most part, tied the entire trilogy together. This was something that I never thought of, and never really gave much thought. In terms of continuity, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight seem very different from one another in terms of story. The Dark Knight largely stood on its own, abandoning the previous story of Ras Al Ghul and The League of Shadows to make the spotlight on the Joker. Not only is the story different but the tone seemed different as well. While Batman Begins was an attempt to make a darker and more serious big screen version of Batman, it still had some comic book elements that made sure that while it was going for a more real approach, it was still strictly in the realm of a comic book.

The Dark Knight changed that. While Batman Begins was still in essence a comic book movies, The Dark Knight felt more realistic and plausible ( as plausible as a man in a bat costume, fighting crime could be). It seemed less like a Batman movie and more of a crime thriller. You could have changed Batman’s character completely into a cop or detective and it would have still worked. It’s not a flaw on The Dark Knight; in fact the crime thriller story and iconic villain made it a thrilling and engaging movie. This was when I knew that movies based on comic books was leaving the realm of silly, half baked cash grabs and into the realm of subjects and characters to be taken seriously.

The Dark Knight Rises seems to abandon the serious tone that The Dark Knight built and return to the realm of comic book plots and exposition. This is not a bad thing, after all Batman is a comic book character. Everything about this movie seemed bigger: the villain, the threat, his plans and aftermath that followed. The entire movie was able to maintain a level of intensity and dread that you truly felt engrossed in the plight of the characters. There was not a single time in the movie where I felt safe for anyone, even Batman. Everyone was in constant danger with only one step away from being an unfortunate pawn or casualty of this film’s villain, Bane.

I can’t say that Bane is a better or worse villain than the Joker, since he is a very different kind of villain. The Joker existed to cause chaos and destruction but for no reason other than for amusement. He never had a clear plan, or agenda. Bane is different and in part, what makes him such an effective villain. Every single thing he does is part of a plan. Every single action he makes is with consequence and every single goal is to inflict as much destruction on Gotham City and Batman as much as possible. He is a very scary villain from his opposing size to the weird guttural and mechanically distorted way he speaks. He doesn’t use the venom serum like in the comics, but in here he doesn’t need to.

The Dark Knight Rises borrows from three Batman comics: The Dark Knight Returns, No Man’s Land and Knightfall. Having read all three, some numerous times, it was an interesting experience to see all three storylines represented in one movie. It was also the biggest flaw that this movie had as well. With so many different storylines and so many different characters each doing having their own agendas and motivations it felt like a lot of detail was glossed over in order to make the film’s three hour run time. By the end the plot was moving at such a brisk pace that I hardly noticed that I had been sitting down for little under three hours. Even with the current length I wanted to see more. More details about each character. More about the plight of Gotham. More of Ban causing menace to the city and more of Batman coming back and taking on the cowl once again. Considering the importance of some of the events in the comics, it was a shame to see them over quickly and without much impact.

At first I was skeptical about adding Catwoman to the movie and was even more skeptical when it was announced that Anne Hathaway was going to play her, but in the end I was pretty impressed. She did a great job, a skilled fighter, a master thief and very sexy. This was the Catwoman I always envisioned and like many other things in the movie, wished she got more screen time.

Another interesting character addition was a new character named John Blake. Blake is cop who eventually becomes a major character who assists Batman and the Gotham Police along the way. I felt that he was an interesting character, and if you’ve ever read the comics, you would instantly know that he was trying to be the Robin to Batman without actually being Robin. For something that could have been an afterthought and messed up the cannon of Batman, this was a clever addition and it paid off very well.

As for Batman himself, there wasn’t a lot of him in here. Again, with the massive cast of characters, it seemed like everyone had some diminished screen time and for me, it seemed like Batman suffered the most. His story, along with Bruce Wayne’s was by far the most interesting and I wanted to see more time spent on him. He was used in all the right scenes and gets plenty of time to take down the some criminals the only way he knows how, but I wanted to see more.  After Batman Begins, we we’re able to see more growth and insight on his inner thoughts and demons more than any other film version, with the addition of more characters his thoughts and inner turmoil during one of the most important periods of growth for his character are not as in depth as I would have liked In the comics, Batman nearly goes insane from the grief and pain he is caused. It was an important and shocking thing to see considering that Batman was an unstoppable force that was uncompromising in his mission to stop criminals. If Batman can fall, he could be broken, then who even stood a chance against Bane? The feelings of hopelessness and dread that permeated the entire comic's run was only briefly touched on here. 

I suppose that was my biggest problem as a while now that I think about it, I just wanted more.

For what was there though, was very good. Overall I really liked what I saw and considering a few years ago, Batman and Robin was the cinematic standard for a Batman movie, Nolan and the crew has done a great job giving us a Batman trilogy that fans can be proud of. Geeks live in a great time now, being able to talk about their favorite characters and properties done with respect and quality that they no longer have to be ashamed of liking comics and the characters in them.

I think in a few years I can see myself looking at the trilogy like I do the original Star Wars trilogy: a strong and surprising debut, an arguably better sequel and a highly entertaining final part. Now that this take is finished, I am excited to see where the Dark Knight goes after this.

This comic fan left the IMAX* happy. It’s a good time to love superheroes. It’s a good time to love comics.

* A majority of scenes were shot specifically with IMAX cameras, making the actions scenes look fantastic even in digital IMAX. 

The Best Weekend Ever (or close to it) Part 2

After the show, we took an hour long bus ride back to Incheon, where I was staying for the night. It was late in the evening at this point, so we were all pretty exhausted. Our previous plan was to stay up late after the show and drink to our heart’s content. As mundane as this activity sounds, it was actually becoming a very rare occurrence with these current friends. One of them was actively looking for a full time job, while working on the weekend. Her free time was limited to the weekday, making the time to actually spend time with her short and rare. My other friend was a teacher for three years in Incheon. This year would be her last as she had recently been hired for a job back home.

As the bus lumbered along through the city streets and on the highways, I slowly drifted in and out of sleep. My friend had suggested that we try to sleep on the bus in order to give us energy for staying up all night. I wasn’t physically tired as much as I was mentally exhausted from the madness of the work week. I stared out the window, watching the neon lights flash by. It felt like the first rest I had been given all week.

When we finally came to our stop, we had not eaten since before the show. Being late and with few options, we made our way to that always reliable, but never good for you golden beacon in the night: McDonald’s.

Inside there were only a few people, not a surprise considering what time it was. We ordered our food and sat down to eat, only to be interrupted by a large group of drunken individuals. It’s normally human nature to do two things when under the influence of alcohol: turn into a quiet recluse and hide in the corner, letting the demon drink flow away from your body or turn into a loud obnoxious asshole whose sole purpose is to let everyone know that he’s like, totally drunk bro.

Guess who sat by us?*

As we sat and ate our meal in relative silence, the drunken group continued to get louder. The other diners, including their girlfriends, tried their best to ignore them. After a few minutes, I heard a loud shout and the sound of small objects falling on the floor. I turned around and was greeted to a scene of beads from a bracelet bouncing all over the floor. The drunken guy had apparently broken one of the other girl’s bracelets in his drunken stupor.

This by itself wouldn’t be too bad. Drunk people break shit, that’s a given. What happened next however was something that I didn’t anticipate and provided some excitement to an otherwise routine trip to McDonald’s.

Behind the drunken group, sat a father, mother and baby. One of the beads flew back and hit the baby in the face and cased the baby to start crying. The father, understandably angry at the accident stood up and walked over to the table. He made his way over and put his hand on the shoulder of the drunk man and asked him to apologize for the incident.

If you have ever been around a drunk person and they fall into the loud asshole category, you more than likely know that asking them to do anything short of drinking some more will end badly with blind, unwarranted anger. Korea, I witnessed, is no different.

The drunk man threw the hand off his shoulder and stood up to go face to face with the father. Just like high school and the movies, harsh words were quickly exchanged between the two** before they started attacking each other, the drunk man flailing randomly at the father and the father going straight for the drunk guy’s throat.

Now the whole restaurant was at attention with the other drunken friends now trying to hold back the drunk guy and the mother trying to hold back her husband while holding the baby. Soon the girlfriend of the guy was going over to the wife trying to talk her down and make sure the baby was fine. The fight turned into a shouting match and soon, a police officer came in and began talking to both the fighters. It was interesting to note that this officer was

a.       Unarmed

b.      The friendliest police officer I have ever seen

c.       Made no attempt to arrest or even fine the drunk guy. Even though he yelled and screamed in his face.

After the officer had left, the drunk crowd still hung around outside the McDonald’s trying to play off the perhaps salve what dignity they had left, most likely lost among the beads and fallen French fries on the floor. 

The father went back to his meal like nothing had happened. He had a look of anger on his face but it slowly gave away for a look of accomplishment. He was proud, he fought off a drunk guy for his infant child. He probably felt like a boss, deservedly so.

We finished our meal and as we left the restaurant we were initially quiet but slowly began laughing and talking again. Sometime like this you couldn’t make up if you tried, and would probably never happen again. Seeing it together was something we would probably remember for long time and would eventually be happy we witnessed together.

We went to my friend’s apartment and ended up staying up to 5 AM laughing, talking and enjoying our company together. I was deliriously happy, partially assisted by the alcohol, but mainly because of being in the presence of good friends combined with the excitement and unpredictably of the night.

It was a fun weekend with friends I don’t see very often. I never ask for much from my weekends, just to relax and have a moderately good time. The past weekend delivered in spades, it was my ideal perfect weekend. Good company, fun times and enough memories to last for a long time.

I always appreciate the little moments, for one day, I know they no longer will be here and all I’ll have is just memories in the end.

“I was thinking how nothing lasts, and what a shame that is.”

* The loud, obnoxious asshole

** The choice words they used we’re Korean curse words one of which is:

씨발놈아! (Shi-bal-nom-a!) - "You motherfucker!"  

To me, Shi-bal sounds like “Shiba”, as in Shiba Inu, the little Japanese dog. Since I couldn’t find any other appropriate pictures, here’s a picture of a Shiba Inu. 

Almost makes you forget about that fight...

The Best Weekend Ever (or close to it) Part 1

I don’t live for the weekends. I was never one of those people who felt the need to let loose all of their bottled up stress from the week and let it loose for two days. Having fun on the weekend was important but be rested and relaxed was also just as important. Going back to work on a Monday jus as exhausted as you were on Friday is about as much fun a day full of deskwarming in a air conditioner-less room. Bonus points for misery if you were still hung over Monday morning.

Just like a day at work, there is also no guarantee that every weekend would be a perfect weekend. Sometimes things would go wrong, plans would fizzle out and changes would have to be made. This was a common occurrence in my life. It never bothered me, but was something that I was simply aware of and flexible to. I never hyped myself up for a perfect weekend, because I always knew there was simply no such thing.

This past weekend came awfully close to be perfect. It wasn’t a full weekend, nor was it anything too terribly exciting but, the amount of fun I had and the people I spent it with will probably last for a long time. Just thinking about it puts a huge smile on my face.

The week leading up to the weekend was an absolute disaster, a swirling mass of chaos that enveloped my school for the entire week and caught all of the teachers and students in its trap. Missing tests, missing grades, confused students and frustrated teachers made for a generally unpleasant environment to be in. 

Every day seemed to get slightly worse. I’m sure the super hot teacher’s office didn’t help matters. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Do the Right Thing” you will have a close idea. Just replace the themes of racism with missing papers, and you’re half way there.

I was excited and practically jumping at the opportunity to leave the school. A weekend break sounded like the perfect thing to clear my mind. In truth though, this weekend had been planed many weeks before. This was the weekend I was going to watch Wicked.

I was never a person who avidly watched musicals. I had no distaste towards them; in fact a majority of my middle school years was spent with musicals, whether acting in them or working behind the scenes. Where I lived, the number of musicals that were available to see was severely limited. Even community productions were in short supply as the community theater in my town only held a handful of productions a year.

I lived close to Chicago where a large variety of musicals would end up. One of the most noticeable ones was Wicked, based on the novel by Gregory Maguire. In it, the story of the Land of Oz from the Wizard of Oz and the origins of iconic characters such as The Wicked Witch and the Good Witch are explained. It was a musical I had always heard of but never actually made my way to see it. My sister and brothers saw it.  A majority of my friends saw it, but I never did. I always assumed that I would see it one day when the opportunity developed.

When I found out that Wicked would be coming to Seoul, I jumped at the opportunity. Eventually I made plans to see Wicked in Seoul along with two close friends living in Korea.  Tired, sweaty from the humidity and itching to leave my small town behind for the weekend, I boarded my train after school and began the ride towards Seoul and an evening at the theater.

I arrived at Seoul about an hour early, making sure that I had enough time to meet up with my friends and make my way to the theater. After meeting up we excitedly claimed out tickets and found our seats. The seats were on the third floor with a bird’s eye view overlooking the stage. At first I was worried a seat so far away from the stage would hamper my enjoyment, but it actually was a good view. The stage, despite being small, was loaded with large props and details that were able to be made out from even far away. The musical was in English, with the cast from the New York production performing. For all the Koreans in the audience, subtitles were on the side of the stages so they could follow along. 

I don’t claim to be a reliable or reputable source on musicals, but watching Wicked was one of the most enjoyable and engaging entertainment experiences in my life. Wicked had great music, excellent performances from all of the actors and a story that gave backgrounds on characters and the world of Oz without ruining the reputation of the original Wizard of Oz. I would even go as far to say that if you were going to make it a prequel, borrow a page from Wicked. It was that good. 

I remember feeling such a vivid flux of emotions and during the course of the musical, not necessarily from sadness or happiness, but through the delivery of the songs and the nuance from each character. It was so well done it inspired a raw emotive response that I rarely if ever feel from any entertainment medium. Like I said, I may be wrong; this may be a fairly mediocre to bad musical from a connoisseur’s perspective, but what I do know for sure is that I enjoyed it to death and would take an opportunity to watch it again in a heartbeat. Hopefully one day, I will. 

A good musical seen with good friends. A night I will never forget. 

How "busy" is busy?

How busy is busy? Is there a test for measuring how busy we actually are? It’s a phrase we toss around all the time, use interchangeably in our daily lives whenever something from our personal agenda happens to come up into conversation, or as a statement to let others know that we don’t have time for your wants and needs, I’m busy damnit.

It’s a phrase I notice I toss around quite often, even more so since becoming both a teacher and journalist in Korea. While this may sound like I’m about to unveil a shocking truth about me never actually being busy, it’s not. When I say I am busy, I really do mean it. I have a fairly full schedule that I manage to complete fairly effectively every week, while at the same time maintaining a healthy social life. The question is not if I am busy or not, but rather just how busy I am.

I’m more than willing to admit that I am fully capable of wasting copious amounts of time if need be. On days where I deskwarm* close to 80% of the time is spent browsing the internet, searching desperately for a digital tidbit to starve off my boredom for a few minutes more. The remaining 20% is usually spent writing, reading, or preparing lesson plans. Before you say how this looks bad on my part for taking such a short amount of time planning lessons, rest assured that most of my lessons are planned in advance at home (hence the busy part). I know I waste time at school when I’m not teaching, so the “how busy am I?” question is all but moot here. I want to know how busy I am when I actually say and acknowledge I am busy.

A typical busy night will have me going home at around 5 PM. I usually end up going to bed around 1 AM or earlier depending on the events that the following day will hold or how fatigued I am feeling. What happens between those times?

5:30 PM: Sit and read the news, watch YouTube clips, read comics, sit and stare ahead processing the events of the day.

6:00 PM: Start thinking about what I have to do tonight. Do I have to clean house? Meet someone? Make dinner? Write an article? Plan a lesson? All of the above?  Wow, I guess I better get started…  after I finish watching this video.

6:15 PM: Ok, now it’s really time to get ready. I should get started…. This video is part of playlist? Well, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt if I went through all of them. It’s only about 12 minutes after all.

6:25 PM: Almost done…

6:27 PM: Finished, wow that was fun. It’s not even seven yet, I’m doing pretty well.

6:28 PM: Holy crap, it’s almost seven. I have to meet someone at eight.

6:30 PM: At this point, I’m frantically scrambling to get ready and change into new clothes, a necessity since the summers in Korea are so hot and humid that your clothes by the end of the day have soaked up more sodium and fluid than the Dead Sea.  How well do I know the person I am meeting? Am I friends? Are they judgmental?  Do they care how I dress? They don’t? Jeans and a crappy t shirt it is.

6:40 PM: Well I said I would meet them at seven and technically, I can make it if I walk, but since its hot as balls out, I’ll just end up looking like I slaved away in the salt mines so, taxi it is.

6:45 PM: I sure wish I had some cash in my wallet. This check card is super nifty with me never having to carry cash, but finding a cab driver that accepts a card in my town is like finding money on the street. Probable it will happen, but don’t count on it to pay the bills for you. That being said, time to stop at the bank.

6:50 PM: Well only ten minutes left until I have to meet up, thank God taxis are pretty fast around here. If one ever shows up… I swear I just saw an entire fleet of them a few seconds ago…

7:05 PM: I finally found a cab and am now on my way to the station. Sure I’ll be a little late but hey, it took a long time to find a cab, fate’s conspiring against me today. It’s not like leaving a little earlier would have made any difference right? Right?

7:10 PM: I finally show up at our meeting spot and apologize profusely for being late. It will never happen again you tell your guest, as long as I have no Youtube videos to watch**

8:13 PM: Wow, it sure was fun meeting up. I had a great time, we should do this more often. If you’ll excuse me though, I have to return home, I’m very busy you see (LOL).

8:15 PM: Since I have time to spare I’ll just walk home. I’m not in a rush (even though I’m busy) and who wants to spend 2,500 won anyway?

8:32 PM: Finally made it back. That was a nice walk, time to start writing and lesson planning.

8:33 PM: I sure am hungry though. I should probably eat first. I’m so tired though, I don’t really feel like cooking today.

8:35 PM: Why hello kimbap take out place only a few minutes from my apartment. Guess what I’ll be eating tonight?

8:45 PM: Glad I grabbed take out instead of taking time to cook, now time to eat this meal and get to work.

8:47 PM: I don’t really want to eat in silence though. I should have something to keep me entertained while I eat. Time to go to Youtube… again.

9:10 PM: Well that was pretty good, not great but considering I saved time cooking, it was worth it. I was finished eating about five minutes ago but, those videos are so…damn… addicting.

9: 34 PM: Ok, for real, all done now. I watched every single video this user has posted along with his favorites. I’ve watched so many videos about him I’m pretty sure I am now qualified to give a psychological evaluation about his life.  Maybe I will… but that’s for another day. Remember, I’m busy.

9:40 PM: Let’s start lesson planning. This should be easy. I know exactly what I have to teach my students and how I will do it..

9:47 PM: Hmmm, this lesson is a lot shorter than I expected. I should add some more.

9:55 PM: Holy crap, this is too long, this can last three classes. What was I thinking?

10:05 PM: This looks good, it’s a nice balance. I just hope it’s not too difficult but I guess I’ll test that as I go along. This is the first time I’m giving this lesson. Prototype baby!

10:15 PM: Now it’s time to finish my last task (not really) and write that article. I’ve taken so many notes I’m sure it’s a matter of just writing itself at this point.

10: 20 PM: I don’t like the way this sounds. I’m going to re-write.

10:30 PM: Still don’t like it.

10:40 PM: Still don’t like it.

10:50 PM: I like it a little better. It’s slightly above literature prose homicide and now just a steaming pile of vile words and awkward sentences. I’m getting somewhere.

11:00 PM: I still hate it. I give up. I’ll finish it tomorrow.

11: 10 PM: What’s that awful smell?

11:11 PM: (Make a wish!) Oh wow, that’s me. Looks like its shower time.

11:24 PM: I feel so much better. Refreshed, clean and ready to make it all for nothing tomorrow morning when I sweat my ass off on the way to school!

11:27 PM: It’s time for bed. I’m tired and tomorrow is another busy day. I feel good though, I finished everything I wished to accomplish. I’m pretty good at this. 

11:28 PM: I forgot to clean today. Damnit.

It looks like a busy schedule, in some ways it is. I notice though that in between the actual busy parts I tend to waste a lot of time doing meaningless stuff.  I have to wonder though, is this normal? Are we as humans programmed to always waste time in between? Is there anyone out there that has a 100% efficient work ethic?

I am busy. I do accomplish my work but I can’t help but feel the amount of time I waste, could be used for so much more. It something that I’ve struggled with and something that 

I hope to figure out. My goal is to have a perfect work ethic one day. It’s a goal that I will shoot for… tomorrow.

The desk of a busy man or a messy man? You decide.

*deskwarming is when teachers go to school and do not have any classes to teach so they spend the days sitting at their desk hence the term ‘deskwarming’

**As  long as the internet exists, this will never happen.

Vacation Plans: And Now for Something Different

One of the highlights for many foreign teachers in Korea is vacation time. Besides the public holidays that everyone gets off, most foreign teachers get an extended vacation in both the summer and winter period. EPIK is no different, with up to 8 days off in the summer and 10 days in the winter.

For most, this is an exciting time to explore other parts of Asia for a relatively cheap price tag. Locations like Thailand, Manila and Vietnam are some of the most popular vacations, and this year it seemed like nearly all the teachers in my program would be spending their vacation days overseas.

Originally, I was planning to make a vacation for myself on Jeju Island, located a few miles away from the Korean mainland. It sounded perfect at the time, in the summer Jeju was home to sandy beaches, the beautiful ocean and a tropical atmosphere that is unlike anything else in Korea. At the time, I thought that this would be a perfect vacation spot: close to Korea and yet still different enough to seem like I went somewhere different, it was the perfect spot to forget about life's little problems.

This plan soon fizzled out of existence when I looked at the price tag of the trip. When combined with the cost of tickets to fly over, lodging and transportation across the island, the final cost was well outside my price range, something that I was simply not able or wanting to spend. Maybe a few years earlier I wouldn't have cared, but with a job and bills to pay, it s amazing how much my mindset has changed.

Slightly distressed, I now had no plans for what would be my longest vacation until next year. It was obvious that I would be staying in Korea, a situation that didn't appeal to me. This was my chance to do something different, see somewhere new before I came to that point in my life where I no longer could see the things I wanted to, or go where I wanted to. I felt like I was setting myself up for time that would just be wasted in the end.

It gradually came to me that staying in Korea maybe wouldn't be as bad as I thought. I visited many places in Korea and saw many different things, but I have never seen Korea in a natural state. Whenever I had visited a city, or small village or festival, it was always under the pretense of a specific event or meeting someone. I had never seen Korea, nor its back alleys and off the path locations. I had never seen Korea just to observe, to soak in the culture, to travel with no destination in mind.

It occurred to me that I had been everywhere in Korea, and yet in the end I'd barely scratched the surface of what Korea was really like. I had seen the tourist Korea, the true Korea was still hidden.

My vacation was suddenly clear; I had to see Korea, as much as I could, as far off the path as possible. If I was going to be living here for a significant amount of time, I wanted to know the country better. I wanted to be participant in immersion, not just another tourist.

My vacation plan was simple and yet I was giddy with excitement to get started. My vacation consisted of one long journey, from one end of Korea to another, by train and bus, along oceans and highways. I planed on making my way through the country of Korea taking in as much as I could. There was no specific location, there was no specific plan. Get on a train and simply see where it took me.

Traveling like this, with no map or plans is one of the most satisfying ways to travel. Too much structure and rigid planning makes a trip seem too scripted and planned. You weren't really blessed with the freedom of exploration, you were simply following a list of locations with one more check mark to be made.

Maybe I'll come across an amazing temple, a bustling city. Maybe I'll find nothing but barren fields and mountains. Maybe I'll find a place to rest, maybe I'll be on the trail for days, lost without any idea where I am, or where I'm going.

Where I go and what happens, doesn't matter to me as long as the journey is mine, the decisions are mine, I can be satisfied. The joy of discovery, discovering someplace new is one of the most thrilling aspects to me, the need to explore and discover on my own pace is something that will probably never be scratched.

The journey is mine, along with the twists and turns.

"I am the master of my fate, the captain of my soul".