Long Weekend, Good Times

I've had a goatee now for more than two years, and I have to admit that I was doubting it's future this past week. I had planned on growing a winter beard to celebrate the changing seasons, but my (now ex)girlfriend mentioned that the goatee was a better choice, so after a week and a half of beard growth, I shaved it off and now I'm back at square one. I don't mind having it, with two notable exceptions. First, when you have a cold and must constantly blow your nose, you run the danger of having less-than-desirable detritus stick in it, such as is the case now with my minor sickness. Second, it requires constant maintenance to ensure that it is neither unruly nor indefinite. A goatee demands a precise disparity between it and the surrounding skin to have the proper boundaries, which accounts for its singular appeal. So that is sometimes a bother, but I think it's worth it.

As for real news, I had an exciting weekend, although it was quite abnormal. Usually on three-day weekends I travel someplace or do something special, but this past weekend I had arranged to go to a high school on Friday, thus reducing my chances of escaping on a getaway adventure (plus, I'd gone to Busan the previous weekend, so I was okay not traveling). The high school was a little tough at first because the students were far more shy than normal shy Koreans, to the point that to ask a question to a student was to induce immediate blushing. After about an hour of awkward conversation, I suggested we try a game. Some students found Jenga (which is played a bit differently here--there's no requirement about how blocks should be stacked once removed from the tower) and then I attempted to teach them Mafia, which they somehow had rudimentary knowledge of. In short, I was there about four hours and it took the totality of that time to tear down the towers of hesitancy and reluctance towards speaking to a foreigner. But it was a good experience to see how Koreans students learn and what their high school experience is like. After that I was growing ill (I had an awfully sore throat) so I went home, read a while, watched some Simpsons, and went to bed. 

Saturday I got up and took a taxi to a nearby university to play soccer. The weather was surprisingly warm--I should consider it the last vestiges of fall--and I was able to play in just a short-sleeved jersey. There were about 35-40 people out to play, and we took turns on the big, nasty dirt field. In between games we snacked on friend chicken, kimbab, and makkoli. I played as a midfielder in each of the three games I participated in, and two of those three games I was happy with my performance. I miss the lush, verdant grass fields of the westside of Jacksonville, though...

A strange thing happened on the bus home from soccer. It was one of those moments that happens once or twice a month (or less, I suppose), a moment of utter coincidence that leads into something potentially wonderful or absurdly bad. I was listening to my iPod shortly after boarding the bus when I was approached by a student at WSI. He said hello and asked what I was doing. As I was tired and ready to go home and rest, I answered truthfully. He then shared that he was on his way to an English study group and invited me to come along. I wasn't keen on the idea, but I felt obliged to say hello to his friends, especially considering he had been down on his luck lately with jobs and I really had no overwhelming reason not to go. So I went with him to a traditional Korean tea and coffee shop and met about a dozen or so Koreans roughly my age. Two of them spoke extremely well: David, a banker, and Vivian, a translator for Samsung studying to be a teacher. I chatted with them for nearly an hour, at which point they decided to go have dinner. So, toting my soccer cleats, shin guards, and dirty socks in a small bag, I joined the group as we made our way towards a traditional Korean restaurant for a seafood and soup dinner. I found David and Vivian's company to be quite charming (particularly Vivian's) and I didn't want to miss what seemed to be an obvious opportunity, so I stayed with the group hanging out until nearly 11p. It was awesome. I'm going to meet up again with the group next week, and Vivian might swing by work to get some ideas about teaching grammar (she teaches high school English once a week) and for some assistance on her writing for the teacher examination.

Sunday I chatted with my family and lounged around until church. The English Bible study was okay, and afterwards I went out to eat with a friend and her mom at a nice pasta place. I had my first teriyaki chicken since I've been here, but it had too many peppers and was a tad spicy. Sunday night when I got home I received an email from an old friend, and that served to be a nice end to a lovely weekend.

Tonight we are doing a scavenger hunt at work. I think it'll be fun, and it's the most work I've put into anything yet at work, so I'm interested in seeing how it turns out. Tomorrow is the first meeting of the book club I'm in charge of. We are reading The Good Earth, and I'm not quite sure how it will go yet. Until next time...