mobile phone!

oh my travels...

week at a glance

Last sunday i left off with going to dinner with heather and danny for some great curry. it was an early night and all..

I am really glad i got to meet them and share great memories.

monday and wed classes (middleschool) sucked with not being able to give homework, only 50 minute classes, and "holding" meaning i can't teach a new lesson unless half the class is there...but even then only at a slow pace. Ah, horrible.

So Thursday was thanksgiving! we tested the elementary students and they did fine...regular grading etc...then that night we went to get chicken! (since its the only bird we could find...open after 11pm) It was delish, and ate until around 4am...haha. work on friday was all but a joke... :-x

Friday night i had some what of a get together with the foreign teachers. it turned into more going to a bar but they did come! and have good times and i enjoyed how the night turned out. It was Gia, Christine, and Hye Young. Gia sits next to me in our office, she has a bf and really is amused by me and my (failing) attempt to learn korean. Christine is shy but warms up to friends, and a great girl. hye young is my korean tutor. Then you had justin, angela, Alex, hyesung and I all the usual. So we just frankly broke the ice and i really hope they now take the initiative to make it happen again. All you can do is try.

Saturday...was not a good morning. haha. We spent 3 hours trying to get a phone...great deal and all but after it all he failed to mention he wouldn't have the phone until monday! So 10,000 won ($10) phone and 20,000 a month, and i even get to watch tv on it for free, and it has a 2.0 mpxl camera, and mp3 player, and korean/english dictionary. like whoah. so execellent..but i want it NOW! sooo, to make his customer happy, the guy gave me a poster of the My Sassy girl actress because i'm a kid and just had to ask for it, hahaha, oh me.

Sat night: wow, Jjimjilbang!!! this has got to be the greatest korean cultural glee ever. a hot bath, hot sauna, cold sauna, and salt sauna. like the room is HUGE and its just like 68C... and then a room that doesnt even TELL you how hot it is...just know that koreans seriously dont sweat...and this room made them sweat (a little) while i pretty much took a shower!!! wow, but my pores felt sooo good, and the cold room was -1 C so it was just...oddly felt really clear and crisp. then u top off with the salt rocks room. It has salt rocks on the ground that are way too hot...feels like daytona beach sand on a hot hot day...and i could barely lay down on it. but that air was the best and really healthy for you...not sure why though haha.
The hot bath, as you've heard probably, is not co-ed and so you get in the tub naked. huuuge room, 3 tubs (1 regular hot water, 1 greentea, 1 ginsing) and then a cold shallow pool and showers and ah, its a bath house but now luxery and comfort all rolled into one. SO yes, it was awkward for the first few minutes when 2 foreigners walk in...but once i got in that water---nothing matters! Alex (angela's bf) did well too of being comfortable, and just really a fantastic relaxing evening after such a horrible morning. Oh, it was Angela, hyesung, alex, and i...so we all were like little kids (among a wholelot of kids running arond the place...at about 1am!!!) and played uno and ate some great snack until around 2:30am and then called it quits. ah, how glorious. this is a place to be revisited.

sunday was moving day for hyesung, she is a korean girl that taught herself english as a hobby while she was in college. She's now teaching at a different hagwon and just moved to bucheon instead of commuting the 2 hours from her place near Seoul. Luckily it was not a bad task at all, just picked it all up in one load (the american champs we get it done!) and half scared her new housemate---she had never heard so much english spoken before! its a nice place and close by, so thats good. She's now moved in and now that she's closer she'll be able to hang out more. i got to admit i'm impressed.

That sums up my week. Some things to take away:

I so want an iTouch 32gig...That's my christmas gift to myself :-D

Asians see things in relationships, not in hard facts. they understand through context in language..not exact words. Such as: While i was eating, he called. This is very clear in english. In korean, time is not as important but implied through context. So it would be: you ate, he called. obviously u missed the call...u were busy eating. ah, fun lessons.

some other things is how much image means to these people...they would buy the same exact thing from the hyundai dept store because its all fancy stores and such...instead of buying it at emart because then they can say "i shop at hyundai" eh, can't blame 'em. In charlotte its like "i shop at nordstrom, southpark, etc... instead of walmart" ah, people are teh same everywehre!

Well, let the new week begin! I get my phone tomorrow and next step...internet!!!!