Hey! Those were my fries.

Nov 15-21, 2010

Another week of fair weather totally spoiled us as news from back home says it is getting colder by the week. This week started out with a sleep in before work and then a scramble to make my lunch and make it to work on time. Luckily this week is all review so my normal schedule of doing nothing before classes started was put off a bit by having to prepare review sheets. I live a troubled life as you can see. After work it was off to the gym, where I was greeted again by the enthusiastic trainers and a very full gym. I had a momentary freak out when I went into the weight section and saw the weights strewn about, and took it upon myself to curse out all those in ear shot and throw the weights into order so that everyone wasn't falling over them while trying to navigate the workout floor. Immediately following my outburst half the people in the area left, leaving me plenty of space to work out. As I began my workout I was introduced by the trainer to another Korean who has recently returned from studying in Canada named Jack, and so, spent my time bouncing between working out and talking with the two of them. It's nice to be treated so well at the gym, but there are times when it can be distracting from the task at hand. After my workout I headed home and threw on a football game while I got some cooking out of the way, and then whipped up my weekly email to Lauren. The game went a lot longer than I had anticipated, and I didn't end up going to bed until after 3am.

Waking up mid morning on Tuesday, I sat around watching internet videos before getting ready for work, and another day of review before the ids final tests. Once work was out it was straight home to catch another football game and try to get to sleep before 2am. Wednesday and Thursday were about the same only with a trip to the gym squeaked in before work on both days, and then while at work there was less review and more break time, because the kids were writing their tests.

Friday came and the end of the week was well appreciated around the school. The Korean teachers were stressing about the tests being over and the impending report cards and phone calls about the test results. As well, but to a much lesser extent, Mike and I were trying to finish up the rest of the report card sheets that we were given so that the Korean teachers could get everything input. After work I made for Sincheon to meet Alex and Louise, and Blake and Silvia (a friend of his from Busan who came up to visit before he leaves at the end of the month) at Gold Bar. I had told Blake I would come and help him keep Silvia entertained since her English is rather terrible and he would need a break from using his Korean from time to time. It was a success and she had a great time with us, and was happy we all made an attempt to include her. Since she had to leave early the next day for Busan they left around 130, while the rest of us stuck around until some time after 430 before we left to get some McDonald's and take cabs home. As luck would have it, I ended up with a hungry taxi driver who ended up eating more of my McDonald's than I did. When I got in the cab I offered him some of my french fires, of which he took the whole container. Thinking nothing of it and that he would give them back after having a few I went ahead and started devouring my McNuggets. Then after a few minutes I realized he hadn't given them back, and when I looked into the front seat her was chowing down like it was his first meal in weeks. Now usually I would say something, but the fries seemed to have him in a good mood, and to be honest I probably didn't need them anyways. That and he seemed to be trying to get me home extra quick, a little too quick in fact because his speedy driving started making my nauseous. Once I reached my destination I realized I hadn't touched my burger, and quickly forfeited it to the driver because I knew it would be a bad choice to eat it, and he looked like he needed something to wash down my fries. Home and in bed by 6, I quickly passed.

Saturday was a day of rest. Among several invites to go out to places like Kondae, Gangnam, and Hongdae my better judgment kicked in, and I decided to take a day off and stay in watching movies. It was a bit of a waste of a nice day, but I really didn't care. I woke up feeling alright and got some cleaning and groceries out of the way throughout the day, between football games and movies. I also had a chance to chat with Gavin for a bit on Skype, which I hadn't done for some time. Near the end of the night I grabbed a pizza for dinner, thus ending a good lazy day.

Sunday was a good day. Having rested all saturday, I got up early and headed for Brett's place on the other side of town to watch the UFC fights. I had gotten the invitation late saturday night and figured why not. I was a bit late getting to his place and missed the first fight, but it had me out of the house before I had a chance to slip into sloth mode.After the fights it was mid afternoon so i headed out to try and find some Christmas cards. I started out in Dongdaemun, but having no luck after a couple hours of walking around went over Insadong to see what they might have. In the end it was a bust, but there are a few more places yet to check. I found some last year, so I still have high hopes. After my shopping failure I went to meet Blake and a friend of his named Young for dinner at On The Border in the COEX mall at 630. After dinner we had a quick coffee before going our separate ways home. I grabbed the last few things I had forgotten at the grocery store after I got to my station, then went home to get some cooking and Sunday phone calls out of the way.

Until next week.