Thursday, October 29, 2009

Faculty Dinner

I was cordially invited to a dinner to welcome my new principle. Every few years the principal is moved to a new school as are the teachers. It seems counterproductive to keep replacing everyone, but its a law. They decided to incorporate me into the debacle and even asked me to give a speech. I said a few words in Korean like "hello", "nice to meet you", and "thank you" and they ate it up. Most of it was in English, but I received a nice response.

I sat with my co-teacher and some other women. I was handed the tongs and tended to the meat cooking on our table. I was unaware that we were supposed to cut the meat with the scissors while it is grilling. I had a beer and all was well for the time being. The soju was introduced and I had a shot or two with some of the teachers. By the end of the meal, I had done a shot with every male worker in the school. Some crazy talk was uttered about how I was brothers from different countries and that we have the same soul by a department head. I was so wrecked but I kept on drinking. I somehow made it through the dinner without embarrassing myself, although I can't say that about everyone. In total I must have had 15 or 16 shots in an hour. Luckily it is only about half of the alcohol content in vodka.

I managed to make it out that night to my friend's amusement, but headed in before midnight. I realized that night that Korea has three major religions: Buddhism, Christianity, and soju. Since that time I have noticed that the school fridge is well stocked with the beverage and is consumed on occasion during school hours.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Munsu Mountain Summit

Korea is completely covered in mountains. Sandra's co-teacher and her husband are seasoned hikers and climbers. They rarely took a break. Sandra and I were winded the whole time. On the way down we went past some Buddhist temples.















Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Random Night in New Downtown Ulsan











Ok-Dong Grand Park























Rush Limbaugh Places Bid On Winless Rams

Is it possible to love a team after after they go 3 and 14 in 07? Yes

Is it possible to love a team after they finish 2 and 14 in 08? Yes

Is it possible to love a team that starts off 0-5 in 2009 (worst in the league)? Yes

Is it possible to love a team after they have been bought by Rush Limbaugh? Still Yes



The St. Louis Rams have only one 5 games in three seasons as of week 6 2009. They have lost a great sum of their fan base they deservedly gained from 2 consecutive Superbowl appearances in 01 and 02. But the days of Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk are long gone. Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce, the last of the high powered offense the Rams once had, have been released in the last two years.

Marshall Faulk's finesse was replaced by Steven Jackson's raw explosive power. Jackson is still a huge offensive threat when he is healthy, but it takes more than one man to win games. Marc Bulger has also had some great seasons but the 2004 Pro Bowl MVP has had his worst 2 seasons in 07 and 08. Both offensive threats are plagued by a horrendous Offensive line.

Rookie head coach Steve Spagnuolo has had a hard time breathing new life into the team. Despite losing most of the team's key defensive players following their 2008 superbowl victory, Spagnoulo kept them as the number 1 ranked defense the following season. He has had no such luck as the Rams head coach.

Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez inherited the team from their late mother Georgia Frontiere passed away in 2008. They have hinted at selling the team and it turns out that Rush Limbaugh is interested.

Limbaugh is one of the most influential talk show hosts in the U.S. and is known to enjoy football. He was forced to resign as a commentator for ESPN because he made racist comments about Donovan McNabb. His racist comments continued when he sang "Barack The Magic Negro" to the tune of "Puff The Magic Dragon." He later explained that he wants the president to fail and wants the country to be in a worse situation after his tenure as president.

So should we still be a fan of our team if the man who accused Michael J. Fox of exaggerating his parkinson's disease buys the team?

I would still be a fan, but it just got a lot harder. I would rather they stay winless for the next three seasons than to be bought by that man, but I would still watch.

Give us a few years and we'll be contenders again... with or without Rush.

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Ulsan Hyundai Tigers

We went to an Ulsan Hyundai tigers game at MUNSU stadium. It was a little sad because just a few years ago it was filled to capacity for the World Cup and we were easily able to waltz up to the front row with our 5$ tickets. From the FIFA website:

The Munsu Stadium is built on an area of approximately 900,000m2 in Ulsan, in south-eastern Korea. It has two levels below ground and three above ground. With its environment of natural ponds and thick forests on the nearby Mt. Munsu and Mt. Namam, this stadium counts as one of the most beautiful of the 20 World Cup venues. The architects certainly knew what they were doing : in this scenic setting, they have created a stadium whose structure represents the image of a crane, the bird that is the symbol of the city of Ulsan. The elegance and pureness of a crane is depicted in the overall design inspired by the shape of the bird in characteristic crouching position, about to take off in flight.

It was a beautiful stadium, and Ulsan beat Busan which was very nice. During the halftime show we realized that we were sitting to close to the spot where they were shooting off all of the fireworks. Fiery ashes landed on our bare arms and neck leaving small burns on our body. These ashes even burned through Stew's England jersey.

Perhaps the best part of going to an Ulsan Tigers game is that you can bring your own beer, soju, and food.