The last two weeks…

I am happy to report that everything is going super. Our first week end in South Korea we jumped onto the subway and head down line 1 to try and find Insadong street (인 사동). We walked around for a few minutes and stumbled upon something really, really cool: Jongmyo (종 묘)!

which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Entry was only 1,000 won, next time you are in Seoul you have to check out Jongmyo.  This whole finding a world heritage site thing was extremely exciting to me because it is one of my life goals to visit every site on the planet. With 700+ Sites, it should keep me busy for a long, long time.
We finally found Insadong and walked around for a while taking in the sites and talking to the locals, which was neat because many people spoke English because it is a major tourist location. There were many stands making some sort of string/hair-like candy. We got closer we realized they also did some what of a comedy routine while they made this candy. It was very funny! I asked what it was called and they told me it was called “Dragon’s Beard” because it “looks like a dragon’s beard” they explained as they held it close to their chin. DevilGirl bought some for only 5,000 won. Pretty cheap! As we walked away they yelled “I love USA!” So I told him “I love Korea!” We were looking for a place to get some food and we stumbled across a vegetarian restaurant! We got inside, ordered and then noticed there were photos of this Asian lady all over the place: on book, framed photos on the wall, even on some sort of TV show. Turns out it was a restaurant owned by the "Supreme Master” Ching Hai. Which is a spiritual leader of some sort, seemed kind of cult-ish. DevilGirl and I looked at some of her art books which proclaimed her art was “divinely inspired” and she was able to “change art styles at will” which was "a feat not even the best artists in history could accomplish". “Her art all looks the same, what a load of crap” DevilGirl proclaimed defiantly. Which was met with my shushing. LOL.
On the way back I saw an older foreigner named Karl on the subway so I made it a point to talk to him. Gave me his email and promised to take me to meet some other expatiates on Thursday.
The following week I got the feel for my job, the kids and I really started to get the feel for each other. On Thursday, when i went out with Karl I met a really nice guy from New Zealand. I asked him if he had been to any of the places that was in Lord of the Rings. His answer was “I climbed Mtn. Doom, Twice!” I LOLed and told him he should tell girls that. I also ran in to DevilGirls almost co-worker who was a total ass hat. He bragged about doing mean things to his students when they were not paying attention in class. I was openly mocked when I told him that my students love me. He told me that "Korean students only pretend they love you. They all hate you. You sound so naive!" He was very angering because I feel like he is just here in South Korea to mess around, party and get drunk. He is not interested in the teaching profession and as a result I feel that his behavior not only damages the credibility of foreign teachers in South Korea but it damages the very profession of educator. I am here to have a good time, don’t get me wrong but I am also here to start my career. DevilGirl is lucky she did not end up at his school, and I told her so.
The next week end we went to a board game meet up at we found on meetup.com. We met some really awesome people and made friends who don’t want to get drunk every night. The meet up sport was a church but we got kicked out of there because the Korean speaking priest could not speak to us about religion. It was o.k., we as a group walked down the street and I, acting as a scout found a really sweet coffee shop with big foamy chairs. We played the day away! When it was starting to get later DevilGirl and my self went with a few of them to another part of Seoul and found a huge Gandalf statue. We went to eat at this restaurant and we had Makgeolli. which I did not really like because it had a sour taste but DevilGirl liked it. We were invited out the next day to go to GioCat Cafe, which is like if Starbucks had cats that walked around and sat on your lap while you drank your coffee. Pretty sweet. The following day I told my students about it. Gave them the website and pretty much all of them wrote it down. I should get in free next time!
I also finally got a haircut which was an experience in its self. It could have turned out very bad but it came out alright. The haircut was really cheep also, only 7,000 won. If i would have gone to a similar place in the United States it would have set me back $15.00 minimum. I think I will save this for a later time and do one blog post about getting a haircut.
I have been sick the whole time I have been in Korea, which is a disappointment. Last night I got really Ill so when I came in to work I was forced to go to the nurse's office and lay down. After lunch i was feeling much better, the migraine, dizziness, chills and diarrhea had gone away so I made my way back to my desk. When my students saw me I was swarmed and asked if I was alright. This is how I know my students love me, I treat them with respect and that earns me their respect in return. Some one should tell DevilGirl's almost coworker this!