Shanaenae is big in Korea

So I went to Yongsan this weekend with Gina, Chris, Abi, and Casey. Yongsan is the big electronics market in Seoul. This means there are hundreds of booths, side by side, selling the exact same electronics as the ones next to them. With all this competition, they MUST be willing to haggle. Down the road from the main electronics mall is a strip of booths selling black market dvd's. For about 35 dollars American, I bought the first four seasons of Lost (a $200 value?), Zach & Miri Make a Porno and My Sassy Girl (I dunno, some movie Casey wanted). This is not the point of the story. The point is, this booth had everyyyyything. New movies, classic cinema, and every season of every TV series imaginable. This includes:

-Martin
-Perfect Strangers
-The Greatest American Hero
-Dr. Who (new and old)
-A Different World (Remember Whitley? That terrible Southern accent?!?)
-The Wayans Brothers Show
-Roc
-Every incarnation of CSI, NCIS and Law&Order
-all 658 seasons of the Simpsons/South Park
-Get Smart
-Growing Pains

I assume I'll have a suitcase full of pirated DVD-R's upon my return to America.

Lock up all the whities

Apparently an outbreak of Swine Flu has hit the foreigner population of South Korea, specifically in Seocho (where Casey lives, and where we celebrated Iwona's birthday this weekend). So far, 50 or so English teachers have been quarantined for the next 10 days in some hospital in Seocho-dong. No contact with the outside world, and apparently life there resembles a modern-day Lord of The Flies. Schools are starting to shut down, and as they figure out who the quarantined teachers have had contact with, those people will be quarantined too. I've met up with soooo many white people this weekend, and in that specific "hot zone", I'm bound to be locked up. Don't worry, no flu symptoms.... yet.

PS: Cue my mom's unnecessary freak-out.

Here's a blog on tumblr written by one of the quarantined teachers, and updated every few hours. It's great... you can really follow their descent into cabin fever:

UNDER QUARANTINE

I know what lies in the shadow of the statue

Just a quick post... last night we all went out to Hongdae for Iwona's birthday. I was wearing my black Richard Alpert shirt. Cory, it's the one we both own with the little strappies on the shoulders and sleeves. We went to Jane's Groove for dancing, and as I was going downstairs from outside, a group of brosephs were coming up the stairs. One of 'em under his breath says "Holy shit, it's Richard Alpert!". I immediately turn around and tap him on the shoulder and say "Did you just call me Richard Alpert?", and he says, "Yeah but it's a good thing, Richard's awesome." And I say "OBVIOUSLYYYYY".

I eat so much fruit now!

Consider the honeymoon period over. At long last I've hit my stride, all my ducks are in their rows, all my kittens with their mittens. Apparently getting a microwave and health insurance were the last two pieces to the puzzle, because now that they're in my possesh, I'm content.

I actually have groceries in my apartment, I'm cooking meals for one (mixed blessing?), and the dishes are done, man.

I just bought a tennis racquet, and I have a daily game @5:30pm with co-worker Stephen. I'm signing up for hot yoga this week.

My walls are no longer barren; I constructed a mural in the shape of Texas with photos from home. It's mostly former Austinites, but a few new and old friends snuck in as well....



I'm not satisfied with how the Big Bend area turned out, and El Paso juts out a little too far, but I'll shape it over the next few weeks with more pictures.

Friends, I'm finally at home.

Happy Teachers' Day

Traditionally a holiday where parents bribe their children's teachers to either pay them special attention, or be lenient on their grades if worse comes to worst. This would never work in America; children and their parents don't care a tenth as much about education as these Koreans.

Basically, everyone writes their teacher a card saying "Thank you so much for your teaching, I love you! -Sally" ...or some cutesy derivative of that. Then they give you a present. It could range from candy to a $200 bottle of cologne. My presents this year include:

- cake from a famous hotel bakery
- a platter of traditional rice cake (떡)
- $50 worth of ClarinsParis face wash, aftershave, and "anti-fatigue" cream
- $40 bottle of Biotherm face wash
- 3 jars of hand-picked green tea
- 3 Pierre Cardin handkerchiefs
- 3 sets of dress socks from Elle Homme
- 4 (kind of awesome) Korean t-shirts
- a box of (what I'm told is) super-expensive chocolate
- a pen that looks like a rose
- a myriad of roses and carnations
- a gift set from the Body Shop, including "cooling foot spray" (awesome y/n?)
- delicious delicious butter cake
- a Jeju Island orange (better than it sounds, yummiest orange in the world)
- a huge stack of devastatingly adorable letters which I will keep forever in a small-yet-treasured wooden box until the day I die, and upon the carrying out of my last requests listed in my will, my family and friends will give me a viking's funeral and use the aforementioned letters to ignite my ceremonial pyre, in which my mortal coil shall burn with the love and awesomeness of Korean five-year olds. The pillars of fire will be seen for miles.

And in other news, today from my school I finally received:
- a microwave
- health insurance


AND HOLY SHIT DID YOU SEE LOST?

1's and 2's

Been a week without a post, I sincerely apologize.

This past weekend I finally got to dj over at Club FF. I stilllll don't have an audio controller (if you love me buy me this!), so I wasn't actually able to mix and cue songs properly. That being said, saying I use the term "DJ" in the 1950's sense of the word: the guy at the sock-hop who puts on all the records. No wicky-wicky from me, unfortunately.

Anywho, I was on the ground floor of FF, which is something kind of new. They've opened it up a bit and now there's tables and a little dancefloor. From outside the club, you normally can't hear any music from the main dance area downstairs, or see any people on the first level. So face value for the inexperienced, this club might suck. Long story short, I got a few people dancing, but my primary job was to play music for people to hear from the street outside, and draw them in. And judging by the crowd, I'd say I did that. It was packeddddd and I dj'ed til 6am, ate a kebap, and got home around 7am. Management said they liked what I did and want to keep me coming on the regular. So if it turns out teaching sucks, maybe I can get a Korean visa in another profession?

Korean Shit #2: 화장실 (the bathroom)

Time for my second installment of "Korean Shit" ...this time it's literal.

Hi Seoul

A holiday is gonna break this workweek up nicely. Children's Day is on May 5th, which means no school/work for Mikey. Coincidentally, that's also Cinco De Mayo, so I think Margaritas and Fajitas are quite necessary.

Around this time of year, there's always the big Hi Seoul Festival, which is basically just a big week of cultural events around the city hall area. We went today, and along the way, I found some stuff I think someone back home would enjoy: