Hurrah, the earth did that nifty spinny axis thing, and tomorrow is once again Friday. I am a little worried, I am going to be an old lady, and call it an early evening tomorrow, as Marty and I are planning to do some sight seeing in Gyeongju Saturday and he says I need to be up and ready to depart at 8am. On a Saturday. 8.A.M. That's fine though. I will get my culture on and see wondrous sights. Like a temple or something.
Over the last week or so I have been learning a lot. I have learned that tiny Korean children will ask anything, like "Do you have a boyfriend?" "No." "Do you have a girlfriend?" "Ummmmm, what? No. I don't, wait, is that what you meant to say?" I have a perfect accent... according to the teachers I can barely understand sometimes, and when every one around you is speaking Korean, you can use that time to think about the best way to arrange your socks. Korean dance clubs are the silliest place on earth (more on that in a moment), and lighthouse museums are never interesting. Oh yeah, I also learned that cocoon is foul. Never eat cocoon.
Last weekend a bunch of the westerners went out on Saturday night. I bought a sword with flashy lights and sound effects on the beach. I think I will name it Discolabur. I love the sword and if my classes are good, I might bring it in for them to play with. Probably not though, as that would mean sharing, and I don't want to share the sword. That was the first highlight of the evening. The next was when we left the beach and eventually ended up at the worlds weirdest dance club. Here is how a Pohang disco seems to work: You walk into a giant ballroom fitted out with high walled circular booths. You are led to a booth by an usher. You sit down in your booth/room. Then the dj says something and everyone gets up to go to the dance floor. The girls dance on one side, the boys on the other, as if it were middle school. The songs are constantly interrupted by the djs who will actually stop the music to talk. You dance for about 10 minutes and then the dj tells everyone to sit down. You go back to your booth and as if by magic there is fruit and drink waiting for you. You rest for about 5 minutes and then it is time to dance again. Oh, and everyone seems to know the same dance moves to each song, giving the whole thing a weird teen flick feel. Oh!!! AND I started a new Korean dance move. Ha! I am truly a dancing queen. Normally, I would rather just sit at a bar and talk to my friends, but this place was totally worth it, as it was nuts.
I am going to get in my way back machine and mention Friday night for a bit. Friday night was cocoon eating night. It was totally disgusting, like eating crunchy bile. Pre-cocoon, I went out with the teachers at my school. I was driven into the woods, where I thought I would surely die, fed a traditional meal of meat cooked on the table and shoved into various leaves, (really good), and soju. After we all went to nori ban (like karaoke) where I lost all respect for myself and sang Karma Chameleon. Yeah, that happened. Luckily, as with the night following, I managed to impress my coworkers with my mad dance skills. I think this must be the Korean version of the footloose town and they have never seen dancing before. Anyhow, now they call me Dancing Queen and I sort of love them for it.
Ok, now we jump forward in time (sorry, I am exhausted so this is going to be stream of conscious style) to Sunday. I got home on Sunday morning around 4:30 am. My co-teacher and her husband came over at noon to hang a bar in my closet. Next thing I knew I was in their car and we were going for sushi. That's cool, I like sushi AND free lunch. After lunch my co-teacher says, "We are going to Sunrise Park, call Marty, he can come too." "Oh dear, I am being kidnapped, but at least Marty will be along for the ride," thought I. We swing by the beach, get Marty, and off we go up a windy and nausea inducing road. Thankfully the scenery was worth the trip, and we got to see the first place the sun rises on New Year's day. It was gorgeous. And I thought all I was getting that day was a new rod for my closet. Thanks Korea and all your dynamism.
There is more to write, but I was out late at an expat meeting last night and I am ready to go home, watch some Legend of the Seeker (almost always on, and always in English.) and go to bed.
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