Magic the Gathering makes me angry sometimes.

I was looking at cards that would make my deck better, I realized that it would take me at least fifty bucks to have all the ideal cards in my deck. That's not too bad considering it could take someone up to $300 to make a decent deck, but still. Also, the tournament locator is pretty lame. I got mixed up earlier this week and thought that there was a tournament today but it ended up being yesterday. Long story short, I'm going to end up wasting a shit ton of time and money on this shit.

I went to a Magic the Gathering tournament.

I just got back home actually. It's good news though, because I finished the tournament in third place. The one guy that bet me went on to win the tournament, so there's no real shame in losing this one. The tournament is a weekly event down at Jimmy's USA, which is a collectible toy place down in Whittier. There were a lot more Yu-gi-oh players there than anything else, but it is a pretty neat place. The guys at the tournament were pretty nice. They said that a lot of the more competitive players were out of town, so maybe the next time I go back I won't do so well, but for now, I will bask in the glory of victory.

My 2011 Christmas Wish List

Someone asked me this question earlier and I felt that it deserved its own post.  I would say that all I wish for is that everyone I know has a merry Christmas, but fuck that.  I want tons of shit.

• Enough money to pay back my student loans
• Magic the Gathering cards, especially Sorin Markov and Bloodghasts
• A Canon 5D
• New camera lenses
• An English Bulldog
• A date with Sandara Park
• Someone to pay for my flight to Korea
• An iTunes gift certificate so I can buy iPad apps
• New shoes
• A new laptop
• Starcraft II

I guess some of these are ridiculous to ask for as Christmas presents, but they are things I want.  I probably won't be getting any of these anyway.  My family's not big on Christmas.

5 Reasons Why I Hate Banksy

I'm know I'm not the only person to say that I dislike the guy and I definitely won't be the last.  However, it turns out that I might be the only one in my office that has these views.  Anyway, here's the top five reasons that I hate Banksy:

1. He's a dick.
2. He's a dick.
3. He's a dick.
4. He's a dick.
5. He's a dick.

Korean food is comfort.

I've been feeling a bit sick for the past few days, a pretty bad cough and nasal congestion. I just got some 순두부 though, and I feel better. It's nice having Korean restaurants so close to my house. Whenever I was in Korea and felt sick I would just walk down the street and pick up some soup and be good to go. I never really noticed how many Korean places there are in my neighborhood, but I guess it is a luxury having them all within ten minutes of my house. Apparently CL Blue has been to the place I just ate at before. I'm not sure if they went there before I left for Korea and I just noticed now, but it is pretty funny.

There's been a lot of cholos in my neighborhood lately.

It's not like I live in South Central or anything, but my neighborhood isn't a model suburban location. It's cleaned up a whole lot in my lifetime but I've been noticing more gangsters the past few weeks. Someone tagged up my fence two weeks ago and kids have been walking down the streets with shaved heads and only their collars buttoned like it's 1990. It's just weird to see these kids passing by my house while I'm outside smoking cigarettes. In truth, I'm more surprised than anything else. I don't really mind the gangs since they're not hassling me or anything. Besides, how else are the disenfranchised youth of America going to feel like they belong?

I called in sick today.

Yesterday, I left work two hours early because I wasn't feeling well and today I just took the whole day off.  The urge to vomit hasn't been too strong today, but I figured a day of rest wouldn't hurt.  Usually I wouldn't take the day off and just struggle through it, but since I have been working so much and the commute is such a pain, I decided I might as well.  Besides, I know I'm leaving the job at the end of January so I don't really have to worry about how productive I look.  That's probably not the best attitude for an employee to have, but oh well.  It's not like this is a career choice or anything.  Now it's time to enjoy the rest of the day resting and watching television.

Welcome to the Multiverse.

Here’s where it all starts for me.

So I purchased the “Reign of Vampirism” intro deck and the 2011 Magic Fat Pack. I only picked the vampire themed deck since it’s a black themed deck and black’s my favorite color. It’s probably not the smartest way to pick the foundation of my deck, but from what I gathered in my limited research, a black deck would fit my play style.
I still haven’t played a match yet and I still have a ton of questions about actual game play. After a complete overhaul of my the intro deck, I figure that I can go over to my local comic book store and try it out. Hopefully, someone there will be willing to show me the ropes. Anyway, this is the start of a hobby that’s going to be time (and money) consuming, but I really am looking forward to this.

My life is boring right now.

I haven't really been blogging as of late, but it's really just because my life has been so dull lately. There really hasn't been much to talk about. Work has been taking up a lot of my time and so has the commute. Today, I spent about two hours driving in my car and that's an accomplishment. When I get home, I'm usually too tired to do anything else. Most of my time is spent reading and trying to learn how to play Magic. My brother is picking me up the cards today, so I really am looking forward to that. Anyway, I'll probably have a major cut in my hours after Christmas so I should enjoy the income while I still can. Hopefully word comes back from Chungdahm sometime soon. I have been really anxious about where I'm going to be placed, but like a lot of other things in my life, it will work out somehow.

I just went to the sickest arcade.

While I was looking for arcades in my area that had Tekken, I stumbled across Round 1 in the Puente Hills Mall. I have to say that it is the coolest arcade in the greater Los Angeles area. First of all, Round 1 is a Japanese arcade company and we all know that the arcade scene in Japan is light years ahead of America. That alone is nearly enough to make this place legit. It has some cool Japanese games that I have never seen in America. However, that's not all this place has to offer. Round 1 is not just an arcade. It's also a bowling alley, has ping pong tables, karaoke rooms, sticker picture booths, dart boards, and a bar. This place could keep me entertained for hours. Even if this place only had four of these things I could still probably spend a whole day at this place. I spent my time today playing Tekken and a little bit of Street Fighter so I didn't get to take really good look at everything, but the bowling lanes looked like they were taken care of and the place was clean. I know that I'll be definitely heading back again some time in the near future

I'm thinking about playing Magic: The Gathering.

Like all expressions of geek culture, the thought has always lingered in the back of my head. It has now become a real possibility though. My brother currently works for an online toy distributor and they sell cards, so I would get a pretty sweet deal on them. There are also a few guys at my brother's job that play competitively so they could even help me setup a solid deck. The only thing holding me back is that I probably won't have very many people to play against since I don't know anyone who plays. So... is anyone ready to hop on this with me?

I'm accepting the offer with Chungdahm Learning.

I'm a few minutes away from sending in my signed letter accepting the position. I have been thinking it through over the weekend since they are unable to tell me where I will be located until I get there, but I think I will take my chances. I do have my preference down for Seoul and I know that I won't be placed in a rural location since I said that I will not work in one. I think the chances are still pretty high for Seoul. My recruiter told me that my old co-teacher gave me a stellar recommendation [감사합니다 누나], so hopefully they'll take that into account. It also seems like it's worth taking the chances at this point. I know that Chungdahm is a good hagwon chain and that I probably won't run into a better salary offer. So in a few months time, I will be back in Korea, hopefully Seoul.

The first legitimate job offer I got

The Chungdahm Learning Institute has offered me a position with a solid pay rate that starts in February. Now the only thing left to do is make sure that the job is in Seoul and then I'm all set to go back.

Being a customer service representative at Cooking.com

I figured I should probably explain what it is I actually am doing at work nowadays. Cooking.com is one of the largest online retailers of cooking supplies. The site also powers the online stores of other brands, such as the Food Network, Starbucks, Betty Crocker, Kraft, and Pilsbury. There are a few others, but that's what I can list off the top of my head. The office I work at is about 25 miles from my house, so with all the traffic, I spend around two hours a day just commuting to and from work. It's fucking bullshit to be honest, but I gotta get that paper yo.

I spend my entire day in the call center with the rest of customer service. I answer phone calls and respond to emails. The things that customers will email you about are ridiculous sometimes. I had this dude that emailed me today about how much he hates Rachael Ray and how he wanted us to stop endorsing her products. So this is how I spend my days now. It's a little mundane, but a job is a job.

How to lock your iPad screen with iOS 4.2

Apple changing the screen lock switch to a muting switch was a pretty weird decision. I turned off my iPad twice thinking something was just wrong with it. After an irritating few minutes struggling with a screen that kept rotating while I was laying in bed, it turned out to be pretty simple.

1. Double tap the home button to pull up the multitask bar
2. Swipe your finger to the right on the bar
3. The screen lock is that button in the left corner

I hope this saves someone some trouble.

They call me Mario Lopez.

I started training at cooking.com today. I knew how to most of the stuff that we were doing so it was all pretty repetitive, but at least I'm getting paid. It's been two years since I've worked there but there are still a few familiar faces. A lot of the crew that was there when I worked there before actually remembered me but they remembered me by my nickname Mario Lopez. No one could actually remember how I got that nickname. Most likely I made a Saved by the Bell joke or something like that. It sounds like something I would do. I don't really mind the nickname, but since there's another Joseph in the office, more people call me Mario than by my actual name. Oh well, at least I have a job.

As a side note, a dude at training wore leather pants today and I thought that was a pretty bold statement to make on his first day of work.

I just installed iOS 4.2 on my iPad.

I have been waiting for it the whole month and now it's finally here. Now I can finally multitask and organize all my apps into folders. The fact that I couldn't do this before didn't particularly bother me, but now that i have the option it's just so much better. The best part is that I can check my instant messages while writing blog posts and not have to go through the trouble of saving drafts. Another added bonus of the update is the language support so now I can type in Korean on the iPad keyboard instead of having to use an app for it. 아섬!

Tekken makes me angry.

I know it shouldn't, but it does. Xbox Live is free this weekend so I've been playing online against other people. According to my match record, I win only 38.72% of my matches. Even though thats a losing record, it might sound like a lot since I've only been playing the game for four days. However, I've only been playing unranked games so the competition will step up once I do start playing ranked matches. It's just so frustrating losing because I really am working hard on this. I have been spending a lot of time watching videos and working on combos. I'm probably going to buy a joystick in the next week too. The ultimate goal is to dominate the Korean arcade scene under the player ID "The Waygook."

It's Black Friday.

It's 4:30AM and my brother is out standing in the cold with a friend waiting to buy a TV.  It's a little ridiculous when I think about it.  I actually just heard that someone was shot while shopping at the mall near my house.  That shit's fucking crazy.  It makes me a little glad to say that I won't be participating in today's shopping.  I wish I had a good reason like that I think it's an unnecessary and materialistic part of our culture, but I just don't have any money.  If I did have some, I would probably be outside in the cold right now waiting to buy a set of joysticks for Tekken 6.

I've started playing Tekken.

So my buddy B-Wang got me a copy of Tekken 6 yesterday and I decided that I'm going to get good at it. This might sound like something that I just decided, but I actually have been thinking about this for quite a while. I'm not too to the fighting genre. I was really into Street Fighter 3 and I wqqs getting into 4 before I left for Korea, but I never got to spend much time on it. One of the reasons is that Korean arcades never have it. In all the arcades in Incheon, there was only one place that ran Street Fighter 4 and it was a bootleg setup using an xbox 360, two joystick controllers and a makeshift arcade box. I'm not sure why it isn't big since the rest of the world plays Street Fighter, but Korea really is Tekken country. There are tournaments on tv along with Starcraft and every arcade has one or more machines fully equipped with card readers that save your stats. However, whenever I decided to hop on, some other dude would come on and challenge me and beat the shit out of me, so I never got the time to practice. Now that I have it on console, I'll be able to start working on upping my game until I eventually return to Korea. Currently, I'm practicing with Kuma since I think it's funny to play with a big bear. I'm also thinking that I'll be using Hworang as an alternate because I like his play style and he's a Korean Tae Kwon Do master. Anyway, it's going to be while until I'm any good. Tekken is pretty different than Street Fighter. There's a lot more juggling and combos go on forever too. I'm even a little tempted to buy a subscription for Xbox Live just so I can practice against other people.

Long story short, I'm geeking out again.

I am now an employee of Cooking.com.

I just got the call today that they decided to re-hire me at cooking.com. Training sessions start on Monday, which should be a breeze since I've worked there before. So next week I will officially be a customer service representative at one of the largest online retailers of cooking supplies, but more importantly, I will be getting that money yo. I'm not sure how many hours I'll be getting but anything is better than sitting idly at home for hours on end.

I thought I was done writing essays.

So I'm working on a job application for Chungdahm Learning in Korea and I have to write an essay as part of the evaluation.  This will be the first essay that I've written since graduating.  I'm not complaining about having to write one, and I'm not really worried about it either, but the topics they gave me are absolutely ridiculous.  I have to write on one of these:

1. With respect to the nature versus nurture debate, compare and contrast the roles of intrinsic
   and environmental factors in human development.
2. Do you believe that the United Nations still has a significant role to play in world affairs? Support with details and examples.
3. What is the most significant novel of the twentieth century? Justify your answer with specific
   examples.
4. Describe a historical turning point and explore either the causes or the effects of that turning point.
5. Explain and defend your position on euthanasia.

I was really thinking about doing the first topic, but I'm not sure if I'd have enough to talk about.  That's probably the same thing for the second topic too.  Besides, discussing my own views on international relations for a job in another country doesn't seem like an especially good idea to me.  The third topic is the most ridiculous question of the whole list.  How is anyone supposed to really answer that question?  But whatever.  The fifth topic isn't very wholesome, so that leaves me with the fourth.  It's nice that it lets me talk about anything I want, which is a problem on its own.

However, the real point that I'm trying to get to is that I should have finished the essay over the weekend, it's past 4:00AM, and now I'm blogging about writing an essay instead of actually doing it.  Some things never change.

Not to be insensitive or anything...

I mean the threat of North Korea is really something to joke about, especially when the recent attack took someone's life, but it does probably mean that there are going to be less applicants for teaching jobs. That means I'll have an easier time finding a job in a good location.

Stringer Bell is still a badass.

Since I am currently unemployed, I spend a lot of time watching television. I am just finishing up this show Luther on BBC America and I have to say that it is one of the best shows that I've seen the entire year. If you've watched The Wire, then you know that Stringer Bell is one of the best characters in the entire show. The same actor, Idris Elba plays John Luther, a detective that's fucking badass.

I went to a midnight screening of the Harry Potter movie.

There was a shit ton of people there, but I sort of expected that. Anyway, I have to say that it was a pretty good movie. I'm not going to spoil anything on here, but just look out for some side-boob action.

Keeping my fingers crossed.

It looks like my income issues might be solved. I was in pretty bad mood yesterday with the whole tutoring gig not working out, but I got a call back today from cooking.com, where I used to work. I'm trying not to be too optimistic about this, but I have an interview scheduled for tomorrow. If I do get the position, it would be seasonal which works out for me since I'll be leaving in February.

Some good news and some bad news

Good news: My recruiter from the phone interview I had the other day got back to me and I am approved for the second level application process. It should be smooth sailing from here on out. I'm just hoping that they have a good location for me.

Bad news: it looks like I can't take the tutoring job since it starts in January for all the places I can tutor. If I'm leaving in February, then it just doesn't make sense to start a job for one paycheck and then leave.

So, it looks like I'm set for Korea in February but I don't have any income until then. It really sucks because I thought I had this job in the bag.

Farewell, long hair.

I just finished cutting my hair. It's now back down to one inch, which is how long it was before I left for Korea. I'm a little sad that it's gone, but I have orientation tomorrow for my tutoring job so it had to go. Now I can fake looking like a responsible adult.

Hello Kitty chicken!?

A Hello Kitty chicken!? Fucking classic. This is the last one I'm going to post from Small Gift L.A. but you can check out the rest of the photos I took on flickr.

Sanrio Supper

I had a phone interview yesterday.

A recruiting agency for Korea called me today for an over-the-phone interview. I think it went pretty well. There were a few awkward situations though. There was a short role-play part of the interview where she expected me to believe that she was a twelve year old Korean student named Sung-joo that used the word "situation." It also got awkward when I tried to explain that I felt the multiple choice segment of the written assessment wasn't written very well. There were a lot of situational questions with no answers that I would ever say, but oh well. I know for sure that the interview went better than the one I had last year so hopefully things turn out for the best.

Sanrio is celebrating their 50th anniversary in L.A.

In their 50th year, Sanrio is currently having an event in Santa Monica in Hangar 13 and goes on until November 21st. You can check out the actual site here for more details. I just found out about the event yesterday so I went to check it out today. Here’s the map so you sort of get an idea what it’s all about.

The entire thing is aimed at young children, but there’s still a lot of stuff worth checking out. The golf course and the ferris wheel are pretty neat, even though I wasn’t going to get on either. The coolest part though, is the art gallery with Sanrio inspired pieces. I’m working on getting some of those pictures up right now, but you should go check them out for yourselves if you can.

I've been working on a rap about having an English degree.

Heres what I got so far:

I studied English
so I could serve you a life sentence.
I'll put you behind bars
like this is San Quentin's.
You're pretty stupid
and fucking illiterate.
This is my dick
and I'll fill yo' girl with it.
I've studied the greats
like William Wordsworth.
When you listenin' to me
you'll get every word's worth.

I'm still working on it.

Math still fucking sucks.

It turns out that I have to take a few tests for my new job. I just completed two of them for the tutoring position that starts next week. The tests are all done online so I was able to take them from the comfort of my own home. The first test was reading comprehension, which was so ridiculously easy that I had to make sure that I wasn't overlooking some sort of deeper symbolism in the passages. The math test was a little more difficult. I'm not a complete idiot when it comes to math or anything. There was a lot on the test that was easily manageable, but since the tutoring position is for K-12, there was some parts that I had to struggle through. I sort of forgot that some students in high school might be taking calculus. That's a problem since I managed to fail pre-calculus twice in high school, then I took a stats class in community college and never took another math class. I'm also worried that the test was timed. It didn't say anything about it, but I did stop in the middle of it to watch an episode of Law & Order, so I'm desperately joking it wasn't.

The Pacific Media Expo is this weekend.

After ignoring the e-mails they've sent me for the past few months, I just realized that PMX starts tomorrow.  If you're unfamiliar with it, it's an Asian culture convention.  This year it's at the Pasaden Hilton from Friday to Sunday.  I've been before ('07 and '08).  I only remember it because it's one of the conventions that a lot of anime fans go to.  I'm not sure if I'll make it out this year though.  I missed pre-registration rates and now it's $20 for just one day, which is a little much for a man on a budget.  I did miss last year's Anime Expo and I'll be missing the next one, so I might just settle for this convention.  At least it will be a good opportunity to make fun of geek culture.

Man, it's Pepero Day in Korea.

I'm stuck out in America with no Pepero and an empty bag of McDonald's at my feet.  I guess that I'll have to console myself with the fact that I have Thanksgiving around the corner.

My troubles managing a fantasy basketball team

So I joined a fantasy basketball league this season with a few friends.  I'm not a total stranger to fantasy sports.  I've done a few fantasy baseball leagues intermittenly since high school, but I wasn't as into it as I am right now.  I find myself checking stats throughout the day.  I'm doing alright with the horrible draft I had.  My highest ranked player is Rajon Rondo, who I'm okay with since he can win me the assist category singlehandedly.  I really just wish I had a more productive big man.  I'm currently trying to see who I can get for Steve Nash and KG.  Unfortunately, my friend, Laksen is being a HUGE DICK by not giving me Kevin Love for anyone.  That's right, Laksen.  I'm calling you out.

Today's been a good day.

Last week I was woefully unemployed and unsure of what I should be doing. Today, I've successfully secured a part-time job that starts next week and scheduled a phone interview with a Korean job recruiter later this week. It's a hour load off my mind knowing that I'll be having some income to hold me over until I leave for Korea. The only bad part about all this is that I have to cut the 'fro, but I guess that I need to look like a responsible adult at some point.

Justin Beiber hates Koreans.

I can't believe that I'm so late on hearing this, but apparently this fact was established back in July. Here's how:

1. Justin Beiber made a poll on his website asking his fans which country he should tour next.
2. North Korea won the poll.
3. Justin Beiber didn't tour North Korea because he hates Koreans.

Man, I love the Internet.

Some more real talk.

So it turns out that I won't be headed back to Korea until February with the next EPIK class. It was pretty tough decision, but i can't sit around waiting for a job. I'm currently looking for work here on the States to hold me over until then. This isn't what I originally planned on, but it does seem like the best possible situation for me right now. There is still an off chance that I might be headed for Korea before 2011 if one of the recruiters I talked to gets back to me before then, but right now, this is what it's looking like.

Only victors are allowed to author history.

Let it be recorded in the annals of history, that on this day, November 6th in the year 2010, Joseph Gutierrez has defeated his younger brother, Christopher Gutierrez at Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Some real talk.

As of today, I have been in America two whole months. I have really enjoyed my time here but I desperately need to get back to work. I also just miss Korea. I didn't intend to be back in America so long, or at least not this long without a job lined up. I really have been trying to get a job though. Now that it has been so long without any real success applying for hagwon jobs, I'm considering just coming into Seoul in February with EPIK. I have to decide pretty soon because if I do end up doing that, I can take a job here in America while they're still hiring for the Christmas season. It's a real possibility that I could go back to my old job for the season, so I have to really consider the option. The only problem is that is that I have to decide what I'm going to do really soon before the spot is filled. I'll probably give it to the middle of next week to see what pans out.

The McRib is back!

I saw the sign on the side of a bus while driving.  I haven't had one yet, but you can expect me to tell you about how I ate one by the end of this week.  It's things like this that make me proud to be an American.

A Korean drama from the Philippines!?

I stumbled across this while my mom was watching the Filipino Channel.  It's not really a Korean drama, it's a Filipino drama (which are just as cheesy).  The whole centers on Korean nationals in the Philippines.  Here's a bit from the series's Wiki:

The story of Koreana begins twenty years ago when Nerissa (Angelu de Leon), a Filipina caregiver falls in love with Philip (Marco Morales), a wealthy Korean national based in the Philippines. Defying conventional Korean standards, their relationship earns the ire of Chang Hee Jung (Eddie Garcia), Philip’s father who strongly resents his son’ decision of falling in love with a non-Korean.

Philip and Nerissa will soon bear a child causing Chang Hee Jung to set aside his misgivings, and to open his home to Philip and his family. But their happiness will be cut short as Violeta (Eula Valdez) Chang Hee Jung’s adoptive Filipina daughter, sets off an evil scheme against Nerissa. She will be thrown out of the house but secretly takes her baby with her.

To add on to her misery, Nerissa will be separated from her daughter after being involved in an unpleasant bus incident. The baby ends up in the arms of Josefina (Lotlot de Leon), an old maid who works as a cashier in a local beer club. Believing that the mother has already abandoned the child, Josefina takes her home, and names her Jenna (Kris Bernal).

Jenna, despite being raised in an unconventional neighborhood, grows up to be a sensible and cheerful young woman. Aware of her Korean heritage, she acquaints herself with all things Korean, particularly their cuisine. And while in the midst of fulfilling her dream of becoming a chef, she unexpectedly ends up in a Korean restaurant, unaware that the place she works for is actually owned by Chang Hee Jung.

After twenty years of living an incomplete life, how will Jenna unmask the secrets concealing her true identity? How will she take back what is rightfully hers? Will she end up neglecting her roots or embracing it all the more?

I'm not sure if I'll actually follow the series.  It sounds like they could be touching on some pretty heavy stuff with the different cultures and all that.  It'd also be interesting to see how Filipinos view and portray Koreans, but  I'll proably just end up asking my mom about it since she watches every drama out of the Philippines.

I just watched episode one and two of Stairway to Heaven.

So I decided to watch this Korean drama because it was recommended to me and it's one of the top rated dramas on crunchyroll. Since this is only the second drama I've gotten into, I really don't have much to compare it to. I can tell that it's been some time since the drama originally aired. The video quality, the way the characters dress, and the way Korea looks in the background all give it away. I sort of like it. Another thing i can tell from the first two episodes is that it's the entire series is going to be SAD AS FUCK. Coffee Prince was a little dramatic at some points, but it was pretty lighthearted, at least for the first two episodes. It definitely wasn't anything like this though. Seriously, SAD AS FUCK. I like it though. It's more along the lines of what I previously imagined k-dramas to be like. Anyway, I probably won't take as long to finish this series since I have a lot more free time on my hands now. I also made this contract with myself where I apply for two jobs in Korea before starting an episode. If I stick with it, I should have twenty applications sent in before the end of the week.

So the Giants won the World Series.

Everyone knows this by now. However, what you guys might not know is that the SK Wyverns of Incheon, my favorite Korean baseball team won Korean championship this year.

I'm not a huge fan of the Giants or anything, but I don't hate them. I actually like Tim Lincecum, so I'm glad he won it. He just seems like a guy I could be friends with. I bet that my mom is going to hear about it on the Filipino Channel since they've been hyping up the fact that Lincecum is part Filipino.

It's Monday.

Now it's time to start hitting the job boards again.  I really have been looking for a job back in Korea and so far no luck.  I have a good feeling about this week though.  Let's hope that everything works out.

Law & Order: UK is pretty cool.

I've mentioned Law & Order: Los Angeles a few times and I really have been enjoying it for what it is.  However, I also just discovered Law & Order: UK on BBC America and I have to say that I like it a little better than the L.A. iteration.  It follows the same formula as the original L&O, with the first half of the show focusing on the detectives and the second half on the prosecution.  It even has the same speech at the start of the show except "district attorneys" is changed to "Crown Prosecutors."  There are a few differences though:

• Them English sure do talk funny.  Just kidding.  The show is easy to follow but the slang is a little tough to follow sometimes.  It's only bad when they're talking to hoodlums and hookers on the street.
• Apparently, Crown Prosecutors and Judges wear powdered wigs during their court proceedings.  I found this extremely funny.
• In the original, a recurring theme was Jack McCoy's liberal streak and how far he would take it.  In UK, it focuses a little more on how the prosecutor is torn up about his work, a little like the detectives on SVU.
• There's less science on the show.  I'm not sure if it's because CSI isn't popular in the UK or not, but there's just less of it.  There's also not a regular coroner either, so that might be part of it.
• I've also noticed that there are less guns on the show, which makes sense, but it's still interesting.  I've seen five episodes now and there's only been a gun that I've seen.  There hasn't been any looking for the gun, ballistic tests, gun shot residue tests, or finding where the shooter was standing.  It's a little weird.

All in all, I really like the show.  I've been looking it up on Wikipedia right now and it looks like I should try to see if I can illegally acquire this somehow.  Just kidding.  I pay for all the shit I watch.

2NE1's video for the song "It Hurts."

2NE1’s been pretty busy lately.  All the stuff that they’ve uploaded on youtube dominates my subscription page.  Anyway, the song and video take it in an entirely different direction.  The song is whatever, but at least the look is interesting.

I went clubbing in Hollywood last night.

I've spent my whole day playing video games while nursing a hangover. I was never really one for clubbing. It's just too expensive for me to do in L.A. regularly, but I did go fairly often in Korea. I figured I should at least go once while I'm back. I got pretty shitty, so it was a fun night even though my memory is a little hazy.

Costco wins every time.

I'm a huge fan of the Costco chicken bake. I remember the first time that I went to a Costco in Seoul that I damn near lost my mind when I discovered that they had a bulgogi bake in addition to the wonderful masterpiece that is the chicken bake. This Koreanized version of the chicken bake was so delicious that I ordered one every opportunity I had in Korea. Now imagine me today, standing in line at the Costco in my town and discovering that they now had a carne asada bake for sale. I couldn't even bring myself to order one because I wasn't able to prepare myself for the deliciousness that would ensue. I also did not have a camera with me, which would have been necessary to document the monumentous event. It probably won't be until next week that I will be able to bring myself to order one.

I just finished watching Coffee Prince.

I started watching the series a while ago and I'm surprised that it actually took me so long to finish. Usually when I decide to watch something, I marathon the whole thing. I didn't think the series was boring or anything, I just got caught up in doing random shit. Overall, I really enjoyed it. I think it was a good show to watch for my first Korean drama. The premise was a little strange but it wasn't anything too weird. I actually kept thinking about Ouran High School Host Club (an anime) the entire time I was watching it. Now that it's over though, I'm left with a small little void inside of me that needs to be filled with another Korean drama. The only problem is that there are so many to choose from that I don't know where to start.

Who I'm excited to see the most this NBA season:

I like sports, but I'm not a huge fan.  I won't be able to tell you a team's history or anything.  I'm from L.A. though, and basketball is sort of a huge deal here.  There's been a lot of hype leading up to this season [even just on my facebook news feed].  Anyway, here's who I'm looking forward to this season, not because of what they're going to do on the court, but just because:

• Ron Artest because he's absolutely ridiculous.
• Yao Ming.  He really seems like a nice dude and I like hearing him speak.
• Charles Barkley.  One of the funniest sports commentators of all time.
• Lamar Odom because he's probably one of the funniest guys in the NBA.
• DJ Mbenga.  Congo Cash has left the Lakers, but he'll always be one to me.

The job search has been frustrating.

I've been asked a few times when I'm headed back to Korea and all I can really say is that I'm currently looking for a job. Ideally, I'd like to be back before Thanksgiving. I know that I am enjoying my time here at home, but I really have been applying for work. Last week I sent in nine applications and I haven't heard back from any of them. Hopefully it all works out at some point.

Chae Jung-Ahn

This is my new Korean crush. You’ll probably recognize her if you’ve watched Coffee Prince since she played Han Yoo-Joo. It’s taken me forever to finish watching the damn drama, but I have three more episodes left and I’ll get to them sometime this week.

An update for those of you who knew him,

I just picked up Sid at the airport and he's now at my house.

The Jersey Shore finale is tonight.

It's been a good run. I have to say that I enjoyed this season just as much as the first. Bringing Angelina back was a good choice because it brought so much drama to the house. I haven't really been following the news thats going on outside of the show like I did during the first, so I don't rally know what to expect for the next season, but with all the GTL in the first and the t-shirt times in the second, it can't possibly go wrong.

Possible mottos for when I become a professional gamer:

• I live my life one mouse click at a time.
• I'm always 54 key strokes away from victory.
• I can beat you faster than a Zerg rush.
• I'll sign your mousepad.
• The Kobe of keyboards
• GAME OVER [I've also considered getting this tattooed on my knuckles]
• You might as well just alt+F4.

My pictures from the Philippines on flickr

You can check them out here. I'll get to the pictures from Tokyo some time later this week.

Applying for jobs is harder than work.

It might appear that I'm just enjoying my time here in California, but I really am trying to find a job back in Korea. Each time I spend money, I get a little more desperate. This past weekend I wrote two cover letters and redrafted my resume four times for different jobs. I even took a picture to send in with my applications with my hair tied back in an effort to make it look shorter so I can appear more professional. If I don't get a response soon, I might just stress myself to death.

Friendship on the Fields of Justice

I've been playing League of Legends all day, nothing is really different about that.  However, today I played a few games with my friend Carmine, who I met in Korea and is now living in Canada.  It's jtouching that through the miracles of Internet gaming, we can still be friends. 

I'm cursed.

I cracked the screen on my phone. It's not a huge deal because it was a twenty dollar phone that I got from Wal-Mart, but I have gone through phones like nobody's business this past year. If I get another phone then it will be the fifth phone I will be using in a twelve month period. I really should be more careful with my shit.

88 King's Donuts and Chinese Food

I enjoy greasy Chinese take-out more than I should. I know that it is bad for me but I can't resist the black pepper chicken at this place. I grew up eating here and I have been ordering the same meal for as long as I can remember. To giver you a better picture of this place, I feel like I should describe a little more what it's like. It's a small dingy place on the corner. I guess that I have to include that it's a Chinese place in a Korean plaza that is in a Mexican neighborhood, which makes it sort of an anomaly. It's frequented a lot by me and people from the neighborhood. If you pass by it on a weekday morning, you're likely to see a few Mexicans standing around outside looking for work. Like every other Asian run business in my neighborhood, there are metal bars over the windows. Inside the place you would find the regular counter with Chinese food sitting on top under heat lamps. There are a few extra additions to this place though. For one thing, they sell donuts. Since I have been going to this place my whole life, I know that one should never eat the donuts. They also sell ice cream, which is alright to consume. What you might not see in other Chinese food places are lottery tickets and cigarettes for sale. Not surprisingly, I have never been asked for an ID when purchasing either. Usually there are only two people working in the front. It is always two of these three people:

1. The old Chinese man who always nods when I walk in the door. He doesn't usually say much, he only looks as if he has been carrying the weight of the world on his back for his entire life.
2. The old man's wife who is always nice to me. She sometimes asks how my mom is doing. Apparently my mom came to America from the Philippines the same year that she got here.
3. The younger woman who works there. As far as I can tell, she is not there daughter but may be some relative. She is probably the same age as me or a little older but she speaks the most English. I like it when she takes my order because she knows exactly what I want. She's the only one who's realized that I only order the same thing every time I go.

There is also one or more cooks in the back, but I have never seen them. They're Mexican though and I only know this because I can hear the music they play on their radio. You might be questioning why I'm taking the time to write all this down. I'm also wondering the same thing, but I feel a sense of closeness to this place that I have only realized since I have been back home. As far as I can tell, there will be at least a few more black pepper chicken combos in my future.

It's a constant struggle.

In her old age, my mom's only two joys are not my brother and me, but the Filipino Channel and computer solitaire. This doesn't bother me one bit, but since the big screen TV in the living room is currently not working, it means that the prime real estate in the house is now my brother's room, where one can enjoy cable TV while sitting at a computer desk. I particularly enjoy this spot because I can indulge in internet browsing and daytime Law & Order marathons. So now my brother's room has become a heated battlefield while my brother is at work/school in the day between my mom and me. My mom is surprisingly sneaky. When I get up to use the bathroom she will sneak in and firmly plant herself in the computer chair. Since I enjoy computer games myself, I know that it's pointless to interrupt someone when they're in the middle of a game, so once those cards are dealt on the screen there's no moving her until the game is done. If I miss that window where she completes a game and starts another one, then I'll be stuck with my iPad and now television for hours. I'm fairly sneaky myself, so sometimes when I want to use the computer, I'll call the house from my cell phone and when she gets up to answer it, I'll take over the computer. I'm able to defend the position for a while by telling her that I'm applying for jobs, which I actually do sometimes. However, my mom is a hardened veteran of subtle mind games so I always have to be on the lookout.

It's been another day of doing nothing.

Yesterday I made all these plans how to spend today. I was going to go to Venice Beach and take a few pictures, visit UCLA, and then go shopping for a bit. None of that happened though. Instead, I took a nap. The only time I left the house today was to get a pizza and the only picture I took today was when I accidentally pressed the shutter button while uploading pictures to my computer. I should probably apply for a few jobs before I eat dinner or else this day is going to be a completely wasted.

I bought a tripod.

I went to the L.A. camera swap meet in Pasadena today and bought myself a tripod. If you don't know about it, it's a monthly event where people come to buy and sell camera goods, from vintage cameras to used dSLRs. I spent less than what I expected to for my tripod, so I would say that the trip was a success. I was tempted to buy a sweet camera bag but I managed to control myself. It's going to take some practice working with the tripod, but it will come together at some point. A more immediate effect of this purchase though, is that I'll probably do a bit more video blogging since it will be easier rigging up my camera. I might record a conversation with my mom or something. That would be hilarious.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab

Samsung was one of the major sponsors for the World Cyber Games this past weekend. At their display booth they had their competitor for the iPad, the Samsung Galaxy Tab, out to use. It was a little sad because I knew more about the product than the woman who was working the display. However, from the five minutes I had to play with the device, I thought it was a pretty solid product. The cameras weren’t as good as I thought they’d be, but hell, it’s not like the iPad has any. What the picture doesn’t show, is how small it is. I can hold it comfortably in one hand. I guess we’ll all just have to wait and see how well it does.

I'm such a grown-up nowadays.

I just got back from meeting a friend of a friend. I wanted to meet her because she's currently in the graduate program that I'm interested in at Cal State Long Beach, so she answered a few of my questions. That's what's fucking crazy though. The me from two years ago could have never imagined discussing grad schools over a cup of coffee with someone. I was too busy playing video games and avoiding writing essays. There are a lot of times when I don't feel like an adult though, like when I ate a frozen pizza and some candy for breakfast today. I guess some things never change.

My thoughts on the iPad after one month

It's now been over a month since I bought the 32GB wi-fi iPad that I'm currently writing this blog post with. Having used it on a daily basis since then, I have to admit that I actually love the device. I currently have 106 apps on my iPad. About a third of them are silly games, three apps are for books, about twenty for media, a few blogging apps, six for photos (editing, uploading, and management), and the rest are random utilities like calculators, weather, and navigation.

The iPad has changed the way I use the Internet, but it hasn't revolutionized anything. However, what it has done, is made content a lot more accessible, which I think is the real point of the iPad. Sure, I still use a desktop computer for a lot of things, like real PC gaming and more complex photo editing, but I do pretty much everything else while sitting on the couch with my iPad.

I'm well aware of all the criticisms of the iPad like, "It's a big iPod," or that there's no flash support, and I have to admit that those are all valid. For me though, I have only encountered the flash issue a handful of times. this whole month. There is a lot of truth in saying that the iPad is a lot like the iPod touch or an iPhone. I can definitely see that and I would have had a hard time justifying my purchase if I owned either of those, but I don't so it works out for me. However, there are a few things that I can only see myself doing on an iPad and not one of the smaller devices, like reading books for longer periods of time or just browsing the Internet as much as I do.

Now if you were to ask me if I would recommend the iPad or any other tablet to someone else, my answer would vary, because even though I love it, I know it's not for everyone. If you were looking for something to replace a desktop PC, then it's not really what you're looking for. There are a lot of things that I know that I wouldn't be able to do on my iPad that I could do on a desktop or even a high end laptop. If you were considering purchasing an iPad, I would wait for a bit. As of now, the only thing on the market worth purchasing is the iPad, but in a few months time, there are going to be a few competitors. The Samsung tablet is one that I can think of off the top of my head and Blackberry just announced theirs last week, let alone the second generation of the iPad is still floating up in the air.

I know that in a year or so, I'll probably be purchasing my second tablet and giving this one to my mom. I'm not sure if it'll be the second gen iPad, but for now, I'll be enjoying the one I have now.

The World Cyber Games

So the World Cyber Games finished yesterday. I only attended day 2, but I followed a lot of the matches in the tournaments. A lot of the events turned out the way I thought they would, like America winning Guitar Hero. However, there were a few major surprises, like Jae Dong losing to flash in the Starcraft semi-finals and China not even taking a medal in Warcraft III.

There aren’t any surprises in what e-sports athletes look like, though.

I shot guns yesterday.

I feel so American.

It must be something I ate.

A carnitas burrito foam Chipotle

It's like all the pictures I take are of street art and food.

I've been productive today.

It surprised me how much I did today, here's a list:

• I woke up really early today.  I was out of the house at 1PM.
• Before leaving the house, I only limited myself to playing one game of League of Legends
• Oent to the bank.
• Opened a new account at CItibank because they're all over Korea.
• Visited my grandparents
• Then I checked out a used camera store to see if they had any tripods.

Now I'm relaxing and watching Law and Order: Los Angeles.

Law and Order: Los Angeles premieres tomorrow.

I've been seeing the hype for this on TV since I've been back and I'm really excited for this. For one thing, I am a huge L&O fan. I even own some box sets. There's also the fact that it's set in LA, which I think will have it's own unique effect on the show. However, I can totally see this going really bad, but hopefully Terrence Howard will be enough to save the show.

The OC Japan Fair

The fair was interesting but not overwhelming. It was held at Orange County Grand Park, which I thought was a weird location to have it since a lot of it is still under development, but they did have a lot of open space for it. The sad thing was though, that since it was outdoors, there was no way to avoid the relentless heat except by hiding in the shade. The only reason I say it wasn't overwhelming is because there wasn't a lot to do.

Probably the most interesting thing was watching them make takoyaki.

There were a few shows on the stage though, a kimono fashion show, some girls dressed in maid outfits, the UCI taiko drum team, and some no-name hip-hop artist. The most entertaining was probably the cosplay contest.

I'm sure they looked crazy to everyone who was unfamiliar with the concept, especially the American flag part.

I spent most of my time taking photos and finding secluded spots of shade to smoke cigarettes in, but my admission was free because I had a flyer, so I can't complain. Check out my flickr if you want to see some of the other photos I took.

I'm enjoying life without responsiblities.

I currently don't have any obligations, so life has been pretty great lately.  Here's what I did today:

• Woke up at 4:00 PM
• Played a game of League of Legends
• Grabbed Jack-in-the-Box
• Played more League of Legends
• Messed around on my iPad
• Read a lot of shit
• Napped

It's sad that "looking for a job" wasn't on that list, but I'll get around to it.

The Loneliest Samurai

There were quite a few cosplayers at the OC Japan Fair.

It's pretty easy to forget how strange anime fans can get until something like this violently reminds you. I'm not making fun of the culture or anything. I'm a big enough nerd as it is, having started my own anime club at my junior college and having cosplayed before.

Glow

I went down to Santa Monica last night to check out the Glow event. It was crazy how many people were there.

Take that 7-11.

The other day I was carded for buying cigarettes. This hasn't happened in a long time, so I was actually surprised by it. What makes it worse though, is that I didn't have my ID with me because my friend accidentally took it the day before. Shamed, I walked out of the place without my cigarettes mumbling that I would be back.

Of course, I did not admit defeat. I walked back into the same 7-11 half an hour later, after driving out of my way, just to show the clerk my passport. She couldn't find my birthdate on it, so I pointed it out to her and said that I was 23. For good measure, I even stated that I could have bought a beer if I wanted to.

Technology these days.

I was just sitting around and my mom asked me if I was doing anything. I told her that I was going to buy a book. About thirty minutes later my mom told me that I should stop being lazy and go buy my book already. Then I had one of those moments how crazy technology is now, because it took me twenty minutes to explain to her that I ordered a digital ebook for my iPad and that I was already reading the book. I'm entirely sure that my mom still doesn't quite understand what my iPad is. I have this feeling that she thinks that it's a video game device, but I can never quite tell with my mom.

Sandara Park posted this on her me2day.  Our wedding is some time in July.

I bought a new camera.

I bought a Holga the other day. Since I spend all my money on beer and cigarettes, I wasn’t able to afford the Canon flash that I wanted to buy, so I bought this instead. I got an alright deal and I even bought an external flash attachment for it just for kicks. I’ll be trying it out this weekend and see what comes out. Hopefully I can get my hands on a scanner at some point.

I'm testing out blogpress.

I just downloaded this app for my iPad. It let's me post to all the different blog services I'm on. So far, it seems really useful. The interface is a little confusing, but I'll figure it out. So if anything weird shows up on. My blog, just know that I'm trying to figure this all out.

My mom's not capable of making many facial expressions, but this is her most common one, displeased.  She'll probably make this face when I tell her that I've posted pictures of her on the Internet.

My body aches.

I took my bike out for the first time since I've been back yesterday.  It was a little strange being back on my fixed gear after a whole year on a steel road bike.  I also road about 16 miles yesterday, so I'm sore as fuck.  Sixteen miles isn't actually a lot, but it's more than I did in an entire month back in Korea, since I only road my bike to pick up groceries and go to ping pong lessons.  I also have a new pedal setup now.  I bought some new straps in Korea before I left and I put on some BMX pedals, which is working out really nice.  I'll probably squeeze in more riding before I go back to Korea.

BoA's Copy & Paste teaser

The actual video comes out in a few days.  It's so exciting.

CL is such a badass.

Gettin' down to business.

It's been two and a half weeks and I haven't really been looking to hard for a job, but it's about time that I get cracking.  I've started gathering all the documents I need for the job.  I just need to get everything apostilled and all that.  Now all I need is someplace to hire me.

To my confused friend Robert,

I hope that one day you will put down that cross of ignorance, which is a hard cross to bear for the rest of your life, and that you will let go of your misguided notions about whipped cream.

Your friend,

Joseph Gutierrez

The Top 10 Reasons Why I Love the Jersey Shore Season 2

I've been busy these past few weeks so I haven't been able to sit down and watch anything, but I just caught up with all the episodes of the Jersey Shore and I'm still going to have to say that it's the greatest reality TV show on air right now.  I think season 2 is just as good as the first, maybe even a ltitle better, so here's ten reasons why I love this season:

1. Angelina.  At first, I wasn't really sure why they brought her back for a second season, but it's great that they did.  In season one, we didn't really get a chance to see just how crazy she is, but now that she's here and here to stay, FUCKING RIDICULOUS.
2. There's so much in-house drama.  I feel like last season there wasn't as much conflict within the house.  There was just a lot of talk for the first few episodes how crazy Snooki was and the shit between Ronny, Sammie, and Mike.  This time there's just so much shit happening with everyone.
3. "I have the best blow-out in the nation." -Pauly D
4. There's a camera placed right at the mirror.  Every clip where it shows someone looking themselves at the mirror is fucking hilarious, whether it's Mike looking at himself, Pauly D fixing his hair, or J-Woww fixing her boobs.
5. Vinny.  To be honest, he was my favorite character in the first season.  He was down-to-earth and seemed like a guy I can actually get along with.  None of that has really changed, except now he's just doing more shit in the show.
6. Snooki is still bat-shit crazy.  I'm glad to see that nothing's changed.
7. Mike always pulls up his shirt in a club, girls start feeling his abs, and then he turns and looks at the camera.  This happens every episode, guaranteed.
8. It's in Miami.  It might be because I'm from California and I'm not that familiar with the actual Jersey Shore, but I've seen enough of CSI: Miami that the location speaks to me.
9. Ronny and Sammi's relationship is still so frustrating.  I thought I was really going to be tired of all their dumb shit this season, but I just can't stop watching it.  It's also the driving force of the rest of the drama of the show.
10. It's reality television at its best.  I'll stand by this statement if you want to believe me or not.

The tables have turned.

I was sitting down using the computer and my mom just walked into the room asking for $20 so she can go and watch the movies.  The crazy part is, that my mom can't drive, so I had to ask her who she was going with, how she was getting there, and what time she was coming back.  That's just ridiculous.  Of course, being the wonderfully unemployed son that I am, I was unable to give her $20.

MAJOR NEWS FLASH.

If you saw me in Korea before I left, you must have noticed my ridiculous hair.  What you might not have known, was that I was growing it out for a purpose.  This plot was devised before I even stepped onto the plane at LAX.  The plan was to grow out my hair for an entire year and then when I came back to America, I would get a perm.  Now, I am proud to admit, that the I went into Salon 25 yesterday and got it done.

I didn't get my hair straightened, like someone ridiculously suggested when I came back from Korea.  I now have an afro-like mass of curls sitting on the top of my head.  It's fucking badass.  I'll post pictures of it soon.

The Gutierrez house has Internet again.

The new modem arrived today and I can finally feel like I'm alive again.  It's nice because I was actually expecting it to come tomorrow.  Having no Internet though, has sort of been a nice change of pace.  I managed to get a lot of reading done.  I actually finished a novel this morning because I was so bored, but that's actually nothing compared to the tons of useless shit that I consume while I'm in front of a computer screen.

Pechanga Resort & Casino

I don't go to Indian casinos very often.  Actually, I haven't even been to one since I've turned 21.  When I went to community college though, and Vegas was out of the question, I usually went to Casino Morongo, so this was actually my first time at Pechanga, even though it's closer to my house.

Anyway, I didn't lose too much money yesterday, only $30.  I first went in and started playing dollar slots.  I play dollar slots because I'm a baller.  I somehow lost $70 after doing that shit for half an hour.  I then started playing roulette, which I actually like playing.  You have a lot of chips when you play, it's random and doesn't require you to know anything like blackjack, and it's fun watching the wheel spin.  Even though it's all chance, I usually do well at roulette.  I did well enough to win all my money back.  I was lucked out a few times because I forgot some of my chips were still on the table and I ended up winning on those.  TI played a little more because I figured going home with the same amount of money in my wallet would be pretty boring.

I should probably spend more time looking for a job then wasting money though.  Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiet.

Celebratin'

Since I've been here a week now, it's about time I do something crazy, so I'm heading to an Indian Casino.  Hopefully I don't lose tonight.

The simple joys of driving.

I've really enjoyed public transportation in Korea.  It's easy to use, efficient, and cheap.  However, I really have missed just being behind the wheel.  I didn't think that I'd enjoy it so much when I got back home.  It's nice being able to turn on the a/c whenever I want, listen to the radio, and get to places on my own terms.  Plus, driving makes me feel like I'm really in L.A.

I've been a bum.

Since I've been back, I've been spending most of my time on my iPad, playing computer games, and eating.  It's been pretty fucking awesome.  My sleep pattern is still off.  It's probably not jetlag, but just some weird shit about me taking naps every few hours.  I feel like I should be doing something more exciting though, since my time here is limited.  However, I don't have a car, my friends all have work/school, and I don't even have anyone's phone number, so I've been pretty isolated.  Hell, I don't even have pedals for my bike right now so that's even out of the question.  The weekend's coming up, so hopefully I'll be doing something worthwhile.

Find me on Flickr!

I guess you don't have to look to hard.  Here's the link: my photostream.

I’ve finally decided to cough up the $25 to pay for the damn pro account.  I know it’s lacking content right now, but I have a ton of photos that I’ll be putting up over the next week.

For Joseph Teacher

For their video projects, a class of sixth graders broke up into groups and made me good-bye videos, even their homeroom teacher made one.  They put all the videos onto one disk and I seriously teared up while watching them.  WHY IS IT SO HARD TO SAY GOOD-BYE!?

I've started watching Korean dramas.

Since I couldn't sleep yesterday, I was watching anime on my iPad on the crunchyroll app.  Then I realized that there was a ton of Korean dramas on there that I should probably started watching, so now I'm halfway through Coffee Prince.  I've been meaning to get into them for a while now.  I just never got around to downloading them.  Knowing me, I'll probably be spending the next week of my life in my room watching this shit.

Familiar faces and places

I could write a long and touching spiel about how nice it's been to see all my friends and how I've come to really appreciate what "home" is, but that just isn't my style.  Instead I'm going to tell you how I went to mother fucking Chipotle yesterday and ate a mother fucking carnitas burrito.  I also went to Wal-Mart and bought some fucking crazy American shit. 

I saw some crazy shit at the airport.

I know that I've been in Korea a long time because when I got home, there was a ton of normal shit that I thought was crazy:

• I saw three guys talking to each other.  Two of them were Asian and they were speaking fluent English.
• The third guy in that conversation was black.
• Mexicans.
• When I went through immigration at the airport I was able to use the line that said, "citizen."
• Someone cleaning the restroom.

It's good to be home.

I took some pictures in Hongdae before I left.

Creepy

These statues are in my backyard, which probably has the oddest assortment of items.

Incheon Korean Music Wave

I'm actually really mad that I missed this concert.  It's especially frustrating because the concert was 10 minutes from where I lived, but I was too busy moving all my stuff and leaving Korea to attend.  Anyway, allkpop.com collected all the videos from the concert, so I'm watching them all right now.

I'm back in America.

After a long and tiring journey, I'm finally home.  I've already had a bacon ultimate cheeseburger combo from Jack-in-the-Box.  After a nap, I'm going to head out and buy my iPad.  Man, it's just good to be home.

Why I'm buying an iPad

I decided to buy the iPad last week.  It's probably one of the first things that I'm going to do when I get back to America.  I'm actually really excited to be getting one, but I'm sure that a ton of people are going to ask me why I'm getting one now, so here's a list:

• I need a new device.  The netbook I've been using the past year belonged to my school so I had to give that back.  Also, the laptop I actually do own is getting on in years.
• I think it's really cool.  Touch screens and all that.  It's the future, man.
• The iPad is sort of limited in what it can do, but it does everything I need it to.  All I ever do on a computer is log on to facebook, google dumb shit, and blog.
• I'm coming back to Korea and I can't wait for the 2nd generation.  If I was going to be staying back in the U.S., I would totally wait.  That's just being a smart consumer.  However, since Apple products take forever to come to Korea, I'll have to make do.
• None of the competitors have really made a big splash yet.  Sure, there are going to be ones that are going to come out later this year and 2011 that will be worth talking about, but it's going to be too long until they hit Korea, if they ever do.
• Wi-fi is going to be everywhere in Korea.  It's true.  I even read in an article that KT is supposed to be installing wi-bro egg devices in the subway cars.
• There are all these cool apps.  I even started making a list of apps that I'm going to download once I get it.  A lot of apps on the list are games, but there's some cool and useful shit like a learn Korean app.

So, that's how it is.  There's probably a few more that I can't think of at the moment, but this is the jist of it.

I'm in Seoul for the next few days.

Since I had to move out my apartment on Thursday, I moved all my stuff to my friend Alex's house in Hongdae.  It's been a lot of back and forth between Incheon because I've been taking care of some stuff but I'm finished now, so I'm just going sit back and relax for the next few days.  I might do some sight seeing and probably a bit of shopping.  I should probably buy a few souvenirs or something before I go back home on Friday.

My last post from Hyundai Officetel.

The new English teacher is supposed to move in at 5:00, so I'm technically not supposed to be here, but I left some of my stuff here and I still have the key, so whatever.  It's a little sad that I'm leaving.  The room looks so barren with all my shit gone.  Despite how small it is, the lack of hot water in the winter, and the strange smell that comes from the kitchen cabinet sometimes, this was still home for the past year and I'm going to miss it.

Packing is hard.

Really, it's tough.  I've picked up so much random shit this year that there's nowhere to put it.  There's a lot of I'll probably never use again and should probably just throw away [when will I need a horse mask again?], but I just can't put them in the trash.  It's like I'd be throwing away memories.

Also, I dropped a small mirror and it shattered.  I'm not one for superstition, but as I was taking out the trash bag it was in, I cut my leg on a piece of it that was poking through the bag.  Then some of the blood ended up on a white dress shirt.  Goddammit.

Five things I probably shouldn't have done this year as a teacher

1. Accidentally cuss in front of my students.  I've done this a few times.  The worst time I did it was when a kid ran into me from behind while I was looking at him and I ended up hitting my head against the wall.  I yelled, "Fuck."  Then I turned around and said, "You better fucking quit that shit."  I did it all without thinking.  Luckily, I said it fast enough that the kid didn't understand.  I got caught once typing out Korean cuss words on my computer though.  I was spelling them for practice and one of the students walked by and made a big deal of it.  That time, I was lucky that none of my co-teachers were in the office.
2. Play favorites.  I know that I shouldn't, but it's just too easy.
3. Mess with my kids' stuff.  Usually, I'm all up in their things.  Pencil cases, notebooks, sometimes backpacks.  It's always interesting to see what they have and mess with their stuff.  My school has a digital class.  The entire class uses laptops and e-books instead of textbooks.  Each student has their own laptop.  One time they went to go do a health check-up or something and they left their computers on their desk.  I went on all their computers, taking pictures of myself on their webcams and then putting that picture as their desktop background.
4. Chase the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders around the school.  I let them chase me sometimes.  I usually surprise them with how quick I am.  Anyway, I shouldn't do this because one time I was chasing this girl and she ran into a desk and proceeded to start crying.
5. Teach my students weird things to say in English.  I don't particularly feel bad about this.  Teaching Min Seok "ballin" was probably one of the greatest things I've done as a teacher.  I do feel a little guilty about teaching a lot of the third graders the sentence, "I like Joseph-teacher better," though.

It's my last day at work.

It's a sad day, really.  I don't have any classes today so I've been walking around just hugging kids and saying good-bye.  I've also been taking care of some shit that needs to be done, like cleaning my desk out.  I'm really going to miss my desk.  I've spent a lot of time at it and all that.  I've moved all my files over to an external harddrive.  I'm also going to clear out the browser history and delete all my shit when I'm finished.  The next English teacher doesn't need to know that I spent a lot of my time looking up k-pop lyrics, playing Super Nintendo games, and all the random shit I've googled.  I should probably change the 2NE1 screen saver to something else too.  When I'm finished cleaning up the computer, I'm only going to leave my best powerpoints.  I'll let my replacement think that I'm a good employee or something.

Longshan Temple

Doing normal shit makes me feel accomplished.

Today I did a bunch of random stuff that I need to take care of before I move out.  I had to go get my pension, take some things to the dry cleaner, and buy a bunch of random shit.  It's not that I just do these things and I feel good about myself, but it's that I do these all and speak to everyone in Korean.  I was able to ask for where shit was, get to places, read signs, and tell people when I needed shit done by.  I remember when I got here, doing all this would have been a major hassle.  Even though it's been a year and I feel like I could have studied a lot more, it just feels good to know that I've accomplished something, no matter how small, in terms of speaking this language.

I learned about my replacement.

Yesterday when I went into work my co-teacher told me about the new English teacher that's taking my position.  From what I learned the new teacher is going to be a woman, which is what I was hoping for.  For some reason, I just didn't want to be compared to the new teacher and that a woman would be harder to compare me too.  Either way, it's not like the students are going to like her more than they love me.  The new teacher is also from America and she's probably straight out of college.  I'm only guessing about that since she's a year younger than me.  Since I'm going to be in Korea still, I told my co-teacher that I would show her around the first day she gets here since I know how hard it is to just move into Korea.  I figure I'd show her which way to take the buses and how to turn on the hot water.

Phone problems

Well, it now looks like I can't make outgoing calls on my cell phone now.  Something to do with my visa expiring and my whole one year contract thing.  I'm still able to receive calls, I just can't make any outgoing ones.  It's going to be like my first month in Korea when I'll be stuck using pay phones.  These last two weeks are going to be hectic.

MC Mong is finally facing his allegations.

According to this article in the Korea Times, he showed up yesterday to be interrogated by the authorities regarding the rumors that he purposely pulled some of his teeth to avoid military service.  

I got caught.

I really thought I had a free day off work today.  Before I left for vacation, I remember signing the paper that I wouldn't be at school for this entire week because of the camp I was working at.  The camp ended up being four days, while my school thought it was five, giving me a free day off work.  However, I got a phone call from my co-teacher that woke me up this morning.  All she did was ask where I was and I told her that I didn't know I had to go into work today.  So, it probably wasn't a good idea to go out last night thinking I didn't have work today.  It was probably a bad idea to go to Hongdae last night.  It was probably a worse idea to get back at 5AM.  Here I am now though, sitting at my desk doing nothing with the air conditioner on.  

A statue in Taroko Gorge

It must be something I ate.

Triple cheeseburger combo from a McDonald's in Taiwan

That’s right.  It’s a mother fucking triple cheeseburger.  I’m not even ashamed to say that I’ve had more than one of these on my trip.

I booked my flight home.

I will be flying out of Incheon airport on Friday, September 3rd at 11:30AM.  I'll be back in October, maybe November at the latest, but it feels like a chapter of my life is ending.  It's probably true though.  When I come back to Korea, it's going to be pretty different.  I'll be living in Seoul, working at a new job, and taking ping-pong at a new place.  I am excited to go back home though.  I'm currently writing up a list of things that I'm going to eat in my first two weeks back home.  I can't decide if I want my first meal to be a large bacon ultimate cheeseburger combo with buttermilk sauce from Jack-in-the-Box or a chicken taco and California burrito from Albertacos.  It's a tough call.

Best camp ever!?

I don't know why I ever complained, but this camp is seriously turning out to be one of the best camps I've ever worked at.  The camp seems to have an unlimited budget, which translates into tons of cool things for me, including:

• Having Domino's Pizza yesterday for lunch
• Having McDonald's for lunch today
• Watching Toy Story 3 for free at CGV
• Getting free popcorn and soda at CGV
• There's ice cream in the teachers' lounge whenever I want it
• There's a magician coming to the school tomorrow

Seriously, best camp ever.

Scooters in Taiwan

Scooters are everywhere in Taiwan.  It's pretty ridiculous.  You see everyone riding them, women, the elderly, even entire families of four crammed onto one scooter.  While in Hualien, Evan and I tried to rent one so we could take it up to Taroko Gorge.  This might not have been the smartest idea, since neither of us has ever driven one, but it's not like it's rocket science.  Anyway, the manager of the hostel was a nice dude and took us to the only place that rents scooters to foreigners without international driver's licenses in Hualien.  When we got there, the lady was willing to rent them to us, but she wanted to test if we could ride them first.  Evan, still hungover from the night before, pointed to me and said that I'd take the test.  Of course, I calmly strapped on a helmet and acted like it ain't no thang, while the guy from the hostel was telling me how to brake (which I already knew).  So I hop on the scooter and the rental lady says something to me in Chinese.  I just nodded and said, "Around the block?"  Then I start to pull out of the garage and she just starts yelling in Chinese.  I stop and all she said was, "No."  It was a pretty sad experience because I didn't even get onto the street.  The day turned out alright though.  We ended up renting regular bicycles instead.

Hualien

Hualien is a city on the east coast of Taiwan.  It depends on which train you take, but it's about two to four hours from Taipei.  Initially, Evan and I only planned on staying two days, but we liked the city so much and we were just lazy to go somewhere else, we ended up staying four days.  During the four days, we did quite a bit of random stuff.  The first day we ended up renting bikes and just exploring the city.

Here are the two bikes we rented poorly locked to a bench in the middle of nowhere.  Since it is on the coast, Hualien has access to beaches, although none of them extraordinary.  We even managed to find the ocean while riding our bikes around Hualien.

This is the view from Jici Beach, which is a 90 minute bus ride away from the city of Hualien.  It's alright.  The travel book said that it was one of the few swimmable beaches in Taiwan.  However, it is in the middle of nowhere and doesn't have a place to eat.  You could take surf lessons though.

This is an entrance to Taroko Gorge.  There's a free shuttle to different destinations within the gorge that's offered by the city, but we hired a cab to take us and drive us to all the spots.  It was a great choice since we saw a whole lot in a shorter amount of time and it cost about $12 USD.

In general, Hualien is nice small city.  Even though I'm not particularly fond of nature things, the natural attractions surrounding the city were impressive.

Here's the game plan.

Lately, I've been getting a lot of questions about what I'm going to be doing and I haven't really answered them.  It's probably because I didn't really know myself.  I've been thinking about what I should do for a really long time now.  I know that I have been saying that I'm staying in Korea but I haven't really been looking too hard for a job.  There's no one to blame except myself for not having another job by now, but whatever.  I'm not too worried about it.  However, I just decided what I'm going to do and I really think that it'll work out the best for me.

First, I'm going to finish my contract at Yeonhak Elementary School, which ends August 26th.  Here's the most exciting news though, I'll be going back home to California, but only for a month.  I haven't booked the ticket yet, but I'm looking to be back home the first week of September.  Between the 26th and my flight, I'll be staying at my buddy's place in Seoul.  When I do get back home, I;m going to really start applying for more jobs in Korea.  I'm really excited to go back home for a bit.  It's going to be a nice break.  It will also give me enough time to get my head on straight for another year in Korea.  That's the other big part of my news, that I'll be staying an entire year instead of six months like I was saying before.  This was a tough decision for me to make, but there's seriously nothing I can do back home.  There's still part of me that wants to travel while I still can.  Also, I really do enjoy my life here in Korea and I think it' wouldn't be right for me to give it up now.

So, I'll be in Korea most likely from October 2010 to October 2011.  During that time I'll take the GRE's and do some other shit for my future.  When I eventually do go back home in 2011, I'll go back to school for a bit, find a job to tide me over, and then apply for grad school.  I think.  Things can change between now and then, but for now, this is what I think it's going to be.

The Taipei Zoo

First of all, I'm going to have to say that I love zoos.  I really do.  Going to the Taipei Zoo might be the most memorable part of the trip.  There's nothing in the world that makes me feel like a human being than seeing animals in captivity.  Nothing.  The fact that the Taipei Zoo is the largest in Asia also helps.

These are the signs for the zoo right off the conveniently located Taipei Zoo subway stop.

The zoo has animals from all over the world, including this zebra.  A nice surprise was seeing American animals, like the brown bear and the otter.

One of the coolest exhibits in the zoo was the butterfly exhibit.  The entire thing was a greenhouse that you could walk through and butterflies were everywhere you looked.

However, the coolest thing to see in the zoo was the pandas.  I've never seen any before.  In person, they sort of look artificial, like they were animatronic.  However, they were fucking badasses.  For one thing, all they did was sit and eat shit.  After that, they took a nap while hundreds of people were watching them.

The zoo's so big and it was a pretty hot day when we went, so we didn't make it around to seeing every animal, but I would definitely recommend the zoo to anyone visiting Taiwan.

Camera woes.

On my trip to Taiwan, I brought two camera lenses with me, my 28-200mm that I use for everything and my wide angle lens.  Unfortunately, the 28-200mm started freaking out.  It'll take a few pictures and then go straight to an error screen.  It's sad really, since it's the lens I use the most.  It also means that all my pictures on the second half of the trip are wide angle.  It should be repairable.  I'm really hoping that it is since I can't afford a new lens at the moment either.  I'll probably try and take it somewhere in Seoul next week and see how it goes.

The Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial

The first thing we did in when we got to Taipei was go to this memorial.  Sadly, I don't really know anything about Chiang Kai-Shek but this is his memorial.

You might not be able to tell from the picture, but it's four stories up from the base to the entrance.  It was a bitch to walk up in the heat and it was sad when we found out there was an elevator that we could have taken.

This is the statue that sits inside the structure.  I think it's weird that he's smiling.

This summer camp thing isn't too bad.

I went to the meeting today and I found out a lot of things that make this camp a lot better:

• It starts at 10AM so I can wake a little later.
• The camp is only four days long.
• My school think it's five days long, so I get a free three day weekend.
• I'M GETTING PAID.
• I also get to work with one of the coolest Korean ladies I've ever met.  She introduced herself as "Janice," and she said that she named herself after Janice Joplin.  We also started talking and I learned that she goes to India all the time and that she's a tour guide there.

I'm pretty sure that I have a crush on her.  I'm also glad that it's the fucking weekend.

Back in my bed.

I got back from Taiwan a few hours ago and I've just been sitting in my bed.  It feels good to be back in my apartment.  It'd be perfect right now if I was eating a microwavable hamburger from the convenience store, but I'm lazy and it's raining.  I'm currently organizing all my photos from the trip, but I'll get to posting about it tomorrow.

I'm leaving Taiwan tomorrow.

It's currently my last night in Taiwan.  I've really enjoyed my time here but I'm excited to be getting back home.  There's currently a lot of shit that I need to take care of, like summer camp and FINDING A FUCKING JOB(!).  For now though, I'll just enjoy my last night.

I probably shouldn't have signed up for this.

I'll be working next week at a different school for their summer camp program.  I signed up last month because it's a lot of money for one week of work, but I wasn't thinking about how I'll be just getting back from vacation and that I would have just liked to just sit and desk warm at my school for a week.  Anyway, I told the director of the summer program that I wouldn't be able to make it to the meetings until Friday because I'm on vacation.  I just checked my e-mail right now though and it says that I have to design a lesson plan for the camp.  Since I haven't gone to the meetings, I don't even know what the lesson is supposed to be about, how long the class is, or what grades I'll be teaching.  The worst part is, that it's fucking due by noon tomorrow.  God damn.

I like to do Korean things in Taiwan.

I just ate 2 sandwiches and a bag of chips from a Family Mart, which is what I eat when I'm in Korea when I'm too lazy to walk down to the kimbap shop.  The best part though is, that I'm currently updating from a PC bang with Evan sitting right next to me.  It's pretty much the same deal except there aren't any people playing Starcraft.  Seriously, I could have saved myself the plane ticket and spent this week sitting in my apartment.  Tomorrow I'm probably going to get drunk and have McDonald's.

Taiwan's cool.

I'm updating from my hostel in Taipei right now.  I've done tons of shit in the two days that I've been here.  I've even seen some fucking pandas.  Tomorrow I'm leaving Taipei for a few days in another city.  I'm not actually sure which one, but Evan knows, so it's alright.  Not sure if the next hostel will have a computer that I can use, but I'll try to update when I can.

I'm leaving for Taiwan.

It's a little past 1AM and I've just finished packing.  I'm going to grab what sleep I can before I have to wake up in five hours to leave for the airport.  I just looked over a bunch of shit about Taiwan and I'm pretty excited.  I don't really have an exact idea what I'll be doing there, but it'll be alright.  I'm not bringing my laptop and I probably won't have much time in front of a computer, but I'll see what I can do.  If anything, see you next week.

Instead of packing...

I spent three hours at a multi-bang playing NewSuper Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Wii.  It's the 4-player one.  It's really fucking fun.  I also bought a sweet new pair of shoes that were on sale.

There's still a lot to take care of.

In less than 24 hours I'll be headed to Taiwan for vacation.  There's still a ton of shit I have to take care of before I go though:

• Download a portable web browser because I lost my flash drive.
• Fucking pack.
• Buy some travel size shit.
• Clean my apartment.
• Book a hostel.
• Transfer some more money home.
• Change all my coins into bills
• Buy a pack of socks
• Make a list of things I shoudl eat in Taiwan

At least I have the day off of work so I can take care of most of this shit.

Native English teachers in Korean comics.

So I've been reading a lot of manhwa [Korean comics] lately.  The latest one I've just started is Unbalancex2, by Im Dal Young.  It's a pretty standard high school harem love story.  I'm sorry if that doesn't make any sense to you.  Anyway, the protagonist's main love interest is his high school homeroom teacher, which also isn't really surprising.  What does surprise me though is:

That's right.  A native English teacher in a Korean comic.  Fucking ridiculous.  

So there she is, Caroline sunsengnim.  I don't want to ruin too much of the story if anyone decides to read it, but her father is Korean.  It's not entirely clear if her mother is from America or England.  Both countries have been mentioned and I'm not sure if it's the translator's fault or if it's a mistake by the author.

I didn't know I could make learning English so sexy.