Vacation Day 1

It was my first official day of vacation and basically didn't do too much noteworthy, but I had a good time. I started it off by sleeping in until 11 which is always a good first sign that it might not be the most productive day. I'm not usually home at that time on a weekday so I took advantage of the time zones being decently aligned to call my family, skype of course. Skype is a really cool way to keep in touch back home for cheap but i still have an odd distrust for it. Sure it has been good so far with either free or cheap (about $0.02/minute) calls back home, and the sound quality has almost always been excellent but I keep on thinking there is some sort of catch that I am unaware of. It's all fun and games until it demands a human sacrifice, then it gets serious.

I eventually hopped on a subway, with the simple plan of getting a case for my ipod. I've had quite a few mp3 players in my day and i can say without a doubt this one is the best, so I figured getting a case to keep it protected and shiny would be a good thing. i checked online and found on some forum directions to the only apple store in Busan. I've had troubles with internet directions before but I figured after being here a few months I'd be a little less turned around and find it easily. I was wrong. The directions told me which subway exit to get off in Seomyun (downtown) and said to walk for two blocks then cross the street. It didn't say which direction to walk in so I figured it would just be the same direction I was going in when I came up the stairs from the subway. This led me way off target.

After three blocks I knew i was headed in the wrong direction and was about to turn around when some middle aged guy in a business suit stopped me. I didn't hear what he was saying at first because of the aforementioned ipod (podcasts rule, but I'll rant about that later) but after I managed to hit pause I caught the tail end of his introductions. he pointed at a nearby building and asked if I was an english teacher there, as he had a friend that worked there. I told him that I wasn't but I was an english teacher. He asked me for quick favor to help him with a little english. Now not being in any sort of a rush and always out for new experiences I was happy to help him out. He asked if I had eaten, I told him I had. Its always tough to tell if someone is offering to buy you lunch (fairly common) or is just asking how you are. There is a Korean expression that translates literally into "have you eaten rice?", which is like asking "are you well today?", since during a certain part of this countries' history getting a belly full of rice was a real challenge. Of course I hardly ever eat rice so by Korea's standards I've been having a rough time of it lately.
In any case we popped into a bank, which had me wondering at first exactly what kind of job he wanted me to do. If it was some kind of translation job he was going to be sorely disappointed. It turns out we just went in there to sit on their nice chairs while he had me edit a letter he wanted to send to a business associate he had met in Bankok. This man's English was already very good, especially his writing and the points I corrected were partially just simple grammar errors, but the main thing I did was just adjust his composition. It was a lot like helping friends re-word essays in university. The man was very appreciative and very impressed with the changes I made to his letter. I guess all of these blog posts have sharpened my wordsmithing skills to a razor-like edge. When you use a word like wordsmith I hope the sarcasm is understood.
He asked for my email address because he said he wanted a chance to show me around town sometime, but I think it is really just so he can email me letter proofs in the future. Either one is fine by me, proofreading like that takes little time or effort on my part but seems to make a world of difference to him. He also asked if i had any interest in teaching in a university, which could either be a random Korean question (they're always inquiring after my blood type to the point I wonder if foreigners are some sort of hospital resource) or a possible lead on a future job offer. In any case I told him I really didn't know much about university jobs so I couldn't say. Which is kind of a lie, I know that university jobs require a stronger background in grammar than I have. Canadians are kind of famous among esl teachers for having bad grammar, as it is not something we were taught in school to any great degree. i only have a loose grasp on what an article or preposition is, I just construct sentences by intuition. But I didn't think that telling the man I had just done some editing for that I have horrible grammar skills would make his day.

Before we parted ways I asked him if he knew the way to the store I was looking for, which he didn't but he flagged down someone and got directions and sure enough I had been walking in the wrong direction. He insisted on walking with me, but after a block or so he asked two ladies who were walking down the street if they would take me the rest of the way, which I found a little odd. In any case the ladies were friendly and I soon found my store.

Not much else in the way of excitement took place this day, although I did go to meet Ken after he finished work. We hung out with some of his collegues for a bit but I headed home early because I was tired and the subway closes early here.

It may not seem like a great vacation day (partially because I left a whole bunch of stuff out) but it was the type of nice lowkey day I wanted today.