May 28
I didn't do much in the morning that day. I took the subway and then the bus to Eun Ju's house. Her parents were really surprised that I was able to do it myself. The Korean Transportation is really quite efficient and isn't so hard to figure out, I think. So to me, it wasn't a big deal. I went with Eun Ju's parents to Theresa's parents house in the "burbs" of Sungnam City in the Gyeong-gi Province. To be exact, they live in the Bundang District. I think. We picked up Veronica and Jae-Min and went to Veronica's place. We sat around for a while and then went to eat black bean noodles. Afterwards we went back to their home and Thomas (Theresa's Dad) came home and said hi and I briefly saw Theresa. Veronica took me to a movie. The only thing is, she went to one movie and I went to the another. So we both sat in separate theaters watching a movie at the same time. I went to go see Terminator and she went to see some other movie. Christian Bale, who played John Connor was cute but in Terminator 2 I had the biggest crush on Edward Furlong back in the day. Afterwards they dropped me off at Veronica's sister's place for the night.
May 29
That day I went with Veronica and four other old ladies to their Pastor's apartment for a bible study/church service. We then went to the countryside to visit the ocean. On the way, we stopped at a rest stop and then at a restaurant for raw fish. I put on my Minnesota nice smile and prayed that I wouldn't throw up. The fish was slimy and if you think Sushi is raw, you haven't had this. There was salted minnows, raw slices of fish, cooked fish, clams with hot sauce, spicy fish soup and these unidentifiable food objects. All I knew was that they didn't look like fish, were slimy and tasted...interesting. Well, with the help of some Soju (cheap ass Vodka) I got it all down. The Pastor kept toasting everything, from my arrival, to the death of the former Korean President and just about everything in this life to keep his drink going. In the end, the Pastor threw up.
Yeah, I don't really want to think about that anymore, so next subject. We arrived at the ocean near this strip of cute little coffee shops. We sat by the ocean and the ladies started singing folk songs. The Korean countryside is quite different than the city. I had gotten quite accustomed to being in the chic Gangnam District. The Coex Mall makes you feel like you are a guest star on the Jetsons.
I don't know if its the glass elevators, the cute beeps and chirps that machines make, flat screens pouring out advertisements in front of escalators and even on the credit card pad where you input your signature, the giant interactive touch screen map in the mall, the elevator buttons that aren't buttons, but touch screens or the chic fashion statements that people make, but I really feel like I'm in the new millennium. The countryside has a slower pace of life, but it has trees and plants and GRASS, and is quite different indeed. Anyways, afterwards we had to make all these pit stops to visit some of the ladies' relatives that lived in that area. We finally made our stop at a noodle house to have cold noodle soup (mool naeng myeon) before we went home. FYI: There are some drivers in Korea that actually obey the stoplights! I had to sleep at Veronica's sister's house again.
May 30
I spent that day with Veronica's sister, who ever so graciously allowed me into her home. We went to go shopping at a store, had lunch and then I was on my way to Seoul. It was really nice to be back at my hotel. It's just me, I like to be independent and having to depend on other people is kind of uncomfortable for me. I checked my mail and got a message from my company telling me that I had to be there at the hotel the next day because they were going to hand out thermometers and provide entertainment, because we had all spent the whole week in the hotel avoiding the Swine Flu. Oh wait, no we were SUPPOSED to, that's right. Oops. Seriously, NONE of us followed that rule, I'm guessing. Chungdahm Learning did however, shut down their schools, I heard from another person's blog. I told my recruiter that I had plans. He said that it was okay for me to leave the hotel, and just be sure to constantly wash my hands and avoid touching or talking to people and wear a mask. I simply told him, "why of course!". I was supposed to have dinner with Eun Ju, but she had to cancel because of work, so I was able to set something up with Soon Oak. Its a good thing because it was getting a little hard staying with Eun Ju's Aunt, who was constantly prying into my business, interrogating me on what methods I would use to survive ALONE in Bucheon, nagging me, screeching at me to sit up straight and monitoring my every move (which is a Korean way to show parental love and affection). I should say that I'm glad my parents are actually pretty fucking cool. Anyways Soon Oak came to meet me and told me that her parents would want me to stay the night. She knows that I like to sleep in my own bed and am uncomfortable at other people house and told me she felt the exact way so she just came up with an excuse for me. Her mom had cooked dinner and we ate. I played with Soon Bae's kids and Soon Bok's kid. Soon Bae's husdband is super nice and told me that I should probably spend the night, as our plans for the next day required us to get up early. I told him I had something to do that night that my company required of me. I took the subway back by myself.
May 31
I got up really early and went to their district so that we could meet. I went to Soon Oak's parents house and we had breakfast and then we all headed for the Zoo.
FYI: Soon Bae's daughter is incredibly clingy and does not by any means understand the concept of personal space. We watched various animal shows and went around looking at different animals. We had lunch at the zoo and then we went home and stopped to pick up PIZZA!!! Afterwards three of the sisters and their spouses were going to the public bath. Soon Oak and I went to the subway station and she got off at her stop and I got off at mine. I'm back at the hotel and its night time. I had received a message from the company saying that my training will start on Tuesday and that we may not take the elevator at the building because of the potential to catch the swine flu.
I didn't do much in the morning that day. I took the subway and then the bus to Eun Ju's house. Her parents were really surprised that I was able to do it myself. The Korean Transportation is really quite efficient and isn't so hard to figure out, I think. So to me, it wasn't a big deal. I went with Eun Ju's parents to Theresa's parents house in the "burbs" of Sungnam City in the Gyeong-gi Province. To be exact, they live in the Bundang District. I think. We picked up Veronica and Jae-Min and went to Veronica's place. We sat around for a while and then went to eat black bean noodles. Afterwards we went back to their home and Thomas (Theresa's Dad) came home and said hi and I briefly saw Theresa. Veronica took me to a movie. The only thing is, she went to one movie and I went to the another. So we both sat in separate theaters watching a movie at the same time. I went to go see Terminator and she went to see some other movie. Christian Bale, who played John Connor was cute but in Terminator 2 I had the biggest crush on Edward Furlong back in the day. Afterwards they dropped me off at Veronica's sister's place for the night.
May 29
That day I went with Veronica and four other old ladies to their Pastor's apartment for a bible study/church service. We then went to the countryside to visit the ocean. On the way, we stopped at a rest stop and then at a restaurant for raw fish. I put on my Minnesota nice smile and prayed that I wouldn't throw up. The fish was slimy and if you think Sushi is raw, you haven't had this. There was salted minnows, raw slices of fish, cooked fish, clams with hot sauce, spicy fish soup and these unidentifiable food objects. All I knew was that they didn't look like fish, were slimy and tasted...interesting. Well, with the help of some Soju (cheap ass Vodka) I got it all down. The Pastor kept toasting everything, from my arrival, to the death of the former Korean President and just about everything in this life to keep his drink going. In the end, the Pastor threw up.
Yeah, I don't really want to think about that anymore, so next subject. We arrived at the ocean near this strip of cute little coffee shops. We sat by the ocean and the ladies started singing folk songs. The Korean countryside is quite different than the city. I had gotten quite accustomed to being in the chic Gangnam District. The Coex Mall makes you feel like you are a guest star on the Jetsons.
I don't know if its the glass elevators, the cute beeps and chirps that machines make, flat screens pouring out advertisements in front of escalators and even on the credit card pad where you input your signature, the giant interactive touch screen map in the mall, the elevator buttons that aren't buttons, but touch screens or the chic fashion statements that people make, but I really feel like I'm in the new millennium. The countryside has a slower pace of life, but it has trees and plants and GRASS, and is quite different indeed. Anyways, afterwards we had to make all these pit stops to visit some of the ladies' relatives that lived in that area. We finally made our stop at a noodle house to have cold noodle soup (mool naeng myeon) before we went home. FYI: There are some drivers in Korea that actually obey the stoplights! I had to sleep at Veronica's sister's house again.May 30
I spent that day with Veronica's sister, who ever so graciously allowed me into her home. We went to go shopping at a store, had lunch and then I was on my way to Seoul. It was really nice to be back at my hotel. It's just me, I like to be independent and having to depend on other people is kind of uncomfortable for me. I checked my mail and got a message from my company telling me that I had to be there at the hotel the next day because they were going to hand out thermometers and provide entertainment, because we had all spent the whole week in the hotel avoiding the Swine Flu. Oh wait, no we were SUPPOSED to, that's right. Oops. Seriously, NONE of us followed that rule, I'm guessing. Chungdahm Learning did however, shut down their schools, I heard from another person's blog. I told my recruiter that I had plans. He said that it was okay for me to leave the hotel, and just be sure to constantly wash my hands and avoid touching or talking to people and wear a mask. I simply told him, "why of course!". I was supposed to have dinner with Eun Ju, but she had to cancel because of work, so I was able to set something up with Soon Oak. Its a good thing because it was getting a little hard staying with Eun Ju's Aunt, who was constantly prying into my business, interrogating me on what methods I would use to survive ALONE in Bucheon, nagging me, screeching at me to sit up straight and monitoring my every move (which is a Korean way to show parental love and affection). I should say that I'm glad my parents are actually pretty fucking cool. Anyways Soon Oak came to meet me and told me that her parents would want me to stay the night. She knows that I like to sleep in my own bed and am uncomfortable at other people house and told me she felt the exact way so she just came up with an excuse for me. Her mom had cooked dinner and we ate. I played with Soon Bae's kids and Soon Bok's kid. Soon Bae's husdband is super nice and told me that I should probably spend the night, as our plans for the next day required us to get up early. I told him I had something to do that night that my company required of me. I took the subway back by myself.
May 31
I got up really early and went to their district so that we could meet. I went to Soon Oak's parents house and we had breakfast and then we all headed for the Zoo.
FYI: Soon Bae's daughter is incredibly clingy and does not by any means understand the concept of personal space. We watched various animal shows and went around looking at different animals. We had lunch at the zoo and then we went home and stopped to pick up PIZZA!!! Afterwards three of the sisters and their spouses were going to the public bath. Soon Oak and I went to the subway station and she got off at her stop and I got off at mine. I'm back at the hotel and its night time. I had received a message from the company saying that my training will start on Tuesday and that we may not take the elevator at the building because of the potential to catch the swine flu.
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