Daily Grind

Working long hours and living an unhealthy lifestyle. Buttery chicken and spicy noodles and fineass bakery. All you need to fuck your body over. Argh. Last night after work, dearest auntie and I went out for drinks (her suggestion). Believe me when I say this-- we had it ALL. Oooohh YES, we did. You heard me. What's worse is, the night before, the principal of my academy took the entire staff out for late snacks and booze. Gosh. Koreans and their drinking ways. I don't think I will ever comprehend.

Recently, I've been craving sushi like hell. To clear any suspicion, just want to get it out there that I still love Korean food and will forever remain faithful. Keke. If anything, I may be experiencing Vancouver nostalgia. Even when the weather was absolutely disgusting yesterday-- fog, LOTS of rain, really dreary-- I welcomed it with open arms. WTF. O_o

Since I don't have any amusing stories to share, I'm going to write about work. Working full-time has its perks and downfalls. I've come to realize my academy is notorious for horrible office milieu. My office smells of misery. Infelicitous vibes all around. To say the very least, my colleagues and I are corporate planktons. We all work our asses off and this month has been especially brittle because our academy is offering "special" winter intensive classes (in addition to the classes we already teach). 23 classes per week in total. Trust me, it's exhausting. I don't like to believe I am a whiner but one can always complain-- there is always room.

On a brighter note, I watched an interview on Tiger JK from Drunken Tiger. I've always been a fan but realized how freaking gorgeous the man really is. Him and his wife have so much flavaaaa. I'm obsessed with his new track, Monster. Check it out sometime: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H12ipDPRHzw Daaamn. What a sexxyass tiger...

A winter hat to keep warm.

I know I'm going to sound lame but I have to share this story with you since I'm still giddy and excited. Here's the thing-- there is a Baskin Robbins next to my workplace and they're having a promo in which upon a purchase of a cake, you get a free winter hat (see photo). I wasn't too keen on the idea of purchasing the cake but was REALLY excited about the hat so I asked if I could purchase the hat separately. To my dismay, the owner of the store informed me he could not offer me the hat because each hat comes with a cake (WTF, I know, even after I begged and pleaded... LOL). I was so tempted to steal a hat just outside the store (a blue one perched on the head of a penguin doll) but feared deportation so I stopped myself last minute. *pat on the back* In any event, I went back yesterday (three days after my initial inquiry) and asked if there were any spare hats. Well... GUESS WHAT? He gave me a hat (my choice of colour, it being PINK) and yeah, I'm looking at it right now as we speak. It's on my office desk. ^_*

Another thing-- I have been desperate for a while to go see the Phantom of the Opera in live action. I'm sort of in the middle of searching for good seats. I'm planning on taking my auntie as my date and I'm crossing my fingers there are still tickets available for New Year's Day... =D

Kazakh Hour

I vaguely recall one of my teachers (probably a highschool one) mentioning something about organization being key when it comes to teaching. Back in grade 7, my peers nominated me for the "Most Organized" Student Award. Oh gosh. My desk is so damn messy right now-- chaotic as hell. Almost want to take a picture of it. All you can see are a bunch of scattered books, student essays, numerous post-it notes... my colleagues must think I'm all over the place, which is SORTA true. But guess what? I told them that they are allowed to use my "T^3 6 Antiseptic" (sanitizer designed specifically to kill the swine flu virsus sold separately at London Drugs, at least when I got it in Vancouver at the time) so they should overlook this tendency. The sheepish grin on my face right now is priceless. Haaaaar.

Over the weekend, I watched my very first movie in Korea in Gangnam area. I watched Avatar with a couple friends (unfortunately, I did not watch it in 3-D) and went to eat gogi and drink makgeolli afterwards (makgeolli is a traditional alcoholic beverage made from rice). Oh yeah, it's also nasty. Ugh. If anyone heard me say that out loud, Koreans here would probably lash me to death. LOL. Anyways, Avatar is SO AWESOME. I loved the sexyass Avatar chick in the film. Cameron hasn't made a film in what..? 8 or 12 years? He fucking nailed it. If you haven't watched the film already, I SUGGEST YOU GO DO THAT ASAP. In any event, we hit up a bar after that (American vibes, I dare say) and you would never guess who I saw... a friend from my alma mater (she's a poli sci major as well)! I was extremely hyper because you know, she's from Vancouver and I met her at the most random place EVAAAAA. How cool is that, eh? Goodness, I thought Vancouver was a microcosm-- don't tell me Seoul is categorized the same.

And, Christmas is almost here... I wonder what I'll be doing this year...

Oh, and I really like this font. Gonna stick with it for good. :)

Okay, back to work.

Questions suggest inquiry.

I teach a total of 18 classes per week. These 18 classes are a rotation of 7 different classes. Every M, W, F, I teach four classes and every T, T, I teach three. Some classes focus on grammar and writing structure while this other class I have puts emphasis on debating. OoooH-- debate classes are my absolute favourite (because I can choose which topic the class will be debating on!) Also, keep in mind that all my classes are taught in English and usage of Korean during class time is strongly discouraged.

Since this past Monday was the start of a brand new semester, I started each class with an introduction of myself (where I'm from, what my interests are, a little about Vancouver, Canada, etc.) Here's the drill: I write my name REALLY big on the whiteboard and then I get every little rascal to do their own little introduction. After this, I always ask them if they have any questions for me in particular. If I'm lucky, I'll get some interesting questions about my family, life in Vancouver, Canada... but if not, I'll only be asked two "essential" questions:

a.) "How old are you?" and...
b.) "Are you married?"

HAAH. *sigh* My students are such a trip. Honest to gawd, I adore my students. I love coming into my office. I LOVE work. A friend of mine recently told me the only reason why I love work so much is because I am "young and fresh". Okaaaay. Perhaps he has a point. But these days, I have so much energy I don't know what the hell to do with it all.

It's brutal outside today. I have never been so fucking cold, I'll tell you right now. No snow yet. Vancouver cold is NOTHING compared to how cold it gets in Korea. But the fact is, I love Korea and I love what I'm doing at the moment. I literally dance and sing on the streets of Seoul (wearing my big parka and earmuffs and mittens with swine flu mask around my face. YUUUUP!) XP Yes, I know I sound really lame... LOL.

Maybe kids are my passion. WHO KNOWS. But this is what I sincerely believe: There is no better investment than children. Plus, they're cute as hell and they gimme tangerines and chocolates and Korean crackers (because they love me back-- HOHOHO ^-^). What more can one ask for?!

"We all think of ourselves first and foremost..."

This is a quote from a book I'm currently reading, "DeNiro's Game" by Rawi Hage. I packed this book last minute because I imaged it would be hard to get access to English novels in Korea. Recently, I've been thinking... human beings are inherently selfish. I know this for a fact. I mean, we're human beings for crying out loud-- who can blame us?

It's been a while since I've updated this thing. That said, there may be some discrepencies. There are so many things I wanted to write at the TIME things happened but work has been busy lately (start of new semester) and I've been preoccupied with a couple of other things on my plate. For one, I spent this past weekend in the presence of family and friends. On Friday, I had dinner with a friend (free dinner if you go with the "all you can drink wine" option) and then we ended up in a karaoke bar. We both sang our hearts out and then I lost my voice. COMPLETELY. I was unable to speak for 2 days. How ridiculous of me-- hohoho. I should've been more careful because hell, I use my voice all the time at work. My voice is my gem. XP I think I know how the Little Mermaid felt when she sold her voice to Ursula in exchange for a pair of human legs. Haargh.

My harabuhjee on my dad's side is really ill. I went to Incheon to go see him on Saturday morning and realized he does not have too much time left. However, I do believe what Joseph said: "No one dies before his time comes". The old man will not die because he has to see my father one last time before he goes. My father, who is the only son of 8 daughters (well,10 actually but 2 died during infancy), is extra precious to my grandfather. Go figure.

On Sunday, I went to a Korean Church. You know, I don't particularly mind if the service is in Korean but I would rather attend a Gyopo Church. I think that would be best because it would be easier to understand the sermon and....









WHAT THE FUCK.

I just found out that the cleaning lady threw all my textbooks for this semester out in the trash... Must go take care of this... OMFG.

Winter Preparation = Kimchi Galore (apparently)

Believe it or not, I haven't taken a single photograph in Korea yet. I want to show everyone how geographically beautiful and breathtaking the country actually is. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to carry my camera and take pictures of EVERYTHING so ya'll can have a visual.

I went to Incheon last night to my grandma's place. I went with my aunt and little cousin because we had to help our halmonee out with "kimchi preparation for the winter season". Apparently, a lot of Koreans get into kimchi making mode around this time because... well, winter is fast-approaching and who the hell wants to make kimchi when it's bloody cold outside (during winter, Korea gets REALLY cold, btw... although with each passing winter, it's been getting warmer due to global heating). It was odd for me to digest at first but just think of it in a pragmatical sense-- a bear collecting its food ahead of time so that it can eat it while it hibernates in its cave. Lol. I wish I took some pictures of kimchi in its nascent stages. You see, it was quite the sight! It was like... something you might see happening at a kimchi factory if such a thing even exists. Kimchi KIMCHI Kiiiimchiiiiii sprawled allllll over the place!! The making of it all (from start to finish) is done so meticulously that it should be considered as a form of art. You know what else? Kimchi tastes so damn good.

On another note, the family ordered in Korean today. Our meal consisted of absolute gourmet-- jja-jjang-myun and jjam-pong... topping that off with fried mandoo and battered chicken. Hehehe. LOVE IT. <3 Where else can you get such luxury delivered to your own home for approximately $4 a dish? :) Honestly, screw pho. Haaargh.

Korean-Russian Majority

Today is the birthday of a dearest. I don't have a cell phone yet and was planning on purchasing a calling card but I still haven't been able to find one. ARGH. Well, I just got off the phone with her and upon her suggestion, checked out her blog. I would just like to wish her all the best in her future endeavours and I know great things will come her way because she deserves the very best.

I don't start work 'til Monday so I thought should have some little fun and adventure before then. I went out to Hongdae area (a huge entertainment district in Seoul; younger crowd usually) last night. I then met some interesting people in Gangnam (" "; more mature group) and had some drinks with them... I made sure to watch my consumption because I can be such a hyena after a couple of drinks. Including myself there were four of us-- two Korean-Russian corporate lawyers (male and female) and a Swedish man from Samsung Human Resources. Some entourage, eh?? LOL. While they were a tight-knit group, I was a complete stranger. The four of us got along smashingly well but there were a few awkward moments I had to endure... especially in the company of one particular person-- the Korean-Russian man.

This particular person was exceptionally eccentric. He tried to express his interest in me in peculiar ways. I don't know how they do it back in Russia per se but he tried to bite my ear. YES, you heard me. Obviously not like Mike Tyson-style bite but still like... BITE. Imagine MY reaction; my mouth was completely agape. What does one do when something like that happens..?!

Looking on the bright side, they were pretty cool and they introduced me to some good bars and eateries in the area. I'm beginning to discover that a lot of authenic Korean men (those born and raised on Korean soil) are fascinated by Korean women who can speak fluent English along with fluent Korean. Anywhoo, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to see them again. However, if I do, I will keep you posted. XP