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it seems like these days i'm only using my blog to piss and moan about something.

well, that's not going to change this post.

#1

texas is leading the yankees 2-1 in the alcs.

not looking good after cliff lee just pitched new york into smithereens.

not too mention the 6 run 9th. great job bullpen.

and you thought the rangers' bullpen was looking bad after game 1?

#2

my boss had a grand total of 6 prospective moms come in for meetings today.

yes, she is still bringing in kids halfway through the academic year and, no, they don't know english.

if that's not a sign that my boss is doing it for the money, i don't know what is.

imagine a 12-year-old child who has never been to school.

i'm not just talking about public school.

i'm talking about all schooling.

actually, imagine a 12-year-old ferrel child.

and then drop him/her into middle school just after thanksgiving break.

that's what is like.

sure, the kid will eventually catch up, but all the other kids will take a hit in the meantime.

well, it might not be that bad.

but it's almost that bad.

#3

i'm slumping in soccer lately.

almost like i've been cheating on my wife with hookers and had a falling out with my manager (see wayne rooney)

speaking of soccer:

did you hear about that new john henry pick up?

john henry bought his third sports team.

so i'm pretty sure he spends a heck of a lot more than george did.

i highly doubt he has any nascar cups (or whatever they're called) and he's got a long way to go before he takes any major competition with liverpool currently in the relegation zone.

so, let's start the clock now and i bet he still can't win as many championships as george did (which is 7).

enough of the 'call-outs.'

how 'bout a 'shout-out?'

my good friend, former co-worker and fellow half-korean kim has started a little gem of a blog.

it can be found here:

shikdangmissionstatement.blogspot.com

for those in korea, this will become a nice little guide about korean food.

many koreans go apey over little restaurants, snapping pics of the food, the decor, the people, the surrounding streets (to list pictorial directions), etc., and litter a blogpost with all the info.

well, this will become a sort of english version of these fanatical, gormand weblogs.

for those not in korea, this could be a window into the world of korean kuisine. i mean, cuisine.

you'll see some inherently korean dishes.

a slew of foreign restaurants will be presented.

the occasional home-cooked, ingredients-found-in-korea meal will appear.

it's just starting, so give it a few days until some of the good stuff appears.

but there are 3 of us authors so you'll see a number of different views of food in the land of the morning calm.

well, that wasn't so bad.

not all negative.

just a friendly reminder to those back home:

you can find my pretty face on skype at joseph.cundiff.

i dearly miss you. well, most of you.

a few of you i sort of miss.

lots of love,

jo

you say goodbye, and i say hello

hello, hello

firstly, hello, hello to my baby sister, SARAH CUNDIFF, chilling in korea with me for a week before she starts her new job.

mostly i guess she's adjusting to the jetlag and stuff.

but we're hanging and it's fun.

hello, hello to the next 6 months at my school.

which started today.

the elation abounds.

having new subjects definitely helps mix up the sediment of the daily schedule.

it's just another 6 months.

at least most of that is in the autumn and winter, two perfectly bearable seasons.

speaking of weather, i'll now insert my blog-ly update of korean climate.

it's now clearly the end of the summer because it's been raining (seriously) most of the time for the last two weeks and might for the week to come.

doesn't help that a typhoon is passing over tomorrow....

....a typhoon that was just recently experienced by my BFFL MATT HOUCK, who has recently arrived to his post of okinawa.

hello, hello and welcome to the eastern hemisphere.

i don't know why you say goodbye

actually, i do know.

but i must say goodbye to my good friend BRANDON MILLER after two years of teaching in korea and one year of hanging out and stuff.

he's served his time and now returns home to the states.

i wish you a safe flight and joyous return.

good luck with the grad school biznass and all the best in your future endeavours.

who knows, maybe we'll get to travel to another country or two soon.

in the words of the great william joel,

life is a series of hellos and goodbyes

lots of love,

jo

i haven't stopped sweating since june

and i'm not even kidding.

i wish i was.

the mid-summer temperatures here aren't as bad as alabama.

but the humidity is definitely worse.

some days the relative humidity is 90%+

autumn, come at anytime.

happenings these days:

so i dogsat for 2 weeks.

i wasn't supposed to keep him at all.

then i agreed to take him for 1 week.

that 1 week became 2 weeks.

i fed him.

walked him twice a day.

paid for taxis to get him around.

AND I WASN'T EVEN THANKED.

yes.

seriously.

i gave the dog to his permanent owner today.

and the girl didn't even say 'thank you.'

or 'thanks.'

nothing.

am i asking for too much?

whatever.

the dog is good.

she's happy with the dog.

i guess i don't care.

my classroom microcosm has just been upended.

i used to teach science, reading, and math/building blocks.

and thursday my boss tells me come monday i will only teach conversation, switching with another teacher.

that's cool i guess.

but a little more warning would have been cool.

why were the subjects switched? i'll never know.

i just started this week doing private lessons with my boss's boss.

i'm excited.

a little nervous still.

but hopefully i do a good job.

football/soccer season is about to start.

for the pros and us amateurs.

a few weeks of training,

a couple friendlies here and there,

an order of new kits to match (complete with my korean name)

and come august 22nd i'll let you know how our first match goes.

and i'll know more about my position within the club.

i now wear contact lenses.

after an unfortunate and short night out, i lost my glasses.

i don't require vision correction, but it's nice to have.

and i've always had this thing about alien items touching my eye.

even eye drops.

but i've successfully conquered that fear.

and i'm wearing my contacts as i type this.

clearly, i'm way too proud of myself.

most importantly, MY BABY SISTER IS COMING TO KOREA!

i'm pumped.

sarah is coming on the 25th.

she's going to stay with me for a couple of weeks before she starts her job.

it's a little far from where i am but it seems like she's got a better set-up than me.

oh well.

come march, i should improve my work conditions.

lots of love,

jo

world's goodest teacher

and that is honestly a shirt i saw this past weekend.

and that is how some of my co-workers prop me up sometimes.

not to toot my own horn.

but because of this story i'm about to drop on you.

a little story about the game of 'musical teachers' being played at my school.

(the names have been changed to protect the innocent)

i'lll try to make it as simple as possible.

i will attempt to give you, the reader, pure facts, omitting as much personal opinion as possible.

let's rewind....

so it's mid-january-ish, and our foreign teacher setup is me, teacher A and teacher B.

three months in to his or her twelve-month contract, teacher B is fired, sighting his or her lack of teaching ability;

it is now the middle of april and the school gives him or her his or her contractual two months.

teacher B is due to leave my school 18 june.

foreign teacher status (FTS) = me + A + B

it is now the end-ish of may.

teacher A suddenly quits.

in order to depart as quickly as possible, teacher A lies to the school (to this day unbeknownst to them), circumventing the contractual 2 months notice from either party.

amidst the schools visible efforts to secure a replacement for teacher B, teacher A decided leaving was in his or her best interest.

bear in mind that teacher B is now only a couple weeks away from departure.

my school is down a teacher for 1 day.

other teachers have to pick up the slack.

we find a scab, teacher C, to fill in.

he or she is NOT a contracted teacher, only working for a couple or few months.

note that he or she, without a contract, could leave or be asked to leave at any moment.

FTS = me + B + C

meanwhile, on the korean teacher side of things, teacher D quits without word or warning.

again, other teachers have to pick up the slack.

back to the foreigner side.

it is now early june.

as teacher C searches for a more permanent job, teacher B's departure is quickly approaching.

teacher C then finds a suitable job.

he or she notifies my school he will be leaving 25 june, a week after teacher B leaves.

if this plays out, we will have two teachers out and two more teachers in within 7 days.

with the knowledge of teacher B and C's planned departures and considering the vast financial expenditures and sheer miracles required to bring in 2 contracted teachers within one week, my school un-fires teacher B, giving him the option.

fortunately for my school, teacher B accepts and decides to stay.

teacher C is then asked to leave on 18 june.

FTS = me + B - C

teacher E comes to my school following teacher C's exit.

FTS = me + B + E

on the korean side, part-time teacher F is hired at the end of june to replace part-time teacher D

commentary aside, this is what has happened at my school since mid-may.

i probably made it a bigger deal in my head with my all own comments at each step.

maybe that combined with the element of surprise at every development.

question or comments?

chat me.

message me.

i'll reserve all of my opinions for more private arenas.

for now at least.

lots of love.

jo

football. no, not that football.

that football.

the kind that the u.s. still can't play.

rather, the u.s. still can't compete.

how could i be so disappointed?

partly because i was heavily pulling for two teams.

in part because i was probably expecting too much.

was i expecting too much?

probably.

hmmm....let's investigate.

question: was i expecting a run to the semi-finals (or beyond???)?

answer: yes. very much yes.

clearly, that was the problem.

the group stage and all of the u.s. clutch goals to put us on top of our group filled with me too much hope.

u.s. vs ghana. korea vs. uruguay.

i was more expecting a u.s. run to the semis, after beating ghana then korea.

that would have sucked, but certainly not as much as it sucks right now.

but korea could have gone, had they beaten uruguay then topped ghana.

the korea run would have been tougher, considering the number of goals allowed by uruguay in the tourney so far (that grand total is 1, the goal allowed to korea in the round of 16 match).

half of me is just hoping japan doesn't go any farther; paraguay is favored to win the match.

a japan defeat would satisfy my korean half.

half of me has so much to say about the u.s. team.

but it's all already been said after the usmnt heard this on the other end of the receiver: "good morning, america. this is fifa calling from the world cup for the wakeup call you requested. have a pleasant 4 years. we hope to see you in brasil!"

i could talk about the problems that need fixing.

i could talk about the wholes that need filling.

i could.

but i won't (but you can ask me about it later ^^).

but all i will say is this:

to the USMNT, i salute you.

as an american, i feel honored that the team did what they did.

sure, some things could have been better.

but, oh well. they weren't.

and certainly, things could have been worse.

but mostly, i'm proud to have those fine gentlemen on that pitch wear those colors.

maybe i'm too naive or optimistic or too forgiving.

maybe this is just a mechanism to help me get over it.

but as much as those guys know they blew it in certain ways out there, they're also incredibly honored to represent the u.s.a. on the biggest of stages.

and because of that, i am proud.

have a pleasant four years.

see you in brasil!

jo

what's what

i haven't been putting it off unintentionally.

but i am going to make a real post soon.

two actually.

one concerning work culture. it's just now settling down and i was waiting for that.

the other is about U.S.A soccerrrrrrrrrrrr.

we've reached a milestone in this go of the tournament so i'll write my thoughts on that in a blog soon as well.

before saturday, i'm hoping.

i hate coming home after a couple drinks and not having any ramyun/라면/ramen.

that's what's really on my mind right now.

lots of love,

jo

cows provide milk

(the shirts just never stop coming)

oh, yeah. i have a blog, don't i?

summer is just about here. it's been like 30/86 all week and weekend.

humidity is pretty high.

feels like an 'alabama spring.'

ughhhhhhh i hate summer.

i found a soccer team in suwon.

inter suwon, as they are called.

mostly english dudes.

a couple of canadians and americans.

the odd other nataionality.

great group of guys.

trained with them for the first time thursday.

played my first game with them today.

i could have been better but i was good enough, i guess.

stopped a few shots and got a souvenir to boot.

we won 4-2

feels good to play team sports with some cool dudes, even in miserable weather.

unfortunately, the season is almost over.

i suppose i'll rejoin the side in august for training and the new season.

in other soccer news, in case you haven't noticed the world cup is upon us.

and i'm pulling for two mid-major teams (the ROK and the USA).

we'll see what magic happens.

either way, it's the world cup and i love it.

i can't make any predictions because, even though i love the beautiful game, i'm like most americans and not exposed to world soccer, other than the u.s.m.n.t.

cheers to those of you who are going or already there.

im like totz jealz.

but i just thought about this while in the shower:

in 4 years, i'm going to brasil.

world cup 2014.

who's with me?

i've always wanted to go to brasil and is there a better time?

i think 4 years might be enough time to save up for a month-ish off chilling in brasil enjoying the world cup.

shiznay has been ridic at work recently.

i'm going to have to explain on my next post.

lots of love.

jo

you can not look me in the eyes because tou taik dehind my rock

(thank you b.millz for that photo of one incredulous shirt.)

field trips.

cripes.

today was nature school.

another welcomed pause from the all-to-familiar classroom grind.

a slightly warm day, but certainly tolerable compared to the spring weather back home.

(i know it's a chord i strike a lot, but for me, weather back home has certainly irritated me.

i feel like the weather of where i live factors in to how i honestly feel about a place.)

a little bit of playground time, a little bit of nature-necklace making, a little bit of sweet potato planting and you've got yourself a day at nature school.

thoroughly physically exhausting, but it's assuredly easier to deal with kids playing all day than it is dealing with kids stuck in a classroom.

also, i got to see my old boss, lisa teacher.

lisa was my boss until moved to the school adjacent to our nature school.

good to see the lady who brought me to korea, for which i'm forever thankful.

anyway, i don't know what's going on in youngtong, but i think i'm seeing more and more foreigners everyday.

just walking to and from school, with the occasional grocery stop in between, i've seen a lot more 'way-gooks' recently.

maybe everyone is emerging from winter hibernation.

in korea, saturday is teacher's day.

so go hug your teacher.

or any teacher.

maybe we'll get blown up with all kinds of cakes and cookies and coffee and shit at work.

next friday is buddha's birthday, a national hoilday in korea.

now if only i knew what to do with a long weekend....

i'm hoping me and my crew will make a rendez-vous with havoc in some part of korea unseen by us.

d-day = 71 days

jo

a bathing ape

(one of the most recent shirts i've seen, and easily one of my favorites).

let's talk about school.

it's actually getting better.

since the last time i posted a number of weeks ago, the conditions have ameliorated.

or, possibly, we've become numb to them.

now that i think about it, it's probably a combination of both.

for example, this past week, on wednesday, we went to seoul forest for a picnic and then to coex aquarium.

seoul forest didn't work out so well.

it was a rainy day, so we just had our kimbap picnic on the bus.

then, off to coex.

since that day was also elementary class test day, some teachers went back to the school and some stayed.

since my boss loves me, i got to stay.

and was in charge of 18 kids amongst thousands of people in this aquarium.

stressing. but less than a normal day of class.

more physically tiring, but worth it, i'd say.

field trip days are much appreciated by students and teachers alike.

that diversity of the daily routine is vital for sanity.

next time, the first trip of the year to nature school.

also, next month holds 2 hoildays.

may should be an alright month.

let's talk about life

big ups to my crew that came out to suwon for the bluewings loss.

my first k-league game.

more will be seen for sure.

also, apologies for my night being cut short.

i don't know what happened.

well, i mean i know what happened, i just don't know how.

i'll bring my A-game next time.

even bigger ups to my dad.

i said it once but i'll say it again:

thanks, pops, for the care package.

as for the rest of you, feel free to send me anything anytime.

all packages are much appreciated.

contact me for an address.

no, seriously.

send me something.

stat.

let's talk about weather

the weather this spring is all kinds of cool.

it's like in the 50s and low 60s.

and it's now may!

i freaking love it.

i guess i'll get my share once summer gets here, but i'm so glad i'm not in alabama and 80s they got going on back there.

but i do miss all my family and friends.

i haven't heard from or talked to some of you for a while, so let this be sound word that everything is great over here.

hope all is well with you wherever you are.

lots of love,

jo