Today I feel like an official resident of Korea.
Is it because I have tried more than twenty different kinds of kimchi? No. Is it because I have gotten black out drunk on soju, and stumbled out of the nori bang at dawn? No. It's not even because I have received my first dong-chim by a seven year old--I have just relieved myself using a squatting toilet.
It's Saturday again, and I am not in Seoul again. I have drunk to much alcohol again. I have drunkenly flirted to no ultimate conclusion again. I have lost another kilo, and gotten a little bit tougher again. I have endured another week of classes and have broken another shit student again. I have somehow avoided punching Tim Zasly in the face yet again. All-in-all, it has been a pretty normal week, with one or two notable exceptions.
Most importantly I have joined an MMA gym. I have paid two months in advance. I am still doing yoga and running in the mornings. I can do pull ups now, and I've put two new holes in my belt. It feels good. Babysitting a bunch of kids that treat you with zero respect because you're a foreigner is excellent motivation for beating the shit out of a punching bag until your arms refuse to function.
We have a new Korean teacher at the school and she is cute! Actually, we are a pretty good-looking group of teachers over at Beyond Advanced. Unfortunately, dating within the school is taboo. It's actually in our contracts that we cannot date other employees. Interestingly, the contracts are not legally binding in any way, at least for us foreigners. Also, the job security for foreign teachers is pretty good. We would have to mess up hard to get fired. One of my predecessors was a fat, lazy stinky American that put zero effort into teaching, but instead of firing him, the powers that be merely gave him less responsibility.
Allegedly, though, it's not such a light matter for the Korean teachers. Greg told me a story about how another one of my predecessors dated a Korean co-teacher, and the powers that be responded by firing her (the Korean co-teacher). Once in a while I run into the Korean kindergarten teacher I was hitting on after sports day (I'm refusing to use caps here out of malice), and she smiles but never stays to talk.
Brady is getting lonely. But he hears that in Seoul, it's easier for lonely westerners to get pretty Korean girl friends. Alas, the timing isn't right quite yet.
Ah, this is noteworthy: I've decided to embrace Korean culture and buy a scooter. I can buy a 100 cc scooter, and ride it without a license (or a helmet, incidentally), and, for a good one, it will only cost me 700,000. With what I am paying in cab fare, it should pay for itself by December.
In other news, I have allowed one of my few good friends in Tongyeong access to the blog. I figure I can let one person read, and if shit gets back to me, then at least I will know who to throw in the river. ;)
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