Oh Korea..Greek food should not be spicy!

As promised, it is Sunday…so here is another post!

Good news is that I have officially been here for a month! The bad news is that the humidity has arrived. It came suddenly and quietly in the night like a thief and I am in no way excited about it! Now, onto the goods….

Monday – I decided to venture out and find a gym! I had asked a Korean co-worker about a gym in my area and he suggested one for me. Well, I went there and signed up! I was pretty freaking excited about it. It’s 60,000 Won a month but that includes all the machines, showers and whatever classes are offered in the “stretching room.” I think there are yoga classes but this lady’s English was terrible so I’m not really clear on that subject yet. I’m just excited that I found a gym so easily!Work was good, nothing too eventful. After work we all got together for Chris’ birthday. We ate at this really nice Italian place and then afterwards we went to this place called Fun-Joy and then it got sloppy! This place serves what we call Soju cocktails. Now soju, as I have expressed, is not the best thing in the world but it’s about the only thing here to drink, it’s hard to find vodka, rum, tequila, etc. Soju is dangerous because when it is mixed with anything you can’t even taste it unlike a Vodka and cranberry you can tell how heavy the bartender’s hand was when he was pouring it. Soju, not so much! So, we had these delicious cocktails with Soju, almost like a fruit slushy, and then next thing I know we are all drunk. I didn’t get home till like 4 or 5 in the morning. What a night!

Tuesday – Hit the gym before work! It was excellent! Level tests begin! Yay! My schedule said that I only had to proctor one test and teach one of my classes so I was pretty excited. So I had a lot of downtime at work this day. However, during the last period, one of the Korean teachers came up to me and wanted to know why I wasn’t teaching her class. I pulled out the schedule and clearly showed her that she was supposed to be teaching and even though I know she understood me, she acted like she didn’t and I did not want to stand there and argue with her so I had to go into my new class that I’m not supposed to start until Friday and teach them. They were little hellions and I decided that Friday I was going to lay down the law after the way they disrespected me. I left work kinda mad that night because #1 if I was supposed to teach that class then it was my Team Leader’s fault for not telling me because the schedule is in Korean and it was his responsibility to tell me, I thoroughly went over it with him and he didn’t mention it and #2 I know that I wasn’t supposed to teach that class, it was the Korean teacher that should have taught it so I wasn’t very happy with her for putting me in that position. Oh well…there’s only so much you can do about this kind of stuff…

Wednesday – Hit the gym before work. Level testing again, I still got to teach my classes though. I now teach another class at 4, it’s just one girl so it’s a little boring. Hopefully this will change and she will get put into another class on a different day after the level tests have been calculated. I taught my favorite class this day also, I know I shouldn’t play favorites but I do! I also got invited to go on a Korean blind date! Haha One of the desk teachers asked me if I would like to go out with one of her friends. She told me a little bit about him, he bakes cakes, is 26, and likes foreigners. I asked her if his English was good and she said not really. Now, how does this guy really expect to be able to carry on a conversation with me? If he really likes foreigners that much then he should consider taking an English class or something. It sounds to me like maybe he wants a green card or something. (I’m just saying!) I said no thanks.

After work I came home checked my email and I had received a message from the US Embassy in Seoul. I registered with the embassy so that in case of an evacuation, they know where to find me. The letter basically addressed the high concern for war between the North and the South. It said that they didn’t see any immediate threat to the American community here but to stay up to date on the latest news reports and what not.

Thursday – I went into work today feeling a little drab. I didn’t make it to the gym because I didn’t have enough time and then when I got to work I just didn’t really feel like doing much. Thank goodness for level tests! My kids were pretty good so I let them play a game. We found out about our vacation dates. They are going to be from the 24^th – 27^th. So basically 4 days. Everyone else is already making plans and stuff but I don’t think I’m going to be able to afford to do anything. I really want to go to Barcelona and I found a good deal on a ticket but I soon realized that my friend won’t be in Barcelona until like the 28^th of June. Talk about bad timing. I also have another 4 day vacation at the beginning of August so maybe I’ll do something then. After work we headed over to Alexis’ because she was hosting Thursday Night Dinner. We actually turned it into a Thursday Night Breakfast and had breakfast instead. We had chocolate chip banana pancakes, sausage, fruit salad, scrambled eggs, toast and frozen mochas! It was great. It was fun to hang out with everyone even though I wasn’t feeling really social that day. Good day overall.

Friday – Yay for Fridays! I went to the gym and it was great after that I headed into work and prepared for the day and taught my two classes and then I taught my two new classes that I got. I went in with Class Rules for both of my new classes because their old teacher Brendan, I have discovered, was a huge softie! So I had to lay down the law to these kids and they behaved pretty well for their first class but we’ll see how it goes this week. I was pretty excited when 10:30 came around and after work I headed downtown to go out with everyone. There was a billibow tournament at this place called Billibow ( what a coincidence!) Billibow is a mix between bowling and pool. It’s set up like a bowling alley but the pins are smaller and you shoot a pool ball down the bowling alley with a pool table stick. It actually looks really fun. Anyways, almost everyone from our group was in the tournament, 3 of us were not. It was fun to watch nonetheless and I got free drinks all night so it ended up getting a little sloppy. I made some new friends and then had Gim-Bop at 5 in the morning with Joel and Andrew. I got to see the sun rise in the cab on the way home! Hahaha Oh Korea! The sun comes up at literally 5 am here and sets at like 7:45. I hate it, there needs to be more sunlight, I can’t even being to think about what it’s going to be like in the winter months! Ugh!

Saturday – I went to the gym around 2 and spent about 2 hours there. I saw another foreigner at my gym so that was pretty exciting. I didn’t talk to him or anything but if I see him again I’m going to say hi and find out where he’s from. He must live in my neighborhood somewhere. After going to the gym almost everyday for a week I have already seen a noticeable difference in my sleep schedule, eating schedule, and my mood. I feel so much better about myself. I’d give it another week or 2 at the gym and my body will be back to what it once was. I can’t believe that I was just letting myself go like that, getting no exercise and just eating whatever I want. I guess I’m to that age now where I can’t do that anymore and it took gaining 10 lbs. to realize this! Haha But honestly I love the feeling that going to the gym gives me, it’s actually fun! I never knew that I was missing out on all this enjoyment! After the gym I headed over to the store and picked up a few grocery items to help get me through the week and then once I got home I made some lunch, got a shower, and then headed downtown. I decided just to take the 3 bus and fortunately I didn’t run into my favorite bus driver friend! Haha. Once I got downtown I just wondered around I went into a bunch of face and make-up stores, they are everywhere. The Koreans, like most Asians are really into make up and beauty products, these people will do anything to look younger, it’s crazy. They always stay out of the sun because they think it’s going to give them too many wrinkles and they also have these creams here that you can put on your skin to make it whiter! Creepy! I wonder if this was what Michael Jackson was using? Lol It’s seriously a little scary. It’s a good thing to be super pale. Over here it is considered beautiful. So as soon as summer is in full swing I’m sure I will be getting even more stares as I start to get darker. I don’t think that I’ll be laying out anywhere and tanning but I have noticed that I’ve gotten sun since I’ve been here and I’m already starting to get darker, I just tan so easily, I want to thank my Dad for these wonderful Fan-TAN-tas-tic genes/ability. I think we have the same skin. Chelsea didn’t get that lucky; she got Mom’s and burns easily. So anyways I checked out some of these girly shops and bought a few things to try out like some face masks and some blackhead things. Gross, I know, but I just want to see if they really work. I shopped around for probably 2 or 3 hours and that’s all I bought. I spent like 3 dollars. Lol It was fun nonetheless to kinda find my way around. After being there for a while I grabbed a quick bite to eat at this Greek place. I got what was supposed to be a Gyro and it would have been decent Greek food if it wouldn’t have been for the freaking red chili peppers that they decided to throw in there and RUIN it! Ugh, I was so mad, I didn’t know that it was going to be spicy. Hey Korea…GREEK FOOD IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SPICY! They make everything spicy here! I was so disappointed. After that I headed to Beomeo to meet up with Karissa, Joel, and Chris. We just hung out down by the river, they had some drinks, I had one and then we called it a night around 3. Pretty boring I guess.

Sunday – Today, I got up, headed to the gym and it was CLOSED! Ugh, I was sad. I was really looking forward to getting in a great work-out but instead I just ventured around the DongA looking at everything and then decided to do my workout at home. I made lunch and did some cleaning. I also watched the movie Precious today. Sad movie in it’s own way, a little disturbing in parts. I also broke out the Spanish stuff the other night and I have been diligently practicing and I spent a good 2 hours on that today. It was a pretty relaxing day.

Some side notes:

• I have found that everything in Korea is very high tech and I mean everything. It’s very modern here, the cars are amazing and the buildings are equally impressive.
• You can’t buy English magazines here unless it’s like Times or Newsweek. All I really want is a Cosmo but I’ve heard you have to go to Seoul to get a copy. L
• Dad and Auntie Joe are sending me a care package soon with all things that I love! I’m excited!
• I've also realized how much of a girly girly I am. I knew this somewhat already but it seems to be coming out full swing recently. I wouldn't have it any other way though! 
• I have become an amazing cook recently. I’ve been told that it runs in the family and I would like to also thank my Nan because she taught me a lot of things while I was home on sabbatical! Haha I now have confidence in the kitchen!
• I hate taking cabs here, they charge you based on how long it takes to get there and the RPM’s so they will purposely rev up the engine, go slow, and act like they are lost or try to carry on a conversation with you in what little English they know in order to distract you from what’s really going on. This is annoying and has happened to me like 4 or 5 times now and I’m going to ask my co-teachers what to say tomorrow when this happens again.
• I told a cab driver that I was from Canada when he asked and it’s a good thing I did because after that he said that he hated Americans. I think this seems kind of ironic but whatever.
• I want to travel to maybe a few places in Southeast Asia but honestly nothing is really jumping out at me, any suggestions would be appreciated!

Something else I realized this week.... here's some sappy wisdom..prepare yourself because I know this is out of the ordinary for me, but it's been an interesting week full of realizations.

Our lives are full of decisions. Good ones, bad ones, and sometimes it's hard to know if we are making the right decisions and sacrifices for the ones we love. At the end of the day it doesn't or it shouldn't matter how much money you have or how far behind you are on your house payment or how many cars you have in your garage ---- what should really matter is who you are sharing your life with, or who you are living you life for? Are you living it for yourself? For god? At the end of the day did you tell the ones you love how you really feel?

Truth is...these are the things that should matter, but in today's society it's a whole different ball game. 

Annie