"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.

spread love

Spread love everywhere you go.  Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.  Mother Teresa.

I believe I am still in denial that I am leaving.  I have been trying to spend time with a lot of the people that i care about the most here and it is just hard trying to manage time and friends, not that there are many.  but the hardest part is hanging out with them as if it were any other day and then thinking to myself, what if this is the last day, is this what i really want to be doing with them then? i AM in denial because i dont want to talk to my friends about me leaving and to say good-bye to them.  so i just wont. 

i am here for nine more days, well i guess its eight now, and i cant seem to get a grip on the fact that i really should start PACKING! i spend more time thinking about the places i want to go to in charlotte before i leave than thinking about a packing plan/idea.  speaking of, i went to nikkos last night and it was amazing, please try the sexy salmon -- AWESOME.  peace 

me versus last days

so its my last twelve days here in this country!  i still haven't gotten rid of all of my furniture and still have all these clothes and shoes and bags that i probably wont want later.  does anybody want any old juicy and burberry clothes?  seriously!  i just dont understand how im supposed to pack up my life into two bags.  and apparently each have to be at the most fifty pounds?  really?  im pretty sure half of my spring clothes (the stuff i want) and one pair of sandals are 50 pounds!  the "packing life up" gods are definitely against me.  and they like it.  
and as if this pressure isnt already enough .. what am i supposed to do with the STUFF that i will actually want later?  does this company realize that the south isnt my home?  home is either in the west in california or, now, up north in new york!  i can't just take my memories down the road to my grandparents house anymore, no, i dont have that great luxury.  ive already spent thousands of dollars (parents money of course) on purchasing "new clothes and shoes for korea" and a new suit case (actually, to be purchased) and on stocking up on toiletries that i will need and wont be able to buy outside of the u.s.  i feel like im the only person in the world who cares about any of this, and my mother i suppose, but now that i really think about it -- I AM THE ONLY PERSON IN THIS WORLD WHO CARES.  
i should probably get to packing and all that right now .. but i probably wont again.  i wish everybody out there good luck, good luck to anybody and everybody who is packing up their lives right now, its hard stressful and emotional -- its your life.        

procrastination

there's that statistic where 99.9% of all people get through things the normal way as opposed to the .1% of the people who face every obstacle on the way to the destination of achievement and now i am beginning to feel like i am surprisingly that .1% of all people who cannot go through obstacles normally.  you know this feeling?  the feeling where everything im going through is the absolute opposite from what everybody else is right now.  its been over a month now since i got the call about being accepted into this company and i have yet to get rid of many unimportant things in my apartment.  im leaving in a few weeks and i act like i have that 'over a month' belief in my head where i can just hang out .. I MUST STOP.
honestly i have yet to even attempt at putting a thought to what exactly i am going to pack.  i keep thinking that ill hang out for a little in cali when in reality im only there for a couple of days before i depart for my final destination.  this is really scary.  today my aunt told me i should prepare for my training that i will have in korea and i thought: train myself for training week?  what in the world is that??  ive always had an anxiety problem (self diagnosed) and my stress level right now is just out there, and the effects of it are about to get me in my sleep tonight or lack thereof.  i need to breathe.
im hoping that through all of this, the whole chill anxiety be cool part of this process, will all pass over and ill be on that flight out of charlotte in no time so prepared for my new life outside of this country and not looking back thinking about what i should have or could have done while still here.  im laughing as i think about what i should or could be doing right now.  all in all, this waiting and procrastinating and anxiety build-up is good, its giving me the chance to live my life normally as if i were never leaving this country and as if i were to see all of you again in a few weeks on a regular basis  =)  ahh procrastination!!

before the beginning

welcome 

i was speaking with my friend the other day and we were talking about how i was going to keep in touch with everybody without being able to message people all the time via text, and then this friend of mine had the brightest idea of creating a blog.  and alas, here it is.  i received a job in korea and i will be moving there in the beginning of may.  i have always thought about leaving the country to do something with my life, and last year i was finally given the opportunity to think outside of the cube and actually give it a try by applying.  I started the process around october and really got into it in december then got the big news in february, and now here i am with less than three and a half weeks left in the country to see what im going to miss and what i wont be missing at all (or so i think).  thus i call the next few weeks "after the end, before the beginning".  thanks for making me happy u.s.a. (now until im gone), in advance.