Master debating. Do it to long and you might go blind?

Yeah that's right I spent my saturday judging my schools first ever debate competition. In all honesty it was a lot of fun. The competing kids were the highest level kids that Chungdahm has. We call them our Masters. They are some of the most brilliant kids I have ever seen. They were truly impressive during their debates. The 2 topics assigned; were should the government regulate video game use, which is a huge addiction and social problem here. The other, was should Korea go to war. The kids were not only well spoken, but argued extremely well on their given side. After that, was dinner with the head honchos of my job; My Faculty Manger travis, and The head of the Branch Jefferson. They treated us to a ton of pizza, and then it was off to my place where I mentally prepared myself for Suzy's favorite club; Black Music club aka MC. (yes that is the actual name) lol. The club is always a great time, I went with my close friends Chris "the train wreck" Amoss, "Sassy" Suzy, my friend samantha, and Suzy's friend Michelle. Later on, Julie, Chau and her friends from home met up with us for one hell of a crazy time. Needless to say it was a great fun. I danced for 6 hours off and on, and highlights of the night were 1st, Michelle unbuttoning the top button of a Korean girl's shirt, and watching the korean girl freak out. 2nd, Samantha's boob coming out while being lifted into the air by 2 metro sexual gay men. Lastly one of those same metro sexual gay men literally grinding on me on the dance floor. One of my more awkward experiences here, but funny none-the-less. Sunday, myself, Chris, Suzy, Julie, and Michelle took a trip to Itaewon, reenacting Night of the Living Dead due to our hangovers. Itaewon is an awesome place with tons of American stores, and places to eat. We went to American Restaurant, which is a diner style place, but it's in Korea so it is way better. After some burgers and fries we called it a day. It was a relaxing end to a crazy weekend.

I will conclude this by saying my experience in Korea is one for the history books. I love my time here, and though I miss home, my friends, and a special vampire that is dear to me (inside joke), it saddens me to think that this will end one day, and I will have to return to reality. My students have been awesome, my friends here are great, and the culture never ceases to amaze me. This is my last week of the term, so sorry for the sappiness. I am going to miss my first classes. Pictures of them are soon to come.

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- My Korean male dance partner

- Samantha seconds away from exposing herself

- The debate judges left to right- Cooper, Julie, Lowell, Samantha, Myself, Suzy

- Jefferson, and travis presenting one of the winners with his award.

- The master-debaters .... never gets old

From the Bungie to the Barbecue... Korea kicks ass

Where to begin. Well I had one of my best weekends yet here. Great week of teaching, and I had the distinct privilege of teaching 12 year olds about ergonomics, and design. Oddly enough they loved it. Thursday was my company dinner, and there is nothing more entertaining than seeing your bosses hammered. Then seeing your bosses sing Karaoke, and then see them hung-over in the morning. Cheers to Luke and Travis for being awesome. Saturday I went to Gangnam which is in inner seoul. A lot of nice stores, and very "NY like" in my opinion. I bought some new kicks for 45000 won which is like 40 dollars, and the girls left to get there hair done. Boring I know, but this post gets better. We then went toward Boondong for our bungie jumping experience. After an hour of train we found out they were booked, and had to return the next day. I was a little disappointed, but Suzy was damn near infuriated. We all went back toward Gangnam where we went to doctor fish. This is a coffee shop where you order some java and then rest your feet in water where fish swarm around eating the dead skin off your feet. There were 2 tanks, one with small fish; this one felt great and was relaxing. The other was bigger fish; these were tickling the hell out of me, and one of the strangest things I have ever felt. Also the lovable Angie's mom was visiting, and she hopped right in as if she had done it a million times before. I wasn't going to allow Angie's mom to show me up...... I guess she did looking back she did anyway. We ended the night with Hookah, and some casual drinks. Then it was off to bed. Sunday aka Buddha's birthday I went Bungie jumping with 4 friends. I myself was actually not all that scared and opted to go first. I loved it, but was a little disappointed. It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. Then Suzy went and she had a similar reaction, as a matter of fact she barely made a noise. My friend Lana eventually gave in and refused to jump. I think I can coerce her into going through with it next time. Now the best was connie who screamed bloody murder all the way down, and even cried a bit. Her scream was so loud that the kids in the park actually got upset and cried. I, along with the rest of the crew, which included Connie's boyfriend Dan laughed hysterically. After a nap in the park we met back up with Angie, and her mom along with Tan, our new friend from NY; to watch the Lantern festival. This is a celebration for Buddha's birthday where large numbers of monks and Buddhist followers parade through the city with lanterns, accompanied with big light up floats. It was an awesome time, and one of my favorite things I have seen so far.

* doctor fish with the crew

* Hookah Bar

* My Big Jump

* One of the many floats

* Some of the thousands of monks parading