The Korean Tales of Michael Teacher: June 2013

I'm branching out. Tonight I didn't make spaghetti! (Mostly because I forgot to buy spaghetti sauce, but that's not the point). Instead, I made a fantastic fried rice! Actually, it was the same recipe as my spaghetti but instead of noodles, I used rice, and instead of spaghetti sauce, I used lots of oil, soy sauce, and eggs. The eggs were key. It's good stuff. Maybe better than my spaghetti, if that's possible.
So this is an update blog, my second after coming back to Pohang. Here's what's been happening:

I am now a proud graduate of the Pohang Korean Language Beginner Level Class. I even have a fancy diploma to prove it. The class ended last week and that's kind of too bad because it had been so good. But, after a break for the summer, the next round of classes are supposed to start up in September. In the meantime, the challenge will be to retain at least some of what I learned. This won't be easy without a consistent class to keep me doing my homework.
Since my last blog, Alisa went back to North America for three weeks and has returned. I'm glad she's back now. She brings me a lot of joy. Just yesterday, at the arcade downtown, we discovered her unknown talent for a classic arcade fighting game called Tekken. I remember being a kid and not being very good at those kids of games. So I'm a little jealous of her.
While she was gone, I saw some movies at the theater with my friend Paula; the best one being The Croods. Ya, I'm a sucker for animated movies, but I'm telling you, you've got to watch this one. It's just so hopeful and joyful and funny and good. And after you watch The Croods, check out Wreck It Ralph. That one's pretty great too.
My church, PICC, continues to be wonderful. The Sunday worship services, along with our Saturday morning prayer meetings and a really good Bible study at Handong University, have been really good for me. I'm so blessed to have these opportunities to grow in my faith. I'm also very blessed by the Godly people of these worship opportunities.
A while back, I got to go to one of my favourite places: Bogyeongsa. As with the other times I've gone, I enjoyed our trip not just because of how beautiful the hike up the mountain and the waterfalls are, but also for the great people I got to share the day with. I didn't save any drowning Koreans this time, but I did get to jump in the water at one of the waterfalls.

*WE INTERRUPT THIS UPDATE BLOG WITH AN IMPORTANT UPDATE*
At the time that I started this blog, yesterday night, I had been searching for a motorbike. I finally could afford one, but I hadn't had much luck finding one that I felt good about or was worth the money. But then, in the middle of writing this blog, I called up a guy in Daegu who I just found out was selling a motorbike for a good price. It turned out he's leaving on vacation this week so the only time I could come and take a look at the bike was ... last night! So I dropped everything and jumped on a bus to Daegu. Although, it didn't go quite as quickly as this last sentence makes it sound. It actually seemed to take forever to get to Daegu. But around midnight I made it and the guy selling the bike, Peter, an interesting and very kind fellow Canadian, picked me up on the bike and let me stay at his place for the night. But before going to bed, he let me take a test drive. It was about that time that I knew this was the motorbike for me. So the next morning - this morning - we went to some kind of DMV type office, made the transfer, and I drove back to Pohang with enough time to each lunch and make it to work on time. Again, this last sentence makes it sound like the process was quick and smooth when it actually was somewhat stressful. It all seemed to take longer than I had anticipated and I wasn't sure how much time I needed to get home. But it worked out really well in the end and now I have a motorbike! But wait! I haven't told you anything about this motorbike yet. You see, I was looking for a 250cc Hyosung Comet, just like Alisa's motorbike. 250cc is a noticeable step up from the 125cc bike that I had to give up when I left Korea last year and would be probably be adequate for what I use it for. The motorbike that I just bought is a Hyosung Comet, but it's not a 250cc. It's not even a 450. It's a 650! Woah eh? Ya, kinda crazy. I never thought I'd own a 'real' motorbike. But, while the bike's power might be a little excessive, the price certainly was not. It was a good deal. And, though it has the potential to go very fast, that doesn't mean that it only goes fast. Maybe just keep that in mind, those of you who might worry about me on such a big, awesome bike.
Here's a picture of the beauty: