So I know I've been bad about blogging. I've been really awful. I really want to be better but when it comes time to write things down I don't know where to start! I forget things that I wanted to tell you or don't know how to write something down so that it makes sense. I know I know, I'm fired! There is still hope though, right? Don't give up on me, k? Now that I have a cell phone (see administrative announcement below) I can start jotting things down digitally on my task list. Hopefully this will help immensely.
First, an administrative announcement. I have a cell phone now (yay!) and if you want to call or text me you can download kakao talk on your phone then follow this tutorial to make sure you ACTUALLY have a username and can search for me. Email me and I'll give you my username. Also, this means that I am playing CandyCrush again for all those still sending me notifications. I know, I know, you need more life. I'll send as fast as I can.
So lets see, what have I been doing in Korea the last two weeks. I've been working hard trying to balance, rearrange and make things work for me at school. I still hit snags all the time which is frustrating when you think you're doing something right and then they change their mind. Luckily, the other teachers there are amazing and have been super helpful and supportive.
Last week we had a day off for a Korean holiday and today we have a day off for another Korean holiday. Today's is for the invention of Hangul which is actually a pretty fascinating spoken and written language. You can learn more here. This is the last of the holidays until Christmas so I'm soaking up the time. Unfortunately, I've been sick so all I did last Thursday and all I'm going to do today is sleep and rest in hopes of shaking this bug. Koreans go to work sick. There isn't really "sick" time unless you are in the hospital dying. This means I have to work sick which really is NO fun.
I am riding my bike to work pretty regularly . It hasn't been everyday because I've overslept and lately because I haven't felt well. Yesterday, a Typhoon splashed by so we didn't ride bikes because of the pouring down rain. On Fridays the last two weeks we buy some soju or beer and head down to the river to hang out. It's been a really great way to unwind and get to know people better. I think I really got lucky with the other English teachers at the school. They are all really cool! The first Friday we did this there was a hip hop fest going on. They had tents and a stage and had set up a water fall off the bridge. It was crazy over there. We didn't go to the concert because it was something like $40 for a ticket, but we could hear what was going and the Korean rap with a few MF's thrown in to give it some legitimacy. Also the outsides of the tent entertained us pretty well with their badass hip hop posses. I was going to post some pictures but Blogger won't let me right now.
This past Friday after our riverside drinks we wanted to go to a place called Shisha House but they were packed so we then went to a pub called Santa Claus. These are near a University so there are a lot of expats who hang out there. I had a really nice time except for the whole music fiasco, but I won't go into that here. Then it was Sports Day on Saturday and a work dinner after. It was a gorgeous day and the kids came with their parents and we played a bunch of group games and ate tons of food together. The parents brought "snack" but it was more like a full meal. I don't know how they expected me to eat all the food! Parents are pretty generous like that. Afterwards, we all biked over to dinner. This was my first time going to a place you had to sit on the floor. I'm not a fan. It is not comfortable even with mats. But what the dinner lacked in table comfort it made up for in food. It was DELICIOUS. I want to eat there always and forever. I posted pics in the album so I hope you can smell the deliciousness wafting from your screen.
Sunday was the last day of Winefest and though I knew I should be sleeping in bed, I had to hit up the good free wine! If you brought your own wineglass it was FREE to get in and drink all the wine you wanted. If you lacked a wineglass (like me!) it was a whopping $3 to buy one and then you could drink all the wine you wanted for free. I tasted some great Austrian, Italian, French, German and Georgian wines. I didn't enjoy the Korean wine so much! I managed to meet up with a couple friends there after a bit and we hung out and talked. It was really nice. I then went home and took a two hour nap!
Last night (Tuesday) I went to the doctor finally. I'll be honest, I've been a bit scared to go. I don't know why exactly. This isn't a third world country, but it is a different country and I didn't know what to expect especially after hurting myself in Poland. A guy at work told me about a 24 hour clinic so I headed there after work in a cab. On the way to the place a sound penetrated my deep thoughts and brought me back to what was going on in the car. What was it I thought? Did the cabbie ask me something? Did a car swerve and catch my attention? Nope. It was a song. On the radio. Oh, I thought, a song in English! I wonder what it is. As I strained my ears to catch the faint tune I realized it was none other than Puff the Magic Dragon. It made me laugh out loud! After the song was over it was back to the Korean DJ apparently not aware what the song is about. Good times and now back to my doctor story.
After entering one wrong building I managed to find it. I was seen in about 3 minutes by the doctor who looked at my throat with a metal tongue depressor, listened to my chest, and looked in my ears (all gloveless btw). He asked me some questions in broken English then announced he would only give me "3 day of medicine" and then motioned toward the door. I went to the front desk paid my expensive $5 doctor fee and headed down the stairs to the pharmacy with my prescription. I waited another 5 minutes before she motioned to me to come and get my medicine. They are all bundled into dosage plastic bags so you just have to open one for each dose along with some weird liquid medicine, also individually packaged. The told me I had to take one of them three times a day and that it might make me sleepy. Then she asked for $2.80 for my medicine. So to go to the doctor and my medicine it was a total of $7.80. Pretty damn sweet. Now I just hope its enough to kick this thing to the curb so I can go back to feeling good!
Well I guess I ought to start some laundry and do the dishes if I'm going to stay home and rest today. Keep sending me emails! Those of you that aren't (you know who you are) I'm eyeing you angrily! You said you would write! You said you'd keep in touch! Help a girl out! Send her some love! Please? Also, here is a link to my Photo Album with all my pictures and an awesome video in it. The ones referred to in this post are near the bottom.
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