The Christmas House

The Christmas House, originally uploaded by J.Umana.

[A year ago today was my last day in Paris.
This year I'm in South Korea.
Life's pretty crazy.]

Since I live in the future it is already Christmas eve.

It doesn't feel like Christmas here, but it's okay because I don't really like holidays.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to y'all!

Let me know what you got as presents.

Cheers!

bus rides, walks around town, restaurants.

This might sound creepy, but I really miss being able to eavesdrop.

Updates

1)Weirdest thing I've had to do for someone today: Brush their teeth.
That someone: Andrew.
Reason: Right arm in a cast, Left arm minimal movement.

2) My school got us business cards: I wrote out all my information and somehow they still managed to misspell my name. It's okay--I don't have anyone to give them to anyway.

3) My favorite things about Korean apartments:
- Laundry Closets
- The bathroom: the room itself doubles as the shower
- Doorbells with a camera and speaker -- Inside the phone has a small screen so I can see who's at the door and pick up the receiver to chat
- Heated floors

4) I have bad luck with electronics: My camera and my iPod both broke in the same week

5) Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You": it's following me around. It's like that one time Peter Griffin wanted music to play every time he walked, except mine isn't a cool melody it's a shitty Mariah Carey song.

Snowy Friday

Best treat ever!!

First time I've seen it snow. I was super excited.

Street Food

You can find street food vendors on almost every corner. They put everything on a stick.

Feeling Crazy @ Coffee:

Shinsegae Building

I just wanted to see if I could do this.

Here's a little video.

I'll post some more pictures and videos soon.

Cultural Differences?

I wasn't sure if i was going to tell anyone this story, but I told Nicole and she insisted I blog about it.

Let me begin by saying that the women here are totally okay with nakedness (maybe women in the states are too and I'm the only person who isn't), but the ladies just stand around the locker room doing their hair and make-up completely naked.

Anyway, the first night we went to the gym I'm in the locker room getting changed and a lady comes out of the shower, I can see her looking at me in the mirror, and I didn't think much of it because everyone stares here. She was looking a little too much for my comfort so i decided to say my best Korean hello. What I wasn't expecting was for her to begin a Korean conversation.

I panicked and I started freaking out---Korean naked lady talking to me, I don't know what to say. My hands began to drip sweat, so I blurted out "English Only," which I realized was hella rude, but she giggles while pointing at me and says "very beautiful," followed by a wink.
I got nervous, because I wasn't sure what the wink implied. Is that just the way things are done here? Must you wink after you compliment someone? I wasn't sure if she was being nice or if she was implying something else. I stood there for a second.
Then more naked ladies walk up to the surrounding lockers. I started feeling claustrophobic and I quickly mumbled the only other words I know in Korean, "Thank you" and ran out.

I didn't tell Andrew what happened, because he would have pointed out that it wasn't a big deal. And it probably wasn't, but you know how awkward I am sometimes. And I freak out a lot. And it really was just a locker room experience I didn't want to have.

[Note to self: Avoid communication with naked ladies.]

Bean Sprouts

If you ever find yourself in South Korea working at a hagwon, here is something you should avoid:
-Eating raw bean sprouts.

My new obsession

I have really long breaks at work and I thought I had done everything that could be done until i found: http://www.freerice.com

I love it.

The Korean Apartment

Not the apartment, but the walk to work

The Bedroom: My bed has the red pillows and Arthur.

Yes, I brought my teddy bear to Korea

Rice Cooking/Eating: It is all I eat, it is ma-shee-suh-yo

Andrew getting ready for work

Our Kitchen/Dinning Room/Living Room

-Our Cozy Apartment

Yongsan Station

Yongsan Station, originally uploaded by J.Umana.

I made a blog!

I'll post pictures and stories as often as possible.

This is a picture of Yongsan Station. It is the 1st thing I see when I walk out of the Dragon Hill Spa: which is where we sleep on our weekend outings in the big city.

I'll take some pictures of the apartment soon.

Cheers.