Continued....

Going to add a bit to that entry about Norebang and laryngitis (e.g., the whole tribute to the Chicago Trib advice column)

Don't be impatient with the samgyeopsal. It will be just as good if allowed to cook that extra necessary minute - plus, you will avoid the week of not being able to keep anything down.

Korean boys are just as untrustworthy as American boys.

Clean your tiny apartment. It'll look bigger. Making your bed on a daily basis helps with this, too - especially if your place is all one room.

Despite the fact that being a hagwon teacher is an extension of college/the frat party, try not to get totally wasted every weekend. Your skin will thank you. As will your stomach and your brain.

Related to the above, find a sober hobby.

Scooter drivers don't play dodge-the-person - they play Red Rover. You will lose. Sidewalks are not just for people.

Get lost in Lotte - preferably during free sample time. The workers will be entertained that you come back for more - be sure to smile each time.

Leave your hair dryer at home. They sell them at E-Mart and Lotte for the same price as a power converter. They also sell hair straighteners, and every skin and hair product known to man. Seriously - save the suitcase room for sheets and pillows.

Bring your own pillows.

Don't censor your music collection. Out here, it's not only okay, it's actually kind of cool to like bad American pop.

After the laryngitis, go back to norebang. Be sure to choose one of those terrible American pop songs. Belt it without shame - we both know you know the lyrics ;).

But, seriously, wait until the laryngitis is *over*

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This weekend brought a few lessons, and a whole lot of awesomeness. Finally met up with a few people I've been talking to for various periods of time. The first was a knitting group of foreign teachers. They showed me this one expensive yarn shop (totally forgot the location, which is probably a good thing), and then the Dongdaemun Market. Bought some of the ugliest yarn for 2000 KRW a ball and plan on making insanely awesome fingerless gloves with it :D. Also bought some very expensive, but very pretty, yarn that will also become a pair of fingerless gloves.

Left the group for lunch with Tim, which is always a great time. This time, we discussed how, thanks to CNBlue, Koreans know how to start counting in English. Unfortunately, also thanks to CNBlue, they run the risk of thinking that the number that comes after 7 is "tonight". Seriously, on behalf of Tim and The Beck, ask a Korean what comes after 7 - they will tell you either 1, "tonight", or "to nine". I hate that I love that song.

Ended the day with round two of meet-a-stranger-I-met online - in a much less creepy sounding intro, I finally met Chris! To the family members who are probably reading this and worried that I am meeting strangers from the internet, don't worry - he's a Chungdahm teacher whom I started talking with before I left America while I was reaching out to people over there who weren't serial killers. We did a few loops around Hongdae (I have yet to actually go clubbing in that place despite having been there a few times) and went to a fantastic chicken galbi place for dinner that was much cheaper than the one in Suji. We decided that May 15 is going to be our America day, which we will spend (appropriately) in Itaewon (Land of English menus, XL sizes, and corn-free pizza :)).

Actually, we need to discuss that link that I just snuck in there: Roketship is this fantastic webcomic done by an American teacher in Korea. Everything that man has written is so true about this place: the kids are insanely busy with academies, they complain about being hot but won't take off their jackets, there are trucks that drive around making apocalypse-sounding announcements but are really just advertising sales, and the weirdest things come packaged together at grocery stores (today it was chapstick and cream cheese). Also, gun-line-square-batman-sideways t-batman equals not only lunch, but also dinner :). I was so inspired that I emailed the guy and told him about "shiver" popping up on my Memory class's vocabulary list (pretend you're a Korean 6th grader...now say it....yeah, that's exactly what they said, too ;)).