Juanju

One Week to Go

magicjuand — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 01:49:42 +0000

Wow has this past month been a hot mess. Good and Bad. With Q’s accident, Hong Kong, Ben’s visit, Boseong, etc. all while trying to get everything sorted out for my return to Amer-I- Ca(n). I have been running around like a coked out Whitney Houston, just sweaty and anxious. So that’s my excuse for no blog entries. That and the fact that I haven’t been sitting in my office at school with nothing to do.

SO what is a quick fix for that? KOREAN POP MUSIC! Here is SHINee with the Song Lucifer. I feel like the prettiness of these boys is too much for males, and maybe some females, to handle in the States, but this is pretty standard for boy bands here and I don’t even notice anymore. Until I think back to how popular G-Dragon was when I first got here.

4th of July in Korea

magicjuand — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 02:08:12 +0000

For 4th of July weekend a handful of my friends were suppose to head to Ijakdo (Ijak Island) west of Seoul and Incheon, but because of the foggin’ fog, the ferry was delayed 7 hours and eventually cancelled. NO WORRIES! We had a pretty rad time frolicking around the ferry terminal all day. After that escapade we headed to a beach in Incheon where we could camp right on the beach in front of numerous sea food restaurants. It turned out to be a wonderful weekend and Sunday’s weather was as nice as having a warm comforting cup of cocoa on a cold winter’s eve looking out at the moon on the breast of a new fallen snow. Give or take. Most of the convenient stores had fireworks so we had our fare share of lighting off hand held roman candles while being a little lit up ourselves. Probably not the best idea we have ever had, but no one was harmed (by the fireworks). Cough cough Ahem, Park Ji Sung look-a-like who was trying to impress the ladies with his manly drinking abilities? What’s a boy to do?

Rachel dog sitting???

Rebecca and Sara exploring the muddy waters.

Yay for camping!

Little Miss Bacon

magicjuand — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:12:16 +0000

As some of you may know, Q bought a pup! At first, I thought this was a terrible idea thinking about the hassle of getting her back to the States and whatnot BUT it is actually a relatively easy process. Also, buying this dog in the U.S. would cost about four times as much. She’s a miniature English bull terrier named Bacon and is adorable. Once she stops shitting on my floor on the weekends, I will probably love her even more! Ohhhh so cute.

Tired pup

Like father, like daughter?

Lantern Festival

magicjuand — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 05:31:33 +0000

The weekend before Buddha’s birthday was the Lantern Festival in Seoul in his honor. I said I would post some photos, so here they are! I think they speak for themselves so I won’t write much… I’m not just saying that because I’m being lazy. I actually really want to write something to crack myself up at the moment, but I don’t have much to say. Shame. Another shame: I neglected to bring my camera ONCE AGAIN… So all of these photos are compliments of Miss Kathy Dorsey. Thank you kind lady.

And I thought Europeans like soccer…

magicjuand — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:09:59 +0000

For the first of the World Cup games that The Republic of Korea played in, I headed to Seoul City Hall to watch the game on a jumbo screen with some friends and thousands of others. I never would have imagined that the showdown against Greece would have been such madness. Che bordello! And an amazing one at that. Decked out in Korean gear, I think I made over 1000 new Korean friends, most of whom now have a picture with me or one of the other foreigners I was with. After Korea won, like the audience on Oprah’s favorite things, the crowd went wild. 대한민국!

We are somewhere around where I scribbled in yellow.

I made it on another Korea website! Kind of… Students of Amy, Rebecca, and Sara (The ladies in the foreground) found them on multiple websites. Out of control.

Yes, sometimes they spell it with a C.

The official (?) South Korean anthem for the World Cup. Featuring K pop SENSATIONS, Big Bang, and “Queen” Kim Yuna. The best figure skater in the world can sing too? Jealous.

Cancun SB 2010!!!!!!!!!

magicjuand — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 00:13:02 +0000

Friday May 21st of this year marked Buddha’s birthday which meant, another day off from school. A bunch of friends and myself decided it would be a good idea to head down to the southern coast for the weekend. Busan, the 2nd largest city in Korea… WHERE AM I????? I’m not exaggerating when I say I think 90% of the foreigners in Korea decided to head to Busan this weekend. Understandably so with the nice weather and the 3 day weekend. I did feel like I headed to Cancun instead of a city in Korea though. The beach was packed with drunken bros and coasties with sun glasses to big for their faces. I’m not hating, mine were pretty large too – I was just hoping for something a little less Jersey shore…

Don’t be fooled by the photos! We rolled in at 4:15 am and headed straight to the beach. These photos were taken around 8am, and the jello shots made it out by 10am. Only kidding, but I’m sure someone, somewhere on the beach busted some out at one point during the day.

Although it rained the majority of the weekend, over all we had a great time and we got in one sufficient beach day. I don’t think I’ll have time to head back down this year, but hopefully the next time I return to Korea I will be able to explore Busan more.

Side note: I bought my airplane tickets home the other day — dah! I have a lot of mixed feelings about leaving Korea. I am excited to get home and embark on my next adventure, but I have had a great experience here and part of me doesn’t want it to end. That being said, don’t worry, I’m coming home. See you in a little over 2 months!

I got a splinter caught in my vulture claw

magicjuand — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 05:36:24 +0000

Not even joking. I was erasing the wood framed whiteboard and all of the sudden, after rubbing up against the border “씨발 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I didn’t say it of course, but you better believe I was thinking it! 1/4 of an inch wood chip stuck between your finger and claw nail isn’t a pleasant feeling — BUT I got it out with a tweezers. The end.

I also have to get a root canal. Another root canal. That will be my 2nd root canal by the age of 25! Which brings me to my next point; it’s my birthday today!! Sound the trumpets, shake those nipple tassels, and pop the champagne! Then again, maybe not…. Q’s birthday is June 2nd so we had a combined birthday get together along the river in Dongducheon last Friday. A great place to eat cake and drink red wine with the poop aroma steaming up from the stream. *Cue Chantel Kreviazuk’s sappy It Feels Like Home to Me. Honestly though, I step of the train after a day in Seoul, take a deep breath (breath in turdy smells) and ahhhh I’m home! ANYWAY, we had a great night with great friends and I couldn’t have asked for much more for a birthday celebration. On Saturday, Q and I rented an AMAZING room on the 14th floor of the W Hotel overlooking the Han river. I neglected to take any photos, so once I snatch some of Gyumin’s, I will post them.

I apologize for this blog being all over the place, but it’s only going to get worse as I haven’t written in four ev ur. So sorry. Here’s a recap of what has went on in the past 2 months or so.

The kids playing some catch phrase along the Dongducheon river. Fun fact: 똥 (ddoong) in Korean means crap. Hmmmm…Seoul’s best toilet for 2000!!! Ohh wait… Seoul’s best toilet for August of 2000!!! I knew you’d get it!

I ran another 10k race and it went swimmingly. Theme: Superheroes. Fail: John and Amy.

Here are a few photos from the 4th annual World Dj Fest. Here are people drumming and not DJing.

Here are 2 random girls who were taking my picture. I took their picture back. They love it.

Fist Pumping= fun.

About to eat the Beondegi (Silk Worm Larva) at the Lantern Festival.

Tasting the Beondegi.

My school said they got a really good deal on the place.

The first time I’ve ever been in a subway car alone. It’s the little things, really.

Part of the Seoul ’88 Olympic park grounds.

Amy and I outside of my favorite breakfast place in Seoul, Flying Pan.

Q with his birthday cake. Election day this year happened to fall on Q’s birthday which means no school! We went to *Everland for his special day. *see one of my first posts.

I heart aviaries.

Good times at Everland Ranch. Just. Joking.

Korea’s Next Top Monkey

Best meat buffet ever! 10,000 won for all you can eat whatever you can think of. 6 blocks from my apartment. This one is for the LaBarbera family.

I heart coffee too.

K Pop!

magicjuand — Wed, 26 May 2010 03:10:13 +0000

Here is a dose of some Korean pop to hold you over until I write an actually entry. Sorry folks, I’ve been busy planning trips, visits, applying for jobs, and sending hate mail to Kim Jong il. The video is Lee Hyori’s Swing. She is one of the most well known k pop idols in South Korea and probably worldwide. If you don’t know her, you probably don’t know any Korean pop singers than do you? DO YOU?!?!?! Sorry if you are creeped out by clowns.

Bicycles for Human Beings

magicjuand — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 01:55:38 +0000

As opposed to??? After lesson planning with the clever Korean text books for nearly eight months, my creativity in coming up with fun activities related to the chapter contents is dwindling. The 8th grade chapter I am on this month is titled Bicycles for Human Beings. Pretty unreal, right? Some of my other favorites include Princess Backwards and Invasion of Christmas Island. Easy enough, I’ll just teach the students all about other common English topics, such as The Halloween Archipelago, King Retrograde, and Wings for Birds. Points for creativity?

Anyway, that has nothing to do with the photos posted below which are a random assortment of recent photos from the events that took place in the past couple of months.

A few friends and I were stopped a few weeks ago in the streets of Apgujeong Seoul to be featured in a Seoul urban fashion blog. Along with myself, John LoBarbera, Musinsa.com featured my friends Sara Dorsal (Sara Dorsey), Amy Lanza (lucky…), and my personal favorite, Re Deccakuss (Rebecca Kuss). You’d think English teachers would have more legible handwriting, yah?

Showing our Irish pride on St. Patty’s day

Q took me to El Plato, a tapas restaurant in Seoul. Surprisinly authentic Sangria and paella made for a great date — well done Mr. Lee.

Gyeongju!

magicjuand — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 02:10:41 +0000

Holy cherry blossoms. This past weekend I visited Gyeongju in south-eastern Korea with a group of friends. Our little biking and sight-seeing adventure would definitely be at the top of my list of favorite happenings of the year. Being able to see old Korean architecture and a plethora of flowers and trees was a nice change of scenery from the static beige high rises that surround the area in which I dwell. Our friend Melani, whose hometown is Gyeongju, guided us through the city to our youth hostel on our 15k bike ride that was lined the whole way with beautiful cherry blossom trees.

Starting out near the train station in Gyeongju are the Daeneungwon tumuli (burial mounds). I was told this photo is reminiscent of Big Fish. I like it.

Here is the coalition underneath our first patch of cherry blossom trees. With all this excitement I could barely grip my handle bars with my sweaty palms. Wunderbar!

Being told by one of my friends to pretend like I am on America’s Next Top Model happens more often than not — Here we are at the semi-creepy Korean playground pit stop to have a refreshing 맥주 (BEER).

Being asked by Korean teenage girls to take a photo with them while one of them covers her entire face with her hand also happens a decent amount. Jumping picture fail — too soon or too late?

Well done ladies! Or maybe this great photo was the outcome of my excellent direction and photo taking skills. I however cannot take credit for the positioning of the sun in Chrissy’s palm. And her name shall be called Human Torch from this day forward.

Photo opp stop!

Here is a photo at Bulguksa Temple. We also ventured to The Seokuram grotto.