world's biggest slacker

yep, that must be me, because i think i somehow completely lucked out at got the world's easiest job. yes, it can be stressful- there are a few kids who just won't chill out, but when monday rolls around i fully intend on sending them out of the room next time they act up. apparently a trip to the vice-principal is the big threat around here.

today was the last day of summer vacation, which means this monday we go to the regular schedule. i got my schedule yesterday, and i almost choked when i saw my hours. the earliest i start work is 4 pm on wed and fri, but then i start at i think 4:45 on tues and thurs and 5:30 on monday. and i finish mon wed fri at 8:30 pm and at 6:50 on tues thurs. so my longest day is only 4 and a half hours. seriously, that's crazy. i only have 23 classes a week, and each class is less than an hour so i'm not even working 23 hours. granted i still have to come in a half hour before i start, but that's cake. basically i'm being paid full-time for a part-time job. i have plenty of time to enjoy the day, and then time if i want to go out at night.

speaking of going out... it's friday night. i still have yet to see what korea is really notorious for. i hear they can easily drink americans under the table, i'm sure they could even take the clark brothers who never quite got out of college-mode. anyways, i told johnny i needed to see the night life, so apparently we're planning on going out tomorrow night- maybe to j-rock... "the most popular foreigner bar in daejeon." and speaking of j-rock, i finally met justin today, which means i've now met all 4 of the foreign teachers. he's the one who owns j-rock and works part time at the school. turns out he's from new york- went to high school in oneida and graduated from oneonta. oh yeah, and i'm definitely the youngest teacher here, which kind of surprised me. i think all 4 of the foreign teachers are around 30, maybe a little younger. well, i know johnny's age, fred is married and i think he's around that age, and justin graduated college in 96, but i'm not sure about nial. which makes me not only the new teacher, but the youngest too.

i was thinking the other day about how fast this time is going. when i was getting ready to go to guatemala, it seemed like such a huge thing that i would be there for three weeks. granted life was a little bit tougher there, but now that i've been here for three weeks i think "oh wow, it's like guatemala's over with." and i still feel like i just got here.

i still suck at the language. and i really better to learn how to count money soon. or at least be able to recognize the numbers... because sooner or later some shop worker is gonna take advantage of me. i wanted to buy a flowerpot today so i could dissect a flower in my science class and then have the rest of the flowers to bring home. i took 30,000 won out of the atm because i had no clue how expensive it was going to be. at the flower shop, i asked the man how much a plant was and i thought he said 40,000. then i asked him if there was anything for 30,000 and gave him the money. he looked at my bills and said "noooooo" and just took a 10,000 won bill. turns out it was only 4,000 won. yes, i almost tried to pay for a $40 plant when it was actually 4,000.

the foreign language director is very nice. i came in this morning with my flowers and she ooh-ed and aah-ed as i walked to my desk. she came over and said "very beautiful- they are korean flower." i think she thought they were to make my desk look nice, so i said "for science class" and she thought that was cool. then she came over (i was at the computer) and couldn't get over my necklace. "very unique." i told her my mother got it for me. she said "oh pretty necklace and pretty face." then she asked how i was doing here. i said fine, i like the school a lot. she said, "i worry for you." i tried to convince her she didn't need to worry, i was perfectly happy. which i think made her happy. felt like a genuine barney moment. not to mention, she brought me kimbap on wednesday morning. yum.

those iv people are multiplying, i swear. i've since seen two women and two other men hanging around outside attached to their liquid goodness. i hope they're not contagious. i really wish i had a digital camera so i could take a picture of them.

in other news, here are some more random thoughts. i was watching friends before i came over here, and ross, joey, and chandler were eating a pizza. it looked incredible. while the food here is very good, i just know i'm not gonna get good pizza for a while. on the plus side, because the food is lower in fat, i've lost a few pounds. kind of funny how i was running about 6 or 7 miles a day over the summer, then i come here and haven't ran at all, eat a lot more, and i've lost some weight. but i am definitely doing a lot of walking and standing, which i think has a lot to do with it. i've heard that most people lose weight when they come over here. just surprised me because i've been eating almost whole boxes of snack cakes in one sitting. nice, huh?

also, i thought i'd mention this out of bitterness and jealousy. it's always great when you're out of the country and you hear that your friend got to sit in conan o'brien's chair. thanks a lot arthur for rubbing it in my face on my blog. now see if i send you anything korean.

i got my package from my mom. i was pretty surprised to see it sitting on my desk, she only sent it last week and i thought it would take a few weeks. along with my shoes she sent some clean shower, thai noodles (ironic), my tiger from "grandpa ray" and a note from cheri foster, pat hebert, jan o'rourke, dayna greico, and michelle culver. pretty nice.

kate is in zambia now. which means 3 out of the 4 of us from trailer 13 are in different countries. katherine, you're slacking- and you were always the most asian out of all of us. if you're not working at jazz times, then you should move to antarctica with your penguins.

that's really all i've got for now... go asian or go home.