Seriously... What?

One of my new co-teachers keeps telling me that we need to work on our teaching methodology. He keeps using the word "methodology." When I finally asked him what he meant by it, his response was something like, "The methodology of teaching students. We need to improve our methodology for our teaching and use different methodologies to make teaching English more relevant for them."

Seriously... what?

Korean weather is like Mariah Carey on a bender

On Saturday, Korea had the largest yellow dust storm ever recorded.

On Monday, it was snowing heavily in Seoul. The snowflakes were the sizes of loonies.

Today, on Wednesday, it's 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit). It's warm enough to open the windows because my room temperature is usually only 11 degrees Celsius (52 degrees Fahrenheit). Yes, I have a cold apartment.

However, apparently the yellow dust levels are "high" right now, which means I have to close my windows again.

Seriously, Korea's weather is like Mariah Carey on a bender this year.

Adventure in Korea: By the numbers

Contract statistics:
Number of days completed in contract: 209
Number of days left in contract: 156
Percentage of contract finished: 57.7%
Number of days in Korea: 217

School statistics:
Number of students whacked by co-teacher: approx. 46
Number of students sleeping in class: approx. 17
Number of times I've gotten lost in Korean Windows XP: 12
Months before I decided to say "screw it" and bring my own computer: 6.2 months
Number of times I bowed: approx. 6,100
Number of times a student has bowed to me: approx. 31,200
Number of times I bumped into a student outside of school: approx. 50
Number of cultural mistakes made at work: 13

Other statistics:
Amount of money saved per month: from 800,000 KRW to 1,300,000 KRW
Cost of power bill in fall, per month: 20,000 KRW to 40,000 KRW
Cost of power bill in winter, per month: 130,000 KRW to 150,00 KRW
Hottest temperature experienced: 31 degrees C
Coldest temperature experienced: -21 degrees C
Number of stamps and visas in passport in past year: 13
Number of stamps and visas in passport before this year: 0
Number of times I've been mistaken for Korean: 189
Number of times I've been mistaken for Japanese: 56
Number of times I've been mistaken for American: 14
Number of times I've been "mistaken" for Canadian: 0
Number of times I've been "mistaken" for Chinese: 0
Number of verbally racist incidents: 9
Number of physically racist incidents: 0

In-jokes:
Number of seasons experienced: 3
Kilograms of kimchi consumed: 42.1 kg
Number of Hyundais and Kias spotted: approx. 47,000
Number of Toyotas spotted: approx. 5
Number of times I had to Konglishize a word to make myself understood: 21
Number of "gamsa hamnida"s: approx. 327,000
Number of "annyeong haseyo"s: approx. 410,000
Number of times I've crossed my arms into an X: approx. 12,000

Yellow Dust frenzy

For visitors to this blog from outside Korea, please note that this post's title is not meant to be racist. However, I fully support a "Banana Dust" for us white-washed Asians. We need our own dust. Now... "Black Dust" would simply be a stroke of awesomeness. It would look so freaking cool.

Anyways, every spring, northern China, Korea and Japan get covered frequently by dust storms originating from China, called "Yellow Dust" or "Asian Dust" (황사). Today, a huge dust storm hit northern China and Korea. It got so bad that I actually had to turn on the lights at 11:45am because it was so dark. It was like the apocalypse.

I headed out to take some photos, and ended up at the Seoul World Cup Stadium. Here's how it looked.

Above: Seoul World Cup Stadium, around 2pm and with its surroundings colored and sometimes obscured by Yellow Dust.

According to the official readings, the warning level today was between "very unhealthy" and "hazardous." It felt like I was in a world where the sun never really shines, like in Blade Runner or something.

Very scary stuff, and today is only the spring equinox -- only the start of the Yellow Dust season.

Oh... my... goodness...

It's been snowing for most of last night and half of today, and Seoul's streets are covered with snow and slush. The temperatures took a pretty big dive and it's been the coldest in a while.

So it came as a huge shock to me when I went to shop for groceries today near Seoul Station, and noticed something strange on the sidewalk. It looked like a person, and there was some sort of liquid coming out of him/her. Immediately I assumed that it was someone who drank too much soju and was throwing up; after all, Korea is known for people getting drunk.

And then I noticed that the head looked strange. It looked like TWO heads. And they both looked bald. And then I realized that those aren't heads. I was wondering what they were when the person stood up. Suddenly it became clear what I just saw.

It was a woman who pulled down her pants and was peeing on the sidewalk, with her butt exposed for everyone to view. The two "heads" were her butt cheeks. The "vomit" was actually urine. So she was urinating in public with her butt exposed to the snowy weather (and towards oncoming traffic!) in central Seoul.

I think I'm going to have a few nightmares tonight.

Hong Kong and Macau panoramas

I haven't had much time to post on here lately since coming back from Hong Kong, but here are some panoramic photos from Hong Kong and Macau that I put together this weekend. Click the images for larger views.

The new City of Dreams casino on the Cotai Strip in Macau.

The Macau skyline as seen from Fortaleza do Monte.

The Hong Kong skyline as seen from the International Finance Centre.

The Hong Kong skyline as seen from across Victoria Harbor in Tsim Sha Tsui.

The Macau skyline as seen from Fortaleza do Monte.

The Macau skyline as seen from Fortaleza do Monte.

The Hong Kong skyline as seen from across Victoria Harbor in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Hollywood Road outside the former Hong Kong Police Station and Victoria Prison.

More photos will be posted later.