the curse of the shoe gods

i don't know what i did to offend the powers that be, but the shoe gods have really had it out for me since my arrival. my feet now have blisters galore from my daily treks in my ballet shoes and those cursed dr. scholl's which were supposed to help my feet, not make them even more bloody. even my trusty boots created some mini blisters.

the only shoes i still had faith in were my cheap old navy flip flops... and even they're starting to give out on me. case in point: i was on my merry way to work 2 days ago, grooving to the rolling stones, feeling pretty good. stumbled about five feet forward, looked at my feet to see what was wrong (because obviously they have a mind of their own). my left flip flop was folded under itself... turned out the thong part of the shoe came out. miraculously that day i just so happened to think that my dr. scholl's shoes would go better with my outfit, so i had them stored in my big black bag. i must have looked like mary poppins to anyone who was looking at the stupid foreigner who couldn't retain her balance and was pulling a new pair of shoes out of her bag. yep, i even had an umbrella in there. so after a quick change of shoes on the sidewalk, i continued my journey to school.

and now let's jump ahead two days, to yesterday. i was wearing my dr. scholl's at school, and i was walking on the tiled floor. my right shoe was making a scraping sound, and giving some unwanted resistance in my stride. i went back to my desk to check it out, and lodged into the bottom of my shoe was a nail. at this point, i really began to contemplate all of the problems that my feet have given me since i've been in korea, and i've come to the conclusion that some divine force does not want me here. i took this nail as some sort of threat... "if you don't leave now, your actual foot will be next." side note: i have since repaired my old navy flip flops- popped the thong part back in and i'm good to go.

yes, i have just wasted a good part of my day writing about shoes. nothing like killing time on a lazy saturday. what else is new, you ask? well i guess i never really wrote about my trip last weekend. not much to talk about... went to muju ski resort with 5 teachers, 4 of which were koeran. result: a lot of konglish conversation. didn't see anything touristy because we got there probably around 8:30 when it was dark. they made dinner, we drank, went to bed early in the morning, and were out a little after noon. not really the trip i had in mind, but it beat staying in the city. the view of the mountains on the trip home was great though, and it really made me want to do some real sight-seeing (strange- i've been here 5 weeks now and still haven't seen much).

i got paid 2 days ago, nice to have money again. i finally got to pay my utilities and phone bill (yeah they were both late, but thankfully no electricity, hot water, or cable was turned off). took a few trips running around to figure out where i had to pay, but i'm too lazy to type the whole story. ask my family if you really want to know.

to celebrate having money again, i did some grocery shopping and among my purchases i picked up some chips and pace salsa which surprisingly wasn't too expensive at carrefour. and then last night i think i ate my weight in food. any of the complaining i may have done in the past few days about losing a pants size and my jeans not fitting can probably end now, because i'm sure i gained it all back. i finished off a box of snack cakes, ate a ton of chips and salsa, and still kept korean through it all with some rice and kimchi. i'll see you at the overeaters anonymous meeting tonight. i'm sure i'll eat right through the day, too, because i'm meeting johnny for pizza later on. it'll be my first korean pizza experience. i must say, as a serious pizza person so i've been curious about what it's like here. i'm sure i'll be writing about the results later. although i haven't had much western food cravings yet (the chips and salsa was just a "because i can" splurge) i do miss pizza. i've been thinking a lot about that time i ate a whole large domino's pizza all by myself. and no, i wasn't under the influence of anything.

i need to start doing some digital camera research. apparently suwon is known for having really cheap electronics so i suppose that's where i'll make my purchase. and then finally you'll be able to see some of the things i've been talking about. i'm sure my first posted picture will be of those addicting triangle kimbap things from 7-11.

ok kids, what have we learned from today's post? tanya hates her shoes and she eats a lot. i still am the biggest waste of space ever.

i have been getting more random comments from koreans lately. i was wondering when that was going to start, because from everything i'd heard (and even experienced from koreans back in the states), they always go on and on about how beautiful westerners are, even if you are the most average person to walk this earth. i went to lunch last saturday with a korean teacher who speaks english pretty well. she told me that when she first saw me she thought i was european. even back in the states people told me they always thought i was french when they met me (i think it's the short hair), so i thought it was funny that even a korean would think that. so i thought it was even more bizarre later that night at the resort when some of the guys were saying i look french. they were saying i needed a nickname because apparently they all have nicknames, and someone suggested "frenchie." i shot that one down in no time. most strange comment yet? yung su told me i look like barbie. i'm pretty sure that i really don't looke like barbie, and i told him just that. barbie has long blonde hair and blue eyes. not to mention she wouldn't even be able to hold herself up if she was a real person because of her figure. but he insists my eyes, nose, and mouth look like barbie. i'm pretty sure he only thinks that because i don't look asian.

and now it's story time, brought to you by the girl who rambles waaaaay too much: i was talking to celeste this morning and she told me a really funny (if slightly racist) story that still has me giggling, but i'm sure typing it won't do it justice. a relative of her boyfriend, chris, was playing monopoly with his family one day. i'm sure we're all familiar with oriental avenue, located between reading railroad and a chance space. well, their young boy (probably around 7 years old) happened to own oriental avenue when his dad landed on the property. so, in his best imitation of an asian accent, the boy said "sorry round-eye, you no stay here for free." a seven year old. where did he learn that? the mere thought of a little kid saying that makes it hilarious and erases any negativity there may have been.

yeah that's all i've got.

seacrest out.