Busan un-bound

The latest highlights:

1. took the train (8 hours) from Minneapolis to Chicago
2. managed about 2 hours of sleep in Chicago (thanks to the train being over 10 hours late - at least I didn't have to wait at the station for it)
3. flew from Chicago to Incheon, South Korea (14.5 hours). Might I add that Korea Air has great inflight entertainment - individual seat screens with several games, on demand movies, and customizable music. Slept about 2 hours that "night" (we were chased by the sun all the way over and had light the entire time)
4. took a cab (2 hours) to my training sight, just south of Seoul.
5. was informed that the position in Busan was filled, and could I instead go to Daegu. A little disappointed with that, but it's not too bad. Daegu is the third biggest city in SK, with around 2.5 million people. Plenty of expats (or so I read), and close to a lot of national parks and cultural sites. Just not on the coast. Oh well.
6. Got a good 10 hours of sleep.

So on Friday or Saturday I head to Daegu. Then, at some indetermined point in the near future, I head over to Japan for a day or two to get my visa (I just came over on a 30 day tourist visa and need a work visa to teach).

Toilets

Something fun to look at.


Your basic Asian toilet.


A Japanese toilet - with seat warmer, adjustable spray & bidet functions.


The toilet at the Ambassador's house in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Heated floor.


Toilet on a plane that was once used as Air Force One.

Busan Bound

After a month of sitting around doing nothing, I decided to merge my two blogs (livejournal and travelblog) into one site. The result is what you see here. I hope you enjoy, and feel free to ask me any questions or offer any suggestions.

For those keeping track of my travels, my next journey is off to Busan, South Korea. There, I'll be teaching English for a year or so. I'm leaving on Monday, December 26, with no return date in sight.

Check back in the near future, and hopefully I'll have had some blogworthy experiences.

Some Pictures of Buenos Aires

I am returning to the US. Some parting shots...



A Theater



Some Government Building



Another building



A lazy Sunday afternoon street scene



The Mosoleums at Ricoletta Cemetary

Life in the Good Air

Well, I've been remise in posting updates for the last few weeks. I have several excuses. They are as follows:

1. I've been having too much fun. Buenos Aires is a blast. One of my favorite, if not my favorite city in the world. In part because I'm getting to spend so much time here. Also in part because I've got a fun group of classmates to hang out with. But on top of all that, BsAs is spectacular. They call it the "Paris of South America" and I'd have to agree. The streets are all lined with big old colonials. There are beautiful little plazas and parks all over the city. The streets are busy with excitement - and often more busy at three in the morning then at seven. Cafes, restaurants, and stores line all the sidewalks - which are often dangerously narrow. There are a lot of cobblestoned streets, and most are narrow, one way routes. The major difference is that the streets here are pretty gridded, and so it's tough to get lost. Also, the prices here are considerably cheaper. One could certainyl live well on $500 a month. $1000 a month and you could really have a good time.

2. Too busy working / studying. Class is long and draining, but fortunately almost over. In the mornings we have practice teaching sessions - I teach an hour a day every other day, and observe the rest of the time. Preparing lesson plans is quite time consuming - it´s certainly given me a lot more respect for teachers (at least the ones who actually prepare lessons and don't just teach out of the book). In the afternoons we have classes where we learn the teaching techniques and other fun stuff. The last week has been spent learning grammar, which I thoroughly enjoyed (not). Of course, I'm now cursed to examine all my speech in fine detail - what tense is that? is that proper English? what's the difference between "despite", "although", and "even though"? And how do I explain it to someone? These are the things that now plague me. I also just finished a paper on "on, in, and at," trying to explain what the differences are. Try it and see how fun it is.

3. Nothing exciting going on. Except the everyday excitement of BsAs. For example, yesterday there was a massive anti-B#sh demonstration here that went down the street outside my window for over an hour. They blocked traffic on one of the widest streets in the world (14 lanes outside my window, with 6 lanes of side streets directly alongside) for the entire time, so I got a much more rousing after-class serrenade of car and truck horns then usual. Other then that my class keeps me busy during the week. On weekends our class often goes out to a club. Last weekend a friend from college was in town, and we took in a tango show, and several steak dinners. Also on the weekends, I like to wander around town checking out the sites - although I don't really get out as much as I'd like since I'm usually recovering from class and Friday night fun.

So anyways, that's my update from BsAs. Just 10 more days until I return to the US (unless I change my mind between now and then). My first stop is scheduled for Minneapolis right now, but I plan on trying to change that to Chicago - I have a connecting flight through there anyways.


chao