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Week 42- Y3(Dec 23rd to Dec 29th) |
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Tuesday:Merry Christmas! It doesn't feel like Christmas atall. In fact, the celebrations were pretty low keythis year for me-- I was pretty tired still yesterday,so I went to Ta for a little bit for their BubblegumStudio release party, but I came home pretty early. And today, I had a quick lunch with Jae Ran in myneighbourhood, and then went to a little music studioparty later on in the evening. The longer I've beenaway, the more and more Christmas just feels like anyold day. Sure, there's decorations all over Seoul,but it's certainly not as important a holiday here assay, Lunar New Year. In fact most Koreans considerChristmas to be a "couple" day, kind of likeValentines Day. Most families don't really celebrateit at all. |
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Wednesday:As my "Christmas present", Garan cooked dinner for metonight. We had been joking about spam gift sets allday via text message (Ha. They really do have spamgift sets here, usually for Chuseok or Lunar NewYears. It's right up there with the seaweed giftboxes or the little sardine gift boxes), so I decidedthat for Garan's gift, I would get some spam! Ha. Heloved it (dripping with sarcasm here). I should addthat I'm intending to do all my Christmas shopping inthe Philippines, so no one should expect any presentsfrom me until February . . .Speaking of my trip to the Philippines . . . therehave been some complications with booking my ticket. I was a little last minute this year (I was waiting tofind out about the exact date of the salsaperformance) so as it turns out, all the flights toSydney are booked up and ridiculously expensive. So,scratch Australia. Not only that, but my Philippinesflights are going to be expensive too. I was gettingkind of worried, cause I hadn't heard back from mytravel agent for awhile, but it turns out he waslooking into some really important information forme-- apparently the Philippines only offers 3 weektourist visas, and it's really difficult to get anextension. So I had to change the dates of my trip toaccomodate this limitation. Arrgh! Trip planning isfrustrating! Fortunately I think it's all sorted outnow, and the tickets have been booked and paid for. In exciting news-- Jason and Stephanie are going to bein the Philippines pretty much at the same time as me,so we're definitely going to meet up and travel alittle bit. Also exciting-- my old Starbucksco-worker and friend Bryant is in the Philippinesvisiting his family for 3 months (he's Filipino), andhe doesn't have anything to do for January, so he'sgoing to be traveling with me as well! Not only doesthis mean I have somewhere to stay in Manila, but it'sgoing to be a huge help to be traveling with aFilipino-- things are going to suddenly be a lotcheaper, it'll be easier to get information, he canhelp me figure out what food is safe for me to eat,and what food isn't-- this is going to be an awesomevacation! |
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Thursday:I got my travel shots today. My arms are sore ashell, but I won't be getting hepatitus a, b, or c,polio, typhoid or Japanese encaphilitus anytime soon .. .Also today-- I got a call to be on a Korean tv show! Sasha, the accordian player for St. John the Gambler,works for this tv show called "Surprise", which Ithink is some kind of English education tv programme?Anyway, last time Sasha and I met, he had asked me ifI would be interested in doing the show once inawhile. Since I'm not a big fan of talking in frontof people, I was kind of hesitant, but I didn't reallythink anything would come from it, so I said I'd maybebe interested. Sasha then took a picture of me on hiscell phone to show the show's producer. So theycalled today and asked if I could do a tapingtomorrow! I was kind of like, um no, but maybe if yougive me more than a day's notice I'll consider it! Sowho knows, I could be on Korean television sometimesoon . . . |
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Saturday:Today at salsa, Helen and Joey hired me to be ateaching assistant for the new beginner class inFebruary! This is actually pretty cool-- since themoves are easy it won't take up any extra time, andI'll basically be teaching the class with Bryan,Helen's brother and business partner. I'll beresponsible for leading warm-ups, teaching the basicsteps, and simple choreography. It's prettyflattering to be hired as a teacher, especially whenI've only been dancing for about 6 months!After salsa, Trevor and I met up to see our friendsplay at a club in Gangnam. This club is owned by aKorean guy that we met when we played at Free Bird. He really wanted to book us for a gig, so we felt likewe should check out the club to show interest. Theclub is really nice (despite the very strange name"Diet Market"), but I can see already that it's notgoing to work. The sound system is awesome, butevetything on the menu is retardedly expensive (50bucks for a fruit plate?!) and it's just too fancy toget people to stay. I know he's trying to bookforeign bands to get a foreign crowd in the bar, butforeigners aren't going to check out a band in a ritzyplace in Gangnam when they can check out 3 bands onthe same night in a funky bar in Hongdae. I predictthat "Diet Market" is going to go out of businesswithin the next 3 months. |
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