Conor Meagher Fan Club

Today I got a Christmas card from my 1st grade student, Joey. Notice how it says “I like phonics class best.” Guess who’s his phonics teacher? Yours truly.

Saying goodbye is never easy, especially when it’s Pete and Clare. I can’t image never meeting and working with them in Korea. We’ve had so many good times and wonderful memories in the short time I’ve known them. Korea won’t be the same without them. One the good thing is I get to go to Europe to see them.

Do you like surprises? I’m working on a couple.

This is too much. Thank god for YouTube.

Full Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rv0xBVFl0II

Broadcast Video: http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/nbc_off_exc_lazyscranton_20061116_0500.shtml

What I’m thankful for. I’m thankful for…

• Loved ones
• My wonderful girlfriend Jeong-in
• Friends from near and far
• A good steady job
• My new Samsung 32″ LCD TV
• A Chiefs 19-10 win over the Donkeys
• An Islanders team over .500
• Mark Teahan, Alex Gordon, and Billy Butler
• A Democratic majority in the House & Senate
• And many more things…

This a great step towards how to achieve progress in America. Too bad it took an unjust war, hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths, billions of taxes dollars wasted, innocent people imprisoned, constitutional rights ignored, an amoral GOP, promises never kept, scare tactics, consistent lies to save political face, and many other damaging things. I hope the American people will take back their country and hold the so-called leaders accountable.
It’s been a long 6 years.

Democrats Win Control of Congress
WASHINGTON November 9, 2006, 6:24 a.m. ET

In a rout once considered almost inconceivable, Democrats won a 51st seat in the Senate and regained total control of Congress after 12 years of near-domination by the Republican Party.

The shift dramatically alters the government’s balance of power, leaving President Bush without GOP congressional control to drive his legislative agenda. Democrats hailed the results and issued calls for bipartisanship even as they vowed to investigate administration policies and decisions.

Democrats completed their sweep Wednesday evening by ousting Republican Sen. George Allen of Virginia, the last of six GOP incumbents to lose re-election bids in a midterm election marked by deep dissatisfaction with the president and the war in Iraq.

Democrats had 229 seats in the House, 11 more than the number necessary to hold the barest of majorities in the 435-member chamber.

“In Iraq and here at home, Americans have made clear they are tired of the failures of the last six years,” said Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, in line to become Senate Majority leader when Congress reconvenes in January.

As watershed elections go, this one rivaled the GOP’s takeover in 1994, which made Newt Gingrich speaker of the House, the first Republican to run the House since the Eisenhower administration. This time the shift comes in the midst of an unpopular war, a Congress scarred by scandal and just two years from a wide-open presidential contest.

Allen lost to Democrat Jim Webb, a former Republican who served as Navy secretary in the Reagan administration. A count by The Associated Press showed Webb with 1,172,538 votes and Allen with 1,165,302, a difference of 7,236. Allen was awaiting the result statewide postelection canvass of votes and did not concede the race.

Democrats will have nine new senators on their side of the aisle as a result of Tuesday’s balloting. Six of them defeated sitting Republican senators from Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Rhode Island, Montana and Virginia. The other three replaced retiring senators from Maryland, Minnesota and Vermont.

Their ideologies are as varied as their home states. Bernie Sanders, an independent who will replace Vermont Sen. Jim Jeffords, is a Socialist who has served in the House and voted with Democrats since 1990. Bob Casey Jr., who defeated Republican Sen. Rick Santorum in Pennsylvania, is an anti-abortion moderate. Webb once declared that the sight of President Clinton returning a Marine’s salute infuriated him.

Besides the Webb-Allen race, the Montana Senate contest also was too tight to call early Wednesday. But by midday, Democrat Jon Tester outdistanced Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, who had to fight off campaign miscues as well as his ties to Jack Abramoff, the once super-lobbyist caught in an influence-peddling scheme.

In the House, 10 races remained too tight to call, with three of them leaning to the Democrats. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who would become the first female speaker in history, called for harmony and said Democrats would not abuse their new status.

She said she would be “the speaker of the House, not the speaker of the Democrats.” She said Democrats would aggressively conduct oversight of the administration, but said any talk of impeachment of President Bush “is off the table.”

In the Senate, Sen. Charles Schumer of New York, the head of the Democrats’ Senate campaign committee, said, “We had a tough and partisan election, but the American people and every Democratic senator — and I’ve spoken to just about all of them — want to work with the president in a bipartisan way.”

Tuesday, November 7th is your chance to change the direction of America. Get out and vote!

Halloween was celebrated at my school on two different days, because kids come on MWF or TT. Now, I never want to hear the phrase “trick or treat” again. Just image taking your kids out two nights in a row to go trick or treating for 6 hours. But Jesse and I had some laughs when we scared the students while they tried to study. I don’t think one student learned anything over Halloween. Good times good times.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/conormeagher/sets/72157594354802336/

Since I have a limited amount of time off, especially days grouped together, I planned ahead and bought KTX tickets for Busan this week because of the 4 day vacation. No special reason though, I just wanted to ride the KTX high-speed train and travel outside of Seoul in the company of the girl. It was a memorable trip. The train was so smooth as it peaked at speeds of 300km/hr (~186mph) without you knowing it. The weather was beautiful along with the beach. We saw some interesting fish at the Busan Aquarium and some weird art at the Busan Museum of Modern Art. Everything was great and I have the pictures to prove it.

Day 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/conormeagher/sets/72157594313660443/
Day 2: http://www.flickr.com/photos/conormeagher/sets/72157594313876284/

It was almost a year ago when I got my first Korean cell phone. It was simple, but slick. It had all the functions I needed and then some. Never had a problem, until last week. The navigational and other key buttons decided not to work anymore. Everything else was fine, except I couldn’t scroll or send text messages. Also the internal mic went out. Not having a cell phone in Korea, is like not having hot water in the U.S. Ok maybe not that bad, but it was concerning for me and for Jeong-in. So last weekend we did our research and went shopping. Korean phones have a new technology that broadcast high speed television to your phone. My new phone has that and the service is free! Also a 2.0 megapixel camera and mp3 player. The phone is huge too, because of the camera, but not like a PDA. I’m just worried I’m going to knock somebody out with. Here’s what it looks like:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/conormeagher/sets/72157594306783294/

As I’m writing this, I’m watching the Royals/Angels game on MLB.tv and the LAA TV annoucers are the most annoying people ever. They keep calling Francisco Rodriguez, “Frankie” and Orlando Cabrera, “OC”. That’s almost as bad as when Bob Davis refers to left-handers as “southpaws”.

Recent happenings in my life:

1. I got approved for a Korean credit card after almost a year of trying.
2. Jeong-in enjoys cleaning my apartment and washing my clothes.
3. Monday will be the begining of my 10 week session of Korean classes at Yonsei University.
4. Last night I jammed with some Korean musicians and they want to start a band, maybe.
5. Last week I got asked to contribute my pictures and stories about living in Korea to a book based on foreigners living in Korea.