Yesterday was a regular boring day at school since classes have not started. The exciting thing about the day was the following: i was talking with cho teacher about this and that and then she was telling me about this new guy from her church who is from Cameroon and has been in korea for like 2 months. Then she asked if I had lunch plans for the day and I said no. So she said she would like to invite both of us out to lunch. So at 1pm she came by the office and we went to pick up Valerie (the guy) . Yes, i know.... i thought so too. Girl name right???? but i guess it is a guy name too. Anywho.... so then we picked him up and headed out to the restaurant. btw.... it was this one restaurant where i had been before with the english teachers that i had really liked! at any rate, we ate and chatted lots.
Valerie is 24years old, he is from south africa and was in Cameroon stuyding electrical engineering. Then apparently he decided he wanted to get more practical practice and he would get more of it here in korea, so after 2 years of working towards his degree he decided he would come here and finish up school in korea. But to his suprise.... (dont know how this could happen) people did not speak english in korea. ... i think he said that he thought people also communicated in English. Maybe its cuz in Africa I guess there are so many different languages people communicate in english, french, and other african languages. Anyways..... so i guess he got here and then figured out that he has to learn korean, and then pass a korean test so that he can attend the university here and finish up his electrical engineering degree. Oh btw... he has 7 brothers and sisters!!!!
So now he goes to Ajou University from 9am-1pm monday through friday for korean classes. I am super jelous becuase he gets to study korean intensively and has learned a lot since he got here. It reminds me of when i was in germany taking 4 hrs of german every day (though for me it was only mon-thur) and i was taking classes because i wanted to, and not because i had to. So yeah..... he also likes dancing and swimming and speaks 10 languages, 6 of which are african languages... i guess there are over 250 languages in africa and so you have to know at least a couple of them because if you travel within africa most likely people do not speak your language.
he was really nice and all and i invited him to go swimming with me today and he said yes. So today after school we will go swimming, which i am excited about. He also took me up on my offer to go salsa dancing, which i wayss surprised but excited about. Maybe not this weekend but next weekend we can go salsa dancing,. Looking forward to it,
On another note: just as i was writing this i just kept thinking "man! my back is killin me!... i just have been sitting around pretty much all day not doing much of anything.. and so i think that is probably most likely the reason why my back now feels like a rock" ---- just in case you were interested in knowing about my physiological condition. :-)
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
bye bye
Today was the last day for many teachers at school and the first for others, as the new official school year begins. So the beginning of the day was kinda crazy with people running all over the place and people saying their goodbyes. Then for lunch, all the teachers went to this one restaurant and we all ate there and there were speeches made, stuff given, and everyone had a good time. I am kinda sad because i really liked some of the teachers that are leaving. But as i have probably mentioned to you before, all teachers that work at public schools are not allowed to stay in the same school for more than 5 years. So if your five years are up, then it is time for you to transfer to another school whether you like it or not. So yeah...... many people coming and going.
an another note- in a little bit i will be leaving school to go to Kangnam for another eye check up. I am relieved because after this check up the next one is not for another 2 months! which is nice. Not that Kangnam is that far or anything.... it only takes a little more than one hour to get there and it is a nice area, but then again, insted of going to the eye clinic i could be doing something a little more productive, like going swimming, or stuyding, or simply resting. Anywho.... they will kprobably tell me the same thing they did last time. " your condition is stable. just keep putting your eye drops on and wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from the uv rays" hihi,.....
ok. gotta go !
an another note- in a little bit i will be leaving school to go to Kangnam for another eye check up. I am relieved because after this check up the next one is not for another 2 months! which is nice. Not that Kangnam is that far or anything.... it only takes a little more than one hour to get there and it is a nice area, but then again, insted of going to the eye clinic i could be doing something a little more productive, like going swimming, or stuyding, or simply resting. Anywho.... they will kprobably tell me the same thing they did last time. " your condition is stable. just keep putting your eye drops on and wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from the uv rays" hihi,.....
ok. gotta go !
Monday, February 22, 2010
FOR FUN! -This is actually pretty great
DOG HUMOR
10 Dog Peeves about Humans
1. Blaming your farts on me... not funny... not very funny at all!
2. Yelling at me for barking... I'M A FRIGGIN' DOG YOU IDIOT!
3. Taking me for a walk, then not letting me check stuff out. Exactly whose walk is this anyway?4. Any trick that involves balancing food on my nose... stop it!
5. Any haircut that involves bows or ribbons. Now you know why we chew your stuff up when you're not home.
6. The sleight of hand, fake fetch throw. You fooled a dog! What a proud moment for the top of the food chain.
7. Taking me to the vet for "the big snip", then acting surprised whenI freak out every time we go back.
8. Getting upset when I sniff the crotches of your guests. Sorry,but I haven't quite mastered that handshake thing yet.
9. How you act disgusted when I lick myself. Look, we both know the truth, you're just jealous.
10. Dog sweaters. Have you noticed the fur?
10 Dog Peeves about Humans
1. Blaming your farts on me... not funny... not very funny at all!
2. Yelling at me for barking... I'M A FRIGGIN' DOG YOU IDIOT!
3. Taking me for a walk, then not letting me check stuff out. Exactly whose walk is this anyway?4. Any trick that involves balancing food on my nose... stop it!
5. Any haircut that involves bows or ribbons. Now you know why we chew your stuff up when you're not home.
6. The sleight of hand, fake fetch throw. You fooled a dog! What a proud moment for the top of the food chain.
7. Taking me to the vet for "the big snip", then acting surprised whenI freak out every time we go back.
8. Getting upset when I sniff the crotches of your guests. Sorry,but I haven't quite mastered that handshake thing yet.
9. How you act disgusted when I lick myself. Look, we both know the truth, you're just jealous.
10. Dog sweaters. Have you noticed the fur?
First workout day
Yesterday (monday) was my first workout in months! Omg.... it felt so good to finally get a good workout in. Though it was a bit strange, as i am not used to the machines at this gym, and because i have been spoiled for the past 4 years with an awesome gym-the rpac- at OSU. Anywho... but got a good workout in and "met" this one big korean guy who was there busting out the weights. And I mean "met" because we just did the little head tug to kinda acknowledge that the other person is there. But we didnt actually speak. hehehe... its kinda like when runners pass each other and do the little acknowledgement with the fingers or the hand or the head or sthg. Anywho.... good workout, though i think i pushed my self a bit too much. Why? ... Last night my body was in SO SO much pain!!!! OH..... MY.... GOSH!. i cannot even begin to tell you how much it hurt, but then again I had not lifted in months, so i think that was expected. hehehe.... And my the end of the day i was SO tired.... i actually went to bed kinda early. Then this morning... tough to get up again, but I was proud of myself cuz i got myself out of bed and by 5:40am was on my way to the gym. Oh, btw.... remember the old style exercise machine things that are super way out of date.....?!?!?!
Yeah.... well, there is one of these at my gym and it is super funny. The first time I saw someone use it I just wanted to laugh. And it makes your body jiggle SO much! No matter how muscular you are, it looks like your body is all made out of Jello and it all jiggles and looks not solid. Anywho.. so today- when no one was looking.... hihihi...- i decided to try it out. Now, Even though it makes EVERYONE jiggle I am super self concious about having my fat just shaking around. So I waited until no one could see me to try it out. And guess what? it is actually pretty cool! It really helps relax the mucles and feels really good on the body. Its like someone is giving you a nice massage. So i think i might use it again in the future at the end of my workouts, but It might take a little while getting used to the fact that someone might be looking at the way my fat shakes around. :-) Monday was chest, today was shoulders and back, tomorrow is legs, then thursday its biceps and triceps and finally friday is an easy day ending with abs. Technically the plan is to lift 5 times a week before school for at least an hour, swim 3 times a week after school and run once a weel (maybe on a saturday or sunday) .... that is the plan. Not sure if I can stick to it. It dont think its too tough or anything, just gotta organize well. I think, the toughest part will be getting up in the mornings, but I think as the weather warms up a bit, and the sun starts coming up a bit earlier, it should not be as difficult of a task.
Yeah.... well, there is one of these at my gym and it is super funny. The first time I saw someone use it I just wanted to laugh. And it makes your body jiggle SO much! No matter how muscular you are, it looks like your body is all made out of Jello and it all jiggles and looks not solid. Anywho.. so today- when no one was looking.... hihihi...- i decided to try it out. Now, Even though it makes EVERYONE jiggle I am super self concious about having my fat just shaking around. So I waited until no one could see me to try it out. And guess what? it is actually pretty cool! It really helps relax the mucles and feels really good on the body. Its like someone is giving you a nice massage. So i think i might use it again in the future at the end of my workouts, but It might take a little while getting used to the fact that someone might be looking at the way my fat shakes around. :-) Monday was chest, today was shoulders and back, tomorrow is legs, then thursday its biceps and triceps and finally friday is an easy day ending with abs. Technically the plan is to lift 5 times a week before school for at least an hour, swim 3 times a week after school and run once a weel (maybe on a saturday or sunday) .... that is the plan. Not sure if I can stick to it. It dont think its too tough or anything, just gotta organize well. I think, the toughest part will be getting up in the mornings, but I think as the weather warms up a bit, and the sun starts coming up a bit earlier, it should not be as difficult of a task.
Salsa Night
A while back I had decided that I needed to go salsa dancing since I had not gone dancing in a long long while. And so I had found this place online- out of several it seemed the best option- and so one weekend I went with Dana. I had with me the instructions that I had gotten online on how to get there, but when we got to Hongdae, this place called Macondo was serioulsy nowhere to be found. Dana and I looked and looked and did not find it.
So this past Friday I was thiking, for some reason, about salsa dancing, And about how bad i really wanted to dance and how much i crave dancing. At any rate... i looked up the information for this place called Macondo again, and got new directions. SO my plan was, that after my class on Saturday, which I would teach at 3pm I would head to to for salsa night. The plan was to go to the salsa class from 7:30-8:30pm and then dance until I got tired and then stay at a bath house and home back sunday at whatever time.
Well, plans changed a bit. First, btw.... i had lunch with Jacky and Michelle before my saturday class and then we went out for some coffee. That was really nice. Then I went to my class. Now, originally, i thought I would maybe head out to Seoul directly from my class but then when I got to think about it, I thought it would be best to go back to my house so I could leave whatever I did not need and just take all the basics. I really did not want to take much with me, as I was not sure if I was going to be able to leave my stuff unattended while dancing or not, how safe the place would be etc etc etc.... so far, i get the impression korea is actually a very safe place, but i think areas like Hongdae, where there are A LOT more foreigners, it might not be as safe. Anyways.... so this is what was going through my mind. So after my class with the kids I went back home and got my basics and headed out.
Heading out from my house usually to sadang station takes usually 45min. and then from there i take whatever subway i need to get around seoul or wherever. Well, to my great of luck there was lots of traffic and so it took one hour and 20min just to get to Sadang station. Then, to get to Hongdae it took another 30minutes or so. The point is, i was totally gonna miss the class. At any rate, i finally got to Hongdae and so i went on the search for this Macondo salsa palce that I had not found the previous time with Dana. Well, even with the new directions i had, i could not and could not find it. But I was determined and I thought to myself. "anais, you will walk all night if you need to, but you will not leave until you find this place!" Serioulsy,.... i was determined to find it. I had been looking forward to dancing all day and I was not about to give up. Plus, it was waaay too late anyways to go home. So I serioulsly walked for about 2 hours trying to find the place. I walked through every street i could think of and alley way and some of them I walked through 2 or 3 times. But no Macondo was to be found.
Towards the end of this chuck of time I spotted out this place that said "Havana-Latin Club" or something like that. So I thought to myself.... well, at least if I end up not finding macondo, i can at least just come back here and check out this place. .. Well, this is what i ended up doing, as i did not find the Macondo Club.
So i walked down this small set of stairs and i got the impression it was gonna be dead, but when i opened the little door at the bottom of the stairs salsa music was in the air and there were people dancing on the floor. I thought to my self "score!!!! im staying here" So i set my stuff down and immediately one of the guys asked me to dance and so we danced. Then i got my shoes on, and really just danced all night. Everyone there was super nice and acutally there were a lot of good-looking asian guys. Also, I met this guy from Seattle who was super cute and when we were dancing he said "im sorry, i only know like 3 moves... and just gotta do them over and over again" i thought that was sweet. but i told him "dont worry.... thats how you gotta learn, just practice a couple moves everytime, otherwise you will just mess yourself up" So yeah.... he was happy that i didnt care. and then later that night i showed him a new move and he was super excited to try it out and actually did super well! - i was so proud of him. btw. name's Matt. Oh, and when i first saw him i actually thought he was german. And i must mention too.... we were the only foreigners there. But to my surprise, all the koreans that were dancing there actually spoke super good english.
So in the course of the night i made some friends and we chatted and all, and they told me about salsa classes and it was cool.... then around 3:30ish am... they were gonna go out for food and some drinks and asked me if I wanted to come along. It was a group of about 6 people. So of course I accepted.... and we went out for food. Now we're talking about Hongdae area, so this is like Vegas.... there is always stuff going on, and always people out. So it's kinda nice because even though it was super late it was just one big party. And so we went for food and drinks and chatted and finally at around 7am we parted our ways and headed home. I was SO dead. I serioulsy cannot remember last time i stayed out that late. On the way back home (on the subway) my eyes could not stay open. But i made it home! i was just afraid i was gonna pass out on the bus and miss my stop. But I didnt. Anywho.... so it was a great time. I will definitley be going back there most likely every saturday/ though not sure if I can do the whole until 6am thing every time. Maybe I will find a bathhouse closeby where i can spend the night so when i get tired i can just go there, take a shower, maybe get into the sauna and relax for a bit, and get some rest.
so that was the adventure of the night! hihihi.... oh.. and one of the guys that i met there, whose english too, was quite good, was really excited because I am the first foreign friend he has had. So cute! ,.... I guess coming from the US it is like second nature to have foreign friends. Its really no big deal, cuz everyone has them. But here in Korea, there are many young people I find, that have never had a foreign friend. weird. Just a different i guess.
So this past Friday I was thiking, for some reason, about salsa dancing, And about how bad i really wanted to dance and how much i crave dancing. At any rate... i looked up the information for this place called Macondo again, and got new directions. SO my plan was, that after my class on Saturday, which I would teach at 3pm I would head to to for salsa night. The plan was to go to the salsa class from 7:30-8:30pm and then dance until I got tired and then stay at a bath house and home back sunday at whatever time.
Well, plans changed a bit. First, btw.... i had lunch with Jacky and Michelle before my saturday class and then we went out for some coffee. That was really nice. Then I went to my class. Now, originally, i thought I would maybe head out to Seoul directly from my class but then when I got to think about it, I thought it would be best to go back to my house so I could leave whatever I did not need and just take all the basics. I really did not want to take much with me, as I was not sure if I was going to be able to leave my stuff unattended while dancing or not, how safe the place would be etc etc etc.... so far, i get the impression korea is actually a very safe place, but i think areas like Hongdae, where there are A LOT more foreigners, it might not be as safe. Anyways.... so this is what was going through my mind. So after my class with the kids I went back home and got my basics and headed out.
Heading out from my house usually to sadang station takes usually 45min. and then from there i take whatever subway i need to get around seoul or wherever. Well, to my great of luck there was lots of traffic and so it took one hour and 20min just to get to Sadang station. Then, to get to Hongdae it took another 30minutes or so. The point is, i was totally gonna miss the class. At any rate, i finally got to Hongdae and so i went on the search for this Macondo salsa palce that I had not found the previous time with Dana. Well, even with the new directions i had, i could not and could not find it. But I was determined and I thought to myself. "anais, you will walk all night if you need to, but you will not leave until you find this place!" Serioulsy,.... i was determined to find it. I had been looking forward to dancing all day and I was not about to give up. Plus, it was waaay too late anyways to go home. So I serioulsly walked for about 2 hours trying to find the place. I walked through every street i could think of and alley way and some of them I walked through 2 or 3 times. But no Macondo was to be found.
Towards the end of this chuck of time I spotted out this place that said "Havana-Latin Club" or something like that. So I thought to myself.... well, at least if I end up not finding macondo, i can at least just come back here and check out this place. .. Well, this is what i ended up doing, as i did not find the Macondo Club.
So i walked down this small set of stairs and i got the impression it was gonna be dead, but when i opened the little door at the bottom of the stairs salsa music was in the air and there were people dancing on the floor. I thought to my self "score!!!! im staying here" So i set my stuff down and immediately one of the guys asked me to dance and so we danced. Then i got my shoes on, and really just danced all night. Everyone there was super nice and acutally there were a lot of good-looking asian guys. Also, I met this guy from Seattle who was super cute and when we were dancing he said "im sorry, i only know like 3 moves... and just gotta do them over and over again" i thought that was sweet. but i told him "dont worry.... thats how you gotta learn, just practice a couple moves everytime, otherwise you will just mess yourself up" So yeah.... he was happy that i didnt care. and then later that night i showed him a new move and he was super excited to try it out and actually did super well! - i was so proud of him. btw. name's Matt. Oh, and when i first saw him i actually thought he was german. And i must mention too.... we were the only foreigners there. But to my surprise, all the koreans that were dancing there actually spoke super good english.
So in the course of the night i made some friends and we chatted and all, and they told me about salsa classes and it was cool.... then around 3:30ish am... they were gonna go out for food and some drinks and asked me if I wanted to come along. It was a group of about 6 people. So of course I accepted.... and we went out for food. Now we're talking about Hongdae area, so this is like Vegas.... there is always stuff going on, and always people out. So it's kinda nice because even though it was super late it was just one big party. And so we went for food and drinks and chatted and finally at around 7am we parted our ways and headed home. I was SO dead. I serioulsy cannot remember last time i stayed out that late. On the way back home (on the subway) my eyes could not stay open. But i made it home! i was just afraid i was gonna pass out on the bus and miss my stop. But I didnt. Anywho.... so it was a great time. I will definitley be going back there most likely every saturday/ though not sure if I can do the whole until 6am thing every time. Maybe I will find a bathhouse closeby where i can spend the night so when i get tired i can just go there, take a shower, maybe get into the sauna and relax for a bit, and get some rest.
so that was the adventure of the night! hihihi.... oh.. and one of the guys that i met there, whose english too, was quite good, was really excited because I am the first foreign friend he has had. So cute! ,.... I guess coming from the US it is like second nature to have foreign friends. Its really no big deal, cuz everyone has them. But here in Korea, there are many young people I find, that have never had a foreign friend. weird. Just a different i guess.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Gym Sign-up
GYM- Did i tell you that i finally signed up for the gym. I am super excited cuz i finally get to start exercising again, apart from the pool and doing some weight training. I am in dire need of exercise. Since ivano came to visit i have not exercised at all! So now my body feels like it is one big block of Jelly. Seriously.... Anyways... so i signed up for this gym that is right around the corner from my school, literally. It cost 120,000 won, for 3 months- which is not bad at all. The gym is very small but it has all the basic machines, treadmills, free weights, etc that i need. Not in need of anything fancy. And the good part about it is that it opens at 6am, which means..... yes you know what that means, it means that i can go to the gym in the morning before school, which means that i have no excuse NOT to go to the gym- not even that i am tired- which means that i will have to stick to my training plan, which means that in turn, my body should start to gain some muscle and loose some jelly! done. As always... i am sure the toughest part will be first, getting out of bed in the morning, second, getting to the gym. Once i am there it will be no problem getting a workout down, but it is just getting out of bed and to the gym that has always been the toughest. I remember even back in the day of Ohio State years when i used to go swimming in the mornings.... sometime it was just SO darn difficult getting up early on those winter mornings.... but gotta fight the lazyness. Gotta fight it.
Massage greatly needed
The other day Jacky was telling me about how she went to a bath house and then the lady that was doing her body scrub told her that her shoulders were really tight. So the other day at school her shoulders were bothering her and she asked if i wouldnt mind giving her a shoulder massage- since i had offered earlier- and of course i didnt mind. I immdediately saw what the lady was talking about. Her shoulders were super super tight. Like...huge knots, no... actually like semi-soft rocks. At any rate, so i it is probably because some stress is causing it or something. I tried to loosen up her shoulders a bit, but they were so tight... i can only do so much. I mean, my massages arent terrible but she was in dire help of a professional massage person.
So then I remembered when Brian and I had gone to this one chinese clinic to get acupuncture and massage therapy- part of which was this cupping thing which does the opposite of massage. It instead of pressing the muscle against the body, it pulls the muscle away from the bone to allow for de-tensioning and better blood flow and all. So yeah, I remembered this and suggested to Jacky that she do that- since i know for Brian and I was super helpful and we felt amazing afterwards
Today, I was talking to Jacky on skype- since she is taking a couple days annual leave to rest- and she told me she had just gotten back from the clinic and that they told her she must have a lot of stress. Anyways... they did acupuncture + elec vibe massage + hot massage + cupping, all for the whopping total of 8,000 won, which comes to being less than $7.00. And it took about an hour she said. Apparently there are a lotta places around here that do that kinda stuff. Now for some reason i was under the impression that getting stuff like that was expensive (dont ask why- cuz i dunno) but i guess its not. So was thinking that I will probably ask Jacky if she could find a clinic either close to my house or to the school where I could go get massage. I dont need acupuncutre or anything- though once in a while might be nice. But i have just been dying to get a good massage. Especially cuz im alwyas the one giving massages but always have a hard time finding people who can acutally massage. So that will be the next mission. But since Jacky I guess has a bunch of stress i think i might just wait a bit to ask her to find that out for me. Though it will probably will not take her that long to find one- as she said there are many.
So then I remembered when Brian and I had gone to this one chinese clinic to get acupuncture and massage therapy- part of which was this cupping thing which does the opposite of massage. It instead of pressing the muscle against the body, it pulls the muscle away from the bone to allow for de-tensioning and better blood flow and all. So yeah, I remembered this and suggested to Jacky that she do that- since i know for Brian and I was super helpful and we felt amazing afterwards
Today, I was talking to Jacky on skype- since she is taking a couple days annual leave to rest- and she told me she had just gotten back from the clinic and that they told her she must have a lot of stress. Anyways... they did acupuncture + elec vibe massage + hot massage + cupping, all for the whopping total of 8,000 won, which comes to being less than $7.00. And it took about an hour she said. Apparently there are a lotta places around here that do that kinda stuff. Now for some reason i was under the impression that getting stuff like that was expensive (dont ask why- cuz i dunno) but i guess its not. So was thinking that I will probably ask Jacky if she could find a clinic either close to my house or to the school where I could go get massage. I dont need acupuncutre or anything- though once in a while might be nice. But i have just been dying to get a good massage. Especially cuz im alwyas the one giving massages but always have a hard time finding people who can acutally massage. So that will be the next mission. But since Jacky I guess has a bunch of stress i think i might just wait a bit to ask her to find that out for me. Though it will probably will not take her that long to find one- as she said there are many.
Clara
So i am not sure if I have yet told you about my friend Clara. Though i am pretty sure I have. She works in the store around the corner of my house and is learning spanish and so every time when i come into the store we chat for a bit. At any rate.... this past couple of weeks i have been helping her out a bit because she is going to Peru and so I was helping with the emailing back and forth to get everything in order for the apartment that she was going to rent, and for when she needed to get picked up at the airport etc etc etc....
So Wednesday we met up one last time because she leaves for Peru in like 2 days. So after school and after heading out to the pool for a bit, we met up at the home plus for a cup of coffee and just chatted away. We talked and talked and i introduced her to skype- she had no idea what it was. So i explained about how it works and how she will be able to talk to her family all she wants. She was really excited about it. Then afterwards we went to buy her headset for skype and said our goodbyes. Oh, something she said that i thought was kinda sweet was "sabes... eres mi primera amiga extranjera" :-) meaning you are my first foreign friend. Anyways... she is super sweet and i just wish her luck in Peru. Her spanish is not the greatest but i am sure she will learn a lot very quickly- she will have to to survive. So yeah! good luck to you clara.
So Wednesday we met up one last time because she leaves for Peru in like 2 days. So after school and after heading out to the pool for a bit, we met up at the home plus for a cup of coffee and just chatted away. We talked and talked and i introduced her to skype- she had no idea what it was. So i explained about how it works and how she will be able to talk to her family all she wants. She was really excited about it. Then afterwards we went to buy her headset for skype and said our goodbyes. Oh, something she said that i thought was kinda sweet was "sabes... eres mi primera amiga extranjera" :-) meaning you are my first foreign friend. Anyways... she is super sweet and i just wish her luck in Peru. Her spanish is not the greatest but i am sure she will learn a lot very quickly- she will have to to survive. So yeah! good luck to you clara.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Tuesday with Jacky and Angela
So yesterday (tuesday) Jacky and Angela and i got together for lunch and a movie. Was lots of fun. First, we went to this italian buffet that jacky found and ate and ate and ate and talked and ate and talked and ate. was super good!-perfect for the diet too. An any rate... then we headed out for the movies and watched "Valentine's Day" - had some really awesome actors and the movie was a whole was really good. It must have been because apparently it was over 2 hrs long but I did not even notice it was that long, cuz it just went by really fast. By the way.... here is my favorite line from the movie "I mean... the closest relationship i have is with my Blackberry.... thank god it vibrates!"
Then after the movie we went went to get some coffee and then headed home. Angela headed out one way and Jacky and I the other. Oh btw! before meeting up I guess jacky was looking around and saw a jewlry store and asked if they had jewlry cleaner -note: i had asked her where i could find some, as I have been looking for havent found any and was in desperate need to clean my jewlry- and they did.... not any that they usually would sell i think, but she got me a bottle of jewlry cleaner. I was super excited!... nothing ever slips jackys mind. Its amazing. So that was about it.
Overall: good day, good food, good movie, great company..... what else can one ask for! :-)
Then after the movie we went went to get some coffee and then headed home. Angela headed out one way and Jacky and I the other. Oh btw! before meeting up I guess jacky was looking around and saw a jewlry store and asked if they had jewlry cleaner -note: i had asked her where i could find some, as I have been looking for havent found any and was in desperate need to clean my jewlry- and they did.... not any that they usually would sell i think, but she got me a bottle of jewlry cleaner. I was super excited!... nothing ever slips jackys mind. Its amazing. So that was about it.
Overall: good day, good food, good movie, great company..... what else can one ask for! :-)
Monday-class at Junhas
So i was supposed to go to Junhas on saturday but towards the beginning of the day she texted me telling me that it was snowing quite a bit and maybe i should just be careful or come towards the end of the day. So then i texted back asking if it would be okay if i just came over on Monday. And it was fine, so thats what i did.
So monday i headed out to Junha's place, As alwyas.... she had treats for me and something to drink. I gave her the flan that jacky and i made and explained what it was and she was really excited to try it. So she cut it up and served it also with the other things she already had out. Long story short, she loved the flan. So i told her next time i would maybe try a different flavor flan and would bring it over.
an another note: i was super suprised because 헌영, the oldest who is 6yr. usually does not want to study and gives me a bit of a hard time. But this time i was till just hanging out with Junha and her husband and he asked his dad in Korean "am i not studying english today?" i thought that was really great! so I told him "yes,. come on. let's go!" and he acutally behaved in really well and cooperated. So i think now i can start planning sth more structed yet fun for him. Looking forward to next class. Another thing i was excited about is that he actually spoke some english to me. He usually just listens and doesnt speak much. But he communicated a bit-which is always a plus AND he now calls me ANAIS. Before, dont ask me why, he had just decided he would call me Aprika (as in Africa, but with korean pronunciation).
oh, and while i was there, after class, the kids were playing on the computer on this korean website for kids that has all kinds of interactive activities and all.... and so later i asked Junha how to access the site -its super simple-and when i got home i checked it out. It is super cool!. it you can do vocab tests with picutures, listen to stories and read along, sing songs, paint online, all kinds of awesome stuff. Then again, this is targeted for maybe 1-9 yr old korean kids. maybe not even 9. but yeah... has some super super nice things in there. So I think i can also use that site as a learning tool.
So monday i headed out to Junha's place, As alwyas.... she had treats for me and something to drink. I gave her the flan that jacky and i made and explained what it was and she was really excited to try it. So she cut it up and served it also with the other things she already had out. Long story short, she loved the flan. So i told her next time i would maybe try a different flavor flan and would bring it over.
an another note: i was super suprised because 헌영, the oldest who is 6yr. usually does not want to study and gives me a bit of a hard time. But this time i was till just hanging out with Junha and her husband and he asked his dad in Korean "am i not studying english today?" i thought that was really great! so I told him "yes,. come on. let's go!" and he acutally behaved in really well and cooperated. So i think now i can start planning sth more structed yet fun for him. Looking forward to next class. Another thing i was excited about is that he actually spoke some english to me. He usually just listens and doesnt speak much. But he communicated a bit-which is always a plus AND he now calls me ANAIS. Before, dont ask me why, he had just decided he would call me Aprika (as in Africa, but with korean pronunciation).
oh, and while i was there, after class, the kids were playing on the computer on this korean website for kids that has all kinds of interactive activities and all.... and so later i asked Junha how to access the site -its super simple-and when i got home i checked it out. It is super cool!. it you can do vocab tests with picutures, listen to stories and read along, sing songs, paint online, all kinds of awesome stuff. Then again, this is targeted for maybe 1-9 yr old korean kids. maybe not even 9. but yeah... has some super super nice things in there. So I think i can also use that site as a learning tool.
Sunday- Jacky comes over
so it is sunday morning and i am comfortably sitting at home working on a translation that my mother had sent me to help her with when all of a sudden y get a skype message from Jacky"are you home?" and i was like...."yes, wasssup?" so then she says "i will be over in 30min" . So what was my natural reaction you ask??? mini freakout moment. Why? ... cuz my place was a mess, i still had not even showered and i just usually dont expect last minute company (though would love to have some more more often) Anywho, so i asked jacky why it was that she was coming over and explained that it was not that she was not welcome but that my place was a mess. so then she said that she wanted to bring me some traditional korean food, again, that she had made-and her mother... so i was kinda happy about that :-) , the good part too, is that she said she was brining Gio (her dog) with her. This made me happy cuz i absolutely love Gio. Even though he destroys everything in sight he is super super cute and just so adorable.
So , as soon as i got done talking with her on skype i sprung up my chair, and ran to buy some water. you might think... why the hell would you do that???? cuz thursday when the teachers had come over and she had asked for water, i only had tap water-cuz i always just drink tap water so did not even think to buy bottled water- and then she decided to have some juice instead. i guess some people in korea just like drinking bottled water best. So yeah, remembering this, i wanted to make sure i had water to offer in case she wanted some, so i ran to the store that is at the corner of my street and got some water. Then ran back home, hopped in the shower, made the bed, cleaned the dishes, sweeped more or less the floors, organzied my desk, got dressed and tried to air out the place a bit. All in 30 minutes you ask??? yup! Guess i CAN multitask when i gotta.
So then she got there with Gio and showed me the food she had brought and explained how i should heat it/how to eat it. and we hug out for a bit and talked and talked and had a good time and all. Then i told her i wanted to make some flan for junha and if she wanted to help me make it and she agreed, so we made the flan and it actually didnt turn out too bad i thought. Anyways... so later she was starting to get sleepy-said it was her naptime- :-)- so she headed back home :-( and i found myslef alone again. buuuuu..... so then i got back to the translation.
So yeah,,, greatest interruption of my weekend/ Wish i had some random company like that more often.
So , as soon as i got done talking with her on skype i sprung up my chair, and ran to buy some water. you might think... why the hell would you do that???? cuz thursday when the teachers had come over and she had asked for water, i only had tap water-cuz i always just drink tap water so did not even think to buy bottled water- and then she decided to have some juice instead. i guess some people in korea just like drinking bottled water best. So yeah, remembering this, i wanted to make sure i had water to offer in case she wanted some, so i ran to the store that is at the corner of my street and got some water. Then ran back home, hopped in the shower, made the bed, cleaned the dishes, sweeped more or less the floors, organzied my desk, got dressed and tried to air out the place a bit. All in 30 minutes you ask??? yup! Guess i CAN multitask when i gotta.
So then she got there with Gio and showed me the food she had brought and explained how i should heat it/how to eat it. and we hug out for a bit and talked and talked and had a good time and all. Then i told her i wanted to make some flan for junha and if she wanted to help me make it and she agreed, so we made the flan and it actually didnt turn out too bad i thought. Anyways... so later she was starting to get sleepy-said it was her naptime- :-)- so she headed back home :-( and i found myslef alone again. buuuuu..... so then i got back to the translation.
So yeah,,, greatest interruption of my weekend/ Wish i had some random company like that more often.
Friday with Angela
So now that we have not been really busy and all i have actually had some time to socialize. So last week i had asked Angela if she wanted to meet up and she was like yeah... no prob. lets meet up. So then we decided to get together on Friday. I would just head out her way after school. Now, it usually takes maybe 2 hrs i thought to get to her end of town and so i had told her we would meet up at 7pm. But then Jacky said i would be allowed to leave school after lunch on Friday, so then i rearranged with angela and we decided to meet up at 4pm.
this worked out actually perfect. Actually, i left right after lunch, but it only took my an hour and a half to get there, so i got there by 3pm/. But i just told her i would hang out at a coffee shop and do whatever until she got there. At any rate... so right around 4 she got there and we headed out to a really nice coffee place that had a super awesome setup. We got some Kirsch cake and chocolate cake (which was included when you get drink-always a plus) and then i got this Lemoncock drink. -note: i dont remember what SHE got. But anywho... i only got that drink because i thought the name of the drink was just really funny. Luckily, it was really good.
we talked about all sorts of stuff.... lauged and laughed and talked and talked.... talked about being fat, about loving food, about relationships, really good conversation. Oh, also, she brought me some traditional korean food that she made. In this time in korea it was just the new lunar year or sth like that so we have been on holiday and the women's duty so to speak is to do all this cooking and all for hte family and anyways.... she brought me some that she had made- which btw, i later tried and was super super good!
So then after a couple hours of hanging out at this coffee place we headed out for dinner. I dont remember the name of what we had but it was some kind of meat that is supposed to be really good for the skin cuz it has lots of collagen or sth of the sort.
the only downside of the whole day was that it was really really cold. but at least most of the time we were inside so it was okay. I just really love spending time with Angela, she is such a sweetie, really easy to talk to , and really really fun.
note: while at the coffee place i made the following observation. Some koreans think to say "ade" is the same as lemonade. So they may ask you "do you want some ade?" also: here are the following spelling i have seen used of the word "LEMONADE" .... LEMON ADE, LEMONAID. Just an observation fyi
this worked out actually perfect. Actually, i left right after lunch, but it only took my an hour and a half to get there, so i got there by 3pm/. But i just told her i would hang out at a coffee shop and do whatever until she got there. At any rate... so right around 4 she got there and we headed out to a really nice coffee place that had a super awesome setup. We got some Kirsch cake and chocolate cake (which was included when you get drink-always a plus) and then i got this Lemoncock drink. -note: i dont remember what SHE got. But anywho... i only got that drink because i thought the name of the drink was just really funny. Luckily, it was really good.
we talked about all sorts of stuff.... lauged and laughed and talked and talked.... talked about being fat, about loving food, about relationships, really good conversation. Oh, also, she brought me some traditional korean food that she made. In this time in korea it was just the new lunar year or sth like that so we have been on holiday and the women's duty so to speak is to do all this cooking and all for hte family and anyways.... she brought me some that she had made- which btw, i later tried and was super super good!
So then after a couple hours of hanging out at this coffee place we headed out for dinner. I dont remember the name of what we had but it was some kind of meat that is supposed to be really good for the skin cuz it has lots of collagen or sth of the sort.
the only downside of the whole day was that it was really really cold. but at least most of the time we were inside so it was okay. I just really love spending time with Angela, she is such a sweetie, really easy to talk to , and really really fun.
note: while at the coffee place i made the following observation. Some koreans think to say "ade" is the same as lemonade. So they may ask you "do you want some ade?" also: here are the following spelling i have seen used of the word "LEMONADE" .... LEMON ADE, LEMONAID. Just an observation fyi
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
OLD FRIEND
So yesterday i had to go to kangnam for another eye check up. Now i usually take the bus in the home plus since it is my point of reference- that way i do not get lost. However, when i mentioned to jacky how i was getting there she told me it made no sense to go back to the home plus and take the bus from there. Now given.... with my great sense of direction i had no idea i was going back when i was going to home plus to take the bus that goes to seoul. Anyways... so jacky and another teacher Siena told me how to get by foot, to another bus stop that is pretty close to the school and that goes too, directly to Kangnam.
So after my last class yesterday I headed out. This was around 3pm. luckily, i found the bus stop no problem. It was kinda weird though cuz i guess a bunch of my students go to that bus stop too to take the bus to take them home. At any rate.... so i ran into a bunch of my students while waiting for the bus and then....i was waiting and this one lady got off this one bus,... in the back of my mind i kept thinking to myself, i know her from somewhere! and then she said something to me in korean, and i said "no , i dont know" and she seemed super surprised. It was then that i realized that what she had said was "do you remember me?" now you might be asking... why did she ask that? Well, that is because i see her every time i go swimming- granted i have not been swimming for a while, so i just could not pin point exactly where i knew her from. So then once that popped into my mind, i tried to correct myself and said "oh yes, of course"- in korean of course. Keep in mind, this is like a 50 some year old lady and so speaks absolutely no word of English. And i mean.... NO english.
So yeah... she was kinda excited to see me and asked me when i would be back to the pool. But i explained that i did not yet know when I owuld be able to go swimming, as i had just had lasek surgery and was waiting for the okay from the doctor. Then, she asked where i was going, i said '"im going to Seoul" and then she gathered her stuff and headed out. Insomma, it was nice to see her.
AT THE EYE DOCTOR- The doctor said everything is fine, and that i just need to keep using the eye drops and wearing my sunglasses to protect the eyes from the uv rays etc etc etc. I need to go back in two weeks for another check up. Apparently i guess ( i asked jacky) you get a check up 3 days after surgery, the one week after, then two weeks after, then 2 months after and then 6 months after.... i was like.... wow thats a lotta checkups. Guess they gotta make sure that everything is in order.
So i asked when i can start running, swimming, and lifting. Doctor said i can start running now and swimming and lifting i should wait one more week. I am so excited to go swimming! It will be a whole new experience to go to the pool, just put on my goggles- not having to take off my glasses and leave them on the side of the pool- and being able to see without the need of contacts and without worrying whether water gets into my eyes because my contacts might come out. Should be super duper extra cool.
So after my last class yesterday I headed out. This was around 3pm. luckily, i found the bus stop no problem. It was kinda weird though cuz i guess a bunch of my students go to that bus stop too to take the bus to take them home. At any rate.... so i ran into a bunch of my students while waiting for the bus and then....i was waiting and this one lady got off this one bus,... in the back of my mind i kept thinking to myself, i know her from somewhere! and then she said something to me in korean, and i said "no , i dont know" and she seemed super surprised. It was then that i realized that what she had said was "do you remember me?" now you might be asking... why did she ask that? Well, that is because i see her every time i go swimming- granted i have not been swimming for a while, so i just could not pin point exactly where i knew her from. So then once that popped into my mind, i tried to correct myself and said "oh yes, of course"- in korean of course. Keep in mind, this is like a 50 some year old lady and so speaks absolutely no word of English. And i mean.... NO english.
So yeah... she was kinda excited to see me and asked me when i would be back to the pool. But i explained that i did not yet know when I owuld be able to go swimming, as i had just had lasek surgery and was waiting for the okay from the doctor. Then, she asked where i was going, i said '"im going to Seoul" and then she gathered her stuff and headed out. Insomma, it was nice to see her.
AT THE EYE DOCTOR- The doctor said everything is fine, and that i just need to keep using the eye drops and wearing my sunglasses to protect the eyes from the uv rays etc etc etc. I need to go back in two weeks for another check up. Apparently i guess ( i asked jacky) you get a check up 3 days after surgery, the one week after, then two weeks after, then 2 months after and then 6 months after.... i was like.... wow thats a lotta checkups. Guess they gotta make sure that everything is in order.
So i asked when i can start running, swimming, and lifting. Doctor said i can start running now and swimming and lifting i should wait one more week. I am so excited to go swimming! It will be a whole new experience to go to the pool, just put on my goggles- not having to take off my glasses and leave them on the side of the pool- and being able to see without the need of contacts and without worrying whether water gets into my eyes because my contacts might come out. Should be super duper extra cool.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Grocery Shopping
last night i was reminded of the fact that ivano is no longer here. For the past almost 2 months every time we went grocery shopping we both carried groceries back to the house-team effort! Yesterday, I went to home plus with one mission: get stuff for Thursday, as i invited some teachers to come over to my place for coffee and snacks so to speak. At any rate... as you can imagine, just like almost every time i go grocery shopping, i ended up spending about $120dollars and buying a lot more other things that i remembered i needed or that i just felt like buying such as yogurt, some ice cream, etc.....
of course, i always miscalculate the amount of stuff that i buy and that i can carry- note: every time i grocery shop i DO try to pay attention to what i buy, as i know that i will have to carry it back to my house. And though it is not a long walk at all, when you have 50 pounds of groceries it seems like a rather long walk. So yeah, last night for the first time in pretty much two months i had to carry all my groceries by myself! and it was SO difficult. But in the end i made it. Yes, i was totally sweating by the time i got home, but at least made it safe and sound.
Once i finally put my groceries away guess what i did??? well, i found this MOSCATO spumante at home plus for about $5. So i decided to put in a movie on my computer, have some bread with philadephia cheese(which i had not had in a while) and opened up my spumante! it was simply delicious. Great night- movie, wine, food.... what else can you ask for.
of course, i always miscalculate the amount of stuff that i buy and that i can carry- note: every time i grocery shop i DO try to pay attention to what i buy, as i know that i will have to carry it back to my house. And though it is not a long walk at all, when you have 50 pounds of groceries it seems like a rather long walk. So yeah, last night for the first time in pretty much two months i had to carry all my groceries by myself! and it was SO difficult. But in the end i made it. Yes, i was totally sweating by the time i got home, but at least made it safe and sound.
Once i finally put my groceries away guess what i did??? well, i found this MOSCATO spumante at home plus for about $5. So i decided to put in a movie on my computer, have some bread with philadephia cheese(which i had not had in a while) and opened up my spumante! it was simply delicious. Great night- movie, wine, food.... what else can you ask for.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
LATEST EVENTS
LASEK- so i finally went to get the lasek surgery. I was scheduled to go on friday after school. So as soon as i got out of winter camp Ivano and I left for Seoul. Since Jacky was not gonna be able to get there at the time of surgery Angela (her friend) was kind enough to be there for me at 4pm in case i needed anything, or i did not understand something. i was excited but nervous. waited for a while until they called my name. Took off my shoes, sweater, glasses and was ready. Angela came into the first room with me. There they put some 4 kinds of eye drops so that my eyes would not move and then i went into the surgery room. unfortunately, Angela was not allowed in there, but at least the doctors spoke basic english. I laid on the bed thing and waited there for a while, then, it all started. Pretty much the only instruction I had to follow the whole time was "look at the green light". At any rate, it was kinda scary and the first part that they did, where I think they literally burn or cut a part of the eye or something, was kinda painful. It was hurting, but at least it only lasted a couple seconds. The whole thing was maybe 10min. They they put a cold eye patch on for 5 min or so, gave me instructions on eye drops, and i was on my way home with ivano. We had to get home asap since Angela told us that the pain would start kicking in after 3 hrs or so. And it did. After about 3 hrs my eyes started to really hurt, but they did give me lots of pain killer to take. So I took them. Ivano took care of me the whole time and made sure I was taking the right pills and the right eye drops at the right times. For almost 2 days I literally could not open my eyes, and the light just really made them hurt, But then things got better little by little. I started to be able to open my eyes and also to see a bit better. By the 4th day the pain was gone and the blurriness as going to. Now its been about a week or so and I am doing well. Though bright light still hurts my eyes. Anywho.... i should go for a last check up next week just to make sure all is good.
IVANO LEAVES- So ivano finally left this wednesday morning. It was really sad. Even though he was here for almost 2 months i really feel like it was too short. Time just flew by. And i really enjoyed having his company and having someone to come home to. It is really too bad that he did not stay any longer. But i guess now he is enjoying being home and having some great food. I think one of his biggest complaints from his whole stay was probably the food, as most of it is spicy and he just cannot eat very spicy things so that many times, even though he would be super hungry he would not be able to eat the food because it would be too spicy and so he would get extremely frustrated. I feel like i am using the word "would" way too many times. Anyways.... just a thought. I am happy that he is now with his family and probably having a good relaxing time, though will miss him dearly. Now the house seems really empty. I really hope that now that classes start to pick up I will get busy and not have time to think about the fact that i am alone.
ERIC B- Yesterday i got the chance to chat with my most favorite friend Eric. It was so good to talk about what was going on in our lives, about professors, i.e. malkmus and bri. and so on.... i really miss having good chats with him on the phone. Always remember we would talk sometimes multiple times a day just to check up on each other, see what was up... and so on. Too bad that now we can have hr long conversations daily. Gotta stick to chatting on facebook ( since he has no skype) , which sucks cuz my facebook is a piece of sh--- and it always takes forever to send whatever it is that i am typing and then i have to wait forever to receive what people write... and it just becomes one real big mess!!!
CLASSES BEGIN- so today, friday, technically classes have begun. Though i just found out that really the kids have this friday and then mon-wed of next week and then they are offically done with the semester. So i really did not plan any serious lesson plans. Was just gonna do games and give prizes out. But for the first class of the day i could not even do that as kids were ueber excited. So I just chatted with the co-teacher the whole time and let the kids do their own thing. Apparently kids- 3rd graders- are out of the hook today because they found out what high school they will be going to. In korea, for elementary, middle, high school etc,.... the government/computers randomly decide who goes to what school. So its just luck. It doesnt matter what grades you have, where you live, etc etc etc.... a computer randomly shoot outs results and tell s you what students will go where. I know. weird! but that is how it works here in korea. So some students today will probably be excited if they got into the high school they wanted to while others will be upset. Such is life.
REARRAGING APT- Since ivano left, i decided i needed to move things around, as my place just reminded me of him and made me sad. So i rearranged my place a tad bit. Moved the dresser form one end to the other and had it face not the front but to the side and then i pretty much put the bed in the middle of the room. its more or less the same space but the new distribution of it is nice. Just a different sense of space. Also, a last week i think it was i finally took that huge tv that was just taking up space and gave it back to the owner and jacky talked to administration and the school and i was able to store the big chair and one little chair that i dont use in the school.- so that majorly freed up space in my place. And i actually feel like i can at least walk around a bit better and i can breathe! Though still no space for dancing unfortunately.... which gets me thinking, i really need to get dancing.
SALSA CLASSES- since i am talking about dancing. i was looking up salsa classes the other day and i actually found some rueda classes in seoul on saturday nights, which is kinda cool. So far i had only found clubs where you can go dance but i had not actually found classes. So i think i might go check them out. Plus there are some sauna places where you can spend the night nearby i think. So it would be perfect. I could go dancing on saturday night, dance until whenver i wanted to, then go to the sauna and shower and get into some hot tubs and chill , get some rest and head back to suwon sometime on sunday morning, fresh, refreshed and renewed. Just really gotta get organized cuz i think my saturdays might start to get a bit packed,. There are just waaay to many things i need/ want to do. At any rate.... thats the info on the danceing end
ONLY ONE YEAR- so it is offical that i am only staying until october. When i first arrived in korea and after the first 2 months or so i was actually considering staying even a second year as i was loving every moment. And though i am still loving live here, after ivano coming here, i have gotten kinda homsick and really miss home and do wanna go home. And simply, i just do not see mysef staying here for 2 whole years. i think that would be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. Besides, i came to korea to get some new experience and learn some korean and i think after i year i will have done that/. dont need more time. So yeah, i told jacky if she needs help with anything as far as finding a new teacher for the new year to let me know and i would be glad to help. Like i said, i AM having a good time here and enjoying life, but i do hope time goes by fast because i do miss my home and my coffee shop and coffee shop people and friends, and my pool, and coach, and just hanging out and the environment and all, and my fave places to eat etc etc etc.... and of course mom and dad. Most of all though, i think i just really miss being able to communicate, getting things done myself, in other words.... my INDEPENDENCE! Shortly after coming to korea i quickly found out that by not speaking the language you really lose your independence. You immediately become dependent on everyone to do things for you, talk for you etc etc etc.... anything you need you need someone else to be there with you. which sucks. Really.... i mean... some things you can probably get off with body language and acting out stuff, but other things, you need some else there with you who speaks korean, and that is SO frustrating! no joke. .... anyways. that is my complaint for the day. I just really do find extremely frustrating not being able to communicate at time. Some things, that just back home are second nature and you do not even think about, like giving directions to a taxi driver and how to get to your place, asking a cashier if they would happen to have change for a $5, asking where you can find a specific kind of product you need etc etc etc.... the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on..... you get the point.
ok. i think that is all i have for the moment. by the way, sorry if i have not written in a bit, i got kinda lazy. Then again, i DID have eye surgery so i can use that as my excuse as i really could no look at the computer screen because it hurt my eyes. but now i can so i guess i have no more excuses.
till next time
IVANO LEAVES- So ivano finally left this wednesday morning. It was really sad. Even though he was here for almost 2 months i really feel like it was too short. Time just flew by. And i really enjoyed having his company and having someone to come home to. It is really too bad that he did not stay any longer. But i guess now he is enjoying being home and having some great food. I think one of his biggest complaints from his whole stay was probably the food, as most of it is spicy and he just cannot eat very spicy things so that many times, even though he would be super hungry he would not be able to eat the food because it would be too spicy and so he would get extremely frustrated. I feel like i am using the word "would" way too many times. Anyways.... just a thought. I am happy that he is now with his family and probably having a good relaxing time, though will miss him dearly. Now the house seems really empty. I really hope that now that classes start to pick up I will get busy and not have time to think about the fact that i am alone.
ERIC B- Yesterday i got the chance to chat with my most favorite friend Eric. It was so good to talk about what was going on in our lives, about professors, i.e. malkmus and bri. and so on.... i really miss having good chats with him on the phone. Always remember we would talk sometimes multiple times a day just to check up on each other, see what was up... and so on. Too bad that now we can have hr long conversations daily. Gotta stick to chatting on facebook ( since he has no skype) , which sucks cuz my facebook is a piece of sh--- and it always takes forever to send whatever it is that i am typing and then i have to wait forever to receive what people write... and it just becomes one real big mess!!!
CLASSES BEGIN- so today, friday, technically classes have begun. Though i just found out that really the kids have this friday and then mon-wed of next week and then they are offically done with the semester. So i really did not plan any serious lesson plans. Was just gonna do games and give prizes out. But for the first class of the day i could not even do that as kids were ueber excited. So I just chatted with the co-teacher the whole time and let the kids do their own thing. Apparently kids- 3rd graders- are out of the hook today because they found out what high school they will be going to. In korea, for elementary, middle, high school etc,.... the government/computers randomly decide who goes to what school. So its just luck. It doesnt matter what grades you have, where you live, etc etc etc.... a computer randomly shoot outs results and tell s you what students will go where. I know. weird! but that is how it works here in korea. So some students today will probably be excited if they got into the high school they wanted to while others will be upset. Such is life.
REARRAGING APT- Since ivano left, i decided i needed to move things around, as my place just reminded me of him and made me sad. So i rearranged my place a tad bit. Moved the dresser form one end to the other and had it face not the front but to the side and then i pretty much put the bed in the middle of the room. its more or less the same space but the new distribution of it is nice. Just a different sense of space. Also, a last week i think it was i finally took that huge tv that was just taking up space and gave it back to the owner and jacky talked to administration and the school and i was able to store the big chair and one little chair that i dont use in the school.- so that majorly freed up space in my place. And i actually feel like i can at least walk around a bit better and i can breathe! Though still no space for dancing unfortunately.... which gets me thinking, i really need to get dancing.
SALSA CLASSES- since i am talking about dancing. i was looking up salsa classes the other day and i actually found some rueda classes in seoul on saturday nights, which is kinda cool. So far i had only found clubs where you can go dance but i had not actually found classes. So i think i might go check them out. Plus there are some sauna places where you can spend the night nearby i think. So it would be perfect. I could go dancing on saturday night, dance until whenver i wanted to, then go to the sauna and shower and get into some hot tubs and chill , get some rest and head back to suwon sometime on sunday morning, fresh, refreshed and renewed. Just really gotta get organized cuz i think my saturdays might start to get a bit packed,. There are just waaay to many things i need/ want to do. At any rate.... thats the info on the danceing end
ONLY ONE YEAR- so it is offical that i am only staying until october. When i first arrived in korea and after the first 2 months or so i was actually considering staying even a second year as i was loving every moment. And though i am still loving live here, after ivano coming here, i have gotten kinda homsick and really miss home and do wanna go home. And simply, i just do not see mysef staying here for 2 whole years. i think that would be waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. Besides, i came to korea to get some new experience and learn some korean and i think after i year i will have done that/. dont need more time. So yeah, i told jacky if she needs help with anything as far as finding a new teacher for the new year to let me know and i would be glad to help. Like i said, i AM having a good time here and enjoying life, but i do hope time goes by fast because i do miss my home and my coffee shop and coffee shop people and friends, and my pool, and coach, and just hanging out and the environment and all, and my fave places to eat etc etc etc.... and of course mom and dad. Most of all though, i think i just really miss being able to communicate, getting things done myself, in other words.... my INDEPENDENCE! Shortly after coming to korea i quickly found out that by not speaking the language you really lose your independence. You immediately become dependent on everyone to do things for you, talk for you etc etc etc.... anything you need you need someone else to be there with you. which sucks. Really.... i mean... some things you can probably get off with body language and acting out stuff, but other things, you need some else there with you who speaks korean, and that is SO frustrating! no joke. .... anyways. that is my complaint for the day. I just really do find extremely frustrating not being able to communicate at time. Some things, that just back home are second nature and you do not even think about, like giving directions to a taxi driver and how to get to your place, asking a cashier if they would happen to have change for a $5, asking where you can find a specific kind of product you need etc etc etc.... the list goes on and on and on and on and on and on..... you get the point.
ok. i think that is all i have for the moment. by the way, sorry if i have not written in a bit, i got kinda lazy. Then again, i DID have eye surgery so i can use that as my excuse as i really could no look at the computer screen because it hurt my eyes. but now i can so i guess i have no more excuses.
till next time
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