Adventures in Autumn…

One thing I enjoy about Korea is that Autumn here looks like Autumn in Canada. The sky is blue and clear, the leaves all turn yellow and red and …. well, different shades of yellow and red, really. This autumn has been no exception. The weather is wonderfully crisp and clear and lovely. At present, I have a head cold, which makes enjoying it difficult; nonetheless, I am enjoying this season immensely.

Last weekend was spent in Seoul at the KOTESOL (Korea TESOL) conference. Overall, the weekend was fantastic (when has a delicious plate of PadThai amongst friends ever failed to make a weekend great?) but the conference itself was mildly disappointing. I feel as though I almost got some useful things out of it…but not quite. To be fair, it must be difficult for a presenter to find a topic that’s as relevant for teachers who have been here 18 months as it is for teachers who have been here 10 years. A difficult task, to be sure.

Anyway, the NyQuil’s kicking in, so I should get myself into bed while my eyes are still open. G’night.

Adventures with Jolly Roger…

I’m always interested in how random things can often be repeated within a 24 hour period. For example, this afternoon I spent WAY too much time perusing the FOUND website. (For those of you not familiar with FOUND, it’s a website where people send in random notes, pictures, scraps of paper they find lying around.) In one found photo, there was a scull and crossbones visible in the background. Someone had made a comment about the photo, and mentioned Jolly Roger. I had no idea who Jolly Roger was, and continued reading the comments until I found that Jolly Roger is actually a name for the pirate flag. “Hmm, that’s interesting.” I thought to myself.

I tore myself away from reading on-line snippets of discarded trash, and went to watch Jeopardy. Lo and Behold, if “What is Jolly Roger” wasn’t a correct response! Sadly, my excitement at the juxtaposition of these two separate pirate flag events chased away the answer. I was left muttering at the TV “What is …. uhhhh …. Happy Bob? … Smiling Dan? … ” Luckily, the actual contestant did know the answer.

In addition, and because I’m a dork, I found some interesting sites dealing with the etymology of the term Jolly Roger, the history of pirate flags in general, and the men (and women) who sailed under them.

Ar-r-r-r and avast!

Adventures in A Night at the Movies…

I know I should be writing about what a lovely Galbi dinner I had this evening with my friends, and how my office is STILL clean after an entire 2 weeks of frequent usage, and how my bedbugs seem to have been contained in that one blanket – not the whole bed, thankfully!

However, I’m feeling the need to tell you all about the movie I watched last night. At the outset, Nicolas Cage was an advocate for the falsely imprisoned. Shortly after he managed to get justice for an innocent inmate, he himself was convicted of a crime he didn’t commit, and was sentenced to 4 years in a very nasty prison. He was desperate to get his name cleared, and to get out of jail before his pregnant wife had their baby. After what seemed like spending ages in prison, he declared “I REALLY need a hamburger.” A sympathetic companion helped engineer an escape – just long enough for Nicolas to get his hamburger and return to prison – before anyone knew he was gone. Unfortunately, just as he was returning to the prison after eating his hamburger, a riot broke out. The prison was locked down, and there was no way he could sneak back in. Now a fugitive, he pulled a blanket over his head, put an oxygen mask over his face, and blended in with the residents of a local senior’s home.

The blockbuster hits projected on the back of my eyelids as I sleep some nights amaze me.