Continuity Break

Hey there sports fans!

This month has been intensely busy (giving it the well-deserved name of "busy season" by the SLI powers-that-be) and it's been really tough finding time to make time for thinking about preparing to do things that are important to me, like keeping in touch with, oh I don't know, the world outside of the approximately 7 people I hang out with here.

So I thought I'd finally update this again, and while I'm sure many have stopped bothering to check it and read it, to the five (read: three) of you who are still around, thanks for your patience! I'm very, very slowly getting better at this teaching thing and thus I'm finding that prep doesn't take as much time. Also I've been growing bored with the ways in which I usually squander my precious free time so there you have it! Justification and rationale for both my lengthy sabbatical and my sudden return to the worldwide intarwubs.

I have a few pictures to share, and precious few interesting stories to tell about my life here. Fear not, there is still at least one more part of the North Korea saga rolling around in the empty parts of my head, so that update will hopefully follow in less than a week, although I make no promises to its expediency. So without further ado, a much overdue update on life here in Suji.

December flew by really, really quickly, and I don't honestly remember much of it. I've picked up several early-afternoon tutors, small groups of 2-4 young kids with fairly limited English but very sweet dispositions. They are a lot of fun and I always end up enjoying the classes, even though I usually dread getting up the extra few hours early. One of my classes has even given me a Korean name, since "Tyler Stokes" doesn't translate well into Korean. Let me give it a shot here... 타일라 스톣 Yeah, not really working out. Therefore, I present my new, Korean name!

신준일
Shin Jun-il

I like it. I have no idea what it means, but my students don't laugh when they hear it, so that's a good sign, and they seemed to be matching up letters from the Hangul-ified version of my English name to compose this shorter, better version.

In other news, my parents came to visit over the holidays. Getting to the airport to meet them on Christmas Day was quite a chore, but it was definitely worth it. Finding their hotel nestled in the woods in the middle of Jeongja was another hassle, but as it turns out their hotel was approximately 4.2 times as nice as my apartment so I think it was a good choice. I had lots of fun hanging out with them between shifts at work and catching up with the little bro, he kicks my butt at Guitar Hero but I'm catching up. We saw the city, Namdaemun market, the Suwon Fortress, the Korean Folk Village, and all sorts of other touristy things that I had been saving for their visit. Dad lost his passport, so we also got to see the Embassy! Fun for the whole family, unless you forgot to bring a book and didn't wear layers and for some reason they keep the waiting room thermostat set to "extra crispy."

After seeing them off (actually, I didn't get to see them off, I had to work, but after saying goodbye in any case), busy season at the Hagwon started in earnest. I've had my fair share of 13-hour days, granted with a few hours scattered in there for lunch and maybe a trip to the gym, but all in all a thoroughly unpleasant experience that I wish to avoid in the future. We're over halfway through the session now (which ends on the 28th), so the end is in sight! I also had the misfortune of my every-other-month Saturday writing class coincide with busy season, so in addition to the packed weekly schedule I also have three extra hours on Saturday morning. Needless to say, what with being exhausted from all the extra classes, not having Saturday mornings or afternoons or even Sundays free (rescheduled tutoring sessions), my social life has taken a serious hit. But February is soon, and returning to the regular evening school schedule will feel like quite the vacation.

Speaking of vacation, Matt, Alex, Ryan and I are headed to the electric city of Shanghai for our upcoming bi-annual less-than-a-week-of-break (yes, we really get that little vacation). Needless to say I am very excited to return to what was one of the coolest cities I've ever been to, this time with more personal freedom and time to actually explore what I want to see. Although it won't be quite the same without Engel as the roommate, it should be a pretty good time anyway.

Other than that, there's in truth not much to share about goings-on here. I haven't been into Seoul much since the family left, and in my limited spare time I've been reading and going to the gym. I'm up to 6-8 km on the treadmill, depending on how much sleep I got the night before, and I'm really starting to actually enjoy it. This is a new thing for me. Also when I don't think it'll disturb the neighbors I shred on some Guitar Hero.

Well, it's late on Sunday night and I've morning TOEFL class tomorrow, so I should turn in. I'll hopefully be updating much more frequently these days, so y'all come on back now, y'hear?

On an unrelated note, I just watched Juno, and it's highly recommended. It's a sweet, quirky independent film blissfully free of pretension (although the soundtrack was a bit heavy on the twee). The acting was excellent, and if anything, I was sorry that the film didn't spend more time with the very interesting and well-written characters. Ellen Page is going places, and she delivered the typical indie-styled "quips to hip to actually be real" with serious panache. She was also spectacular in her portrayal of a very mature and confident girl who, underneath, is just barely hiding some very lifelike insecurities. She was so balanced in her portrayal. However, I think there were too many well-written characters for the film's short running time, and in particular I feel that Michael Cera and Allison Janney were a bit underused (don't even get me started on Rainn Wilson's hilarious but way-too-short cameo). Similarly, Jason Bateman's place in the movie never really resolved, and I would have liked to see his complicated character get at least some kind of nod in the end. In any case, it's a good film, and I recommend you see it if you're into that kind of quirky, awkward thing. Plus, I'll recommend any movie set in Minnesota. Except Jingle All the Way. Screw Jingle All the Way. But when you've got Drop Dead Gorgeous and, of course, Fargo, you could do far worse as a state.

I also went out to the movies last night and saw Sweeny Todd. If you're a fan of the musical, skip it. If you've never seen the musical, skip it. If you really love Johnny Depp, eh, skip it. I would recommend it if you're a big fan of Tim Burton, because, as you would come to expect, it is chock full of his typically lavish Victorian eye candy. The visuals in this film were excellent, but not more so than any of his other work (in fact, they're a noticable step down from Big Fish or Edward Scissorhands). The acting is also quite able (and what else would you expect from Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Alan Rickman and Sacha Baron Cohen), but here's the real problem with Sweeny Todd: it's a musical.

That, in itself, is not a problem. I actually quite like musicals, and while I've never seen or heard the original Broadway version of this one, this movie doesn't even seem to be a particularly awkward adaptation. Many musicals lose something in the translation to a general-audience film, maybe it's the choreography or the energy or just simply the plausibility of people bursting into ridiculous arpeggio'd exposition with nobody batting an eye. There are of course several notable exceptions. Chicago was excellent, and, while this is a controversial statement, I will always hold a soft spot in my heart for Moulin Rouge.

Here's what made those films work: 1) the energy practically jumped off the screen, electrifying the entire first row. The choreography in Chicago was over-the-top, and the quick editing made it seem like I was actually watching it at a theatre, my eyes jumping from the singer to the backup dancers and back again. Moulin Rouge did exactly the same thing, except even more so, adding to the visual feast an insanely lavish spectacle, both in costume and set.

2) The actors could sing. While the casting was hit-or-miss in Chicago (I was particularly unimpressed with Renee Zellweger's too-hollow attempts at jazz), there were three shining stars whose voices made that musical sing (pun most certainly intended). While Queen Latifah and John C. Reilly were absolutely fantastic in their one-song appearances (I believe that "Mr. Cellophane" was easily the best number in the movie and I don't know why he hasn't sung more often), Catherine Zeta-Jones anchored the movie with a strong, beautiful voice. Moulin Rouge
's Ewan MacGregor and Nicole Kidman probably offered the best musical performance from stars primarily known for their acting that I've ever seen. As a sometime singer, MacGregor's voice in particular is extremely enviable and he nails every song in the movie.

This, sadly, is not the case with Sweeny Todd. The performances of a few of the supporting cast were great. Alan Rickman was excellent but sorely underused, and Sacha Baron Cohen's solo was hilariously operatic. Antony was also quite good. In particular, the young boy who comes into the employ of Ms. Lovitz had a striking voice, clear and versatile. However, the four leading cast members left much to be desired. The young unknown who played Joanna had a voice too shrill for her part. I have a theory that Burton selects his actors based primarily on appearance. See for evidence Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Winona Ryder and Christina Ricci. They all look like they should be siblings. This young girl also looks very similar. Furthermore, Bonham Carter turns in a decent performance, although not strong. The same can be said of Depp. This is a problem. Sweeny Todd is a musical. It is a musical about a man named Sweeny Todd. Sweeny Todd sings a lot. While Johnny Depp is an able actor and, ok, I'll admit it, a very pretty man, he is not much of a singer. Musicals have very basic and obvious plots, and next to no character development. Musicals sink or swim based on the strength of the music. Based on this criterion, Sweeny Todd tries to keep its head above water, but it eventually drowns under the gallons and gallons of blood that earned it its R rating. Bottom line: It wasn't horrible, but I wouldn't pay to watch it again.