There's no season like Finals season

As I log consecutive hour #7 sitting at my desk for the day, I've check and rechecked my fantasy roster, texted Predick, done some serious damage on Hype Machine, chit-chatted with teachers about my new haircut (some think it's very handsome, some say it won't attract young Korean girls as much as the last haircut did......haven't yet decided if that's a good thing or not), successfully gchatted (all the cool kids are doing it) with my family, and then pretended to do more research on our Thailand-Malaysia-Vietnam vacation but then got distracted by this song. But now, it's bloggah time!

This is becoming a normal routine. I blograstinate, tell you guys, write down what's happened recently, and make empty promises of posting new videos. Well here's another installment:

Last week I had a demo lesson in front of the principal, the vice principal, and the whole English department. This job has definitely improved my public speaking skills tenfold, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a tad bit nervous.

...got distracted again...

I was definitely trying harder than usual, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not, but the class went pretty well. They said that I am a very good teacher and apologized for students not bringing pens/pencils to class. A few days later the English department went to a restaurant to celebrate the successful lesson and appraisal from the bosses. We went to an American buffet (obviously) called Ashley's. It was pretty funny actually. First of all, the vice principal and principal turned down the offers because they "dislike American food," and most of the teachers that went didn't like American food either. They only went to be courteous. And for a free meal.

I was very curious as to what American food in Korea would constitute. I'm not expert, but it reminded me of a classier version of any of your standard American buffets. Just with a hint of Southern Dixie. It was actually kind of expensive too. Koreans must think American buffets are a classy endeavor. The best part was seeing all of my co-teachers awkwardly struggle with forks. They didn't really know how to hold them. At that moment, I got a little glimpse of what I must have looked like trying to use the über-slippery Korean chopsticks the first couple of weeks. This may be a simple example, but it's always fascinating putting yourself in foreign people's shoes.

After getting stuffed on sweet potatoes and cheesecake, most of the teachers decided to call it quits. Lee-Minchun, Helena, Paul, and I, however, hit the night in stride and headed to a place where you can always find Koreans 24/7 who don't mess around: the billiards hall.

Ahhh the Korean billiards halls, a thousand square feet of nineteen, mean, green, Koreean billiards tables complete with gambling, cigarette-laden, Korean caballeros. I used to think bowlers were the most intense "athletes" I'd seen in this country. That is, until I hit up the Korean pool table scene. And oh what a scene it is.

Paul and I ended up losing to Mr. Lee and Helena, but afterwards Paul and I decided that it wasn't because we were playing so poorly but because we didn't want to crush the confidence of Helena. Yeah. That's it. We  lost on purpose...

Aaaaanyways, this week's empty promise is hoping I can finish my videos of Lotte World and of the school festival. The same ones I thought I would have completed months ago. Probably won't happen tomorrow, but I'm shooting for next week. I feel like O'Hare during X-Mas with all these delays.

And speaking of flying, my Dad will be arriving in South Korea about 24 hours from now! I'm very excited to spend some quality time with family, albeit only a weekend. Whether he knows it yet or not, I am going to be taking him to the Santacon in Seoul on Saturday so check back for photos/details of that gem of a night. My school gave me the green light for taking tomorrow afternoon off so I can meet him at Incheon airport. Maybe I'll make a sign for him. It's every man's dream to have someone waiting for you at the airport holding a sign with your name it. Sorry I can't be a supermodel, Dad.

OKay! Well this post only took me forever to write. And if you haven't been sold on the hype machine links I've dispersed throughout this post, this is sure to melt your face off (for proof, see: Geoff Johnson's fb wall).