Weekend Redemption

My weekend has more than made up for any sad or lonely times during the week.

Friday, I asked my coworker Katy (England) what she was up to

and she invited me to go out with her, but ya know, just for a beer or two.

I got off work early, so shopped at La Festa and got some cool finds! 

It's trendy in Korea now to wear VERY big long tops, so i could buy dresses and shirts for around $5 that ACTUALLY fit!

You all should put in orders if you want me to bring you back a cute/funny shirt.

I got a jumpery-looking thing, a beautiful gray dress with slip, and a big "trendy" tee for comfy weekend wear (I'm wearing it now, haha) - all for like $20.

Katy and my other coworker Soo (NYC) show up at my door at 11 (right after work, haha)

and we go to a foreigner bar a few blocks away.

Everyone knows each other - it's ridiculous!

Apparently the teachery community is pretty small and pretty tight.

And all my foreigner coworkers show up too

and basically one or two beers turn into everyone getting totally smashed and ridiculous,

but in a very amiable, pleasant way?

And I met and talked to a few people, and even made plans to go to a soccer game with Katy, her American bf, and his coworker / my pseudo-date

The next morning I woke up sick and semi-confused,

just like Freshman year! (haha, sorry mom and dad)

smelling all like cigarettes and beer and sweat 

and feeling like I got run over by a couple mopeds

(NOTE: cheap Korean beer is deceptively strong!)

I went by my coworker Tanya's (Korea) place where she lives with her Australian husband.

She invited me in and made me toast and tea and we all talked for a long time and eventually went to a tasty tasty Indian restaurant! The sweet thing about Korea is you ALWAYS eat family-style, so you get to try as many dishes as there are people!

Next they showed me some thrift stores (I got a beautiful, high-fashiony new-looking skirt I can wear to work for $2! Tanya told me all the Korean ladies say they love my style, which I take as a really high compliment since they always look meticulous) and Tanya helped me with Korean-confusion things like cleaning supplies and trash bags and fabric softener. Which is actually REALLY confusing without help!

Tanya has been so great and sooooo generous (she gave me couscous, some melon tea syrup, trash bags, and a learn Korean book!) I gave her one of my VA is fo LOVERS shirts and her hubby one of the giant Presidential pencils. Maybe I'll have them over for a couscous-based dish sometime! He's a ridiculously funny guy and a musician and vegetarian too, so I felt really comfortable talking with them both (him because of commonalities, her because she's AWESOME) right away.

Next, I had to go meet Mike and then Katy and Drew to go see FC SEOUL! The soccer game was soooo fun and had the vibe of a really great show where the audience is soooo amped they can't even sit down the whole game, but I got so sleepy! It was only 9 or 10 at night, but I guess my body still thinks it's 8 or 9 in the morning. The stadium was HUGE and everyone sings the WHOLE time. I actually learned some of the Korean cheers by the end! Too bad it was a major bummer TIE and people kept faking injuries left and right. We all went to eat Korean food after and it was soooo tasty! We split a cab back and Mike walked me home from the drop-off point, and we hung out in my apartment a bit, oohlala! He was there for like half an hour, but my neighbors probably think I'm a whore, ha. But it was just nice! Like just a continuance of earlier pleasant getting-to-know-you banter that I love. Maybe something cute and awkward brewing there? We'll see, eh? It's just annoying since I don't have a phone, and I have to make all the calls, blegh. "Well, you've got my number, so gimme a call if you ever want to do something....yeah, next weekend, that would work!" I asked Katy to take me Hongdae next weekend, the funky area close to the arts college, so that's something else to look forward to! Things are shapin up for me!

Now just if the teaching were so easy, haha. My first day was kind of boring - I taught four classes with Vicki the head teacher in the room, but nothing crazy/great/boring happened and I haven't really found my style yet... Here's to hoping I become an inspiring, effective teacher! I asked people for teaching tips a lot over the weekend, and those were veryyyyy helpful.