Greetings from Seoul. How are all of you doing? I, first and foremost, want to thank the brave seoul who became my first blog follower. So, thank you Jamie, now I at least feel like I am not writing this for only myself. I am still awaiting the first brave seoul to actually write a comment on one of my blogs. So everyone cheers to Jamie, you win the prize (sorry, Jamie you will probably not receive the prize for about 11 months but keep looking forward to that day, oh and also give Taylee a big hug for me). Moving on....

I am again at work on my three and a half hour break. I have decided that this will routinely be my blog time because I have absolutely nothing else to do. Earlier at work today I received my Alien Registration Card aka ARC Card ( I am not sure why there is a C when you actually say the word card, but that's neither here nor there). Turns out, my little brother was indeed correct all of these years, I am actually an alien. Props to you Joe, props to you.

I mention the ARC card because it is a big life changer for me, here in Korea. These are the things I can do with my ARC card that I could not do before: obtain a cell phone (this is not entirely true I actually got a working phone yesterday but I was circumventing (when pronouncing this word in your head please think of Jobe from Arrested Development) the law), I can get Internet at my house (again not entirely true, I have been stealing Internet from my neighbors but it is shitty and I can not accomplish the things I want to accomplish such as talking to my family on Skype), and lastly I can get cable. This is something I am not sure that I will actually purchase. Back in good ole Columbia I hadn't had cable for over a year so I am used to not watching television. But I do get bored in my studio (aka dorm room) style apartment sometimes, so I dunno.

Quick official business: For all of you that are just dying to hear my voice, download skype and as soon as I get non shitty Internet we can speak to each other for free. Also, as soon as I purchase a new computer that has a web cam you would be able to see my face when we talk. Totally exciting, right? My skype name is Jennifemagnew7

Anyways, I officially have the easiest job in the world. If any of you want to travel half way around the world and you have a degree, I highly recommend doing this for a year. I work Monday through Friday for seven hours a day. Each day I have two to four classes, each class is 70 minutes long. So the rest of the time I am in the teachers office making lesson plans (which literally takes 5-10 minutes for each class) and after that I just spend my time playing on the Internet. This job is such a breeze compared to my prior one, where I had to keep a smile on my face no matter how big of an asshole a customer was (for some reason also when I served tables my voice changed to this high pitched really annoying tone that I despised and I am so happy I never have to hear that here). Don't get me wrong I miss Flatbranch a lot but I am happy to be here

There is one fairly big problem with my job here. The won (Korean money) is doing horribly. So, when I wire money home to pay bills such as student loans I am actually losing money. So that blows a penis (kinda like the movie Transformer 3).

In my last blog I promised to tell of the best work banquet ever. So here goes.... The day before New Years Eve I get told that there is a work banquet the next morning and I need to be somewhere at 9:30am. Kind of upsetting to hear because I wasn't planning on having to work until three that day and I wanted to get a good nights sleep in, so that I could party all night long on New Years Eve. Obviously, I had my priorities straight. Also, I was a little upset because I get told about this the day before it was happening. Again, just a lack of communication from my company that leads to me being a bit disgruntled.

We arrive at the banquet around 10am (keep in mind that I do have to teach children later this same day, everyone at the banquet does). The whole room is set up similar to that of a wedding reception. There is a buffet, a stage, linen on the tables, and free booze. The center piece of each table was an array of drinks which ranged from soda to Soju (weak Korean vodka). Now, let me be clear, not everyone broke into the alcohol, however we did. Truthfully, most of the banquet I was extremely bored because the whole thing was in Korean. There were, however, two things that were amazing. 1. As you may have guessed, shots of Soju and 2. Five Koreans getting up on stage and reenacting the video for The Wondergirls song "Nobody". This is by far the most popular song in Korea by one of the two most popular bands in Korea, the other being Big Bang. I was going to put a link to the video but I got confused. So, you can YouTube it if you are at all interested. The picture at the top of this post is of the performance. It was amazing and I had the hugest smile on my face the entire time.

After downing a couple shots of Soju and a few bears I than had to go to work and teach children. I was smart enough to not get hammered, so the teaching part was fine. But I do think it is ridiculous that drinking was not only acceptable to do before going into work, it also was somewhat encouraged. This would never happen in America, especially if you are a teacher.

Well I am again tired of writing. I hope all is well with everyone. I love you.

Imagine Me Wrapping My Arms Around You!

So, I have recently been told that I have not been keeping up with my blogging in a timely manner. So I have a 3 and a half hour break at school today so I am going to update you on all of my crazy Korean adventures. There is, however, one problem with updating my blog at school and it is this: I can not spell check any of this because this computer's settings are all in Korean which makes doing anything on the computer fairly difficult. Therefore, there are going to be some mistakes. Sometimes I am just not the greatest speller, I am by no means the greatest typer, and truthfully I am too lazy to meticulously go through this entire blog and check for spelling and gramatical errors. My apologies.

Moving On. Let us begin with Christmas Eve. Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Well, except for the bedbugs that I am unsure if I have. Somewhere around Christmas Eve I found two sets of bug bites on my arm and my shoulder. I then proceeded to research these bites that I had encountered and the most promissing suspect was bedbugs. I don't know if you know anything about bedbugs but they are not easy to get rid of and I would have no idea where to even begin here in Korea. I have not yet been bitten since but supposedly they can go with out feeding for up to a year if they need to. But lets all just cross our fingers and hope that my bites were a fluke caused by some bug outside my apartment entirely.

On to a lighter note; the drunken dabauchery that was Christmas Eve. (Upon googling dabauchery to see if I spelt it right the definition said: "orgy; a wild gathering involving excessive drinking and promiscuity." Sorry to let you all down but the only words from that defintion that pertain to my Christmas Eve are "excessive drinking.") Anyways, on Christmas Eve I worked until ten and then began my evening by going out with some of my co-workers to a bar in my neighborhood called "The Wa Bar". This bar has a fairly wide selection of imported beers, so obvoiously my sort of place. However, the one beer I am craving the most and the one that I have yet to find in Korea they did not have (for those of you wondering I am looking for some sort of pale ale; anything with some hops, IPA anyone?). After "The Wa Bar", Burgundy and I headed to Itaewon, which is the foreign district in Seoul. I beleive we made it to a couple of bars there, but truthfully upon getting to Itaewon my memory gets a little fuzzy. Here's what I do remember: a non-stop drunken dance party to many of my favorite Christmas songs that lasted all night long. In case you are wondering my favorite of all the songs and the one I remember most is "All I want for Christmas is You". The night ended with the sunrise around 7am, taking the subway home, singing Christmas carols in the subway station with Doug and Burgundy (which I nor Burgundy remembered until watching the video of us doing this and of all the Koreans going to work looking at us like we were crazy) and finally passing out in my hopefully bugless bed.

Christmas Day: After the excessive partying of Christmas Eve I was in no shape to have an eventful Christmas day. I woke up around 2 or 3 with a splitting headache, then layed in my bed and watched "Arrested Development" (thank you for that Crader) for a couple hours. Burgundy and I then decided to go get dinner at Outback Steakhouse. Yes, I, the once vegertarian the now pescatarian ate at an Outback Steakhouse for the first time in at least 5 years. It was actually satisfying, it was good to have some food that resembled American food after being here for a few weeks. After dinner, Burgundy and I went and saw a movie, "The Day the Earth Stood Still". I would not recomend this movie to anyone in the States but it was enjoyable nonetheless. That night I went home, turned out all the lights and watched, "It's a Wonderful Life", the epitome of all Christmas movies. It was a bit depressing to watch it all by lonesome and not sitting next to my mom, but it also made it feel like it was actually Christmas.

Well, I was going to write about my New Years Eve because it started at 10am with the greatest work banquet I have ever attended (Make sure when reading you highlight banquet because it would never compare to The Flat Branch Picnic or Prom). But, I am tired of writing for now so it will just be saved for next time.

I love and miss you all so so much. Imagine me wrapping my arms around you.