Chak Gu!

First off, I have to apologize for my inability to post a picture with the last entry. I brought my camera to class Wednesday night in hopes of getting a picture and Isabel wasn't there. Isabel is the chief architect behind my latest name change, so I couldn't post a picture without her. I brought my camera to class again Friday evening, but Terry and Stella were absent. We have no class Monday, so I won't be able to get a picture until next Wednesday--if everyone is there. In the meantime...

Meet my chak gu buddies. Pictured is Ho Ki, Sacha, Jung Gu, and some strange fellow with so-so skills. We have been playing soccer volleyball in this park every Tuesday morning. There are four other fellas (all Korean) that play with us, and we always go out to lunch together afterward. I was introduced to this group by my friend Ho Ki, and got Sacha involved. Sacha is my neighbor Shannon's boyfriend from Australia--I felt really tall until he came along. Sacha and I have also been playing pool every Thursday night, which is an activity I was sorely missing.

The way this game works is we tie a tennis net up to a motorcycle and a scooter and play four on four. Each team is allowed three bounces and three touches, but only one touch at a time (no juggling). We start at 8:30 and usually play until 11 or so. Eating together afterwards is a real joy, and I've tried some interesting food. We had a Korean chicken stew last week called Sam Jae Tang that was to die for. Man, did that ever hit the spot! Next week we're trying a certain Korean specialty (except for Sacha and Ho Ki, who won't eat it) which is best eaten when it starts to get warm outside. I don't want to give anything away, but I'll give you a hint: The english word for it rhymes with blog.

This has been good practice for Saturday's games and the comraderie is priceless. Speaking of Saturdays, I'm supposed to get our team picture this weekend, so I'll post that as soon as I get it. In the meantime, I want to wish my Rover and Steinclub brothers back home a healthy and productive season. Miss ya, bhoys.

My latest identity crisis

Many of my loyal readers back home (all 4 of them) have known me for a long time by a name other than my given Christian name. This duality often caused confusion, particularly when I decided I wanted to be called by my real name "Christopher". I had accepted my nickname "Chuck" or "Chuckie" for a long time due to the fact that "Chris" is so common. After all, at one point I had a roommate and brother-in-law who shared the same name. People with the name "Chris" usually end up with either a nickname (such as "O" or "Chuck"), or get called by their last name. My brother-in-law was called by his first and last name blended together as one: "Chrisstevens".

About a year or so ago, I decided to end this insanity and embraced my full name "Christopher". Many of those close to me had a hard time with the change and called me "Chu-Christopher". As if my identity weren't confusing enough to me and those around me, I've now adopted a new name.

The name was given to me by my 8:00 junior high kids (picture to be posted Wednesday). The girls in the class have been teaching me the Korean alphabet (and doing a good job at that) and decided they wanted to give me a Korean name. We spent last week in careful deliberation, trying to decide the name that suited me best. I should add that the boys in the class were no help whatsoever. Every time they offered a name, they would start snickering, which gave me the sinking feeling they were naming me after some clown. The girls, however, picked a winner, and I embraced it.

My name is Kang Ha-Nul. 강 하 늘

The name is pronounced kahng hah nuhl, and it means "Strong Sky". Tough and pretty, I felt this suited me to a T. Kang is my last name, which comes first in Korea. My short name is Ha-Nul, or Sky. I don't wish to be called "Sky". However, I will accept any attempt to acknowledge me by the Korean translation "Ha-Nul". I can write this name in Hangul and have convinced my soccer volleyball buddies to call me by my Korean name. (Oh yeah, I started playing soccer volleyball last week.) I'll still be "Chris" or "Christopher" to some people, and to others still I'll be "Chuck" or "Chuckie". Yet to a new generation of friends I will be known as "Kang Ha-Nul", and I'm so confused at this point that I'm going to lay down now. I can't say I'll start going by my given middle name any time soon.

A little juvenile humor to tie us over.

I don't have much material to use today, but I heard something last night that cracked me up. I was with a couple of fellow English teachers Brian and Gina (who are pictured on "One Big Happy Family") at the local watering hole "Tok's", which is owned by our friend Hoki.

Brian and Gina work together at a high school, which is a totally different working experience from what I'm used to. They have an average of forty students per class and do their own lesson planning. No thanks, I'll take my laid back hogwan gig, although they do get a ton of vacation time.

Anyway, the whole point of all this is a name that was dropped in our conversation last night. Brian was talking about one of his students whose name is, get this: "Bum suk". "Suk" is pronounced as "suck". "Bum Suk", hee, hee, hee. Poor guy... I keep thinking of that and giggling. It reminds me of the car dealer in Columbia whose name is Richard Head, or a soccer player in the German Bundesliga whose name is, kid you not: "Harry Cock". Neither one of these names can match the subtlety and hilarity of Brian's favorite Bum Suk. I don't know if anyone else will find this funny, but I'm laughing as I type.

Sorry, I'll publish something meaningful soon, but in the meantime I hope everyone enjoys this account of one Bum Suk.

Technical difficulties

Hi everybody! I published a new entry this week and for some reason it posted below the previous entry. Simply scroll down for the latest installment. Enjoy!