Stuff I have that is awesome, Part 1

There is no greater way of feeling accomplishment than by showing it off to everyone. Not as a means to make anyone jealous (wink wink) but just to feel "Hey, I have this thing that is cool and I'm awesome for it." So this is part one of the stuff I have that is awesome which will be dedicated to my cellphone.

More than likely this will be a two-part or so series since I don't have that much stuff that is really awesome. Part two will probably be about my PS3 and then I'll have to revert to pictures of my manga collection and finally, the hat rack I built this weekend. Anyways, here are a few pictures of my phone. It's a Samsung something or other and it set me back as much as my PS3 system did, but it is pretty awesome:



As you can see from the helpful note bubbles I attached, this phone does it all.



This is how it looks opened up. It is really skinny and has a lot of functions that you can't see without actually using the phone.



Here is one of the more attractive features (probably why I bought the damn thing). I get access to like 20 channels for $9 per month. It's really useful when I'm on the train or bus and don't have any comic books to read.

This has been part one of things I have that are awesome. Look forward to more in the future.

Also, without looking back through the post, do you remember how many times I used the word "awesome"? If you do, good job, you win absolutely nothing.

Japan and back in 36 hours

I set out this past Saturday morning to meet my Grandmother and family in Japan for the weekend and even though the trip was only for a little over one day, I’m really glad I did it.

I set out at about 7am from my apartment and made it to my Aunt’s front door step about 6 hours later. After saying hello to everyone I hadn’t seen in awhile and introducing myself to my aunt Setsuko and her husband I sat down and began the rest of the day. I spent most of the time eating delicious food and drinking Asahi while catching up with everyone. So many people showed up that we had to make separate food tables in the different rooms of the house.

My uncle Yoshio was his usual jolly self and it was good to see that aunt Yoshiko hasn’t changed a bit in 4 years. Actually, the only people who seemed to change at all since I last met them were my cousins Kouta (who is my cousin Kyle’s Japanese twin) and Miki. All and all, everyone seemed to be in good health and spirits.

Speaking of spirits, I got to enjoy some really good Nihonshu that my aunt Toshiko’s husband brought over in a big jar. Top that off with the beer and sochu and I was having a good night. Of course my Grandmother was over my shoulder every other glass to remind me to “Have fun, but don’t get too drunk”. I guess I listened. (sorta)

After everyone left, I got to soak in the hot tub before I went to sleep.

In the morning, I ate breakfast and headed off to the local mall with my uncle Yoshio and cousin Kouta to look at some games and comic books. I grabbed a couple comic books and then we ate at a restaurant where I had an ice-cold Yebisu (my favorite beer in the world) straight from the tap. It was heavenly. After I got back, I had to pack and leave after taking a quick nap. After I said goodbye to everyone, I got on the plane and took my 7 hour trip back to my apartment, where I promptly showered and went to sleep.

Overall, despite the time limitation, it was really fun and I can’t wait to get out to Japan again.

Also, since pictures speak louder than any words could, here are a few choice snapshots of the trip.

Enjoy.

This was everyone who was at the house that day with the exception of my cousin Makoto, who was taking the picture.

This was the spread that was there as I arrived. Trust me when I say this was just the beginning...

From left to right: My cousin Makoto, cousin Miki, aunt Yoshiko, uncle Yoshio, and aunt Setsuko

This was some sort of supersonic underwater tour boat. I actually have no idea if it can go underwater or not, but it sure looks like it can.

The view from the mall deck. It was a beautiful day, but the one thing you can't see in this picture are all of the jellyfish that were in the water. Awesome.

This was the Nihonshu we drank. It was really good.

This is my Grandmother with my cousin Kouta. I told you, Kyle's Japanese twin brother.

This was a random manga I happened to see at the mall. I wonder what it's about?

Finally, some funny English for you.

Spring has sprunged

I know "sprunged" isnt a word but it damn well should be...

It’s been awhile since I last posted and I was figuring it would be good to drop a little blurb before the weekend since I plan on posting another picture/video update then.

Spring is officially here in Korea. The change of the seasons and weather in Seoul are remarkably like that of Chicago with a few differences.

First, it gets much colder in Chicago than Seoul during the winter. I’ve never had to wear my “winter” jacket in Seoul more than 4 or 5 times per year and people thought I was crazy when I was walking around in shorts and a t-shirt in April. All I can say is, “That’s how it’s done in Chicago”.

Second, springtime in Korea brings the “yellow sand” phenomena which is pretty much sand from the Gobi Desert in China being swept up and spread through the air of Seoul in waves that hit every spring. It causes plenty of health issues for people with lung problems and those with allergies every year so it always helps to have a face mask for those particularly nasty days. I’ve also adopted the routine of washing my eyes out with saline when I get into my apartment and keeping my humidifier on at work all the time. Color me a hypochondriac.

Other than that, like I said, pretty much the same.

I have been enjoying the nice weather and have been taking longer lunches than usual so I can stroll around the little gardens with my co-workers. It’s also really nice to be able to wear my sandals again. The unfortunate thing is that spring only lasts like 3 weeks before it starts getting hot. That is why I plan on enjoying this weather while it lasts.

Things on the work front are pretty much the same. I work, do some presentations, yada yada yada. I will be up for a promotion pretty soon and though I don’t really want it, the extra income will be nice. Other than that, work is fine.

I will be traveling to Japan next weekend to meet up with my grandmother and the rest of my family who I haven’t seen in almost 4 years. It should be interesting to see how far my Japanese skills have fallen off while actually in the country. Here’s to 36 hours of Japanese practice and lots of delicious food. I should have some cool pictures to share when I get back.

So this is my “little blurb” entry.

I will get to posting pictures and videos this weekend sometime so be on the lookout for that.

It's been kinda drab around here lately...

I haven't been posting pictures or videos at all lately and I'm assuming that my glowing posts about work aren't keeping people as interested as I've led myself to believe. As such, I've decided to post a few things that I've been keeping to myself and hopefully a few of the remaining people who actually read this blog still will get a laugh or two out of them.

This picture dates back to when the Bears were marching through the playoffs. I dressed up my friend Gina in this outfit. Da Bears~

Okay, so the way this sign is pronounced is "Don King" but it has absolutely nothing to do with the Don King. Why? In Korean "Don" actually means "pork". So in this case, it's actually the Pork King, a place where we can get Korean BBQ.

This is the only picture I managed to take on my birthday since I forgot to charge the damn batteries. Here from the left we have: Jayce, Greg's Wife's Sister, Greg, Greg's Wife, and Joe. They're great fun.

This was a random Japanese couple I met at a bar in Itaewon. They were hilarious.

This was in a country bar in Itaewon. The only one of its kind that actually has a damn square-dancing floor. Needless to say, I hate the place. They do, however, have cheap jello shots. I also get to watch fools dance around while they are drunk.

This is what happens to people when they fall asleep around us. Poor Gina, and her own boyfriend Aaron is the only one placing the cigarette in her ear. Boo Hoo.

This is Rhett in all his glory. Rhett was my "boss" at my old English teaching job. Besides doing stuff like this whenever he feels the urge, he also engages in far more interesting activities that, because of their nature, will never see the light of day on this blog.

This is Micah in his drunken daze. I like to call him Clay Fakin'. I bet some of you who are well versed in the uselessness that is pop culture know why.

And finally (at least for tonight), I will end this picture update with a video that everyone everywhere must see. I haven't laughed as hard as I did when I first watched this in years. Enjoy.

http://funnyordie.com/v1/view_video.php?viewkey=3efbc24c7d2583be6925

Otaku-licious

I’ve noticed something interesting about myself lately and I wanted to comment on it.

Now, I’ve been reading comic books (most especially Japanese manga) for as long as I can remember and I’ve never really considered myself to be a manga “otaku”. However, I am starting to question now whether or not I am.

I never used to purchase comic books, rather I would just sit in a library or store and look over them when I had the time or was just bored. They were also something to do while sitting over at Chris’s house and engaging in not-so-legal activities. I always liked comic books/manga and really felt jealous sometimes of people’s abilities to create whole new worlds and characters out of thin air and put them on paper. Ah, yes. That’s the ability I envy the most, the ability to draw comic books.

In the last few years however, I’ve gone from the occasional indulger to the avid collector/reader. I have purchased something along the lines of about 200 manga comics or tankobon in the past 2 years. That is well over $1000 in comic books alone. Since I started my new job 5 months ago, I have purchased about 40 or so tankobon and it seems I am buying at least 2 per week.

I love reading them when I am traveling on the train or bus or sometimes when I just get the urge to lay down and read something. Besides being decent Japanese reading practice, I like how completely immersed in the storylines I become when I crack them open. It really helps me get away from the stress and worrying of the real world even if only for the 10 minute train ride.

I don’t know if this makes me an “otaku” or not but I guess if it does I really don’t mind the moniker at all. I used to think of “otaku” as scraggily haired white kids who wear anime shirts and spout off the random 3 words they know in Japanese at the most inappropriate times. I actually still do carry that stereotype now that I think about it. Maybe I’m a new type of otaku, a more suave type of comic book nerd….

Probably not though…

At least my hair isn’t scraggily.

Here is a list of the current manga I am reading. If there are other “suave otaku” out there who feel like sharing their list with me, it would be appreciated. Recommendations are great too.

“Samurai Deeper Kyo”
“Naruto”
“Bleach”
“D Gray Man”
“Full Metal Alchemist”
“Death Note”

The beginning of my social withdrawl...

The PS3 is finally here. I ended up having to pay about $120 in taxes to get it out of the post office but after dropping what I did on it already, it didn’t seem like much. They even asked if I wanted them to deliver it to my house so I didn’t have to carry it.

“No thanks. I’ll just carry it home.”

It consumed almost all of my Saturday and a few hours of my Sunday. The new Tony Hawk is pretty damn good and I’m also liking NBA 2K7. Madden 07 has its usual luster and the Marvel Ultimate Alliance has the makings of a great multi-player. I’m not that happy with the Sonic game because it’s just too damn uncontrollable and the new Genji is very fluid. That was my game breakdown. I look forward to getting a few blu-ray disc movies and seeing how good they are.

Other than the PS3, I went to the movies with the girl and her brother. We saw “300” and I was pretty impressed with it. It wasn’t “Sin City” but it did a similar job in making gore beautiful. I also now have a goal for my workouts because the Spartans in that movie were just impossibly ripped. I’m going to have to find those workouts somewhere. Anyone know where to look?

The knife's edge

Before I get into my usual updates about nothing, I must start with a little rant about my recent work experience. (I know I usually do this anyways but this rant is special, I promise)

So, work starts out as any normal Wednesday does, working on some random project while taking intermittent trips to the water fountain for more tea. I then find out at around 3:00pm that I will have a presentation the coming Friday for Walt Disney. Now, I have not heard about this, I have seen not hide nor hair of the report and I don’t even know the content of the project or the NAME of it. The fake apologetic tones coming from the person who relayed this information to me made me even angrier.

“I’m so sorry for the late request, but please understand us.”

“No, I won’t understand you. I don’t want to understand you. I don’t want to come within a trillion miles of the bridge that leads in the direction to coming close to understanding you. Just gimme the damn report and let me at this thing.”

“Okay, we will give it to you as soon as we finish it.”

“When will that be?”

“Umm, I’ll get right back to you.”

I’m sure you can see where this is leading at this point. To make things short, I ended up not getting the report until 4:30pm on Thursday and the presentation was at 9:30am that following day. I had to turn the report into a good report into a presentation and memorize the content. The kicker here is despite the time I spent on the presentation, at 9:27am that Friday morning (read: 3 minutes before the presentation) that they wouldn’t be using my version, but rather one that they had cooked up that morning. I was ready to draw blood.

The one saving grace of this whole debacle was the fact that I already knew the content of the report, possibly better than the report did. It was covering current business opportunities in the English second language system here, something I was apart of for 15 months. This was probably the fact that saved my ass and the asses of the team I helped.

The presentation went very well and I secured a longer term contract with them because of it. As a result I will now be handling everything that comes from them regarding this issue. It felt good to nail something so important with the amount of time I had to prepare for it, but I’m still pissed about the whole thing in general.

An interesting addend to this comes from while I was going to the presentation that Friday morning. First I get up and leave extra early, as is my habit for presentations, so I could have about a 30-40 minute window in case something happens.

Something did happen.

As I was riding the train, an elderly drunken fellow gets on the train in classic red-faced, stumble mode. Unfortunately he wasn’t of the quite drunk-type and obviously had a few words he wanted to say to me. He basically called me “a dirty American bastard” in translation to which I quickly responded with a sharp glare and a “야…말 조심해라 아저씨..” or “Watch your damn mouth old man” which quickly ended the confrontation as he got a little surprised and had obviously arrived at his stop and got off.

After that, the train got packed. I mean PACKED. I eventually got pushed off 3 stops before my stop because of the physics of people pushing into the train and people getting pushed off on the other end. El Nino, Korean train style. So I ended up waiting about 40 minutes for a taxi and arrived a few minutes before the presentation started.

Anyways, that’s my rant. Long as hell, I know, but it feels good to get it all out there.

As far as other things, the PS3 should be here in a day or two so I’m pretty excited. Unfortunately I might not get to play it right away since I have another presentation this week I have been preparing for. I can’t wait until the weekend though so I can officially tear into this thing and see firsthand the potential addictive properties.

I will update more later as it is time to eat lunch.

Weather or not...

I should be working on my multitude of projects at the moment but I don’t care, I felt like putting together a quick blog piece.

Even growing up in Chicago, a place famous for its quick climate changes, I have to admit today’s weather in Seoul is pretty interesting. So far I have witnessed: cloudy skies, a brief sunny sky, thunder, lightning, hail, rain and a bit of snow. All in one day no less. It piqued my curiosity as to how all of that could have happened in such a short period of time so I started searching the internet. Then I realized,

“Hey, you’re at work, you shouldn’t be searching the internet for random bits of useless information”.

After getting off the internet and starting to work again, I realized I was still thinking about my weather conundrum. So I decided to write this blog entry. Now I’m thinking,

“Hey, you’re at work, you shouldn’t be….”

Damn it >.<

PS3 me

Yep, I should be getting my brand-spankin’ new Playstation 3 in the mail within the next two weeks or so. If it wasn’t for work keeping me busy lately, I’d probably be even more excited than I am. The total expenses including the system, games, cords, random accessories and shipping should be about $1200 in total. While that might sound kind of steep to most (it really isn’t), I’m pretty sure it will pay for itself within a few months or so. Once I get my hands on it, I’ll post some pictures of it for people to drool over.

Now that writing about one of the more exciting things going on for me is over (yes, I know, whatever), I can elaborate on more of the details of my mundane life…

Work has been pretty hectic lately. Not so much in the sense of staying late, but rather the amount of stuff I do while I am there. I am usually juggling 3 or 4 projects at once along with a series of other smaller side things all while trying to learn another side of our business. The programs I’m using are pretty interesting and the level of expectation from me is getting pretty high. I guess I’m pretty happy I finally have a job that challenges me somewhat.

I also set a date for my brother’s trip out to visit me. He should be here for about 3 weeks or so from mid-July or so and I’m looking forward to him coming out here again. Though it might be the last time I get to see him for 3-5 years, I’m really proud of him finally taking some initiative to change his own life’s direction and join the Navy. While I’m not sure where he will be stationed, it would be pretty cool if he could get out to Korea once in a while. Either way, I’m sure we will enjoy the 3 short weeks he is here. Prepare yourself bro.

Other than all of this, I really don’t have anything else going on lately. I hope to post some pictures and videos on here soon for people to enjoy. Perhaps I will over the weekend when I have more time.

Off to the gym with me…

I'm a boring person/official adult

It’s funny how less often I am making blog entries lately.

It’s not because I am too lazy or too busy (I am a bit of both), but mostly because I have almost nothing interesting to update on. As most people have pointed out to me, “All you do is talk about work”, and I must agree. Unfortunately, the path I have chosen for myself career-wise leaves me with little options as far as doing other things. I know, I know, I have the weekends and after work time, right? Well, I have no excuse on the weekend tip, but as far as after work is over, I mostly just eat dinner and go to the gym. Rinse, Repeat.

I’m looking into how I can change my rather mundane life into something more fun while still keeping the responsibility part intact and it is proving to be difficult. I hope to start doing more on the weekends than just meet friends and carouse around town. I want to turn this blog into a bit more than just work updates and boorish musings and start posting more often on cultural issues and other more interesting topics. I guess we’ll see what time permits…

As far as recent happenings, I had a pretty decent birthday party and got to hang out with most of people I wanted to. We started off at a Brazilian restaurant/buffet then went to drink at a bar in Itaewon. I got a really nice wallet from Jayce and Dave gave me a ham sandwich without the bread, so it was mostly just ham. I guess things have been rough for him lately. Other than the b-day, nothing really exciting has happened. It’s been mostly work, going to the gym, and downloading anime. I did go over to the girlfriend’s house and have dinner with the parents which is always fun. I got to eat a delicious meal and then stayed the night. My girlfriend’s parents are two of the nicest people on the planet, I really have to say.

Oh, and I bought a computer desk and chair. Excitement.
So I guess this is my crappy update. I’m looking at going to an art exhibit with the girl this weekend so maybe I can take a few pictures and have something more interesting to post.

Look for Korean and Japanese posts within this coming week (hopefully).

Juxtaposition

So here we are again.

Work has been particularly interesting lately, albeit rather busy. Last week I got to present two projects to a client, one of which I had 3 days to work on. Essentially that meant I had 3 days to turn a report into a good report into a presentation into a concise and effective presentation and finally memorize all of the key points. The entire thing lasted about 3 hours or so and it went extremely well. The second in command of my company was there to watch me as well.

I recently found out that my job title and position will be changing effective this March, due mostly to the results of my presentations. I will now be handling RMS (Retail Management Services) business as well as my original CRS (Customized Research Services) duties. This means that I will be doing more of the presentations to big clients and also get a chance to get my hands on more of the raw data for projects. Up until this point, I’ve been mostly handling the ass end of reports and final presentations. This switch means I will be able to gain a more holistic approach to what we do here. More responsibility and more work. Same pay. Ha.

I also participated in the recent inter-company basketball game. Since I’ve been getting back into shape and running lately, my basketball legs are also returning to me. It was pretty evident that I still have some rust spots to work out but this recent game was my best outing at the company yet. My CRS team beat the RMS team 107-68. We pretty much pulled away after the first quarter and built close to a 50 point lead in the fourth. I don’t know how many points I scored (between 20 or 30) but I cleaned up on the boards (42) as usual. And yes, I do keep track of my rebound total. It’s all I have to be proud of. I look forward to next week’s game.

Enough about work though.

This coming Saturday marks the 26th anniversary of my entrance into this world. I guess it is rather unfair to most people to say that I feel like I’m getting old but, whatever, I’m getting old. While I am eager to start what I am sure will be a more successful quarter century, I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic and sad when I look back at my more carefree, responsibility-less days. I guess you can really tell you’re getting on in years when you start using the word “nostalgic”. In any case, happy birthday to me.

Things are really starting to move forward on the travel plans for the next year.

In April I will be going to Japan to see a few old friends. I am kind of mad at myself for going so long without seeing them but at least it’s good to see that they still remember me. I look forward to meeting you guys.

After that, my bro-ham will be coming out here in June for a little while and I’m excited to see him. Fresh from graduating from high school and he already has traveled more than I did at his age. I look forward to showing him around Seoul some more. Also in June (?), I will be going out to Japan again to attend a Jungle Juice beach party, something along the lines of what I did during my year there. I’ve heard they’ve had one every year since we introduced it back in 2002 so I’m looking forward to being there for the 5 year anniversary. Watch out kids, the Jungle Juice King is back.

In July (hopefully), Marc and Ralph will be making it out here so I can show them around Korea. It’s going to be hard to synchronize everything, and the price of the trip is a pretty steep but I’m confident that they will get here and have a good time.

And of course, in September I will be going home for a couple of weeks to see the family and friends.

So as you can see, I’ve got a lot to look forward to the next couple of months. Maybe 26 will be the best year yet.

Here’s to hoping…

"Who has efficient nipples?"

“I DO!!”

This is my line of the week, courtesy of “Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law”, one of the DVDs my Mom sent me. I can’t believe how much I love cartoons.

First I guess I’ll start with the Super Bowl and the all-too-unfortunate ass whipping handed to my hometown team. Even more unfortunate was the way I found out about the result. The friends and I had a pact going that we would refrain from the internet all of Monday because we were taping the Super Bowl (it started at 7:50am Monday for us here in Korea) and we were going to meet at night and watch the game. I figured I would be fine since my company is 99% Korean and nobody (or so I thought) cares about American football. Everything was fine until 3pm when I walked into the bathroom. As I looked up, there was one of my friends with this sad look on his face as he said “I’m sorry about your team, Mike”. ARGH!! I was waiting TWO WEEKS for this day and you had to ruin it!!! If he wasn’t so sad about ruining it for me, I would have ripped off his scrotum and fed it to him. We still got together and watched the game, but it just wasn’t the same. Oh well, there’s always next year.

Now onto work developments:

Work has definitely been picking up for me lately as the bags under my computer worn eyes can attest. Not that I am complaining. The work is pretty interesting and I am left alone to my own devices for the most part. I also get a fair amount of freedom when it comes to changes in projects that I am working on and people actually listen to my opinions when I give them. All in all I’d have to say that work has been rather copacetic if not just a little tiring.

I haven’t been able to do much blogging lately due to time restrictions and I don’t see that changing too much in the foreseeable future. Besides work I am also engaged in Korean language study (and Japanese when I get the time) as well as deciding on MBA programs and when I will take the GMAT test. Mix that in with meeting the girlfriend when I can, going to the gym, and occasionally meeting the boys from my old job for a drink or two and we have a recipe for the quintessential 26 hour day. I guess as long as I’m occupied it’s all good.

I was able to use what little free time this week to meet up with Joel and Anthony near Joel’s house for a burger and some beers. I was able to buy one of Anthony’s books entitled “A really good book (about Korea)” which is the culmination of 3 years in Korea and a lot of hard work. It’s a perfect bathroom book due to each page being a story from some point in his life in Korea. It’s rather unfortunate that despite all of the efforts put into it he won’t be able to profit at all from it due to publishing. Oh well, I’m sure he didn’t do it for the money. I recommend to anyone who would like a quick guide to some of the strangeness/wonderfulness of Korea to pick this book up. I especially like the story where some girl described him as “Harry Potter’s friend” Ron. I want to meet her and pat her on the back.

Now that the cable guy is gone and I can watch television, it adds one more entertainment element to my apartment that it was sorely lacking. Even though chances are I won’t get a lot of time to watch it, it’s still nice to have. Plus I have 2 cartoon channels. Yay.

That is this week’s update. I promise to start writing more in Korean and Japanese once the pressure at work lets up.

Updelayted

I've been pretty busy lately so I haven't been able to post in awhile. I wish I could say that I've been busy because of purely productive matters, but I'd be lying.

I've been doing a lot of spending for the apartment lately. I just got my brand new desktop (i'm using it right now) and I'm on the market for a desk and a couple of new suits. Next month I will make the final (major) addition to my apartment, a new fridge. So as you can see, I have to buy a lot of things. The apartment should be pretty pimped out by the time I finish at which point I will post pictures of it.

Work has been going rather slowly lately with brief moments of pure insanity. I have another presentation coming up in a couple of weeks. The topic is contraception. Yep, I will have to present to the German board about their product and how well it stops conception in the eyes of Korean consumers. So I get to use such terms as "external ejaculation" and "vaginal insertion" in a business atmosphere and still be considered professional. I guess that all depends on if I laugh afterwards or not. So here's to professional contraception. We'll stop that baby....with a suit on.

The Super Bowl party will be going down tomorrow at my friend Dave's house. This means I have to stay off of the internet from the moment I get into work tomorrow until the moment I leave. A momentous task considering how much time I spend on the internet. It will be kinda cool to be able to sit around and drink beer, eat subs (or whatever the hell we get) and watch the game with the boys.

Go Bears!

I will be updating again later on this week. Now that I have a computer at home, I should be able to do a little bit more with this blog so look for that in the future.

Shouldn't you be shuffling?

The last time I was able to write something like this, I wasn’t able to write. Well, probably not much more than my name or so since I was 4 years old and cared for football as much as I did about the national debt or Billy Idol. Anyways, this has been a long time coming.

So here we are 21+ years later and I can finally see the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl.

While most people who know me would describe me as much more of a basketball fan than any other sport, I’m sure those same people would know that I pay attention to Chicago sports just as avidly. Granted, I don’t know much about most of the other teams, and probably don’t understand the finer details of the game itself, but to hell with you if you think I care about that when it comes down to rooting for Chicago sports.

Besides the games I got to watch while I was in Chicago this year, I’ve had to watch most of the other ones on nfl.com’s Sports Center which involves looking at little football heads move up a green block of field. I didn’t even get to catch them winning the NFC championship even though I really should have. It seems I’m cursed to be thousands of miles away from my hometown every time a team starts doing well. The Bears got to the playoffs almost every year I was abroad, the Bulls have had a few playoff seasons, the Cubs almost made the World Series and the White Sox actually won the World Series. Now the Bears are going to the Super Bowl and where am I? Seoul, South Korea of course. Thousands of miles away from most people who even know what American style football is. Well, at least I have a plan this time.

The Super Bowl will start at 8:00am on Monday, February 5th Seoul time. That is one hour before work starts for me. I am not even sure if there are any places that will be showing the game at that time. However, do you think I’m going to be watching football heads move around on my work computer at my desk that day?

Hell no I won’t be.

I will find a place to watch this game and take a damn half-morning off so I can watch the hell out of this Super Bowl. So to all of my Chi-town homies who will be watching this game and partying like I know you should be, remember to raise a glass for me because I will be right there watching it with you.

DA BEARS BABY!

언어 배운 방법이란?

자는 요즘 한국어과 일본어를 열심히 공부하고 있습니다. 한자가지 배우고 있습니다. 과연 어렵습니다. 그리고 제 일본어블로그에 쓴대로에 일본한자랑 한국한자는 좀 다라서 한자 2동류를 공부할 것 같습니다. 죽겠어요. ㅜㅜ

왜 이렇게 공부하냐구요? 왜냐하면, 회사에서 지금 할일이 없어서 회사에 사용한 단어를 공부하면 좋을 것 같테니까요. 다음에 그냥 있으면 발사시키지도 모릅니다.
어쨌든 제 목적이 이 109개 단어를 다음주 금요일가지 다 기억하는 것 입니다. 자신에게 약속했습니다.

이 109개 단어는 쉽지 않아서 여러분에게 단어 공부의 좋은 방법 이 뭔지 묻기로 했습니다. 도워 주세요!

부탁들이겠습니다.

国國

最近、僕が思っているんですが、何で日本語の漢字と韓国と中国の漢字が違いますか？色々な場合がありますが、例えば“くに”は日本の漢字で書けば“国”なんだけど韓国と中国の場合は“國”とまた複雑な場合は“かんれん”は日本の字で“関連”で韓国と中国は“關聯”です。その三つ目の言語で大体同じ意味なんで漢字だけが違いますか？

最初から韓国の漢字が習いやすいと思ったがやっぱりそんなにやすくないんで困りました。僕がいくら日本の漢字を知っても（実は今の漢字能力は多分昔より何百倍ぐらい下）韓国の字を習うのは時間がけっこうかかりそうですね。で、何で違うかっていつも思っているがいい説明をまったく見つけられません。昔、日本にいる間に誰かいい説明してくれたがそれを忘れて苦しんでいます。何か歴史的な理由があれば、説明してくれよ！多分人によって色々な理由を聞きそうから興奮しています。

Membership Trainin'

You haven’t really experienced what it is to work at a Korean company until you have been on a company outing or MT (membership training). So after having been employed here at AC Nielsen Korea for two months, I can happily say that I have experienced my first MT.

It started out on Friday morning at 8:00am. I was going on only a few hours of sleep since I went out to chill with the Wonderland boys the night before and had to stay up and pack everything I would need. After consuming a Starbucks Double Shot and making my way groggily towards work, I saw the 2 buses we would be riding for most of the day. They were huge tour buses and were parked right out in front of the company building. After helping load some things and taking a moment to check my e-mail, we departed from the company at about 9:00am.

Most of us were pretty tired so from nine until about eleven thirty we all slept until the bus came to a halt at a stop over station. I roused myself so I could use the bathroom and have another coffee. After having lunch at a pretty cool fish restaurant, we started off again towards our next destination: the boat.

Me on the boat

The boat ride lasted about 2 hours or so and was very scenic. Even though it was incredibly cold on the roof of the boat, we all braved it for awhile so we could get some good photos. The wind was cold but clean and the scenery was really beautiful.

The boat we rode on from an elevated angle

View from the top of the boat

Would hate to fall off of that

After getting off the boat and back on the buses, we traveled for a couple more hours until we were at a cave. Everyone (except the upper managers) went through a 40 minute cave walk where I found out I am a mild claustrophobic. Some parts of the cave were really nice too look at but for the most part it was climbing wet, rusty stairs and steering clear of bumping your head on a protruding rock. The coolest thing about this excursion was the fact that I got to use the word “spelunking” about 10 times in context.

Inside the cave

After heading out of the cave, we hopped back on the buses and made our way to the final destination: the resort. The resort itself was pretty nice looking and you could tell that it was huge. After getting settled into our rooms, I met up with our team so we could put the finishing touches on the performance we would be doing that evening. We worked on it for about 40 minutes then made our way down to the main dining hall and dined on some delicious bulgogi with tons of side dishes. The main event we were all waiting for happened right after dinner.

Part of the resort we stayed at

The party room was set up really nicely. There were about 10 really large tables set up for people to sit down at and a little stage set up complete with karaoke machine. We started by introducing ourselves to everyone (there were about 100+ people involved in this after all) and as soon as we were finished, we had to drink a boilermaker in one drink. For those of you that don’t know, a boilermaker is a glass of beer with a shot of whiskey dropped in it. Most of us had to drink super-boilermakers (half beer/half whiskey) and there were quite a few red-faced girls by the end of it. We ended up spending about 4+ hours in the party room and did all sorts of fun stuff including: team games/ karaoke singing/ newcomers performances (we got 2nd place)/ and random drinking games. We polished it all off with a visit to the largest karaoke room I’ve ever seen and spent about two hours there singing. I got to sing Stevie Wonder’s “Lately” and Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” all to rousing cheers which were probably more for me having the balls to sing in front of the company rather than my singing abilities. It was fun.

The party room

Me introducing our team

Finally, we all grabbed a night cap in a room the company rented for solely that purpose. After hanging out for awhile there, I finally got to bed. The next morning I woke up, ate and hopped on the bus back home. It was a great trip and I got to take lots of good pictures and videos. I hope the next MT (sometime in summer I think) is at least as good as this one was but I think it’s going to be hard to top.

Here’s to MTs.

The view from my room in the morning

A Few Changes

English

Happy humpday begins this week with an announcement.

I have decided to make a few changes around here. I’m fairly sure this will turn my blog into more of a communication tool rather than the one-sided juxtaposition of thought it has been thus far. The things that will be changing:

1) I will now begin posting in English, Korean, and Japanese. Maybe one post will be in all 3 languages, others 2, some only one. It all depends on my time and level of patience. The posts themselves will not be exact translations.
2) I will open the blog so ANYONE will be able to post/comment/bitch. Inappropriate posts will be deleted promptly.

Remember anyone (that means you) can post now. Post whatever you want but keep it in context. This is my attempt to improve my waning language skills in both Korean and Japanese while maintaining a healthy blog for family and friends too. Needless to say, frequency of posts will probably drop, but length and quality should improve as such. Also, please feel free to correct my Japanese or Korean (I would appreciate it actually) since both are waning as previously mentioned.

On to the next order of business: my week.

A few, interesting things went down the last week. First, the boys who went to Cambodia and Thailand came back. It seems like they did exactly what I thought they would do; spend too much money, drink too much liquor, and have too much fun. I’m glad they had fun. All of them can choke a fat one for not remembering to bring me anything back, but that just means my trip to Japan will be a lot cheaper so I guess it works out.

Next I must stop to mourn the loss of my Bear’s sweater, my latest karaoke victim. Like all the greats, you were too young and too beautiful to last. I miss you Bear’s sweater.

Finally, I will be traveling this Friday with the entire company to a resort somewhere in the wilderness of Korea. We will then get on a boat and probably drink and carouse until sometime in the early morning. It seems like it will be fun so rest assured I will be taking pictures.

(Side note: Seems I didn’t lose my Bear’s sweater, George had it. Yay for my sweater!)

Korean (한국어)

안녕하세요~

제 불로그에 와주셔서 갑사합니다.

이 불로그에 영어, 일본어, 다음에 한국어로 쓰는것을 정했스니까 이것는 적성의 한국말포스트. 재미있게 읽으면 좋겠습니다.

제 이름은 마이클 페건입니다. 시카고에서 왔지고 지금 서울의 서교동 (홍대가)에 살고 있습니다. 제가 한국에 왔던 동류가 4까지 있습니다. 적성이 관광객, 학생, 영어 선생, 이제는 AC 닐슨 코리아의 신입원입니다. 다 추가하면 2년 4월 돼었습니다. 한국에 오기 전에 일본에 1년쯤 살었는데 일본어도 할 수 있습니다.
제 좋아한것은 너무 많아서 간다하게 말하면움직이고 있는 것을 보는것을 좋아합니다. 싫어한것도 많아지만 그런것을 처음부터 마하면 안 돼겠다.

왜 한국어로 불로그을 만들고 있나요? 역시 한국에 살고 있는 외국인(한국인이 않은 사람) 은 한국어 공부해야 탠니까 이 불로그는 그 공부의 한부분입니다. 다음에 월요일부터 금요일까지 회사에 있는동안에 한국어로 말하는 연습이 많이 있지만 한국어로 쓰는 연습이 전혀 없습니다. 이 불로그을 자주 엎대트를 하면 제 한국어는 차츰 잘 할 수있으겁니다.

현재에 이 불로그을 일주일간에 1회 정도 엎대트를 하겠습니다.

잘 하겠스니까 부탁드립니다.

Japanese (日本語)

皆さんへ

初めまして ! この私のブログまで来てくれて本当にありがとうございました。

私をよく知らない人にちょっと自己紹介しようと思っています。私の名前はマイケルフェガン（マイクでいいです）と申します。シカゴから来て、今はソウルで住んでいます。好きなことはけっこうあるので、まぁ簡単に言うと動いているものを見るのは好きです。嫌いなこともけっこうありますが、初めからそういうことを教えないほうがいいですね。趣味も信じられないほどあります。一番好きなことは多分言語の勉強と遊ぶことです。

今まで皆さんが一つの質問があると当てれば、こうです：

“何でソウルに住んでいるアメリカ人が日本語でブログを作るのは必要ありますか？”

“必要ない”だと言われたらだめなんですから、簡単に説明しましょう。５年前ぐらいに千葉大学へ留学しに行って１年間の間に日本語など日本の経済的なことなど勉強しましたが、アメリカに帰った時から日本語で話せる機会があまりなかったんです。ですから、今までの見た通りに日本語の能力がだんだん下手になっています。４年ぶり日本語を使っていない間はしょうがないだと言われても今からはもうそういうわけは全然だめだと思っています。

それに、うちのおばあさんは日本人です。私は四分の一日本人だっていうことです。まじで。

現在にこのブログは一週間で一回ぐらいアプデートします。頑張るつもりので、今からよろしくお願いしますね～＾＾

Whew~ That was tough.

Look forward to more in the future.

Not this quickly..

Of course I get to work today and read reality’s first attempt to knock me off my opti-horse, the execution of Saddam Hussein. Well, to be more specific, the videos that are circulating everywhere that detail the entire episode.

First, I will say that I believe Saddam to have been a rather shitty human. He was a person who had no right being in a position of power that had any sway over the happiness of millions of people and he did some pretty horrible things while he was in power. I do not believe, however, that he was the worst person to be in such a position of power through history, or even the last few decades. This is not an attempt to protect character, rather, an attempt to state the truth.

The whole media farce that was his trial did nothing to convince most people in the country he absolutely needed to die. He was on trial for killing 148 people back in 1982 (back when he was the U.S.’s good buddy and deterrent for Iran) in an event that separated his deeds from what the context of his trial should have been. He did much worse things than kill 148 Kurds, so why was this what he was convicted with? Fucking theatre ploys. Also, having fought so hard to establish international law for the last 50 or so years, even through the Hague debacle, we reduced the punishment of an international war criminal to this? This whole thing should have be executed (no pun intended) much better than it was and I’m sure it will have repercussions eventually. Honestly, I don’t believe in the death penalty at all, even in Saddam’s case, because punishing violence with violence doesn’t accomplish anything except proving we’re all animals anyways.

Everyone knew as soon as the execution was announced that the videos on you tube and other media sources would be popping up as soon as it happened. It was destined to leak before it even happened. The only thing I can think of when I hear about it (and I haven’t nor will I watch it) is shame on the fucking idiots who are passing this about like it was a video of a cat juggling socks. As compelling as it could be to watch another human being die, please refrain from soiling your eyes with this.

Still optimistic, I promise. ^^

Grabbing 2007 by the teats

2007 is here.

I have the feeling that I have been waiting my whole life for this year to come. I don’t know why nor could I explain what I will be attempting to accomplish during the next 52 weeks but I am convinced it will be great. I hope to be able to carry this attitude well into 2008 and beyond. Stay away from me reality and don’t you dare touch my optimism with your sobering hands.

Now that that’s out of the way, here is my post-New Year’s post.

It’s funny how expectations can change so much in just a few moments. At 10:57pm, just over an hour before 2007, I seemed content to sit in my apartment and play video games with a bottle of wine to myself. Granted, it wasn’t anywhere near the big party atmosphere I have grown accustomed to over the years, but it had a quiet, almost nurturing vibe about it. Needless to say, I was enjoying myself. Then in walks my friend Dan, who I haven’t seen in a long while and proceeds to invite me out for the evening. I got dressed and embarked on what would be my last evening in the year 2006. Getting into details concerning the night isn’t nearly as important as describing how I felt when I got home.

I was empty.

Completely and utterly empty of all of the bullshit that happened in 2006. It was revitalizing despite all of the alcohol and second-hand smoke I imbibed and all of the weight of a full night without sleep on my shoulders. I could have been accosted by a group of super ninjas with snake nunchucks and convinced them they didn’t want a piece. So, needless to say, I had a damn good New Year’s. I hope everyone had a great New Year’s and looks forward to 2007 with as much expectation as I do.