What can Monica do in a week in Seoul?

Happy Birthday Jennifer! We need to find a time to skype chat soon!









What can be done in a week in Seoul?

Well a hell of a lot aparently with overtime for phone teaching, going away parites, welcome parties, birthday parties, weddings, and you know... general life. Things just keep on moving...


Here is a rundown of my week:



Monday
-Ate dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant with Marika and saw "The Ugly Truth". The food was good but damn do I miss Little Saigon!

Tuesday
-Went to Julie's going away party at Metro bar.

-My memory won't tell me what happened before the party... Not because I drank (I didn't) but because I had just worked 20 hours in 2 days...

Wednesday
-Was mostly vegging. Possibly ate mandu and kimbap solo for dinner?

-Went for a walk with Jin.

Thursday
-Rode my bike to school and back. Realized the way there makes me want to do it every day, and the way back home makes me want to run people over and throw my bike over the side of a mountain. Can anyone walk in a straight line around here? Or decide which side of the sidewalk each direction should go?

-Studied Korean more than most days (at least an hour or so at school after my work day ended)

-I think this was the night we went to Cheers and welcomed the new girl, Erica, but I might be confusing days...

Friday
-Jin's show/Frank's birthday at 1971 Guitar bar.

-Food afterwards at some random place down a side street

-Used the smallest "bathroom" ever, guided by our waitress who grabbed my hand and ran me there (around the corner from the place)after realizing my perfectly excecuted (yeah right) "Where is the bathroom?" in Korean was followed by blank stares as you see, I have not yet learned to understand the answer...

-Crashed at Jin and Frank's to save on taxi fare

Saturday
-Woke up early to go home not knowing what time the wedding started

-Went to a traditional Korean wedding of my coworker Matt and his wife. Ate way too much at the buffet after and talked to Layne's friend Tim about how he likes living in a small town near the sea and working way less than me. Toyed with the idea of taking his job for my second year! haha...

-Went on a ridiculously long shopping escapade with Lexi where on the way, we happened upon some sort of pet shop row and got super depressed. And saw a cat that did the exact face of Puss in Boots from Shrek. Only it was real and its face was like 2 inches big. And you know things are cuter when smaller. I spent too much money but on the other hand I brought almost no winter clothes so they weren't frivolous purchases.

-Came home long enough to change and record some videos... but all the covers I did sucked cus my voice wasn't warmed up. Jumped the gun and got too excited cus I hadn't played guitar or sang all week!

-Went to Itaewon for drinks and dinner. A woman on the subway told Layne to stop talking so loud and we were all kind of dumbfounded cus she wasn't talking particularly loud! It was kinda funny if it wasn't so rude. We dodged Itaewon pretty quick, too many military folks and girls dressing like they want people to think they are Russian hookers. I felt like I never left Orlando for a minute there. Ugh. Foreigners.

-Hopped over to Hongdae by taxi and fought with the ridiculously large crowds at sensations and Gogos. Encoutnered crazy foriengers dancing with a manequin head. Why?

-HeeJin crashes with me to save on taxi fair

Sunday
-Had Korean "breakfast" or really lunch, with HeeJin. Picked a different restaurant after we tried a sample soup at another restaurant and totally walked out after they brought out all the service sides and water because I didn't like the soup! That would not be tollerated back home. Glorious.

-Met a photographer/hair dresser who took some polaroids of me and gave me a free haircut in the fanciest salon I've ever encountered. He was very cool and there was a whole studio above the salon, and roof access! There was a beautiful assistant, clad with a walkie talkie ear peace by his side at all times whislt cutting my hair. The two jointly combed tangles out of my hair and blow dried it! I felt like a princess. Salons here are quiet. For whatever reason he only tried to make chit chat while I couldn't hear cus I had 2 blowdryers in my ears! I think Dad would prefer that huh? No loud gossip going on. We are going to do portfolio work together!

-Wandered to an unknown mountainous park near the salon alone (and wearing sandals with a slight heal) and had a quiet lunch and watched the Ajumas and Ajashis climbing up and down the hills in their full climbing getups and sneakers. (Older women and men for those unfamiliar with the terms). I must have looked insane sitting on the rocky clay, fresh haircut, skinny jeans, newly bought towel underneath me eating this thing called "Cheese and Cheese" that most definitely DIDN'T have cheese in it, and reading "The World Awaits: How to Travel Far and Well" (which inspired the solo park journey in the first place) as I swated the most giant mosquitos off me ever.

-Home now writing this blog and telling myself "I will go to sleep early and remember to return that late video in the morning!" (Oh and I finally got to watch the season premiere of House)


And over the whole week total I somehow also:

-Worked over 47 hours
-Watched the Little Mermaid in Korean... possibly twice?
-Showered (crazy right?)
-Ate meals (even weirder!)
-Studied Korean


And I'm certain I could have squeezed in more today if I hadn't done the Korean narcoleptic thing and totally passed out at 6 pm on the subway ride home from the park. Hence laying down and watching TV all tonight and listening to my body when it said "CHILL OUT!"


Some photos from Saturday in Hongdae thanks to Lexi:

Upstairs part of Gogos before it got crowded. HeeJin and her friend from school, Lexi, and I.


I know. You thought you'd never see the day I'd be in some sort of sweater dress mutant baby. But here I am.







Only 4 days of work until Lexi and I do our trip for Chusok! (korean thanksgiving). Lame we only get 3 days off but they are gunna rock! I know the Monday after is gunna whip around and hit me in the dead before I know it and it will be off to planning my winter break trip. Hence this blog at this moment because... Well it won't be long before another monster of a blog of this upcoming island trip!


And here's a video for the heck of it. Trying to be less paranoid about sucking and just record and practice and play in front of people more anyway. There are multimilionaire musical super stars that suck sometimes (or even all the time) so I guess its ok for me too sometimes.