Summer Stinks

Okay, I know it has been a long while since my last entry so I am going to try and do my best to fill you in on my last few weeks. Summer in Korea is anything BUT pleasant! The minute you walk outside you feel as though someone has, for some reason or another, placed your head in a heated up oven and then taken a hot blowdrier to get the back part of you, just incase the sweltering oven door wasn't enough torture. If you can understanding where I'm going with this, the oven is the humid hot air and the blowdrier acts as the warm breeze that is NOT refreshing in the slightest. Due to my hours of work, I tend to miss out on the worst of it because I am indoors until either 10pm or 11pm (which is totally fine by me).

Another setback that seemed to come simultaneously with the hot humid weather, is the horrendous smell slowly emerging from the washrooms that seem to engulf each floor of the academy. Just today I discovered what the sickening stench exactly was. Since the toilets in our school consist of an open whole in the ground or basically a urinal glued to the floor, Korean's have been taught to toss their used toilet paper in a garbage rather than in the "toilet" (if you can even call it that). Therefore, the build up of toilet paper.... well I think you get the idea. It is probably the most naseating smell I have ever endured and is, yet another idea in Korean culture that I will never understand. Toilet paper should go in the toilet!!! No ifs ands or buts!!!

Well I'm glad I got that out! On another disgusting note, I ate a new kind of meat that I never thought I would consume in my life! No it was not dog... I 'accidentally' ordered a stir fry with chicken, however the chicken meat was its intestines! It definitely didn't taste like chicken to me... actually it didn't really have any flavor but the chewy consistency was what threw me off. Anyways, I suppose its just another food experience I can add to the books! To be honest, the snails in Vietnam were MUCH more tasier than chicken intestine!

So last weekend I went to visit Theresa and her boyfriend Craig in Suwon (about 30minutes outside of Seoul). Suwon is a really nice area to live... not too loud or crazy but also has an enjoyable nightlife and attractive architecture! Unfortunately the rainy weather dampened our plans (literally) so we mostly hung around Suwon, saw Shrek Forever 3D (really great movie!) and partied out in Seoul saturday night. Overall it was a successful weekend and I`m looking forward to going back soon! On the sunday before I left, Theresa and I decided to order some pizza and watch movies at Craig`s apartment, so while we were in the pizza store awaiting our 4 boxes of pizzas (unreasonable and ridiculous, I know) we noticed the strangest thing! Taped to the top of the front door was.... a dead fish!!! It was probably the most bizarre thing we have ever seen. After trying to communicate with the Korean pizza makers in hopes of getting some justification for this unusual presentation, we understood that the reason is for good luck. Hmph. Interesting.

Just before my bus ride back to Gwangju, I suddenly had another one of those moments in the bus terminal in Suwon when I realized I was the only foriegner there. I looked up at the bus schedule to figure out what time my bus departs at, and everything was written in Hangul (Korean)!! I thought forsure there had to be another sign in English, but if there was, it was in a very good hiding spot considering I toured around the entire terminal with no sign of a sign!! (hehe). After speaking in some broken english and waiting in six different lines, I eventually got my bus ticket and made it home safe and sound.

The fish taped to the top of the door

The bus schedule written all in Hangul that I was supposed to figure out...Ha yeah right.

A beautiful view on the bus ride back to Gwangju

Anyways, for those of you who haven`t heard or read any of my facebook statuses, I have begun taking taekwondo lessons! At first I decided to take these lessons as a way to...well... not be lazy and get out of my crappy apartment (which I have grown to HATE by the way). But this sport is waaaaay more difficult than I anticipated. Not only is it a sport I am completely unfamiliar with, but the fact that it is all being taught to me in Korean definitely puts a spin on things. However, I have been shaping up on my Korean speaking skills so that`s a plus! I have my first test tomorrow and if I pass I will recieve my yellow belt. I have a feeling with 4 months left in Korea, getting my black belt is somewhat unrealistic, so I will just go with the flow and see how far I actually get.

Okay and now to the more exciting news, well, for me at least. My parents are arriving in Korea in exactly 3 DAYS!!! I am soooo excited! I can`t picture them being here... it almost doesn`t seem real, however I am more than anticipating their arrival and basically have all our days and meals planned out to a T! We leave for Beijing on the 29th and then they will continue travelling China while I sadly fly back to my new home in Korea to complete the final lap of my contract. It`s hard to believe I have merely 4 months left in this Country! Comming back for a second year is certainly an option but it`s too early too tell.

I will update you all again upon my return from China! Hope everyone is doing well and miss you all like crazy!

p.s I went grocery shopping the other day and found green tea toothpaste! Only in Korea...

Write more soon!

Signing off,

Gillian Teacha