You had to be there... always a great way to begin a story...

(I wrote this post over a week ago and then being the true procrastinator that I am, I didn't post it.  So this Saturday that I'm talking about was on March 21st.  Sorry for the delay.) Alright people have been clamoring for more blog posts or emails (and when I say people, I mean my mom) and since I can kill two birds with one stone with a blog post, updating the masses and my mom all in one fell swoop, I will finally write a blog post.  It will be long.  And I will attempt to do the impossible:  I will try to recount a "you had to be there" story which never works out well for anyone.  But it was a hilarious occurrence, and I wish you were there to witness it.  So carry on my wayward reader, and if you'd like, you can skip down a few paragraphs to the hilarious/scary/entertaining "you had to be there" incident.  My weekend started off on a dull note.  I was not feeling great all week, on account of the yellow dust I believe, (by the way, I'm blaming everything that happens in the next month on yellow dust), so I took a nap after school and did not wake up.  Well, that sounds a bit morbid, I did wake up, just not until about 2:00 am and I realized my Friday night was shot so I went back to sleep.  Luckily I woke up rested and refreshed Saturday morning ready for a day o' fun.  I started the day with a pot of coffee.  Then I felt like it was a good idea to grab a Starbucks coffee on the way to meet my friends Julie and Jen at the subway.  I tell you I have never had such a caffeine buzz, it made the day a lot funnier for me than most.  Julie, Jen and I headed into Itaewon on Saturday afternoon.  For some reason we had a problem with a transfer at one of the subway stations, and while we were trying to find the correct train, we were assaulted by a crazy man.  We were walking up some stairs and this crazy man threw something at Julie and me.  Being that my senses were slightly heightened (i.e. the seven cups of coffe I had just consumed) I ducked and covered my head like he was throwing a grenade at us.  I don't think it was anything more than a piece of paper, but since I was already jumpy, it scared me a little bit.  Then crazy man stood up close to Jen and waved his arms in front of her face.  That was the first instance of crazy for the day, but it would not be the last.  (You like that foreshadowing right there?  Yeah, I should probably be a novelist or something.)  It was a nice little Saturday.  We did a little shopping in Itaewon.  We got coffee (yes, that's now eight cups of coffee I drank, for those of you keeping track), went to the English bookstore "What the Book" (best bookstore in Seoul I would argue because they have new and used books).  Sidenote--I have an addiction to buying books, I can't leave a bookstore without buying at least one book, whether I'll read it or not.  My bookshelves at home are full with books that I haven't read yet.  Anyway, we also went to an Indian buffet where I stuffed myself silly with samosas, hummus, and the like.   Afterwards we met up with some other friends and played some darts at an Irish pub in Itaewon.  We then made our way to Hongdae to attend a benefit concert of local bands playing Beatles covers.  Overall it was a good time.   Around 3:00 am Julie and I decided to catch a cab back to Incheon.  Now sometimes the cab ride from Seoul to Incheon can be a bit pricey so we often stay out until 6:00 am to catch the first bus back to Incheon.  But Julie and I had had a full day, so we decided to split a cab to a central location in Incheon (Bupyeong) and then each take cabs back to our own apartments.  So we found a cab driver who had a meter and he was willing to use it.  Often cab drivers will try to cheat foreigners by not running the meter and then charging whatever they please.  The driver drove us to Bupyeong, I paid him what was on the meter and Julie and I got out of the cab to catch different cabs to our apartments.  As soon as we got out of the cab, the cab driver ran out after us yelling in Korean.  He ran over to us and started screaming in our faces.  At one point he grabbed my wrist, and I screamed.  Then Julie tried to kind of push him away.  He continued to yell at us in Korean.  I think I may have even gotten into a tae kwon do stance ready to punch him or something, I don't really know what I was thinking.  There was a large group of people standing around watching this scene.  Finally, Julie and I both tried to get into separate cabs to head home.  Julie's cab took off and mine was about to, when the crazy cab driver opened up my door and started yelling to my new cab driver.  My new cab driver then told me to get out of the cab.  I got into the next cab.  Again, the crazy cab driver opened up my door and started yelling at the new cab driver.  He told me to get out of the cab too.  Finally I got into a third cab and he was willing to take me.  I was a bit worried that I wasn't going to be able to find a cab driver to drive me home.  Julie and I still aren't quite sure what the problem was, but we definitely caused in a scene in the middle of Bupyeong with many people watching.  It was a bit scary but also incredibly funny in that "is this actually happening right now?" kind of way.  So that's my "you had to be there story" and really you did, but just imagine a short Korean man screaming in Korean while we yelled back in English and then screaming and then I almost brought out my tae kwon do moves.  That's exactly how it was.

Bushy! and how I appear to be an alcoholic...

Last week we began a new school year.  Because my school is new, they add a new grade of students each year.  So I am now teaching a new batch of tenth graders and then the eleventh graders I had last year.  Being here six months made me forget the celebrity status I enjoyed back in September.  But last week brought it all back for me with a new crew of students.  God love 'em all.  They are hilarious.   Because they are so curious about me, I give them about twenty minutes of our first class together to ask me any questions they would like about me.  Some of my favorites included: "What do you think of the Free Trade Agreement between Korea and the United States?" Uhhh... what?  "What is your phone number?"  "Are Korean students or American students more handsome?"  And this was a popular one:  "Bushy or Obama?"  (meaning do I prefer Bush or Obama as president).  Sidenote:  In Korean, all words end with a vowel sound, so most Koreans put an "uh" or "ey" sound on the ends of their words.  My favorite is when they call George Bush "George-uh Bush-y".  Most of my students are obsessed with Obama.  I'm not entirely sure why because they actually don't know that much about him.  Another favorite of mine: one of my students asked me, "Do you like beer?" Peter quickly responded, "Yes, she likes beer very VERY much!" Thanks Peter, make me out to be a drunk.  But as I've mentioned before, drinking does not have the same stigma it does in the U.S. so the students thought nothing of Peter's emphatic answer. After I told one class that I liked K-pop (Korean pop music) one of the boys got down on his knees begging me to sing a song.  He then started chanting "Sing Sing Sing" until all the other boys chimed in.  I did not subject the students to that torture though, so I did not sing for them.  Anyway, with a two month break from most of my students I forgot what an adventure teaching high school Korean boys is.  I love it.

Since I'm on the topic of Korean pop culture...

Here are a couple songs that I can't escape right now (and why would I want to?) because they're everywhere in Korea.

Big Bang: Haru Haru:

Girls Generation: Gee

Ah, I can't help but love K-pop.

Boys Before Flowers

You may have noticed my lack of blogposts lately.  There are many factors that contribute to my lack of posts.  One of the reasons may be my new obsession.  That new obsession would be Korean TV, specifically a show called "Boys Before Flowers".  My dear friend Chrissy recently referred me to a website that has Korean dramas with English subtitles called MySoju.com.  

"Boys Before Flowers" reminds me a little of "Gossip Girl" with a very Korean twist.  Sure there are cheesy moments and stupid sound effects, but I would expect nothing less from a Korean TV show.  Also, there are four attractive Korean men that are known as "F4" in the show.  Here they are:

Now those are some sexy Koreans, no?  They'll definitely keep me watching.  So if you're wondering what I'm up to on a Monday or Tuesday night, I'm most likely catching up on "Boys Before Flowers".  

I also found this gem of a video of Lee Min Ho who plays the lead male in "F4" when I was googling the show (okay, I may have a problem).  The poor guy fell on the red carpet recently.  He looks rather embarrassed  but still attractive nonetheless: