I really am planning to post a nice meaty rundown here soon, I promise. For those of you who read and were concerned about my hand, good news! It was just a tumor and it was benign. My stitches came out a week ago and it looks pretty good, they might not even be a big scar.... so much for me trying to claim I got it in a knife fight. Now it just looks like I might've got jabbed with a letter opener..... lame.
Also, congrats to my incredibly hardcore father who ran a 4:04 marathon. I'm proud of you!!!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Friday, June 13, 2008
The Raging Storm
Ok I really like coming up with slightly corny titles for my posts. This one fits I feel. So I was on my way to my Kumdo test after I had finished work yesterday when I could feel it was going to storm, I just hoped it waited till after I got on the bus. By the time I reached the bus stop, the sky was black and it was starting to rain. I sought shelter in the entry way of a building having left my umbrella at home. Good thing I did because it started to absolutely pour. That wouldn't have really been so bad, but then it started to hail. In the twenty minutes it hailed, we got up to quarter-sized hail. Yuck....
By the time I got to the gym, I felt the same way, nervous and excited, a raging storm of feelings. Not good really as you are supposed to be relaxed, calm and smooth. I think my test went ok, but who knows, I'm sure I'll find out soon.
By the time I got to the gym, I felt the same way, nervous and excited, a raging storm of feelings. Not good really as you are supposed to be relaxed, calm and smooth. I think my test went ok, but who knows, I'm sure I'll find out soon.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
The Next Level
This is gonna be a short post. That said, I'll be posting tomorrow night. For those of you who don't know, I had surgery on my hand last week to remove a bump between my thumb and index finger. I still have no clue as to what it was (before the surgery the doctor had no clue to what it was, thus it's currently at the lab, results on that next Tuesday). Thus I have three stitches and was told not to go to Kumdo at all for the next two weeks, which I have chose to ignore as it is healing fine (the doctor said so, even though I went to practice). Which leads me to my posts title. I have a test tomorrow!!!!!! It's basically the test to see if I'm ready to wear the armor, the equivalent of just over half way to a black belt in other martial arts. So , even though my had has stiches and my foot is still covered in blisters, I am soooooo psyched.
More tomorrow.
More tomorrow.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Changes
I remember hearing a line from a movie that went something like this "Somethings change; somethings never change.", and as I have now reached the 1/4 mark of my stay hear in Korea I find that saying truer and truer. Sometimes the changes are easy to see, others aren't so easy to spot, some of the changes and again others not.
I suppose the first change is the most noticeable, and that would be my appearance. Sure, I cut my hair which is a big change for me but others aren't quite as spectacularly noticeable, at least for me. The biggest physical change I've noticed is my arms. Kumdo has been subtle changing my arms. My forearms are noticeably more muscled as are my biceps and triceps. I've also managed to put a dent into my weight. I had been down 15 pounds at one point but I gained back five of that, which I will attribute to added muscle mass (I hope, lol)
On the subject of Kumdo, the master thinks I'll be ready for the armor next month, which I'm looking forward too. I've noticed my strikes have become a lot faster and more accurate, and my footwork is improving. Still, it's nice to have outside confirmation. I'm looking forward to actually being able to spar. I feel like a paper tiger as I've only been learning offense, but now I'll actually be able to start learning defense. My hands and feet are starting to toughen up too. They still get blisters, but they are really starting to get resistant to the beatings they take each week.
As for school, it still a mix of bad and good days. I have a class where all the parents are coming in next week so Ive got to put on a show with my class, but that's not until Wednesday, and truth be told, I'm more than a little nervous. Last Friday the kids went on their Spring picnic field trip. It was originally scheduled to be at Seoul Grand Park (which has a zoo and all kinds of stuff), but due to some problems in Seoul which I won't go into it was changed to Lotte World, the world's largest indoor theme park. It's ranked 7th in the world in terms of attendance. Since I and the other teachers were with the kids we didn't get to do much, especially considering the limited time we had. But we all agreed that we're gonna go back next month.
W ell I suppose that's a good length for this post for now, but I'll keep the promise I made a few weeks ago (I'm sorry, I've been busy, well sort of....) and post the picture of myself, enjoy!
I suppose the first change is the most noticeable, and that would be my appearance. Sure, I cut my hair which is a big change for me but others aren't quite as spectacularly noticeable, at least for me. The biggest physical change I've noticed is my arms. Kumdo has been subtle changing my arms. My forearms are noticeably more muscled as are my biceps and triceps. I've also managed to put a dent into my weight. I had been down 15 pounds at one point but I gained back five of that, which I will attribute to added muscle mass (I hope, lol)
On the subject of Kumdo, the master thinks I'll be ready for the armor next month, which I'm looking forward too. I've noticed my strikes have become a lot faster and more accurate, and my footwork is improving. Still, it's nice to have outside confirmation. I'm looking forward to actually being able to spar. I feel like a paper tiger as I've only been learning offense, but now I'll actually be able to start learning defense. My hands and feet are starting to toughen up too. They still get blisters, but they are really starting to get resistant to the beatings they take each week.
As for school, it still a mix of bad and good days. I have a class where all the parents are coming in next week so Ive got to put on a show with my class, but that's not until Wednesday, and truth be told, I'm more than a little nervous. Last Friday the kids went on their Spring picnic field trip. It was originally scheduled to be at Seoul Grand Park (which has a zoo and all kinds of stuff), but due to some problems in Seoul which I won't go into it was changed to Lotte World, the world's largest indoor theme park. It's ranked 7th in the world in terms of attendance. Since I and the other teachers were with the kids we didn't get to do much, especially considering the limited time we had. But we all agreed that we're gonna go back next month.
W ell I suppose that's a good length for this post for now, but I'll keep the promise I made a few weeks ago (I'm sorry, I've been busy, well sort of....) and post the picture of myself, enjoy!
Monday, May 5, 2008
Children's Day
Let me first apologize for the gap between my posts, It's been busy, although there isn't much to post. I had originally meant to post earlier in the week with pictures of my classes, but that fell through when my camera refused to work. But enough of that. Today's post will go in reverse chronological order (sort of).... yay!
Today was a national holiday in Korea, namely Children's Day. Basically think Mother's or Fathers day, but for kids. Yeah.... At any rate what it meant for me was I had the day off. Mmmmm yeah 3 day weekend. I spent much of it loafing around as I'm waiting for payday on Wednesday. I did however take part in some gaming on Camp Casey (which meant I got to eat on base)
Friday, being as it was Children's Day weekend, we had a party for the kids at school, which meant I had to be at school for first period...... Thus I decided to go to Kumdo that night, but we'll come back to that. My assignment for the day was Arts and Crafts, which despite my lack of a artistic ability went fantastic. Basically what it entailed was from 9:40 to 2:45 (minus 45 minutes for lunch) I was making Parent's Day cards with origami carnations. The kids had fun at any rate...
After I was done for the day I went to the 8:30 pm Kumdo class, where it turns out I'm like a minor celebrity. Despite never having met any of the students there, they all new my name and a good deal about me. Apparently the master told them about me (which is weird because the asst. master teaches the morning class). Anyways class went well, save for the fact it was very hot and I was dripping with sweat at the end.
Monday, I went in for my 2nd Crohn's appt. I had to have blood work done. It came back normal. As I'm coming up on the one year anniversary of diagnosis and my graduation I realize this last year could have gone much worse and that I am truly blessed, especially when I consider a teacher I knew here in town who had Crohn's got careless and had to go in for emergency surgery and had to be set back to the U.S. It was a good object lesson for me, but I digress. The appointment went well, but since it's been nearly a year since my last procedure involving a flexible camera taking images of my insides, I get tho schedule one for my summer break. Yay! (please insert sarcasm here) Oh well, I realize it's necessary and all, and at least it is n't my favorite thing in the world, the barium follow through x-ray.
At any rate, I get another wonderful three day weekend this next week as it's Buddha's Birthday (which is also apparently another national holiday). I promise that I will make another post (more substantial than tis one as well) then. For now take care. Shad
Today was a national holiday in Korea, namely Children's Day. Basically think Mother's or Fathers day, but for kids. Yeah.... At any rate what it meant for me was I had the day off. Mmmmm yeah 3 day weekend. I spent much of it loafing around as I'm waiting for payday on Wednesday. I did however take part in some gaming on Camp Casey (which meant I got to eat on base)
Friday, being as it was Children's Day weekend, we had a party for the kids at school, which meant I had to be at school for first period...... Thus I decided to go to Kumdo that night, but we'll come back to that. My assignment for the day was Arts and Crafts, which despite my lack of a artistic ability went fantastic. Basically what it entailed was from 9:40 to 2:45 (minus 45 minutes for lunch) I was making Parent's Day cards with origami carnations. The kids had fun at any rate...
After I was done for the day I went to the 8:30 pm Kumdo class, where it turns out I'm like a minor celebrity. Despite never having met any of the students there, they all new my name and a good deal about me. Apparently the master told them about me (which is weird because the asst. master teaches the morning class). Anyways class went well, save for the fact it was very hot and I was dripping with sweat at the end.
Monday, I went in for my 2nd Crohn's appt. I had to have blood work done. It came back normal. As I'm coming up on the one year anniversary of diagnosis and my graduation I realize this last year could have gone much worse and that I am truly blessed, especially when I consider a teacher I knew here in town who had Crohn's got careless and had to go in for emergency surgery and had to be set back to the U.S. It was a good object lesson for me, but I digress. The appointment went well, but since it's been nearly a year since my last procedure involving a flexible camera taking images of my insides, I get tho schedule one for my summer break. Yay! (please insert sarcasm here) Oh well, I realize it's necessary and all, and at least it is n't my favorite thing in the world, the barium follow through x-ray.
At any rate, I get another wonderful three day weekend this next week as it's Buddha's Birthday (which is also apparently another national holiday). I promise that I will make another post (more substantial than tis one as well) then. For now take care. Shad
Sunday, April 13, 2008
April 13th
Well not much really to say here. This last week wasn't terribly interesting other than I had Wednesday off, started Kumdo and got my new roommate. Kumdo is going ok, but it's hard to get used to the way you need to stand and move. I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually, but it's hard. You need to keep your feet pretty close together (I'm looking at it from the P.O.V. of a former Tae Kwon Do student) and you move with a sort of sliding step. At any rate, I've learned two of the basic attacks and basic movement so I'm making progress, but compared to the other students in the class (there are two others who attend the 7 A.M. class), I have a loooong way to go.
By new roommate is named Paul, and he's from Scotland, and seems pretty nice. At least he hasn't blew everybody off like the other new teacher......
It's really a shame the weather wasn't good this weekend as I had been planning on going and partaking in some cherry blossom festivals, but it didn't go down so that went down the tube.
At any rate, before I go, I really would appreciate if people left more comments on my blog. Without a counter on it, I really have no idea of how many people come and visit, plus it's a nice way to keep in contact. Don't worry if you try to leave a comment and it doesn't show up right away wither, I have to ok any comments before they go up. Anyhow, I should hit the sack. Later.
By new roommate is named Paul, and he's from Scotland, and seems pretty nice. At least he hasn't blew everybody off like the other new teacher......
It's really a shame the weather wasn't good this weekend as I had been planning on going and partaking in some cherry blossom festivals, but it didn't go down so that went down the tube.
At any rate, before I go, I really would appreciate if people left more comments on my blog. Without a counter on it, I really have no idea of how many people come and visit, plus it's a nice way to keep in contact. Don't worry if you try to leave a comment and it doesn't show up right away wither, I have to ok any comments before they go up. Anyhow, I should hit the sack. Later.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Brave Fencer Shad!?!?!
First off, my apologies for posting late, I'll make up for it with a post again on Wednesday. On my way home from work, I pondered what topic I should cover first. It's been a bit wild here. And since I love suspense, I'll get to my posts title a little later....
Last week, one of the Korean teachers quit, which stinks as she did it on the last day of the month, which is when everything for the next month is prepared. Thus, all of her classes are be covered by someone temporary. Not good, really. Fortunately it has only affected one of my classes, which I've been kind of setting my own schedule on what to cover on a given day, not to hard really, just annoying. However, compound that with being down a foreign teacher as well and the schedule gets pretty convoluted. The good news is that they are already training a new Korean teacher, and the new foreign teacher (who will get the bonus prize of rooming with me as my old roommate moved as he had planed since before I moved in) should arrive Wednesday or Thursday. Speaking of Wednesday, I don't have to work. Yes that's right, I have Wednesday off. Why, you may ask? It's election day here, and apparently that means no school, quite nice really. That also got me thinking: If election day in the U.S. was a holiday, would more people turn out and vote? Something tells me no, but it would be interesting. At any rate, that also means I get to deal with campaign posters, people on in lines on the street saying what I would assume to be vote for candidate (insert number here, all the candidates are numbered). I actually met candidate #2 last week. He didn't make a good impression, I can say that much. I was on my way to school, and I hadn't got out of the neighborhood, when low and behold there he was. He must have caught a glimpse of my shoes as I was descending a hill and he had his down, because he started to approach me as if to shake my hand ir something, then he looked up and realized I was a weygook (Korean for foreigner) and quickly moved in a different direction. I'm certainly not voting for him.....
I also had my appointment with the GI doc last week. No real problems, I do however get to go in on the 28th for a blood test to make sure my kidneys and liver are still working, but that's routine. I was even able to get my prescriptions, with no hassle, and they were fairly cheap, only 50,000 won ($50 for those of you who don't know the exchange rate yet).
And know for the topic you've been waiting for, the reason behind my title: I start Kumdo tomorrow. What's Kumdo, you may ask? Kumdo (or Kendo in Japan) is the Korean (and Japanese) art of fencing. Don't really think of it as you would the Olympic sport fencing as the similarities end at wearing protective gear and using fake swords. Kumdo employs a unique style of footwork and strikes with a bamboo sword (unlike fencing which is limited to very linear movement and thrusts). I'm very excited as I've wanted to be able to do this since high school. My classes start at 7 AM and go untill 8 AM, which is really the only class time offered that would work. So I get to get up at 5:50 AM on weekdays so I can get ready and catch the bus, as the dojang (dojo/place of instruction) is a rec center on the other end of town near the city hall. It's pretty nice, the place has a swimming pool, driving range, Korean style bath, racquet's ball courts and of course the Kumdo area. I'll elaborate more on Wednesday, but for now, I'll just post some pictures.
Last week, one of the Korean teachers quit, which stinks as she did it on the last day of the month, which is when everything for the next month is prepared. Thus, all of her classes are be covered by someone temporary. Not good, really. Fortunately it has only affected one of my classes, which I've been kind of setting my own schedule on what to cover on a given day, not to hard really, just annoying. However, compound that with being down a foreign teacher as well and the schedule gets pretty convoluted. The good news is that they are already training a new Korean teacher, and the new foreign teacher (who will get the bonus prize of rooming with me as my old roommate moved as he had planed since before I moved in) should arrive Wednesday or Thursday. Speaking of Wednesday, I don't have to work. Yes that's right, I have Wednesday off. Why, you may ask? It's election day here, and apparently that means no school, quite nice really. That also got me thinking: If election day in the U.S. was a holiday, would more people turn out and vote? Something tells me no, but it would be interesting. At any rate, that also means I get to deal with campaign posters, people on in lines on the street saying what I would assume to be vote for candidate (insert number here, all the candidates are numbered). I actually met candidate #2 last week. He didn't make a good impression, I can say that much. I was on my way to school, and I hadn't got out of the neighborhood, when low and behold there he was. He must have caught a glimpse of my shoes as I was descending a hill and he had his down, because he started to approach me as if to shake my hand ir something, then he looked up and realized I was a weygook (Korean for foreigner) and quickly moved in a different direction. I'm certainly not voting for him.....
I also had my appointment with the GI doc last week. No real problems, I do however get to go in on the 28th for a blood test to make sure my kidneys and liver are still working, but that's routine. I was even able to get my prescriptions, with no hassle, and they were fairly cheap, only 50,000 won ($50 for those of you who don't know the exchange rate yet).
And know for the topic you've been waiting for, the reason behind my title: I start Kumdo tomorrow. What's Kumdo, you may ask? Kumdo (or Kendo in Japan) is the Korean (and Japanese) art of fencing. Don't really think of it as you would the Olympic sport fencing as the similarities end at wearing protective gear and using fake swords. Kumdo employs a unique style of footwork and strikes with a bamboo sword (unlike fencing which is limited to very linear movement and thrusts). I'm very excited as I've wanted to be able to do this since high school. My classes start at 7 AM and go untill 8 AM, which is really the only class time offered that would work. So I get to get up at 5:50 AM on weekdays so I can get ready and catch the bus, as the dojang (dojo/place of instruction) is a rec center on the other end of town near the city hall. It's pretty nice, the place has a swimming pool, driving range, Korean style bath, racquet's ball courts and of course the Kumdo area. I'll elaborate more on Wednesday, but for now, I'll just post some pictures.
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