Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Korea: day 4, School: day 3

So today was mostly good except for my first class was total anarchy. They had a test yesterday so nothing on the docket today. They are young (8ish) and wild and couldn't even play a civilized game of hangman. I've never wanted to hogtie anything before today.

Half my last class fell asleep. They finished what was needed for the day, so I'm hard pressed to give a darn.

There's a small parking garage in the basement of my building, and lots of people double park. I saw the weirdest thing in Korea thus far today. When my boss picked me up, he went up to a van in the way, stuck his hand out, and pushed the van back out of the way. *Jaw drop* I guess they don't use parking brakes here?

Yesterday I went shopping by myself for the first time. I didn't really need anything, but I wanted to familiarize myself with what's available. The answer is pretty much everything. And then some. I got "Hot choco" for me, a "Have your a smile" smiley face t-shirt for my sis, and a loaf of bread plushie for Sam.

Then I got home, decided I didn't have enough milk for hot choco and would pick some up. Then today my boss brought over 2 cartons of milk, saying his sons were sick and couldn't drink it. (?) Cool. Then I looked at my hot choco and asked myself how in the world would I prepare it without a microwave. After work, my boss brought me a microwave and showed me how to use it.

Being now overstocked with milk about to hit its expiration date, I decided to pour myself a glass. I poured what was given me. Man, does it smell weird. I don't know what yonsei milk is, so I really don't know whether it's weird or bad. A friend told me it's soy milk. Oooh. I hate soy milk. Like really hate. I've been staring at this glass for probably 15 or 20 minutes now. I pick it up now and then and put it near my face, but I just can't bring myself to drink it. What a waste.

Since the seafood noodles incident, I'd been planning on treating myself to an American pizza, and there's a Pizza Hut on my block. I finally got one tonight after work. The hostess was immensely helpful in pointing out the pictures and prices on the menu for me. Thank goodness Korean for "take out" is "take out." I paid $12.41 for a personal cheese pizza (marginally bigger than Pizza Hut drive-through pizzas at home) and did not feel the least bit guilty.

They wrapped the box in a little red bow! I walked home, eager to unwrap the happiness and joy contained therein. They gave me a baggy of condiments, including a side of sweet pickles. I don't know either. But they were awful tasty. The pizza itself? Well, it was crap. You know how Pizza Hut changed its crust to yummy in the last year or so? Well, not in Korea. C'est la vie. There are easily at least a dozen other American style pizza places within a mile radius of here.

I had a Coke today. It was AWESOME.

I've counted a half dozen bars within 100 yards of my place, too. My boss said there are several foreign teachers in my building, though I've yet to stumble across a single one. The other teachers at my school said the foreign teachers all hang out at one bar, but they didn't know which.
Looks like I'll have a busy weekend ahead of me.
I am up to the challenge.

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