the Latest

I am officially a registered Alien! which means I can now re-enter the 21 century. I will be ending my 12-week abstinence on cell phones and signing a contract sometime in the next few days. I had the Internet and cable set-up in my apartment yesterday and four of my co-workers came over to help me translate. It was a little awkward entertaining at my place when I only own one cup, one chair and my bed that serves as my couch, dining room table, desk and everything else I don’t have. I am happy to get cable in my apartment. There are a couple American channels but I am really looking forward to catching up on all the Korean drama shows and finding out who all these pop stars are that my girl students have plastered all over their notebooks.
This week was another successful accomplishment, I really enjoy coming to work everyday and pretty much being done with the majority of my work by lunchtime. Wednesday I started teaching English club with my Korean co-workers. Once a week we will meet to discus various topics in English so they can practice listening and speaking. It’s really informal and I don’t have to do any preparation but it’s a great way get to know some of my co-workers and for me to be included in the conversation for once. They basically just want me to talk about myself for a hour, which is pretty easy since I really only get to have conversations of depth on the weekends, so I don’t mind! This week I taught them some very valuable phrases like “chill, what’s up, sugar mama, blow off steam,” haha.. I can’t wait to see what I teach them next week.
I went the Cherry Blossom festival yesterday but the only a few trees had bloomed so it was kind of a disappointment. The weather is still pretty chilly here, I can’t wait for Springtime when I can leave my pea-coat at home. I ventured around last Sunday in my neighborhood. There are a lot of these fitness parks in my area, they usually have a track and some exercise machines. I like to think of them as playgrounds for the elderly. My initial intention was to go for a run but I ended up finding some hiking trails. Hiking is all the rage here; the typical Korean hiker comes complete with hard core hiking boots, two walking sticks, hat and the newest Colombia outfit. So I looked a little out of place and lost in my running shoes, plus I had no clue where I was headed. But I am glad I decided to take the road less traveled because I stumbled upon this great view and amazing bridge, right in my back yard that I never even knew existed.
I really need to get a camera so I can capture all the sights around me, maybe a birthday present to myself this year.