Berkeley & San Fran Sandwich

If you would have asked me anytime before this trip if I had relatives living in Berkeley California I would have answered no. But that answer would have been wrong. As it turns out I have two cousins living in Berkeley with their families. Cousins Jon and Billy Witort and they were most accommodating to my travel plans.

It's funny how things turn out really. I planned on traveling alone on this trip and planned to see amazing natural wonders, special things I thought I should stop and take notice of on this planet before it's too late. But one thing I learned in Berkeley is that family is a special thing, and one you can experience in much the same way as many of the worlds natural wonders.

Seeing the beauty that this world has to offer makes you feel like you're doing something right. It makes you feel like you belong in that place for that moment that you discover it. Well my cousins (along with their parents while I was in Portland) made me feel as if I belonged when I came to see them. Even more so it seemed as if there was an instant connection. As if there was no judgment, no predispositions, just a discovery of not something wonderful, but someone wonderful. I feel so blessed to have a family that I love, and who loves me, but I've come to realize that the circle of family that I thought I had is actually much bigger than I first thought.

Berkeley was a great stop though, even more so than just being able to spend sometime with some wonderful people. I was able to visit UC Berkeley and walk around a beautiful college campus which always puts me in a good mood. Anything that can bring memories of 4 years at Penn State to my mind always makes me feel great. I was also in town for another birthday party, Jon's, which was fun, but what I will remember most about it was the group of hippies that we shared the park with. Classic...

Berkeley really seemed like a different place than anywhere I'd ever been before though. On the surface it was just like any other nice, well to do area where people have money, and live what appears to be carefree lives, but if you look a little closer it's has something different about it. My first hint was when I got in Billy's car and he said it ran on vegetable oil, and my second was when Jon's car didn't make a sound. Not only did these people have money, but they were eco-friendly too! There were recycling bins for every type of material you can imagine, solar panels, hybrid cars, community cars, and some people even rode bikes! Honestly, I used to think that America can change with time, that someday in the future we can be more conscious of our effects on the environment, but I was wrong. It doesn't need to happen "someday" it really can happen now. It already is, in Berkeley.

Berkeley was also my jumping off point for San Francisco. Billy lent me his bike and I rode around the busy streets of San Francisco for a whole day like I was Kevin Bacon from "Quicksilver". I usually love walking around big cities but this bike experience was great. I went all over from the Pier 39 to the Golden Gate Bridge, beach front parks to AT&T Park to catch a free baseball game. This was the best city experience I had on my trip.

All that and they had a dog I could play with too. What more could I ask for, right? Well Billy ended up trumping all of that by giving me the best advice for where I should go when I get to the Grand Canyon. I will always be indebted to him for that. "If you wanna just look at the Canyon, yeah, go where everyone else goes, but if you want to hike it, go here." Man was he right. But you'll have to wait to hear about that place later because I wasn't off to the grand canyon yet.
Next stop Santa Cruz!

My Birthday In Korea

Ok, where were we? Day two of Karl's trip to Korea, right.

Day two was supposed to be the day Karl got to meet all the teachers at my school and we'd all celebrate my birthday together.

Karl arrived on the last day of school at Shinjin, but the principal planned a faculty trip to a nearby island the next day. On this island we would all do some hiking, eating, drinking, and bathing...real Korean style. I thought it would be a great experience for Karl, and a good chance for him to get exposed to what and who I've been living with this past year. However, since this was a school function, I made sure to ask months in advance if it would be ok for Karl to join us, and they assured me that he was welcome with open arms. Well apparently the open arms closed the day before the trip. Some of the faculty had a problem with a "non-teacher" joining our little trip. So at the last minute I had to pull out and instead of meeting my teachers, Karl had to settle for kicking a few back with Kim Jong Il in the picture above. By the way Karl, I think Kimmy was a little uncomfortable with how close you got in that shot.

*As a side note: Mr. Heller came down with the flu and couldn't go on the trip either, and since Heller and I pulled out, so did Rachel, meaning there were no white teachers on the teachers trip. I thought that was unfortunate.*

So with the surprise free day we had to come up with something new to do on the fly. I showed Karl the neighborhood, Emart, and some more local cuisine before we got back on the fun track.

At night some of the locals bought me a surprise birthday cake, and we played some "Apples to Apples" which is a very fun game, if you like to argue (thank you very much). After we finished our cake, and the furious game, we hit up a Korean foreigner right of passage, "Club Night". Club Night is held on the last Friday of every month in Hongdae, the downtown area around Hongik University. It costs $20 or 20,000 won to get a bracelet that gains you entrance to every club in town. I've been hearing about Club Night since the week I got to Korea, but I hadn't made it there yet myself. I'm not that big of a "club guy", that is, unless it's my birthday apparently.

Hahah, check out the pictures, and I'll continue the whirlwind tail of Karl in Korea again tomorrow.

Merry Christmas Partay

A few weeks ago Mr. Kim talked Rachel into having a Christmas party at my house (thanks Rachel). Well, on the last Friday before Christmas I threw what was supposed to be a huge Christmas celebration with all of our teacher friends in Korea. But apparently Rachel and I don't have that many friends.

We had the bright idea of making special holiday invitations. Rachel drew them up, and had a fellow teacher translate them into Korean; we were making every effort to have this party be a blast. I did most of the handing out at school and teachers faces just light up like they were getting asked out to Prom by the quarterback of the football team (or the head cheerleader, depending upon who I was giving them too). Nearly everyone I handed them out to said yes on the spot. But because I'm super anal I still had Rachel add on a tear off portion of the invitation that said "yes" I will be coming, or "no" I will not be coming. This was to try and avoid getting too much food, or having no one show up. Well after all of our precautions, that's exactly what happened.

We bought a ton of food, planning for over thirty people to show up, in the end we barely got to twenty, and that was with a few people who responded "no" coming. Tons of food went bad. My principal regifted the present I gave to him from my trip to France, people showed up late, and left early.

Now, with all of those "less-than-spectacular" events going down, you would think the whole event was a wash, but it wasn't. Somehow, with the help of Alex and Jeff, we salvaged the night and gave some people a night they would never forget.

First off, for example, my mother. This night in Korea happened to also be the birthday morning of my mother in Tennessee. Almost 10 Koreans, 2 Iowa boys, a Bostonian and myself sang Happy Birthday to my mom over webcam. It was a surprise to her, and I think it went over well. It made everyone's night at the party too. Honestly without this webcam call, the night would have never gotten to its feet. My coworkers loved seeing my parents, and everyone kind of fell in love with the idea when I told them about it.

Two other young Korean ladies, Jinjew, and Jenny will also always remember this night because it was their first "house party" (or apartment party, whatever) that they ever went to. Apparently in Korea this type of thing isn't that common among young people. I'm guessing it's because young people usually live with there parents until they're married, and places in Korea are usually quite small for parties, but either way they had a new and fun experience.

Overall, I'm really, REALLY thankful for all the people who did come. Honestly, I just hope everyone had a good time and I think most of us did. To those that couldn't make it, I keep hearing that it's just "Korean culture" to say "yes" when invited, but it was a bitter pill to swallow when you didn't show up. I guess it's the thought that counts though. Either way, I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Birthday (mom), and last but not least, a Happy Festivus.

The Evolution of Revolution

Everyday I sit and watch CNN, even if it's just a few minutes while I eat my breakfast. I think it's important to hear the world news, to be aware of things that are happening to others, or have an idea of how the world is changing. For the first time though I am seeing world news from the other side. Instead of being part of America as it is talked about on TV, I can now see it from the rest of the worlds point of view. It's the same story, but something is different. It's almost like when someone says to you, "it looks like your putting on a little weight," and you hate them for it, instantly. You know yourself, you know your weight, you know everything there is to know about your body, and they are rude, inappropriate, and stuck up for even mentioning such a thing to you. Then the day comes, a day like any other, but on this day when you mossy out of bed you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror. It's a mirror you've seen a million times, and a body you've seen a billion times, but today you think "eh, it looks like I've put on a little weight." Sometimes when you have a problem the only one who can't see it is you.

This weekend I tried to sit down and watch as many political debates, and speeches as the internet would allow me to because I still have no idea who I want to vote for in next years presidential election. I have seen the big names; Clinton, Obama, Giuliani, etc, but none of them have really done anything to bolster my confidence in them that they would be a good leader for America. I'm taken by how much running for "president" has become like running for "class president." Remeber in high school or juior high when the over qualified, highly studious, detail oriented student, full of school spirit had to run against one of the popular kids? The only difference between then and now seems to be that in high school we knew it was a sham. Everyone knew that the popular kid was running on his or her name, face, charm, or popularity, and while some people thought it would be cool to elect them, others new the less popular student would do the better job. From school to school and year to year the outcomes change; sometimes cute wins and sometimes quality wins, but the school never seems to be too affected by the outcome much anyway. Well I don't know when it became a popularity contest for America, but that is the way I see it now.

Republicans and Democrats no longer look for the best candidate for President. Honest. They don't want the most qualified person. They want the person that stands the best chance of winning the election, or in high school terms, the most popular. They think the American people can't look past a famous name, a smooth talker, or a confident smile. Can you blame them? Since 1981 our cuntry has been run by a famous movie star, Ronald Reagan, then his Vice President, George Bush Sr., then he was defeated by "Slick Willy", a captivating speaker otherwise known as Bill Clinton, and when we couldn't vote for him anymore we voted for a name we already knew, George Bush again. Well now his time is up, and again a name we know leads the pack...Clinton. These people may or may not have been the best candidates, but they always seem to be the best choice for other reasons than their platform. Either they're famous, or they were the Vice President to a popular President, or they are a great speaker, or they are the son or wife of a President.

The government feels that the popular kid is the only one with the chance to win, so they are the only ones who get endorsed. These endorsements come in terms of more money, more tv ads, more air time during debates, more campaign stops, and all so they can look more like the more qualified candidate. But in high school when the captain of the cheer leading squad tells us she's going to get the class trip to go to Cancun, or get a cotton candy machine in the lunchroom, we know she's really only blowing smoke. Yet somehow we don't see it when the stage becomes larger and more important.

I'm not saying I can see through the smoke and mirrors, I may know less than you, I may not, but I was taken by one candidate when I watched all of those presidential candidate videos this weekend. He was a candidate that has little chance of winning. He has a name that few know, and ideas that even fewer know, but I think he's worth listening to. *Note: I want to say, like I have in this blog before, so far, I am not endorsing this person for president, but I am saying that it is a different way of thinking, of which I'm glad I heard. If you like it, great, but if not, I only hope it makes you dig deeper or think harder about your decision on this topic.* His name is Ron Paul. When I felt like all other candidates were only speaking to "sound good", his words sounded like they were coming from his heart. That is no basis for choosing a president, but I never want to chose one who doesn't.

My basic belief is that I feel a two party system isn't the best system for our society. I even believed this when I thought America was nearly a flawless country. A two party system leads to one view point being seen as right and the other as wrong. But any knowledgeable person knows things are not that simple, there is always a third way to look at things, a grey area, or room to compromise. So we only get one chance every four years to make our voices heard, the voices of reason, and compromise. I don't know if Ron Paul is a worthy candidate yet, but I like the idea of helping his campaign because the better he does may better the chance America has for getting more qualified candidates in the future.

He's trying to raise money for his campaign on the internet. This internet revolution might be the key for lesser known candidates to get noticed. If this gains enough momentum, maybe we'll see an independent follow in his footsteps in the future. No one likes choosing between the lesser of two evils, let alone doing it for the president. But maybe this year taking a chance on someone who stands against war is the best choice we can make. He might show American's that there are people out there, besides the "popular" elite, that are worthy of leadership. He might show us it's okay to see ourselves as we look in the mirror; we maybe putting on some (or a ton) of unflattering weight, but it's not too late to start a healthier diet.
Maybe, just maybe, things can change. I think they can.

Check it out.

No Trick But With Many Treats to Come

This is not a trick. My site is now an actual link on a travel site called TouristClick.com. It's partially hidden but only seconds after clicking the "Travel Blog" link, then clicking "Asia Travel", and lastly "South Korea"...Whop there it is! Rachel seems to think this is the beginning of something big for my blog, but I don't share the same enthusiasm for self(blog) growth. I do on the other hand know that TouristClick.com is going to blow up atfer catching some of this blogs traffic runoff. Go ahead check it out. It's fine with me, I won't be jealous.
Once your done with that I have some Halloween photos if you want to check them out. Halloween weekend was a really fun one because there wasn't just a Halloween celebration but Rachel's birthday, and Kristy's going away party celebrations too.



That's all for now but stay tuned because I've got a lot of interesting things planned coming up to blog about: Hot Karl (aka Cap'n Karl) will be visiting Seoul for New Years, footballs sent to Korea, the best bathroom in Seoul, corporal punishment, Jersey boys going "Down Under", etc...
I've also gone and added slide shows to old posts if your interested in looking back...but if you are, make sure you look at the last one and watch Zeitgeist.

Going Away Party in Gumi

Today my new friend Amanda is comfortable back home in America. She's talking about how much she enjoys sleeping in her own bed, and eating American food, but it was just a short time ago when we visited her down in Gumi for her going away party. I guess now that she's back home, and I don't know if I'll ever see her again, she might be an old friend now, huh? Crazy how that works out. We met through an extremely odd connection of friends, but when we got together we hit it off. My friends liked her friends, her friends liked my friends, and we liked each other. After a bunch of emailing, and then one meeting in Seoul, she invited me three and a half hours south of Seoul, to Gumi, for her going away party. She has finished her year of teaching here in Korea, a good 10 months ahead of me.

I didn't think I was up for a long trip like that alone, so I asked Rachel if she wanted to come. She was equally uncertain about the long trip with just me, so she invited her friends Mindy and Jim. Mindy and Jim have become our token "married couple" friends. Haha. Really they are very cool old friends of Rachel's who are also out here teaching English in Korea. Well, not Jim, he's a different story, but I'm glad he's out here. They are no longer just Rachel's friends, but my friends too. Okay, back to the trip down to Gumi.

Since I'm friends with Amanda, I needed to attend to all the travel plans. Anyone who knows me well knows that is not a good situation for anyone. I was initially going to take the bus to Gumi, but Jim gets car sick on long trips like a little child, so we had to take the train. I had a teacher at school help me reserve the tickets online for the train. Everything seemed great until we tried to get our tickets at the ticket window of the train station. Apparently our tickets had disappeared. Even though I had a print out of the reservation in my hand, our tickets were no longer available. It was a lot like that Seinfeld episode, but I couldn't even make witty jokes because they didn't speak my language. After finding someone that could speak English we ended up catching the next train to Gumi.

The train was really pretty fun. Partially because we weren't standing. We could have gotten "standing" tickets on the earlier train, but we just barely decided against it. Well, about 5 minutes into the 210 minute trip we were all rejoicing for our great decision. People were standing everywhere, there wasn't an open spot anywhere. I couldn't imagine standing on a train for 3 and a half hours. What poured salt in the wounds of the people who were standing was that after about an hour into the ride, we started standing to stretch our legs. As if that wasn't enough, we were speaking English like no one could understand us. That was until we almost got off at the wrong stop and the two guys standing above us told us in perfect English "Gumi is the next station, do not exit the train yet". After that embarrassment we all were happy to finally exit the train...At Gumi.

We got to the party at around 12:30 AM and Amanda, and all of her friends, were already a few drinks ahead of us. We caught up, then the natives argued over what bar to go to next. But Gumi is a small town, it was either 1 bar or the other. We didn't know that at the time, but lets just say we are all a little more grateful for the bars in Seoul now. Around 5 in the morning the party ended and the craziness began.

None of us had ever slept at a Jim-Jil-Bong, hell I was the only one of us that had ever been to one. It's a community sauna, pool, shower, truck stop, bath house, all rolled into one, but you can sleep there too, and for really cheap. Luckily for us, Amanda lived right across the street from one. For just a few bucks, we all got wonderfully thin pads, and ridiculously hard pillows. The night included sleeping in a room with about 50 other Koreans, a few hard snorers, and an oblivious guy who didn't wake up for what seemed like eternity when his cell phone alarm went off. The icing on the cake was the devil Korean voice blaring a wake up call over the loudspeaker at around 7AM. But to be completely honest that's just what Jim told me. If you know me I sleep like a rock, and this night was no exception. However, I was the only one of my friends who got any sleep.

The rest of the day consisted of breakfast at Amanda's, which included pancakes with ice cream, strawberries, home fries, toast, and orange juice...all things I have never had in Korea, and were wonderful. Then some temple visiting, and hiking, followed by the train ride home.

The trip to Gumi was a complete success. I became much closer friends with Mindy and Jim, and now all of us have new friends down in Gumi who we can't wait to come visit Seoul.

Seoul Lotus Lantern Festival

In Seoul, much like in New York City, there are things going on all the time. This past weekend Rachel and I were lucky enough to attend one of those things that actually turned out to be cool, a "Lotus Lantern Festival".

Sunday morning we met a teacher of ours downtown so she could show us around, and tell us what the festival was all about. We got there and saw a very famous temple with the largest Buddhist statues I have ever seen. Lanterns were hanging everywhere. Parishioners of the temple pay to hang lanterns in their name, and families names, as to appease Buddha. They also hang white lanterns for the souls of family members that have passed on. Mrs. Lee explained it to me as "It's a good business move too." I really liked walking around at the festival because there was such an eclectic group of people there. First off, there were plenty of white people there, which was nice for a change, but there were also Russians, Europeans, Hindu's, Monks, and I'm sure many others. I saw two monks video taping the festival. Who thought there were "tourist monks"? Everything I know about monks, which isn't much, tells me that they don't have video camera's or go on vacations, but I guess I was wrong. After enjoying the different atmosphere we had other other things scheduled which we had to get to.

Mrs. Lee was also nice enough to make reservations for Rachel and I to join in the lotus lantern making competition. At first we just thought it was fun, but then when we heard there were going to be prizes, both of our competitive sides came out. They took almost 2 hours to complete, although Rachel did hers in much less time because she was anti-social during her creation process, but I was trying to meet people, so I took a little longer. But in the end we were both pretty happy with how ours turned out. But then something pretty crazy happened, a news crew came up, and out of all the people there, they interviewed Rachel. She thinks it was because her lantern was so good, I think it was because she was white, and finished while everyone else was still working. But whatever the reason that they chose her, it was pretty funny. Tons of people came over to take pictures, and a few days later she was on the 5 o'clock news...her and her lantern. My lantern was definitely not the best thing I've ever made, but after a rough start, I think it turned out pretty well. Neither of us won any awards, but making the 5 o'clock news has to be the best consolation prize possible.

A few days later Rachel recorded the news at my place. Here it is, enjoy her 5 seconds of fame, and do take notice that I am in the background of the first shot of her. Plus, get a look at the cool festivities from the festival:

Sweet, Sweet Exams Week

Last week of school was the type of week you dream of as a teacher. It was exams week. On exams week there is no EBS (English Broadcast System) period, so I got to go in 45 minutes later too school (or more importantly, sleep 45 minutes longer). Then during school there are no classes to teach (YAHOOOOOOOO!). There are only 3 periods of test taking. Usually I had to proctor about one test a day. All that intailed was standing around looking at kids take tests. But I like to walk around to make them nervous, and mess up. Haha, just kidding, but I do. Then after the three periods you eat lunch, and the rest of the day is yours to do as you please. And yes, I pleased to do a lot.
Okay, Monday was the badminton tournament. I had been looking forward to it for over a week, I had big plans. But the head of the English department planned a special lunch with the foreign teachers after school, so I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it to the tourney. After airing my greivences with my badminton club (it helps to have friends in high places), they told me they would push off my games, and it would all work out. So "Big" Paul, Rachel and I went out to eat with the head of the English departement around noon on Monday. Up until that point I thought this man was just a normal quiet guy. After he slammed two bottles of Soju, smoked a cigaret, cigar, and pipe at the tabe in about an hours time, lets just say my view of him changed, just slightly. And anyone who knows someone who likes to drink, you know they make sure they're not drinking alone, so I had to join. A few beers later I was off to the Badminton tourney. Being a little tipsy made me nervous that I would make a fool of myself in front of all my new badminton friends. Well, that fear was quickly dissolved when I walked into the gym full of flying shuttle-cocks and saw the table of food, and yes, DRINKS. Since I was late I was thrown right into the action. 5 games later I was the undefeated champion. I'd like to say I'm proud of that, but it was in group B. Due to some scheduling problems I was not placed in group A. The problem being that there were only 6 people in group A, that makes three teams. 7 people doesn't work, and I think if I was going to take someone's place in group A it might have been the principals spot, and NO ONE is going to do that. So it was awesome plowing through group B, but everyone agreed that next time I would be a group A player. That was Monday.
Tuesday was my second mountain climbing experience. We went to Boo-kan-san mountain, one of the most famous mountains in South Korea. It was a much bigger mountiain then the one we hiked on our first trip, and much harder too. There was no Snickers break on this hike, no Soju on the backside of the mountain, no easy way out. It was a good tiring hike up, but to be honest, the hike down that kicked my butt. It was like an hour straight of stepping down at a 45 degree angle, onto large, sharp, rocks. And while everyone else there is wearing big thick hiking shoes, of course, I am wearing an old worn out pare of Addidas. It was an hour of thinking "don't get hurt", "don't fall", "don't die", or something of that sort with every step. But I made it down, and I'm happy I did it (yet, also glad it's behind me though too). Wednesday was spent allowing my feet to recover from the climb.
Thrusday, I took my first trip to Cosco. It was amazing. It was like a western culture oasis in the middle of Seoul. There were muffins, ground beef, steak, forks, large towels, and much more. My head was spinning, it was like I wanted everything. Inside people even said "excuse me" to me when they wanted to get by (usually because I was druling over some food). Can you believe that? Well, I bought plenty of stuff, but I will be back again sometime soon.
The trip to Cosco on Thursday was needed because Friday I threw a housewarming party. An event I think all teachers were secretly looking forward too. I had pleny of food and drinks for everyone. In all I think around 15 teachers came, although there were never 15 people there at one time. But it is a Korean custom to bring a gift to someone's house when they invite you, so take a look at this gift list: A large knife, a cutting board, a pot, a pan, plates, cups, spices, a trash can, chocolate, tissues, toilet paper, and a stand-alone clothes hanger, with hangers. Besides all of the gifts, it was a huge success as a party. I think everyone had a really good time. It was a great ending to Exams week.

Racap

Okay, so with a little free time today because the gym was closed for some reason or another (there was a paper taped to the window but it was in Korean, however I gather it said "Closed"), I was able to put up some pictures of things I talked about in earlier posts. So if you’re interested check them out. Otherwise I kinda just wanna catch you all up on some of the events that have gone on in the 3 weeks I've been here. The biggest event so far was on my second day in Korea. It was the schools annual teachers party. It is basically an eating, drinking, Karaoke feast, and it was a lot of fun. At the time I barely knew anyone, but that didn't stop people from being really nice to me. That has to be the best picture of the night...can no one say "Paul YOUR IN THE DAMN PICTURE!!! SIT DOWN" nope, not when they don't speak your language, they just take your camera and then make you look like a fool. It was an awesome night. There was some rookie teacher hazing where we had to sing in front of a schools worth of teachers into a spoon, during dinner. But it was all in good humor. It was my first real taste of the culture. You had to take your shoes off at the door, sit on the floor, and they cooked the food right in front of you. I couldn't sit indian style for more then 10 minutes at a time though, who sits Indian style anyway? I thought that was just for little kids, but that brings me to my first goal to accomplish in my year here in Korea: Get in better shape, strength & flexibility. I felt like a moron not being able to sit the way everyone else was, not like they cared, but I did. When I went to my knees the woman next to me laughed and told me that’s how kids sit at the table in Korea when they're getting punished. So before this trip I always said I was unflexible, like it was a disease I caught, but it's not, it's something I can change so I'm going to change it. Here are some more pics of the night: Me with Mr. Jong
Me with Rachel (another English teacher) and Mr. Kim (the principal) who is a really nice guy, funny, and one of the best English speakers in the school, thank god.


Here is just one table of the 3 that the school was taking up:



Can you see the one white guy in the picture?
That's another foreigner, his name is Paul and he's from Canada. Yup that's right. 3 white people in a school of over a thousand and we have two Paul's. Not cool. Because of this confusion they have made up nicknames for us. His include 'Big Paul" and 'Superman" while mine are 'handsome Paul', 'small Paul', and apparently they kids have some Korean nickname that translates to 'skinhead'. I found a ton of irony in all of this for a number of reasons. They said having two Paul's was too confusing for them, but I teach classes with 12 Mr. Kim’s, 9 Mr. Lee's, and 5 Mr. Pak's. What's so hard about 2 Paul's? Also when anyone referred to me as small Paul...I was bigger then them. It wasn't very PC but it was pretty funny. As for the kids referring to me as skinhead. Everyone here seemed to love to talk about my bald head when I got here. I would say nearly all of my first conversations where about it. I'm not really sure what they thought about it, but they loved saying "so you're going bald, huh?" Or something close to that like "no hair?", "Him hair, you no" all prodding at the same idea. There is even a teacher who is an acupuncturist who wants to give me treatment to help me grow my hair. And yes of course, he's not only the president, he's also a client, he showed me before and after pictures. Alright, well this recap has gone on long enough. You can check out the rest of the pictures from the teachers party night on my Picasa page. I was really dragging today, if I bored you I hope I can cheer you up with a short video from Big Paul: