weekthree

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I'm working on my third week here in Korea. I can't believe it's been that long already. Things are going well. This past weekend was busy but good.

Friday I went to Betty's house for a wine "party". We sat on the floor of her studio apartment and drank very sweet Korean red wine. I tried to teach them some American drinking games and they tried to teach me a Korean card game. After about five bottles, we decided to go to a Norabang, Korean style karaoke. You and your group get your own room and karaoke machine. No waiting to sing. So we sang and drank some more. Korea has no law on when bars and restaurants have to close. They close when the people leave. We finally left at around 3:30 and I ended up staying at Betty's.

Saturday morning, David's friend picked me up at 8:30 and I went with him to his school for "sports day" with his study group. It was way too early and I didn't eat anything all day. I found a pop machine and had to get a Gatorade. The girls sat around for about an hour while the guys set up a tent and the table. I offered to help but they just kind of laughed and said it was ok. The first game of the day was the Limbo. I made it to the finals then fell in the dirt. I didn't realize I was so flexible! The next game was the Three Legged Race. My partner and I kicked butt! Everyone was hungry after that and I had to go home to get ready for a wedding.

I took the bus home and got ready in 30 minutes to go to a wedding with Betty. The wedding was at a Wedding Hall at the Daegu World Cup Stadium. There were several rooms for people to get married and no doors in the back so it was very loud. The groom's friends were all drunk and kept yelling things in the back. I felt sorry for the bride. After the ceremony, they took pictures and "tossed" the bouquet. The bride picks a friend at the beginning of the wedding and she is the only one that the bouquet gets tossed too. It is just for the pictures. Betty was the lucky girl.

After the wedding, I had to go into Deagu to pick up my aunt at the train station. She spent the night with me and I think she felt sorry for me. She bought me food and cleaned my apartment. I felt bad, but she said she liked to do it. I was fine with that. I couldn't stop coughing that night so I took Nyquil and slept until noon on Sunday. I felt awful for sleeping the whole time she was in town. But she said she was ok with it. She just kept cleaning.

I dropped her off at the station again and then met up with David on Sunday night for a movie and we saw Black Dahlia. It was an interesting movie.

My first weekend in Hayang wasn't that bad. I've been spending lots of time with Betty and David; they are both so dedicated to learning English. It's nice to talk to them and have a conversation beyond "Hi, how are you?"

In the three weeks that I've been here I've learned a few things:
-When you go to a movie in Korea, you have assigned seats
-There is a difference between a Night club and a Club: at a club, you hold a drink in your hand and dance; at a nightclub, you go and try to get set up by the server
-Alcohol is almost a necessity in the Korean culture
-Soju (alcohol) is cheaper than beer
-The tampon section at the supermarket is very limited. The whole isle is full of pads, samples are even hanging on the shelves and then there are about 10 boxes of tampons.
-Trash must be thrown away in special bags that are over priced and way too small. Cardboard and plastic must be bagged separately and food must be bagged alone and toss away in a dumpster out back.
-The number of teachers that have quit since I started: 3

Hope you are all well.

Peace and love

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Photos

Wine!
Cheers to the weekend!

Norabang
I like to sing cheesy pop songs!

YoungNam University
My new friend Dorothy.

Comments

[anonymous]

woah, crazy!
wow, you have assigned seats in the theater?! that's crazy, but I guess could be a good thing. Why have so my teachers quit? And the nightclubs, do you talk to the server to get setup as in a singles scene?

[Kalpesh]

woah, crazy!
wow, you have assigned seats in the theater?! that's crazy, but I guess could be a good thing. Why have so my teachers quit? And the nightclubs, do you talk to the server to get setup as in a singles scene?