Something Good About NBC

Okay, I know I usually harp about NBC's demise in the comedy department. It just seems odd that the same network that put out The Cosby Show, Cheers, Night Court, Seinfeld, etc... doesn't have much to show for itself in 2006. I know I'm 2 seasons late on this one but I've just now started watching The Office. Someone suggested it to me a few weeks back and I've just now downloaded the complete second season. I have to admit this is the funniest show since Seinfeld. Absolutely hilarious. Dwight, played by Rainn Wilson, just might take over George Castanza as my all time favorite television character.

Something About Driving (a) Drunk

I had a very strange experience on my drive home tonight. I went out for dinner with my adult students after class and was on my way home. As I was heading towards the highway that connects Nonsan to Ganggyeong I came to a stop at an intersection. I was just about to make a right hand turn when someone got into my car! This drunk Korean guy opened my passenger door and asked "Ganggyeong?" He seemed harmless so I let decided to take him. I don't think he realized the driver of the car was a big white guy from Canada. As he settled into the seat and put on his seat-belt he looked at me and started laughing his head off. Seriously, the only concern I had on the 15 minute trip was the guy vomiting in the car. He spoke a bunch of Korean to me but I had no idea what the guy was saying. Anyways, it was an adventure.

Something About English

As a foreigner living in Korea I never pass up the opportunity to read English writing on t-shirts. You need to understand that in Korea, most English-printed shirts are worn not for what they say but because they simply have English words on them. Some t-shirts I've read are so vulgar they cannot be reprinted on this blog. Most involve an insane amount of curse words thrown together in various runoff sentences. Others, like the one below, are funny not because of what they say but because of who is wearing it. As you can see, my male student is a "Cute Smart Girl."

Something About Retail

When I first came to Korea I was amazed at the number of foreign-owned retail chains. Here are the ones I can think of off the top of my head: Mc Donald's, Burger King, KFC, Domino's, Pizza Hut, Subway, Outback Steak House, TGI Friday's, VIP'S, Starbuck's, Dunkin' Doughnuts, Baskin Robin's, Dairy Queen, Popey's Chicken, Wal Mart, Carrefour and Costco. I know there are more, but it's too early in the morning to think about them.

While it seems in Canada that these stores keep popping up everywhere, they seem to be disappearing everywhere in Korea. Both Mc Donald's and Baskin Robbin's have pulled out of Nonsan, and seem to be closing many stores across the country. It was announced last month that Carrefour, a French-owned discount department store, is pulling out it's stores from the country. Now this morning I read that Wal Mart is pulling out of Korea! They will be selling all of their products and stores to E Mart, a Korean-owned discount department store. While I don't shop at Wal Mart that often it is a reliable source of cat litter.

Now I'm getting nervous. If Costco pulls out of Korea, I'm screwed! I would say that 85% of the groceries in my apartment were bought at Costco. Actually, off all the chains listed, I think Costco is the safest to stay put. While Wal Mart has 16 outlets in Korea, Costco has only 5. Hopefully Costco will be able to hold on for at least another year.

Something about Impact

Okay, I had the most terrifying dream I've ever had last night. I was on an airplane with my grandmother flying from Toronto to Seoul. About half-way to Seoul I looked out the window and saw that there were buildings at eye-level with the plane! I told my grandmother that this shouldn't be, but she just told me to stop complaining. The next second the plane did a complete nose dive. I kept waiting for impact, but it never came. I woke up right after the dream, and Venus was sitting right by my head just starring at me. I think I was doing some heavy breathing in my dream and Venus didn't know what the heck was going on!

Something About Identity

This morning while I was reading Google News I came across the story of a young girl who was kidnapped and assaulted by a transient in British Columbia. What struck me about this story was the fact they actually published the name and picture of the little girl. Take a look at this capture I took from a Canadian news website (I edited the picture and name):

Directly to the right of the sentence "The Judge ordered a publication ban on the 11 year-olds identity" is not only a picture of the girl but the girls identity! What the heck? Who can explain this?

Something About DVD's

Why do I keep posting about Lost and Prison Break? I think I'm obsessed. I just finished watching the new Prison Break episode and I have got to say it was the best one yet. They're out, and there's still one more episode to go! Seriously, this episode had my heart pounding the entire time. I have the feeling season two might go the way of The Fugitive. Seriously, if you don't watch this show you should be. I haven't been able to find any information on a DVD release of the series. Anybody hear anything? If you know, tell me.

Something About Mines

There has been much news about the rescue attempts of the miners in Australia. An earthquake caused their mine to cave in, and rescuers are trying desperately to get them out. One miner died and two survived. Yes, it's a tragedy, but a bigger tragedy is in China. According to CNN, 18 Chinese miners die EVERY DAY from mining accidents. Yikes.

Something About Noise

The recent episode of "Lost" was pretty tame until the ending. I think the entire apartment heard me yell "What the....?" Venus jumped right off my lap and is now hiding somewhere. Very bizarre situation, folks. I posted more about it in my "Lost in Thought" blog.