Tales of Busan

I feel that since I have already gone into detail about many things sepeartely, now I just feel like I can update all those little categories at once.  Serious warning though, this is probably going to be the most ADD/random collection of stories so I have dubbed each story its' own little tale.

The Tale of Meeting Liam


I was not the first English teacher at my school.  There was one who left just as I was arriving.  From what I heard (all things from my co-teacher) I had the impression that he was lazy, not very nice, and didn't care about teaching.  My co-teacher did not say these things explicitly but whenever she was telling me what not to do, she would always preface the advice with, "The old English teacher would always do this.  This is not good."

I don't know if I have really updated the situation at my school but I slowly feel suffocated by my teacher.  She is smothering me with over-protection and "advice" on how older Koreans have more life experience so therefore they know best.  If anyone seriously knows me, this philosophy is not my favorite one.  My co-teacher can barely speak English much less teach it effectively at class.  The reason why our students have such low test scores is because she chooses to teach the class exclusively in Korean and not give me a chance to talk to the students.  That's why I am  here after all; to provide the students with the chance to learn from a Native speaker.

Anyways, back to Liam.  I was out with a few girl friends one weekend and one of my friends also has her brother here in Busan.  We decided we were going to meet up with him and his buddies.  I had heard one of the names of my friend's brother's friend was Liam and I was thinking that might be him but honestly, Busan is a pretty big city - what is the chance?

We got to the bar and I asked him if he worked at Nok Myeong and he just started laughing.  He said he's sorry that I have to work there now because the situation at the school is actually one of the more difficult ones.  He also gave me loads of stories about my co-teacher that I find entertaining and true to the core to say the least.  We did sit around and have a good laugh over her but we also talked about the students and the things they do (her it's a small school so it's easy to remember all the kids).  He gave me some good ideas to keep them entertained.  He wanted to know if any of the students said they missed him and I informed him that I didn't know but I would ask them.

So, the next Monday at work, I asked my fourth grade class if they missed Liam Teacher and this was the response I got.

The Tale of Hadan's Back Alley

Not really much of a tale but I discovered where exactly I live in Hadan (my area of Busan).  I was at a friends apartment in Hadan and he lives on the other side of the giant street/bus station so I never really venture to the other side.  It turns out there is a good side and a not-so-good side to Hadan.  My friend lives in the nice part of Hadan and his apartment was proof of that.

We went to find some korean bbq for dinner and headed over to my area of town.  I have walked around during the day and this one area was like a deserted wasteland during the day.  I did get the creepy vibe but hey, this is Korea and they are much more tuned into night life that America is so I thought it was just a college party area that is vacant during the day.  As it turns out, my area of Hadan is a mini red light district.  I couldn't tell during the day but at night, all the signs have half naked girls on them and there were a bunch of old men walking around.

Yup, I live here.

The Tale of Team MAD


I got to spend all of Saturday with my fight team to watch our teammate fight at the Road FC (A Korean MMA organization).  It started with a four hour bus ride to Gangwon (up near Seoul).  The bus ride was fun but really, I don't speak Korean so I was limited in my conversation so I stuck with trying to catch up on some sleep.

My team is apparently one of the best in Korea and I realized how many famous people I see all the time that I didn't know were famous.  There was a guy in the gym the other day (who spoke perfect English I might add) who said my wrestling was really good and this guy is a prominent news reporter and translator.  My head coach rocks and my teammates were giving autographs.  It was cool to see them all in their element.  It makes me want to train ever harder so I can fight in Japan and do well.

The actual fight night was so much fun.  We were all chanting for our teammate (Kang Kyungho); we drowned out the other teams chants :P  I wish I could just show you because I don't have the time to write it out right now but Kang Kyungho won his first fight by a long shot.  Made his opponent tap out.    He then has his championship bout against an American guy.  I felt bad because I am rooting for the Korean but honestly, I'm not rooting for you just because we are from the same country.  Luckily, Kang Kyungho beat the crap out of him made him tap out with a rear naked choke in the second period.  All of Team MAD in the stands cheering and jumping.  It was just too fun for words.

After he got his belt, we (Team MAD) got to go down to the floor and take pictures with him and just revel in his glory lol.  I only wish my Korean was ten times better so I could have spoken more instead of just walking around with a huge grin on my face like a retard.

Going down to meet our team.  The bright white T-shirt is my head coach and he is right in front of Kang Kyungho, who is wearing his belt

All I can say is this was the best way to spend a Saturday.  I don't care if I didn't get home until 3 am.