Random Thoughts About Korean Stuffs...

Kimchi
I eat kimchi everyday. I love the stuff. Can't get enough of it. I think my belly is Korean.

Man Purses
Korean men love a good man-bag. They all have them, and they all sport them with no need to feel shame. I say rock on Korean man-baggers, it just makes so much more sense to wear the bag rather than trying to stuff your shit into those skinny pants of yours.

"Oh My God"
In any one of my classes, no matter what the grade or how much English a student knows, there is one thing that's for sure... they all know the phrase "oh my God". What's the deal with that?

I freakin' love my friends
It's so common to see men holding hands with men and women holding hands with women in Korea. I mean grown ass men holding hands... it's brilliant. If you love someone, show it!

G-Dragon
Dude... I mean really G-Dragon... are you a girl or a boy? Why is it that you are still so oddly attractive? I mean you are seriously wearing a high-waisted belt... that screams "gay", yet you smack some girls booty in the same music video. Tell me G-Dragon... are you bi? What's your deal?
<--- This is G-Dragon

That's all for now... :)

Subway Salesmen

It must really suck to be a Subway Salesman. These guys are worse than telemarketers...

They roll their loot around with them all day on the subway hoping for a sale. They give their spiel in every car, always the same fake enthusiasm. They sell things like water bottle coolers, arm covers, razors and crazy adhesives.

All of the passengers try to avoid eye contact because that would mean that you are interested in buying the crap, and most often nobody is. They could sell something immediately useful, like water or food or coffee, but nooo... they sell random things that you'd otherwise never think you needed.

Sometimes there will be good one, like once I saw a guy selling that little tool that seals bags. He did the demonstration where you fill the bag with water and then seal right down the middle so that it separates in the center but no water spill out; its just in two different compartments. That was impressive considering we were on the subway and the extent of his subway infomercial was above and beyond what I had seen. Not to mention he had charisma... he probably knew that his product was way more bad ass than arm warmers or water bottle coolers.

I miss...

You know I didn't feel homesick until this week. It's funny the things that make you feel homesick... It's always the little things that you miss.

I miss eating a home-cooked meal once a week (on Tuesdays or Wednesday :) prepared by my dad... (Okay, that's a big thing)

I miss deciding between Del Taco and Subway when eating lunch at the house with my mom. (We almost always chose Del Taco :) ...

I miss eating Mac N Cheese with Dallas on the couch at midnight watching reality TV...

I miss Saydee and Lola's crazy asses...

I miss somebody else buying groceries for me... Steph... lol...

I miss back rubs...

I miss my mom picking at me...

I miss drinking wine or tea at Rafa's until 4am...

I miss living with people...

Don't get me wrong. I am not having a bad time out here. Actually I really like living out here and I am doing fine, but everyone has "one of those days" once in a while. I just miss everyone.

I love you all!

Local Celebrity

My first week of teaching is coming to an end and it went surprisingly well. I was nervous but so excited to teach that it didn't matter much. And teaching is just as fun as I had hoped... no wonder Steph and I would always "play school" for hours. :)

I am the first foreign English teacher at my school so my arrival was kind of a big deal. When I walk through the halls most all of the students say hello to me... or "Hello Amanda Teacher!" The children are really excited to say hello and for me to talk to them. I am totally a celebrity, even students who I haven't met know my name. I am the most popular girl at Shinbanghak Elementary right now... it's awesome!

When the students know that I will be teaching them they get very excited about learning English, which makes my job easier. My co-teacher calls it "The Amanda Effect". I like the sound of that. I am sure that the luster of having a foreign teacher will wear off soon enough and my job will get harder, but for now I am enjoying the honeymoon phase. :)

My first week was tiring but amazing. My school is awesome, the kids are great and I have never been this popular in my life!