The one where I was reminded of Cursillo

How could I have not noticed this before?  The street lamps are shaped in the fashion of traditional Korean bows and arrows.  Clever.  (This was taken through a dirty bus window, so please pardon the poor quality.)

Much has happened lately, and more is coming.  Today several of us staked our claims for desks in the new foreign teachers' offices.  Instead of semi-private offices, we now do things in the open-office format with several teachers in one large room.  I'm in the third floor office, which is nice, because our classrooms are right across the hall.  Due to the nature of our subject, the new office format will not be conducive to meeting students without disturbing others.  However, the Korean Overlords who established the new office format are not the brightest bulbs in the marquee, and I don't really care anymore.  Koreans have never been serious about the teaching and learning of English, so they get what they deserve.

After a very smooth visit to the Immigration office in Daegu Wednesday in which I splurged for a new immigration card (a very nice-looking one, I might add), I walked the few blocks down to HomePlus to see if they had chicken cat food.  They did not; however, I was hungry and went to the food court to get myself a very healthy and delicious meal of bulgogi bibimbap which you see here.

Against the advice of my doctor, I went for a latte at the little coffee shop next to the food court. Their creative, yet non-standard, past tense caught my eye, and lest you think it was one isolated misprint, let me assure you, it was found on every item that carried the logo.  Oh, and they don't sell buns.  But the coffee was good.

Tomorrow is our all-day faculty meeting.  The newbies start early in the morning, and the rest of us will join them at 1 PM for several hours of... something.  Of course, the agenda of the meeting is a big, fat secret for no apparent reason.  It's like Cursillo with all the secretive, mysterious malarkey that drove me nuts in the church.  I guess I just like plain, logical, straightforwardness.  The surreptitious intrigue that surrounds almost everything that affects us bugs me.

The one where I am a little cynical

Today I took the bike out for the first time in a long time, but had to push start it, of course. It's cold. Over at the university the workers were still doing their thing.  This guy was scrapping the only good desks we had in our classrooms.  If they do the typical Korean thing, they'll toss these and keep those clunkers that are too big and bulky for the room and the huge chairs that don't fit under them with two students per desk (makes exams fun to proctor).
Oh, don't be so cynical!  They might just buy proper desks that are useful for English conversation classrooms....
ROTFLMAO!  Sorry, couldn't keep a straight face with that one.  I don't gamble, but when it comes to Korean behavior, you can't lose betting on them doing the opposite of what they ought to do.  Guaranteed win.

I have the skeleton and even some sinews attached for my spring Second Life conversation course.  Today I got a website up for the course and posted several how-to videos for the learners.  Hard work, but honest work.

The one where I see about my external hard drive

Possibly our first spring day yesterday, the homeless in Daegu were out enjoying the moderate weather and playing a traditional Korean card game.
 

Nearby the TV network MBC was setting up for some outdoor show.  At their truck they were charging up some hand-held cameras, so my guess is they planned to wander around talking to the people on the street.  Either that or one of their stupid gag shows.  God, those are tiring to watch.

At the Apple dealers in Daegu, the fix-it guy hooked up my external hard drive to his computer, and, of course, it worked just fine.  It was rather embarrassing, and the Apple clerks smiled the smile of "what a dope" in my direction, but at home, the drive will not show up on my system.  So there's something wrong with something else.  More tinkering, but I fear another trip to the dealer's will have to take place.  Fortunately, I have a Mac Mini, so I can just slip the computer in my pocket for the trip.

Though I had taken a morning bus to Daegu to take advantage of the more liberal bus schedules, I wanted to enjoy riding the leisurely train home, so for the return trip I went to Dong Daegu train station.  It was a mad house and there were no seats back to Gyeongju, only standing tickets.  Apparently the New Years holiday travel spilled over into a fourth day for a lot of folks.  However, good old reliable Geumho Bus Lines across the street had plenty of room for me.

UPDATE.....

I removed the outer shell around the external hard drive, and now it works... a little.  It won't stay connected long, but at least it works a little as long as it's out of its shell.  If anyone can tell me why, I'd be very interested!

The one where the snow stuck around more than a few minutes

So it finally snowed in Gyeongju enough to notice and stuck long enough to get some photos! This is Cheonggang Temple near my place around noon today. Yes, I am well aware that the "folks back home" are used to snow, but are they used to Buddhist temples in snow? Hmm?

The sun was playing keep away with the clouds, but he did manage a few moments on some distant hills. The cats seem fascinated by the drippy sounds of it all turning to liquid outside this afternoon. At least I hope that drippy sound is outside.

Today is the start of the holiday New Years weekend. From force of habit, I stocked up on essentials (read: spring water and bread), but the last few years, it's become apparent that some stores are always open no matter. Good ol' corner markets!

Have a great New Years weekend one and all!

The one where I recount my ordeal

Actually, if I told you everything that my body has involuntarily done the last two days, you'd become what I was, and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.  Suffice it to say that at about a quarter to 8 Monday evening I had a stomach ache, and an hour later I would have been willing to shoot myself had I a gun.  Yes, it was that horrible.  However, I survived, and this afternoon, though still a bit wonky, I took a short trek to the bakery for some crusty bread.  What little I had eaten on Monday never got a chance to digest unfortunately, and even though I still have no appetite, I know I must eat something.  It was rainy, a perfect backdrop to the misery of my unstable frame, but the baker had prepared for my arrival with this obstacle course you see in the photo.  My choices were: try to step on these upturned bread trays and get in this bakery or cross the street to the other bakery.  Either could have easily done me in considering every muscle in my body felt achingly undependable.  I risked the bread trays route and managed not to fall over.  I instinctively answered "no" to everything the baker asked me until I had the crusty bread in hand, tucked in my slicker, and was on my way home again.  Force of habit, I stood outside the motorcycle shop and watched them for a minute or two wishing I knew how to fix motorcycles, too.  At home, I tore off a bit of the bread, dabbed some butter on it, and collapsed on the futon to watch some TV.  The remote was on the desk, three feet away.  To hell with it.  I just watched the rain on the window instead. 

The one where I got shot down by Uncle Sam

Something outside a butcher's shop.  I've reached the point that I'm over-saturated with knowledge about Korea.  I was just curious enough to take the photo, but not curious enough to go inside and ask the proprietor what the steaming pot outside is for.
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Very few people who come to Korea to work plan to stay here long term.  My intention was to work here for two years at the most then go back to the States.  However, jobs in the States were not plentiful at the time due to the obstructionist Republican congress in those days, and jobs in Korea were very easy to come by.  Be that as it may, for ten years I've been looking for jobs back in America though without success so far.  The job interview aspect is daunting since American companies are loath to use online interview formats; they often insist on face-to-face interviews, and with me on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, that's just not feasible.  An old schoolmate gave me a lead on a federal jobs site that seemed really good, if not for long-term positions, at least something to get my foot back in the door of the United States.  However, that has failed.  This email arrived this morning:

Mr. Raymond,
The basic requirement for applying for U.S. Federal government positions is that you must have resided in the United States or its protectorates for the last three years.
If you have not, you will not be found eligible for consideration.  The hiring officials will not waive this requirement.

So another road back home is closed.   Let's just hope the bridge isn't washed out, too!