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Well, I can say today is the first time I've cried since being here and it be related to missing home. The Canadian teacher at my school, Leesa, said a few weeks ago that her parents were coming to visit. Well, they got here tonight. When they came in I got jealous... not going to lie. I don't even know that she's been here a full two months yet. So yeah, I'm jealous. I think I really just miss the comforts of home. And lately, I've been thinking about staying here a second year. Not necessarily because I love Seoul so much (it is great) but because it's still going to be a couple months before I can start saving some serious money. I need to order clothes from home and such plus Christmas is coming up and I've gotta send some gifts home. So I'm thinking I could come home at the end of August and stay for a month or two and then come back (this time picking a school in a part of Seoul I love... like Hongdae/Sinchon/Ewha) and then I think I'd go home after my Dad gets back from Kuwait. This way I can save more money and not have to worry about immediately getting a job when I go home. I can settle on a graduate school, move to whatever city it is in and etc.

So yeah. I don't know. We'll see what happens.



For Marmie: I know how much you love Mandy and I's ugly faces...


:'(


Toileting... Korea style!


Jamie (in background) and Julia.... J54 class... I love them.

  
Louise got a new dress... a dress with bunny ears on it. She's so cute. I can't handle it.

   
See... there are hot Korean guys!! Not gonna lie... I've got yellow fever bad. HA!!

I'm guessing only my sister would understand the title of this entry. ha

Rumor is that my hagwon is up for sale. There's a good chance that if it sells before my contract is up, then I'm out of a job. I'm trying to be realistic but still keep a positive outlook. Preparing for the worst, just hoping nothing happens.

I'm doing research on graduate programs and stuff. I really forgot how stressful it was trying to decide which universities to apply to. Honestly, I'm hoping to find a few that don't require the GRE. All of the schools that have the program I want are in expensive cities (Boston, NYC, etc). There aren't many schools that have a Master's program in International Public Health. Boston University and The New School (in NYC... yes, that's the university with Parson's School of Design thank you) are the two I like best so far. Rent in Boston is a bit cheaper than NYC. I've done some quick browsing and I can get a two bedroom in Boston for about $1200... but in NYC, just to rent a room is between $1000-1600. So anyway... yeah. I don't feel like researching programs right now but I guess it has to be done since I need to apply to places soon.


The good thing about the BU program is I'll have my Master's in 3 semesters and then I can go straight into the Peace Corps. After the Peace Corps, I get uncontested employment with any U.S. government agency. But I want to work for an NGO and get into International Aid work. Sadly, the easiest way to get into that field is by doing the Peace Corps. And while the Peace Corps won't be a waste of time, I know I'm getting ready to really break into a real career. I'm already regretting coming to Korea because I could be in the Peace Corps now... this is just another year delay in accomplishing the things I want. I'm having a great time here and learning a lot of things, especially about myself... so this year won't be a complete waste. :P

This has been probably the weekend I've done the least since my first weekend here when I didn't know anyone yet. Friday my Korean friend Sean came over and we watched "Perfect Stranger" (that Halle Berry/Bruce Willis movie. Gina had a collection of blackmarket street vendor dvd's that she gave me and that was in there. The movie was okay. Yesterday (saturday) I was supposed to go out but I've got a really bad head cold so I just stayed in, watched "Becoming Jane" online and went to bed. Oh... and I pizza from "I <3 Pizza". That mess always makes me sick.. I guess I tend to forget and then buy it again. Well, no more!
Here in a bit I'm meeting Gina at the Cheongdam station and we're going to get some lunch at this cafe and some yummy coffee and then go to this art gallery. The pictures of the exhibition online I've seen seem pretty weird and not anything I'm into but it costs like 50cents to get into museums and art galleries here so I figure I'll check it out... something new. That, and if not, I'm going to be ultra-lame and really do nothing today.

My sink magically unclogged itself... not sure how since it really wouldn't drain any way after a week. Oh well. I need to mop my floor today. I've got little puppy paw prints on the floor.


Bopbi in her pink, striped hoodie. Isn't she the cutest?!


I love how Koreans fall asleep two seconds after sitting down on the subway.. and then somehow wake up at their stop.... Crazy people.

The weekends here always go by so fast.

Friday night I was going to go out with a few friends but they didn't want to go out until 1130p and I knew Saturday I was going out... I can't handle two all night drinkfests in a row so I opted out. Plus, I wasn't feel well anyway. So I just stayed home with Bopbi and watched old "Friends" episodes. Lame.
Saturday I was supposed to hang out with some people but pretty much, everyone bailed and decided to not go out. Paul, my irishman friend, called and we went to Itaewon (which I hate). We ended up meeting up with the other teacher at my school, Leesa, and her friend from home who is here teaching (Michelle). We stayed in Itaewon for a bit and then caught the subway to Hongdae. By the time we got there, we realized none of us had eaten anything all day and we stopped for galbi (yum yum yum) and a few bottles of soju haha. Then we went to Gogo's (my favorite bar here)... drinks are cheap and the music is good. I love the DJ. We met a bunch of Canadians there (Michelle and Leesa are Cannucks too) and were going to some bar with them but then we lost em. By the time we ran into them again, they were headed to another bar haha. One of the girls in that group gave me her number and told me to call her to hang out because we live close to each other and she just got here and knows no one. haha She was almost crying... I think she drank just a wee bit too much. Anyway... so we ended up at Rock Mountain Tavern II. The drinks were way cheap. Dizzy, one of my Korean friends met up with us. He somehow convinced me to dance, which I'm sure was painful to watch. Eventually we caught a cab and headed to the area Leesa and I live in and went to a noraebang and sang many many songs.
Got home and in bed around 7am. I had to be up at 1030am. Ugh.
Sunday I met up with Lucas, air force friend. We grabbed lunch with my friend Gina, from New Zealand and then headed to Insadong. Insadong is a little shopping area that's supposed to have traditional Korean shops so we were going to buy a few gifts. We were greatly disappointed. I bought some incense and that was it. We headed over to City Hall and got Outback for dinner which ended up costing 70,000w (like $85-90 haha). Mine was only 20,000 but Lucas spent 50,000... steak is expensive here.

I'll upload pictures when I get home from work.

Yesterday I met up with a few people and we took the KTX (train) to Daejeon to volunteer at an animal shelter. Well, calling it that is being generous. This woman lived in a house with her two sisters and their husbands... She started taking in rescued animals in their green house. They got mad and told her she had to sleep out there with the animals. So we get there and there's like 200 dogs in various cages and running around in this greenhouse and the woman has a bed in there. There was anywhere from 1-4 dogs in each cage. It was very overwhelming and sad. Me and a couple of the others girls cried when we got there (lame I know). People know if they want to get rid of their dogs to take them to her. She does her best to take care of them all and depends on donations and volunteers like us to come help. I guess the group I went with tries to go down once a month and clear out all the dog poo, clean the dogs up and take em on walks, takes food, etc. The cages were pretty clean yesterday so she just had us walk as many dogs as we could. It was a long day and we all left covered in mud and poo... we smelled so bad once we got on the train to come home.

Friday I went to dinner at Jackie Chan's restaurant with a girl I met from New Zealand (food was mediocre). She was really nice. I'm supposed to meet up with her and her boyfriend and his friend in about an hour. We're going to some tea house I think and then dinner maybe. I'm not sure the plan at this point.