“We’ll Take a Cup o’Kindness Yet”
Celebrating New Year
“And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne!”
Happy New Year! Don’t forget that it’s 2011 and NOT two-thousand-eleven.
This “Y2K” fad has run it’s course and it’s starting to ruin a generation of children. I don’t know how many kids I’ve had to teach how to say dates. They don’t know how to say any year before 2000! It’s starting to become a problem. And I’m stopping it right here and now.
Besides that we rang in the New Year with lots of good friends at the local spot Daddy J’s. It reminds me of “The Wall” back in Stillwater. Everyone especially had a great time once it was free beer from midnight till 2!
Hope 2011 is as fun as 2010!
K-League Championship
Fighting! FC Seoul!
“On Sunday, despite near- zero-degree weather, over 56,000 fans turned up at the Seoul World Cup stadium, setting a record for FC Seoul’s home attendance of more than 546,000 people in the 2010 season.” – Korea Herald
It’s cool to think we were one of those 56,000 fans! Chad, some co-teacher friends, and myself went to the K-League Championship on Sunday. We cheered for FC Seoul cause they’re the home team here and they were the underdog (I think). Chad and I have a soft spot for the underdogs. The game wasn’t as thrilling as most soccer matches, pretty sloppy at times but the spectacle of the event was cool. There was plenty of fireworks when a goal was scored and at the ending trophy ceremony. And it was at the World Cup Stadium which was pretty cool. Surprising to think that this stadium only seats 8,000 more than Boone Pickens Stadium. “The Boone” seats 60,218 while Seoul’s World Cup Stadium seats 68,476.
The events outside the stadium were cool, outdoor concert, tons of food and souvenir vendors and moon jumps and rock walls for kids.
The biggest let down was the food. This was the first sporting event I’d ever been to where you buy your food outside and bring it into the stadium. All they had to buy in the stadium was hot chocolate, hotdog things on a stick, dried squid and beer. So if you don’t like dried squid or beer you could stand in a line about a kilometer long and get a hotdog thing. Yeah no thanks. Next time I’m packing a lunch!
“Love Locking” OKSTATE to the top of the Big 12 South
OSU fans are riding high and even half-way around the world, Chad and I got up this morning and watch the game. Haha Texas haha. That’s what you get for being greedy and causing trouble in the Big 12. As the saying goes “karma’s a bitch.”33-16 final score. First time to beat Texas in Austin since…ever. Now I like Texas because we share a common enemy but I’m getting pretty tired of Texas winning because they’re “Texas.” That’s like Bono winning for the biggest crap just because he’s Bono. (see South Park episode)
So Chad and I went to Namsan Mountain today (I had previously gone there with my co-teachers for a “seminar day” back in October) we put a love lock on the Love Trees outside of the N Seoul Tower. There are these large metal trees that are covered in locks with messages. We picked an orange heart and wrote this message:
Love Lock on the Love Tree
I’m proud to be an OSU Cowboy, to be an alum and to share my love of OSU with the person I love the most.
Go Pokes.
Happy Birthday CHAD!
Chad at the World Cup Stadium
Today is Chad’s birthday! I took him to the World Cup Stadium here, unfortunately we missed the tour (got there too late) but there was a cool arcade there so we play House of the Dead 4 and Taiko: Drum Master and some other games. That night we went to a local bar in Anam called “Drogba” which is the brother bar of “Daddy J’s” which is the bar lots of our staff member go to (we call it “The Stonewall” of Anam) Chad lives on what we like to call “The Strip” of Anam because it’s very similar to “The Strip” at Oklahoma State in Stillwater. Anam is the area for Korea University’s Med School.
Well anyway Happy Birthday Chad! 🙂
Stuff I’ll Miss…
As the days get closer to my departure date I think about things I’ll miss about the US. Of course I’m gonna miss my mom, family members, and friends- that’s a given but I’m not here to write about that. With Chad’s help, I have compiled a list of things we’re going to miss about Oklahoma/USA
10. Long distances between towns/cities- Seoul is a metro area full of people and districts and neighborhoods. (I compare districts to counties and neighborhoods to cities.) So here in Oklahoma if you want to drive from Enid to Lahoma (which is the nearby town) that’s about an 20 minute drive. But it’s only a 5 minute train ride from one district to another! It will be something to get use to going from once town to another without a wheat field in between. 😉
9. Over hearing conversations- Most likely the conversations I’ll over hear will be in a language that I don’t know, i.e. Korean. It’s one of my favorite things to sit in a restaurant or coffee house and over hear bits and pieces of surrounding conversations. The best part is laughing at younger middle schoolers and make fun of them trying to act grown-up by talking loudly about something they think is “deep”
8. Mexican Food- I’m sure they have Mexican restaurants in Korean especially in the Seoul area. But authentic made by Mexicans, serviced by Mexicans and you order in Spanish! I doubt they’ll have….
7. Tornadoes- Of course tornadoes are scary and devastating but they are also fascinating!! Like any good Oklahoman as soon as the sirens go off, it outside to look for it. I’m sure Korea has it’s own natural disasters to grow fond of, but tornadoes will always have a special place 🙂
6. My Bathtub- I need bubble baths, so I’m not sure how I’m going to deal with no bathtub. It drove me crazy living in Stillwater with only a shower. Most apartments for teachers in Korea just have showers so I don’t know how I’ll deal. Maybe I’ll set up an inflatable kiddie pool in my bathroom 🙂
5. Drinking Crown Royal- Chad and I have been long time Crown and Coke drinkers. This Canadian whiskey is the best, but I’m not gonna spend tons of money on a Crown and Coke! I recently discovered Crown Royal Black, which is the best thing ever. It’s so smooth and delicious! Well good-bye Crown and hello Soju!
4. Stillwater, OK- Going to school, living and working there for 5 years “Stilly” will be a hard place to leave. I’ve made life long friends there, met Chad there, cheered for OSU there, did tons of theatre there, and countless other things in Stillwater. My great-grandpa’s and grandpa’s homesteads are not to far from Stillwater. Tons of my family have gone to OSU. So Stillwater is full of memories and reason to call it “home”
3. Drive my Car- With public transportation what is the point in driving anywhere. But I will miss listening to my ipod and just driving around.
2. White Trash/Rednecks/Hillbillies- These people have been the source of humor for Chad and I for years! So once in Korea who will we make fun of and laugh about??
1. Sooner Fans- I know that seems crazy but it’s the same as above. Endless supply of laughter! But Sooner Fans have to have a category of their own! There is something special about a rivalry. There is also something special about laughing at bandwagoning ‘folks’ who have never stepped foot on any college campus, but cheer for OU football like it’s the NFL. And once OSU wins something, they jump ship. Also they fact that Sooner means land-stealer (a Boomer was someone who took part of the Land Run of 1889), and their mascot is a mobile home.
A Photo A Day When You're Far Away 