"teacher introduce yourself"

shopping mall famous to foreigners

a shopping mall called maxstyle at night 

some famous gate/castle in the middle of dangnamdo

ramen from little restaurant near gangnam

so the pictures are from the other day when the mother and i went out shopping for new work clothes (only ended up buying one piece of work clothing) and we shopped from two in the afternoon until nine at night non stop.  there are two malls in this area, one is called migliore, and the other is called something else .. the migliore place is very famous to foreigners and is very cheap with a lot of cute clothes and a lot of really ugly clothes -- the other mall is really nice and the foreigners dont really go there because there are a lot of foreign brands like tory burch and burberry and armani which all of the native koreans go to because they want all those designer clothing.
  i cant remember if i told this story or not so im going to tell it again if i already did; i went running in the city the other morning with my running gear on and there was a big crowd waiting to get on the buses so i stopped and ran in place.  a nice korean lady asked me if i was a foreigner and i answered, yes why?  and she said because youre running with work out clothes on in the city.  and immediately i knew, koreans dont run outside, DUH!  the air is so bad in seoul, its enough that they have to walk everywhere in that polluted air, and to run?  that's crazy stupid!  i should have known, silly me.  so the gym right next to my apartment is called bobo sports, and its a whopping 60 dollars a month for a membership so im really just considering running outside every morning still.  i came all the way to korea to work and live, i might as well save that money to live instead of spending 60 a month to possibly maybe work out once a week if that.  it's 12.43 in the afternoon right now and i have to go into work at two for a workshop so i should get started on my preparation for later today!!  i miss everybody and hope everyone is doing well!  xoxo.
.jan.  =)

this blows but its not bad

spicy seafood stuff with vegetables

greetings it is 415 in the morning right now and i have been up for a total summation of 21.5 hours now and i have to be up in a couple of hours actually to get ready for training!  so i had to take four tests on monday and i failed half of them, no surprise there considering i went out the night before and got intoxicated as opposed to staying in and studying for the tests that i actually indeed knew about in advance.  i re-took these two tests on tuesday afternoon and passed them with flying colors, however i wonder if i really did because the top trainer just scanned through them and said im good at the end.  today (or technically yesterday) we had to take a medical and drug exam and it was so nerve wracking because this could be what determines whether we stay in this country or not ultimately (not that i should have anything to worry about, right? ...).
  ive been counting how many hours of sleep ive been having every night and its not jet lag that is getting to me, its time management and all of this intense training that we are going through.  not only am i learning how to do my job, it seems as if im learning a lot about american government through my korean job at this big korean company, ironically.
  anyways, the two pictures above are from dinner last night (or a couple of nights ago, i dont know anymore) and the first picture is of a spicy korean dish with seafood and vegetables that you mix and cook together on the table, and the second picture is of my cousin, my roommate lagloria, and my mother.  i dont know if i mentioned this but the mother came to korea with me because she couldnt let her baby come alone without any close help and as spoiling as that is, i really appreciate that she came because shes been a huge help for me and my roommate.  alright time to take a shower and a little nap before going to training for a full day again!  peace buddies.  =)

ahh

so i should be studying right now because im taking several tests today but im not because im hungover from drinking yesterday with some trainees and a current employee!  im sure my roommate hates me because i came back to the hotel with the other trainees at eleven last night drunk and we were loud and obnoxious while she was sleeping from having just arrived from the states!  we went to a little restaurant by the hotel for dinner and had 'bindaedduhk' and then drank a bottle of rice wine and then had seven more bottles of soju and took shot after shot after shot until finally i said that we should go home to study before training starts, so after i got home i passed out half naked in my bed.  im beginning to think that im already off to a bad start because im pretty sure i dont got good grammar (see, i should have studied).
  i already miss american food and its pissing me off that i dont have easy access to a nice little turkey sandwich with pepper jack cheese and avocado anywhere around here.  let alone, i cant find a frikkin place with normal american oreos and kettle cooked jalapeno chips either!!!!  alright...blogging about it is pissing me off even more now so if anybody wants to send me some reduced fat oreos and kettle cooked jalapeno chips, dont let me get in your way.  ill send some 'maguhli' (rice wine) your way, its the bomb diggity.