Yesterday was Jane’s birthday and it was a lot of fun. Hell, I even sang in a 노래방 for the first time! Math Teacher was supposed to be there too, but in the end, she was replaced by the new Math teacher. He seems like he’s going to be a a fun guy to work with. Just to clarify, the candles were bent by hand, and are not special candles.
At Work, Before the Festivities
The Plan – Yoghurt and Milk
I’ve explained on numerous occasions that I don’t drink well and have been trying to find a situation where I wake up the next morning, not feeling like I’ve been kicked in the stomach. For some reason, I’d never listened to my mother on this and although she says she’s told me about this before, I don’t remember it. Basically, she told me that I should be lining my stomach with milk and yoghurt. It made perfect sense, so I did. I bought a big pint of milk and a four pack of strawberry yoghurts to take to work and consume throughout the day.
It was fine until Sara pinched one of my yoghurts and then The Boss complained that I didn’t give him one. I tried to tie up that lose end by telling him that the one I wanted to give him was the one that Sara took. Sufficed to say, that one didn’t fly. I’ll buy two four-packs before I go to work so that there’s one for everyone.
Owen Decided Not to Come
Until Sara called him up and demanded his presence that is. He’s been off doing his mandatory military training and the train he was planning to take home had been postponed. There was a lot of confusion surrounding whether he’d be coming or not, but in the end, he called me and we sorted it out. Even though he’s quiet, I like to see him there.
Owen not being there does pose some other problems though; like ordering the dinner. In the end, we didn’t have anything ordered, so I ran out to get some toast for everyone. Not quite the dinner we’re used to, but we were going out later anyway, so it wasn’t a problem.
At the Bar, Enjoying the Festivities
Waiting for the Rest of the Teachers at the Bar
Sara, Jane, the new Math Teacher and I finished at 10PM and headed over to 와글와글 to sit down and set up the party. The Boss, Owen and Cindy came an hour later with cake in hand. It was a little awkward at first because the new Math teacher [who's name I will remember later] had only just arrived earlier that day and none of us had spoken to him. He seemed a little shy as would be expected and after a while, we had a chat and he seemed quite comfortable. He does speak a little English which makes me much happier and I suspect I’ll get much closer to him over time than I did with the previous Math teacher. Still going to miss her when she leaves though.
Some More Pictures of the Evening
The quality isn’t that great because the lighting was really strange and everyone kept moving, but you can see all of the teachers having a good time.
Jane’s Birthday ‘One-Shot’
Obviously, as it was Jane’s birthday, she had to drink the most and everyone else
In regards to drinking over the course of the evening, it wasn’t too bad. I drank really slowly and as little as I could get away with. Also, I didn’t really eat any of the savories, just some simple fried chicken that was ordered. That being said, I didn’t get away with it all night and was forced to down some strange concoctions after losing at ‘Rock-Paper-Scissors‘.
At the 노래방, Singing Terribly
Singing Some Songs at the 노래방
I should start by saying that I’ve never participated in karaoke before and initially, I had no intention of doing so yesterday. However, both Sara and the new teacher were quite willing, so the rest of us had to join in too. I tell you, I totally believe what people say about it being addictive, because after I finished, I wanted to sing again.
In terms of performance, I was quite terrible. A lot of the problem is that unless I have the song playing in my ear, I get the timing all wrong and can’t commit, so it just sounds like I’m talking along to the song. Not to mention that they made me sing a load of old Korean songs that I had never heard in my life. In the end, I sang three or four songs and although it was bad, everyone seemed to think it was great. How kind they are. Oh, and I nailed the end of ‘날봐, 귀순‘ by 대성!
Sarah and Owen Singing ‘Barbie Girl’
I felt obliged to record some of this performance because of the song choice and the fact that they sang it quite well. Mostly because it was funny though.
And the Morning After?
I can safely say that ‘The Plan‘ worked and I feel fine this morning. Taking the two painkillers before I went to bed last night helped a lot and I only felt a little thirsty when I woke up. I did allow myself to sleep in, because it was after 3AM before I fell asleep last night and I have the early class today. Having said that, I don’t have to teach the High School students because Owen needs to explain some stuff to them. I’m still looking forward to some rest time before I meet Crystal on Sunday.
