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Week 31- Y3(Oct 7th to Oct 13th) |
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Sunday:Garan decided that today we should attempt Star Warsagain. I had been looking forward to a full day ofchilling out on my own, but I agreed anyway, and wentup to Itaewon (this time we decided Garan's place wasthe target!) Garan lives literally on Hooker Hill, aback street behind Itaewon's main street, where manyof the Nigerian guys party it up night after night,and where many of the prostitutes hunt for business. The actual apartment is pretty nice, way nicer thanmine, but Garan has to put up with the constant noisefrom the street until 4, 5, 6 o'clock every morning! It's always something . . .Anyway, this time we successfully got through one ofthe Star Wars episodes, with the help of some Chinesefood and wine. Gotta say, I don't know what all thefuss is! I found it hard to pay attention, and am notparticularly anxious to see the other Star Wars movies. . . |
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Wednesday:Whoah. My life went from busy but manageable toinsane within the space of a 20 minute meeting. Jaejust got back from Canada, and called a professor'smeeting (smack-dab in the middle of my improv class, Imight add. But in Korea, you NEVER say no to yourboss, so I had to duck out of my own class halfwaythrough!) So the big students' concert was supposedto be next Saturday and Sunday. I had kept myschedule clear for those days. Today, I learned thatthe student concert has been changed to next Thursdayand Friday, thus messing up my improv midterm tests. There's also the little matter that I had tickets tosee Burn the Floor (a great salsa show coming to Seoulonly for a short time) on the Friday, but now I'llhave to sell my ticket. So that was the first thing that came up-- I was kindof pissed about not being able to go to Burn theFloor, but I was happy to get the rest of my weekendback . . . oh wait there, not so fast! Ted Quinlan,the head of the jazz guitar faculty at Humber Collegeis arriving in Seoul very very early on Saturdaymorning, right after the student concert. Because ofsome kind of scheduling problem with the performancehall, we have to do our concert on Sunday (ie the dayafter he arrives all jet-lagged and groggy!) Thatmeans we have to rehearse on Saturday night. And . .. there goes my entire weekend, in one swift blow. Toadd even more stress, I'm responsible for"babysitting" Ted the day after the concert-- I'msupposed to take him around Seoul, play tour guide,take him for nice Korean food. What am I supposed totalk about with a man who is 2-3 times my age? (Atleast the school gives me a "Ted" fund) So this 20minute meeting adds up to me not sleeping AT ALL forthe next two weeks. Therefore, I am taking advantageof my last free night tonight until probably Novemberby not doing any work at all! |
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Friday:I know I keep saying it's the last one, but I startedone more student today. I figured this one would beworth taking on: her name is Nicole, her English isbrilliant, and she's going to Berklee next semester ona scholarship! But in typical Korean fashion, sheneeds some loosening up, and some technique training. Anyway, it will be fun to teach her, and I'm quitecontent with most of my students (ha. More about thattomorrow!) That said, it occurred to me that I mighthave to worry about something-- some of my studentshave come over to me from the Seoul Jazz Academy,which is the other big jazz hagwon in Seoul. It'spopular because it has some kind of relationship withBerklee, which of course, is a great music school inBoston, and in fact, Jae, Kenji and Ben used to teachthere before Jae started his own hagwon. From what Ihear though, the quality of the teachers is pretty lowthese days, hence why students are starting to hear ofmy reputation and are leaving their hagwon. Why isthis a problem? Because legally I'm not allowed to beteaching outside of PaekChe. Even teaching at thehagwon is underground. The likelihood of me gettingcaught teaching privates is pretty slim, unless . . .someone at Seoul Jazz Academy starts getting jealous. I'm going to have to ask my students to help me keepmy reputation under wraps . . . |
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Tonight after band practise (by the way, we have aname now: Bamboo Wife! It's a pretty randomreference that Nate came up with, referring to a longbamboo cylinder that people used to hug in bed inorder to keep cool during the summer), I experienced afirst . . . going to the casino! Garan was going tomeet Jess and Andreas and some other people afterpractise, and somehow Nate and I were convinced intotagging along. Not having the gambling gene in mewhatsoever, I was lured in by the promise of free foodand free drinks, which you apparently get even if youbuy a minimal amount of chips (or just pretend to begambling, like Jess, Andreas and I did). Casinos areweird-- first of all, Koreans aren't allowed togamble, so only foreigners are allowed in-- mostlyJapanese and American men, from what I could see. Andeveryone looked angry and tense the whole time-- Idon't think I saw one smile the entire time we were inthere! So Jess, Andreas and I just lurked aroundwhile Nate and Garan played a little black jack (theywere at the lowest table, and I think both of themended up breaking even). I don't think I will eversee the allure of gambling . . . |
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Saturday:I have had it with Saturday teaching! The twostudents I have on Saturdays are my worst students,they're always late or not showing up, and I'm tiredof wasting my time! Both of these students are"favour students"-- Ju Young is a friend of my studentJang Mi's. Ju Young has never studied voice before,and she's not interested in singing jazz, only KoreanChristian pop. Yu Rim is the daughter of my hagwonstudent Ho. She is 13 years old, and from what I cansee, not remotely interested in music at all. Ithought I had left behind the lame, young studentswhen I left Toronto. Apparently not so . . . both ofthese students were taken on as a favour, when Ididn't really want to give up my Saturdays at all, andI think I've had enough. I have enough students thatI can afford to be picky with who I teach. So that'sit-- I will continue to teach Ju Young occasionally,maybe every couple of weeks by appointment. And YuLim is getting cut loose. I'm way too busy to wastetime and energy on those who aren't interested! |
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