My Weekend

So this weekend went pretty well. I went to school on Saturday and then met up with Christina later on that evening. We went to Itaewon to have dinner and look for cell phones. We ate at a Thai restaurant and I had red curry with beef. I Love Curry! I love spicy food so me and curry go hand and hand. Let me stop... I LOVE FOOD. PERIOD! Food and I have always been very close.
We decided to get a prepaid phone instead of a phone plan, so after dinner we went looking. I guess we went too late because there was only one store open. He had a lot of used phones, but he wanted 180,000 thousand won!! Not for a USED phone. So we are going to go to the techno mart Wednesday morning and hopefully we have better luck.
I went to E-mart this morning to do a little food shopping. It was a lot less chaotic and I was able to find what I wanted without people running over my heels and being pushed and shoved every which way. I found the right kind of pasta this time so hopefully, I want have a glob of yuck on my plate again and I also found 'Pasta Sauce." I also got some steak, rotisserie chicken, and snacks and things.
After I came, home and put my groceries away, I went and met up with Andrea. We went to lunch at On The Border (yea, I came to Korea to go to a Mexican restaurant...) and I must say I was actually full when we were done. The we went to Costco. There are some things there that I can't find at E-mart. I got hash browns, muffins, stuffed pasta, and chicken fingers.
After we finished our shopping (which was a lot more chaotic than my morning), I decided to take the bus home. Someone at the store told me that I could catch the bus and go right home and since I had a little bit of stuff, it sounded like a good idea. Andrea caught a cab and I headed for the bus stop. Well, every time my bus came and I told them the stop (in Korean mind you), they would shake their head and tell me no. That should have been a sign for me to walk my butt back to the train station and take the subway, but I was convinced that I was gonna learn how to navigate the bus system. While looking at the map, I noticed that another bus that serviced the stop went to my neighborhood so I decided to get on that. The bus came and I got on and about four stops later, things weren't looking right. I saw a huge mountain in front of me and I had crossed the Han River. Now, I know I live by a lot of mountains, but that one just didn't look familiar, and I live on the other side of the Han...Da Da DAAAA!!!! I'M GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!!!! I ended up back by Andrea's house (where we went for lunch)! I was quite upset, but I didn't let it get to me. The man at Costco took me to the bus stop and told me to get on the bus there...WRONG...I needed to be across the street. So I just got off the bus and took the subway. I KNOW how to get home from the subway. So as a result, I am through with the Seoul bus system. Two bad encounters is enough to tell me that I need to stick with what I know...the subway.
So I made it home, reorganized my refrigerator so everything would fit and started to wash my hair. I love the feeling of clean hair. So I washed it, combed it out and talked to Mommie. I decided to blow dry it and call her back. So I plug my blow dryer into my converter and set it on high (what I normally do because my hair is so thick), but high was sounding and feeling like low. I tried adjusting the settings and still it wasn't working right. I just figured it would take me a little longer to get the job done, but I would manage. NOT!! Next thing I know, my dryer blows out and my converter started smoking...The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire! We don't need no water let the M'nFer burn! Burn Burn! Burn baby burn...OK, I'm back (LOL). Yea, so that's two converters gone. And of coarse they are the ones that I paid 13,000 won a piece for. So now, I am sitting here letting my hair air dry and it is just poofing up. I look like a poodle...
So what did you think of the VP and Presidential debates?? I wish I was in school. Being a poli sci major, any election can be very exciting. I just want to be able to discuss politics and what not but I haven't found a buddy for that yet. Still looking. But that Palin... she can't seem to answer a question! 'Question: Gov Palin, what do you think of alternative ways of energy? Answer: Well, being the governor of a great energy producing state, I just love to drill for oil. DRILL BABY DRILL! And I love this country. And the Maverick, Senator McCain, is such a great man and I can't wait to be VP of this great nation. And I wanna give a shout out to all my Hill Billy friends. And if I don't like you, you will be fired! Thank you. Audience: WTF??!!!?' And this is who the Republicans put their faith in?? I'm sorry, but I think I would prefer Shamu... but that's just my opinion. Really though, IT'S TIME FOR CHANGE!!! GO OBIDEN!! And my kids feel the same way. Maybe I can finagle a way to get them some ballots...any suggestions?
I would love to keep writing but I need to figure out something to do with this Diana Ross doo I have going on... man I miss Shavanni!! Anyone wanna come do my hair? I give you a couple thousand won!
Until Next Time!

What A Week!

I know this entry comes very late but I've been really busy and haven't had adequate time to write an entry that would make you proud.
So the last time I wrote I told you about my demon children from H***. Well, when I went to school, i looked at the class list and they had cut my class in half. I was so thrilled, but I noticed I had one of the worst MFers in the class and one other like jerk. I also had the majority of the girls. And you know how preteen/early teenage girls can be. (its the same in every country). But whatever, the class was half the size and with only two really bad kids, it wasn't going to be too bad. And it wasn't.
Saturday I went out with Christina and Kara (another girl from training). We went to Itaewon and found this little French restaurant. Christina and I shared a couples meal...Soup, bread, salad, appetizer (salmon), salami pizza, pasta, sorbet, and then our main course (that's right we didn't even have the main dish yet!) muro steak something or another. Now we both thought it was beef. Something should have told me otherwise when they asked Kara how she wanted her NY Strip steak cooked and didn't glance our away. I was so preoccupied with all the food. If you don't know, I LOVE FOOD! But anyway, it turned out that our Muro steak was actually fish. Whatever, I didn't care. At least it wasn't chicken!! We also had a glass of wine with our meal. After we finished the main course, we had dessert, creme brulet (I know I can't spell so I don't need you to point it out), and our choice of hot or iced coffee or green tea. And the grand total for this dinner...$42,000 won (21,000 each so about 19 USD)! Yea, so you know my greedy self will be going back!
After dinner, we met up with one ok Kara's Korean friends (and two of his friends) that she was teaching English to. We went to an American bar and I had a strawberry banana daiquiri. I saw someone order french fries and I promise you they were calling my name...Avi, Avi, Avi (or maybe that was my conscience telling me not to eat another D*** thing). I couldn't help it. They looked so good. And if you know me, I love french fries. I think that was probably the only thing I ever ate in the cafe in high school and college... that and ice cream. So what did greedy Avi do??? That's right I ordered those french fries. OMG They were delicious!
So after we talked and watched the Korean people dance to Ja Rule and other Hip Hop music (that in itself was hilarious) Christina, Kara and I left because we didn't want to miss the last subway train. On our way to the station what did greedy Avi see??? COLDSTONE! Yup, I went and got some ice cream. I need to be shamed. The amount of food I consumed was ridiculous (but in my defense, none of it was American portions. Go to a restaurant in the States and cut the dinner plate in half. that's about how much I had).
So after our stop at Coldstone, we went to the subway and Kara accidentally got on the wrong train! We were supposed to be on that train and she was supposed to be on the train going in the opposite direction...OOPPS! I did find out she made it home safely thank goodness.
I hurried home because I was looking forward to watching the HU vs DSU game on the internet. Yea, Hampton is supposed to be on there ISH. But I was thinking that it was 1pm at home but it was actually 11am. so I had two hours to sit up and wait for the game to start so I prepped my lessons for Mon-Wed. And then came time for the game... I thought Hampton had its ISH together but clearly I was mistaken. Why would they change now?? They were having some technical difficulties but promised to have them worked out for the next away game on Oct. 25. FU Hampton! Not really though. I love my Alma Mater. So what did I do instead? I watched the scoreboard on ESPNU.com. It wasn't much, but I was getting real time updates. Around 6:45am my time, Hampton had one the game 17-14. It was way too close if you ask me, but hey they won so I was happy.
Sunday, I went to E-mart with Andrea. I was so excited because I was going to get food other than chicken! We caught the bus outside of school and it took us about 15 minutes to get there. We walked in on the clothing level and went downstairs with our carts and it was just as packed as it was the last time but we were able to navigate the isles to get the things we needed. There were a lot of people throughout the store offering us things to try. "No thank you, I don't care for squid" and "Umm, that dried fish crap sure does look tasty, but I'm a landatarian." Were things I found myself saying. But the sweet potato bread was good. I would have gotten it but they have it at the Paris Bagget around the corner from me. At the end of our shopping trip, I had beef, pork, CHICKEN (can't seem to let it go), salad and salad dressing, corn and pepper salad, swweet potato salad, limeade, lemonade, and grapefruit juice, chip, cheese tortillas and nacho cheese dip, tomato sauce, pineapples, shredded cheese, soup, peach ice tea mix, cinnamon raisin bagels, ziploc bags and containers and some other little things. total $78,000 won. Not bad I think. And if you don't have something to carry your food home it, you have to buy bags. That seems to be the case everywhere here, but we were prepared. We got back on the bus and after a couple stops went our separate ways. I went to Paris Bagget to get some bread, milk and popsicles. They were cheaper there and the bread is really fresh. I then walked home, put my food away (had to squeeze most of it in the fridge since the darn thing is so tiny) and went to my little corner store to get butter. It was 6,000 won at E-mart and I'll be you know what if I pay that much for some animal fat. Three little stores later I finally found some (I'm telling you there is nothing in my neighborhood)! GEESH! I also got some fresh peaches from the fruit stand and went back home. I'm soo excited! I have real food to eat now...and choices other than chicken. I didn't do much else on Sunday. Just relaxed.
I woke up to an unusual sound on Monday. It sounded like a doorbell but I don't have one. I laid in the bed for a couple of minutes and decided to go and see what it was. I went out to the main door and saw the mail man's scooter outside but no mail man. A couple minutes later he came walking down the steps and told me he had left a box with one of my neighbors. I ran upstairs to get it and it was a package from mommie! She sent me some seasonings, brown sugar, and dvds. YAY! I made breakfast and had to leave my apt. early because I had to go to the stationary store which is two subway trains away from my house. There were some things that I had to pick up so I did that and then headed for school. When I got there, I found that two of the classrooms had been remodeled and there was a new one... random, seeing as though it was not like that on Saturday. I guess in Korea, they work fast. I didn't pay it too much mind because I was upstairs on Monday. Since I am a new teacher and came late, I don't have my own classroom so everyday I'm in a different classroom. Since one of the teachers was still on vacation, I had to sub for his class and another teacher took mine. I had to sub for him on Friday too. But I'm kind of fond of my classes on Monday/Friday so I was a little upset, and the class I subbed for was blah. They didn't really care about anything.
I went to school on Tuesday and since my Tuesday/Thursday Classrooms are always different, I went to the secretary to ask which classroom I was supposed to be in and she took me to the new classroom that was built. It's MY classroom!! No more changing!I finally have my own room. Its small but that just means that a lot of my classes have to be cut down cause all of the kids won't fit. And yes... my Tues/Thurs demons will be demons no more. The cut they made last week is permanent!! The little jerks are gone (except for one but you don't see me complaining)!!!
Wednesday, I woke up to the same "doorbell" I heard on Monday. Turns out, its my intercom phone ringing. It was the mail man. He had another package for me! This time it was from Kory! I opened it and he sent me a yoga ball with the dvd. I had been putting off buying it when I was home but really did want it and I've really been wanting to do some exercising but since I can't use my Wii Fit, I've kinda been inactive. He always knows what I need. was my 1/2 day so I worked for 3 hours and went home to make some spaghetti. Well, the meat turned out great, the tomato sauce was really tomato paste, and the noodles melted into a big glob (obviously, those weren't the noodles I wanted). I picked out the noodles that hadn't melted and threw the rest in the trash, mixed it together with my meat and paste and it wasn't too bad. I had that with some salad and garlic bread. Yup, since E-mart, I've been moving on up!
I made breakfast this morning (something that I've been doing every morning) and had to leave early to go to immigration. I applied for my Alien Registration Card 3 weeks ago and didn't get it back. So Janice called them yesterday and they told me to come in today. Andrea had told me about her horror stories there and how she still hasn't been able to apply and I was all ready to go "Medea" on those people.
I went in and took a number and surprisingly, it was the next number to be called. So I went up there, told the under dressed woman in the simplest English I could think of my situation and a couple minutes another girl comes over and shows me the slip I filled out 3 weeks ago with my address telling them to mail the card to me. I tell her that was three weeks ago and she says "It was September 19th." Yes ho! THAT WAS THREE WEEKS AGO!! Where the H*** is my card and passport (immigration keeps your passport to process your paperwork so I've been without international id for 3 weeks!!)!!??! She tells me she's going to go track it with the number and to have a seat.
Five minutes later she tells me that no one was home for the mail man to deliver it so they sent it back to immigration. BOOTY!!! But whatever. She tells me to go upstairs to get it from the delivery office. I go up there and no one speaks English!! How the H*** do you work at an immigration office and don't speak English!!? UGH!! I went back downstairs and told that BS'n woman that no one speaks English so she sent someone up there who came back with an unmarked envelope.
I looked at my ARC and it had Sept. 29th as the issue date. "So you gonna tell me that this was mailed on the 29th, the mail man tried to deliver it three times, sent it back to you, and its been sitting here since at least Tuesday!!?" She just looked at me like I was crazy. "Yea, I bet you don't speak any English now." 1. her story is BS. mail doesn't work that fast. 2. If that is true they had my number. Did they think to call me? But thankfully, its done and over with.
I went to school and didn't have too bad of a class. I found out that if you threaten to make the boys sit next to the girls and vise versa, they shut up real quick. But I did yell shut up at one boy and slam my hand on the desk. Then 2 seconds later I was all nice and pleasant so I think I scared them a little. They also wanted to see a picture of my boyfriend. So I showed it to them... they didn't didn't know he was a football player. I told them he would fight whoever didn't be quiet when he came and I'm pretty sure they think I'm serious. I think that's another reason why they shut up. Or maybe its just my imagination.
So I think I caught you up on my "Seoul Happenings." The reason why I've been so delinquent in my writings is because I'm preparing Kory's anniversary present. In less than one week, we will have been together for a year. We had a lot of ups, some downs, and major tests along the way but with God's help, we made it our first year! I can't tell you what I'm getting him because he is reading, but I'll let you know next week.
So as you can tell, my expansion is continuing and the trough is clearly over. I haven't peaked yet but this is pretty darn good!
I'm thinking about making a video for one of my entries. What do you think? Yes or No?? Put your answer in a comment and I'll go from there.
I forgot to tell you, I saw a girl wearing a shirt that said "My Mexican works harder than your Mexican." I was floored when I saw that!! Wear that in the States and you A** will get jacked! I asked someone about it and they said that Korean buy anything with English written on it even when they don't know what it means!! All I know is let me see something with N***** on it, English or no English, someone will lose their life!!
Until Next Time!
BTW...I got my cell phone bill. I'm setting up PayPal on my blog and sending around that internet plate. So pass the plate! LOL! (I'm playing)