bringing sexy back

Great night out in Kwangwhamun tonight.

There is a statue of a Korean Admiral who overturned the Japanese invasion with 1/10th of the ships. Japan had landed troops and steamrolled the mainland, but this admiral took on the japanese navy and dominated through guerrilla tactics and "home court advantage." Much like Thermopylae, he lured the Japanese troops into a choke point where the tides mixed, and if you didn't know how to navigate the pass, you'd be dead in the water. This Korean admiral regained power on the mainland from the sea with 30 ships vs. the Japanese 300 ships. BUT HE WAS A BAD STUDENT.
[all information comes from co-worker, Billy]

The area we were in had statues and theaters and art galleries and sky scrapers and huge intersections, and was only 1 stop away from City Hall and the the snazziest hotel i've seen in the whole country. It was so exciting to even walk around, amidst thousands of people getting off work and hanging out, going to bars, getting chicken like us, drinking beer like us, catching cabs like us, and enjoying the end of the week like we were.

I guess i should mention who i was with. Billy is an ex-marine who seems as cynical as i am about Korea, except he has been here for over a year and has several Korean friends, and can speak practically fluent Korean (among the 8 other languages he knows). Varrick is a black guy from Chicago, and the only reason i mention his skin color is because he gets a lot of attention from Koreans at bars, on the subway, street, in McDonalds, 7-Eleven... you get the point. He's really fun and went to see G.I. Joe with me. We applauded when the line "Yo Joe!" occurred, really nice guy. And Chloe was with us, she is a Korean teacher at our school who is not only funny and helpful at work, but dances with us and shows us around town after work. My new job is awesome.

So we missed seeing a movie, but instead went to "Table Bar" for a couple hours dancing and drinking REAL BEER. (Picture the bar as 3 big bar-height tables with piles of ice and beer in the middle) They had a live DJ too, which makes the night so much more enjoyable.

As Omar and Rodort put it:
"I'm really happy to hear you're enjoying yourself over there."

Couldn't have put it better myself :D

coffee shop sittin

Coffee shops are everywhere. Coffee is sold at a disgusting rate all over the world and millions of people down cup after cup during the day to bust their humps at their thousand-dollar an hour jobs as well as their dollar an hour jobs. It's a substance that is sold in thousands of combinations and sizes and it's no different ordering it here than at home. Except how it tastes. I'm not a big coffee drinker, and i rarely order anything when i come to a Starbucks or (at this moment) Angel-in-us Coffee. The thing that i can't get around is how foreign it feels to sit here.

Probably due to the fact that i can't understand a single word anyone is saying at the moment, but sitting in a coffee shop in Korea isn't as nostalgic as i assume it should be. Maybe i'm just determinedly homesick :/

July = omitted

I have had a lot of requests to continue writing about my experience here in Korea, so here is the first step back in the pool. A lot of stuff happened in July, mostly boring vacation time away from work sitting in my apartment waiting for my next paycheck (which comes TOMORROW, WOO!). But starting my new job at Nowon English Village also occurred in July. As well as a long-overdue recap of my trip to Thailand.

But we'll skip that for the most part, because July was not a happy month. I missed 4th of July at Grandma's more than ever, have seen friend's birthdays come and go on facebook, shocked and overjoyed at the news of a cousin's wedding that again, i missed, monsoon rains off and on soaking me skin deep even with an umbrella, and not having any money (at all) here prohibited me from getting out of my room to go see other friends or to even buy a decent meal. I'm happy to move into August, even with the spike in humidity and increased work hours with summer camp.

I'll be breif about Thailand: don't get robbed, and don't leave your camera at a bar next to your hostel. :(

Changing jobs was the best idea i've made in my entire stay in this country. Working for a very strict private academy was not a good fit for me, and i don't think it's a good fit for anyone working there. Moving out to Nowon (outside of the downtown, quieter, fresh(er) air, mountains, and more friendly faces) has been a huge relief to my homesickness. Fun note: when a Korean is homesick, they say you are "kimchi sick." As in, you miss eating your kimchi at home. I'm positive that i'm catsick, as well as Leesick. But my apartment complex/school has a pool, which i can jump into at night, which is so relaxing. Showering in my bathroom/toilet/closet does not compare to being submerged in water surrounded by trees and stars. Nice.

The work itself is incomparable. This week i've been rushed (more like harrassed on how to complete paperwork correctly ("learning process")) to finish report cards for all of my classes. This workload that is required of me once a month per class is equivalent to my workload for every class once a week at my old job. Picture me typing on a computer and printing out teacher comment forms with a smile while sipping on a cup of coffee and whistling to myself.... yep.

That's all I have time for right now, I'll be sure to continue writing and keeping it updated more often now that I've busted through NOT writing on here.