Late-night thoughts

I really don't know what to write about right now, but I feel like I should put up some sort of update.

The semester is over halfway done! I really do feel a sense of it being downhill until winter break now. Which is sort of nice, but also kind of a trap that I shouldn't fall into.

I'm having a good time with the students here, and getting to know quite a few of them better. I actually went to a movie with my smallest class last Friday, and got to talk more one-on-one with the few who are more shy about speaking in class. I hope they'll be more comfortable with it now.

I, on the other hand, am still wary of my own skills speaking Korean. But I've been getting better since taking Korean conversation classes. I am understanding little by little the things that people say to me, and it's always cool when I can read something and understand it. I've got a long way to go, though, before I can carry on a conversation.

Things seem to be getting serious with the H1N1 virus. I've heard that Obama declared a state of national emergency in the U.S., and things are similar here. Apparently, the Korean Medical Association recommended that all schools be closed next week, but I haven't heard any follow-up on what the government had decided to do about that. I really hope that school doesn't get closed next week. It would be a big pain. We'd probably have to extend the semester for a week at the end, and I'd probably get stir crazy with no work to do for a whole week. I'd probably end up going to Seoul a lot and spending too much money.

Speaking of which, I saw two movies this weekend: District 9 and Inglourious Basterds (which finally got to South Korea this weekend!). I was particularly excited about the latter, and was not disappointed. However, I think I'll see it again before I form a full opinion on it. I haven't seen a Tarantino film in a while, but out of the ones I've seen, this one mashes up genres and conventions the most. And every time I watch one of his movies, I wish I knew a lot more about film than I do. I do love old WWII movies, and Inglourious Basterds had a lot of the fun, glorified violence of say, The Dirty Dozen, as well as the intensity and suspense of Where Eagles Dare. And no doubt countless other, maybe less obvious films provided inspiriation, probably more than the ones I mentioned. [Edit: I just read this quotation from Tarantino: "It's] my bunch-of-guys-on-a-mission film. [It's] myDirty Dozen or Where Eagles Dare or Guns of Navarone kind of thing." So, I guess I did get something.] But that's what I was able to see as influence, anyway. The nonviolent scenes of intense conversation were the best part of the film for me, particularly a confrontation in a basement tavern between a group of undercover Basterds and a Gestapo officer. Anyway, I'm rambing now, but it's late. And I should just leave this at that for now anyway, since I said I wasn't going to form an opinion now.

And I'm so tired, I can't even begin to talk about District 9, other than to say I thought it was good.

Okay. Going to beg. I mean, bed.