The Blog of Justin Loutsch

Andrew Osland, son of Don and Heather (maiden- Roy), and brother of Hallie, Hanna, Rebecca, and Olivia, was recently diagnosed with Burkitt’s Lymphoma, which is a cancer of the lymphatic system . Andy is 8 years old.

Andy has started chemotherapy and will be in the hospital quite extensively over the next 4 – 8 months. As you could imagine, this affects the entire family and many others in a sometimes difficult and sometimes positive way.

I was invited to come to the family benefit, but cannot attend because I am out of the country. Instead, I sent a check for $10 (the cost of a ticket) to the address below, where an account has been set up for the fund:

Osland Family Benefit
c/o Lake Area Bank
PO Box 22
Harris MN 55032

If you can, please consider sending a $10 check of your own to help support this family as Andrew goes through this ordeal. My family has been touched by cancer, as have many of my friends, and I hope that everything turns out well for them. Thanks for reading everyone.

I’m really very happy that I was given my notice almost 2 months ahead of time.  This gives me plenty of time to prepare for whatever is next.  I joined xing.com to connect with a German business woman I met, and my network has just kept growing from there.

I first started networking here simply by going to the weekly German meetup my first month here.  Many of the Germans here are much older than your average English teacher and have great jobs with lots of connections.  While it was not my main intent, it happens very naturally anyway.  They have been a great help with suggestions of places to go and look for work.

After joining Xing, I was sent a message by a contact of one of my contacts about the meetup that they have a few times per year.  I went to the first one 2 weeks ago only to discover the official meetup had been canceled, but returned Thursday night for the real one. I met so many people there.  Many Germans, too.  One guy who works for a hotel/spa said they’re looking for an English teacher and while I wouldn’t take it as a first choice, I would do that if I had to.  I emailed him my resume and he will let me know if there are any open positions.  The only problem this poses is that I would not be able to start working til the end of March.

Then I met another German who I was told just got a job with a relocation company which helps people move all across the world.  I spoke with him and told him I am interested in doing that kind of work, and living and working in Germany as well.  He is going to check with his company and see if there are any open positions and will get back to me.  I first became interested in this industry while talking to a German woman who does her own freelance intercultural training and relocation business.  I didn’t realize at the time that it was freelance, and thought she worked for a company.  I emailed her when I got the news and told her I’d to do what she does.  It turns out I’d have to open up my own business in the US and people move to and from Germany/Austria/Switzerland.  I emailed her back asking for some advice about doing this with so little experience, and she suggested finding some companies to work for first before going out on my own.  I’ve found a few other companies in Seoul that I will be checking out once I get more free time in the mornings to go out and visit them, hand out my resume, and ask for an interview.

I’m very glad that I’ve taken the time to build a network here, for 2 reasons.  The first is that it is such an international city that you can meet people from all over the place.  Second, these people I meet are all established and connected and willing to help out.  Most of my coworkers only go out to get drunk and have fun, and I think that this view is a bit detrimental to their future, as when they get home there’s an “OMG” moment as they wonder what they will do next.  Sure teaching may look great on the resume, but I think that without meeting all kinds of professionals it’s so much more difficult to find people who are able to help you get a job.

I am fortunate also that my family is also looking out for me.  My dad and mom both are looking for things in their areas of the US, and my brother is going to look into jobs at the UN in NYC where a friend of his works.  Meeting Germans here also gives me the chance to find a job that would allow me to live in Germany too, which I find very exciting.

My last option is to go back home.  If I do that, I’m not sure what I would do between March and May, but I’m definitely going to apply at Concordia Language Villages to work at the German camp if I do go back.  I’ve found that, while I find English teaching mostly not fun, I am very passionate about German and helping students learn my favorite language.  This is more of a last resort as the job market in the US for young grads is very dismal and it would be depressing to be constantly on the lookout for jobs that barely exist.

I’d like to begin with some bad news, which is that I was given one month’s notice by my director on January 7th. I have a bit more than a month left, and will be leaving my school the end of February. This is mostly because that’s when the semester ends, and she doesn’t have to have to stress about a new teacher so close to the end. It also helps the kids, who will not have to deal with another new teacher learning the ropes so close to their final tests.

I had a feeling it was coming the night before, since that day I had had 2 more observations, by the head teacher and the director. It just wasn’t working out with some of my kids. I can get through the material but I have a hard time making such stuff fun to learn. The director even told me that, after most of my kids were taught by the head teacher (who does a great job), it’s tough to compare. On top of this, my voice is just too monotone and I’m too laid back to command the classroom without yelling. My humor is also too dry and sarcastic for young children to understand, and I can’t really change that. I’ve learned that if you want to be a fun teacher, you should give out candy. I’ve started to do this just to make the last month and a half a bit nicer. I will be spending the rest of my time trying to get the kids caught up in some subjects so that when the new teacher arrives he/she will not have to stress about being behind from the moment they started. I remember what it was like to start here just 3 and a half months ago and want to make it easier for this new person.

I have to say too that the head teacher has been very supportive of me the entire time I’ve been here. She kept telling the director that I’m not a teacher and she knew what she was getting when they hired me. She also thinks that by the time 6 months rolls around I would’ve been much better than I am today. Now we may never know, but it was very nice to have her on my side this whole time. The director also has a business to run and parents to please, so she not only has to look out for the kids but also make sure the school still makes money. I understand both of these things and am ok with them.

I’m a little disappointed about losing the job, but mostly because the money’s good and the rent’s free. I could apply at other private schools, but I think as long as I continue to teach elementary age students I will continue to have the same problems. I’m looking to get out of English teaching and into a different industry, but that will be my next post.

For now, I have a few things to worry about. I get my last full check February 10th, and then the next check will have quite a bit of money taken out of it. They paid my airfare on the way over and considered it a “loan” that would be repaid within 6 months of working here, but since I will only have been working for 4 months I’ll have to pay back about 1/3 of it (hopefully around $300). Then they take more fees out of the last check to cover extra bills and incidentals once you leave. I don’t know any of the logistics yet, since we get paid on the 10th of every month but I’m done the end of Feb, it’s unclear if I’ll still be able to stay in my apartment until I get the check or if they’ll give me an advance instead. I think it’s more likely I’ll get a cash advance and have to leave the apartment the beginning of March.

It’s a bit of a relief at this point, and I’m excited about other options now that I know there’s an end in site.

(Note: the basic instructions for removing Barnes and Noble DRM remain the same, except the scripts are different. They come from this page.  Click on the script you need and then click the Download link  next to the raw button. Save the files where you can find them).

So I’ve been purchasing a lot of ebooks lately, but unfortunately the formatting on them is often horrible.  There is however no way to to change the formatting on the books because they are protected by DRM.  Luckily, most epub files use Adobe ADEPT as the standard DRM, and a nice little writeup has been created by the person who cracked it showing how to use the files.

This is not done as a means of piracy, but rather for reasons of fair use.  The first reason is so that the format can be converted, as I’ve read many ebooks that use up half the width of my screen, which is very frustrating.  I’ve found that the best ebook format (for the Sony reader anyway) is HTML, which calibre converts and uploads. This format displays perfectly, but it is also open and so you will never find a ebook in this format for sale.  The second reason has to do with ownership. When you purchase an ebook from Sony, Amazon, or any other company, the DRM ensures that that company remains in control of that ebook.  At any point they can revoke your license to that book.  You do not so much own an ebook with DRM as rent it.  When you remove the DRM you ensure that your copy of the book stays your copy, and is not taken away from your arbitrarily.

You will first need to install these 2 programs in order to use the scripts: Python 2.6 and PyCrypto.

Now, in my use of these scripts I’ve noticed a few things myself.  In windows XP, I have not been able to successfully run the python scripts by double clicking them.  Instead, you have to open up a terminal (start>run>cmd and hit enter) and then navigate to the directory where the script is located (CD is the “change directory” command). Let’s say for example the scripts are in My Documents, which is located at c:\Documents and settings\username\My Documents, but your terminal opens in C:\Documents and settings\Administrator.  So you would type “cd c:\Documents and settings\username” into the terminal, using the tab key to autocomplete names, hit enter and it will bring you to that directory.

Now you are in the directory where the scripts are located, but that is not enough. If you type the name of the script and hit enter you only get an error message.  This is where python comes in.  As the instructions on the main site state, you must install python and pycrypto.  Once these are installed you type “python ineptkey.pyw” (the script name), and this tells python to run that script. Once the script is run a box appears which retrieves the key file verifying that you do in fact own the ebook.  Then you run the command “python ineptepub.pyw” (or insert your script name) which will open a box asking you to locate the key file, the epub file, and specify a title and output location.  Most times the keyfile will be found automatically, but if not make a note of where you saved it.   Then you can decrypt the ebook, and you will have a perfectly normal epub file sitting in the output directory.

If you would like to get at that and format it, simply change the .epub extension to .zip and open the zip file and extract the contents. the OEPB folder contains all the HTML files, chapter by chapter.  You can open this in any editor and fiddle with it to your hearts content.  Once you add the html file to calibre, the best ebook library manager out there, it will convert it to a compatible format before uploading it to your device.

I was in Itaewon, the foreign district of Seoul, on Wednesday night at my weekly German get-together. I left at 1:30 in the morning and had to catch a cab home, and while I was standing on the street corner trying to find one I was approached by a hooker asking me if I wanted sex.

Remember I had just spent the last three hours speaking German, where “nee” means “no.”   I was still in German mode.  However, in Korean “nee” means yes.  So I turned to the hooker and said to her “nee” then realized what I said and frantically searched for the Korean word for no.  Once I remembered it I said “aniyo” and got in my cab which thankfully arrived just at that moment.

This is easily the funniest thing that’s happened to me since I’ve been here.

I am having a bad night of missing Cory, and am reading through our conversations when I found this gem, taken from an IM between him and filefly:

Cory: so. someone called in and offered a $100 donation of the hot news anchor chick would cut off and send him a bit of hair.

she did it

but she was talking to him on the phone at first

holding the mic

and this is what i hear

*gasp* “WHAT?!”

“Well, how much are we talking here.”

“Just enough to see it’s cut…”

i lost it on stage
6:32:10
Tim (a)
LMAO

—–

I would have loved to see this moment. If anyone knows if there are MDA telethon archives with that kind of thing, please let me know. I imagine it will look like some hippy in a wheelchair cracking up randomly.

My coworkers and I had all been looking for a dinner to go, but most of them were on Thursday and out of the question due to working til 9. Cooking dinner ourselves was out of the question as none of our apartments have ovens. I came home that night and googled to see what I could find, and it was slim pickings. Most places had a dinner only on Thursday night. Finally I found a place serving Thanksgiving dinner all weekend long. Fortuitously, it also happened to be an Austrian restaurant, which I was very excited about. This is mostly because they served Gluewein (mulled wine) with dinner, which I haven’t had in over a year.

This all seems very ironic, I know. Thanksgiving dinner, in Korea, at an Austrian restaurant. But I have to say they did a wonderful job. The meal came in 3 courses, the first being beet soup with horseradish, and it was delicious. After that the main course came, a mix of turkey (both white and dark meat), mashed potatoes with gravy, mixed vegetables, and stuffing. For dessert, we had pumpkin pie with whipped cream. I am still stuffed from all of this food, but I’m glad I didn’t have the opportunity to overeat by going back for seconds. The total cost was about $50 but it was worth it in my opinion.

To top off the wonderful dinner, I had a great partner for conversation, which really made the night enjoyable. One of my favorite nights in Seoul so far!

Tonight I went to Itaewon to buy a cellphone. Turned out in order to get on a contract I needed something I didn’t bring with me, so I’ll have to go back tomorrow. Afterwards, I went to a little Italian place I’d scoped out on wikimaps. It was very nice to sit in the restaurant and read my book while eating. So relaxing. I also thought I’m glad I don’t speak Korean because I think if I did I would be listening in on conversations and finding it difficult to pay attention. So I read my book for probably an hour and walked around a bit more and then made my way home. I took the subway and while transferring to another train it hit me that the times I enjoy most here are going to a little restaurant or cafe and reading, and being able to get to these places by train. It was at this time that I considered staying another year just due to the lifestyle I am able to lead here. I still have to see how things pan out with school, and I still believe that it can be difficult to be a foreigner here, but so far the inconveniences I’ve experienced have been few and far between.

I think when I finally settle in the US it will have to be in a city with great public transportation. This will definitely not be NYC or LA. Maybe Philadelphia or Toronto. I’ve heard good things. But I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself just yet…

I’ve not only been thinking about my current situation in life a lot lately, but also about the last few years and the things I have predicted or planned for myself. I spent the summer before I left for Austria in Minneapolis, and moved in with my dad for a short period after my lease ended and before I left for Austria. It wasn’t very long. They drove me back up to Minneapolis that morning for the airport, where I was flying out of, and in the car we had a long conversation about what exactly I would do after college. At that point I hadn’t really thought about too many options. The previous girlfriend and I had talked a lot about going to Japan, and the JET program, and what we would do after college. It was the only thing I had thought of at that point, so I replied that I would probably go teach English in Japan.

Now I’m teaching English in Korea, which is not Japan but IS part of Asia. Not exactly what I had planned, but close enough for me. I just often surprise myself when I look at all the things I’ve predicted or half-planned etc and to see that these things have actually come to fruition. A friend of mine in Minneapolis told me that he was surprised that I applied for the program in Korea after the discussions we had had about it. When I asked him why he explained that he often talks about things but then never does anything more. Basically, he was surprised that I follow through and do the things I talk about doing. To me, it’s just security and good sense to know that I have things planned for myself after other things.

Now I’m at the point where I have 3 possibilities in my mind after I return home from South Korea.

I’ve decided I have to go live in Vienna, or at least Austria, for a while. I miss the hell out of Austria and I never realized how big a part of me German had become until I left Minnesota, all my German-speaking friends, the German immersion camp weekends, and, finally Austria. Austria comes last because when I left it I just wanted to get the hell out of college and on with my life, but I couldn’t do that until I returned home and finished up my last year at the U of MN. So, these 3 things are the fulbright program, teaching English to older students at a private business (Berlitz, for example) and finally the global studies masters program at the University of Vienna. If the Fulbright doesn’t work out I will be taking a mini-vacation of about 3 weeks or so to Europe and seeing some friends while I look around some local schools, Berlitz and a number of public schools, and see if they would be in need of a native speaker. I just learned about the global studies masters program at the University of Vienna today, and I’m not even sure at this point if I want a MA. At this point that is 3rd on my list of reasons to go back to Austria but I will give it some time and put in some more research. There’s an informational PDF but its 26 pages and all in German so I’m going to need some time to get through it all.

I had a a conversation with my head teacher about my performance so far, and she thinks that I would do much better with older students (high school and above) and indeed that is really where my experience lies, so I am hopeful to improve my skills with younger kids as well as finding a job with older students later on down the road.

In any case, I’m sure that whatever happens will be interesting and fun, and I look forward to looking back on these times and saying “Hah, I knew it!”

So I don’t think I’ve actually posted about this, at least not with pictures, and a post on another blog inspired me to do so. While my shower isn’t quite as small, it is just as crazy.

Here we go

As you can, see there is no tub or shower stall.  Instead, the entire bathroom is used as the shower stall.  At least you can tell there was some forethought on this decision, what with the cover on the toilet paper and the huge drain in the floor.

I took the shot of the shower in the mirror as the angle was a bit much given the small amount of space I have to work with, but you can see that the shower heard connects directly to the sink faucet.  There’s a button that you have to push in to turn on the shower.  I’m always careful to make sure I pull it out when I the turn the shower off so I don’t get an unexpected shower later on. That’s happened to a coworker…

Korean culture dictates that you also have one pair of sandals to wear when you go into the shower, and that everyone who uses your bathroom share these sandals.  I don’t really feel like buying these sandals. I do have some nice slippers with a plastic/rubber bottom that are sufficient but I’ve found that the main reason for these sandals is not just to keep your feet from getting wet after you’re done in the shower.  Because my floor is the source of my heating (there are pipes with hot water beneath the floor) the bathroom is not heated at all and the floor is made of stone.  When you’re naked and step onto a bare floor, it is COLD.  My compromise to this situation is to reach in and grab the shower head, turn on the hot water, and spray the hot water onto the floor before stepping in.  It works well so far, I’ll see how it goes when it gets even colder.