I am sure that I have disappointed many of you by not updating this blog in over a month but some of my loyal followers from the wdcouncil or kevio days will remember how I always seem to fall off the wagon and begin to slack off after a point. Sorry about this. In all fairness I haven't been getting up to a whole lot in that time, other than the usual weekend shenanigans and working the same old routine.Of the most notable changes in my life, I recently purchased a hardtail Mountain Bike so that I can finally conquer the hills around Busan. I picked up a Merida Hardtail Sport, 50-D for a decent price from a real genuine and nice dealer looking to cut me a deal. It has front and rear disc brakes, front air shocks with 100 mm travel, 9 speeds, rapid-fire shifters and an ultra-light frame. Here is the official site's description of it. I have taken it out every chance I can get and have hit a few mountains with Adam on the weekends. Sufficient to say, it was an investment that was well worth it.
Aside from the new bike my weekend shenanigans have only increased in spontaneity and craziness during the past month. A few weeks back the fellas and I went to Changwon to visit Sam and ended up at a firing range shooting skeet with rifles and targets with pistols. This was a hilarious experience considering the fact that I have never fired a gun before. The skeet shooting proved to be the most rewarding since I managed to hit 50% of my targets and I got to sound cool saying "PULL!". The pistol round was a little more expensive and really it was more hilarious than anything. I stuck with a tame 9mm while Sam choose to get adventurous and use a .45 colt (or something like that). The gun had such a kick on it it nearly sent him flying. All together this was one of my most memorable Korean moments thus far.
The weekend after the boys and I joined in on an EPIK (English Program in Korea) pub crawl. It was sort of an orientation for all the noobies to the city so it was a good opportunity to meet some new people and have a good time. As per usual I ended up doing something stupid and grabbed hold of some broken glass which did a real job on my hand. As a testament to my first-aid skills I decided that I would simply wrap my hand in the sleeve of my shirt. Surprisingly this actually worked to stop the bleeding but left me with a sore and scar covered hand. Otherwise the rest of the night went off without any issues and we all had a good time meeting some new and some old faces for the graffiti party/pub crawl.
Finally, this past Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day and much to my despair most Koreans did not know of its existence. That's why I spent all day on Tuesday teaching my classes about the holiday, including its origins and modern celebratory practices. Anthony, the kind man that he is, allowed Danielle and I to leave work early where I promptly hopped on the Subway and headed to Jansang to meet up with James, Alex and Paul. We went to Sunset, one of the foreigner bars near there, and was greeted by ex-pats dawning the colours of Erie and spinning jigs and reels to some of my favourite Celtic music. The night was enjoyable for the most part and ended relatively early so that I was able to sleep and rest up for the next day of work. Despite my early departure it was still an enjoyable St. Patrick's day.
This has been an overview of my past month and while many other little details have happened in the course of this time these things have been the most memorable. It might also be worth noting that Spring has come to Korea! As such I have been absolutely stoked about the notion of wearing a T-Shirt outdoors in March. The weather is a little peculiar here. Last week it the temperate hovered around 5 degrees but this entire week it has been well over 15, 19 today. With the nicer weather I have also begun to notice more tourists kicking around. As such, I have been asked for directions more times in the last week than I have in the previous 5 months that I have been here. But I suppose that I can expect to see lots more over the next few months and I might just have to be one of the happy locals. Also, in case any of you were wondering why you hadn't heard much about Danielle this past month is because she has been sick, constantly with something new each time. I feel like maybe the environment just doesn't agree with her and has been keeping her sick and out of action for quite some time. So please Danielle, get better and remember Korea's slogan, "FIGHTING!".
Aside from the new bike my weekend shenanigans have only increased in spontaneity and craziness during the past month. A few weeks back the fellas and I went to Changwon to visit Sam and ended up at a firing range shooting skeet with rifles and targets with pistols. This was a hilarious experience considering the fact that I have never fired a gun before. The skeet shooting proved to be the most rewarding since I managed to hit 50% of my targets and I got to sound cool saying "PULL!". The pistol round was a little more expensive and really it was more hilarious than anything. I stuck with a tame 9mm while Sam choose to get adventurous and use a .45 colt (or something like that). The gun had such a kick on it it nearly sent him flying. All together this was one of my most memorable Korean moments thus far.
The weekend after the boys and I joined in on an EPIK (English Program in Korea) pub crawl. It was sort of an orientation for all the noobies to the city so it was a good opportunity to meet some new people and have a good time. As per usual I ended up doing something stupid and grabbed hold of some broken glass which did a real job on my hand. As a testament to my first-aid skills I decided that I would simply wrap my hand in the sleeve of my shirt. Surprisingly this actually worked to stop the bleeding but left me with a sore and scar covered hand. Otherwise the rest of the night went off without any issues and we all had a good time meeting some new and some old faces for the graffiti party/pub crawl.
Finally, this past Tuesday was St. Patrick's Day and much to my despair most Koreans did not know of its existence. That's why I spent all day on Tuesday teaching my classes about the holiday, including its origins and modern celebratory practices. Anthony, the kind man that he is, allowed Danielle and I to leave work early where I promptly hopped on the Subway and headed to Jansang to meet up with James, Alex and Paul. We went to Sunset, one of the foreigner bars near there, and was greeted by ex-pats dawning the colours of Erie and spinning jigs and reels to some of my favourite Celtic music. The night was enjoyable for the most part and ended relatively early so that I was able to sleep and rest up for the next day of work. Despite my early departure it was still an enjoyable St. Patrick's day.
This has been an overview of my past month and while many other little details have happened in the course of this time these things have been the most memorable. It might also be worth noting that Spring has come to Korea! As such I have been absolutely stoked about the notion of wearing a T-Shirt outdoors in March. The weather is a little peculiar here. Last week it the temperate hovered around 5 degrees but this entire week it has been well over 15, 19 today. With the nicer weather I have also begun to notice more tourists kicking around. As such, I have been asked for directions more times in the last week than I have in the previous 5 months that I have been here. But I suppose that I can expect to see lots more over the next few months and I might just have to be one of the happy locals. Also, in case any of you were wondering why you hadn't heard much about Danielle this past month is because she has been sick, constantly with something new each time. I feel like maybe the environment just doesn't agree with her and has been keeping her sick and out of action for quite some time. So please Danielle, get better and remember Korea's slogan, "FIGHTING!".
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