Happy Birthday Raswan!

I had to get up early today and do an errand in Hongdae.  Aftwards, I met up with Kevin and Shaun at the Hamilton Pool around 10am when it opened.  I arrived at the pool at 10:07am and there were at least ten other people there!  Kevin wanted to come to the pool during the week because he says the weekends are packed.  I can’t imagine what that would look like, since most empty spaces were full by noon.  Reardon joined us around noon.

The pool at 10:30am - nice and quiet.

The pool around 1:00pm.  Click on the photo to see the large size of this panorama.

These guys were interesting.  Three tan Korean guys with lots of tatoos, wearing thongs!  G-strings.  Banana hammocks.  Whatever you want to call them, it’s not right in any language.  It makes a Speedo look like a padded bra - theres nothing left to the imagination with thongs!  My small point and shoot camera couldn’t zoom so well, since they were on the other side of the pool.  So, these are the best pictures I got.

In this picture, it looks like the guy on the right is naked.  No, his ass was just hungry and decided to nibble on that thong he was wearing.

All in all, with it being my first time there, I had fun at the pool.  Kevin also brought yummy sandwiches to share.  This is Reardon thanking him by delicately putting sunscreen on his back.

Haha… I kid.  Below is a video I took at the pool, to give you a better feel of the place.  My toes make a cameo.

At this moment, Ras is a few hours away from landing in Portland, Oregon.  Three hours before his 11am flight, I drove him to the airport limousine bus stop in Sanbon.  What was supposed to be a one hour trip, took two hours!  By the time he arrived, they had closed the check-in counter and he wasn’t sure if he would be able to get on the plane.  Luckily, some strings were pulled and he was whisked away to a different part of the terminal, where he was able to check in.  The last text message I received from Ras was: “1st class from Seoul to Tokyo!  Hahaha!  No idea how, though…”

So, for the next six weeks, I have to cook for myself!  No, no, I kid (a little).  I’ll be working part-time, so hopefully the time will fly by.  This summer, I want to get in shape, de-clutter my life, take more photos, and explore more of Korea.

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I was sent this mass email today.  I’m sure this affects someone you know.

Recently, Kyunggido cops caught maybe around 1000 instructors who are working on tourist visas.

And while they were investigating, E2 instructors who are teaching in companies were caught as well.

In order to avoid such an incident, don’t wear backpacks or carry English text books in your hands.

I heard that the cops follow people from the subway station or wait for them in front of  the company.

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I enjoyed this old video of Tim Russert and Jon Stewart from 2004.

Last night, I got together with thirteen other girls for a “Sex and the City” party in Suwon.  I traveled with Kristy to Jenay’s apartment and we had appetizers and drinks before dinner.  I brought a shrimp ceviche that Ras made, while Kristy made hummus.  Mojitos and cosmopolitans were our drinks of choice.

After drinks, we walked across the street to have an dinner at the same Italian restaurant I went to for Christmas.

When dinner was done, we all headed up to the 6th floor CGV to watch “Sex and the City” together.  I tried to stay clear of reviews for the movie so I wouldn’t go into the theater with preconceptions.  To tell you the truth, the movie was surprisingly good.  Sure, it had a lot of brand name dropping, and was a little sappy, but that’s what I liked about the movie.  It was uncomplicated and fun.  Definitely a good girl movie.

While Kristy and I were in Suwon, the guys were having their own “Entourage” night.  Ras, Eddie, Jeremy, and Bart hit the town and I met up with them after returning from Suwon.  They definitely had their share of liquid fun.

My students took their final exams today, so I’m done with university classes until September.  I’ve still got to teach our university’s children camp in July, but that will be easy.  It’s four weeks, Monday through Thursday, 1 to 5pm.  I’ll take the opportunity to go workout at least five days a week, and get my fitness on.

After the exams tonight, most of the teachers went out for beer and chicken at “Mexicana Chicken”, near my apartment.  The last time I had “Mexicana Chicken” was when the World Trade Center collapsed!  At that time,  Ras and I were living in Gangneung, Gangwon-do, and we were waiting to pick up our chicken order at the restaurant.  The TV was on, and I saw some tall building with smoke billowing from the top.  The woman there spoke in broken English, telling us she had a sister in New York.  I didn’t know what the heck she was talking about, thinking she was just trying to make polite conversation because we told her we were American.  We didn’t think anything of it until our Korean friend called on Ras’ cell phone when we were almost out of the restaurant.  He said, “Turn on the TV, your country is under attack!“  WHAT!?!  We rushed home to find more information on the internet because we didn’t have a TV.  It was so surreal to be abroad when such a monumental event happened back home.  To this day, I still don’t think I have a full grasp on what happened because all my information was diluted through the internet.  I missed not having updates from the nightly news, investigative reports, in-depth stories about heroes from the event, or a constant stream of information.  I didn’t really “feel” it like Americans did at home, and I miss that.

Anyway, getting back to my topic…  Its been almost seven years since I’ve had Mexicana Chicken.  And let me tell you, it was delicious!

While there, we had a bit of a shock when an ajumma (older lady) decided to say hello.  Needless to say, she had a little too much to drink.

Now do you see why I always carry a camera with me?  You never know what life will throw at you, so be ready to capture it.

Since I’ve got a lot more free time now, I’m back to regular posting.  Check back often.