Mecca, Office Parties, and Norebang oh my!

I have found new mecca and it is called Costco! Peter (my neighbor I teach with) and Caitlyn (his gf) introduced me to the new teacher Amanda and decided we ought to go to Costco! We split a cab which cost us 12,000 won to get across town... $25 bucks round trip can be kind of expensive so a quarter of that is much easier on the pocketbook. As of Sunday afternoon, I now have a business membership which cost me all of 35,000 won lol of course I ended up spending another 250,000 won once I got inside and now I feel like my diet finally can expand beyond the occasional curry and rice and spam and eggs and ramyan noodles! Mmmmm provolone and pepper jack! Pickles and Dijon mustard and dried apricots and pasta and lots of different meats including CHORIZO!!! Asa! Cranberry juice and all of the yummy goodies America ships overseas! It is such happiness! My fridge and belly are both nice and full! In celebration of Costco and also a welcome dinner for Amanda, Peter and I dished out the pork tenderloin and its fabulous marinade along with some stir-fried shrimp and veggies and pulled out some candles, Korean Riesling and crappy Hite and the four of watched the stars and the moon rise from our fabulous rooftop. Next month, in honor of summer, we are going to return to Costco to buy a $150 Coleman charcoal grill and some Kingsford charcoal! Woo hoo! Fully outfitted with grill and beer for under $200 bucks!

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So I know I've been remiss in posting, but alot has gone on in the last few days! Friday I was introduced further into Korean culture... the mandatory office party. It will occur monthly and this was the first one that ECS has ever had. The boss, Mr. Choi doesn't like to drink (very odd for a Korean man), so he sent his son Paul, who also works at ECS, as his representative i.e. the credit card. We held the party at Wa Bar, which was in conjunction a going away party for Nick and Sarah, who leave next Friday and last Friday respectively. The twenty or so people that were there piled the table with beer and drinks and all the food you can eat. Koreans consider it poor manners and unacceptable to drink without food (almost like the Russians but for different reasons) and will at least serve peanuts or something to snack on while you drink, but sausages and dried squid and peanuts and fruit plates galore were spread and we kept the bar occupied for a solid 3.5 hours before making an unanimous decision to walk across the street and let the party begin as we took over the largest room in the norebang for the next 3 hours... unfortunately the soju came out around 4 AM and people slowly fell away at that point in time until the last 5 of us took off around 6 AM and watched the sun rise as we stumbled, cabbed our way home, or in Jayo's case plopped against a pole and "rested" for a little before moving on. Course there were a couple of restaurants that were just closing up across the street but it was no point for any of us to eat, sleep was the only thing left for anyone. On that note... I think I will go catch some Z's as I still haven't caught up from Friday night. Miss you all!

The Spice of Life

For those who know me, eating and drinking are two separate events not to be held together. Tonight, I was treated to the unique experience of eating and drinking together, not by choice but I had to run for the orange juice after taking a bite of my super hot and spicy chicken wings! I'm so glad I have finally found food that was worthy of being called spicy... every time I order a dish the Koreans say no, no, no you don't want that... it's too spicy, you won't like it. I even had a waiter say he pitied me when he took my order. But tonight, I nodded and told the lady very good when she told me that this was very spicy, I had my preconception of spicy and went off home with my spicy chicken wings and cup of dumpling (not sure if it was chicken and veggie or just veggie). Sat down on the floor and popped open the containers. Rather expensive meal at 10,000 won, but I just wanted to try something new and being literally a 45 second walk from my front door I was hoping it was something good to break the rice and curry staple of my diet, which although very good becomes quite monotonous, but I digress. Upon opening up my cup of dumplings and pouring this "BB sauce" which was a sort of spicy mustard, I think, over the top and start munching away and looking at the wings steaming in their container and dreading switching from chopsticks to fingers. Opting to finish up the dumplings first and giving the wings time to cool off, I make ready for the stickiness with a batch of paper towels. With the first bite, unprepared for the burst of heat, I immediately start sweating. Now we have some heat that isn't based on red pepper paste! MmmmMmmmm! I finish the first of four wings and feel the burn in my stomach already and the sweet bliss of it all sends me running to the fridge for the bottle of OJ because I can't quite do it without a little cooling. Yes, I know I am a wuss, but it felt so good to be a wuss! Until next time... Annyong Hasayo!

Strange times

So yet another interesting experience! I rolled out of bed and started stumbling my way out of my house and down the road to hit up my favorite place in the world... PCbong (well, at least until I have that infamous ARC and internet, phone, etc...) and this little Korean man in a suit turns to me and says, "Hello, where are you from?" To which I reply, "Hi, I'm from America." And I hear the last words, I would ever expect... "Have you heard the words of Christ?" He reaches into his bag and pulls out a copy of The Watchtower, you have to give them credit, the Jehovah's Witnesses are doing a good job of proselytizing. I took the copy of The Watchtower dated October 15, 2001 and kindly informed him that I am a Christian and he thanked me, shook my hand and slowly went on his way. Craziness! Talk to you more later.

Nori bang!!!!!

I finally feel like I have acclimated into Korean society! Today was a ridiculously long day... 8 break 1 (I'll have to explain the intricacies of teaching at another time) but it really sucked! So Wolf who had a 1 break 8 asked if I wanted to go hit up the Nori Bang (read: no-ree bong)! and despite being exhausted, we went over and hit up Dalki (Strawberry for all you Weugeukens {Way-gook-ens} out there). Now I'm not sure how many of you have ever been out to karaoke... but this is an entirely new experience! They give you a private room and you have a flat screen and a couple of mics. So Wolf and I rocked out. You go in and you pay for an hour... $15 bucks an hour and you are free to sing whatever you like! We sang so well that they kept adding on time and we ended up singing for an hour forty five. They kept on feeding us time because we are good for bringing in business. Good singers + westerners = better business for the nori bang! So needless to say, a good time was had by all. Can't wait to introduce you all to the magical pleasures of NORI BANG!...

Apsan!!!

I feel much better about life now. Nothing like a 5 minute walk to the base of your own personal mountain, where I discovered Koreans love hiking. There were hundreds if not thousands of people hiking around the the mountains, which is completely understandable when you take a look at how absolutely beautiful the country is. Its a strange dichotomy with these dirty cities juxtaposed within these mountains. I spent some time visiting a Buddhist temple on the way up and then stopped by a shrine after I got about 2/3 of the way up and was fed some fried veggies/tofu. Everyone here is phenomenally nice most of the time. You get the odd mix of people that are very kind and also very rude. They don't really like Americans over here, which I'm guessing is a holdover from the Korean War... oops. Anyway... I just wanted to throw up a few pictures of Apsan and Daegu from the overlooking ridge. More on school when I need to return to that place of insanity... but that's another story. As my blogging skills increase, I'll actually figure out how to post pictures where I want them... *sigh*

One Week

So... I don't even know where to begin on this whirlwind of a journey. My laptop is wonderful, but I have haven't found WiFi yet! I won't get my internet hooked up for a couple of weeks I think. My internet and my ability to get a bank account or a cel phone all hinge on me getting my ARC or alien registration card. I have been trying to get accustomed to being in Korea, but needless to say its very shocking. I am eating a huge variety of new foods, gimbop is my personal favorite and something that I could live on for a very long time, its like a sushi roll with vegetables in it and generally some ham, but sometimes tuna. Jyumjyumyun is pretty tasty too with its noodles and sweet soy sauce-based sauce. I'm not sure what else to say right now, I'm rather tired and thinking sleep is a good idea, maybe i'll go climb up Apsan Mt. tomorrow, rejuvenate myself a little. So much to talk about, I don't know where to start. Good night and fare thee well.