오늘 어떠요? How Are You Today?

I don't think that's a very "Korean" thing to say (안녕하세요, "peace be with you" is really the norm for greetings), but I wanted to write something Korean in my title today.

It's a quiet day today, and I'm spending my afternoon listening to Bob McDonald on the Quirks and Quarks CBC podcast. Today he's talking about the possibilities of finding life on other planets, which may be much more likely than people think - the downside is that anything found would probably look about as lively and animated as a bucket of mud. So, with the loss of all possibilities of my visiting life on other planets, I'm glad I've taken the time to see all the alien-worldly things here in Korea. Here's what's been happening lately.

I've taken a liking to going rock climbing these days, and just did my first Korean 암벽드유ㅏㄴ (ambyeokdungban), or rock climbing, trip. My fingers felt like I'd ran them through a cheese grater for 5 hours by the time I was done, but it was a great time.

Have I talked about my new co-teacher at school yet? Well, she doesn't really help me teach, but she does aid me in other matters, and being the young eager-to-please teacher that she is, she's super helpful for me. Everyday we sit down for an hour studying Korean (for me) and English (for her), and for the first time since I've been here, I'm actually spending a good deal of time speaking Korean. I was feeling so confident today, when I needed to head to the bank for a minute, rather than sneaking out of the school like I normally do, I actually went to the office and asked my vice principal for permission. Another teacher in the room burst out laughing, but I said everything pretty correct, and he didn't make me sign the multiple sheets of paper discussing why I need to go the bank, how long I'll be, then gather the 3 signatures needed before leaving. Pretty sweet.

Here's another shot I took of Shannon climbing while in Thailand. It's one of the best action shots I took all month, I just got my shoes delivered in the mail this morning, so pretty soon it'll be me ripping up the rock like that. In the meantime, I'm sticking to ultimate (frisbee). If anyone's interested, there's some tournaments happening in April here in Korea. I'll be sure to save a roster spot and even buy a beer for anyone who makes the big trip over. Till next week!