Ok, so it's been over a month and I haven't felt like posting anything. In fact, I keep thinking I may just delete this blog because I never feel like writing.
BUT, in this rare moment, I'd like to give a brief update of what has been going on since I last wrote:
1. I met a fantastic friend, Riteesha, who is at the end of her contract and will be going to India for six weeks and then moving back to Canada in February :(. But we have already decided to move to South America together so all is not lost.
2. My boss took me to Kwangsung Church, which is now MY church. There is an English service every Sunday. Ironically, the majority of the attendees are Korean. But I am now in 3 different Bible studies thanks to my Korean friend Cristal, who is also an amazing hairstylist and cuts hair for 5000 won, which is INCREDIBLY cheap. I love her.
3. I went skiing with some friends of friends (who are now MY friends) in Jisan. It was so much fun and I discovered that I'm a decent skiier even after 10 years of not doing it. And I'm about to get to ski AGAIN because John is visiting me next week!!!
4. I went on a date. This shouldn't be that big of a deal, but you know how I am with official things--and how immature I am about boys. I was pretty proud of myself. And it was a good date with a nice, gentlemanly Christian guy.
5. I painted my officetel. It needs to be repainted, but I'm happier now that I have bright colors around me. And I can't wait til I can afford to do some REAL decorating.
6. I taught 2 of my little kindergarteners to count to 100. Now they run around screaming, "ONE HUNDRED!" It's so adorable. And you should see how out-of-breath they get when they actually count all the way from 1.
7. My boss has just recently asked me if I would be willing to teach the 9 a.m. kids' service at church. I haven't made a final decision because I haven't gotten all of the information yet, but I'm really excited at the prospect. I love kids and I love God, so it's a good combination.
8. Korea started airing its version of "Meteor Garden," which has spurred an entire Meteor Garden explosion. Friday night I had Abueng and Diana over to watch the Tawainese version and now Abueng has gotten hooked on the Japanese version. Aska is coming over to watch the Korean version with me soon....so Dao Ming Xi is still a huge part of my life. What a relief.
9. I am currently addicted to gimbap. Or however you spell it. It's delicious and cheap.
10. Jenna, my very first Korea friend, spent the night last night and we watched "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," which she'd never seen before. Heather Marie sent it to me in a care package and the joy of Sarah Jessica Parker's dance moves have now changed Jenna's life forever. ALSO, last but not least, Kim and I have formed an entire friendship around "The Hills" and "The City." As previously proven in other friendships (Becky--Dawson's Creek; Jill--Felicity; Marisa--The Hills; Laura--Meteor Garden, etc, etc), it is essential for BFFs to have a good soap to bond over.
So I guess that's as good an update as any. Nothing about Korea and everything about me!
Oh, forgot to talk about the DMZ. Hmmmmmm. Oh well! Maybe next time!
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Over the weekend, Aska and Zach and Heather and I went into Seoul. I would tell you where if I could remember the names of the places. (Insadong was one of the places). We went to Kyobo books where I bought a beggining Korean book so that Aska and I can start our lessons. She's getting all excited about putting me to the test and assigning me to real-life scenarios. I think it's gonna be awesome and I can't wait to speak Korean!!
I moved into my new officetel last night and it is much cleaner and nicer. Plus, my window looks out onto the street and the bright lights of the bordellos. (I'm not kidding). There's also a large red-orange neon cross on the building directly across from me, so it's a nice combination. Oh, about the "bordellos." Apparently prostitution is pretty common here and if you see several barber poles on a building that are spinning and lit up at all hours of the night, you can be sure that there is some shady business going on inside. In fact, I'm positive that we have this going on in my building. Right next door to the PC bang on the 2nd floor is this nice restaurant-looking type place. (How do you like that English?) However, I only see women in really short and slutty dresses greeting the men in business suits who seem to frequent this "restaurant." There also seems to be a lot of drama going on in there as I often hear yelling at the back door before I see one or more of the scantily clad women abruptly leaving. (Ok, so this has actually only happened twice. But c'mon. I've only been here 3 weeks and I don't even live on the 2nd floor). So....I can only assume.
In other news, it snowed the other night and it was so pretty. But it only lasted a few hours before it all melted. I was sad to see it go. Since then, it hasn't even been that cold outside.
I wanted to talk about Linda, my boss. I absolutely love her. She gets in these hyper moods every once in awhile where she sits in people's laps or spanks people. She is constantly telling me I need to drink beer and that if I need a drinking partner, she's here for me. She also refers to Zach as her boyfriend. She is hilarous. I feel really blessed to have her as a boss. It's about time I have a boss who isn't underhanded or conniving.
Well, that's the update. I had to force myself to write this so I hope you enjoy it!
I moved into my new officetel last night and it is much cleaner and nicer. Plus, my window looks out onto the street and the bright lights of the bordellos. (I'm not kidding). There's also a large red-orange neon cross on the building directly across from me, so it's a nice combination. Oh, about the "bordellos." Apparently prostitution is pretty common here and if you see several barber poles on a building that are spinning and lit up at all hours of the night, you can be sure that there is some shady business going on inside. In fact, I'm positive that we have this going on in my building. Right next door to the PC bang on the 2nd floor is this nice restaurant-looking type place. (How do you like that English?) However, I only see women in really short and slutty dresses greeting the men in business suits who seem to frequent this "restaurant." There also seems to be a lot of drama going on in there as I often hear yelling at the back door before I see one or more of the scantily clad women abruptly leaving. (Ok, so this has actually only happened twice. But c'mon. I've only been here 3 weeks and I don't even live on the 2nd floor). So....I can only assume.
In other news, it snowed the other night and it was so pretty. But it only lasted a few hours before it all melted. I was sad to see it go. Since then, it hasn't even been that cold outside.
I wanted to talk about Linda, my boss. I absolutely love her. She gets in these hyper moods every once in awhile where she sits in people's laps or spanks people. She is constantly telling me I need to drink beer and that if I need a drinking partner, she's here for me. She also refers to Zach as her boyfriend. She is hilarous. I feel really blessed to have her as a boss. It's about time I have a boss who isn't underhanded or conniving.
Well, that's the update. I had to force myself to write this so I hope you enjoy it!
Thursday, December 4, 2008
KIDNEY STONES
Ok, because I am so frustrated at the moment with my inability to even manage this blog (I somehow deleted the title bar AND obviously I don't know how to put pictures with text), I will make this short. On Tuesday, my kidney started hurting like crazy and my co-worker Aska was nice enough to take me to the hospital and sit with me while I was hooked up to the saline drip and receiving painkillers to the buttocks. I am now on 5 different meds, recovering nicely, and tomorrow will be my first full day back at work.
The hospital did not seem sanitary but it WAS cheap. And my doctor was really cute and talked to me in Korean in this nice, soothing voice as if I had a clue what he was saying. The doctor that accompanied him who was supposed to be his interpreter told me I had a tumor, at which point Aska and the doctor waved him off and shushed him and the main doctor looked at me and said, "Joke. Joke!"
So that's all I got for now.
Ok, because I am so frustrated at the moment with my inability to even manage this blog (I somehow deleted the title bar AND obviously I don't know how to put pictures with text), I will make this short. On Tuesday, my kidney started hurting like crazy and my co-worker Aska was nice enough to take me to the hospital and sit with me while I was hooked up to the saline drip and receiving painkillers to the buttocks. I am now on 5 different meds, recovering nicely, and tomorrow will be my first full day back at work.
The hospital did not seem sanitary but it WAS cheap. And my doctor was really cute and talked to me in Korean in this nice, soothing voice as if I had a clue what he was saying. The doctor that accompanied him who was supposed to be his interpreter told me I had a tumor, at which point Aska and the doctor waved him off and shushed him and the main doctor looked at me and said, "Joke. Joke!"
So that's all I got for now.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
THANKSGIVING
My Thanksgiving was celebrated on 2 days. The first was on Thursday night when I went to Incheon to meet up with my GEC friends, Jenna and Ashley. Their co-worker (and now my friend), Sarah, came to dinner as well. Sidenote about Sarah: she used to be best friends with one of the main actors from Degrassi so you know I was immediately fond of her.
My Thanksgiving was celebrated on 2 days. The first was on Thursday night when I went to Incheon to meet up with my GEC friends, Jenna and Ashley. Their co-worker (and now my friend), Sarah, came to dinner as well. Sidenote about Sarah: she used to be best friends with one of the main actors from Degrassi so you know I was immediately fond of her.
We went to a restaurant called "Can More" where you sit in hanging porch swings at your table. We ate spaghetti and fondue and it was DELICIOUS. Not to mention, I love these girls so spending time with them was well worth the outrageous cab fare I was cheated out of on the way back home. NEVER, NEVER let a cabbie NOT run the meter!
The funny thing is, Jenna is from New Zealand and Sarah is from Canada so I'm glad they were willing to celebrate our American holiday.
I experienced more foreigners (foreigners as in anyone other than Americans) willing to celebrate Thanksgiving on Saturday night at my co-workers' house in Paju. This time we had real Thanksgiving food. Oh, and thanks to two of the other Texans there, we watched the Cowboy game as well. Didn't even feel like I was in Korea!
After the food, a group of us went out to a foreigner bar and then the die-hards (5 of us) ended up at the norae bang til 6 a.m. I loved it. I didn't love sleeping all day Sunday, though, so I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon.
BILL PASSING OUT AT THE NORAE BANG WHILE STILL SINGING:
This leads me to my next issue: kidneys and what alcohol will do to them. Despite the fact that Koreans believe beer to be good for the kidneys, I can assure you that this is not true. In my next blog entry, I will tell you about my kidney stone, UTI, and my experience at the hospital :). Don't worry, I'll live to tell the story!
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