Well you can't stop nothin' if you got no control.

I realized after talking to a friend last night that I didn't have my favorite Jack Johnson CD, In Between Dreams. The moment I got home from the bar I downloaded it, and as I was walking to work today (and back) with my iPod on I was reminded of how much I love that album. Listening to those songs (specifically Breakdown, Better Together, and Never Knowin') took me back to a place I haven't been in years, yet at the same time gave me this fresh perspective that I have been needing to hear. The juxtaposition of both old and new emotions felt particularly powerful as I walked past friendly Koreans (annyoung haseo!) and waved to the school kids playing in the park, all the while with my own little life soundtrack supporting my every move in my ears. Music, man. There is so much that it invokes in a person. For me it has always been an affinity for lyrical prowess mixed with a catchy melody and a beautiful voice (hence my favorite, Jason Mraz). Or anything with a good beat, a dystopian theme (Deltron), a song that will make you nod your head (311), instrumental jam-dance-groove (Lotus), the utmost simplicity of a guy and a guitar (Avett Brothers), or anything my family and I get down on (Jeff Lynn, XTC, Fountains of Wayne, John Mayer, Death Cab For Cutie). Hmm. Nostalgia is creeping in.

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School today was a blast. I love Fridays. I was sitting on the floor in a circle with my E1-B class (1st graders, I believe) and observing them play Uno. I really am going to bring my camera next Friday because you have to see these kids. They are so damn cute. Since a lot of what I teach them is learned through repetition, they have a tendency to copy what I say. Today I had a class of 10 of the cutest Korean kids repeating "oh my god" over and over again. I couldn't get enough of it. They are like trained animals, and I mean that in the best way possible. I was saying "oh my god" with every type of voice inflection I could think of. Valley girl style (oh my gahd!), irritated style (Oh. My. GOD), freaking out style (ohmygodohmygodohmygod!), et al. I will have all of these uploaded on video by next Friday; I figured out how to upload them by the way, and it only took a change on one of the camcorder settings. Psh.

With my older classes I played Apples to Apples for Kids, which is quickly becoming another favorite of mine. If you haven't played the game, it's really simple. Everyone gets a certain amount of red cards (I do 4 for my students), and I choose one green card. On the one green card it might say "small", or "clean", or "colorful", or "fuzzy", or "spooky"... a plethora of adjectives. On the red cards that the students have it would say anything ranging from Ronald McDonald, My Teacher, Bears, Clowns, In the Basement, Sharks, etcetera. They have to pick 1 of 4 red cards that they think matches the adjective the best. Can you imagine the hilarity of playing this game with Korean students who are just scratching the surface of the English language? I had a green card and it said "dirty". The red cards I receieved were My Grandpa, Sunshine, Spaghetti, and Sand. Another good one was "fancy" and I got Hot Chocolate, My Mom, Ice Cream, and Fireworks. My favorite today however was "pretty", to which I received My Teacher, Rainbows, Fishing, and Mountains. A difficult decision, but I always choose My Teacher when they relate to a positive adjective. It makes the brown noser feel good and it makes me think that they actually might have an idea of what the adjective means. It's a win win situation.

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On a different note, I am going to Daegu tomorrow with a bunch of foreigners for the soccer game on Sunday. The Gyeongju team, which I am now officially apart of, is playing Daegu United. They are a team of US military guys and originally, the field was going to be the one on the Airforce base, but now it is somewhere else in Daegu which I've heard is good because anyone can go. When it was supposed to be held at the base, anyone who was playing or who wanted to attend had to give their full name and nationality to someone in advance, as well as bring their passport and a second ID to get escorted onto the field. It's more lax now which I anticipate will bring more people out. Maybe. I really don't know what to expect from Daegu. I've been told there are a lot of Western restaurants, as well as a Western crowd which makes sense seeing as it is an American Airforce base. I will let you know though.

I am late for someone's birthday dinner. I do not know who this someone is, but everyone is going out for drinks and apparently a karaoke bar (aka norebang, prounced nore-ree-bong). Should a novel night.

Til next time.