Blinded By the Light

I have found out that Koreans love bright lights.  Colorful lights.  Neon lights.  They are everywhere.  When Justin and I entered our school building yesterday, it was like entering the world of Willy Wonka.  (see pictures below)

Justin goes to the library.

Where color meets your eyes

Step into the candy room, filled with your wildest dreams.

Two of our new coworkers, Anna and Samuel

Justin gives the international sign for "I'm cool."

I have no idea what Samuel is doing in this picture. But, it made Justin and I laugh.

Where I teach: LANGCON

Justin and I met some of the people we will be working with, most of them were attractive Korean women in their 20’s.  Hoo ha!

Green? Purple? Blue? Where are you?

A failed attempt at buying groceries the other day (remember the peas and clear fruit I spoke of) also led to the purchase of Justin and my breakfast this morning.  Fruit loops!!!  However, being 28 and 25 years of age respectively makes Fruit Loops seem quite childish, but we had no choice as it was the only cereal we could find.  Our purchase led to one of today’s minor mysteries, as I am sure there will be more mysteries ahead as Justin and I go to work to teach for the first time.   In the Fruit Loops, there were no green, blue, or purple loops.  It threw me for a loop!  Oh snap, get it?  Proof is in the photos (check out what the “green” loop looks like, second from the left in the loop lineup):

Toucan Sam is apparently universal

Can you tell me which one in this lineup killed the blueberry loop sir/miss?

Octopus… The Other, Other, Other White Meat

I was walking outside of my building with Justin the other day and came across what is dinner to many here in South Korea.  I am speaking of Octopus.  There was a tank full of them in the back alley next to my place just chillin’ like villians, unsuspecting of their impending dooms.  I will have to try this delicacy sometime soon, as it interests me and probably is delicious.

I will eat you my pretty!

A Room With a View

Justin totally got the shaft, but I ain’t complaining.  I got a room with a bitchin’ view and Justin gets to look at a drab wall all day.  I also have more closet space.  To demonstrate this, see the pictures below.

The Great Wall, a.k.a. Justin's view

A more defined picture of Justin's view

Justin’s view totally sucks.  I feel bad for him.  I pity the fool!

My view on the other hand is awesome!…

The 9th floor, Room 901, My View

I’ve Got the Power!

So, to keep ourselves awake in our sleepy stupors, Justin and I decided we should go out an about and eat some local food.  We stopped in ______ (that indicates we can’t read Korean, which leads to the inability to know what the restaurants are called) and ate some delicious ________.   It was super spicy, but good (see pictures below).

I only pretend to know what I am doing.

Spice for someone so nice.

We also figured out that we have cable tv, but the only American channel was showing The Tyra Banks show a.k.a. the “My Boobies Are Real” show.

Anyways, back to the food story.  The guy that served us said that he didn’t speak English at first, then ended up in broken English, telling us that he was a student studying English.  He gave us free dumplings.  Delicious.  We both ate til we couldn’t eat anymore and the total came out to be 10,000 won, which equals $7.13 U.S. dollar.  While we ate, the American song “I’ve Got the Power!” began playing.  It was super funny.

Num Num in my Tum Tum

After eating spicy food, I thought that chocolate sounded good.  So, in an adventurous fashion, I picked out a Korean brand of chocolate.  It was better than Hershey’s chocolate.  Korea, you complete me.

Bourne Sleepentity

Jet lagged and exhausted, Justin and I felt like going to bed at 2pm yesterday. However, we forced ourselves to stay up until 9pm with great struggle. After walking around and checking out the subway system and discovering there are three churches within a two block radius of our building, we decided to watch the Bourne Ultimatum.

Action is no longer enough.

No amount of action could keep us awake and after an hour or so of the movie was complete, we shut it off and went to bed. As I write this, it is 6:57am here, but I am used to it being 4pm in America. I’ve been up since 4am. I think I will try to sleep again now.

Fruit?

Delighted to sicken you.

Having a balanced diet is super important. It is why I have a potato sack for a belly. I have discovered that fruit cocktail in Korean translates roughly to “clear rubber”. For dinner last night, I choked down what was said to be pears, pineapple, cherries, and peaches. Lies. It was something much different (see picture).

This is suppose to be fruit. You be the judge of that.

Sweet Pea

Justin and I, in our infinite wisdom, thought it would be great to buy groceries and save some money on food.

Um, gross.

We discovered that the peas in Korea are apparently radioactive, as they stain your plate green. They are also dry, with the consistency of chalk and taste like Gerber.

Lost+

(picture) = gobbledigook to unsuspecting foreigners, such as myself, unable to read the words.

I dare you to read me.

Where am I? Answer: Who knows.

We’ll Have What They Are Having (We Think)

Hungry and not knowing where anything is located, Justin and I decided to trek around the area and find food. At first, we were unsuccessful. Apparently, most restaurants (at least in our area) do not open until 11am or later. We started to look for food at 10:30. After about forty minutes of walking (which I enjoy in Korea because the sidewalks are made of rubber, therefore making the walk much more comfortable) we decided to stop into a little restaurant. Instantly, we were spoken to in Korean by the store owner, a grandmother whose forty-something year old daughter was behind the counter. Justin spoke infinite truth by saying, “Only English” and I thought we were doomed to never eat again. However, the mother behind the counter (a great sounding movie title, “The Mother Behind the Counter”) called her daughter who has studied in Australia. She helped us place the order over the phone then showed up at the restaurant to help us further. It was extremely nice and polite.

Never using chopsticks before, I looked like a baboon trying to eat my noodles. The grandmother soon came over with a fork for me to use. Man, I loved this place! The food was spectacular. I had noodles in soup. It was somewhat spicy, but not too spicy. There was some yellow vegetable that tasted great, but I couldn’t figure out what it was. There was spiced cabbage too. Oh, and I must not forget the sushi, which topped anything I have ever eaten in the States.

Colorful, like me, but unable to use chopsticks, also like me.

The grand daughter was very attractive and Justin and I were saddened to discover she is planning to leave next week to study in Australia again. It was the perfect in, an attractive Korean for Justin and I to talk to when we went to eat at a local restaurant.