Week Two

Well hello! How are all of you doing? I seem to be doing very well.  I'm actually surprised how quickly my life has become boring! I have a routine and it works for me. This was my first full week of teaching so that was stressful, but overall I think it went pretty well. Only made one kid cry and another had a nasty tantrum but other than that we seem to be hanging in there. I have hot water, which has been glorious. I have successfully cooked on my stove and been back to the grocery store. I also had to go the doctor for the preliminary check-up so I can get my ARC. They took blood, tested hearing and sight, blood pressure and did a chest x-ray. the VD from work went with me because they didn't speak English but I knew what to do when she handed me a TOPLESS paper cup and pointed toward the bathroom.

I bought a bike! It wasn't the cheapest but it wasn't the most expensive and I am, so far, very happy with my purchase. Granted I haven't ridden it much because 1) I'm a little scared and 2) I'm out of shape and the first bit of riding was painful on both my rear and my legs. Tomorrow though, I'm riding it to school so I may have some funny stories of falling or doing something else crazy. I hope, overall, that I survive and aren't too worse for wear.

When I walked into the store the man at first thought I wanted to just buy a basket for a bike but after some pointing and a few words from my Korean dictionary I believe he was convinced I was going to buy a bike. The first one he showed me was $400 and I was like WHOA back up buddy I'm not made of money (which I could have said out loud because he didn't understand me) and we instead found a couple bikes in my price range. I bought a helmet, lock and headlight as well. I then drove her home. I forgot how much fun riding a bike can be!

Saturday night I had a great dinner with two co-workers at an all you can eat Korean BBQ place. It was one of those nights where you get to talking and before you know it almost 2 hours had passed. It was really nice and exactly what I needed. I really like all of my co-workers but all of them are either living with a significant other or are married. That makes calling up a girlfriend to grab coffee or to hit up a bar a little more difficult.

That's why after dinner I went a few doors down to this party at a club that was labeled as a "Welcome to new Daejeonites" kind of thing. I went hoping to meet some new people. I know it may shock MANY of you but I am actually introverted and get really nervous about being in large groups of people. It's one thing if I know everyone, its a total other thing when I know no one, its loud, and its in a foreign country. So on one hand I really wanted to go because I want to make friends and on the other I wanted to take off running to the nearest cab to the safety of my apartment.

I went of course and it turned out to be really fun. I met two girls with EPIK who live on the other side of town but who are easy to get to on the subway (I hope to tackle the subway soon!). We hung out on the patio and drank beer and soju while random people stopped by. Some they knew, some just wanted to say hey, and some were just drunk. Soju will do that to you. Afterwards we all went to a club which was way too loud and I didn't stay more than 10 minutes. I'm glad I met some new people and I look forward to meeting up with them and going to Karaoke together!

Today is Sunday and I am bushed. I didn't do anything but finish watching season 4 of Arrested Development, work on my lesson plans for the week and do laundry. It felt good to just chill out and prepare for my week. I have this full week of work then two days the next week and then five days off for Chuseok. It's the Korean Thanksgiving and sounds pretty intense. I've got some plans to chill and plans to explore so I'm glad to have time off.

Here is a link I've been adding photos to so you can check it out. I don't have a ton of photos, but when some saying or picture strikes my fancy I click away.

My camera has been spotty and burning through batteries. It doesn't always seem to want to focus or to take the picture when I click the button.  I can't wait to finally take some pictures down by the river. It's so pretty at sunset and I hope to get some good shots this week since I"m riding my bike and can stop when I want! Also I hear there is a van down there that has a crazy guy living in it.

I've also gotten to Google Hangout with some more people this week. If you give me about 12 hours notice I can verify a time we can be on together. Send me an email and lets set something up. I've loved all the talks I've had with my family and friends this week. You don't seem so far away.

Here is my list of interesting things I've noticed recently:

• As Chuseok nears, gift boxes (similar to what we see at Christmas) are popping up in the stores. The interesting thing about this is that they are 95% of the time, Spam gift sets. Yep, you read that correctly, SPAM. Its big here.
• You can liter, anywhere, just drop that gum wrapper or receipt and nobody looks twice at you.
• Eating out for one is kind of weird. Koreans are big sharers and so if I go out by myself I get a HUGE portion of food because technically it's made for more than one person.
• A neighboring classroom had a birthday this week and the mom made all the kids fabric crowns. All the kids wore them, even the boys and they didn't think a thing about it. I loved that more than anything. There was no "this is a girl thing" they just embraced it and loved the gift they got to wear. They were so cute! 
• Also, I'm pretty sure all hipsters are really actually copying Korean men's fashion.
• Its weird how branding works. I have been able to recognize labels (Ritz crackers, Gatorade, laundry detergent) based on their US packaging even though they are written completely in Korean.

Recent goofs I've made:

• I bought peppercorns at the store thinking a grinder was attached. It was not.
• A co-worker wrote down the area I live in so I could say it to the cabbie. So far I hadn't had any problems until one cabbie yelled at me because apparently I wasn't being specific about where I live. The part I thought I was saying which specified "near the middle school" was actually just the polite way of saying "please take me here" so I kept repeating "please take me here, please take me here" without actually giving him the "here" he was seeking. Obviously,  he didn't take me where I wanted to go. When he made a left instead of a right I just asked to get out and walked the rest of the way home.