long time no blog...

okay so, i know it has been a few days since the last time i have uploaded a blog. i will try to re-cap every moment vividly since the last time i have blog. okay here goes...

tuesday..
i cant seem to remember what happended on tuesday...so it must not have been anything to blog about.

wednesday...
okay, it seems like something happended on this day. i am trying to remember but i just cant seem to remember what happended on this day. oh i do vaguely remember. i actually packed my clothes this day. ohhhhh thats right! i believe this is the day a popular korean radio talk show was here and we attended the live taping. their were a lot of good artist there who performed and a hilarious comedian. i also, realized that ihad somehow smeared chewing gum onto a nice pair of white shorts. ugh...i was disgusted with myself about this.

thurday...
1st stop sooda cooking college
oooo this was such an exciting day for us. so, i got up, showered, flat ironed my hair, painted my face and put on my shoes and clothes and walked out of the door. so, what and why was it so exciting? today's schedule was 1st stop on the way to the Soodo Cooking College. Now this was actually really fun. now i am not that much into cooking. infact i don't think i have even owned a pot set. the typical appliances in my kitchen are my microwave and george foreman grill. and thats about all that i have (aside from plates, utensils, glasses and etc). So, the menu was a Korean Style Beef dish, Korean Sushi, Kimchi and Watermelon for dessert. we sat in the class as the instructor showed us how to prepare the meal. when she was done we began our meal. of course i damn near blew up the kitchen. i don't know what happended. it looked so easy watching her mix the ingredients and cook it on the stove. just my luck when my partner turned on the stove and when i attempted to place the ingredients in the skillet lord and behold the skillet caught a fire! and the entire eye was up in flames! i am not certain what went wrong but the skillet was on fire. needless to say the instructor immediately came over to me and i am not entirely sure what she said to me (as she was speaking in korean) but i was 100% certain that she did would prefer that i continue making something that required no cooking. so i proceeded to chop the ingredients and made sushi. you would think making sushi would be a lot more complicated than cooking beef. actually, not at all. i have made many wraps in my day (remember i do not have pots and pans) but i can make a fancy sandwich and or salad like nobody's business! the meal came out great and i really enjoyed it.

2nd lotte world...
now, this also was a lot of fun. apparently lotte is a huge franchise here in s korea. they brand lotte is huge. they are the manufacture of clothes, chocolate and other merchandise. (i guess it would be equivalent to disney brand but on a broader scale). an indoor/outdoor amusement shop/hotel/mall. (i guess you can say it is similiar to the mall of america in minnesota meets disney world) but much more advanced. (i wasn't that impressed with the mall of america). the rides were great. a lot of restaurants. speaking of food at lotte world. you cant go to a fair or an amusement park without having a corndog. right? well, of course i got a corn dog. now i was a little skeptical about this. i was expecting a tofu dog or a kimchi flavored hot dog. but i was pleasantly surprised it was a regular corndog. but with a twist. now you know i am in s korea, so everthing is done with a twist. inside of the corn dog batter were peices of peanuts. yes, peanuts. and it was actually really good! now on to the other meal at lotte world. so, of course whenenver josie, emma and i are together we enjoy trying food. so we decide to eat something american (since this has become a rare treat for us) we go to this fast food place at the lotte world food court. and the place is called L's (if i remember correctly) and it was a lot like mcdonalds. so much in fact the uniforms were the same and the menu was very similiar. but you know with a twist. so what was it that i ordered? a bacon cheeseburger of course! that is as american as it gets. you cant get any more american that that. right? wrong. so wrong. this was just not a the regular plain cheeseburger that i had in mind. the bacon cheeseburger was this: a burger, olives, banana peppers, a flat peice of thick cheese that was more like a cheesy hashbrown, a special sauce, ketchup, tomatoes and lettuce. now sounds good right? not so much. it was just too weird for me. the texture and the taste was just all wrong. it was too made up. too fancy for me. the fries were really good. oh and so was my coca cola. now once we finished our meal i was in need of a papertowel or a napkin or something. (papertowels and or napkins are not common in s korea, instead you may find a roll of toilet paper on your table or you may use a wipe). josie points to a child going to this electric machine on the counter of the checkout counter. and the child pressed a button and out came a wet wipe. cool huh? i thought so....

friday...
okay, on this day i got up washed my clothes, took a shower, flat ironed my hair, painted my face and put on my clothes, put my clothes in the dryer and headed to the global atm. (in s korea you must go to a global atm in order to take any money from your account. seems easy enough right? um nope not so much. it seems that finding a global or international atm is almost next to impossible in s korea. you would think by this being such a tourist attraction country and with it being so technologically advanced that this would be of no issue. well, it is. s korea is a cash country. and everything is paid in cash. unless you have a korean bank account. well, why not just get a korean bank account and have money transferred into that account? well, funny you should think this. actually, i do have a korean bank account. that was set up during my orientation. however, since i am a foreigner and the bank account i have is very basic. it appears that i will need to set another type of bank account for int'l transfers. so why don't i just do that? well, it's no that easy. i have to wait until i receive my alien registration card. so you are probably wondering well, why didn't you just take all the money you had with your or why not just use your debit card since it has a VISA logo. not that easy. a lot of places will not use an international card and it doesn't matter what type of card it is. as for taking money with me. i didn't want to be carrying money with me and i stupidly assumed that if i had my visa logo card i would be able to grab money from an atm here. bad mistake and assuming on my part. so what do i do for money? thank GOD i have really good friends here. and also thank GOD my job has paid for everything and i really don't have to pay for anything. (except for extra stuff- and i love extra stuff) and thank GOD i have really only be dead broke for about 3 days now! my concern now is trying to get money out of my banking account. dear LORD please place a global atm before me!

got that off my chest...
so, now that i have sent out a special request to the LORD above to grace my prescense with an international atm. i can leave that burden on his shoulders and finish with my blog. so, back to friday.

still friday,
so after i got dressed and got ready i decided to head over to the next building i inquire about the global atm and its whereabouts in my area. i was adviced to go to the building next door and use the international atm. that atm takes visa. so i hurry off to this building and lord and behold the atm is only in korean and there is no button to press for english. so i figure well let me just figure this out... so i then notice big red symbols flashing across the screen. of course just my luck the atm is out of order. ugh! i was too done with this how in the world can the most technologically savvy place in the world only have one global atm within my proximity? ugh...
i then walk my sad sorry disgusted self back to my room. get my clothes out of the dryer and get ready to head over to the farewell orientation.

so long good bye...
the farewell orientation was really good. somewhat sad. everyone got together and we went over things to expect during our tenure and things that we have experience since we began this journey together. we would be seperating and going to our seperate locations and this would be the end for some and a long time for others to see each other. i think i may have also been teary eyed but i was wearing my makeup and i have keep every drop of makeup, lord only knows with my luck if i actually find a mac counter here we then had a great lunch. said our goodbyes, some were off to catch a flight others to take a long drive.

the long drive...
so i departed suwon and arrived safely to my province. pleasantly surprised. i love my bathroom and i love the room i am in. can i control the air in this building. of course NOT. but other than that things are good. i mean it's not like my place at home. but i do like. it is cute and quaint. and the atmosphere was good, real good.

on to super saturday...
so, now let me tell you about this day! of course, i got up, showered, flat ironed my hair (actually i did not flat iron my hair today, as i was considering wearing a hat), painted my face and put on my shoes and clothes. i had breakfast. and then we were off.

1st stop boseung tea plantation...
now this was a beautiful destination. there were rows and rows and rows of green tea. it was breathtaking. until...the purpose of visiting this plantation is to hike up the every so TALL mountain so that you can really see the green tea field and the ocean from above. now, i thought this was wonderful. just not wonderful for me. the most exercise i have gotten in the past 5 yrs has been me taking my dog rita out to pee. other than that i don't do much exercising. so this was going to be super tough for me. did i do it? you betcha. did i say i was going to turn back and go back to the bus? you betcha'. when someone said "but shayla the view will be worth it you will see all of the green tea and the beautiful view of the ocean!" what was my response? like i care about an ocean i am from florida i can drive past an ocean and i buy a tea bag and just cut it open. so, as i sweated and felt the sensation of a charlie horse in the back of my both legs i finally made it up that mountain after only attempting to quit 11 times and taking 5 breaks. was it a hard as i thought? yes, harder! was the view spectacular? actually yes it was! did i feel like i had accomplished anything? hell no! the only feeling i had was how soon can i get my chubby ass down from this high ass hot mountain and grab one of those famous green tea ice cream cones!

lunch break...
had a great typical korean style lunch. and i loved the food

2nd stop naganeupseung village...
now this was super interesting. apparently this was not only an observation camp site but also a residential area. their were natives there who have lived there for years. they were living in real villages! yes a real village! what kind of village? the kind where the wash their clothes by hand and grow their own vegetables. the kind where the still sleep on mats. to paint a picture they havent really upgraded thier living accomodations since the early 1900's or before. this was amazing to really see people walking around like this. there were no blackberries or iphones. no one had a laptop. no fancy cars. none of the luxuries we everyday people have. did i feel as if i wanted to experience this life. um no! you know if i cant plug in my flat iron or wifi that is problem for me! but i will say i am interested in the bed and breakfast they have on the premises. you can experience living next door to the natives for the week or even wkend. i think before i leave this gorgeous country i will experience leaving the flat iron and the laptop and all of my luxuries at home. who knows i may even enjoy it! now before i forget i must mention this.

finally get my 5 minutes of fame...
so, while walking around this amazing village i notice a crew of photographers about (30 or so) and they were taking photos of the oldest natives in the camp as they proceed with their everyday activities. i lock eyes with one of the photographers and i see him turn to the rest of his crew and they all stop and stare at me. i thought this was odd. but i thought nothing of it. i mean i have been in s korea for now going on 3 wks and not too many people have really made a big deal about me being here. until....i was just about to get ready to leave the village. and i met up with the rest of my group (of course that consisted of 3 other foreigners who are white) and s korea really puts whites on a pedestal they are usually in awe of white americans. because they associate white with america and dark with africa. yes very true. so the photographers don't see me and i see the same camera crew (about 30 or so) whipping out thier huge len's and taking numerious photos of my friends. picture after picture after picture!!! they were in awe. until they saw me. lord have mercy! they rushed over and was saying look here, look here, no look here, oh my god she's beautiful. so of course. i did what any american celebrity would do. i fluffed my hair pulled out my mirrow made sure everything was in place and smiled like it was my job. i figured if i was going to be on the cover of "weird and foreign things" i would be fierce!

3rd stop suncheon...
so i got a close look at the city i will be living here. i went to the suncheon musuem. very cute and interesting. i am excited to finally move to my city and get situated.

dinner time...
so, after all of this excitement we were all pretty hungry. so why not barbecue. everyone loves barbecue right? of course. so we arrived a cute restaurant with the entrance that had a row of cubby holes. for shoes of course. so i took off my shoes and socks and walked to the seating area. yes seating area. and i sat on the floor on a mat and there were several dishes placed before me. there was a grill on the table. korean barbecue is a lot different than american style barbecue. when we barbecue in america it is done outdoor and the food is usually chicken, ribs, steaks, hotdogs and etc. not in korea. now like i told you before. everything here is done with a twist. korean barbecue is done on the table that you are sitting at. at you fry your foods and there are many sauces you dip them into. all i can say it is tooooooo good! something that anyone must try! infact, when i come home i would love to find a korean barbecue restaurant. this is my new favorite thing.

so today was filled with many things and it was a wonderful day and i enjoyed it emmensely...

until next time...
smooches

just another manic monday...

so then...

alarm went off, snoozed through it. alarm went off again and i snoozed through, finally the alarm went off again and i got up. took a shower, painted my face, flat ironed my hair and checked my facebook, skyped for a few and checked my gmail. eventually i put on my clothes and my shoes and headed out the door.


and away we go...

today, i was so super tired. the classes were the same as they usually are. but for some reason today i was extra tired. really tired. i have been going to classes for the past 3 weeks and it is from 9 to 5 each day and it has become exhausting. it's not that the classes are boring. in fact they are quite entertaining and i really enjoy the people in my class. i think i am just ready to finally go to my providence (the area i will be living in), move into my apartment, get situated in that city and finally unpack and have an actually mailing address. it seems like i have been on a 3 wk vacation and i am ready for structure. weird i know. well as of friday i will get that structure.



a bottomless pit...

so today i ate and ate and ate. now that my cankles are slowing disappearing and my stomach is a little stronger today i have done nothing but eat off and on all day. i think it was a result of having standard classes today. there were no magicians, there were not dance classes, not ceramics, no taekwondo or nothing interesting just class and i was kinda bored with it. so what did i do with the boredom i was feeling? i ate. horrible i know. before i left florida i gained a good 15 lbs as a result of just eating because i was going out of the country and i was somewhat nervous about it. now that i am here i feel like i am eating because i am in the city and when i move i wont be in the type of city i am in now. so, i am eating and making up for what i wont have access to. bad i know. i will have to put myself on a serious diet plan and the year i am here. i plan to be back to my sexy self when i return to america...



that place i like so much...

so, of course emma and i decide again to go to that cute little cafe/wifi/smoothie place after class. i get a kiwi smoothie and emma orders a strawberry smoothie. of course the usual girls that are usually working the ordering counter weren't there. instead we were greeted by a guy who spoke absolutely NO english. there was a bit of a language barrier when ordering emma's smoothie. she asked for a sandwich. he told her they were out of sandwiches (now mind you, there specialty is sandwiches). so then she orders a strawberry smoothie. he then tells her he is out of strawberries for the smoothies. (im thinking it was easier for him to tell her he didn't have it versus trying to speak to her in english). i then suggest to emma to order just a regular strawberry juice. so then the guy says yes we have those strawberries. emma and i were kinda confused. so as we wait on our drinks we get on the computers check our mail (as if we don't already check it enough) and i notice the cutest sink ever. yes to me the sink was cute. i then had emma to take a photo of me nex to this super cool sink in the middle of the cafe. lame i know. we drank our smoothies, went to our last class and headed back to our rooms...



banging on the door...

so, after class i head back to my room. i am so super tired all i really want is a nap. i get in my room head to the bathroom and lord and behold guess who is at the door. emma and josie. now we had plans to go and catch a movie today, but we were all too tired. so then we decided to order in food. of course we chatted and it took us about a good 2 hours to decide that we were going to walk to the pizza parlor and have pizza. now you are probably say what kind of pizza do they have in s korea? actually they have pretty good pizza in s korea. we went to a place called onkels (pronounced like uncle's). when we got there and got seated we decided on a half peperoni and a half supreme pizza and chicken peices on the side. everything was sooooo good. now, once we got seated one of the restaurant employees came to use and gave plates and cups for our softdrinks. she said something in korean. when she walked away i asked josie what was it that she said. come to find out she told us that the coca-cola was complimentary and the only stipulation was that even though you can get as many refills as you like you are not allowed to leave any left over in your cup upon departure. and if there is anything left in your cup you must pay for your drink, but if you drink it all it is free. so when josie translated that to us. we thought "oh really, huh that's an interesting policy. s korea has very interesting views on what they consider polite and thier views on etiquette. so, with that being said. our pizza was served and we enjoyed our pizza. before i could finishing drinking all of my soda and eating all of my food. apparently emma thought i was a slow eater and decided to clear off the dinner table. of course and naturally once i finished my meal i reached for my drink and lord and behold emma had put away my cup and straw and all of the plates (which btw this is not the first time she as mistakenly trashed something i was eating and or drinking). so then i tell emma "boy it sure would be nice to have a cool drink to wash down that pizza with, perhaps the same coca-cola i had before." so then, emma realizes that she staked all of the cups and plates and that now we couldn't figure out who had which cup. so, she gets up fill my cup with soda. emma, returns with a glass filled with coca cola. by this time josie is sweating bullets and having a panic attack because she obviously ate something wrong and had an emergency bathroom situation. so josie hauls ass to find the bathroom as i sit down drinking my drink. josie runs back in the pizza shop stating we had to go right away she couldn't find the bathroom and she had to go now or else! so everyone is hollering at me to finish the big ass cup of coca cola that emma filled. you would think chugging a large cup of soda would be easy right? um no! not at all. the acid hurts very much and it is very hard to drink a large consumption of soda in a matter of seconds. so naturally i ask everyone to please help me finish this glass of soda. josie is busting at the seams, sweating and pacing back and forth and emma is complaining that she's just too full to eat or drink another bite. needless to say to avoid paying the penalty i chug the soda. now, remember when you were little and your mom would make you wait a whole 30 mins after you ate for your food to digest before you got back in the pool? I SEE WHY. my stomach was so full. i literally could fill the liquids squishing around in my belly! that was the most painful walk home ever!

upon my arrival...
finally got home and boy was i relived. i got home and of course, got on my fbook and checked my emails. afterwards, i went to emma's room. josie and i did the usual. picked on emma. which by the way was wearing the most ridiculous pair of pajamas ever. it was actually a cute shirt she purchased when she and i were in seoul over the wkend. now with this shirt it was so cute while she was sitting down. in fact i commented on the cute shirt and so did josie. so, we began a conversation about the different ways she could wear the shirt and what it would look cute with and etc. so josie says. "oh i think you should just put a belt around it and wear it as a dress." so then i say, "really, stand up emma let me see." emma then says "well, its kinda' short." when emma stood up josie and i hollered and began laughing hysterically. she shirt was so oddly made. omg. it was super short in the front (like just below her crotch) and in the back it was kinda long. i don't know why it was so hilarious. i still think it was a cute shirt, but just weird. really weird. you would have to see it to believe it...lol

nothing left to say...
so, after we laughed talked and watched a few youtube videos we called it a night and parted ways and we were off to bed...

that was that...i uploaded a few pics of that cute little wifi cafe smoothie place i like to go. uploaded a photo of josie and one of emma.

other than that there is nothing left to say.

until next time...
smooches

sunday's

only the beginning...
so, yesterday i slept the day away. of course, i woke up around 8 pm last night and got dressed and went to emma's room. i was so super hungry so around 12:30 am (early sunday morning) we decided to go out into the city of Suwon and find something to eat.

cute japanese restaurant...
we decided to grab a bite to eat at this cute japanese restaurant. there were actually a lot of places open for business in the early hours of this sunday morning. we ordered a chicken meal in english. thank God the hostess/waiter spoke good english. emma decided to order a smoothie with her meal. she was under the impression that the smoothie would be equivalent to a smoothie that would receive from smoothie king. not so much? you ask well, what kind of smoothie was it? well, it was an alcoholic beverage! more alcohol than smoothie. it was actually really good. and of course we sat, ate and drank the entire pitcher of smoothie juice.

next stop...bed...
so we paid the tab headed out the door and headed back to our rooms. on the way back to our rooms we came across a cute little shop that had really nice tiles. tiles. yes, the kind you put on the floor inside of a home or building or etc. of course, emma thought they were so nice, she thought perhaps she can grab one and stick a huge block inside of her purse. i have come to the conclusion that anytime emma eats or drinks, she gets the urge to "steal." yes, i guess drinking brings out her "inner thief." i actually thought this was hilarious and egged her on. she stood at the cute little shop for a few minutes, and i guess she came to the realization that the tile was too large to fit inside her bag so she declined (but i must say before i forget many hours later today she mentioned she should have taken the tile to frame for her new apt- too funny even sober she still has "thieving issues."). as we walked further, we came across a seafood market. and in S Korea it is common to pick your seafood from the tank (live) and purchase it and have the market to cook it for you on the spot. so as we were heading home. we saw the live squid, fish, and crabs out side of the market in their tank. emma, then got the bright idea, to "free" the fish because the deserved a right to live. i reminded emma that if she did in fact break the lock to free the fish they would die. we are not close to a beach and we don't and wont have a bucket and or water to put them in. she was satisfied with the advice i gave her and we decide to continue or hike back home. of course since we had a few drinks my sense of direction was so off, if emma hadn't been there i would have been walking in the wrong direction and perhaps wouldn't be here to write this blog now. but then too. if emma wasn't their i wouldn't have drank a pitcher filled with alcohol.

and it begins again...
so, emma and i finally arrive home around 4:45 am. and we had a really good time. good food, good chats and a good walk. we woke up this afternoon and decided to take the bus into Seoul, S Korea.

here we come..
we arrive in Seoul starving. well, aleast i was. so we decided even though the korean food is dirt cheap we don't want that. we would rather have american food. like a mc donalds, burger king or something along those lines. we will be moving into our locations next week and we may not have this luxury for a year so we might as well really eat a good meal today. we come across a TGIF. omg. it was like coming upon a gold mine. we were so excited. we walked to the hostess seating section and were immediately placed at our table. bypassing all of the natives waiting to be seated. ha ha we were seated first because we were foreigners and they thought we were so cool. so we were seated by Tigger (our waiter). yes, Tigger like the pooh bears best friend. that was his name. he was the sweetest server ever. he waited on us hand and foot. and even gave us his facebook name when we got ready to leave and was so excited when he found out that we would indeed actually add him.

street walkers...
so, we ate a huge meal at TGIF. which consisted of a hamburger with bacon meal w/fries for me and for emma a chicken sandwich w/fries and a smoothie (yes, this time it was non-alcohol). of course emma considered stealing the silverware. why emma? how many forks do you need? and why can't you just use the chop sticks. actually emma had a really good reason this time. she needed a knife to go with the fork she stole from the dessert place she and i and josie went to. just as she asked me to watch the door as she grabs her bag. Tigger sneaks up on her and starts asking us a million questions. ha ha ha emma wasn't able to steal the knife. i'm sure she is okay with it. the portion sizes in S Korea are really small and i don't think she will be needing too many knives while here.

cute as a button...
so we said our goodbyes to Tigger and was out the door on a quest for shorts and tank tops. we went to several different stores and we fell in love with everything we saw. everything was too cute and too cool. what did i get? the only thing i really had to have was a cute sailor fedora that i saw. it is denim and stripped w/ an anchor on the sides with buttons. too cute! it was love at first sight. emma on the other hand got everything she saw. so, after we shopped and looked around. it was dessert time.

sweet tooth...
so of course, we found this cute little restaurant that we should have gone to instead of the TGIF. a romantic restaurant. dimly lit with candles and nice decor. what did i get? i got some kind of fancy green tea sorbet w/chocolate and nuts. what did emma get? some kind of mousse. it was so good. the service again was awesome. we were treated like royalty. and of course the cost was so super cheap (unlike the TGIF where the prices were doubled on everything).

back around that mountain...
so, we decided to call it a night, we had spent most of the day in Seoul. how far is Seoul from Suwon? only about 45mins on a bus ride. so, we finally figured out which lane our bus would be in and we boarded on the bus back to our rooms. and once we get on we find that there are no more seats available. of course we had to hold onto the rails for dear life. Lord have mercy the bus driver drove without any concern for the passengers aboard. on that bus ride. we met another foreigner. he shared some advice with us and was even going to the same location as us. come to find out he lives right across the street from where we live. we chatted the entire bus ride and of course shared facebook info.

back at one...
so, we made it back and we were as tired as can be! it was a long day and a fun day. nothing much else to tell. oh well, i did stop by emmas on the way to my room went to use her bathroom to find she was totally out of toilet tissue how embarrassing is that? she had to go over to josie's room (thank God she was home) to get tissue for me. we came back to my room to check to see if we could find the TGIF guy on fbook and to see if the bus ride guy had added us. other than that. that was it. i've got to get some sleep. this will probably be a really busy week for us.

until next time...
smooches!

sleepy saturday's....

omg ...
on Saturday mornings i look forward to sleeping in so i was asleep. in a deep sleep and next thing you know there's a knock on the door. and before i could open my eyes, in comes 4 housekeepers. i couldn't really see their faces, i was drunk with sleep. next thing you know, one of the many housekeepers comes to my bed and starts taking the sheets off of the bed. now you may ask. now how did you have time to actually get out of bed? funny you ask that, i didn't have time to get out of the bed. the house keeper starts taking the sheets off of the bed with me laying in them. yes she did! i was eventually put out of my bed. well, i think she asked me to get out of the bed. there was a language barrier and there was absolutely no conversation between us. as soon as my feet hits the floor, the 2nd housekeeper, starts moping the floor, the 3rd housekeeper was cleaning the bathroom and the 4th housekeeper was cleaning the entrance floor. i was literally backed into a corner. and like a thief in the knight they were gone in a matter of minutes!

ahhh....
back in bed i went. laid down and attempted to go back to bed. no such luck. so, i got up and grabbed my e lynn harris book and continued to read.

you know how i do or how i don't do....
of course, i got on my facebook and checked my emails.. but today i wasn't in the mood to paint my face and or flat iron my hair. no fuss today. just me. all of me without any extra fluff. grabbed a pair of shorts, a tank top, a cardigan and flip flops and that was that. i haven't been homesick since i have arrived to s Korea. i really don't like not having all of my stuff here. but it to be honest it feels good not feel the need to put on my fancy high heels or carry one of my many handbags. or put on one of my fancy dresses. here in s Korea. i have been almost the total opposite of my self. i wear flip flops and sneakers. i even went a whole week without washing my hair! i don't have my body sprays and smell good lotions. i don't have products that makes me feel good. i don't have my pimped out ride. i don't have my satellite. there is no rita pita here. no angel to drive me completely insane or to make me laugh. and no mom or aunt or bernard that i can just pick up the phone to call (without watching the clock and calculating the time difference)now, would i use all of my stuff and be excited to slip my feet into my heels? you betcha'. and am i having a good time and enjoying my stay anyway? you betcha'.

up and about vs up and around...
decided to grab lunch at that same cute little wifi place. even told emma i would meet here there. as soon as i get ready to get dressed and walk out of the door. emma comes over and tells me that my cute lil restaurant is closed today. i am devastated. what in the world was i going to do. this cute little cafe was the closest thing to the American food that i was just in the mood for. all i wanted was a simple meal. without kimchi. without the spices. all i want is regular spaghetti or even spaghetti-o's. all i want is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. or i could go for a rueben sandwich. or plain potato chips. or even chips and salsa. or a chicken cesar salad. or some plain' ole fried chicken. or a regular vegetable. just broccoli. plain broccoli. without the extra fluff. so, what did i end up having? actually josie made a gigantic cup of soup. yup Korean soup. of course from the GS25 and she suggested i try it before i actually bought my own. surprisingly it was pretty darn good. but it wasn't quite what i had in mind. blah blah blah.

the late great...
so, after i met up with josie and emma and chitchatted with them for a few. i headed to the gs25 got my soup and a snack. headed back to my room. heated up this soup. ate the soup and crawled into bed with "basketball jones." what in the world is "basketball jones?" of course, it is the last e lynn harris book and that i have been wanting to spend time reading. but haven't gotten the chance. how's the book? well, i have a biased opinion on the late great e lynn harris. he is my favorite author and i love every single book he has ever written. so of course. i will love this too.

next thing i know...
i wake up next to "basketball jones" and it is after 8pm. what! yes, i slept the entire day away. i wake up and its almost the next day??? wow. i must have really needed that nap. of course, when i get up what do i do. check my facebook and check my emails.

that will be it...
i am off to where else? gs25 of course for a snack and then to emma's to chit chat.

until next time...
smooches

frantic friday...

once again...

alarm went off. snoozed it. went back to sleep. alarm went off and finally got up. showered, painted my face, flat ironed my hair, checked my emails, facebooked and was out the door.



classes again...

today during one of our classes we had a really interesting introduction to magic. yea magic. we learned a lot of cute tricks. was i really good at it and was i actually able to mimic the magician who showed them to us? nope not at all. did i voluntarily go up in front of the class to "show off" the newly learned skills? you bet. and did i get a standing ovation for my skills and talent. hell to the no! i sucked. i sucked really bad! i couldn't figure out which end to turn. which rope to tug and it was just a mess a hot mess.



coming around that mountain...

so, yes after lunch. (which by the way, i went back to the really cute cafe that i enjoyed yesterday) we had to hike up the mountain, down the mountain, up a steep concrete flight of stairs and back down another set of stairs, back down a flight of steps and then down the hill! today it was so hot, i almost considered "faking a faint" so that i wouldn't have to continue with that seriously long walk. but, i made it! and it was actually kinda easy this time. okay, well maybe not "easy" well, i will just say it was "easier" this time around.



worth the effort...

so, once we crossed that mountain and got to our location. our class would be a Korean pop dance class. what exactly is a Korean pop dance class? actually i really don't know. it is a routine dance. not necessarily hip hop (but a move or two that may be considered hip hop), i guess if i had to put it into a category it would be: strip tease/hip hop/techno/do-wop/aerobics. i hope that paints a vivid picture for you. now you would think with me being a b.a.p (black American princess) that i would've rocked the house. and got down! um, nope not so much. basically i suck at everything. and again, today i was not the belle of the ball! i mean, i have rhythm but the music they played was really cute but the instructors were a little too fast for the beat and i just couldn't follow them foot for foot. i think i held my own but i didn't move it and groove like i know i could've. so, instead of dancing to their moves. i did my own dance moves so i wouldn't look like a complete idiot. but, it actually was a lot of fun! and some of the moves we learned i will keep them in my memory bank and maybe even use them again. not all of the moves but definitely a few.

another mode of transportation....
so, of course after our workout of a dance class. no one was in the mood to hike back over that mountain, and instead i caught the bus back to my room. it was hot and i was tired and i still had one more class before the day ended.

and we're done...
so, my final class was really good and really informative. and it didn't hurt that the instructor was cute. now, this weekend is the last week myself and the rest of the esl teachers will be together. next week we move to our providence in s Korea and we wont see each other again. unless we visit each other or keep in touch. so a lot of people wanted to get together and go to Seoul or hang out or so on and so forth. as for me. i had a date with my cankles. and we were going to prop our feet up finally and not do ANYTHING. i will be here for a year (maybe longer) so, i wasn't really in the mood to party like a rock star. instead i wanted to just relax and call it a night.

doing just that...
yes, tonight i will be in my room finally catching up on my good book. and that's about it. nothing too exciting happened today. no photos were taken and nothing unusual happened. well nothing that i can think of.

speaking of...
so, remember yesterday i mentioned i was sick as a dog and i went to the nurse and she suggested i take a Chinese herbal medication for my upset stomach. it must have worked today. i had no problems with my stomach. well i wont say "none" but not nearly as bad as yesterday. overall today was a really good day. i have no complaints. i will be taking it easy this weekend. i wont be trying anything unusual, well, tonight i will not try anything weird and unusual. i can't speak for tomorrow just yet.

it's a wrap...
and that's it...

until next time...
smooches!

and then there's thursdays...

got up...
as usual got up, snoozed my alarm. laid back down. got up snoozed my alarm. finally got up showered, painted my face, flat ironed my hair, got on my facebook, checked my emails and put on my clothes.

not so good...
so, when i got up my stomach was so super queasy. i am not sure if it was my dinner last night. something i drank or what. but my stomach was a mess when i got up.

gs25...
of course, i had to put something in my stomach (since i always have long days) i stop by the gs25 and i pick up an aloe water and cheese cheese (basically a piece of sweet bread). i head to class. and shortly after i took the last bite. my stomach begins tossing and turning. finally i get up and head straight to the nurses office and tell her my symptoms and she then asks a few questions. of course there was a bit of a language barrier but overall we were able to finally come to the conclusion that i would need something more than just an otc (over the counter medication). she suggested i go to the hospital. she also stated that my symptoms were common with travelers and that they will eventually go away. so, i took the medication. she ended up giving me a chinese herbal medication. that smelled and tasted horribly! it was black round balls that you take by mouth several times a day. and it smells so bad!!!!

good afternoon...
so, after i came from the nurses office, i then decided to head back to my room to lie down for a few. and decided to read a little bit of my e lynn harris book (the one that i purchased on the plane that i haven't gotten a chance to read). i ended up taking a nap and woke up to head to my next class.

next class...
i went to my next class and could barely keep my eyes open. finally the day eventually ended. i decided to go to a cute little waffle cafe/computer room to have dinner. and i was actually surprised that my dinner was so good. now you know i had to ask josie to go and order my food for me. my plan was to enjoy my meal in this cute little cafe style computer room and instead of being on my laptop like i usually am, i decided to read my book some more. of course just as i get good and comfortable. guess who comes over bamming on the cafe window as if it were a door. emma!!! so, i rapidly move my arms motioning for the "nut case" to actually come inside of the cafe instead of beating the glass window as if it were a friggin' door. so when she comes in of course i have my legs propped up on the chair. and i am really into my e lynn harris book. and emma decides to join me. and we laughed and talked as usual.

hitting the streets...
am i going to go and get drunk and act a fool in south korea tonight? um i totally would, if i weren't walking around on cankles and squeezing my butt cheeks together in hopes of avoiding an accident. so, instead i am going to finally really crack open my book and begin reading it again!!!! for sure this time.

other than that...
today, nothing much happened. nothing exciting to tell. no pictures were taken. i didn't try anything new. nothing fun and exciting. well, not unless you include the black mystery balls the nurse gave me.

until next time...

smooches

terrific tuesday & wacky wednesday...

missed...

so, i did not blog yesterday, i was much too busy and or way too tired. nothing really happened yesterday. oh, actually i had a medical checkup yesterday. i totally forgot about that until just now and i wasn't even going to blog about it, but, here goes...



take or leave it...

so i got up early yesterday morning because i had this medical checkup. when you work overseas everything has to be on point. and they check for everything. and i do mean everything. so when i arrived yesterday the test that were taken were: height, weight, vision, x=ray, urine test blood test where they actually check for drugs and or diseases. now all of my test went fine until we get to the blood test...now i have given blood and taken many tests in my life. and i always know the drill. there is always an issue with drawing blood from my right arm. they can never seen to find my veins. and i usually have to suggest them getting blood from my left arm. and i tried to communicate this to them. but with the english barrier it was a little hard. as i pointed to my opposite arm and frantically shook my head. the nurse continued to tie that tube thing around my arm (so tight, i was near tears) and i sat back and hoped for the best. after she then demonstrated how i should pump my fist to get the vein up. i continued to do as i was told. after about 5 mins of that the nurse untied the rope from my arm and proceeded to draw blood from the same arm i told her to get it from (or atleast tried to tell her).



finally we have a winner...

so, the nurse was finally able to slowly draw about 2 ounces of blood from my arm. and then she proceeds to until my arm and put a soaking wet alcohol pad on the blood filled spot and she grabs another needle. this time she sticks the needle in my hand to draw blood ( i guess she did not get the amount she was looking for the first time around). i thought this was so super awkward. but since she was the woman with the needle in hand. i did not exchange words. but in my head i was really telling her off. and i even rolled my eyes when i left the room. i'm not sure if she saw me or not but if she had she would have been like "whoa."



down comes the rain...

so, it had been raining the entire day. really bad. once the medical check up was complete i then have to get my fancy shoes on and get dressed to meet with the head of the poe of the providence that i will be working in and learn more about my living quarters and where i will be working and living for the next year. oh wow, so what did they tell me. the only thing i know is that i will have an apartment. some people will have a house, some a homestay and some a studio. all i know is that i will have an apartment and i can commute to work either by bus and or taxi. and thats all i really know. so when do i move in? i do NOT know. i think the end of august. but on which day. um i am not so sure. the program that i am in thankfully handles everything and i really don't have that stress to worry about. i get my apt keys and move in and thats all i know! stress free (i assume and pray)



it all falls down...

so, after meeting and greeting and all that other crap. myself, josie and emma decide to change clothes and take a walk to home plus. what in the world is homeplus? homeplus is a huge dpt store where you can find anything. now remember when i mentioned earlier that it had been raining all day. was it raining when josie and emma got this bright idea to go to homeplus? it sure was. so, as we grabbed our umbrellas. oh wait let me back up. as i grab my umbrella and as josie grabs her umbrella and as emma stands under whomever's umbrella has enough room we then head off. now you would think once josies hat flew off because of the rain and with emma's entire leftside of her body being soaking wet. why only her left side, well, because she was sharing a half of an umbrella. so then as we were about to walk up the hill we decided to just stay where we were and no take that chance walking to the homeplus.



uh oh...

next thing you know i am butt first on the pavement! it was so rainy and so slippery i feel so hard right smack on my bottom! how humiliating. how embarrasing. i guess i would have thought that if i were able to hear my own thoughts. well, why wouldn't i be able to hear my own thoughts. well, because josie and emma were laughing so hard i couldn't hear myself think!

so then...
we, decided not to go to the "homeplus" and we turned around and decided to go and get something to eat and we sat around and talked and called it a night...

the next day...
so, i got up super early, showered, painted my face, flat ironed my hair and put on my clothes and was out the door.

again...
it was raining all morning, all afternoon and all day! today, was a busy day. a lot of traveling and a lot of rain. nothing much to tell.

until next time...

smooches...