tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23275612829807182742012-01-23T14:52:35.607+09:00Round 2Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.comBlogger771100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-40094564866500236192012-01-20T15:39:00.000+09:002012-01-23T14:05:15.422+09:00

The area looks the same.  I am in Newton, MA.  On the horizon I can see the fuzzy Prudential Center and the rest of the Boston landscape shrouded in an unnatural winter fog.  I park in the same spot as before.  The last time I was here I managed to fuck up the walking directions to the Korean Consulate General of New England.  Now that I know exactly where the building stands, I feel like a

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0Newton, MA, USA42.3370413 -71.209221442.290091800000006 -71.2881854 42.3839908 -71.1302574tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-80409217553190735322011-08-21T09:44:00.000+09:002011-08-21T09:56:27.533+09:00

Jordi's Village, Spain What can I say about my time in Spain?  For one thing, I was apparently so excited to get on out of Asia that I arrived a full 4 days before I had planned to.  It was luck that on the last bit of battery I got a hold of my friend and host, Jordi, and informed him that I was at the airport in Barcelona awaiting his arrival to pick me up.  I was tired and was basically

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-66674288792697506152011-08-03T08:34:00.000+09:002011-08-03T08:34:57.814+09:00

By the time I arrived in Bangkok, I was all jumbled up in my mind. On the one hand, I was happy to be leaving Pattaya and I was excited to arrive in Barcelona and see my friend Jordi, who I had not seen in a number of years. On the other hand, leaving Thailand meant that the bulk of my traveling, particularly my no-plan-do-whatever-I-want sort of traveling, was pretty much over. It hit me as I

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-17979897702817613942011-07-26T06:52:00.000+09:002011-07-26T06:52:25.678+09:00

If I am being honest, I did nothing of any significance in Pattaya. This is nothing I feel bad for, as I had sort of planned on using Pattaya as a place to rest and say goodbye to Asia, but it makes for boring blog posts. Basically, every day I did this, or some other variation with remarkable similarity: 10am- Wake up in total darkness courtesy of wooden shutters. Turn on light and

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-51001727543584293162011-07-17T08:29:00.001+09:002011-07-17T08:34:49.137+09:00

The Russians and I hopped from the bed of the pick-up and said our goodbyes to Mary (or whatever I named her, I forgot) and her friend. Her friend, a heavily tattooed American gave some recommendations as far as places to stay that were either closer of further from the hotspots, depending on what we were looking for. I found out shortly thereafter that what people in Pattaya are generally

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-19346798214507270822011-07-12T06:50:00.000+09:002011-07-12T06:50:19.635+09:00

Pattaya, Thailand Sometimes when you are on the road, traveling for a long time you hit a wall. I hit the wall in Thailand. A tuk-tuk brought me to a back-packer guesthouse in Siem Riep, Cambodia. It was early enough for me to be barely awake and also miserable, but it was already hot and humid enough for me to be drenched in sweat. Further, the place was jammed and there was

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-5629233449336617152011-07-07T06:02:00.002+09:002011-07-07T06:22:12.385+09:00

DJ Camera and the manager of the Noura Motel were kind enough to set me up with transport to and lodging at Siem Riep, a few hours north of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. So, early the next morning I was picked up in an overcrowded van and made my way to one of the most beautiful places I had ever been to. The way to Siem Riep is gorgeous and at times difficult. There are valleys of deep green with

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-62802231474471766272011-06-25T08:55:00.000+09:002011-06-25T08:55:18.462+09:00

S-21, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. After the Killing Fields at Choeung Ek, DJ Camera drove me across the city to an extremely dense section of sprawl. Faded buildings stood looking at the remnants of a school. The school was fenced and largely walled off and topped with razor wire. Care had been taken to provide some division between the school and the houses behind. The compound consisted of five

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-42562798844132564612011-06-24T07:35:00.000+09:002011-06-24T07:35:17.416+09:00

The next morning when I met DJ Camera in the restaurant downstairs he was not so chipper. He greeted me with a genuine hotel, but his eyes were vacant and he looked uneasy. I thought for a moment and wondered if our destinations for the day had him uneasy and morose. No. It was the booze. DJ Camera was royally hungover. I wondered if maybe he was still drunk. I was greeted by the manager,

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-35891992551239988552011-06-21T09:32:00.000+09:002011-06-21T09:32:18.124+09:00

DJ Camera, my tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, was beginning to creep me out; not majorly, but I was beginning to dread his jolly, round face, and off-centered dirty baseball cap. He was everywhere. I arrived, admittedly thanks to DJ Camera, at the Noura Motel unscathed and found that while the $20 rooms were occupied, the manager was willing to let me stay in a $35 room for $25. DJ

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-27686883856620352132011-06-17T09:22:00.000+09:002011-06-17T09:22:57.803+09:00

Sorry all, I've been in Florida or otherwise occupied away from the computer.  Let's push and finish this ol' blog.  This next one might be familliar if you have seen our little magazine.  Anyway, after a long bus ride from Saigon, I ended up in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Cambodia, with its history of violence and a recent tragic past, is a place of dichotomy.  Common guides often speak of

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-67047223450934712472011-05-27T06:55:00.000+09:002011-05-27T06:55:28.971+09:00

A secret entrance to a Viet Cong Tunnel.Cu Chi, Vietnam. The next day I signed up for a tour.  Ordinarily I don’t go for too many tours when I travel for the simple reason that I usually travel alone and end up being the guy sitting on the bus who never says anything.  This tour however promised to be an interesting trip to experience a place that was close to Hell for U.S. Soldiers during

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-64346452470765782772011-05-26T04:30:00.000+09:002011-05-26T04:30:03.250+09:00

Ben Tahn Market.Saigon, Vietnam. The man who split his time equally between standing behind the desk at the Giang Linh Hotel changing my U.S. dollars to Vietnamese dong, and sitting on a sofa watching TV and smoking told me that the War Remnants Museum was 1. Not very far, and 2. Cheap.  It basically met the minimum requirements for the sort of activity I was looking for. I had spent a

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-18315656626325791452011-05-25T09:41:00.001+09:002011-05-25T09:41:46.176+09:00

An empty Street in the Backpacker District.  Saigon, Vietnam. The food in Saigon is cheap and everywhere.  I spent much of my time in Saigon just wandering around with my camera or trying to cross the street and I found that I was never more than a few meters away from food.  Pho stands seem to dot the overcrowded pavement in front of every other door.  Under foggy glass a collection of

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-29031176245713764302011-05-24T07:42:00.000+09:002011-05-24T07:42:49.482+09:00

 The rotary. Saigon, Vietnam.  Saigon is set up in districts. District 1 is the main drag of the city and where the bulk of accommodations for visitors are located. The place is full of stores, sites, and people of every level of poverty and affluence. It was a dynamic and mad place and I am happy to have spent my time in Vietnam there.  Saigon, regardless of district, is

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-87424879675975411972011-05-20T04:08:00.000+09:002011-05-20T04:08:03.307+09:00

Well, I have been home for a few days now.  It feels very bizarre.  It has taken me a while to get internet in my room (but not so long to buy a giant ass TV and spent a bunch of money) so this is all really late.  I tried really hard to take a lot of notes on my way through SE Asia.  Here it is.  Part one of "What the Crap Was I Thinking?" Vietnam was my Vietnam.  Hours earlier I had

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-7287111758044906822011-04-29T01:50:00.000+09:002011-04-29T01:50:01.541+09:00

I am writing this from somewhere in China.  I could put down the name of the city but it is currently in my bag full of random computer wires and electronics charges (when combined with the appearance of my external hard drive and alarm clock look something like a bomb in the airport x-ray machine, if you were wondering).  There’s not much point in naming the city though because I am in an

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-9974392893530838542011-04-20T00:15:00.001+09:002011-04-20T00:16:23.777+09:00

Cherry Blossoms. A year minus a day or two I said my extended "so longs" to my girlfriend (at a train station), my sobbing mother (in my predawn livingroom), my less sobby sister (same room), and my dry-eyed father (amid exhaust and noise at the departure drop-off at Logan Airport). In a few days I say goodbyes that are likely to be permanent to all of my Korean friends. I haven't

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-78133158397418538302011-04-15T00:25:00.000+09:002011-04-15T00:25:06.589+09:00

A few days ago I set out to send some money home and go to the pension office to cash ou of the Korean Pension Scheme.  This leads to the only informative thing in this blog.  What do you do when you lose your passport less than two weeks before leaving Korea? Here is what you do: 1. Panic. 2. Panic and google "Lost Passport," "Seoul," "Emergency," and various onscenities. 3. Look up how to

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-8117967861076683442011-04-06T20:34:00.000+09:002011-04-06T20:34:23.107+09:00

I spent last weekend fairly determined to do nothing productive or healthy. One of the consequences of traveling around the country to see the friends I hadn't seen in a while is that I was away from Cheongju and my remaining friends here for a few weeks. I got to miss them. I went out Friday night. It wasn't anything too ridiculous or out of the norm; it was a normal Friday. Amanda and I went

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-34250030665014189382011-03-30T23:05:00.000+09:002011-03-30T23:05:07.670+09:00

These past few weekends have been busy but rewarding for me. As Korea comes to an end I have finally put follow though into my effort to see a couple of people in this country. I have 22 days or so left here and there was really no valid reason for not seeing these people. I wish that I had seen them earlier and that I had seen them more frequently, but I am happy that a year in Korea did not

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-12596874012319124112011-03-22T22:54:00.000+09:002011-03-22T22:54:45.323+09:00

 Until recently, there was a class of three boys at my school. They called themselves Simpson, Kai, and Bell. They were known collectively amongst the teachers as the Three Monsters. When they were together they were impossible to manage without screaming at them or calling in for reinforcements. Nobody gave them homework because they wouldn't do it. Options were limited because they

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-34834050632214688502011-03-07T22:38:00.001+09:002011-03-07T22:39:45.293+09:00

I spent some time in Greece a few years ago. I wasn’t there for very long, just a few weeks, but the experience was one of the most profound that I have ever experienced. At the time, the only traveling I had done outside of the country was to Montreal to get drunk. Tim and Andrew during the trip to Daecheon. Those three weeks were overwhelming. Here I was, this minimally cultured, shy

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-35754677153725704172011-03-02T00:23:00.000+09:002011-03-02T00:23:44.236+09:00

So, I have spent the past few months making a website.   At times this has been a passive effort but several nights have been spent pulling out my hair trying to get it to look right.  Now, it is finished. I am proud of it.  It isn't the most original design but it looks nice. It is an internet magazine.  Some friends and I came up with the idea quite a while ago.  Originally, it was going to be

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-9449752626421531592011-02-28T21:37:00.000+09:002011-02-28T21:37:06.214+09:00

Forgive the belated posting here, I have been lacking internet for the past couple of weeks.  Anyway, I went to Seoraksan for Lunar New Year. Seoraksan did not end up being the relaxing getaway that I was hoping for. Looking back on the whole trip, we spent way too much of our vacation on the road (even if the bus was barely moving). No, relaxing it was not.  An incense shrine against the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-7917616543760704802011-02-15T00:03:00.000+09:002011-02-15T00:03:02.928+09:00

If I have learned anything about internal travel in Korea it is this: the news isn’t usually wrong when it predicts horrendous traffic.After the eternity that was the duration of winter intensives finally ended, Korea was given a much needed vacation.  This was good news.  The overloaded class schedule and bouncing from school to school on Fridays without breaks had wrecked me.  I was looking

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-33783186651728935072011-01-30T22:43:00.000+09:002011-01-30T22:43:20.723+09:00

Another week gone by and another week closer to the end of this whole Korea thing. Earlier this week I received all of my pension information from my boss. I couldn’t make much out of it and the amount that has been paid into it seems to be out of date (at least, I sure hope it is out of ) but it told me how to go about getting my money when I leave. Things are getting a little sad in

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-22885449594447840132011-01-26T23:22:00.000+09:002011-01-26T23:22:31.197+09:00

If you notice that my entries are more spread out, then that is because my life is pretty much occupied. Intensives are ridiculous. I have heard of some people who have it worse than I do (majorly extended days) but compared to my regular schedule it is pretty horrendous. I have failed to adequately mention my new school. Each Friday I eat a rushed dinner and am outside waiting for a school

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-68396395882677152822011-01-17T23:18:00.000+09:002011-01-17T23:18:24.452+09:00

The school is a lot different than it was a month ago.  For one thing, we have broken off from our parent company of Kim Hak Su.  I was aware that Albert, my boss, had been itching to do this for a while, but I didn’t expect it to happen so fast.  He had told me over beers that while the man, Kim Hak Su, was very smart and a social brother to him, he was also very selfish.  Truth be told, this

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-15650811276431515482011-01-05T00:06:00.002+09:002011-01-05T03:09:01.363+09:00

Well, it’s belated but Merry Christmas! I meant to write a nice, if overly sentimental, entry on Christmas night about the difficulties of being away from home for the first time on Christmas. I had it planned all week but I couldn’t write it because I passed the hell out on my floor after being unable to keep my head up for prolonged amounts of time whilst skyping my family on their Christmas

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-38626079634496607192010-12-17T00:11:00.000+09:002010-12-17T00:11:38.942+09:00

So, what’s the story morning-glory? What’s new? I am behind on all things Korea as far as this here blog is concerned. Generally speaking, most of my friends are also Facebook friends (I wouldn’t dare call somebody a rare friend if Facebook didn’t confirm this fact) and know what’s up with the state of things. There are a number of people with whom (or who, I don’t know) I speak pretty much

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-17468117123413673492010-12-15T00:51:00.000+09:002010-12-15T00:51:07.562+09:00

Oh dear god. One of the criteria to judge whether or not a medium is obscene or just in bad taste is a lack of any culturally redeeming quality. Some things, not matter how vile or distasteful or generally sick, have some statement about our societies or culture as a whole. Some things just exist for no other reason than to be base or heinous. The guy from Two Girls One Cup violated obscenity

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-41217026871029256272010-12-07T23:36:00.000+09:002010-12-07T23:36:17.160+09:00

Lanterns. We passed into the cleared swatch of land adjacent to Harajuku as twilight faltered towards complete darkness. Stars are rare where I live in Korea and the smog of Tokyo seems also to make their viewing stars an impossibility. There was light still as we crossed the footbridge to the Harajuku metro station and entered the clearing and followed the crowd into a narrow path

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-91475378669335203202010-12-01T00:35:00.000+09:002010-12-01T00:35:23.438+09:00

An alley in Harajuku. Harajuku was, despite what Gwen Stefani wanted me to believe, not full of Japanese hipsters on steroids. Kelly and I climbed the stairs leading out of Harajuku station hoping to see the gothic lolitas, leather clad, blue anime-haired mentioned, well, everywhere that mentions Harajuku. No. That wasn’t the case and I was a little disappointed to tell the truth. I had

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-73204175509936008452010-11-23T00:25:00.000+09:002010-11-23T00:25:40.790+09:00

Shinjuku, Tokyo. The next day we woke up refreshed. Scratch that. Kelly woke up refreshed. I didn’t wake up because I didn’t sleep. I simply ceased to stare at the ceiling. Planes have a way of reducing me mind to the rationality of child who swore that he heard something scuffling beneath his bed. Planes aren’t my thing.  That I ate a bunch of Dots and a Heath Bar right before bed probably

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-13360471053146865992010-11-15T22:34:00.000+09:002010-11-15T22:34:31.692+09:00

I spent a lot of the weekend a couple of weeks at Incheon Internation Airport. I turned up sometime around 5 with a rolling bag of clothes and electronic distractions and a backpack that held a smaller backpack that held my camera and lenses. It was like a really lame Matryoshka doll. Whatever weak plan of action I stepped of the Cheongju - Incheon bus with involved checking into an airport

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-39053569677594956372010-11-08T20:11:00.000+09:002010-11-08T20:11:26.975+09:00

Taking a brief break from vacation to update you all on the fact that I won't be updating for another week. 

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-5281859058202240752010-10-19T00:57:00.001+09:002010-10-19T01:00:02.093+09:00

I spent a while on a crowded and comparatively stuffy (compared to what you might expect in mid-October) bus talking to Amanda R. about our expectations for the Daejeon Rock Festival.  It was about 5pm and the bunch of us were staring out windows or sleeping through the 45 minute trip; waiting for the outlet malls to fade away and the bus to pull into the thick of Daejeon. A pretty cool ska

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-17073439898947815562010-10-04T22:12:00.001+09:002010-10-04T22:13:44.010+09:00

Sometimes my life is a lot like that of Michelle Pfeifer in DANGEROUS MINDS, or like Steve Urkle in the episode of FAMILY MATTERS in which Laura’s friend gets shot for not giving her shoes to some girls who wanted them pretty bad. One of my classes has a tendency to get out of hand. Actually, most of them share that tendency; but this class is so reliable that I would be concerned if at least

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-89251222465440512012010-09-27T23:48:00.000+09:002010-09-27T23:48:54.718+09:00

Chuseok. To the best of my knowledge it is a kind of Korean Thanksgiving. I tried to ask my students what Chuseok really was and what they would be doing but I didn’t get too much out of them. I should start wikipedia-ing this stuff. Perhaps this blog could be more than ramblings, violations of student-teacher confidentiality rules, and uninformed (and largely in factual) observations. But, I

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-57466922459972571142010-09-21T15:16:00.000+09:002010-09-21T15:16:29.406+09:00

Well, it seems that the powers that be at my school have settled on having 4 teachers for the foreseeable future and almost certainly until I hit the road. On paper, having four teachers (Han, Boram, a newer teacher named Hajin, and myself) seems pretty solid. In truth we really only have around 40 to 50 kids. The thing is that being a private academy our classes are based on what kid comes

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-78967461038281734612010-09-07T22:47:00.000+09:002010-09-07T22:47:18.778+09:00

So, I'll count the past few weeks as a hiatus.  I was running late anyway but then a week or so ago my Gramma passed away very unexpectedly.  It was one of those things that makes you realize life at home continues even when you are so far away having this crazy experience.  It's sort of hard to deal with that sort of thing when you can't be there so I dropped off the face of the earth.  Without

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-43692691524417460042010-08-31T23:35:00.001+09:002010-09-01T01:56:39.118+09:00

Not a huge fan of promoting stuff, even my own, but here is a link to a non-orbitz website.  Its got a whole slew of features including air travel deals, hotels and whatnot.  They also have a blog which is pretty unique I think.  The guy, George, is pretty cool and features a whole bunch of guest bloggers on a range of different topics from advice to narratives. Cheap Flights - One Travel Also,

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-78740658319805616442010-08-10T22:50:00.002+09:002010-08-11T00:16:48.852+09:00

Sometimes travel is about all sorts of righteous ideals: self growth, lessons in understanding, adventures, etc. Sometimes, though, travel is about not losing your shit. By no fault of the Tomgi Hotel I did not sleep. It has been happening all too frequently that I go to bed and do not find sleep. I stare at the ceiling in misery as the room grows bright. I then have to face my day through the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-38610714622855097002010-08-09T21:59:00.000+09:002010-08-09T21:59:25.461+09:00

It wasn’t much of a vacation but it was deserved and welcomed. I was starting to get sick of kids. I found myself beginning to dread certain classes as though I were still a student. Before Intensives I saw each student somewhere around every other day; I now see most of them every day. Sorry kids, I need a break. I need some space, ya know? I mean, you are all sweet children but I can only take

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-50473181413229534492010-07-29T23:43:00.001+09:002010-07-30T00:34:09.968+09:00

  Morning. For various reasons, there was a blur between the end of the night before and the morning after. I awoke after not more than a few minutes of dozing in time to see a man and a younger guy putting in the first of what would be hundreds and hundreds of umbrellas. In a few hours Haeundae Beach in Busan would be crawling; our bed would be pretty crowded. Turns out, it wasn’t our

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-27108902545779179332010-07-27T22:40:00.000+09:002010-07-27T22:40:14.802+09:00

I spent this past weekend in the southern port of Busan. Larry and I had been planning on heading that way for quite awhile but things hadn’t been working out. Primarily, we were hoping to meet up with my friend Sun Young, with whom I spent days digging in Greece, but she is perpetually on the move or otherwise occupied. This time she was in China. It would have been nice to have somebody with us

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-57087463897889832422010-07-21T23:44:00.002+09:002010-07-21T23:59:38.235+09:00

Summer is getting on here in Korea. At home kids have been out of school for at least a few weeks; here kids began their summer vacation yesterday. How do Korean school children celebrate the kick-off of Summer? Go to school! I feel bad about my job sometimes. I feel bad that students and co-workers put so much effort into trying to communicate in English when it should be me that puts the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-11248707768702923392010-07-12T23:01:00.002+09:002010-07-12T23:30:37.951+09:00

The weeks keep coming and going at a pace that is rewarding and alarming. Today marks my 80th day in Korea. Before I came here I spent a long time watching Michael Palin try to circle the globe following the way led by the fictional Phileas Fogg in 80 days without an airplane. I watched this series knowing that I would soon be leaving on my own adventure. Though my own trip would be longer than

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-44705193915736320362010-07-02T01:15:00.001+09:002010-07-02T01:18:40.376+09:00

Burritos courtesy of Han. Yesterday was my birthday. To be honest I was not expecting too much and wouldn’t have been disappointed if nobody so much as threw a “happy birthday” my way. In recent years I have not been a huge fan of my birthday. I could go without the presents if I could stop getting older It would not be Korean for my birthday to pass unnoticed. Actually, I knew that I

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-44895597231480496422010-06-29T23:34:00.000+09:002010-06-29T23:34:41.276+09:00

Well, it is the end of the line for the South Korean soccer team. I will not pretend that watching the World Cup in Cheongju has opened my eyes and converted me to the thralldom of soccer but it has provided me with loads of fun. A Korean asked me atop the roof deck of MJ’s, an expat bar located in downtown, during the Brazil vs. Portugal game why Americans were so drawn to football while the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-31786634294481905452010-06-22T00:35:00.001+09:002010-06-22T20:20:05.846+09:00

It seems that each night I lay down to sleep and each morning I rise to the same sound: the vuvuzelas of South Africa. Invariably as I walk to the convenience store down the road for a triangle Kimbap I pass the restaurant with the TV hanging in the patio and there is somebody watching some team whose name he might not know play some other team from a country he has never heard of. On my way to

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-59586040618287523632010-06-20T21:11:00.000+09:002010-06-20T21:11:31.267+09:00

I have come to dread Thursdays recently. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Albert comes to our school and teaches grammar during several of the classes that would otherwise be taught by Han, Boram or myself. Many of these classes end up being an hour long with one teacher (as opposed to two half-hour segments with two teachers). In the past I had lucked out and had been the odd teacher out and enjoyed a

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-32244695528432351942010-06-15T23:13:00.000+09:002010-06-15T23:13:56.449+09:00

I come from a place that, with very few exceptions, does not pay very much attention to soccer. Why is this? I don’t know. It seems that the vast majority has spent a long time playing youth soccer; I know I did. Every year my parents signed me up for soccer regardless of how much I complained. My skills never developed beyond that of kicking a ball as hard as I could. Where it went I never was

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-52847378359624118582010-06-14T23:55:00.000+09:002010-06-14T23:55:47.615+09:00

The weeks continue to fly by here in Cheongju. Already I am approaching the two month mark and it seems as though I just touched down at Incheon the last week. This makes me happy because I came with the fear that the year would drag on in misery but it has also made me realize that 10 months from now it will have gone too fast. It seems that I have come to the age where time flies and years go

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-68687112481423488642010-06-07T22:45:00.000+09:002010-06-07T22:45:51.896+09:00

The weather in Korea is becoming exceedingly hot. It is not even mid June but already temperatures are hovering around 90 degrees. What is worse than that is that a humidity hangs about that I am not used to. Weather extremes were always a point of pride for me as a resident of New England with often brutal winters (ice storms that change the landscape for years) and summers were generally hot as

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-33924440556900445182010-06-02T22:02:00.001+09:002010-06-02T22:11:25.751+09:00

Incase you are wondering, Sangdang Sanseong is not the leisurely stroll it appears to be in guide books. It’s 4.8 km seem to be vertical and it should not be attempted with only a puny chicken burger from Lotteria in your belly. The day started off pretty poorly. Larry, who I met at the Cheongju Bus Terminal, and I asked a girl at the tourist information office how we might arrive at the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-77516032810097651632010-05-29T00:58:00.000+09:002010-05-29T00:58:59.737+09:00

A few days ago I passed my One Month mark here in Korea. I will not say anything to the likes of “I never thought I would make it this far,” as that would be melodramatic and untrue. That being said, I never thought my first month abroad would go so smoothly. Homesickness has been negligible (owed majorly to the wonders of Skype) and teaching children my perverted knowledge of grammar has turned

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-15613749846164310872010-05-25T00:09:00.002+09:002010-05-25T00:21:41.924+09:00

I have been to some pretty shady places in my life but Itaewon takes the cake. I laid my head on a pair of shoes on the floor of the Grand Hyatt at 4 something in the morning and waited for sleep that would never come. It had been a long day. It started with a 2 hour bus ride from Cheongju to Seoul. Larry sat beside me as I stared out the window after I giving up on a quick nap. The night

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-35938419387433796572010-05-24T00:34:00.000+09:002010-05-24T00:34:26.538+09:00

Thursday began what would become a very long weekend. Friday, thanks to a huge population of Buddhists, would be another day off for me and almost every other expat teacher. Friday was the Buddha’s birthday. Happy birthday Buddha! Thursday started off too early and way too uncomfortable. I was told by my coworkers that I would be attending a special meeting at the broadcasting station down the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-70536178089373903812010-05-17T23:40:00.000+09:002010-05-17T23:40:38.259+09:00

I have been in this place for over three weeks and it is still entirely foreign to me. On days in which I am not fed at school I find myself eating triangles (despite knowing their true name, I will continue to call them triangles mostly because my coworkers get a laugh at it). I have put a decent effort into learning Hangul if only so that I might be able to order a simple meal or two at the

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-66692465545437911982010-05-11T23:09:00.000+09:002010-05-11T23:09:27.692+09:00

I have been here a little over two weeks and already there is a routine in my life. I have no internet and I have no TV so my entertainment is largely self made. One of the things that I do to keep myself busy and avoid the homesickness (I figure if I keep my mind occupied I can delay it another 11 months and deal with it on my flight home) is write. I would say write in “this blog” but at

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-68101986158777090612010-05-11T23:07:00.001+09:002010-05-11T23:23:38.021+09:00

My second Wednesday was a holiday: Kids Day. It is a nice concept now isn’t it? Once a year Korean kids are given the day off from school to presumably be doted on by mom and dad. I asked one of my students, a really bubbly girl who is called Clara, what she would be doing on Kids Day. “I will be…. Studying!” Crazy Koreans. After Kids Day, students would return to school and

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-59461425276242847582010-05-11T23:03:00.001+09:002010-05-11T23:14:16.037+09:00

The general layout of things. The new apartment is fantastic. It has a more separated and natural layout. The kitchen is a bit more spacious and the bathroom is awesome. The walls and floor are laid with green tile meant to look like marble and it is much bigger than the last one which makes showering a bit easier given that the shower is just a hose pinned to the wall. The main living

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-58769125757726839622010-05-11T22:55:00.000+09:002010-05-11T22:55:44.178+09:00

My first week seemed just a countdown ‘til Thursday, like so many other weeks in my life. Thursday, Albert told me, was a work party day. Having experienced the welcome that I did, I assumed that it would be, well, a shit show. It was indeed. Albert owns two schools: a high school and an elementary school (mine). This evening would be an occasion for both schools to unite and welcome me and say

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-82031016335926805812010-05-11T22:40:00.000+09:002010-05-11T22:40:35.334+09:00

The first week of real life (or as close as you can come to it) is nothing but a blur with peaks of excitement and valleys of total fear. Albert picked me up each day so I could arrive at the 1pm starting time. The earliest he ever arrived was around 2pm. Each day he said the same, “Thomas, I am very sorry. I am very tired from drinking.” Often left in my room with nothing but The Hobbit to

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-3376293321148601022010-05-11T22:36:00.000+09:002010-05-11T22:36:35.638+09:00

The next day I got lost. It was bound to happen as it always does. When I moved to Beacon Hill I managed to get all turned around in the brownstones for two hours before I found my way back to Somerset St. I was going to meet Larry from Cheonan at Starbucks in Cheongju and there we would have a reunion neither of us thought would ever happen. Larry found Starbucks with no trouble. I

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-73862902399853773232010-05-11T22:25:00.003+09:002010-05-11T22:34:08.296+09:00

I woke with a hangover on my second day in Korea and began to wonder what the hell I was doing here. I dug the Korean cell phone I had been given at some point the night before out of the disaster that was my room and checked my text messages. The first was from Albert, saying that from now on we were family. The second was from Larry calling me a bitch for not coming over the night before.

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-9562219175095953482010-05-11T22:12:00.001+09:002010-05-11T22:32:20.764+09:00

What happened when I stepped off of the bus was a whirl wind. I was promptly rushed by three Korean girls shouting my name. Before I could say “hello” my luggage was taken from me and I was soon in a car driving into the Asian night. There were questions. My god, were there questions. How old was I? Did I have a girlfriend? How long have we been together? Did I have a pet? How many? Did I

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-53001742942543608062010-05-11T22:06:00.000+09:002010-05-11T22:06:58.336+09:00

The flight from LAX to Korea killed me. It went along without incident but it went along sickeningly slow. Despite utter exhaustion, sleep never found me and my fantasy of falling asleep and virtually skipping the 13 hour trip never happened. Instead, I watched Avatar in all of it’s glory: on a 9 inch screen with fuzzy headphones. The plane was stuffy and cramped; and again I was popping pills

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-34945960652438909942010-05-11T22:01:00.000+09:002010-05-11T22:01:26.816+09:00

From 30,000 Feet I spent the last minutes of freedom, before the alarms went off to wake people only feigning sleep, wondering what the hell I had been thinking. It didn’t feel real. It felt like stuff was just happening; my luggage seemed to pop out of nowhere and packed itself (actually my mom and sister packed for me while I Skype-smoked a cigarette with Hadley) and an E-2 Visa appeared in

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-228459363177863702010-05-06T20:46:00.000+09:002010-05-06T20:46:42.368+09:00

After much delay and the loss of too many brain cells I am in Korea.  Much much more will be put up just as soon as I can get the internet to come through my apartment window.  Really, I mean a lot: I have no internet and no television which means I have been doing nothing but writing.

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-79928225951028863922010-04-12T13:55:00.001+09:002010-04-13T11:31:44.363+09:00

Wednesday afternoon I found myself at DVD Stop.  If you are familliar with Game Stop then you get the idea: buy DVD, watch DVD, sell it for a fraction of the origanal cost, buy new DVD.  I was there with my friend Ricky to return my old roomate Hadley's DVDs.  To say that Hadley had a bit of a DVD addiction would be an understatement.  We arrived with three full moving boxes of DVD's and that

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-40507095159344866432010-04-07T14:26:00.001+09:002010-04-09T00:21:46.063+09:00

At 3AM I recieved confirmation from my recruiter, Steven, that after spending another $50 to ship my Suffolk transcripts to Korea that I finally was the proud owner of a visa confirmation number.  That's one step closer to getting on the thousand ton, magical flying machine.  Tomorrow I must call the Korean consol and arrange an appointment, after which I will have a new sticker in my passport

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-80119740760400989202010-04-06T12:54:00.000+09:002010-04-06T12:54:23.301+09:00

There was a hang-up in my visa application process.  Steven, the voice in Korea who has found and secured me a job in Cheongu Si, tells me that "a woman has opened my transcript" at the school; and he says "woman" as though it means something, that I should laugh and say "Oh those women."  In order to be given a working visa in South Korea, the government must receive an official and sealed

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-92197218318591229132010-03-29T04:59:00.004+09:002010-04-12T02:52:30.525+09:00

I am sitting on my couch in exotic Shrewsbury, MA. So... nope, I have not left yet, but I am going to start posting if only so I don't have to stare at the mistitled "Soon So Come" of my coming soon entry. I have included the following in each and every journal / blog that I have ever had, but it is most relevant to this journal. Quite simply this was my Alpha-Adventure; the one that began

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2327561282980718274.post-84884714067731316012010-03-23T10:19:00.000+09:002010-03-23T10:19:03.447+09:00

Coming soon, my adventures as an English instructor in South Korea.

Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10829174381942596679noreply@blogger.com0