Is that a roach in my window sill? Oops!

Nov 22-28, 2010

Well this week started off pretty good, though much colder than it has been recently. Work was a breeze since the kids were done their testing and we were free to just play games and watch movies. On Monday I got up at a reasonable hour and made some lunch for myself, as well as some tuna salad for the week. After all my cooking was done I got ready and headed off to work. Work, as I said, was a breeze and I watched movies or played games with all of my classes. After work it was off to the gym, where I ran into Jack again as well as the trainers, so we all talked for a bit while the trainer tried to get me to talk to some Korean girl who was working out. I had to tell him that I can't just walk up and start talking to a random girl due to the language barrier, and the fact that I'm a foreigner ofter scares people. He offered to do it for me but I was able to talk him out of it. After the gym I headed home and while I was watching my usual Monday night football game I put together the ingredients I had bought for some chicken noodle soup in the slow cooker Amy and Mark had given me. After it was on and cooking I sat down to write my weekly email before calling it a night and hitting the hay.

After getting up sporadically throughout the night to stir my soup, I got up for good around 1030 and got a good start to my day. I didn't have anything to put my soup in so I scooped out some for my lunch using one of my cups, and then bought a container and ladle on my way home from work. While at work, it was some more games of vocabulary bingo, and general hanging out. The news of my soup making spread through the office and everyone wanted me to bring them some to try, so much for having soup to myself for a few days. After work I went straight home to put the leftover soup in my new container before throwing on another football game and calling it a night.
I got up on Wednesday and hit the gym with a vengeance before work, which felt good. My goal of reaching 78+kg is getting closer, but is still a long way off from my current state at 74kg. After the gym I stopped by home and grabbed my lunch, as well as the rest of the soup and some bowls for my coworkers. I hadn't even been at work for more than 10 minutes before the soup was broken out and everyone was taking turns digging in. I felt bad that I only had enough bowls for 4 people to eat at a time, but luckily with their schedules there wasn't a panic for time to eat all at once. My soup got some good reviews, and nobody got sick so I might have to make it a regular thing. It felts good to cook for people instead of for just myself for a change. After work I took off to Kondae to meet Blake, Nate, and Wes for a few drinks and some chatting. Nate only stayed for a bit so that he could get home and get some packing done, but the rest of us stuck it out until around 130 before calling it a night. Funny enough, on our way out of the bar a group of Korean girls celebrating a birthday were also leaving and out of nowhere one of them looked at Blake and I and exclaimed that she knew us. Upon further questioning, it was determined that she had seen us at Gold Bar, no surprise there, so we wished her a happy birthday and went on our way.
Waking up feeling great I went to the gym Thursday morning, and then grabbed a pizza on my way to work for lunch. After work it was off to Apgujong to meet up with Blake, and a couple of our Korean friends Gina, who used to date Junk, and her friend Lily. They also brought a friend that Gina had met during her recent trip through Australia, named Leon, who would turn out to be an asshole after he got into the soju. I met them at an underground restaurant/hof, and they had already been drinking. I helped them finish off the beer and soju that was there before we left for 24/7 Event Bar. Once there we ordered a bottle of whiskey and continued to drink and have fun until eventually Leon past his point of control and started telling everyone what to do, and started with the infamous drunk demand of "Listen to me!", repeated over and over while pointing in your face. We had all seen it lurking up, but once it took it's full form I was quick to put my foot down. I tried to be nice about it, but told him that he needed to relax and stop being such a dick to everyone. He wasn't sure how to take that one since it is quite counter cultural, and when he tried a rebuttal I laid out his options. Option one was to relax and stop being so aggressive towards everyone, and at the time it was only Blake and I who he was trying to bestow his knowledge of Korean culture on; or two was to leave the bar. Blake tried to interject and smooth things out, but I made it clear that I was not happy about how he was behaving and that I wouldn't put up with it for a second longer. He seemed to understand and decided to calm down and talk quieter and less in-your-face from that point on. After that we played some darts with the bartenders then finished our bottle and left around 3am.
Friday started out with an unexpected talk with Lauren. I happened to see her online when I got up and so sent her a message which turned into a rather lengthy conversation to start the day. She was sharing her current dislike for her living situation, given that her roommates had been in a bit of a snit all week, so she had been a bit alienated. She also shared some good news about getting offered a writing job, or something of the sorts because she seems to have a way with words. After our chat I had to scramble to get ready for work, and made it just on time, not that anyone really pays attention to my comings and goings at the office. I only stayed at work long enough to take subways orders, then it was off to get some lunch since I was out of food to make at home. After work we had a company dinner for Mike since this was his last full week with JLS. However, it was a bit pathetic at how some of the Korean teachers were acting about it. It's is understandable that they are tired after having so much work to do these past couple weeks, and some of them did just want to go home, but when you have worked with someone for a year it would be nice if you didn't make a big fuss about having a farewell dinner with him. Though I did hear through the grape vine that Mike wasn't the most liked person in the office. Nonetheless, you should still make an appearance and say goodbye. We went to a Korean barbecue place close to work, and ate our fill and had some drinks, and in the end almost everyone at the office came out for at least a bit of time. Around 1215 I said good night to the group and headed to the subway to get myself over to Sincheon for Gold Bars 3rd anniversary party. I was met there by Blake, Nate, Alex and Louise, Brady and SoHyun, Frank, and a few other Korean friends. Eventually Junk even made an appearance. Since it was a party, I took the chance to break out my light-up t-shirt from Beijing, which everybody loved, and we got our party on. Slowly the crowd started to fade, and by about 4am most of the people had left. Blake and I walked Junk to his girlfriends car and came back to collect our things only to find that Nate had disappeared. Not thinking too much about it we picked up our coats and the bag of swag we had gotten, and were about to head to McDonalds when Nate called. He thought we had left without him, and a little upset, had gone to McDonalds to get some food. We quickly went to find him hunched over his seat loathfully eating fries. Once Blake and I got our food we jumped in a cab and headed home. Once home, I thought it would be a good idea to stay up for a bit and drink some water. While doing so I saw Lauren online again and threw out a message to see if she was around for a chat. To my good fortune she was and for the first time since she left we had a video chat. It's always nice to see the face of the person you are talking to, as well as being able to talk instead of type everything you are saying. Now, for those of you who know me this next part will be completely reasonable. While we were talking, I thought I heard a bug in my window sill, and since I have had a few roaches in the last couple months I assumed the worst and quickly jumped up to take a look. What I had forgotten was that I was bare naked and just wrapped in a blanket, and ended up giving Lauren a full frontal. Insert embarrassed face here. But since she didn't seem to mind, we carried on talking until about 9am when I decided I had better get to bed, and so had she.
Having stayed up so late into Saturday morning, I slept until around 530 in the afternoon before waking up feeling rather refreshed. I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave the house, but within minutes of getting up Blake called me and asked if I wanted to meet him and Saejin in for a bite and some drinks. I knew that they were going to keep it pretty calm, so I jumped through the shower and headed that way as soon as I could. I met them at a upscale looking, but regular priced bar for a few beers before moving to a place we have been before called The Table. We had a couple more beers there before cabbing it home around 1230. Once home I threw on a movie and just relaxed until I eventually fell asleep some time after 3.
Waking up just before lunch on Sunday, I took some time to laze about and watch some internet videos before getting off to the grocery store to pick up my weekly supply. After I had my food for the week, I got ready to go to Sincheon again for a bit of a going away party for Blake at Gold Bar. It wasn't meant to be anything big, so having it on a Sunday helped keep everybody under control. Plus, since it was a Sunday we were the only people there. I got there first around 650 and met Thomas and Jeanne on my way to the bar, so I guess technically I arrived at the same time as them. Blake showed up a few minutes later, which allowed me to step out and get some cheese donkas for dinner. Eventually Frank, Brady and SoHyun, Angie, JiYoung, Junk, Charles, JungHun, and Nate all showed up and we sat around chatting and having a few laughs with each other and the bar staff until it was some time after midnight but the right time to call it a night. I shared a cab home with Nate, Blake and JiYoung for the first leg, and then got off a few stops shy of my area so that JiYoung could take the cut off south to her house. I jumped in another cab and finished the ride home in time to make my weekly phone call to my mom at about 1am, during which I talked to Parker, and Braunwyn who just had her tonsils out.

Well there it is another week down, another week closer to Christmas and the coming winter snowboard season. hope everyone is enjoying the weather and not freezing too bad yet.