The pictures are great today so I’ll try to keep the writing down :) Met 진선 in Smoothie King and then we took the train to City Hall and walked to 광화문. We were both a bit hungry so we went to 봉추찜닭, a little restaurant and had 찜닭. It was really delicious despite my spoon and chopsticks attempting to foil my efforts at every turn.

The real reason we chose 광화문 was because we could sit by 청계천 and dip our feet in the water. Well as you can see from the pictures above and in the gallery, we did just that. It was gorgeous because there was a nice breeze and the water was a pleasant temperature. We spent a long time just sitting and catching up before we decided we needed some coffee. Onwards to A Twosome Place!

We both had coffee and yoghurt which we finished quite quickly. As we still felt lazy, 진선 whipped out her Nintendo DS and we played Mario Kart DS and listened to music for ages. We did really well actually and I was quite proud because it was my first time playing it :D

I was accused of choosing only the most embarrassing pictures of 진선 for my blog so I thought I would post some more of me, and more specifically, my ‘Smexy Alex Shoot’. It’s definitely one for the ladies ;) Oh, and 서영, if you want to get out of the relationship now after realising how unattractive your boyfriend is, it’s cool. I totally understand :P *crawls under the desk*

This deserves a bigger picture because, well it’s Epik High. And let it be known, that if I can nab another of these, Sandy, I’ll put it in the post for you ;)

Yesterday was Max and Sunny’s last day at the academy and so afterwards, Max, 태진 and I went out for some drinks and nibbles. It was a nice little place that I’d walked past a few times and we sat in there and talked about everything for about three and a half hours. It was really good fun and it’s just a shame that Max is leaving to go to the army, but we agreed that after he comes back from China we’ll meet up again and have another drink.

Today I had no plans so last night when 태진 told me that he was having to work today I thought I’d take some ice creams to the teachers. Well, later on in the evening, after the shift finished, 태진 phoned me and told me he had bought me toast :D He came over to the apartment and look what he gave me :D I know I’ve said it before, but I really like the people I’ve met here.

Oh, and expect a lot of pictures tomorrow :D

Decided to take some pictures from the roof which I discovered only last week. I never did manage to take any pictures of the surrounding area when I arrived so here they are. They obviously look a lot nicer because of the excellent weather we’re having right now ^^

I thought the roof would be a bit of a mess but it’s really clean and I might take a book up there one weekend and try to get some colour in my pasty white legs ^^” You can also see my door on the left. That’s me, number 402. I keep meaning to take down those fliers that people stick up there but I always forget. I should give it another good clean actually.

Also, on my way home from Home Plus I passed this van that was unloading. I don’t care what this food is, I want it and I want it now. I love walking around in this country and seeing random fandom-age :D

Listen to this song and you will become that bit closer to Korea. If you don’t like this song, then don’t bother :P It was played a lot before and during the Olympics but it still gets played a lot now. At first it was just a regular version of it but now and again you get to hear this version from Tablo and Mithra which is much better. It’s become almost an anthem in Korea ^^”

. AT SCHOOL
School was busy but awesome yesterday :D All the students knew it was my birthday and they all said, “Happy Birthday, Alex!” when they came in. Some of them even gave me presents which you can see in the picture below ^^

And yes, that is Stand Up o_O My students are freaking awesome :D Credit for that purchase goes to Jennifer and I have to say I was totally amazed. You will also note the little chocolate cake given to me by Alice :D I haven’t eaten it yet but I’ll probably tuck into it tonight, after the concert. She was so sweet about giving it to me yesterday, it made me ‘blee’ a little XD The little flower was from Christine and William. There was a can of coffee too but I drank that at work ^^” You can see who gave me the Vitamin-C tablet in the video :P Oh, there was also a big, white chocolate cake from Max which we ate at the first bar and 태진 형 said he’d take me to the cinema next month when he has some money XD

I will definitely be saying some big thank you’s on Monday and better yet, there are still some presents to come :D

. AFTER SCHOOL
School was great, but it really kicked off afterwards. I’m going to blitz through the venues and then pick up on the best bits in the next paragraph.

01 Local restaurant for dinner [joined by Mr. Lee's wife, Sunny/Susan leave]
02 Small bar/club for beer and cake [joined by maths teacher's husband]
03 Smaller bar for soju and drinking games
04 Club for more drinks

Dinner was nice and I ate my fair share of the meat :D It was a shame that Susan and Sunny had to leave but I didn’t really imagine them staying. We moved on to the first club and started the drinking. I also got to eat some of my cake but not much because Mr. Lee told me I had to go and give some slices to the other people in the club XD 태진 형 was with me so it wasn’t so bad but damn, it was embarrassing. Oh, and that was after I had to stand up while they put on some special birthday light show and played this annoying birthday song XD

We took some pictures and a video so you guys could finally see who I work with :) There aren’t many pictures but I think the video is more than enough.

The drinking games involved the usual mixing of drinks and then mixing of anything and everything on the table. This included some of the liquids contained in the snacks we had. I did my share but Mr.Lee kept drinking mine for me so I didn’t get drunk XD When we left the second bar, I could feel myself being a little ’soft around the edges’ but I was still OK. Mr.Lee was definitely drunk, as was 태진 by the end but not to quite the same extent. Max and the rest were just a little sociable.

The best present was definitely getting closer to all the teachers and enjoying their company. I have some new phone numbers to call and it was great to come together as a team after a rough Summer. Mr.Lee said some really nice things to me before and after he was drunk which meant a lot and the other teachers said they had really enjoyed working with me and were only sorry they hadn’t spoken to me more ^^”

Got home at about 3am, grabbed a shower and went to bed ^^

As always, you can see all the media in the gallery :)

After 3 hours I have returned from Park Seung Chol Hair Studio with some new hair. If you click the link you might notice a little video in the top right. I think they’re some new band promoting the salon but I don’t know :P

Anyway, it’s not really that interesting a read so here comes your good friend, the bullet point list:

• Head is pulled and poked and molested by the manager
• Hair is washed
• Hair is cut
• Hair is straightened [it only smells marginally better than the stuff in the UK]
• Hair is washed
• Hair is straightened
• Hair is washed
• Hair is cut
• Hair is straightened
• Hair is washed
• Hair is trimmed
• Hair is waxed
• Hair is finished :D

Sunny helped out loads by speaking to the guy on the phone a few times while he explained what he was doing. She’s really awesome :D Oh, and the above list is not an exaggeration. I really did get my hair washed that much. I think the guy was perplexed at how my hair was still trying to be curly even after he’d put the full strength straightening cream on. Now for some pictures:

     

I’m trying to finish this post while the guy is installing my new bed. I have to keep moving out the way XD *finishes*

Well I got it totally wrong about who’s apartment Sunny and I were going to for lunch this morning. I thought it was going to be at Sunny’s friend, Sophie’s apartment, but on the way we met up with her and carried on. At this point I was lost. I hadn’t the foggiest idea where we were going and Sunny and Sophie were nattering away so I just sat and tried to remember other people I’d met since getting here. It turned out to be one Sophia, a friend of Sophie’s that Sunny had never met before. Apparently, Sophie had been talking to her about Sunny and “the new teacher” and Sophia had asked us both up for lunch.

The apartment complex was new looking and very suave with sensors everywhere, neat little gardens and snazzy security measures to get into your apartment block. It was much the same inside, but with a mahoosive HD TV that I couldn’t have run off with if I had tried. I literally couldn’t have put my hands at either edge o_O The apartment was luxurious, spacious and modern looking which is quite the opposite of what I’ve seen of Korea so far. Sophia herself is a lovely woman and a mean cook. We had tea to begin with and we all had a look round the apartment as no-one had seen it since she moved in. Then she went to prepare the lunch which was typical Korean fair and then onto fruit, biscuits and the best coffee I’ve ever tasted. I need to find out how they do it because it’s the second time I’ve had it since I got here and it’s gorgeous. Sophia gave me some kimchi to take home with me :D

From South Korea

In other news, I am now totally prepared for heading to Seoul Station on Sunday morning to meet up with Freda and Mark. Moony and Sunny discussed possible routes over the phone on Thursday and decided upon the Express Bus #1000 that departs from 5 minutes down the road, near KB Bank. Seoul Station is the final stop so I can’t miss it and Sunny says it’s silly cheap. The journey should take about an hour and will drop me off right where I need to be.

I was expecting my YesAsia package today but no luck. I thought it would be quicker to S.Korea but obviously not. Or maybe they know it’s for a foreigner and are holding it because they hate me :P