Some Good-byes Are Just Not Fair

Sept 6-12, 2010

Well once again it was a pretty rainy week all around. Waking up Monday, I just hung out inside to stay out of the rain before work, putting together my lunch that I made Sunday night and listening to music. At work, I had lots to do since I now have a full schedule of my own. I taught a few classes and spent the rest of my time looking over other material and making vacation plans for Chuseok. After work I met up with Lauren at my place and we just chilled out and talked about how much trouble she was having packing, and booking tickets online for her Euro vacation. We tried everything we could to get the bus company to take several Visas, but to no avail. Eventually we called it a night and she will deal wit hit when she gets there.

Waking up to a overcast sky on Tuesday, Lauren and I went to the store by my place so she could pick up some vacuum seal bags to pack her stuff in, and I got some groceries so I could make my lunch. We also checked out a couple of stores to see if she could find a travel scale to weigh her bags but had no luck. Back to my place we went so i could make a lunch and get ready for school. Heading to school just before 2, Lauren walked with me so she could go to the bank and tie up all her loose ends before she left. After work I hadn't planned on going out, but was invited to dinner with Lauren and her friend Michael in Gangnam and decided it was better than grilled cheese. We went out for Dak-galbi, and then a drink at Woodstock before hitting the last subway to get home by 130. On our walk to the subway we did happen upon a drunk Korean college student who was also trying to make it to the last subway. He was weaving his way down the street in a large staggering weave, and every so often he would stop and do a little boogie to his mp3 player, which made our night. Luckily he did make the subway. I know this because he got on a car ahead of us and promptly passed out on the bench seats.

I digress. Once in for the night, Lauren double checked to make sure she had all her things for her departure in the morning, and then it was bed time. The problem was, that I had taken a ton of Allegra-D and was unable to sleep. I was feeling stuffed up during the day and had gone to the pharmacy to get some medication. The pharmacist thought I was stuffed up from allergies and gave me the wrong stuff. Since the first two pills weren't working, I decided to take two more, putting me in the unable to sleep predicament. Fuse that with being nervous about missing the airport bus in the morning and I barely slept for more than an hour all night. Before i knew it the alarm was going off at 8am and it was time to get a move on. We walked down to the bus stop at 9 and waited for the bus to come. Saying our good-byes, Lauren got on the bus around 940 and headed off to the airport. I went home and watched some more Aqua Teen Hunger Force while trying to figure out how to purchase and watch the online NFL package for the 2010-2011 season, which Matei and I are splitting. It turned out that it is only compatible with 32-bit internet systems, and I was trying to run it on my 64-bit Firefox and Internet Explorer programs. Eventually I figured it out and learned that I have to run it on my 32-bit Explorer, and everything was on the up and up from their. I traded texts with Lauren while she was riding the bus, and then she had to end her service at the airport. After that I was able to catch a little nap before heading to work on my bike for the first time since I crashed it a few weeks ago. After work I went out with Mike, Jean, and Chrissy for some dinner, then came home and went right to sleep.

Thursday I woke up feeling better and decided that it was due time for me to book my Chuseok vacation before tickets were gone and all my planning was for nothing. For a few months I have been thinking about taking off to Beijing since it is close and relatively cheap. On top of that, Blake was going to go with me until his school changed his vacation dates. Either way I had been looking and following tickets online, waiting to make up my mind. I finally settled on a ticket, and wrote it all down so when I got to work I could book it. I got ready for work and left home a bit early so that I would have some time at work before I got too busy to book my flight. Flight taken care of I settled in for my day at work and watched the rain outside hoping it would stop so that Blake and I could follow through with our dinner plans in Sillim. Unfortunately it didn't and we canceled on account of not wanting to get soaked, and after work I went straight home, watched a movie and went to bed.

Friday I got up early and headed to the Chinese consulate to get a travel visa before my trip. Little did I know that the consulate/embassy no longer give out visas for travelers. You actually have to apply for a visa through a travel agency. So there I was outside the consulate and being told I would have to find a travel agent, and thinking to myself "How am I going to do this?" But, as it turned out, there were several travel agents who just hang around waiting for people like me, so I went with one of them, filled in the paperwork, and everything seemed good to go. Other than that it was just another day at the office, still rainy so it was a straight to work kind of day. After work I wanted to keep it local, so Jean, Chrissy, and I went out for some fried chicken and a couple beers, after which I grabbed a couple more cans and came home to watch the NFL season opener replay. It was a good quiet way to spend a Friday, and it was nice to watch some football for once. I went to bed feeling alright, but woke up Saturday feeling under the weather, and spent most of the day lazing around my apartment. Eventually I talked with Blake and we met up for diner near his place so he could tell me about his epic running somersault in the rain from the night before that left his arm sore and slightly immobilized. After dinner we went back to hang out at his place for a couple of hours before heading to meet the group in Cheonho at 10pm for a late diner and some drinks. We met with Matei, James, Alex and Louise, Brady and SoHyun, and Frank and had some delicious BBQ, then continued onto Rodeo St. for some drinks. Blake and I called it a night and taxied home around 3am, while the others stayed out later.

Sunday was another day of cleaning, laundry and cooking so that I wouldn't have to do it during the coming week while I would be trying to plan out my Beijing trip. I started with washing the floor, then did up my dishes, got groceries, and then dirties the dishes I just did. In between all those things I took some time to read through a book on Beijing Emily left for me, and get a game plan for my vacation there.

That's it another week down. Speak to you all next week.