Another Happy Year or Another Year of Hell?

Seeing that I only have 3 months left on my current contract, my boss took it upon himself to ask me back for another year. I was genuinely suprised. My coworkers and boss tend to ignore me. I come in, teach, and leave. So, I got the notion that they disliked me. When he asked if I wanted to come back I wasn't sure. I had been thinking about switching to public school or another hagwan. However, he told me that if I re-signed my contract, he would give me an extra month of vacation and pay for a plane ticket home for me! So, my natural reaction was, heck yes!

So, I will be heading home for nearly a month at the end of November and the begining of December. I'm excited to eat American food and have good beer. I'm predicting a 5lb gain around my waist! After that, I'll head back to Korea for another Christmas, my birthday, v-day, and basically another year's worth of Holidays.

I'm excited to be staying another year and to see what my future holds!

Let's Talk About Bugs Baby!

Street vedor selling dried seafoods, and bundeggi.

It comes as no surprise, being half-way around the world; you would experience new, different, and sometimes downright disgusting foods. I am happy to say that I've tried most of these tasty delicacies and some of the nastiest things ever thought up to eat. But, I think that trying each and every one of these is important in understanding the culture!

In Thailand it was the bottle of rice vodka mixed with scorpion and poisonous centipedes. While here, I'm experiencing blood soup, bundeggi, pig spine soup, blood noodle rolls, and let's not forget all the seafood with the heads on!! I'm sure there are a lot more that I have tasted but just didn't realize what it was. The only gross thing I didn't eat were the deep-fried chicken feet. Because what can you really get out of chewing chicken bones besides certain death, if I was a dog anyways?!

So, let's begin with the blood soup. The soup is served boiling hot in a special bowl that acts as an oven. There are various vegetables in it, depending on season, and some pork. There are also chunks of coagulated blood. Now, I'm not brave enough to dig right into the coagulated blood because of a bad experience in Thailand, but I've tasted it already. The soup broth is actually very delicious. Some of the blood melts into the broth with the water and other seasonings. It's a spicy smooth taste. I highly recommend it to everyone. Plus you'll get a healthy serving of iron with it! ;-)

Bundeggi

Second, is Korea's most famous bug dish, bundeggi (shown left). It's actually a silkworm larva. They are in some sort of liquid. I don't know if it's a little bit of preserves and water to keep them from quickly going bad or what. But what I do know is that the smell is rancid. The streets of downtown are rank with the smell because there are one or two stands that sell these. They are also complementary when you go to a soju shack. I've personally tried bundeggi twice. The first time I was "slightly" inebriated at an early time of 7:30am (still hadn't been home). After the initial taste I thought it was a bland, wet cardboard taste. It wasn't delicious but wasn't horrible either. The second time I tasted it was at a soju room before any drinks were consumed. So, I was the picture of perfect sobriety. I slowly lowered the soft-bodied life form into my mouth and chewed. After a few gags I managed to get it down the pipe. Then I grabbed the nearest soju bottle to try to burn away the nastiest taste ever! It was like a rancid vomit chunk. I can't even describe the taste without gagging! However, some people, mostly Koreans, seem to enjoy this delicacy so if you're into weird food I suggest you try it.

The third interesting food I've had here is pig spine soup. I didn't realize what it was until yesterday and I had been eating it for eight months. But, it's basically just a soup with ham on the bone in it. The bone just happens to be a spine. It's a highly recommendable soup especially if you like ham. I, however, don't like ham very much so I prefer the blood soup.

Seafood stand

The next one was a surprise attack on my taste buds with the blood noodle roll. I thought it was some sort of sausage with those clear noodles in it. One of my Korean friends told me he loved them and for me to try it. So, being me I happily grabbed it and stuffed the whole thing in my mouth. Man, does it suck to be trusting or what?! It was like a punch in the face! It was Thailand all over again! The coagulated blood not watered down by spices or soup broth assaulted my taste buds. Even the texture of the blood caused my stomach to revolt! I actually had to spit it out in the middle of the restaurant for fear of loosing my stomach! I then burned the taste out of my mouth with more soju! I don't recommend this food to anyone unless you are of the night breed and are used to feasting on blood!

The last of my questionable food experiences are the seafoods with the heads still on. All the fish are cooked with their heads and scales still on! Even the shrimp aren't undressed! They look like they could get up and walk right off your plate. I guess I'm not a fan of eating an animal that still looks like an animal. It's like cooking a chicken with the feathers still on! So, I don't actually eat any of these because I don't like seafood. However, I have eaten the dried anchovies that they serve at the local hof's. But I do tear off their heads before dipping them in the red chili sauce. They're actually quite tasty. They kind of taste like salmon jerky, which I learned to like because of my Scandinavian heritage.

Seaweed, anchovies, and cheese.

Some other various other foods have included squid/octopus beaks, octopus jerky, deep fried cuddle fish, octopus pancake and soup, and some various other versions of octopus. I have also had so many versions of seaweed. It's everywhere! Kimbap, soup, bibimbap, rice, and just plain seaweed with soy sauce dippings.

I'm sure that I've consumed a lot more "disgusting" things, according to our standards, but I just didn't know it. However, most of them aren't bad at all and I think that we should try it before condemning it. Before I leave Korea there are two more things that I really want to try, which are dog and a live octopus! It's really nice to try some of these new things that are just an every day dish to people over here. It's like a new adventure in every bite!

Friend, Lover, Boyfriend?

I've decided that growing up in a small town is not only disadventagous in the educational department but also in the love education department.

With such a small population you have the advantage and disadvantage of knowing everyone. The good thing is that you grew up with them your whole life so you know everything about them and the bad thing is that you know everything about them. But leaving that fact aside, you are still inclined to date them. Now let's define the term dating, according to my small town upbringing. It's the point when the boys asks, "Will you go out with me?" and the girl says,"Ok." Or something along those lines. It's very straightforward and high school.

So, we grow up knowing everything about these boys; the good, the bad, and the ugly. We "go out" with them for a while and then break up. We still see each other all the time because we all share the same friends but do our best to avoid them. Later, one of our friends starts dating them and we start dating our other friend's boyfriend. (There is a lot of recycling.) In this delicately woven web of dating each others boyfriends, with the precise amount of mourning time inbetween because we don't want to piss off our friends, we don't actually "date".

We never really do the whole dance of meeting someone new, testing them out with a few casual dates before we get exclusive. This is what is supposed to happen in high school and college. But stupid me, I grow up in a small town and have a boyfriend for all of my college days. Now I'm a clueless 25 year old woman! I have finally resorted to calling my mother and asking her if I actually have a boyfriend or if I'm just a friend. How sad is that?

Ok, I'm not going to attribute all of my confusion to growing up sheltered but also to a cultural difference. Living in South Korea is a little different than home. I've been slowly aquire information on relationships in Korea because it's drastically different. They use the word love frivolously and "love" to throw it out there. They also use the term girlfriend loosely. Many of the Korean men have "girlfriends", many of them in fact! Whereas back home, girlfriend tends to signify exclusivity. So, in Korea a girlfriend is defined, according to my Korean friends, as someone you've had sex with (not including one nights after the club), a girl you've gone out with at least 3 times, or someone you've declared your love for. FYI this is only true for the true Korean population. The problem comes with the westernized Koreans.

The westernized Koreans brings a whole new issue to the table. They vary somewhere between American and Korean. So, how do you know if you are just a casual fling or dating that someone? More to the fact, how do you know if they are actually westernized or not? Are you just supposed to have all of the standards checked off before you're 75% sure that you're his girlfriend? These are the questions I have to ask myself in every new relationship over here.

Ok, so you finally figure out that you're his girlfriend after the relationship defining talk. So, how do you know he's serious. Most Koreans over here don't get serious about foreign women because their families want a nice Korean girl for their perfect son! So even if you establish the fact that your his girlfriend, do you know that it's going to go anywhere? I have a friend over here who had a Korean boyfriend for 6 months and was introduced to the family and talking serious business like marriage and children. Not too long after he tells her that he doesn't want her anymore and that he likes her but he really wants a Korean wife.

You don't really notice it at first, but there is a lot of racism towards foreigners in Korea. We get it most from older Koreans. But, I forgive them because that's the way they were raised, just like our grandparents. But, I expected more from the younger generation.

So, back to the point. You have your boyfriend and now you have to wonder if he's serious about you or not, if he's serious but will give in to his parents wishes, or if your just something he can brag about to his friends. Do the questions ever end?

Now, you're to the breaking point in wondering. Do you just say, "What the hell, que sera sera!" and just take it lightly and lets the chips fall where they may? Do you flat out ask him these questions, granted that he speaks enough English for this discussion, and scare him away? Or do you worry yourself sick with these questions leading you to read into everything and causing further misunderstandings? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm............................

So, after all of these questions and debates taking place in my inner mind, I choose "What the hell, que sera sera!" What am I going to accomplish worring myself sick or by trying to discuss this with someone who doesn't speak English? So, we'll see how things work out!! Stay tuned!!

Unrestful 6 Months

As I hit my 6 month marker here in Korea I start to feel the tinyest bit of uneasiness. The reason stemming from the tension between North and South Korea.

I was here when the South Korean military ship was sunk off the coast between North and South Korea in disputed waters. It was recently discovered that it was the fault of North Korean and not due to the fact that the ship was not well maintained. So, South Korea cut off all trading ties with North Korea and the tension is building up. Word on the street is that China is backing North Korea in this fight while the US will step in and help South Korea.

What makes me nervous is the unpredictability of North Korea. It's like you never want to get into a fight with a crazy man because you never know what they might do. You might be bigger, better, and smarter but they will fight with no self preservation making them all the more dangerous. That's what North Korea reminds me of.

So in this time of tension I've been getting e-mails just to be prepared for the worst. They say most likely that nothing will happen but we need to be ready just in case. So now I have to make the effort to register with the US Embassy in South Korea so that they know where I am and can get me out if need be. I also was sent the evacuation place where we are supposed to go. But the thing is that it's realatively far away. I would have to travel a good 2-3 hours to get to the evacuation place in Daegu! The thing is that it would only take about 5 hours for people coming from the boarder all the way to Gwangju. Would that be enough time to evacuate especially factoring the delay with the relay of the messages?

Well, whatever. I'm not really worried at all and neither is anyone else. It's just nice to know that if something does happen I'll be prepared.

Alcoholism in Korea

After being here for a while and witnessing the daily stumblings of many Koreans, I realized why alcoholism runs rampant here. It's all about the food they eat.

All food here seems to be paired up with an alcohol. The most eaten is some form of Korean BBQ, there are a few varieties. What goes best with BBQ is soju, which is basically a weaker form of vodka. The thing is, that you don't mix or chace anything after taking the shot. And Koreans are famous for cheersing and telling you to take "one-shot", which means down it! So it's usual to go through many bottles of soju while eating dinner. By then you're well on your way and tend to just keep going.

The second famous pairing is beer and chicken. Koreans love their chicken! There are so many restaurants that sell just different varieties of chicken and nothing else. This is also the popular food at baseball games.

So, in addition to the food pairings is the fact that the bars don't have a closing time. So, while you're drinking and making merry the time flies by without you knowing. And by the time you look at your watch is 5am or you see the sun coming up. Then you stand up and realize how drunk you are and still have to get some sleep before going to work the next day.

I mean, I wouldn't know this through experience or anything (wink, wink). I'm also used to stepping over many piles of vomit in the morning on the way to school. It's funny but at the same time it's a little sad. But, I don't really know how different it is from back home besides the bars closing at 2am.

Daily Routine

I just thought I'd let ya'll know what my dialy life consits of now. First, I wake up in the morning somewhere between 11 and 12. I don't leave my bed yet and just play on the computer. I then get up, take a shower, make some food, get dressed and ready. I leave my house around 1:50 to walk to school. I show up at school and play on the computer for a 1/2 hour (technically that's my prep time). I start teaching at 2:30 and go until 8:30, except on Wednesdays when I teach until 9pm. On Mondays I teach 6 classes, Tuesdays it's 5, Wednesdays I have 7 classes, Thursdays I have 5, and Fridays I only have 4. When I finish class I walk back home to drop my computer off and to change. I then walk the one block to my gym where my trainer kicks my butt daily! Well, one of them is really nice and the other one we call Nazi! He actually laughs when we're shaking with pain and fall over from muscle cramps! After that it's home time to play on the computer again!

I know, my life is sooooo difficult! Working my butt off 6.5 hours a day! ;-) I do get a wrench thrown into the works every once in a while. Like I head to Ice Bar on Wednesday nights over in Chundam, which is actually in Gwangju but it's about a 30 minute drive there. You drink beer out of ice mugs and when you finish you throw them at a target for a chance for prizes. Then I stay at Mandy's so I don't have to pay the $10 taxi fee and can take a $1 bus in the morning. Also, Thursday nights are when Kristina and I head out to the local bars in our area and have a pitcher of beer and talk. It's really nice to get out once in a while and relax, because there is no relaxing on the weekends.

Weekends are packed full of fun! Usually I end up going out on Friday nights to forget my students and have a few drinks. I'm used to getting home at like 5-6 in the morning. However, I have gotten home at 11:30 before. Then I get a few hours of sleep before I have to head to Chonnan University area where I meet up for Korean Club. Where we drink coffee and actually have intellectual conversations. I know, you're supprised. Me too! Then afterwards we head out for dinner, noraebang, and the bar. Sundays are reserved for recovery time. So, as you can see, there is no relaxing time in my weekends even though it's free time.

However, things will slightly change once Korean class begins again Saturday mornings. I won't be heading out Friday nights anymore because I don't make it up in the morning. So, my life will be moving at a slightly slower pace.

Life here moves at such a fast pace compared to back in Wisconsin. Here, there is always something going on and it's always fun. I'm having a hard time saying no and picking things. Right now I'm excited and doing everything. I'm living life burning both ends of the candle. Might as well do it while I'm young, American standards because we all know I'm over the hill by Korean standards being 26/27 years old here!

Booking Clubs

So, this is actually from a while ago but I've been too busy to type anything into my computer. Sorry about that.

Anyways.................................

In Korea what they call their nightclubs are actually booking clubs. So, you pay your basic fees for the table that includes a fruit platter and the amount of alcohol you want. I went with my Korean friend Gail and we went to a wiskey table and that's very expensive. It's the first level down from the VIP private rooms. So, for the bottle fo wiskey, 3 beers, 3 cans of tee, and the giant fruit platter it was $260. But, it was totally worth it. Since we were at an expensive table, we were brought to the rich boys' tables. Oh, I should probably explain a little better.

So, once you get your alcohol and have a drink all of a sudden a waiter comes up and grabs you by the arm and leads you to another table full of guys. You are then poured a drink by the guys and talk to them. If you like them you can stay, if you don't you can leave. So, it's kinda like speed dating.

Even though this club supposedly doesn't allow foreigners, which it said right on the door, I was immediately grabbed by the waiter guys so I quickly grabbed Gails arm as we were drug up past the hour long waiting line. I totally felt like a celebrity. Then we were brought to the awesome table. After that, because I was a white, light-skinned foreign girl I was really popular. I was brought to table after table, even though I can't speak Korean and they can barely speak any English. I still had the time of my life. We danced, drank, talked, watched the shows they had playing, and made merry!

At like 3:30am, which is very early for leaving the club we decided to make like a baby and head out. When we got to my area, we both got phone calls from two of the guys. So, they came to my area and we then went to another bar that was still open at 4am. We drank more soju, ate food, and ate some bugs. Actually, it's a deep fried silk worm called bundeggi. It just tasted like wet cardboard.

After we got kicked out of there at like 7am we went to my apartment and kept drinking. These Koreans are freaking champions!! I totally fit in with this crowd. So, it was a sleepover of 4 in my one room apartment. I was on the floor with one Korean and Gail stole the bed with the other Korean.

The funniest thing was that I was supposed to go to my coworkers wedding the next day at 11 but I totally missed it. I lied and said I was sick. Because I was actually full on drunk until 3pm the next day. Good thing that I only do this once every 4 months or so. It's a totaly marathon. You drink before you go to the club, where you start at like 8pm with dinner, then you go to a few bars, hit the club at 12am, and then drink until about 8am! That's 12 hours of drinking soju! Between Gail and I, we went through 6 bottles of soju and a bottle of whiskey in one night, well a half a day ;-)!

But, the point of the story is that it's a fun new experience and I'm meeting great people.

Korean Super Germs!

So, I am once again sick here in Korea. However, this time around it was super bad so I took a trip to the doctor, which was a super hassle. I went to a big hospital around 12:30 and couldn't figure out which counter to go to out of the 5 that were there. Everyone glanced at me but no one would help me. So, I got on the phone to my school and asked for help. I was then informed that all the doctors were on lunch break from 12:30 to about 2pm, when I start work! How can all of the doctors go on such a long lunch break and all go at once? So, one of my coworkers took me to another tiny hospital. It was on the second floor of my bank. We still had to wait an hour though for lunch break. When we finally got in to see the doctor we explained my symptoms, she looked down my throat, and then listened to my lungs. That was it. Then she wrote me a prescription for 5 pills and liquid cough suppressant. She didn't even take my temperature! This lack of basic medical care has me worried. What exactly are the pills I'm taking? They didn't give me any directions with the medicine except to take them twice a day. I didn't get any warnings with the drugs either. What if I was taking other medication and they clashed?! So, when I spoke with my mother on skype we deduced that one of them was an antibiotic, which will render my birth control useless, one is a pain pill, one if for fever, and the two other ones are a mystery. Oh yes, the best thing is that the pills make me extremely tired! I took them while at school and within ten minutes I fell asleep while talking and sitting up. I slept a total of 2 hours during school that day! So now, I'm at school armed with a liter of cola! I will overcome this!

Theory Relating Pregnancy and Teaching....

So, I have come to the conclusion that while teaching I release oxytocin, the same hormone released during childbirth. This hormone does a number of things during childbirth but one of its primary functions is to give the orgasmic feel that makes you forget how painful it is pushing something the size of a melon out of something so small. So, my theory is that while I'm going through the painful process of teaching these kids, I'm releasing a large amount of oxytocin making me forget how much I hate them some times. This theory stems from the fact that while I'm teaching the little devils I tell myself how much I want to kill myself but by the time I get home I'm all happy and love the kids again. What is this freakish weirdness taking over my body?! Is this the mythical maternal instincts that was thought to not exist in this child hating, woman's body? I don't understand! Why, even though I'm continuously pushed to the brink of self destruction, do I still love these midget Satans?

Korean Dating Advice

For all you ladies thinking it'll be great to date a hot Korean I have some advice for you. I know Asian fever isn't limited to the male population because I seem to have been infected with a touch of it as well. I made the mistake of taking things too lightly when it came to men.

This isn't like America where you can go hang out with guys just to have fun and be friends. Once you accept an invitation and say yes to anything you're done for. Once you've said yes they won't take no for an answer for anything. They become very aggressive in pursuit of you. They will stalk you on the phone and try to come by your house. Just to let you know, they're not actually stalkers. This is just their culture. If they're not semi-stalking you then they're not interested in you. I went on two dates with a Korean guy and the next time we went out as a group, he was introducing me as his girlfriend. I was very taken aback because I was thinking we were just hanging out and having fun, nothing serious. Well, I guess everything is serious here. There's no light, fun dating. So, the next time he called me I had to tell him no at least ten times. He couldn't understand that I was busy on the weekend and couldn't hang out. Then he said he would come by my house on Wednesday, today. I told him no repeatedly but he just said see you and hung up. So, after work today I snuck home early so I wouldn't run into him. I sat in my apartment without the lights on, phone on silent, and trying not to make noise. He called me 20 times in an hour, messaged me like 10 times, and rang my doorbell for nearly an hour! I knew that if I actually talked to him face to face it would be over. They just don't take no for an answer. Plus you have the added language barrier.

So, my advice to all you ladies with "yellow fever" is to be very choosy. You don't want to end up being stalked by someone you have no interest in, like me. I say take your time. The guys won't give up like back at home. These guys are used to working hard for it! ;-)

7 Random Koreans and a Date

It all happened in the wee hours of the morning, also known as after bar. I spent the night out with Nikiel and friends prowling the streets of downtown. We hit up German Bar, Speakeasy, Bubble Bar, and then proceeded to rock out at the norabong. It was a night filled with soju and mekju! We shared a lot of gambaes, one-shots, and a lot of drunk-tone-def singing. As the night drew to a close, I got some octapus from a streetvendor and hailed a taxi. Once out of the taxi I had to stumble a block home down a dark alleyway but I felt completely safe. While swerving my way home I happend to bump into 7 Korean men. I properly greeted them with a drunk annyeonghaseyo and a slight bow. They immediately took a shine to the drunk foreign girl who didn't speak any Korean and invited me to their apartment to drink some more mekju! Being the smart girl that I am I graciously accepted the invitation and went across the street from my house to party with some real Koreans. The rest of the night was filled with sticky notes stuck to our heads with our names written on them and our cellphone dictionary getting fully used. We sadly parted ways at 6am and I went and got 2 hours of sleep before I was woken up by my new friend Jungkil. We decided to go to lunch and watch the movie Avatar, which was GREAT! We had an ejoyable dinner of Burger King before the movie started. I was actually pretty happy because there's nothing like greasy food to help with a hangover. We spent all of lunch typing on our cellphone dictionaries to talk because I don't speak Korean and he doesn't speak English. But, it was still fun. So, over the next week we shared a few phone calls and text messages and then we decided to meet again last night. He picked me up at my apartment and we walked down the street to a nice chicken restaurant. We had some delicious spicy chicken and beer. Afterwards, we went back to my place where he did my dishes, cooked kimchi jjigae for me, and drank a lot of soju. After a few sojus we were feeling pretty loose so we put on some kpop and jammed out. I managed to get a little sleep last night! All I can say is that Korean sure can drink and they are very kind and patient. Jungkil is even studying English so that he can speak to me. I can tell that every time he calls me on the phone he's already practiced what he is going to say to me. I've never had someone that dedicated. I hope all Korean men are like this. If this keeps happening I'll never go home!

Weird Asian Remedies!

So I got my first case of the really bad flu here! You know the kind where you spend your whole night heaving, even when you have nothing left in your stomach. So, after a full night of abs workout, aka puking my guts out, I though I might want to call in sick to work. Luckily for me they let me take one hour off and it happened to be my break time! :-( So I spent the whole day with trips to the bathroom and time with my head down. I managed to teach some things but I got mostly taken advantage of today. The kids ran the show but I was in no mood to care.

The director's wife finally showed up in my room after she saw that I didn't eat with the rest of the teachers with some weird flu medicine, some kind of eggsalad sandwich, hot water to drink, and also some apple flavored milk! Who wouldn't want to take 4 horse pills and also eat an eggsalad sandwich when they can't even keep water down. Just the sight of the sandwich sent me reeling! Now lets talk about this apple flavored milk business! Who the hell would drink apple milk with an upset stomach, not to mention any other time?! I'll just let you know it's as gross as it sounds and tastes absolutely horrible coming back up!

However, I did get some amusement out of the day listening to what the kids told me I should do to get better. Normally in America it's drink fluids and get some rest. Well here I was told to drink cola and eat a lot of ramen! Just the thought of it is just gross! I did get a kid saying I should eat some squid or octapus but I think he just wanted to see me spew! I know, they all love me!

Well, until next time, that is if I make it!

New Year's Eve in Seoul

This had to be one of my best New Year's ever! I had so much fun. Well, I'll start from the beginning. It guess it all started when..............

The day was Monday when I called Jacob, a guy who I just met who also teaches here in Gwangju. It just so happens that he also graduated from UWEC! What a coincidence, hey?! Well, I was just seeing if he was planning on going out to the foreign bars on New Year's Eve but instead I was invited to join him and two other girl friends on their adventure to Seoul. I responded accordingly by saying "Heck yes I do!".

So we took the KTX train to Seoul, which only took 3 hours vs the 4 hour bus ride. It was actually very comfy! It's arranged like a plane, but of course thinner. There are only two seats on each side and it even has a food and beverage cart that goes up and down the isle. Once we got to Seoul we took the subway to our Hotel, which was right downtown. We were directly across from city hall. The hotel was wicked expensive. It was $300 a night for a one bed suit. Did you hear that? One bed for 3 girls and 1 boy! We all decided after we're lit-up we wouldn't care where we sleep, which turned out to be totally true.

We started the night out by having dinner. The place we went had a $100 buffet. I passed on that and instead had chicken curry, rice, and water for $23. It wasn't even that tastey! But the restaurant was beautiful. It had a sort of modern deco feel to it with very warm wood tones. After dinner we hit the local mart and bought some of Korea's finest soju. One bottle is about 20 cents American, I think. Anyways, 2 bottles is enough to get you really licked. We went to one of the girl's sister's house. She's an army wife. We had a nice family party until 5 or so of the young lieutenants showed up. We drank, took shots, and sang karaoke!

Afterwards, I left with the boys while the girls and Jacob went to enjoy the lights and fireworks. I hit up the bars. It was so much fun. I didn't pay for a drink the whole night and I didn't even pay for the subway or taxis either. Gosh, those guys are so nice. Anyways, we ended up staying out until 5:30 in the morning so we didn't have to worry much about sleeping. Jacob left at 5am to go back so I was left alone to make my way home. I had some trouble on the subway, it was hard finding the stop I needed to go to and I was given a faulty ticket. I actually had to leap over the turn styles and got yelled at. Then when I went to the train station they only had one ticket left for Gwangju that day and it was first class. So I had to fork over extra cash just to get home. I was really lucky because if I wouldn't have gotten that ticket I would have been stuck in Seoul with no place to stay.

Once back in Gwangju I had to wait 30 minutes for a taxi because there were so many people there. I happened to get in one where you risk your life. We ran more than 3 red lights, almost got hit by a bus, almost hit 3 other cars, and nearly ran over a person! I was hanging on for my dear, sweet life! I also got sick afterwards! Man, I'm really not as young as I used to be. I spent all of Friday, Saturday, and even Sunday sleeping trying to recover! I'm sad aren't I? But, it was totally worth it. I recommend Seoul for New Year's any time!

Well, until next time.