Meh...is about all I can say about today. I'm bored out of my skin and the cable's out. I've been fighting with the computers at work all weekend. I've been trying to install the software so that I can upload some of my new pictures, but I'm not getting anywhere. Must be a problem with the software cause it keeps telling me to insert a disk that's already been inserted...grrrrr.
Other than my recent frustrations, things have been going very well. It was Teacher's day on Wednesday and some of the kids gave me presents. Socks, pens, candies, chocolate, stuff like that. Some of them wrote cute little notes to go with them; "You're the bestest teacher!!".
Thursday, I was out hunting for food when I ran into two South African guys that I know. They were having a beer at Jjokki jjokki's, a bar near my apartment. I sat down with them and after a few pints we set off to find a bar where a lot of foreigners are rumoured to hang out. We found the bar and they had an English band playing...but the place was basically empty so we left. I'm told that Friday is the night to go.
This weekend was pretty tame compared to last weekend in Gangneung which I'll talk about after. I had my first Korean nightclub experience. Soo, one of his friends, and I went to a "booking club". The nightclub scene here is a lot different from what I'm used to back home. It's the same kind of music and such but you have to buy a table. Depending on what you want to drink you pay an exorbitant amount of money for your table. The cheapest is beer and you pay about $70 Cdn for 5 beers and a fruit platter.
I don't know if it comes from the English word of not, but "Booking" is what they call it when the bouncers grab girls from other tables and bring them to your table. Sometimes almost literally dragging them. They sit down and you introduce yourself and then you can offer them a drink. Some girls excuse themselves fairly quickly but others stick around for awhile. It's basically an expensive way to meet girls. The problem is that none of the girls last night spoke English well, and it was too loud for me to make out much that they were saying in Korean. So I mostly just end sat there like a moron grinning. Don't get me wrong though, it was a blast. Especially when a cute girl started feeding me grapes.
Friday I went to an interesting place with my Korean co-workers. I don't know what you'd call it, but it was a small room with a small stage that had a guitar and drum set. Then there were guitars lying around at tables. I think there was a professional musician there for the first few hours but then he left and people out of the audience go up and play music on stage. You don't have to go to the stage though, some stay at their table and sing and play. It was a lot of fun cause when Korean men (there weren't any women there) get drunk they all sing along. A lot of the patrons were bugging "the foreigner" to play a song but seeing as my guitar playing ability is rather mediocre at best, I opted against it. Of course, after a few beers and some soju I bowed to peer pressure and played a quick one. I don't think I was too bad though...no one booed or threw anything at me, so that was a plus.
Last weekend I went to Gangneung on the East coast of Korea to meet up with a friend of mine from Winnipeg. After being in Korea for 3.5 months it was nice to see a familiar face. I had no plans for the weekend, so when Keith told me that he'd be in Gangneung I decided to pack a bag and jump on a bus. It took me 5 hours to get to Gangneung so I didn't arrive until 2:30am but he and his friends were still going strong.
The weekend was completely out of control!! I don't think I slept more than 3 hours Friday night and then Saturday I didn't sleep at all. There was some kind of going away party for a foreigner Saturday night so there were a lot of English teachers there. I met a really cute Korean girl at the party and talked to her for about two hours but seeing as she lives 5 hours from me, I don't suppose I'll run into her again anytime soon.
The area around the East sea(Sea of Japan) is really beautiful. Lots to scenery, although this is compared to the rather dull views of the prairies that I'm used to. I took a lot of pictures which will eventually be posted to this site(I hope). We spent some time at the beach, I found it interesting how the sand is different here and how clear the water is. Although seeing as the last time I saw a sea or ocean was 1984 I suppse I'm not much of a judge.
I'd like to go into more detail about the events of last weekend but it was really a lot of the same. Running around acting silly, trying to speak Korean, drinking beer, getting naked, falling off balconies...stuff like that.
The World Cup starts in less than two weeks and I'm stoked for it! To make my soccer friends back home jealous I'll mention that I picked up a ticket for the last match in Korea. It's the 3rd place game. I'd go to the final but it's in Japan.
Problem is that the game's in Daegu. So it's probably gonna take me 6 hours to get there and I have no idea where I'm gonna sleep. But I figure those are just details....they'll sort themselves out when I get there. The most important thing is that I have a ticket. I think I'll buy a ticket to a game in Seoul but I haven't yet decided which one cause the tickets are bloody expensive and none of the weekend games look really appealing.
I'm hungry so I'm gonna run. Not to mention that this entry is starting to look like a novel. Keep sending me email cause I love hearing how things are going in your lives. Miss you all!!
