daily routine

my daily routine consists of going to the hakwon to teach in the mornings, then coming back to the goshiwon by around 10 am or 12 pm depending on the day (i dropped some of my worst classes, so my schedule’s gotten a lot lighter – had to have another teacher take over and handle the mess). and by around the early afternoon, i have to leave the dorm because it’s frighteningly TINY. probably 8 X 6. it’s only about big enough for a twin bed, a small desk and a minute bathroom (a sink and toilet). i don’t even want to attempt to take a picture of it to show you guys how small it is – it’s really a scary existence. this is a dorm that’s generally for postgrad students studying for bar exams and government exams.. but also, i found out that a lot of other random people, like bar girls, live in goshiwons too (not mine in particular, but in many others) because it’s cheaper than a studio apartment which runs around $1000 at the minimum in this part of seoul.

this is the street right by my hakwon and goshiwon:

i then generally roam around my neighborhood or some other part of seoul by myself, unless it’s a thurs/friday, in which case i might meet up with a teacher-friend. generally, there’s plenty for me to see and do (well, ‘do’ is a relatively ambiguous word; it can consist of shopping if i’m feeling ambitious, eating, or sightseeing). today, i got lost for about an hour, as i wanted to avoid asking for directions both from koreans and americans alike.

on my walk, i discovered a TASTI DLITE! in KOREA? OMFGWTF?!

when i get home, i’ll sometimes watch tv. mostly american shows that i never dared watch in the states (like american idol, america’s next top model, hell’s kitchen), the olympics, or a korean variety talk show called ‘beautie’s chatter’ which features young, 20-something foreign women from around the world who speak korean semi-fluently and talk about the differences between their native and korean culture (stereotypes, lifestyle, etc). this show’s pretty funny actually and interesting. the girls’ korean languages skills are better than mine but i can still generally understand what’s going on.

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the weekends vary dramatically.. only thing consistent is that i hardly ever come back before 4 am. 4:30 or 5 am is standard. as i said in a previous post, people are out at all hours of the night, and because the subway starts running again at 5, they’d rather just socialize and stay out then go home early. also, lights are always on everywhere, and therefore harder to keep track of time.

this past weekend, i went out after hwaeshik (the company dinner) with a coworker named Michelle who surprisingly invited me out that night to a club – i say “surprisingly” because i really don’t know her all that well and as i’d mentioned before, i didn’t think i had any allies at my hakwon (the tutoring center). it involved about five tequila shots at a club called Mass with some other gyopos (korean americans).

it was unexpectedly fun. people don’t dance as energetically (for the lack of a better word) as in the states, but it was dancing nonetheless.

friday was a holiday, although i’m not sure which holiday exactly (heh). that night, i went to a casino for a friend of a friend’s birthday shindig. the casino is only open to foreigners as gambling’s illegal in korea. so with my passport in tow (wouldn’t wanna be mistaken for a local), we went but left pretty soon after to noraebang (karaoke) near my neighborhood. dude, i’ve never been a huge fan of karaokeing back in the states, but once i’m back, i may just come back a karaoke queen.

then saturday, i went to suwon, about 40 minutes south of seoul, to chill with a couple of friends and went out to an expat bar around there. of course, outside the bar, some military dudes were causing a ruckus and gearing to start a fight. they disappeared soon after, thankfully. typical stupid american behavior.

as i said, i’m finally getting used to life here. as far as language issues, i find that i can usually ask for things like food or the subway station or the bathroom, but i have trouble understanding them back. sometimes, i just don’t say anything when i go into a store as the store reps welcome customers, since i just don’t feel so confident about my korean, and then they think i’m weird or deaf or something. i’m getting a little better though. i was really frustrated with my language skills before and was trying to avoid talking as much as possible, but now, i just try to speak in my broken korean whenever i can. i’ve realized, they actually become friendlier and curious to know where i’m from… and luckily, i’m starting to like it here.

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oh, i forgot to share this story. happened a couple of weeks ago..

one day, the a/c was off in my classroom and i couldn’t find the remote (a/cs have remotes here). but a few moments later, it magically, automatically turned on. i looked around trying to see if a student had found the remote, but it wasn’t anywhere to be seen. i asked the class. still no remote. it turns out… dun dun dun, CELL PHONES have remotes! yes! remotes to electronic devices! like remotes to tvs, A/Cs, anything that can be programmed somehow.. hard to imagine, yeah i know! WTF. needless to say, i was awe-struck and couldn’t believe my eyes. jaw dropped for about an entire minute, and i just kept staring at the kids. how can cell phones have remotes that can control a/cs found anywhere nearby??! this place is insanely intense, technologically.

also, in subways and elsewhere, people carry these weird MP3/PDA thingies or nintendo gameboy-lookalikes that aren’t actually gameboys or PDAs, but used as mp3s, dvd players and live tv players on the subway. tvs. on a cellphoney-mp3 thing. on the subway. that wouldn’t happen for like, 20 years in new york. instead of reading on the subway, people watch live tv on their little MP3 ipod-y thing.

this is it for today, i can’t write any longer. i don’t know what it is, but i have these urges to write but then i write in this terrible fashion i’m not happy with and i get really annoyed with myself. yet i’m too tired to think or do anything about it. so with that, i’m going to read eat pray love. or watch tv.