Phone Fix

Over three months have passed since that day I got my cell phone. It is a nifty little gadget and it goes with me almost everywhere. Of course I use it to talk with to my friends but it also has four or five other features that come in real handy. First and foremost, I use the camera on it. Cell phone cameras have been around in Korea for a long time and mine has a 1.3 mega pixel cam on it. That is really top of the line for cams in America but here is where things start. Basically, my phone is a cheapie. One of my students has a beat up and old phone with a 5 megapixel camera in it. Hahaha, my real digital camera is not even 5 megapixels and this guy has one build into his phone. Can you believe it? I was never a fan of digital cameras in phones before this phone but this one actually takes good enough photos to snap quickly and send off in emails and actually some of my pics in my emails have been taken with this phone so it has proven itself a useful addition.

The second thing that is so cool is that I text message people. Writing messages in Korea is really popular and a lot cheaper so I have once again since Africa sharpened up my texting skills. In Africa people wrote in a kind of short hand slang more often than not and people here don’t. People try to use full grammar here. Not exaclty sure why but I kind of miss writing in slang.

The third thing I like is the built in English to Korean dictionary. This comes in especially handy as I have learnt (kind of) how to read Korean. These days if I am at a loss for good conversation material and I really need to say a word, I just type it in and find the Korean equivalent or better yet just show my phone to the person I am trying to talk to and let them read it.

The fourth thing that I use on a regular basis is the calendar. Makes it handy for figuring out what is going on and when.

My cell phone is just a basic one. Other people use their cell phones as MP3 players here and every time I go to the subway I see someone rocking out to music on their cell phone. Actually, mine has this option too but I just haven’t figured out how to use it yet.

What is more surprising is the people that have downloaded shows to their cell phones and even fast forward through the commercials. I have peeked over more than one person’s shoulder to check out what they were watching. But other people that are not watching movies just whip out their antenna and start watching TV. Pretty amazing to me that there they are, right in front of me, flipping channels. These video capable phones also have extra large screens that flip around so people can see the show more clearly.

My cell phone does not have these options, at least I am pretty sure it doesn’t, but I am not too upset. For all that my cell phone has, and it has a lot and I am happy with it, it does not have one thing that I really would like it to have. It has never had a phone call from America, not once in over three months.

So for everyone who was afraid to dial internationally because you did not know how much it costs or thought those extra zeros and ones were confusing (I don’t blame you) I have set out to make life easier for you to call me. Don’t call everyday. I am too busy for that but at least once while I am in Asia could be nice.

Here is a number you can call me at 903-551-@$52 when you want. Best times are early in the morning or late at night. Yes, it is a USA number so it should be free or cheap for you to call but best of all, it is easy. I have received this number through AOL instant messenger using VOIP technology so I will only be able to answer the phone when I am home and have the computer on but if I am not here, you can always leave a message.

On a side note, I am still sick and that sucks. Thought I was getting better and started to, well, I actually did get quite a bit better. Unfortunately though, I have also gotten worse since then. Seems like it has happened to a lot of people. In fact, it seems like at least half of the people I know are sick in one way or the other or just have been or are getting there so I guess that is how life goes here.