Grandma Shannon's Mac & Cheese Plus A Little Extra Yumminess

I made Grandma Shannon's delicious mac & cheese this sunday.  Sharp cheddar and some aged white cheddar made it deeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious.  Then to top it off I mixed in some grilled sausage.  It was quite delicious.

End of Session Work Dinner

Since the students took finals and tomorrow is graduation we went for chicken & beer.  Then we hit up a cafe for cake and hot chocolate (not penguin cocoa :-( ).  It was a night of delicious eats.  Cheesecake and super super rich chocolate cake.

Student Gift Exchange / Steal

Today was a day of holiday lessons, discussions and festivities with the students.  At the end of the day we did a gift exchange / steal as I had learned how to do it from Shannon family Christmases.   It went over really well. 

My present was the first one chosen.  The present limit was 10000₩, roughly $10.  I bought a stone plate that I put a serving of brownies on and then made a small jar of penguin cocoa (hot chocolate with vanilla, cinnamon,  chocolate chunks and marshmallows) with a matching large mouth mug.  I stole it during round 9 and then it got stolen from me in round 13 to freeze it.

Everyone then figured out it was my present and they said "why would you steal something that you brought?"

My family's rule was always "don't bring something you wouldn't want to end up with!"

I got an awesome notebook and planner.  Everyone thought it was hilarious because they said there was a picture of me on the cover.

To top it all of, there was a mini snowstorm during lunch.

New shoes, now time for new socks

Now that I've got new running shoes, after my run yesterday it is time for new socks!

I'm a Dork, But...

I just got a kick out of grading a paper this morning and how all the students call me Byron but on a paper I'm "Mr. Byron Davis".  It made me laugh seeing it this morning. 

Funniest comment yesterday

Sharing some fried chicken and beer with friends yesterday and we were talking about bad id photos.  When they were looking at the different faces on all three of mine one of the Koreans looks at mine and goes:

"Nice photo there Walt.  When's the next batch of meth going to be ready!"

Three of us almost shot beer out of our noses we were laughing so hard.  It was then that the simple idea for a Halloween costume was born.

For Friday's Dinner and to Start My Birthday Weekend

Tacos and Nachos.  1 chicken taco, 1 carnitas taco and beef and bean nachos.  They were delicious.  The perfect thing to wash it down afterwards was a couple 1800 Reposado margaritas...

Birthday Bowties

Sported my black bowtie with my new pink shirt for class on Friday.  The hilarious thing is on the subway in the end of the car I was on there was a guy in a purple shirt, another guy in a pink shirt and then a third guy in a pink and purple shirt.  I was telling one of the other teachers and one of the Korean women that we work with was like "It must be Friday!"  HAHA.

Toastmasters

One of my coworkers talked me into going to some public speaking club called Toastmasters.   I'd heard of it, but I'd never gone to a meeting back in the states.  It was very interesting.   Yesterday, I got voted best impromptu speech.  It is definitely an interesting experience.   I will most likely look at joining a club whenever I return to the states.

The Wait for New Shoes

Last Wednesday,  Thursday and Friday was the Autumn harvest festival in Korea.  It's like their version of Thanksgiving.   I ordered a new pair of running shoes the Friday before that, so I was hoping that they would've gotten to me before the holidays.  Unfortunately I was not so lucky and today, 1 day shy of two weeks later, I finally got my new running shoes.  They feel fantastic.  I wish I could wear them to work! Hahah!

New term... Awesome Books

We just completed the first session with our new students.  I was super excited about this term because I was getting to teach the books I'd get to choose. 

I chose Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom and Skipping Christmas by John Grisham for the first term.  It went INCREDIBLE.   The students were reading ahead, the discussions were great and it really felt like their love of reading wasn't stunted like it felt like it was with the past books.

I don't know which I enjoyed more.  Developing the reader's guides for the students or listening to the discussions about the characters.

This term the books are the same with the additions of Thornton Wilder's Our Town and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men.   We're two days into classes and the students are already into the groove with the new books. 

I also tried something new this session.  I developed a Google calendar for each of the classes with their reading assignments for each night on there.  I gave them all the link for them so if they've got a birthday party one night they can plan ahead or perhaps a light night of homework in another class.

I'm riding on a teaching high right now and it feels good.  I definitely need to find a similar feeling in teaching in the states.

Thirsty Day

When I got done with my run tonight I was thirsty as I could be.  I went to the market right up the block frome me and by the time I had gotten home I had drank about half of the 2 liters that I bought.

Bright and Early Monday Morning, A Perfect Time for a Midterm.

Today is midterms for our new students.  With more of a literature focus in my reading classes, my tests look very different so far from last session.  I'm excited to see how the students respond to the exams though because skillwise, these students are ahead of where previous students were, so I've been pushing them harder and the test really shows that. 

Bud Hunters

What a great name for a bar that serves -2°c Bud on draft.  Mmmm delicious.

What makes it better? 

I'm glad you asked!  It has a dart board, and the owner loves me!

Weird Music Fix Lately and White People Games

I've been listening to a lot of Al Green lately on my walks.  Weird.

Other things going on:

Hope all is well.  Midterms on Monday.

Been playing a lot of darts lately.  Taught my coworker how to play it.  When I hit four bulls in two turns he quotes "white people games".  I laughed and asked him to clarify that statement.  He goes "you know the drinking top three.  Darts, pool and bowling."  I threw horrible the next three turns because I was laughing too darn hard.

Whitewater

One of my Korean friends invited me to go whitewater rafting with her last weekend.  It was fun from the start as on the bus everyone introduced themselves.  There were people from 8 different countries on the bus.  The river itself wasn't especially challenging, but with the jokes coming continuously from everyone else in the boat, the crisp water and the fun atmosphere, the trip was an epic amount of fun.

All of the people on our raft except for Lewis the cameraman and me.  Danny was our guide in the middle.

Me in my position in the front left of the boat.

Me standing up and messing around in a still part of the river.

Splash battle with another raft.

Taking a break to water slide on the rafts.

Whitewater Rafting this Weekend

A more in depth post will come later, but I just wanted to post some pics of the whitewater river trip from Sunday.

Talked with James

Yes I was at a bar with ice cold draft Budweiser.

Yes I was kicking ass at darts.

But the highlight of my night?  Texting with James.  That put me in an unbelievably great mood and now I'm on top of the world.  :-)

Feet Pizza

I was eating a gorgonzola pizza at my new bar last night and was chatting up the owner.  He told me the cheese taste good but smelled like feet.  I told him my aunt Ann Falloure would beg to differ.  He didn't get it, but I was laughing hard.  Who knew smelly feet could be the punchline of a joke?

Penguins and Emotion

The other teachers had one question for me today during the staff meeting.

"What in the hell were you doing today?"

Apparently, the quiet grandson (as Grandma Shannon so lovingly refers to me) was heard in all of my classes.

So I was explaining to them that in one class we were discussing Tuesdays with Morrie.  In the section that they read for homework, Morrie presents the idea of being "fully human".  So one student says that this means that we should be differentiated from animals.  I then asked how.  Then another student presented the idea of heart.

So then we discussed how with the three concepts of physical, mental and emotional well being, all living things can have physical well being including plants and animals and humans can have mental well being, but it is humans that really have the power to develop emotional well being.  One of my girls presented the argument that animals can feel emotion.  So I countered with "why do two penguins get together?  Is it because one penguin waddled up and was like 'Hey chicka let's go get some anchovies and snowcones tonight.'"  The entire time I'm saying this I'm waddling and and putting a little penguin swagger into it.  This impression of penguins went on for probably only a minute or two, but my students were literally bent over laughing.

The best part was the teachers were laughing heartily as well during the recounting.  At the end of which they both replied that they were definitely glad that they asked.

Charlie was definitely helping me out in class today and he stole the show.  

Today's Lunch

Today's lunch was grilled sausage with spicy mustard, a rice omelet and sesame coleslaw.  It was delicious.

Hot Times in the City

It has been considerably humid in Seoul lately.  Granted, it is nothing like Houston, but its definitely not the most enjoyable time.

New Westerns

Since I have the books and reading guides finished for the books that I will be teaching in class, I was in the market for some new books that I wanted to read. On my way home from work today I stopped by the used bookstore by my apartment. I found these two gems and was pleasantly surprised to see if they had never been read ants that the clerk was only going to charge me $1 per book. It definitely looks like I have some good dreams for train rides, relaxing times in the park, and any other time I find the occasion to flip a few pages.

Morning Subway Stares

I think on the morning subways I'm going to have to go back to reading comics on my tablet or watching a more serious drama.  Lately I've been watching comedies on my morning commute and something I've figured out about Koreans so far is that they are not morning people.  After my morning run, I'm in the mood and ready to start the day.  What better way to start the day than with a laugh?  It's pretty funny the looks on the morning subway ride that I get whenever I'm snickering and trying to hold in a hearty laugh after a good one-liner.

SLANG 101

The Listening and Speaking instructor at our program has been giving the students a term of the day and a phrases of the day as per our boss's instructions to give our students a wider social vocabulary to work with when they go over to the states.

On Friday I was quite hoarse, and I made a comment that without being able to change the pitch and tone of my voice, I was basically teaching in a straight jacket.  I said that my voice was directly connected to my teaching mojo.

Fast forward through the weekend to Monday.  His word of the day was "mojo", and apparently he used me as an example.

When I came into class, one of the students asked me if my throat was feeling better.  I replied that it was.  Then she goes "so you've got your mojo back today?"  I couldn't stop laughing for about a minute or so.

the U.D.O. The Unidentified Driving Object

This weekend when I was on a walk I saw a Dodge 2500 (and it was a Hemi).  It was hilarious to see so many Koreans walking around and staring at it like this was some alien vehicle, some foreign object.

The Differences between Americans and Koreans

I met my new students today.  We started an impromptu discussion of the differences between Americans and Koreans.  Some of the highlights that they mentioned were:

Americans can own guns.
Americans show emotions and speak with their hands.
Americans talk to random strangers.

I couldn't stop laughing inside my head because it sounded like they were describing me.

KOOLAID!

I made a giant batch of Black Cherry Koolaid last night.  I even added some sliced maraschino cherries to it for a little extra something.  I've also found two great uses for it.  Last night for dessert I mixed it with some Coca-Cola and some Jack Daniels and it was spectacular.  And then this morning I mixed it with Sprite and it was a refreshing post-run treat for the subway ride into work.

Goodbye Pictures with Students

Numerous students were snapping phone pics after the ceremony.  I made sure to get them to email them to me.

An Awesome Panorama Shot of Graduation

I was able to only miss one student that was sitting in front of me.  This picture is crazy because it makes this room look much larger than it actually is.

Graduation Day

Today was graduation day.  I nailed my speech by opening with a George Bernard Shaw quote.   Then we went with the students for a nice 3 hour lunch.