A New City: New Adventures

Moving from what Koreans regard as a simple farm town to the metropolis of Seoul (which is over 3 times the population of Houston with an area smaller than the "farm town" that I moved from) has been an interesting adjusting experience. I'm still not quite settled into my apartment (which I have successfully nicknamed "the cube" personalized front door mat to come soon :-)), but it is coming along. My new apartment comes with a security guard downstairs, but I don't know what he's securing because he's the one that goes into my apartment while I'm at work even though he has no earthly idea what he's doing (different from Suncheon where the apartment manager would call our school and ask and then I'd change my passcode later). I'm trying to get my internet set up, but there's no active signal coming out of the wall. So I tell my boss this and she calls him so his solution is to just go and buy another CAT5 cable (completely disregarding the fact that no less that a foot [my mistake 1/3 of a meter] away from my router is a CLEAR bag containing at least 5 cables of varrying lengths). His is yellow so I guess that's a nice change from the drab greys that all my other cords are. As a result I have a wireless router putting out the strongest signal of worthlessness. Oh well. That'll get fixed once I type it into a translator and just be like here. It's not entirely his fault. When he was growing up the internet was where they pulled fish out of after a successful day on a boat. THE SUBWAY This has been an interesting experience to say the least in regards to commuting. First of all when I was staying with Scott and Heana for the first two days of work in order to get to the school by 9:00 Scott and I were leaving his house at 5:30ish so he could drop me at the train station on his way to PT. So in order to be ready by this time you can imagine what time I was waking up to shower. Geez. Then an hour on the train and then the metro. Now that I'm moved into my apartment it is just 30 minutes door to door. I'm a five minute jaunt away from the metro entrance which is going to be nice during monsoon season and our school is less that 3 minutes from the exit so it's vry convenient. Now, I am by no means a subway system virgin after residing in Rome and DC, but there is hardly anything similar amongst the three of these. In Rome all you need to know is that people smell and Italians sweat. A LOT! In DC everyone on the subway is in similar lines of work so thank God for iPods as everyone just tuned out the other passengers. Most of the people I'd ride to DC with on the metro would be reading something on the Blackberry's (the old ones with the wheel on the side, wow how technology has advanced). In Seoul especially on the inner city circle line during rush hour it's like hearding cattle. You might not want to see if you can fit into that 1.5"x1.5" space, but the people behind you have other plans for you and so the fun begins. I literally had no choice but to rest my chin on this lady's shoulder the other morning as the people were packing into the subway car as if I were putting my sleeping bag back into a stuffsack. Needless to say I'm definitely happy for an iPod full of tunes as this helps me phase out the world on the subway. Technologically Unfortunate So this month in the world of Byron's electronics has been a skydive without a chute. First one of my harddrives decides that it's done. Now this wasn't a huge issue in regards to my tv shows and movies as I'd transfered most of these, however my 40GB of music was the primary victim followed by my pictures for my digital picture frame that I've collected from various places such as Dee's computer, Mom's computer, and Grandma's computer. So I was only a little depressed about this occurence because as long as I keep my iPod charged then it's going to have those songs and my running MP3 player is set up for a while. Then a couple days later my iPod goes out once again (it seems to freeze up about once a week and the simplest solution is to let the battery expire and then when I recharge it everything is okay until the next time). I thought this one was going to be the worst because usually the screen just won't leave whatever song it was on, but this time it was completely black. YIKES. This morning however I am happy to report that it came back on after a good charging so it is chug-chugging along for the time being. Then the keyboard on my laptop decided to go "tits up". I was describing it in this way the other night at dinner and a girl goes "you're the first person that's not British that I've ever heard describe something like that." I explained to her that it's the way that my dad has described things that just up and die in the past and then I thought back to mom telling me how much I'm turning into him. This was re-emphasized a few weeks earlier when my buddy was asking me which way to get somewhere and I explained "well it's six one way, half-a-dozen the other". He had a bewildered look on his face and I explained that it's something dad also says when the results of a decision are likely to be the same regardless of the choice. I know that you're probably thinking that with the off topic banter that I was done with my technological mishaps, however I only wish that I was. On Monday at work my tablet decided that it was going to base-jump off of my desk and land on its corner (which I'm thinking you can guess how that turned out). I was already planning on sending my tablet back to have it serviced because there was a dead strip on the screen, however I was not overly fond of the idea of both my laptop and my tablet being away at the same time. Thanks to Murphy and his law though the decision was made very simple. MOVING IN KOREA With my appliances and other miscellaneous things I've acquired in Korea I wasn't going to be able to move with just a few bags, so I was contemplating a moving truck (I love UHAULS, especially one's with Mom, Charlie, James and me all crammed in the front bench seat). However I was informed that this was a rather expensive option in Korea. I was told that I should pack them in boxes and mail them. I was like that sounds pricey, however for a box that could fit an old-school box tv it's just 4 dollars worth of shipping. Woohoo! So I grabbed three bags and then shipped the rest. Now most of the time the cheapo train I ride is crowded and there isn't really room for luggage so in preparation I decided to buy two tickets so I'd have a seat for my bags. However, this was a newer train and had a luggage rack on the end of the car which was perfect so I just enjoyed the trip with no knee-spreading-birthers sitting next to me (reference to an earlier blog post). Heana was sweet enough to bring a load of boxes and drop them off after her class that she has in Seoul on Wednesday nights and there's like three more that I gave her cash to mail. Yay! That's it for right now. Love all y'all.

Spicy but oh So Yummy

A Japanese restaurant was suggested to me for lunch today and so I decided to try it. It was known for its noodles and also for its dishes where it had rice on the bottom and beef on the top. That is what I decided that I was in the mood for and it was oh oh oh so tasty. I haven't had much in Korea that was too too spicy, but this got close. It was definitely causing me to sweat and the broth that they give you for a drink with it wasn't doing enough. Definitely needed a Dr. Pepper to wash it down with. But it was a good lunch.

A Cool Panoramic Snap of Them Caucusing

I don't know if caucusing is actually able to be used as a verb, but that's what they were doing so decided to try out the panoramic feature on my tablet's camera and I liked how it turned out.

Hard at Work

My students were hard at work making me proud. This was their final project discussion of the model united nations.  They were discussing the development of nuclear weapons by North Korea. I was very happy with the work they put in. 

Seoul Folks

Today in Seoul there were three instances of people that made me smile immensely.

The first was this guy on the subway that had a gift set that he had evidently gotten for the lunar new year from someone.  What was it?  A SPAM giftset. Haha.  I had seen them in the stores. They come with about six cans of regular SPAM and two cans of Bacon SPAM (yes bacon and SPAM in the same breath)  this guy was holding it like he'd just won the lottery (whoever'd bought it for him might've because that's a 60 dollar giftset usually).  The only thought that was going through my mind was if dad was In Korea for the lunar new year or they sold those sets in the US for Christmas I'd totally get him that for a birthday or something.  I'd imagine he'd have a similar reaction as it'd definitely be better than another tie that he doesn't need, or another pocketknife (as if he didn't already have 2 dozen from gifts and self purchases).

The second was when I was eating lunch at McDonald's.  It wasn't exactly one person but a series of people that all fit into their own stereotypes. Like the high school Korean girl sitting at a table for four by herself so that she could have her chicken nuggets and also do her makeup, complete with with a full-size hand mirror and way too many different powder cases. Then there was the Younger Korean couple.  Where she comes up and sits down and he comes up ten minutes later and she must've sent him on seven different errands like to get more napkins, get more ketchup, get this, get that, etc.  Then there was me ( I couldn't do a stereotype analysis without including' myself).  I'm sittjng there by myself listening to music with an order of chicken nuggets and three McDoubles. Mmmm yummy.  American gluttony at its finest I'm sure people were thinking as my skinny butt took my sweet time eating lunch.

The last was the last that I sat on the bus next to on the way back to Suncheon from Seoul. I've always got my fingers crossed to sit next to another cutie as I did my very first bus trip to Suncheon 15 months ago, but it hasn't happened as of yet. This lady was super sweet, but was my adopted grandmother on the bus trip it felt like. We weren't on the bus five minutes before she reminded me I hadn't done my seatbelt. Then afterwards she smiled. Then she pointed to my face and my clean shave and smiled and I pointed to my shaved head and gave the thumbs up or thumbs down and she gave me the so-so hand motion.  Then I mimed if she wanted to rub it and she obliged and I think that's what won her vote on the look.  Haha. I can only imagine what any other Korean though on the bus about this L.O.L. (little old lady) rubbing my head.  I found it to be quite hilarious. :-)  When we stopped at the rest area we both got off and when I got back on I had bought her a water and she had bought me a sausage on a stick. Such a sweetie. Then she'd point out snoring people on the bus so we could both snicker, lmao. Then when we got out of the train station I helped her into a cab as she just happened to end up in the cab line before me and I gave her a hug and she gave me ten bucks :-) Happy New Year to me!!!  I guess good karma was with me this weekend as Sunday since it was the Lunar New Year and a lot of cabbies where with their families and I finally got a cab to the train station I gave him a 10 on a 3 dollar ride and told him Happy New Year.  In pretty good Korean if I do say so because I'd been practicing for a few days. :-)

Watching Tv

So as I was working out Friday night and had the tv on in the background just for noise and when I turned around I definitely had to grab my tablet to snap a picture.

Lunar New Year

I went to Scott and Heana's for the Lunar New Year holiday.  We had delicious dok guk (rice cake soup)  made my Heana's mom.  We also had one of my favorite snacks with strips of ham, mushroom, green onion and crab all on a toothpick battered in egg then fried.  Mmmmmmm.  I enjoy it dipped in soy sauce with a little bit of sesame oil.

On the train ride up there it was especially packed.  Trying to keep a regular dry-cleaning bag without wrinkling the tar out my suit was rather interesting. Definitely think I will be getting a hanging bag that folds in half. 

No unusual stories from the train ride,  well at least not ones I'll write on a blog my grandmother reads.  

Maximus was retarded excited to see me when I got to their house. Haha. Whenever I show up it seems like it's Christmas day for him. Haha. I enjoy it too because with him my nap  time increases exponentially. Haha

Soupy Soupy Deliciousness

Went out for soup and it was rich with kimchi flavor and delicious goodness.  It definitely was good on a chilly night. :-)   yummy yummy very full tummy.

On a side note : This little soup shop that I score this at is the cozy kind and I've been here more than a couple of times and I get this cute little smile from the little old lady that helps us every time. She smiles especially big whenever I asked for more of the red bean paste or for something else that's especially Korean and she thinks that perhaps not many foreigners would enjoy. 

All Those Things Your Mom Tells You To Do and You Don't then Karma Gets You

My butt is completely gone today because my mom's words have come back to bite my butt so many times in the past 24 hours.

Situation A:  Don't just kick your shoes off in the middle of the floor.

Karma :  Woke up to relieve myself this morning and hopped out of bed and was rushing to the bathroom and low and behold my pinkie toe meets my boots that I had kicked off last night. Owwwww!   What was worse was my pinkie toe was cold as I had kicked off my socks during the night.

Situation B:  Don't just throw things in the fridge.

Karma :  Just had tossed a couple small bottles of orange juice into my fridge I guess the other day or so.  Well when I went to go get eggs out today for breakfast, guess what rolls out and lands on someone's cold toes. Luckily not the same pinkie, so now I'm sporting several red piggies.

Last and certainly not least as this was the hardest lesson.

Situation C: Don't put knives into a soapy sink.

Karma: So I was cleaning up after making breakfast and lunch today and I know for many it might be hard to believe but I had made a mess.  Anyways, I'm cleaning up and have my nice hot soap-filled sink.  As I go through everything I'm getting close to the end and I throw two knives, a few platss and a cutting board into the sink without thinking.  I start scrubbing the tar out of this cutting board and sweet beezlebub you can probably guess what happened.   I definitely lost a corner of my Totin' Chip with that little incident. Not bad enough for stitches, but a lot of pressure and a decent application of super glue and I was good to go for the day.

Needless to say I learned my lesson today to try to always remember my mother's, father's and grandparents' pearl of wisdom.  Except peeing in the backyard after midnight. I still think that's ok. :-)   That kind of makes me miss our backyard. 

"F" Computer, "F" Computer

Ok so this weekend just wrapped up a week and a half of the term testing our upper level students. Lots of just walking around (with quieter shoes than my boots as I was reminded) and kids walking off with my erasers or mechanical pencils after the test is over. Anyways I was having computer problems where the computer froze up during the listening portion of the test and so quit playing the mp3's. I rebooted the computer and then waited a moment before reinserting my USB where the listening files were. It was taking abnormally long and I had My Computer open and at one point I was quietly yelling at the computer "F SHOW ME F. SHOW ME F!!!" Now this class is my highest level students and there are two girls on this day and one boy. The boy was just tuned out but the girls had this look of shock and horror mixed on their faces. I started laughing and one goes "What was that?" And I was like "F is the letter of the drive with our test on it." OMG me and the girls laughed for like 5 minutes because they apparently had the idea that I had sat there cursing at my computer in the middle of class. The boy coming out of being tuned out was so confused as he had no idea what we were laughing so hard about. After the test with each of the classes I played a game with the students. I'd write a four-letter word on the board and then have the students on teams run up to the board and change one letter at a time and create a ladder of new words. One team quickly figured out that as soon as you got a word changed to a four-letter word ending in -ATS that it was easy as pie to win. Well they did that the first round and I was hoping another team would catch on. Then they were once again the only ones that did it during the second round and the third round. They ended up winning with 63 words with the closest other team have 27. They had a blast though. One of the other teachers was like "how'd you think of that game?" and I was like "my mom and I are always playing weird word games on our computers or on my tablet so I just thought of what would be the most practical in the classroom."