My first ever photo project and I decide to disown my co-teachers...

I have been taking pictures of everything for the past 21 years since my dad gave me my first camera, his old Soviet-made Smena 8. Most of my pictures aren't planned. Aside from shooting news for a few years and a couple of weddings, I usually just lug my cameras around and snap away at whatever I see.

Well, the other day, as I was walking around, I saw some dying flowers and thought they looked beautiful. So, I shot a few frames (with my trusty old 50 1.8 ...though I'm really thinking of upgrading it to a Canon 85 1.8 or a Sigma 50 1.4).

Then I realized that most people take pictures of flowers when they're at their most beautiful, lush and colourful. Add a few dew drops and you have yourself a winner. Well, I have decided that my first ever photo project will be to take pictures of wilted, dying and dead flowers...for no other reason than that I think they look neat and it hasn't been overdone. (Also, as my Dad wisely pointed out, still a little better than taking pictures of dead animals). Here's the flower that started it all:

And then I found this little guy not too far away...

Let me know what you think...it's kind of a goofy idea, but I think it could be fun :)

I'll keep you guys updated as I find more and more of these things...

Onto something different. So, technically I have "coteachers". And I have been referring to them as such on this blog and in my daily conversations. Then, a few days ago, I found myself deleting "coteachers" every time I typed it and replacing it with "coworkers."

This got me thinking and I realized that there was a reason for this: while I technically have coteachers, in reality that whole thing is a joke. Which is pretty funny because that was one of the reasons I chose Korea over Japan. I figured it would be much easier my first year teaching if I have someone by my side to help, support and guide me.

Ha-effing-ha. You know what my so-called "coteachers" do? Nothing. Half of them don't bother coming to my classes. The other half sit in the back of my classroom and read books, do their paperwork or sleep. At best, once every week they will say "be quiet" once.

From Day 1 I have been doing everything on my own. Lesson plans, teaching, disciplining, etc, everything. I'm not complaining, in fact I prefer it this way for a few reasons. I'm getting the TRUE teaching experience. I'm not a coteacher, I'm a full-blown real-deal middle school teacher. And that feels good for the ego and it's going to look great on a resume when I go back to Canada and try to find jobs. However, the other teachers are certainly not deserving of the "coteacher" designation and "coteacher" implies I need/use their help. I don't. They're useless. This is all me. So no more coteachers...they're coworker. Coworkers I rarely see.

And now for a few random things...

Thanks to my old pal Frankie (Francisco), who introduced me to Ice Cube's stuff years ago, I've been a fan of Ice Cube the past few years...I think he keeps getting better and better with each album. Raw Footage was really solid stuff, and I just started finding tracks off of I Am The West and they're amazing. Life In California and I Rep That West have been playing non-stop in my MP3 player for weeks and I just found No Country For Young Men and it's a wicked track. If you're into rap/hip-hop, check it out...it's great stuff.

Moving on...random shot from my night out with Alice wandering around Changwon...

What else?...I'm drowsy as hell. This ain't good. The drug cocktail the doctor has me on is knocking me out. I could barely finish my last few classes yesterday, then I got home, ate dinner, put my head on the pillow and promptly passed out...all before 7 p.m. I slept until around 5:30 a.m., so I got a good night's sleep, but I already feel like I could sleep for another 10 hours. This is going to be a long week.

And finally...apparently monsoon season is here. It rained last night/this morning (though it looks decent now) and they're forecasting rain until Sunday...then again, every 2 weeks or so (whenever it rains for 45 minutes), my coworkers have been coming in saying "well...monsoon season is here"...I'm sure it's going to be back for a few weeks, but it really isn't all that bad right now. Maybe it's because I'm from the Rain Coast back home, but if this is monsoon season, I'll be laughing through it. The one thing that concerns me is the humidity. My god it's going to get bad. Right now it's 22 degrees and 88% humidity, but it'll get a LOT worse...yesterday we were up at 29 degrees, so I'm sure today will get into the high-20s with 90%-ish humidity. Bring on the sweat! Okay, that's all I have for now..

Y'all take care now y'hear!!

T