On the way back from Kangneung, we dropped by Jenay’s for a small dinner party she was throwing.  As always, whenever there’s food at Jenay’s it’s always delicious.  It was a nice way to end a long weekend away.

Speaking of hagwon days, I recently found my old PDA (Palm Treo) and imported my schedule to iCal.  Most of my time has been accounted for, except for a large missing chunk from August 2007-February 2008.  This was probably the time I felt a PDA wasn’t cutting it and just stopped using it.  Then I bought my 32GB iPod Touch in March 2008 and I’m back to being organized again!

So, I was looking back at my schedule in 2004, when I was working at a hagwon in Gangneung (Gangwon-do).  I know it sounds ridiculous to say, but I can’t imagine working a 30 hour work week again.  I’m so used to taking it easy with 18 hours and having two days off.  (In comparison, Raswan works 12 hours a week!)

This is me, kicking my own ass.  There’s lots to say and lots of pictures to show, but I’m one lazy girl when it comes to writing.  I’ve never been good at it, and that’s probably why I don’t blog more constantly, even though I really want to.  Here’s to more constant updates.

Recently, we had another night of bowling in Suwon.  Curtis came down from Seoul and joined us for our excursion.  As usual, we had a wee bit of alcohol during our games.  Throwing heaving balls while intoxicated may not be the best idea in other situations, but in this one, it was perfect.  Alcoholic consumption was done very discreetly with Kim’s Club paper cups, rum in a tea bottle, and Coke Zero.  I don’t think you could tell what we were doing, but the Koreans that did look over probably wondered why we drank so much Coke.  Our anju (side dish accompanying alcoholic beverages) was a box of fried chicken snacks.  They crunchy, made in the shape of little drumsticks and tasted like fried chicken, without the bone!  Surprisingly, they are pretty realistic tasting.  The last time I had these were 3+ years ago.  It was a nice throwback to my hagwon days when kids gave me snacks with their dirty little fingers, I smiled and pretended to save then for later, only to throw it away when they weren’t looking.

Afterward, we topped off the night with dinner around midnight.

The long weekend came and went, and now I’m back at work.  This is how I spent my time:

Friday:  I don’t work on Fridays anyway.  Friday night was spent on Reardon’s Hongdae rooftop as he barbecued for Barbara, Ras, and myself.  We had bratwurst, homemade sauerkraut, smoked mussel spread, salad, and wine.  Delicious.  After dinner, we went out in Hongdae and met up with Kevin and Eun-hee.

Saturday:  Ras and I took a quick trip to Myeong-dong and went to the new Zara store.  The store wasn’t open yet, but Zara was full of people admiring the new shop.  The clothes are similar to a Forever 21 Banana Republic, but a bit edgier.  I didn’t spend too much time shopping for myself, since we had a picnic to go to at 2pm.  Instead, we headed upstairs and looked for things in the men’s department.  Ras has a really hard time shopping in Korea because he’s taller and bigger than most Korean men.  Plus, he has really long arms, so shirts don’t normally fit.  There were some nice jackets, but even XL was a little too small.  The salespeople informed us that Zara made XXL sizes, but didn’t carry it in Korea.  In the end, Ras picked up a couple sweaters for the fall.

Around 2:00pm, we arrived at Kevin’s in Sinchon for a rooftop barbecue.  (You see a trend here?)  Good food was had by all as we enjoyed the warm sun and cool breezes.

Sunday:  Hung out at home (since everything was closed) and watched Prison Break, Fringe, Entourage, and the Saturday Night Live with Michael Phelps.

Monday:  A drive to Costco.  Due to the holiday, the roads were empty and we made it to the Yangjae Costco in 20 minutes.  It’s usually a 35 minute drive.

That brings us back to this week.  I work Tuesday and Thursday, and have Wednesday and Friday off.  So, the weekend is just around the corner - can’t wait!

Cirque du Soleil Alegria is coming to the Seoul on October 15th, 2008.  15 tickets have been bought for Saturday, November 8th.  More about the show can be read here.  This is where we’re sitting - eight seats in row H, and seven in row I.  I can’t wait!