tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76775827788354212832011-08-03T07:59:30.771+09:00Travels in Asia, according to a kid with a crown.Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-56528479864940264452010-05-20T00:42:00.008+09:002010-05-20T02:27:21.101+09:00

Up and at 'em 6am to test our mettle in Osaek. Uncle, Mega, and I climb sleepy-eyed and grumbling into the car. Laugh about class and students, talk plans for summer vacation. Get to the parking lot, warm up with a bit of hacky-sack and head down the trail into the valley, chilly in the early morning mist. On the way down Mega spots an untouched problem to warm up on. To warm upon. Work out

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-43215565521534725982010-02-13T15:49:00.007+09:002010-02-13T17:13:31.172+09:00

February 11th, 2010. Laying here praying for a snow day. It started snowing yesterday afternoon and continued through the night. Normally, this would practically guarantee the day off, as Korea's not generally equipped to deal with extensive snow removal, but there are mitigating factors. The first is the snow itself. For most of the day yesterday, the sky poured down small, wet flakes

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-8136614783253330492009-08-31T13:36:00.002+09:002009-08-31T14:30:22.418+09:00

Back in Taipei. Last time I was here I tried to exchange money at a machine and instead bought a Taiwanese phone card. Somehow it survived my time in Thai and I gave my parents a call. Same old, same old, really, but it had been a while since I heard their voices and it felt great to talk to them. I can't believe I'm going to be back in Canada in a month. Crazy. Speaking of crazy, some of you

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-4097097242854350462009-08-30T21:37:00.003+09:002009-08-30T21:57:38.755+09:00

Ah, Bangkok. The city that never showers. Or perhaps the city in which you never feel like you've taken a shower. Seriously, take a shower in Bangkok, I dare you. You'll probably be at a guesthouse, much like the one I write from now. You'll go into the slightly skanky shared bathroom, turn on the showerhead, and exhale in sweet, cool, relief.Until you turn the shower off. As you dry

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-90413981030549335522009-08-08T17:45:00.004+09:002009-08-08T19:37:16.597+09:00

Sigh. I just had an incredible few days. Went over to Railay Beach a few nights ago to check out the social scene over there (more people+more money=bigger party?). We'd been talking about going for weeks. Met a wicked English dude named Tristan (who, on account of his Indian/Chinese heritage, everyone thinks is Thai and greets with a strained "Sawatdee Krap") and a couple of Germans, Manu and

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-15616652890079739832009-07-31T19:44:00.007+09:002009-07-31T20:25:21.764+09:00

Recently I had the pleasure of spending some time with three Australian dirtbags who I miss very much now that they're gone. We'll just call them Michael, Adam and Luke. Because those are their names. This is the story of doing a rather popular multi-pitch route on Ton Sai named "Big Wave" with two of those aforementioned scumbags. Although Adam has many talents, (including fire-twirling,

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-38612727148191620712009-07-31T18:48:00.004+09:002009-07-31T19:25:33.129+09:00

So, a friend of mine recently brought to my attention the fact that I haven't been writing on my blog. Well, cut me some slack, I'm living in a bamboo bungalow in the jungle surrounded by a fortress of limestone cliffs. If I wanna use the interweb for any substantial amount of time, I must make the trek to the mainland, yadda yadda yadda. Oh who cares.Ton Sai is AMAZING! Gorgeous limestone,

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-51606524275241547242009-07-05T22:25:00.005+09:002009-07-06T17:01:25.640+09:00

After spending 3 more days in Bangkok than I had planned, due to a certain Aussie who I had a damn good time with, I took the all-night bus from Bangkok to Krabi. It's amazing at how quickly one adapts to new surroundings. The first couple days in Bangkok, I spent probably double what I had to on everything, because I suck at bartering. I'd say that on the way out of Bangkok, I had my first

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-4834486416346403192009-06-23T17:03:00.006+09:002009-07-06T16:34:32.294+09:00

Went to Chatuchak with Joel as planned. Unbelievable. 13,000+ stalls of anything and everything you want. Live squirrels, T-shirts, furniture, plumbing equipment, tattoos, anything. (did i mention the live squirrels.) Joel (aforementioned and below-pictured Aussie guy.) introduced me to the joys of "coke in a bag." Pretty straightforward, "coke in a bag" is when you buy a coke from a vendor, and

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-29997093179259849332009-06-21T14:19:00.003+09:002009-06-21T15:00:51.196+09:00

Just got into Bangkok by way of Taipei last night. The Taipei airport was awesome! Gate B6 (or thereabouts.) Was a hello-kitty horrorshow. Took a few pictures with my brand new lumix i picked up yesterday in Seoul.Once in Bangkok, haggled with a Taxi driver for the forty-minute ride to Banglamphu (home of the famous Khao San and such), as the buses had all stopped running. The taxi was a bit

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-66552512855313131142009-05-01T12:29:00.003+09:002009-05-01T12:57:00.015+09:00

One of the nice things about having a blog is that you can just start throwing ideas out there, into the world, imperfect as they may be. So here's a few.There's a man who works at my hagwon who I find pretty fascinating. He's a bus driver for one of the school's private shuttles. He is a stout guy, with a round face that is always beaming in a huge smile. We see each other almost everyday,

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-83942288772209166492009-04-30T08:01:00.003+09:002009-04-30T09:13:29.626+09:00

I'm terrible at keeping in touch. The fact that this was supposedly going to be a daily blog and has been bi-monthly at its best underlines this fact. Apparently I'm even terrible at keeping in touch with myself. (This idea is best left saved for another post. Or perhaps is dealt with below. Hm.) But really, terrible. My parents rarely hear from me unless I'm asking them to send me something

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-39625436292044047492009-01-16T11:15:00.005+09:002009-02-24T09:38:47.610+09:00

Hi kids. Been a while. Like almost three months.Today I wanna tell you about 우협(U-hyop, long u, short o. Rhymes with Lou [the] fop). I only had the pleasure of teaching 우협 for two classes. This was back in May. One of our teachers (we'll call her Judy Garland, for she fancied herself a musical actress) had just taken off in the middle of the night over the weekend. Seriously. On Friday night

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-11861067812272705462008-12-03T18:59:00.003+09:002008-12-03T19:57:13.005+09:00

It seems life had not gone too far while I was ignoring it.Yesterday I woke up to a beautiful morning. The sunshine and november temperatures here (currently hovering around 7 degrees) make it difficult to miss Canadian winter, though I am looking forward to skiing when it snows. There's a new coffee shop near ECC, run by the very warm Ms. Jeong. Judging by her English, I'd bet she's lived in

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-28264223444896312432008-12-01T22:11:00.000+09:002008-12-01T22:12:07.952+09:00

Well hello there. I have been away, I know. Aside from the odd literary fart (brought on by articulatory constipation momentarily giving way to emotional and psychological diarrhea), I have been remiss indeed. And like the sexual-nomenclature-ignoring little dutch boy, I may be on the verge of being smacked by someone big and mean. In this case, the dyke in question is my mind, and the

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-87426519863138062792008-11-21T01:20:00.003+09:002008-11-21T01:27:48.058+09:00

I'm an actor. AND i want to be a DJ, and an MC, and maybe write an album of songs on acoustic guitar, and write plays, and direct plays, and make money, and travel, and meet more people who blow my mind, and win poker games, and have trysts with women in strange countries, and remix amazing metal songs, and create theatre based around great bands, and create music based on great theatre, and

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-15318374343407536782008-09-25T01:23:00.003+09:002008-09-25T01:42:01.529+09:00

Had cock night tonight, this being the name we've lovingly given to our weekly "guys night out". We went to our usual manly haunt, this wooden place on the main drag near our apartments that serves decent chicken and wicked duck. Decent lighting, benches that look like pieces of tree, accommodating staff, and a centrally located canopy-sculpture that looks like a giant mushroom are among the

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-38807571331621199532008-09-23T01:51:00.002+09:002008-09-23T02:28:42.637+09:00

Awoke to the whining drone of a mosquito buzzing toward and away from my ear. Reached to smack it onto my left shoulder, forgetting both my broken collarbone and the figure eight sling I'm in that guarantees any large movement of my shoulders to send shooting pains through where the bone is broken. Slapping and scratching at mosquitoes (some real, some imagined) in the dark, I feel my whole

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-80856940920077564082008-09-14T20:00:00.005+09:002008-09-14T20:30:02.297+09:00

I had a wonderful, revelatory day today.I just got home from Jangsudae, the first place I ever climbed outside, about an hour north of here. The climbing was great today, did some of the most difficult lead-climbing I've done which was awesome and makes me feel accomplished. Also climbed some familiar routes with greater amounts of ease than I imagined two months of experience could give me.

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-85541282926585875162008-09-03T01:44:00.004+09:002008-09-03T01:55:42.018+09:00

It's funny, I've been a bit reclusive and morose lately, but every once in a while something happens to wrench me out of a funk. I just got back from "French Club". Two of my fellow teachers are starting a master's program and have to become fluent in another language, they've chosen French, so here I am, in Korea, learning French. A little ironic. After French club adjourned, I played a few

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-35958480365294593982008-07-13T22:08:00.002+09:002008-07-13T22:50:09.544+09:00

This weekend, Paula, a hip lady from Seoul who found my friend Robert (previously known as R, anonymity be damned.) on a korean climbing website, came over to Sokcho from Seoul and we did some SERIOUS climbing. We spent a good part of saturday doing multiple runs up the local artificial wall near the stadium, and I got to the top for the first time. It was the longest day I've spent climbing (

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-74781329478412209422008-06-26T20:12:00.003+09:002008-06-26T20:31:13.322+09:00

Today was the first sunny day of the rainy month we're a week into, glorious. I woke up early and met a friend (R) with a scooter and climbing gear for two to trek over to the soccer stadium, outside of which is a fifty-foot climbing wall, and I had my first climbing experience. I loved it. We pulled up to the sound of 4 irate German shepherds (and a couple of disinterested puppies more into

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-3068082287330326602008-06-22T12:10:00.003+09:002008-06-22T12:34:32.805+09:00

Well, after a couple of weeks in the land of good beer, nachos, and racial diversity, I'm back in Korea. And exhausted. I got into Seoul Monday morning at 2am and spent a few hours sleeping at Gangnam bus station waiting for the 6:30 Sokcho bus. I shared a few cigarettes and laughs with the security guards and then hunkered down on the floor beside my luggage. I woke up at 5:30 to a Korean

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-16444807689360808692008-05-21T02:13:00.002+09:002008-05-21T02:19:27.093+09:00

I stayed late at work today to clean my classroom. The curriculum changes here quite often, so the last guy left every shelf, drawer and cabinet in disarray with books, CDs and cassettes. I realized one of the main reasons I'm constantly running around like a decapitated chicken just before work is because I can never find anything. SO, I spent a good hour rearranging desks, drawers and such

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-82321380005301959762008-05-19T23:29:00.003+09:002008-05-19T23:32:48.679+09:00

Oh and I won't be plugging much stuff with this blog, BUT a friend of mine in a band called The Miclordz and Sauce Funky is in a battle of the bands for 10k and recording time. Like any indie band, they can definitely use the money and the EP, so if you've got 5 seconds, Click on the OH YEAH!! and go vote for them. Remember: Miclordz and Sauce Funky-All My People. You can vote once a day, and

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-24460985798482495352008-05-19T23:03:00.000+09:002008-05-19T23:24:52.075+09:00

Sometimes I feel like being an English teacher straddles a fairly fine line between cheap birthday clown/magician/pony ride, a stand-up comedian and an honest attempt at education. Point of fact, this evening I taught my first Yeong Je class (pronounced Young Jay, don't know if I've spelled it right.) All these fourteen-year-olds skulked into my classroom, usually occupied with an effervescent

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7677582778835421283.post-30665274868396429892008-05-19T07:56:00.000+09:002008-05-19T08:04:52.539+09:00

Woke up at 6:30 after a pretty sleepless night. Had weird dreams, read a lot of Tom Robbins' "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates" last night. He's quickly become my favourite author. Looking through new facebook pictures of University times this morning on a friend's profile. It strikes me how physical memory can be. Looking at those pictures, the singularity of that time, the act of

Joshuwashuwashuahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14461347897283263430noreply@blogger.com0