DON'T BUY SONY!!!!

My computer sucks...I am here and now declaring it unto the world. I have had it barely more than a month and already, the webcam doesn't work, the USB ports sometimes don't recognize that there's anything in them, the fan makes a horrible whirring sound, and to top it all off sometimes it just won't turn on. I paid a buttload of money for this stupid thing and it's already falling apart. I am really not happy about this.

Then I almost went postal on the lady at customer support, I know it wasn't her fault, but basically Sony will only service my computer in the US becuase I don't have international warranty coverage, because despite the fact that I told the stupid sales people at Best Buy that I would be using the computer in South Korea, they never mentioned that I would need international coverage to validate my warranty abroad. So I have to send my computer to CA then have them send the computer to my parents, then I have to have my parents waste 100 dollars to ship it back to me. I am almost tempted to use the stupid thing until it dies, then buy a new one here. Definitely not a Sony. After the 200 dollars worth of shipping, it would only be about 500 dollars more to just buy a new machine. Oh the rage...

My internal bleeding...

"I sometimes have a queer feeling with regard to you- especially when you are near me, as now: it is as if I had a string somewhere under my left ribs, tightly and inextricably knotted to a similar string in the corresponding quarter of your little frame. And if that boisterous Channel, and two hundred miles or so of land come broad between us, I am afraid that cord of communion will be snapped; and then I've a nervous notion I should take to bleeding inwardly. As for you-- you'd forget me."

Edward Fairfax Rochester
-Jane Eyre Charlotte Bronte

Pippi Longstocking is Universally Loved...

I wore pigtails when I went to work today and at least three Korean children called me Pippi as I walked past them. I thought of all the things that would be lost when I left the English speaking world, that would be one of them, but apparently the Pippi taunts are going to haunt me the rest of my life. So, I'm still not enjoying Korea as much as I would like to. I don't know if I'm a freak or what, but I just don't enjoy being stared at and pointed at and laughed at behind my back. The Korean people are very kind when they know you, but they aren't very subtle about their disdain or their curiosity. I'm tired of being the center of attention every time I just walk down a street. I really should have invested in a good hat.

I went out with some people from work tongiht. It was pretty fun. I had some lemonade and watched half of the people I work with get completely wasted. Fun, fun, fun. This week at work has been pretty good. I actually got to start teaching classes, so that was fun. I made friends with a few girls in one of the classes, one of which cried when I had to go home. It was really cute. They had fun trying to teach me some Korean words while I tried to teach them English. It was pretty fun. I tried some decent Korean food this week. I'm trying some things. I'm too tired to keep making sense...

Holy Buttload of Asians

So you always hear about how over-crowded Asia is. Everyone's like "oh look at China and it's billion people." But you never really take it seriously until you are crammed on a subway train with the entire population of Korea, and you can't breath or you will vomit from the overwhelming smell of Korea, which your stomach has not yet adjusted to. I think my two biggest complaints about Korea are that it's dirty and it smells funny. I understand the overcrowding. Korea is kind of a small place and because it can't learn to get along with its sister (North Korea) the there is no where for them to expand to. So the fact that they just keep building on top of things that are already there is only because they have no where else to go.

But it does smell funny. I read about the Korean red pepper paste before I came here, but I had no idea to what extent the Koreas love their paste. The whole country reeks of it. The other day, I went to a sushi place with a couple people, I didn't get anything because my stomach and I still weren't speaking at the time, but it gave me ample time for observation. At most restaurants in the states, you'll find ketchup bottles, salt, pepper, and maybe some fake sugar on the table, at this restaurant, there was a HUGE bottle of red pepper paste, which any American would probably mistake for ketchup, (they would get quite an unpleasant surprise with that one), a tub of Kimchi, and a bucket of chop sticks. Which I am actually getting pretty good at using.

Speaking of chop sticks, friday night I worked the late shift at school, which had me working from 1-9. This meant I got to help out at dinner. Dinner on friday was an attempt at an American meal. They tried to make chicken patties, and some form of pasta, and rice of course. But western night meant that the chop sticks were put away for the evening. It was incredibly amusing to watch the children trying to eat with forks. They had no idea what to do. They were taking their forks and their soup spoons and trying to use them like chop sticks. It made my night.

Today I went on an adventure to Seoul. This was where I realized that not all of Korea is dirty and ugly like Incheon. Incheon has it's good points, but it is not a pretty city...well, basically it's ugly. Anywho. I took the subway down town in search of an LDS church. When I got off the subway, rising before me was a huge royal palace from the 1300s. It was beautiful. I walked around it, very impressed. Then went into the museum next door, realized I was too tired to be in a museum, went back outside, and happened to be there just in time for the changing of the guards. Sadly there were no fuzzy hats, but there were some pretty awesome swords, and axe-type things.

I found church saw some cool Asian things, basically I had a decent exhausting day and I think I'm ready for bed. Although, it's barely past nine. I am very lame.

KOR-Ea

I have arrived safely in the land of Kimchi. I am exhausted nauseous and feeling somewhat violated from my medical checkup this morning. The people at work were nice and I would write more about it, but I am so exhausted from my day and from jet lag, that all I want to do is put on a movie and fall into bed, so I think that's what I am going to do. Here are some highlights from my first 24 hours in Korea.

1. My first taxi ride: What I learned, Taxi drivers in Korea are insane. They drive like maniacs, instilling much fear into their foreign passengers, which is compounded by the fact that taxis here have no seat belts.

2. Korean doctors, very efficient, I had about 10 medical tests done in 45 min: height, weight, eye exam, hearing exam, drug test, HIV test, urine sample, Some heart scan thingy, dental exam, medical history check, blood pressure, chest X-ray. Ya, it was really comprehensive and it didn't take very long. Apparently medical care here is really cheap too, maybe I should go get my foot x-rayed after all.

3. People are pretty nice. Everyone I have met has been so nice. Taking it upon themselves to make me feel so welcome here. Some annoying things have happened, and I've been nervous and shocked by all the different things, but everyone has worked really hard to make me feel welcome.

4. IT'S BLOODY COLD!!! My first night all I had was the small blanket I brought with me, but now I have a comforter, and big thick one, so I will be warm tonight. It's kind of funny because the comforter is a lot shorter than an american one would be...I wonder why that is...teehee

Okay, I am tired and going to pass out now.