MyLife
Sick
Mar 11th
I had wanted to get some work done on the computer today, but a nasty cold has gotten worse and pretty much knocked me down. On top of that the wonderfully potent Korean medicine I started taking last night has pretty much knocked me out.
I did have one class today and managed to slog through an hour in the gym. Since then, the past few hours have been a combination of snoozing and reading. Here’s hoping the next couple of doses clear me up. This is one seriously wracking cough that keeps coming and going.
When iTunes Chokes
Mar 9th
I’ve imported a lot of CDs with iTunes over the last few years. It usually goes well, but now and again something will get screwed. Sometimes I’ll wind up with a file that’s got several minutes of dead space on the end. Or, worse, iTunes will hang during the import process, freezing the system and forcing me to reboot. The latter happened to me today on a new CD I picked up.
The CD was released back in ‘97, so in physical terms it’s not exactly all that new. The first two songs imported fine, but iTunes got stuck on the third one. I tried a Ctrl-Alt-Delete to bring up the Windows Task Manager so that I could kill the process, but unfortunately it never appeared. The system was locked up. So I rebooted and tried again, starting from the fourth song. Once again, choke, freeze, reboot. I decided to take a different approach.
I opened up Windows Media Player and configured it to rip CD tracks to MP3 format. Then I started ripping. WMP, too, choked. Fortunately, it only locked the system temporarily and I was eventually able to kill it. So I gave up that approach and took a few deep breaths to avoid the fit of tech rage that was threatening to bubble up. With a clear head, I googled “CD ripper”.
One of the first results was a a freeware app recommended by CNet, called Free CD Ripper. I decided to give it a shot. The download is small and it’s a quick install, so I had it up and running in short order.
The interface is primitive. I had to input the info for each track manually (song title, group name, CD name, etc…). But once it got going, it did the job admirably. The tracks that caused iTunes and WMP so much trouble caused no problems at all with this little utility. Unfortunately, it did hang on two songs. But the great news is that it didn’t cause any system freeze. In fact, the app itself didn’t even freeze. I was able to click the cancel button and it just aborted. Both times, I unchecked the problem tracks, as well as the previously imported tracks, in the import list and started up again. So where both iTunes and WMP failed to deliver, Free CD Player got all but two of the tracks ripped, almost without causing any headaches. The only downside is that none of the album/artist info was saved along with the tracks. So when I imported all of the songs into iTunes I again had to go through and enter it all manually. So next time I use Free CD Ripper, I’ll just enter the track names and ignore the rest of the fields.
So if you are having trouble ripping CD tracks with iTunes or WMP, give Free CD Ripper a try and see if that gets you further along.
Class Loss
Mar 7th
When I used to teach English at institutes here in Korea, I generally was allowed only one week of vacation in a year. The worst part was that there was no choice as to when I could take it. The school would shut down for a week in the summer and all employees were then considered to be on vacation. So when I went freelance, one of the things I was looking forward to was the freedom to take my vacations as I please. In reality, it doesn’t quite work that way.
Taking a two- or three-day trip now and again isn’t an issue. But anything longer can become problematic. I have a set of what I consider core classes that I have been teaching for a year or more (I’ve been teaching members of one particular family for around 8 years). I have great relationships with the people involved in those classes, so if I tell them I plan to take two or three weeks to visit my hometown, they have no problem with it. My agent is cool about it too, as are the class members I have through him (whom I’ve been teaching now for over three years). The problem arises with the other classes.
At any given time, I’ll have one or more classes which are relatively new. While I may be on good terms with the people involved, it takes time to establish a strong relationship. Especially so when the people managing the class aren’t the students (as in the case of parents). If I take off for two or three weeks, there’s a risk of losing these classes. My job performance is irrelevant. They haven’t been with me long enough to feel any sense of loyalty toward me. If something interesting comes up while I’m gone, my class is expendable.
True, classes cancel now and again even while I’m not away. I’ve posted before how my schedule goes through cycles. But it’s a given that any time I take an extended vacation, I can expect to lose one or more classes upon my return. This is based on experience. And last month’s trip to the States was no exception.
I returned to Korea last Wednesday. By Friday, I had lost three classes. One I had started teaching in January and was supposed to continue until April. They didn’t bother to inform me that the class was canceled. I had to hear it from the housekeeper when I showed up at their door Friday morning. No big deal, since it was a temporary class anyway. I was asked to take a “break” with two other classes (one I’d been teaching for around five months and the other for four). Usually that means I’ll never hear from them again. I won’t hold my breath, anyway.
In all, my monthly income is down by around $1000 USD. That bites, as it means I have to curb my spending a good deal in order to meet my monthly savings target. New classes always come along eventually, but deciding whether and when to take a trip to the States is never easy.
Large vs. Large
Mar 5th
Every time that I go back to the States, I’m often amazed by the amount of food served at some restaurants. On this last trip, the wife and I visited a BBQ place for lunch. They gave us so much that we ate it for dinner also and were stuffed after both meals. We took my mother to a Korean restaurant. The servings there were double the size we would have expected in Korea. No wonder so many Americans are overweight.
The biggest surprise came when I ordered a large smoothie at Smoothie King. In Korea, a large at Smoothie King is roughly 20 ozs., the same size as a small in the US, where a large is 40. I like me some smoothies, but that was just way too much. I made the same mistake at Dairy Queen one day when I ordered a large malt. Never again. Americans really need to wake up. Quantity is just as important as quality when it comes to food, and Americans are eating too much.
I took a shot of the Korean Smoothie King cups this morning. Unfortunately, I have no pics from the US for comparison.
Back Home
Mar 4th
The wife and I got back from the States yesterday evening. We had a great time and wish we could have stayed longer. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to make any time to see some old friends and their families. We’re planning another trip, though, either around Christmas this year or some time next year, so I’ll get in touch with them then.
Adjusting to my routine is going to be awkward. Not to mention going back to my regular diet. We ate three big meals nearly everyday we were there. Lots of cardio on my schedule now to help get over the side effects of that!
I’ll be posting a bit about the trip over the coming days.
Off to the States
Feb 13th
In just a few hours, my wife and I will be boarding a plane to Atlanta to visit my family and friends. The last time I went was four years ago. This will be my wife’s first trip. We’ll be returning in the first week of March. Though I could do without the 13+ hour flight, I’m looking forward to the rest.
My iPhone?
Feb 9th
I have a shiny, new iPhone sitting on my desk, still cradled in its box. A complimentary case is parked right next to it, package unopened. The reason being that I don’t yet know if I get to keep it.
After all of the rumors, confusion, and misinformation around about foreigners buying iPhones in Korea (some of which I wrote about here), it turned out that my particular problem was quite simple. After having been told, I thought, by one shop that KT was in the middle of upgrading their system and no foreigners would be able to buy a new iPhone until Feb. 1st, I read on a blog post somewhere that a guy had just gotten one early in the last week of January. He also went on to mention that the policy had apparently changed again. As an F-4 visa holder, he was supposed to have been eligible for the 24-month payment plan, but found he was forced to pay for the whole thing up front, thereby losing the subsidy. He hinted that this was true for all F-series visa holders (and I can’t, unfortunately, find the post now to link to it). A bit miffed, I stopped at a different shop later that day en route to one of my classes to inquire.
The first thing I wanted to know was whether or not foreigners could, at that time, buy an iPhone. When that was answered in the affirmative, I then wanted to know if I was eligible for the 24-month plan. That came back in the negative. I asked if this was a new policy of KT, that all foreigners were required to pay upfront, regardless of visa status. The clerk had no idea, but gave me a KT customer support number to call and find out. Not trusting my Korean enough to discuss a topic like this over the phone, I handed the number off to my brother-in-law when I got home that evening.
After running around in circles for several minutes with the customer service rep, he was referred to an insurance company. That was a bit of a surprise. It turns out that every time someone signs up for a 24-month plan with any telecom in Korea, that plan is insured. I don’t know the details of the insurance, or which company it is. Furthermore, there are limits on how many simultaneous active payment plans any individual can have. For Koreans, this is three or four. For foreigners, it’s two. If you are at the limit, you have to pay the full amount upfront for any cell phone service plan you want to purchase. Only after you have paid off one of the 24-month plans can you sign up for another.
Eureka! I finally understood my problem. Back in August, I lost my Samsung Haptic 2 cell phone and bought a new Samsung Amoled. Both were on 24-month plans, and I’d only had the Haptic 2 for just over 8 months when I lost it. So I was unable to sign up for a 24-month iPhone plan because I was already paying for two plans, the maximum for a foreigner. Given that the iPhone plan I wanted (called the iPremium, which includes 800 minutes of phone time, 300 text messages, and 3GB of data transfer) is quite pricey, one of the two plans needed to be paid off. Given that there was only 300,000 won (just under $300US) remaining on the Haptic 2, over 400,000 won less than the Amoled, it was a no-brainer.
So, today, I had a little time between exercise with the trainer and my scaling appointment with a local dentist. So I headed on over to a cell phone agent I’d dealt with a few times before. He’s one of the multi-telecom agents that works with SK, KT, and LG. I explained the situation, paid off my Haptic (which was with SK), did all the necessary paperwork to sign up with with KT (exclusive iPhone dealer) and transfer my phone number from my Amoled (also with SK). Then I paid the 30,000 won service fee all new telecom customers have to pay (if I later get another phone with KT, I won’t need to pay that fee), and all was ready to go. The agent said it would take a while to process, as KT was pretty overloaded these days. So he put everything in a bag and asked me to give him a call later to see if everything was set up. At that point, I’d be able to hook up with iTunes and start making phone calls.
Two hours later, after I had left the dentist’s office and was on my way to teach my evening class, I was still getting messages and phone calls on my Amoled. Not a good sign. Two hours later still, the Amoled was still working. On my way home, I dropped by the shop to find out what was going on. For whatever reason (time of month, normal procedure, or whatnot), the payment I made on the old Haptic 2 hadn’t yet registered with the insurance database. So I was still precluded from signing up for the 24-month plan. The agent had called around and learned that all should be well tomorrow. So, he would try to get me in the system again and I should give a call to find out if all went well.
At this moment, it’s just after 6 am the next day (I am such a slow typist, I’ve been working on this post for over 20 minutes). The iPhone is sitting there, powered off, beckoning me. Will it still be in my possession at the end of the day? Will it be functioning? I really don’t know. My fingers are crossed, but I’m not counting on it. I’m really expecting that there will be another hitch and that I’ll have to wait longer. I should find out in about six or seven hours, before or after I hit the gym. Wish me luck 
Chicago
Jan 27th
Back in the late 90’s, a girl K-Pop group call Fin.K.L came into popularity. All four members were quite young, but one in particular, Ock Joo Hyun, had an amazing, powerful voice. Since the group disbanded, Lee Hyori has been most prominently, and most consistently, in the limelight. Given that I mostly keep up with the K-Pop scene through my students, I forgot about the rest of the group. Then, a couple of years ago, I saw an advertisement for the musical Chicago, starring, among others, Ock Joo Hyun.
I had already seen one Korean production of Chicago, back in 2002, but I thought it would be interesting to see Ock perform, given that I loved her voice. What I didn’t realize is that she had already been performing in Aida and Cats, two musicals I had thought about seeing, but, as usual, never got around to. Since I saw that ad in 2007, the same production of Chicago has had two one-month runs per year. Each time, I considered going to see it but never did. Last year, Ock also starred in 42nd Street (here’s an article about it) , another musical I thought I’d like to see. And didn’t.
Given that I quit smoking nearly seven years ago, that I drink very rarely these days, and that I’ve lost a good deal of weight and regularly exercise, my New Year’s Resolution for 2010 was not one of self-improvement, but one for more varied entertainment. I’m resolved to see more concerts and musicals. Since the end of December, I’ve seen two concerts (Lenka and Green Day) and, as of last Saturday, one musical. Chicago is playing once again with Ock Joo Hyun as Roxie.
She has certainly come a long way since her Fin.K.L. days. Now 29 years old (31 by Korean reckoning) she has matured as an entertainer. These days, it’s not just her voice that is spectacular. Her overall performance was enchanting. Her version of Roxie is a combination of silly, sexy and funny. I particularly enjoyed the ventriloquist scene. Unfortunately, their weren’t many opportunities for her to bring the house down with her full vocal power, but her voice was great, nonetheless. I don’t want to slight the other performers. The whole production was well done and quite polished. But I went specifically to see Ock Joo Hyun, so she’s the one I focused on through the show.
Aida is opening again in April. I don’t know yet if Ock will be in this production. I’ll go see it, regardless, but I’m hoping she is. If you haven’t seen her in Chicago yet, this run lasts for another week, I believe. I expect it will open again in the summer, but I recommend seeing it while you can.
Green Day in Seoul
Jan 24th
I wanted to post about this sooner, but a dead power supply and a lack of time to buy a replacement kept me offline for a few days.
Green Day came to Seoul last Monday (Jan 18). I didn’t hesitate to get tickets. I’ve been a Green Day fan since Dookie, though I still don’t have all of their albums. Without doubt, it was the best concert I have ever seen. It was nonstop energy from the first riff. They had audience members up on stage singing (who did surprisingly well, given that English is not their native language) then stage-diving back into the crowd. And there was a good bit of humor mixed in as well.
Someone has posted the setlist online. If you follow through the list, you’ll see they deviated from their own material a bit and goofed around with some other stuff, like Iron Man and Highway to Hell (though they didn’t play the complete songs). The King For A Day / Shout / Love Me Tender / Satisfaction / Hey Jude medley was a lot of fun, with the band donning different hats (and a bra, in the case of Tre Cool) and the bits after Shout played lying on their backs. The first encore continued to rock, but then everyone except Billy Joe Armstrong cleared the stage for the second encore. He played the last three songs solo, on an acoustic guitar (though the band did come in on the last third of Last Night on Earth). A nice end to an electrifying show.
I’ve been to a few rock concerts in my time, some big name and many not. There’s a noticeable difference between those who really love what they do and those who are in it for the fame and fortune (or just don’t care either way). With Green Day, it’s quite obvious that they belong to the former group. These guys know how to work the crowd. They’re funny. They have boundless energy that keeps the crowd going. And they make spectacular music. If I ever have the opportunity to see them again, I’m there.
iPhones for Foreigners From February
Jan 10th
Last Tuesday I attempted to buy an iPhone in Seoul and failed. Even though I have an F-5 visa which, according to information released by Korea Telecom, makes me eligible to be treated the same as a Korean (and well it should, given that this visa even allows me to stand in the line for Korean citizens at the airport immigration checkpoint), the system wouldn’t accept my ID card number. The agent I was dealing with was at a loss to explain why.
On Friday, I tried again at a different place. There, I learned what the problem was. From the beginning of January, KT began to upgrade its system to better accommodate accepting foreign customers. Until the upgrade is complete, no foreigners can get an iPhone, regardless of their eligibility. The current projected date of completion is February 1.
This is good news. The other telecoms upgraded long ago, but KT has been a stubborn holdout. And given the tone of a KT rep in an article I read just a week ago, it seemed the massive number of complaints they’d received from foreigners wasn’t having any effect on their policy. I’m hoping that this upgrade indicates they are relaxing their requirements like SK and LGT did years ago.
Two weeks without my iPod so far. I suppose I can hang on for three more!
