some sharing and over sharing

Hello everyone. Sorry I was being dramatic last week… I won’t stop blogging, yet ;) Blogging is kind of hard to get used to doing, it feels like a one sided conversation. After awhile it can feel a little awkward, you feel a little narcissistic; however I am a filthy hypocrite because there are several people’s blogs that I read/spy on and never leave a comment, so I guess you can call that Karma.

I’ve been keeping pretty low key this last week, it was pretty rainy last week so you don’t really want to explore when the streets are flooded. My school did have a talent show on Friday for the younger kids (4-7 year olds). The older students will have their talent show next week right before break. The talent show was really cute, I naturally was the MC and did the most amazing job ever : ) haha. The kids did a lot of songs and dances and recited a few stories they had memorized. The two 4 year old students did a few lunch time songs and chants which was cute, but the funniest part was that they had these towels wrapped around their heads like princess leia hair (the cinnamon buns over the ears). I have no idea why they did, or how it related if at all to their skit, but alright, plus I’m not going to lie I’m impressed that the teacher was able to do that with a towel.

Some exciting news for me was that I got my alien registration card this last week. This is your idea card while you’re in Korea.  You can’t open a bank account or get a cell phone contract without it. I think you also need your card id number to use a lot of websites too. However I think since I’m foreign my number doesn’t work on the websites, I will have to ask or try it out. I should be getting a bank account this week then, which I am very excited about, I hate dealing with cash especially coins! I just hope I can have online banking, I’m not sure I can function without it

Sunday I met up with a friend I met a few weeks back. It was really fun to explore Hongdae with her during the day time. I’ve only been there at night because that’s where all the clubs etc are. Hongdae has a ton of coffee shops it’s crazy, in this small area there are like 300 coffee/cafes ( do not quote me on the number I have not verified this “fact”) We walked around and did a little shopping I only bought some nail polish and band-aids because I still needed to go grocery shopping (which I did today). However once I get paid on Friday I am very very very prepared to spend some money, shopping is seriously a hobby in Seoul, there is always stuff being sold everywhere and for the outdoor markets you can haggle the price : ) We did get some dinner at Taco Bell which was kind of a fun reminder of home, I think there are 3 in Seoul. It isn’t really the same, the menu is way smaller and the price is way higher but it’s more or less what you expect when you think of Taco Bell. Unfortunately Taco Bell is about as Mexican food as you’re going to get in Seoul, I think there might be a few other hidden Mexican food restaurants but they are few and far between.

Tomorrow I am going to Emart for the first time, it is kind of like walmart in the sense that it is a superstore, one stop shopping, but it doesn’t have the negative stigma attached to it. Hopefully it isn’t too crazy. My school is taking a trip to the water park on Friday so I wanted to buy a beach towel and get some summer/water clothes, like shorts/flipflops etc.

Today I went grocery shopping which is always fun. I was being my smart shopper self and totally came in under budget! If you don’t bring your own bag you have to buy their plastic bags, however they are pretty stingy with them; considering they are only like 5 cents I would gladly pay for two bags instead of trying to shove everything into one, heaviest bag on the planet. I need to buy some reusable bags but I also like using the store bags for my recycling, considering how much you can recycle here you go through bags pretty fast. However having to carry your groceries home makes you want to buy/eat less, which is a good thing. But once you get home with all your delicious groceries you always want to eat everything or at least some of everything. Speaking of, I should go make some dinner! I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

Oh I almost forgot, today when I was teaching the 5 year olds one of the girls lifted up the back of my dress so I mooned half of the class…awesome. Oh my gosh. Hopefully I was quick enough that those poor kids didn’t see too much of me, but I now know to be on my guard next time.