Best day in Korea so far...

Today was awesome. We first took the bus over to where Technomart (Best Buy on steroids) area to buy some bootleg DVDs. The guy has a little open air store, with walls covered in DVDs, and a book you can pick from. Thousand choices! I picked up a few, and ordered some he said he will have next week. Yay cheap movies! After we got the movies we hopped on the subway to head to COEX mall. COEX mall is the largest mall in Asia. I don't think I saw even half of it today. We were planning on going to a movie, but they were all sold out. COEX has the largest theater in Korea, but Koreans really love movies, they typically always sell out. New ones anyway. After we were shot down at the movie we popped into some stores. I bought charms that go on cell phones that you put money on to ride the bus and subway. Mine is Hello Kitty and I got nick a black one. I figured he wouldn't like the pink one, ahah. I also went to the big department store because Alicia informed me there is a Mac (cosmetics) counter. I was soooo happy to see some Mac! Those of you who know me well know my weaknesses are the Macs.... computers and makeup. haha. I spent over 100 bucks on just a few things, prices are a lot higher here, but it was sooo worth it! It was the best thing I've bought so far, vanity wise. :-)

After shopping for a while we went to On The Border for dinner. As I was explaining to my students a few weeks ago, franchises/chains are both evil and wonderful. It's really great to be able to go somewhere and know exactly what you're going to get... and that was the case! After the giant let down with Mexican food on our last outing I wasn't really holding my breath, but it was EXACTLY the same as home!! Woo! I love mexican food! We even had margaritas and queso dip! Why not? lol. After dinner we decided to hop in a taxi to head back to our neighborhood, but not before stopping in the book store. I was realllly impressed with the book selection here. They had a ton of my favs, and a lot that are on my "to read" list. I didn't buy any, but I did buy some amazing holiday cards. I will wait for Nick to get here so we can go pick out books we will both enjoy. They are too expensive here to buy something unless I realllly want it, or we will both read it. I loved the book store!

After escaping the crowds of the mall (picture Black Friday type crowds, EVERY day... thats the mall) we got a taxi. We stopped at the coffee shop around the corner from my house (I can't wait to take nick there!) and decided we would hit up the open air market tonight instead of tomorrow. I had heard of this market, but thought it was maybe like 10 vendors selling fruits and vegetables. Oh no, boy was I wrong. This market is probably half a mile long, packed full of stores, street vendors, people cooking on the street, fish being flung around, ladies trying to sell you blankets, rip off Polo clothes, even some pharmacies and salons! It was wild... anything you could imagine. This market is directly behind my house and I had no idea!! I'm so sad I didn't find this sooner. The market was by far the coolest thing we have done so far. I know I should probably be more impressed by the giant mall with the fancy stores and food, but I was far more excited to see the market. I was like nothing I've ever seen before, and totally Korean style. I love that in korea you can pick your dinner out of a fish tank, they will catch it, cook it up on the street for you, then you walk away chomping on dinner. It's so cool! I will be going back there soon and taking pics to post. I can't give this place justice, but I don't think pictures could do it either. It's the smell of the seafood, sweet smells of the fruit stands, sounds of koreans trying to make a deal, sounds of korean kids running around.... those things you can't capture in picture.

so yeah.... that was my day.... shopping shopping. I bought a ton of stuff, and I'm happy about it! I feel bad buying things for the house, we will only be here a year.... but it's impossible for me to live somewhere and not want to make it a home. Luckily things aren't too expensive here, so it's not like I'm spending thousands of dollars on all this furniture I'll only use for 11 more months.

Can you believe I've already been here about 6 weeks?? Time is flying by. Some days it feels like I'm still in shock that I'm even here, other days I feel like it's been 6 months already.

Oh, Nick will be here in 4 days!! :-) He booked his ticket, no more guessing when he will FINALLY arrive. I'm excited, can't wait to show him all the cools things I've learned. I'm kind of happy I got to come first (although I wish it wasn't SO far ahead of him) because I got to take my time trying the food and navigating around. He is far more adventurous with food than I am, so he would have been ready to try everything, and I would have been crying ahah. Now I found things I like that I can introduce him to. :-)

Well, thats it for now. Tomorrow will be spent cleaning, doing laundry, going to the grocery store to stock up on stuff before Nick gets here, and watching movies. I love productive yet partially lazy sundays! It will probably be cold and rainy, perfect for cleaning then snuggling up in bed with a new flick!

xo

I'm better now

Happy to report I'm better today. Sorry for the freak out. I'm not due for another freak out for 3-6 months so.... so don't say I didn't warn you, haha.

So, things are better with me, emotionally. I am still sad I missed Thanksgiving with the family, but now I'm that much closer to kicking off the holiday season with them next year.

Woo.

I'm looking forward to the weekend. Exploring COEX mall tomorrow, eating some American food, and going to see a movie. Probably finish the night of with some cocktails. It will be a fun day. I need it.

I'm also nesting for the boy to get here. Cleaning, organizing, shopping, more cleaning, stocking up on stuff. The norm.

xoxo

Bitch-fest 2009

If you don't care to hear me bitching about things beyond my control, hit X now. I won't blame you.

I feel like I'm being punished in a sense for being a better employee than the other American teacher here. We got our new schedules for next semester. Most of my classes have twice as many kids as hers. I just feel like since I prepare more, can handle a classroom better, and just because I'm a better teacher basically that I have different expectations from my bosses. I may be totally off base, but it just feels like my new schedule and classes suck. Fingers crossed I don't loathe work for the next three months until a new term. Gah.

Next thing I wanna bitch about: vacation time. I was told by my boss that I can't take vacation time around Holidays, because those are already paid days off. Low and behold the other American teacher is going home for Christmas. wtf. She was just home 2 months ago. Why can she go home for a holiday, but I can't take any of my vacation days near a holiday?

Biggest bitch of the day: I know for a FACT my bosses assistant is coming in my house when I'm not home. 3 or 4 times it has been to fix stuff, or take a bed apart, but I KNOW he has been there other times. I leave my light on in the bathroom EVERY day, because it's dark when i get home. The one time I didnt leave the light on, i tripped and almost broke my face. So, EVERY day before I leave, I double check the bathroom door is left open, and the light is on. Twice I've come home to the light being off. Now, my glasses are missing. I only wear my glasses to watch TV at night (or at the movie theater) and then I put them on the bedside table so I know where they are. Well, three days ago my glasses went missing. I haven't gone to the movies, or anywhere but work. I don't wear my glasses at work. I can't say that I know 100% it was him, weirder things have happened, but it's just weird. I HATE the idea of someone being in my home when I'm not there. Maybe this stems back to my house being broken into 3 Christmases ago. Its a major violation. I dont know what he is doing when I'm not there. My mom didn't help by saying she knows he is going through my panty drawer. Ugh.

mini-bitch: korean table manners. Close your damn mouth when you chew. I dont want to hear what you're eating, or see it. Gross.


I really wanna bitch about my boyfriend, but I know he is a good guy and I'm just frustrated with the whole visa process. I'm totally resenting that he is home with his family for Thanksgiving, and I'm stuck here alone. It's not fair. I know life isn't fair, but I was totally delt a shitty hand this week.

Good news is, it's almost the weekend. I don't really know if that's good news, but being at home seems like a good alternative to being at work today.




this is how i feel today..... METAL!!!

Worky work work....

I know work is stressing me out when I dream about it! I totally woke up, wrote down something for work, then went back to bed. I can't wait for next week to be here so my new classes will start and I can see how bad it actually is. I'm not impressed with my schedule. While I'm not technically working a lot more hours than I currently am, they are laid out weird so it feels like LONGGG days. Bah! . ;-)

I'm SO excited my super awesome boyfriend will be here in DAYS! Not WEEKS! It's been 7 weeks since we've seen each other, by FAR the longest I've gone without seeing a boyfriend. I never thought it would be harder to keep a relationship going strong from a distance, than it is from the same room. My momma said it's because you have all of the work of a relationship, without any of the benefits. It's true. I need some benefits. I thought we wouldn't fight and everything would be smooth sailing.... I mean, how can we piss each other off from a couple continents away? Pfft, little did I know! Haha. It's a good thing he loves me so much, because if I were him I would have told myself to go take a hike on a few seperate occasions!

Anyway, I have two hours until work is over. My student evaluations are done. My testing is graded. My lesson plans are made until March. I literally have NOTHING to do! It's not all it's cracked up to be, I promise. I need something to stimulate my brain before it starts turning to mush. Maybe I'll run across to the grocery store and pick up some fruit. I love fruit. I'm getting brave with my food selections now. I ate fruit at the bar the other night and didn't die. I heard a few times it's not good to eat fruit with skin in new places. Alas, I'm ok.


Bye bye. xo

Oh yeah, Sarah got the wedding pictures back..... they are really nice. Sneak peak!





and of course me being bratty with the boyfriend! haha

A night out in Seoul...

So, I've talked a lot about the food, the people, and the weird stuff I see..... now on to something a little more exciting... nights out!

Before coming to Korea I spoke to a few friends that had lived here, or were already living here. They all said the exact same thing, "Those Koreans really know how to party!" It's SO true haha.

Our night started at 7pm, Alicia and I met Yoo and her guy friend on a busy street near the party district. I mentioned (while waiting for the 4th member of our party) that I feel like my blonde hair is a beacon for attention, to which someone replies, "Yeah, it's like bright flashing lights." Thanks, haha. At least Alicia blends in with her dark hair. haha.

So after we had the troops assembled we headed into the party district(Kondae) to find some dinner. After much deliberation they asked about some food I had never seen/heard of before. Feeling brave I said I was in, hoping I wouldn't regret it haha. On the table was the grill, kind of like the Korean BBQ, but instead of meat to grill, they brought out a huge pan filled with chicken, cabbage, red pepper sauce, sweet potatoes, other random veggies, and these giant rice noodles that kind of look like ziti noodles.
So every 5 mins or so someone from the wait staff comes over and stirs all the food.... it slowly turns into this red stew looking stuff, then the water evaporates and it look like... food? haha. So Cho serves us some in a small dish, and I take a bite... with everyone watching for my reaction. It was realllly good! Yum. So we sat and talked, ate, and drank soju for quite a while. Good times.





After dinner we decided to go a bar we had all gone to together before... knowing it's always busy and fun. Most bars (only 1 hasn't so far) make you order food when you go drinking, which may contribute to their long nights! We ordered a pitcher of beer, and a fruit plate. turns out Koreans put honey mustard on everything, including fruit. I tried to wipe it off, haha. Icky. At this point our friend that owns the Indian restaurant shows up, so we begin to play drinking games. I learned some fun Korean games, but once we were bored with those I decided to teach them some American drinking games. Somewhere around this time a magician shows up and does some magic tricks... haha. It's NEVER boring going out here. After another few pitchers of beer we decide to go find a hookah bar. Lucky for us the Indian guy (we think he is from Nepal) knows of one just around the corner!






After braving the COLD, we arrive at the hookah bar and head down a flight of stairs. When you reach the bottom, you take off your shoes and head down another flight of stairs. This place was amazing. Dimly lit, floor seating, candles, curtains everywhere so you have privacy for your group, and it's just lavish and beautiful decorating. I was happy instantly! After we are all situated we order some more beer, and watermelon/cherry hookah. It was sooo good! We discovered that the bar has a cat (VERY rare for Korea, they hate cats) so of course I fell in love with it. Eventually I got the cat out of hiding and into my lap. It took a little nap on the pillows beside me, then ran off when I tried to feed it chicken haha. Oh yeah, after an hour of so Yoo decided she was hungry (no idea how these tiny Korean chicks put away so much food) and ordered chicken nachos. I'm not sure what they served us, but it sure as hell wasn't chicken nachos haha. I think it was a nacho pizza or something? It had like ketchup on it or something.



So, after the shisha ran out, the beers were consumed, and the food was gone, we decided to call it a night (although Alicia was trying to talk us all into another bar).

So, that's a fairly typical night out in Seoul. :-)

Routine...

I've finally fallen into a routine, and it's so nice! I wake up early to chat with the boyfriend. I finally make my way out of the cold bed and shower for work. I spend my day at work.... I've figured out the ropes, things are smooth sailing there. I either come home or go get dinner/drinks with friends. I come home, change, turn on the TV, fire up the computer, and decided what to try and pass off as dinner. I then watch some TV, grade papers, and wait for the boy to wake up so we can chat before bed. Lather, rinse, repeat. Its nice. One of the things I missed over the summer was not having a day job and a routine. It's nice to be back in a normal swing of things. :-)

About a week until the boy gets here... I'm so excited I could pee. I won't though, because that'd be gross. Finally the waiting game will pay off. We have SO earned this. Being away from each other for 6 weeks has NOT been easy.... on more than one level. I can't wait to hug and kiss him!!! ahh!

not much else is going on.... just working, dealing with the cold, and waiting for the weekend. Hopefully I have fun things to write about over the weekend. Maybe I'll tackle my views on the Korean education system. I'm going to COEX mall (maybe) and for dinner and cocktails with some Koreans I met.... so it should be a fun and relaxing weekend!

Also, my cousin asked why kittens are a thing to fear in Korea.... so here goes trying to explain it. Remember in Gremlins when the cute little Mogwai turns into a nasty Gremlin?! Well, thats what happens if you try to approach a kitten here. Animals suffer a lot of abuse, and street animals more than most... so they are pretty much terrified of humans and freakkkk out (convulsion freaky style). I only had to learn that lesson twice... once wasn't enough. :-)

The difference between hungry and satisfied...

In the last 4 weeks in Korea Ive learned the difference between being hungry, and satisfying my taste buds. I haven't been really hungry since I got to Korea (except the two times I went 2-3 days without eating.... because I couldn't find anything I would eat).. but I also haven't had my tastes satisfied... until today. I didn't realize a large part of being homesick isn't only for the people, or the comforts of your home... it's also the want for familiar tastes and smells. I miss the smell of American cooking just as much, if not more than the actual food.

This morning I discovered my toaster works. I didn't think much of it at first... but then I remembered I had eggs! So, I made some toast, fried an egg... and made a sandwich. Back home I don't even really like egg sandwiches... but this morning it was the most delicious thing I had tasted in over a month. The smell of an egg cooking and bread toasting made me feel so warm and... at home. My mom used to make toast sometimes for a late snack, so the smell of toast has always brought me to a happy place. This morning my tastes were satisfied. It was a good day.

I picked up some pasta at the store this weekend, and some pasta sauce. I can't eat anymore rice or ramen for a while... I'm burnt out!! I splurged on butter as well (suppper expensive) because I'm going to make mashed potatoes for our pseudo Thanksgiving next week. So far I have Stove Top, corn, mashed potatoes, and chicken breast on the menu. I can't wait :-) I'm also excited to do Thanksgiving activities with the kiddos at work. Next Friday is the last day of the term, so it'll be a busy week. We have the monthly testing and the monthly spelling test... so the rest of the week will be activities and fun stuff, as long as we finish our texts books this week.

Well, not much to talk about since my last post. I'm happy we have a lighter work load this week, it'll give me time to look over our new text books and make lesson plans. Other than work, I'll just be counting down the days until my boy gets here. And counting down the days until I go with some friends to COEX mall to go shopping! :-)

P.S. If anyone is planning on sending me gifts for the holidays, I'll make it cheap and easy on you... I just want McCormick flavorings!! (Taco seasoning, ranch dip, garlic potatoes..etc..). I found a lot of ingredients I can work with over here, I just need the spices/flavoring! I found a few pouches at the black market, but I'm not paying 8 times the retail value! For 2-3 bucks you could make me a happy girl. :-) End shameless wish-list advertisement now!