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

i would kill for the atlantic, but i am paid to make kids panic while i teach

(i will refrain from mentioning my school's name just in case somebody in the near future tries to google my school and finds this blog.)

as promised, though slightly tardy in relation to the last post, here is a blog about my school and how that affects my life in korea.

my. school. sucks.

with the start of the new semester, my school has started sucking super hard.

a lot of that has to do with a lot of new kids.

it's hard to control kids who don't know english when you don't know their native language.

who'd've thunk it?

but the kids are getting better.

the workload?

that's not getting better.

as i told kristen teacher not too long ago, recently i've been getting that loverboy song stuck in my head:

"everybody's workin' for the weekend," because i feel as if i am.

at this point, it's also not getting any worse, but it took a sharp turn for the worse just a couple weeks ago.

it all happened when our boss told all of us (the foreign teachers) we have to detail a subject-specific lesson plan, to be updated every week.

i'm talking like we have to write down pretty much everything we're going to say.

and the foreign teachers have to do this every week, right?

the korean teachers? everyday, son.

my first 6 months at my school were totally chill.

pretty much the only work we did was teaching.

we did very little lesson planning.

i could look forward to getting out of the classroom and mindlessly staring at my desk in the office.

nowadays, it's the other way around: i would rather deal with those little punks then sit in the office and be asked or expected to do something.

the lesson planning debacle is the biggest problem.

also, our boss is on a serious power-trip, much as former teacher kim hypothesized.

this probably spurned the lesson plans.

we're made to look busy like all the time.

the other day, she told us to clean up after ourselves after lunch.

seriously? SERIOUSLY?!

(btw, we do it everyday, since the day we arrived.)

this blog is fortunately slightly deflated because of a serious bitchfest/vent-a-thon with former teacher kim and others with the samgyupsal, the hofs, and the noraebang.

there's no telling how much i would rant and rave if that night didn't happen.

so, thanks. a lot. to kim and friends.

needless to say, i've been compelled to commence counting my days left at my school.

my last day will be so sweet for a number of reasons:

i'll get the hell out of my school;

it is also my buddy brandon's last day in korea so there will be some serious emotion near that final day;

my sister will already be here or arriving soon;

i'll more than likely be moving to seoul (though i might like suwon more);

i'll get my 13th payment, thus placing within reach of bring over my parents for christmas.

here's to hoping we get a lot of field trips/birthday parties/non-class days/etc. between now and august 31st.

countdown: T minus 88 work days.

lots of love,

jo

the seoul international marathon

none of this 'update' business.

this post is about the big one....

the one that got away.

have you ever planned do something at least 6 months in advance and therefore mentally prepared yourself in every method possible?

no?

yes?

ok.

well, take whatever answer you may have, and consider this next question:

on top of the thorough mental preparation, have you ever physically exerted your body for the duration of the same 6 months in endurance training?

pushing your body to points you never have before?

no?

yes?

ok.

well.

circle 'yes' for both for this guy.

okay. now let's imagine all the preparation......

invalidated.

friday 19 march 2010

(T -2days)

a normal day in the life.

saturday 20 march 2010

(T -1day)

my appropriate plans for excessive sleeping-in were abruptly shattered when i awoke up with a super stomachache.

(WARNING: it's about to get graphic and gross for a while.)

i'm mostly confused because i'm very slow in the mornings, but i sit on the toilet.

let's crap it out.

no dice.

ok. well, i try to go back to sleep.

let's try to sleep it off.

no dice.

ok, well there's only one other option.

let's throw it up.

bingo.

i puke my face off.

in only one session.

a long, voluminous session.

but i'd prefer that to multiple hurlings.

hit the bed again.

wake up a couple more times for diarrhea.

dehydration quickly ensues.

fluids in my house are quickly depleted.

overall weakness sinks in.

stomachaches.

headaches.

fever.

cold sweats.

oh yeah.

and i'm supposed to run 26.2 miles/42.2 kms in less than 24 hours.

this reality deflates, becoming this sort of laughing possibility.

i'm in a serious fluid deficit, not to mention i can't eat anything.

by the time saturday is closed, i will have eaten 1 cracker and 5 pieces of cereal.

after much napping, sipping on water like a baby on a bottle, and excessive moaning, i go to sleep after coming to terms that....

sunday 21 march 2010

....the seoul international marathon....

....is now the big fish that got away.

she slipped through my fingers like sand.

and i watched each grain fall away.

simple as that.

backtracking my timeline, i believe i ate something bad friday night.

six months of dedication destroyed by a blindsiding bad meal.

just my luck.

so i spent my birthday feeling like mega crap. alone in my apartment.

upsetting, yes. but not nearly as depressing to me as being so close, yet so far away, from the big one.

or my big one right now in my particular phase of life.

here's how i get over it:

there are other marathons to be run (thanks in particular to you, kev).

tomorrow the sun will rise.

who knows what the tide will bring?

jo

seoul international marathon training update #6

i believe this is a very appropriate time for this post.

two weeks ago i ran my first half marathon.

two weeks from today i will run my first full marathon.

so, i'll split the difference and talk a little about both.

the half:

went as expected.

time = 1:35:38

rank = 47/179

(edit: received my official certificate and i placed 40th, not the 47th originally posted above)

the weather made for a great day for a run.

i felt pretty good after doing it too.

yeah, it was tough.

but, clearly do-able.

thanks a load to ed rimmington and natalie crowe for coming out and supporting me.

the full:

well, i've got two weeks.

essentially, it's the final countdown.

too late now for any serious training.

just about 10 days of taper starting mid-week.

so, that made today's 30k run all that much sweeter, since i won't get to put down a long one before the big one.

according to my limited endurance sport knowledge, within a couple of weeks it's pointless to do any real training.

it's just a waste of energy.

the body won't get better for endurance activities with just a couple of weeks of training.

maintaining your fitness and rest are more important.

i'd like any corrections to that, for personal future reference.

with that in mind, today's 30k was also a little saddening.

i wish i had more time to get ready.

but not really.

i can't really put this off.

i've had plenty of time to get ready.

and i'm not trying to set any world records here.

i'm just looking to finish.

so i guess i've had more than enough time to get ready.

21 march 2010.

the big one.

26.2 miles/42.2 km all across seoul.

a mostly negative grade course, so we'll see about my time.

after today's run, i'm thinking 3:15-ish.

a marathon around and past a bunch of cool places in seoul.

starting at an old city gate.

finishing in the seoul olympic stadium.

maybe next year, i'll take my camera with me on the run so i can get pictures along the way.

or maybe next year i can qualify and actually make it to boston, too.

or maybe both.

of course, if i'm still/only running next year.

happy training to all and to all a goodnight from korea,

jo

shanghai, china

so i'm a little late on this one, too.

but i just want put down a couple thoughts about my visit to shanghai.

why visit shanghai?

well, the weekend i went was a long weekend for me.

it took place over lunar new year. so we had monday off of work.

and our school also gave us tuesday off (some schools got friday and monday off, some schools only got monday).

so i was allotted a fair amount of time to go.

of course, the most weighted reason to visit china was because of friends.

smith wilbanks and melissa mills, two alabamians i met at the capstone, were planning on studying abroad in china this semester.

before the semester started, they wanted to see some of china and it just so happens that they would be in shanghai (a 2 hour flight from seoul) over my long weekend.

but don't think i'm leaving out yurie akatsuka.

a japanese national, yurie studied at the university of alabama for a year and met smith, melissa and myself in tuscaloosa through various paths.

personally, yurie and i spent a fair amount of time together in the tri club.

of course, after a year in bama, she returned to japan to finish school, where she is now.

so it fell together very well:

a 4 day weekend.

3 friends from home.

additionally, yurie's personal itinerary made going very easy as well.

being in japan with more time off than me, yurie could do whatever and meet smith and melissa in china whenver.

so yurie came to korea to meet some korean friends she met in tuscaloosa.

and also to meet and hang out with me.

(after our shanghai excursion, yurie would return to seoul for an overnight layover, leading to another night of hanging out.)

as fate would have it, we also booked the same flight from seoul to shanghai.

we get to shanghai, meet smith and melissa, and the walking began.

i say 'walking' because none of us are apparently very decisive and we are all very okay with anything to do.

so we spent a fair amount of our time walking.

but we saw a pretty good bit of the city.

amongst the things we saw:

a karaoke/noraebang with a rat to welcome us (the girls would have none of it, though i recommend we buy it a beer; i'm sure it would have been to cool to hang).

the gate of the zoo and the precipice of pandas;

the world's highest observatory;

a lot of other cool buildings;

a couple of cool jade buddhas engulfed by scores of people;

a sweet-as-hell maglev train;

a metro system with a hell of a lot of character.

some of these and more have photographic support which can be seen on facebook (i don't like uploading twice).

would i recommend china?

yes.

go if you have the chance.

but don't expect too much.

i feel like shanghai was very well kempt because it's one of the world's largest metro areas and a former playground for the west.

of course, i only hypothesize that china funnels resources here.

i have no evidence of this.

in short, china is a pretty cool place to see.

would i go back to china?

maybe.

with serious peer-pressure.

maybe not even serious persuasion; i fold like a lawn chair under peer-pressure.

the flight to shanghai was short and decently cheap (approx. $250).

however, the single entry tourist visa was approx. $135.

yes. i said $135. for a single-entry tourist. even for only 4 days.

if i go back to china, i won't go back to shanghai.

i'd rather see another place, of course.

i doubt shanghai is worth repeating at this point.

plus, i have other unseen asian destinations.

just a couple of quick thoughts about my first trip out of korea.

many thanks to smith wilbanks, melissa mills and yurie akatsuka for one hell of a weekend.

lots of love,

jo