Straight from the book of a tired man

When I typed "s" into the title section of the blog the phrase " straight from the book of a tired man" popped up so I decided to go with it. Ok so tomorrow is my final day of training. I am also meeting with the guy whose apartment I am moving into tonight around 8 pm. He is moving out on Saturday and I will be following him shortly afterwards on Sunday.I opened my bank account today! yay! The funny thing is; is that I would have done it a week ago but I " heard" through the grapevine that I needed my alien registration card in order to do so.Well I cant get my alien registration card until I get my medical exam back ( which I wont get until tomorrow a.k.a. 2 weeks after I have been here) and I cant get paid with out a bank account. Oh I also forgot to mention that the ARC takes 10 days to come back AFTER you apply for it. It seemed hopeless until I just walked into the Hana Bank today and opened an account with just my passport and my visa. The entire process took about... 3 5 minutes.

That is the thing that I have been finding out about Seoul, Korea. No one really knows anything, everything and everyone is in a hurry. You can buy virtually anything that you want in the street, and everyone is dressed to the nines. So basically I am living in an Asian version of NYC.

I went to a traditional Korean bath house two days ago. It was an amazing experience-- totally out of my comfort zone, but that is what living abroad is all about, right?

So I go into the locker room where I am instructed by the woman working there ( via hand motions) to undress myself, completley. So I do and then she takes me by hand into the " bath house" area. Inside there are 3 tables to your right where women are receiving Korean massages that are done with exfoliating mits, sea salt and water by a half naked korean woman who scrubs every inch of your body until al that remains is your former self. I didnt take part in this but maybe next time. So then I take a shower in the shower room which you must do before you can be allowed to get into the baths. The first bath is about 24 degrees Celcius and bubbling. It is similar to a large hot tub. The next one is a still water bath ( smaller than the first) that is about 45 degrees celcius. This one takes about 15 minutes to get all of the way into because the water is SO hot. Then you take a cool dip in the 22 degree celcius bath before heading into the first of 3 saunas; the stone sauna @ 48 degrees celcius. The second is wooden " box" sauna that is around ( get this) 74 degrees celcius. Do you have any idea how hot that is? I only lasted about 2 minutes in there. The third is a sauna " hut" made out of stone and clay. You have to duck down to to get into the door, and inside you sit on the floor with legs crossed and wait for the sand dial to drain, and then you get out. One more dip in the cool bath and you are on your way. Typically Koreans bring their own products and follow this with a VERY LONG shower and they exfoliate their entire bodies fro about an hour or they pay the naked ladies to do it for them..I just went back to my hotel room and ate some ramen noodles.

Sorry no pics yet! right now I am using a 35 mm camera that my grandfather gave me. I have one roll left ( out of a 3 roll pack) and once I finished these 3 I am going to get them all developed and then I will have a TON of photos. Lets just hope that by then I will have a computer to upload them to.
I still cant believe that I have only been here for 1.5 weeks. it seems like I have been here much longer. I know that once I actaully begin teaching and living in my own apartment everything will settle in.

Cheers!

a little game I like to call just the tip.........

I made it! I am here in south korea. I am in the gungnam district of center Seoul. Sounds like a mouthfull,right? Well in a city where 10 million people live, work, and play you have to be specific about what area you are in. So thanks to CDI I had this week off to roam about the city and get used to the time difference. ALthough I have to be honest, I havent been doing much roaming. It is monsoon season here in Seoul and thats makes things very rainy and wet. On top of that the people that I am rooming with ARE all in training this week, so I have been completley on my own. Since not as many people speak english here as I had " heard" the thought of roaming too far away from the hotel, by myself, with out a way to ask for directions to get back- is just a little intimidating. The severe jet lag that I have been suffering has also contributed to my agoraphobia. It took me until Thursday to feel even %75. I was extremely fatigued , nauseous , and ironically was suffering from insomnia. I kept telling myself to get some valerian root before I left, but of course I forgot.

The food is amazing!So far it is has been the best part of my experience here.The people are friendly but pushy...everyone seems to be in a hurry to get somewhere..and the side streets at night are like something out of a movie! Street vendors, street food, the sound of mopeds scooting passed you and weaving in between the crowds of people, the neon signs. I have to admit though that the desire for a deli style turkey hoagie with cheese lettuce tomato onion and mayo has hit me once or twice..but I know that what I am about to experience will far surpass that desire.

I am just happy to finally be here..it seemed like it was never going to happen. I missed kloee first bithday!! I miss my friends and family back home and hope that we will all REALLY stay in touch and not just talk about it..but I know that I will be meeting some incredible ,lifelong, friends here as well.