5.11.2012

Just another day...

Just two weeks ago I confessed my fear of harmonicas to my friend Vanessa and her two friends I was meeting for the first time. At first they didn't understand why I or anyone would be afraid of this "harmless" instrument; I'm hoping after my speech they now see the danger. On the outside these instruments are all rainbows and smiles, but on the inside they're filled with germs and nastiness. True story: as kids my brother found his harmonica he had lost a few months (possibly a year) earlier. Of course he played it and then developed sores all over his mouth. Gives me the chills just thinking about it. That day I vowed to never allow an harmonica to touch these precious lips.

Another true story: Since I share a classroom with two other teachers I must leave my desk when they have class. I usually go to the teachers room which consist of five cubicles (one being the Vice Principle's desk) and two large tables for teacher meetings etc. I seem to spend a lot of time in there since well, I don't have my own classroom. This past Monday I was at one of the computers just killing time when one of the teachers walked up to me. This individual is an older Korean man who says hello followed by my full name, Angel Ceasar, every time he sees me. Except this isn't what gets me. It's the way this action is carried out that just cracks me up.

So I'm sitting at the computer when my Korean coworker taps me on the shoulder. I turn to find him grinning ear to ear striking a pose that includes jazz hands when he says, "Hello An-Jel She-Ja!" I say hello back when he pulls his harmonica out of his pocket and pulls up a chair to sit next to me. You can imagine the horror on my face, but he never asked me to play that gross little piece of metal. Instead he asks if I know the song Swanee River. After his attempt to play it on his harmonica and my failure to recognize it, I youtubed it. We then sat side by side sharing my earbuds listening to a video of an individual playing Swanee River on their harmonica, all while my coworker is attempting to play this song on his harmonica. Once that song was over, he asked me to find one more song - Amazing Grace. We sat another five minutes with one earbud in my right ear and the other in his left ear. Imagine me listening to a random youtube video of Amazing Grace, sharing headphones while also watching my coworker play this song on his harmonica. At first I didn't know what to make of this, but then just decided to go with it. After the concert we both decided to watch the video below. I did find it entertaining, but not as much as my coworker. He sat watching this video slapping his leg in laughter. He was pretty amused by the whole thing until minute 4:15 where Tong Son plays two harmonicas at once; one with his nose and the other with his mouth. At this point, my coworker slaps his leg one last time and says, "LIE!" He then stands up and paces behind me saying, "LIE LIE LIE." We ended the video and he continued to show and explain in Korean how this is impossible.


How is this not anyone's favorite cover of this song?!

5.04.2012

Skeeter wee straw has a masters?

I normally only post my adventures about living in South Korea, but this good lookin' fellow to the left is my little brother. Is he Korean? No. Is he coming to visit me? I wish. Does he like Korean food? Possibly. None of the above is really what I want to talk about. My little brother, Byron Drew Ceasar II, will be graduating May 5th, 2012 with his Master's of Counseling degree at University of Missouri - Kansas City. He has come a very long way from being the small skinny kid my dad nicknamed skeeter wee straw to a now tall intelligent individual with not one, but two degrees. I personally still til this day don't understand the nickname, but believe it's from some T.V. show my dad watched as a child.


Dear Byron,
You've worked so hard the past few years to achieve this wonderful goal. You were one of the first to graduate college in our family. Now you are the first to graduate with a Master's degree. This is absolutely an amazing accomplishment and I am so proud of you. I'm sorry I can't be there for this special occasion, but don't worry I will be there in spirit. Enjoy this celebration and try not to stress too much over finding a job. It will happen, so just enjoy the ride. You deserve it!
Your sister, angel
ps---I'm jealous moms "catering" your party. How I miss mexican food.

5.02.2012

Happy May Day! Shoot it's the 2nd. Nevermind.

My last post was the 22nd and a lot has happened:

1. Most importantly - PAY DAY! I love love love pay day. I have received a pay check for the past ten years and after working so hard to receive that piece of paper it still puts a smile on my face. Unfortunately being out of work for about three months, the money came and quickly went to pay "the man." Until next time. May 25th to be exact.

2. Trip to Seoul - Finally took another trip to Seoul to visit and celebrate a friends birthday! Hope you had a wonderful time Vanessa because I know I did! It was a time to just lay back, eat some great food and drank way too much. What a wonderful weekend. I also ran into a few other teachers who were at orientation with me. Random, but very nice. We hung out together for a bit, but eventually had to part ways. Thanks to all for sharing your weekend with me.

3. Patellar tendonitis - I've had knee pain for literally years, but never did anything about it. Last week I started to get blisters on the bottom of my right foot (I know, gross) which really caused a lot of pain. And before this, I kept getting sharp pain in my lower right back. Knowing this was most likely due to whatever was happening to my right knee I still ignored the issue; until last week. The pain had become unbearable. I couldn't stand in class let alone walk home after work. I finally went to the doctor and was diagnosed with P.T also known as jumpers knee. This is where I start to vent. I am familiar with tendonitis. Now, I may not necessarily know how to treat it, but I know what causes it. After giving me the diagnoses the doctor started to tell me how to treat it. 

Doc - no exercise
Me - I agree
Doc - Rest
Me - I agree again
Doc - You need to lose weight
Me - What? 

Now, I understand how weight can affect your joints specifically your knees, but I'm a pretty healthy, slightly chubby 26 year old who danced for 7 years in my adolescent/teenage years. Mmmm, I just don't think that's it. Korea - us Americans/foreigners will never be your size 0 nor have your small framed stature. I've seen you treat people who are of perfect weight for their height like their elephants. Please stop treating everything we have/get is because we're HUGE. Patellar tendonitis - not a "fat" problem. Type II diabetes - "fat" problem. Just stop it Korea. It's not nice.

The doctor did send me to physical training, what we call physical therapy and gave me medication for inflammation. I will go back to PT this Thursday.

4. Andong Volunteer Teachers (AVT) - Like usual, I've found an organization to get involved with. Andong Volunteers Association (AVA) is located in my city and they do various things to contribute and give back to our wonderful community. Through AVA I am personally apart of AVT. We have implemented and organized an English class at an orphanage. We are literally starting from ground up. Last night was our very first class and it was wonderful. I personally felt sick most of the day, but after seeing how the students enjoyed themselves, I left feeling great! I hope everything will work out. I have high hopes for the AVT team!

5. School Update - I know my last entry was more of a rant on how I feel about teaching with my co-teacher. However, I finally spoke with her and things have been amazing. I finally feel like we're on the same page. She seems to have the class under control and realizes I'm here to teach. We came to an agreement that I will plan one lesson a week and she will do the other. So far it has worked perfectly and I feel we both walk away from class not agitated with one another, which of course is great.

6. This weekend - Not only is it Cinco de Mayo and I will be traveling to see more friends, but my brother, Byron Ceasar II will be graduating from his master's program at UMKC. Congratulations and I really wish I could be there to see you walk across yet another stage.