Korean Job Discussion Forums

[princess]

I am curious to hear people's Korea birthday stories. Last year,mine was prettty good. I finished teaching by 7PM,met my friends for dinner at Pasha,a Turkish restaurant in Gangnam,and actually enjoyed my birthday. This year,I live and work in Incheon until 10PM tonight,and Incheon is quite boring,too. Plus,I have to work with a guy who hates my guts knowing I have a crush on him,and I can't see my friends today. Talk about BLEEP!!!!! At least I got a box of goodies from Mom and Dad yesterday and a card from them on Monday. I went out with a Korean guy on Saturday night and after talking with him by phone and e-mail,I find out that I am his second choice because he started seeing someone in November since he was not sure if I was coming back to Korea. I am sad.

[lawyertood]

My worst birthday in Korea was the first one. At the time I was still adjusting to life in Korea. I was living with the director of my institute and his family in Namji-ri, not far from Masan. On the morning of my birthday the director and his wife had a big fight and she took her son and fled to her parents' house in Taegu. Needless to say the mood around the house and the institute was not good. Namji is a very small town and I was the only foreigner in the area so I didn't have other expats to celebrate with. Luckily, a few students remembered it was my birthday or it would have been a total downer.

[mack the knife]

i have a nominee for the most hilarious/odd birthday present category...

my buddy received a pair of underwear from a student's mom (already odd enough)...furthermore, the underwear in question were tuxedo-print, with an actual tie hanging off the front...

needless to say, the aforementioned buddy never donned the uncanny undergarments, however, they became something of a legend...

they began appearing in the strangest places, such as backpacks, in the freezer, under pillows, in hogwon desks, etc. several photos exist of them creeping around on the school trampoline...

in fact, they have now traveled to vietnam, thailand, spain, and the u.s, stowed away in the bags of several unsuspecting victims, myself included...i suppose they should be collecting frequent flyer miles...they certainly have a unique personality...

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

My worst birthday would have to be 2001. I was sick all day; I had just developed a strange bout of vertigo (which lasted for more than a year!), and I had to teach kids, all the while thinking I was going to vomit on one of them. Well, when I finally finished around nine, I just wanted to get home and retire. Unfortunately, my wife (girlfriend at the time) had decided that she was going to shower me with aresol snow when I walked through the door. BUT, she had neglected to shake the can, so when I walked in, I was blasted in the eyes with liquid spray can snow -- and it stung quite a bit.

Not fun. However, this year, my birthday has to be good. IT'S ON A FRIDAY!!!

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I would post photos (as they are on the Net), but I'd be ashamed...

Let's just say it started off with a lot of soju and dancing, and ended up teaching English....

[weened]

Mack are you sure they're in the states?

GDit if I edit one more time...

[mack the knife]

nope, they're heee-errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr............

word...

[thinker]

my girlfriend took me to some expats party whom she really didn't know well, got absolutely smashed, talked loudly about this other guy and everyone else around, had to be taken home (partially carried) by me,

then while we wait for a cab in a busy college area, she starts crying about some job she didn't get, but really wanted, while crowds of korean onlookers stare at me, proably thinking; that damn westerner! what did he do to make her cry so much! we get in the cab, she passes out and allows the driver to take the extra long route costing 10,000 more.

we arrive back at my place and i put her to bed at 12!> > >quite the rockin' B-day! the only upside being that she didn't vomit once, which was quite surprising> > >

[mack the knife]

you know, i always thought that "thinker" statue guy should be sitting on the crapper...

[rapier]

My worst and only birthday in K was last year. I'd been teaching (only foreigner) at my new hogwan for a week. The Koreans shared kimbap with me and tentatively gave me presents. A map of Korea (in Korean) and a few tins of food. i then went home and fell asleep watching AFN. Nice.

[waterbaby]

Can I include Christmas in this one? My worst Christmas was the first one I was in Korea. I got food poisoning and awoke violently ill at 3am on Christmas Day and spent the next day vomiting. It actually snowed (big thrill for a person from the Southern Hemisphere), and I could barely raise my head off the pillow. The worst thing was, I had a friend visiting me from Oz and for about 5 days I couldn't venture very far from a loo. What a waste of a trip!

And I felt as though I had to go to my hogwan to work because they knew there was a friend visiting me and I was pretty sure they wouldn't believe me if I told them I was sick. So I rocked up to work anyway, green, dashing out of class every 30 mins or so to get to the bathroom, just to earn some brownie points. The things we do, eh? Or should I say, the things we feel compelled to do, eh?

My last Christmas was spent in a foetal position, suffering from an unidentified tropical disease I picked up in Thailand, with every joint and muscle seized up.

I hate Christmas now

[gang ah jee]

so far, today.

I just busted my cellphone, now I've got to sit around waiting for Yongsan to open so I can get it fixed. It alarming that without the menu options on my phone I can remember exactly ONE of my friends' phone numbers.

Oh... anyone who wants to come to my 25th, pm me before 5pm Korean time. There will be a party in Hongdae. If you can read Korean it's on the message board at http://technogate.co.kr

[thinker]

yeah i think rodin could have appreciated it> > >ever see the kids in the hall where the guy keeps having board meetings in the can?

that pics from a cleveland gallery where it was damaged from a bomb blast> > >thought it was fitting, thought interupted~

[mack the knife]

Gang ah jee,

HAPPY B-DAY!

[VanIslander]

For the first time in my life I didn't have a party on my birthday. Nor presents. That was last May 1st and I expect the same this time around.

Time to grow up I guess.

Though my father's retired friends throw birthday parties for each other all the time.