YAY Samsung!!!

So, since one of my boyfriend's students works for Samsung, he helped us to buy a really nice TV and we got a great price :) The menus are all in Korean so we cant understand much, but we are slowly learning. Here's an awesome picture :)And I got all the pictures off of my phone so I can put some of them up now :) YAY... Here they are, I will put some more up later.
This is the cutest pencil case in the world. One of my students, a young man in his twenties, who is now in America (CA I think) was the owner of it. I really wanted to ask him if I could have it! I know you cant read the inscription so I will type it here : "Smiles and laughter are very contagious share them with a friend" :) Its from a company called Artbox, which has so many strange but cute things... oh, and EVERYONE in Korea has a pencil case... even hardened business men... and sometimes they are nearly as cute as this one!
So, there was this chance I had to be on Korean TV speaking English, and they took me out to lunch at a Bulgarian restaurant... I decided not to be on TV cause I heard that if it was discovered that they were paying me I would get thrown out of the country due to the type of visa I have. But anyway. I got this really yummy food that looks like lasagna. It is potatoes and cheese with an adorable little bunny made out of a cherry tomato! And this was in Itaewon, the foreigner district of Seoul, so the cooks were actually from Bulgaria. But it was quite yummy and cute. And it is a Korean custom to take pictures of your food... and pictures of yourself with your food... but since it was essentially a business meeting I tried to tone down the desire to take tones of pictures.
Look closely at the lower right warning... it looks like it says not catching bunnies... This is from a park, and I just thought ... What the hell could that be about? Too bad I cant really read Korean.
You know your in a country that over-values studying when the vending machines don't sell candy bars, but rather they sells books. I think some of them were even English language learning books!
And here one of many reasons that English education is essential in foreign countries... they love to wear things with English on it.... but ... as you may be able to see, there are often errors... this hat says N.Y. POLECE :)

I will post more when Im done web chatting with my mom.

Yikes! March is almost over!

I haven't made any posts in March... In the past two months I have visited two countries and I haven't posted anything about them... Why is not important, but I am shirking my bloging duties... I complain that no one reads this, but I never write, so why should poeple read this?

Well Thailand was a wonderfully amazing place! I want to return there now! Infact I want to move there and open my own school! Sigh... I think Thailand is the best thing about Korea :) I know that sounds like a terrible thing to say, and its not that I don't like Korea, its just that there are some people here who are really annoying me now. You know how people get fired for talking smack about their job on the internet, Well, I think I would like to test that theory! Of course since most of the people who work here dont speak fluent English I think I might be in the clear! hehe

Well basically I keep getting booked for Overtime classes that I did not approve and I was really sick earlier this week and they wouldn't let me go home. And my boss doesnt like my clothes and nothing in this country fits me... seriously... I went to a shop, tried on the biggest pair of pants they had and they were too small... maybe I am just shopping in skinny district... but its still really upsetting. Infact, my boss even told one of the other managers to take me shopping, it was a bit degrading.

Just having less than wonderful feelings lately and I wish I was back In Thailand! Well here is a picture of extreem bliss, If I go back to Thailand tomorrow it will not be soon enough!

Of Costco, buses and great news!...

Well has been a good day so far. I am sitting at home chilling out before the second part of my shift starts up. John and I just returned from our adventure to Cost-co. I was shocked to find out that there are 5 such stores in the country and three right here in Seoul. Unfortunatly they only accept cash, checks and two types of credit cards, so we weren't able to buy everything we wanted to buy. But all in all it was an ok experience.

This morning one of my students told me how to take the bus to Cost-co since it is about a 40 min walk from the nearest subway station. I was so afraid to take a bus anywhere, there are, at any given moment, at least 10 buses within my view as I look up and down the street. They literally go everywhere. They are pretty cheap, 1000won, which is about $1. So we got on the bus and said "Cost-co" several times hoping that would let the driver know that we didn't know where to get off. He was so funny, when it was our stop first he just waited to see if we were going to get off, and then he started yelling "Hello, hello, Cost-co." Then when we walked off the bus I guess we looked confused so he called us back and pointed in the direction we were supposed to go. Everyone here is super nice and helpful for foreigners even if they only know a tiny amount of English.

A short walk later we were at the strangest wholesale club ever. I know your image of a wholesale club is a sprawling complex in the middle of nowhere, but no one goes to the middle of nowhere in Seoul... unless you are a farmer. So this place had to be in the thick of it. It was about three stories high, with shopping in the basement and first floor, parking on the second, and something else on the third... I am not sure I didn't go up there. They have escalators that you can use with a shopping cart. They are essentially large moving ramps. The carts don't slide down the ramps because the wheels have magnetic rings on them to hold them to the ramp until you reach the floor you want. Its really amazing. But while I was there I did see one person's cart get stuck and people started to pile up behind him for a few seconds until he got it unstuck. I think it could be pretty hazardous, but there are tons of hazardous things here that don't tend to kill anyone, its rather strange.

Anyway, I was hoping to take a taxi (or as they say tak-shi) back since this stuff was heavy, but we only had 8000 won and that might not make it. So we went for the bus again. After a short walk back we missed a bus but caught the next one, about 5 min later and enjoyed the aircon (which is what they call a/c) until we got home. You would not believe the way these guys have to drive, rush hour was starting and its every man for himself on the roads. They don't even yield to other bus drivers, and I think they actively try to ram taxis off the road. After several near misses and lots of honking we returned home magically unscratched.

So, Cost-co wasn't quite what I had hoped it would be, but I certainly enjoyed the adventure. I am going to start bringing our camera everywhere, even seemingly mundane places, since something interesting tends to happen where ever I go.

Oh, and I had this student this morning, a man, probably 40 years old max. And he came into my office at the start of his class and asked me "Is it sexual harassment if I say 'Hello beautiful woman" I told him I didn't think so and he said its what he wants to say to me when he sees me! HAHA seriously, if you are a white woman with long hair you have to come over here... for some reason its really attractive... I think the same goes for white men, but then I have been told they are a little intimidated by us as well (strong American women!) I have had my fair share of exceptionally shy male and female students, some will hardly talk. But after a while they can relax... like three classes later!

Oh and now for my good news! Before I left for Korea I took a Physics CST exam, which is the test you have to take to become a physics teacher in NYS. Well I took the test once before (many years ago) and I failed by not too many points. And this time I actually passed! I needed a 220 and I got a 232! I don't know what it is out of, and I don't really care since I don't plan to take it again to improve my score. NYS only cares that I pass. So now I just have to finish up this grad degree and then some paperwork and I will have my perm. cert.!! Pretty cool.

So far today is good. :)