It is totally summer time here and there is no doubt about that. Every day gets hotter and hotter and you can feel it. It seems as if there is no escape from this heat, except when I stick my head in the freezer. I guess it is better than the EXTREME amount of snowstorms that I left behind in Canada but OH MAN I forgot what this was like. Oh well, suck it up and love it. Late nights are really warm so being outside at night rocks.

What’s new in my world? Nothing other than thinking about school stuff… Man, if I get accepted it will be amazing.

Carol and I have been making the most of this trip so far - Since she has arrived we have spent little time NOT partying and most of our time getting stupid drunk. Everything is back to normal is my Korea life - I have met tonnes of interesting folk but no real stories of interest to tell. To be honest, this post feels uninspired so I’m ending it now… Thanks NSNP  

Welll I have a lot of news to feed you guys ALSO Notice the 120 pictures BELOW I was saving it all just for this post. I decided to break it up into two posts for organizational sake.

So… CAROL IS HERE and we had a headache of a weekend. I will start there.

CAROL! Wow an old university pal a close companion and a person I have shared many a great life experiences with. A friend, ally and positive attitude in my life. Carol and I have always been rocking through life anyway we can and now shes here and just as I remembered her. To be honest there were times I thought I would never see this old friend again but… since she landed we have been spending some MAD friend time together.

First day we met we just drank a stupid amount of cocktail vodka (notice the beginning of the pictures.)… We caught up and shared great memories. Second day together we meet with NONE OTHER THAN CHRISTINA CROSBY… My high school grand march partner and sharer of towns. So a great university pal with a hometown hero made for an incredible evening.  We met up with some new friends, old friends and future friends and enjoyed beers hookahs and dance.

To be honest, it was two days where I didnt get home till 6 - 9 am and I loved it.

The Protest pictures….
If you are a human who cares about humans you would have been reading about the South Korean - America protest about shitty low-grade US beef being imported into the country. They do not want any beef that does not meet America’s own standards and they don’t want their president to be in power any more for even assuming something like this would be ok… So the pictures you see are in order of my walk through the protest… My walk thorugh 150,000 people… thats right 150,000 people LINING the streets with tshirts and signs that say… OUT!… OUT meaning the current president and US beef I guess.

Korea has stopped importing US beef ever since madcow started in America… Since Asia deals a lot with Avian Flu I don’t think MADCOW would be a great supplement. Anyway, there were riots and stuff but I could not get anywhere near to snap some good photos… All I could get close to were the candle light love fests… Better luck next time McNeil…

STFX Said I could be  a teacher as long as I get one high scoring course from an online university. So, if I can score an 85 or higher on this online course there is a strong chance I will be accepted into STFX for my education degree next year. WOW Busy!!!!

I am going to see infected muchroom at a 2 day dance partys in 3 weeks… I am going to a festival of mud in afew more meeks and I am going to North Korea in September…. *I am starting to break a sweat*

“These pasts two posts were done from an outside cafe in the middle of the city… and here I am kicking ass… Your jealous and I know it” -Shannon

So… Yah… seems I am back to my old ways again.

I got totally bored yesterday afternoon so I decided hey what the hell I heard of this bar not far from here that’s got like darts, pool tables and like a cafe and stuff and typically there are some foreigners there. So, I pack up my stuff and head out to check the place out snap a couple pictures and call it a day. It took me some time to find the place because the area was sort of unfamiliar too me but after I found my wow it was pretty simple.

So, I go inside up to the 5th floor and the place is PACKED - I am talking jam packed with all sorts of people and it is only like 7 o’clock… I could not believe it - So I was going to sit down have a drink and be on my merry way when a Korea man approaches me and says “are you here for the speaking club?” I’m like what the hell are you talking about hahaha. He went on to tell me that there was a club today and English club and that all drinks were free. He then asked me if I wanted to sit down with some Koreans and just talk. I was like wow haha OK SURE! So I sat down did the introduction thing and started to stuff as much booze in myself as I possibly could.

These were some of the coolest folk I ever met in Korea getting slam wasted and telling me lots of funny stories in broken English. We played some pool I drank as much beer as I could as fast as I could and ate all kinds of cool food. Around 9 Oclock every started to pack up because I guess the free drinking part was over they told me they were going to Itaewon… Itaewon is a little ways across the city and I thought it was kind of foolish to go that far since the area we were in is typically booming at night. Itaewon for foreigners is like a second home - It is loaded with English and for a lot of people it is a comfort zone.

I said EFF it lets do this and off we went. We went to Itaewon and some of the folk we left with departed. We went to this crazy place called “The Loft” haha it was a wiked cool little joint and it was fairly busy. We drank drank drank drank drank drank drank drank and drank some more. After all was said and done we went outside and I suggested smoking some hookah… Of course I did… it’s all i friggen do. Anyway, they weren’t feeling the hookah which was fine BUT wanted to go to ANOTHER part of the city. I was like OMG WTF this is insanity - it was like 2 am and now were blasting off somewhere else.

I get thrown into a taxi and have NO idea where they took me - EVEN right now I have no clue where I was. I was looking at my pictures in hopes there was something but nota - no clue but the place was cool. We ate some food and drank some beer and then went to NORABANG (Karaoke room) We we sang and sang and sang. Great times after that we went to get some breakfast… You can see the breakfast in the pictures I  have no idea what it was. Like beef and vegetables in some kind of broth - Honestly I don’t even remember being there.

Once that was said and done me and one of the Korean guys headed back home - He lived close to me so we hopped on a bus and started the trip back - We were both really tired so we put on my MP3 player - Listened to Daft Punk together and sorta faded off for about 50 mins.

And to think I only wanted a beer.

Oh yah! ANDDDD While I was in Itaewon I was in line to get some street schwarma when this mom and little girl start talking to me for like 20 minutes. I guess she wanted her daughter to speak English but I think it is not very good for a chile to be in Itaewon at like 10 PM on a saturday night. It is a CRAZY places where literally about 10,000 walk the streets and act like morons.

She kept forcing her child to speak to me and asking me all kinds of questions. About my life, if i have a girlfriend, where I study, what I like to eat… it just went on and on and on while I was waiting for street meat. Odd. Haha, oh well… I guess thats why I’m here. Feeding the masses English.

Scott is one of my closest friends and I kid because I care

Nosmokesnoproblem has always represented my life the exact way I live it - Since 2006 I have spent considerable amount of time in four different countries and encountering a variety of different minds, hopes, dreams, goals, stories and endings. I’ve taken part in birth’s, weddings, and even he odd death from people all over the world. I’ve seen love come in all shapes, colors and sizes. I have lived through some of foreign peoples highest moments and lowest points and where do I fit in? I don’t… It is that simple I have observed and contributed but overall where I have been and what I have done has never been permanent… Simply temporary.

NSNP is the same. If you analyze the comments and my statistics for the past 2-3 years it has been the exact same as my life… random. The readers have been based on who I am contacting at the present time - Some have stuck around for the ride and others have abandoned it for greater things in their own lives. My closest friends have been those who have stuck around since day one even when times have been tough.

I never thought nosmokesnoproblem was mine - The world owns nosmokesnoproblem and contributes to it in every way. The world and how it treats its people has been the driving force for content. If the world is nice the community has generally had an upbeat tone and the opposite . To be honest I have no idea where all these words have come from but every day I wake up it is all I can think about. I want to document this mess… I want to keep reminding myself that this is very real.

When I talk with my closest friends (which I have been doing a LOT of lately) it has just been amazing - True laughter from the people who taught me how to laugh. The people who understand me the most react in a way I expect to be reacted to. For people to really understand it takes years and years or history background and just general understanding of the world which has surrounded me and each other. I never realized how EASY it was to speak with people who understand each other rather than trying to forge new relationships with those who are more concerned with certain features they want to portray to everyone they meet.

For example when you meet a new person and they have already prepared their most popular trait and do everything they can to try and make you understand it even if you are not so comfortable reaching such emotional depths yet. That is a big turn off… But, when you are desperate to try and recreate something you’ve had with another who truly represents and understands you, you’ll try anything.

Sometimes in my travels my most memorable moments have been reconnecting with my home online. Shocking isn’t it. I am on a qwest, a journey if you will… Sadly… I am not sure what the goals or outcomes will be yet. I don’t feel ready to know yet but I am sure it will come eventually. But, as I advised a friend recently… We must stand as tall as possible and walk as hard as we can in any situation to be able to overcome it and become better people in the end. Despite the negativity that surrounds us, we must keep standing and keep in motion.

Our bodies are much like the earth we stand on… Could you imagine what would happen if the world stopped spinning? Well apply that to a body that is not moving… it’s dead. Motion comes in a variety of ways… an education, a family, a home, activities, laughter, friends - All of these contribute to motion. I believe there is a physics law that suggest that all motion requires some other type of motion to stimulate it. People are the same way in order to move we have to keep moving others and helping them. Motion can not depend on itself much like a person cannot depend on him or her self.

We need to support one another to make sure the world keeps spinning and bodies keep moving. To many people depend on their selves for motion and wind up in the gutter and resorting to “fake stimulants” to create some type of movement… drugs are a HUGE example of this. Drugs I believe, can have two effects - One they can be a supplement to true motion of individuals… or they can be the main source. As a supplement through moderation it can really improve us in many ways but as a source it is disastrous… Sadly, many times it starts as a supplement then we become dependant. The best way is to just avoid the mess all together.

Where am I going to end up?
Who knows possibly back to school or possibly a job or some other type of wacky adventure… all I know is that I will never do it without the support of my friends. The have kept my ball rolling for a long time now and I appreciate it… THANKS GUYS!

Believe it or not I typically wear this outside to prevent sickness and I am not the only one.

He believes the world is made from peace… I know it is made from rocks and eventually… to much dismay, the rocks are going to let loose… Then he will believe in pieces of rocks exploding through time covered in the very blood that cared too much.

I have become a germaphobe its official. I caught the Korean flu and was sick for like 3 weeks… the outcome… I do not even want to go near my kids in fear of their germy little hands haha. But my own personal hygiene has taken a bigger leap in an attempt to stay clean and healthy which is nice.

Translation can be a bitch!!
Some of my older kids can act like such bullies… they pretend to be so tough and funny. Always looking for attention even if it means attacking other students where they feel most insecure. I am sure this is common among all cultures and I am sure when I was that age I saw the same thing but from a different prospective.

Now there is one kid in particular “Bully Smurf” for name sake and with a much fitting acronym “B.S.” His is this tall scrawny kid who always wears a shirt with a SMURF on it to class. Now I agree that is pretty tough shit right there. Bully Smurf goes out of his way to sabotage games that require teamwork and goes out of his way to hurt other kids feelings. He used to try to step up to me until I would insult him so bad he only greets me with smiles and gifts now.

The other day a little girl was trying hard to communicate with me and we were playing a game where we were naming ZOO animals - This kind of game gets a lot of interaction and can be very funny when the students take on their own ZOO animal names… BUT, as a teacher we must be cautious that a name does not actually resemble the student in any way physically… Bully Smurf had other intentions.

The girl in question is a little heavier especially for an Asian child her age - She also is very chatty and more often than not gets into arguments with the boys. Her English level is much higher than everyone in the class so in some ways she can understand more complex English emotions… While giving the students names and monitoring them closely so they do not end up causing any problems… Bully Smurf steps up and starts chanting “TEACHER… SHES A PIG SHES A PIG SHES A PIG” Needless to say every student in the room caught the translated meaning of that right away and explode in laughter.

What do I do? Before she realizes and gets emotionally attached to his chants I try to redirect the comment to someone who does not actually share the physical traits of a pig… and what does Bully Smurf do… the exact opposite… “TEACHER NOWAY… SHES THE PIG SHES THE PIG” Until tears break out. Since I asked for it I changed the topic - Let her cool off and the day continued like it never even happened.

When shit like this happens the best thing to do is to try not to bring too much attention to it because with kids… they can naturally heal in 5 minutes… I am going to give Bully Smurf a wedgie today.

I had a little political outbreak there as I so often do mostly because I have had some of those feelings all stuck up inside me for sometimes now. ASIDE FROM THAT, it is time to focus on more important issues. Nosmokesnoproblem.com 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2008. What is in store for my faithful readers over the next few months and will it be enough to launch me into the spotlight along side of many heroes such as Miley Cyrus or David Spade.

I hope NOT! But here is what is in store for you.

1. The infamous 3-year project that has been the podcast:
I never wanted to jump the gun with this idea because I always wanted it to have some flavour and now I feel like I have the spices I need to cook up a delectable dish… of FREE SPEECH. I take that back… I do not believe in free speech it does not exist… I think talking is ok - Once you label talking with such words as “Free Speech” than what can you expect to have happen? It gets abused. Now that talking has a home in “Free Speech” that home becomes a victim of taxes, vandalism and owners who are not responsible… So, no… This podcast is not about free speech its about talking… and maybe a phone call or two — Keep your cell phones handy folks.

2. Ahhhh T-shirts? or… Thongs? Or a T-shirt with a picture of guy who sings the thong song on it? Maybe any of these things.

And most importantly - Shenanigans.

3. So far I have not gotten into any yet - because I have been poor but now I finally got paid - It took awhile but now its worth it - So once I send some money home and get my finances straightened away it is time for shenanigans… with my #1 partner in crime - JOE… See you soon champ.

NSNP Will be keeping up its typical pace - Thank you for everything everyone in my ongoing effort to keep off the smokes.

“China’s response to quake is unusually open

BEIJING: Mothers wailing over the bodies of their children. Emergency workers scrambling across pancaked buildings. A grim-faced political leader comforting the stricken and reassuring a worried nation.

While such scenes are a staple of disasters in much of the world, the rescue effort playing nonstop on Chinese television is remarkable for a country that has a history of concealing the scope of natural disasters and then bungling its responses.”

SO WHAT! Is this really the time to be calling China out — Saying it is “Unusual” so what it is unusual. Let’s say a drunk driver gets out of jail and stops drinking forever do we say “Wow! How unusual… your not drinking and driving” NO! We say - You are doing a great job friend keep up the good work. When a personal generally changes for the better we should encourage the action not deter it by comparing it to its own history.

HOW UNUSUAL CHINA IS DOING A GREAT JOB IN A GREAT TIME OF NEED… Hrmmmm maybe it is unusual that China is doing a better job than America did during the floods - HRMMM How unusual is it that instead of relying on “The best course of action”… China, is in fact, taking action right away. Instead of waiting to choose the best organization to be the heroes of the disaster China is using all of its resources to salvage whatever it can out of this mess… How unusual China has just proved itself more efficient than America in EVERY SINGLE WAY when it comes to a natural disaster. SURE, I agree the past is rough - But if that’s the case every time a black person gets on a bus in America I should say “Wow! look… an African American on a bus how unusual” — Please.

The only thing unusual here is that western media is not jumping for joy that this nation has been doing such a great job in such a time of need. The only thing unusual here is that in this time of need we are not looking for ways to better strengthen our relationships with our less-understood neighbours. The only unusual thing here is this over-bearing, egotistical attitude that western media has and this attitude that insists “We know whats best!… we’ve done things rights - We are happy you are learning from us and our ways - We did a great job representing ourselves internationally.”

In my eyes this is a terribly sad thing… Myanmar could learn a thing or two… from China - Hows that for irony.