Thanks But No Thanks

In this season of giving thanks and giving to others, I would be remiss if I didn't take a bash at describing, (in my signature, accentuate-the-negative idiom), (which includes plenty of unnecessarily comma enclosed parenthesis), how I truly AM happier this year than I have been in many. Maybe happier than I've been in a decade or more. And I am thankful for the people who collaborated to manufacture this happiness for me. Let me shout them all out:

I gotta start with these guys!

The Rainout

Reilly Teletubby

This is, left to right, Mike, Kelly, Roman, Heather, Iryna and Reilly. We have had a lot of fun together as you can see. Like going to ball games or out on Halloween.

The Dude and Jesus

Heather trying not to catch her death



Sometimes we eat.

Waiting for kalbi at Busan Kalbi

Well... we eat a lot. They have base access so I can eat stuff with them that is difficult to impossible find here in Korea. They spoil me! Heather is a kickass cook and Mike is a griller extraordinaire! Plus every year they put on a BRILLIANT Thanksgiving feast for those of us who don't have access to a turkey or ovens to cook it in. They're just that awesome!

Thanksgiving goodies. Turkey with all the fixins, sauerkraut and sausage, crackers and cheese, salads, and the best olives ever not pictured. But in the cup that's gluvine. Hot, fruity, rum fortified wine. MAN it's good!

They have stuck with me in good times and helped me a lot in bad times so I know they are true friends. I don't have many like them. It's hard not to love them. I mean, how could you not love THIS GUY?

Kelly high five

This was Thursday night. American Thanksgiving night in Korea, Thanksgiving Eve in the U.S. There was a whole house full of interesting people from all over the world at Heather and Mike's, but I spent most of my time playing with Kelly and his Christmas sock monkey. When I wasn't eating or drinking. He's hilarious. Sometimes I use the monkey as a puppet and do a little dialog before I throw it to Kelly when we play monkey catch. Then Kelly does the same thing, only HIS dialogs are way better!

He's not always happy with me though. He was playing a game on his Ipad that had a very catchy tune and I started whistling the tune. Kelly said, "That's enough of that tweet tweet tweet!" The tweets being whistles. He's a good whistler actually. So then I started humming the tune and he goes, "That's enough of that hmm hmmm hmmm!"

He doesn't win every game we play either. We tried Beanboozled, (I think it's called), before breakfast on Thanksgiving. It's a game where you spin a spinner to choose a colour of jelly bean you have to eat. Each one has a good taste and a bad taste. I got lawn clippings and toothpaste. They were supposed to be bad but I liked them. Kelly got one that was either coconut or rotten eggs I think. He got the rotten eggs and that was the end of Beanboozled. Ha ha ha. It was hilarious! Poor guy.

Then there's these guys:

DB and Amber skiing in Japan

I'm thankful for Amber and DB too! They're also a lot of fun to hang out with. I didn't go skiing with them but who knows? Maybe this winter...

We often get together and play games. This coming weekend I'm going to Incheon to visit them and we'll play board games with some other friends. Probably Dave, Crystle, and some others. Not sure. I am excited to play my new favourite game that we played last time we got together. Quirkle.

Crystle and Amber Quirkling

Here is Amber and about half of Crystle playing in a cool place we found in Incheon. The photographer's eye was drawn toward the exceptional art at the place so this isn't the best pic of these two. But aside from the art, it was a nice place. We were all alone in it and the owner said playing the games was no problem. The food was pretty good too. I had a chilli/cheese dog, (which ain't easy to find here), and only one beer because we had overindulged the night before. Amber doesn't look too bad, but I was hurtin'.

I hope we play the other game I like from last time called For Sale. Also I am bringing a game I bought and haven't tried yet. It's called Saboteur, but here in Korea it translates to Sabotagi. Heh heh.

Amber golfing

Not too long ago, Amber and DB came to visit me in Icheon. I wasn't allowed to let them into the dorm room so they booked a hotel. That's just how awesome THEY are!

So we had chicken and beer and watched baseball at one of the chicken hofs across from SKhynix called Hiteer. I went there several times because they always play the Tiger game and they have FREEZING cold beer! Unlike China.

Chicken and beer at Hiteer

The next morning we hit the links. It's just a par three nearby SKhyix that is around, (and under), a driving range. It's called Green World Golf Land. 10 bucks for 9 holes. Nothing longer than 45 yards but fun nonetheless. The only golfing I can afford in Korea.

The next day we went to Shincheon, a neighbourhood in Seoul where a lot of students hang out, and went shopping, met up with Irene, had MORE chicken and beer and did some other shenanigans.

Irene stalking the pins

Amber bowling

I used to be a fair bowler. USED TO BE. What became of my bowling skill I couldn't say, but I think we will all blame our bowling performances on the beer we were chuggin'. More turns were missed by someone downstairs on a mekju run than in the bathroom.

We occasionally hit a singing room, known here as noraebang, or whack a few baseballs in a screen baseball establishment, but our favourite thing to do together, I mean our absolute favourite thing, (Amber and DB actually met while doing our favourite thing. And now they're married.), is going to a live Kia Tigers baseball game! I think we've been to half a dozen different stadia together. The pic below is when Amber and I went to Suwon the day after Shincheon. DB and Irene couldn't come so it was just Amber and me. Oh and Jesus. It's a little strange how Jesus was at Fat Albert's Pub Halloween weekend too.

Amber in sunny Suwon Stadium

Jesus is a Tiger fan

I guess he follows me around.

Another thing I have to be thankful for.

If you haven't been to a Korean baseball game, you're missing out. It is probably my favourite thing about Korea so I am very thankful for the KBO. Unfortunately, the Tigers, (last year's champs), didn't even make the playoffs this year. With the same team basically! It has its ups and downs, being a Tiger fan.


And while I'm at it, I have to say I am thankful for the country of Korea. I bitch and complain about it but my best working years have practically all been here. Working for Carrot Global at SKhynix in Icheon is up there with my best years ever. Monetarily and work wise. I am especially thankful for the first! Why, just yesterday I was noticing almost 250 bucks that was deposited into my account a while ago. I was chatting with Heather and said how strange the world is. Six months ago that amount could have almost literally saved my life. Now, I don't even notice it when it's deposited into my account. Gotta be thankful for that!

Hyun Woo Dorm

This is the dorm where I live. Doesn't look like much does it?

SKhynix city

But if you look at this pic, practically everything is there for SKhynix. Apartments, stores, supermarkets, bus terminal, a subway stop, all for the 18000 people or so who work here. The far right of the photo isn't quite the end of the SKhynix complex. I work right across from that tower.


Office and tower

And as you can see from the pics below...


Maybe a new dorm?

Mega construction!

The complex is getting bigger and bigger. In the beginning, I lived on the 8th floor. The other people in the dorm weren't very friendly and I had two roommates. Nobody knew us. They just called us the "waygookin," which means foreigners. The room had one air conditioner but it did the job. No kitchen or even a fridge though. My computer was still in China too. So when I wanted to watch, say, a Tiger game, I really had to make do.


The three waygookin

Tigers and Max on ice

Usually there were other dudes in the kitchen/laundry/TV room eating, cooking, doing laundry or watching TV. I know I got to know a few of them, even shared my beers, but I can't remember them. Sometimes guys say hello to me and I think they're the ones I watched ball with, but I am never sure. It's not because they all look alike. That's not the case. It's mostly because after two years in China missing out on drinking beer while watching baseball, I was too busy enjoying myself to be Mr. Sociable. Besides, my Korean still isn't good enough.

Makin' do

 Now I have a room on the 15th floor. It's the top floor. Only Lance is here. The other guy transferred to another place where Carrot trains employees in English. I can't even remember his name, that's the kind of fella I am!

We have a full size fridge and it is well stocked at all times. I have to pack a bag full of dishes, food and cooking materials and take it down to the 13th floor if I want to make a real meal usually, but I've gotten pretty good at using my rice cooker. Heather just got a new slow cooker so she gave me her old one. The one she made the gluvine in. That's gonna be nice! I remember using my slow cooker for chilli, chicken, soups... I just have to find all the ingredients.

I am currently drinking a cold beer from my fridge, (Lance doesn't use it), and typing this on my own computer with my own internet. I took these pics on my own phone too. So I'm pretty much completely set up here in Korea now. So I should be happy. And thankful. And I AM!

Like a chair at a Weight Watchers meeting, you know there's a great big BUT(T) coming! I wouldn't have started out by saying I'd write this in my accentuate-the-negative idiom if I was out to just be all thankful, now would I?

BUUUUUT, things are about to get crazy round these here parts. December 15th is the last day of the teaching year here. That's two weeks away. From Dec. 15 to Jan. 15, nobody teaches English and nobody studies English at SKhynix. In fact I'm told I might get booted out of my dorm room, or at least shuffled again to a new one during that time to make room for the working people. I was told this by Andrew, my Carrot Global supervisor. He also told me that during the "break," Carrot might have me do a kid's English camp somewhere, or maybe work at a different location... somewhere, or maybe have me create the new SKhynix textbook, if they re-contract. I asked if I could do that from my room here, with my own internet here, but since we don't know yet if I will still have this room, he couldn't say yes. He also said that he wanted me to go into the Carrot offices in Seoul and work from 9-6 doing the book on THEIR computers. So I asked where I would live if that were the case. He again said he didn't know. Carrot Global HAS some housing for teachers in Seoul, but Andrew was unaware if there were any vacancies.

So I suggested that I could take some time off since Carrot gives me ONE day off to celebrate the birth of our Lord. He said he thinks I get one day for every month worked, but he'd have to check on THAT too and get back to me. I'm at the half way point. I've worked 6 months. There is no way I'm going to miss out on that glorious 12th month of the contract when I get my last month's pay, my severance, (which is another month's pay), my pension, (which will be more than a month's pay), and presumably all my reimbursements they haven't yet paid to me. So I will do whatever Carrot wants me to do for the next 6 months. I hope it will just be writing the new text and staying right here at SKhynix. I REALLY hope so! All my students say they would like that too. They're getting a little impatient not knowing if I'll be their teacher next year or not. One student today offered to call Carrot and try to hurry them up. But I think they must be waiting for SKhynix to decide if they want to extend us for another year.

So to sum up, I don't know what will happen with my job, my housing, my stuff, my Christmas, my entire life right now. Everything I just told you I was thankful for, could change within the next two weeks. Not the friends, of course, but if I live in Busan, I'll visit a lot less and they'll visit ME a lot less. On the other hand, if I get a place in Seoul, the opposite will happen. I don't want to work anywhere else because I'm used to my students and this location, but there are better locations for Carrot. Better and worse.


So in a nutshell, I'm thankful, but I'm on the verge of possible much lower thankfulness. On the other hand, (what an idiot am I to even say this...), maybe things won't change or maybe they'll change for the better! HA HA HA HA HA!

I'd be very VERY thankful if things just wouldn't change for a while. But, alas, this is not my lot in life.