On Friday night 5 of us English teachers walked to a Korean place for dinner. It was packed and they told us it would be a 20 minute wait. For 5 exhausted, hungry teachers, this is not an option! So, we went for Indian food at Durga. I. Am. Telling. You. . . . . When that giant garlic naan was placed in front of my face I shed a small tear of happiness. (Reference 3 so far and I'm 20 sentences in.)
On Saturday I woke up and walked in the complete opposite direction of where I should have been going. I was trying to get to Home Plus (similar to Walmart). 2 English teachers told me directions and I did the opposite of what they told me. I have a defiant sub-conscience. So, when I realized I was lost, I sat in a cafe, had some breakfast and talked to Mom and Dad. Then I got into a cab where he drove me to the other side of the city. At first I thought he misunderstood what I wanted and was terrified that he was taking me out of town - because I thought I was near Home Plus. Turns out no, the local Korean knows where Home Plus is. I bought some groceries and then took a cab back home because I bought too much stuff to carry! Luckily cabs are pretty cheap here. Both rides total was $10.
On Saturday afternoon I met a guy named Paul for a date. He is in the American military. I'm not going to say much more because I don't want to jinx it. But . . . . it was awesome. He is way better looking in person than in his pictures - which is the complete opposite of how it normally goes with tinder. I was so pleasantly surprised I kept saying to myself in my head: Is this really happening? He bought me tacos. Then we went to a cafe to talk and he bought me tea. He wanted to buy me cake but I was too full. But let me just say anyone who wants to buy me tacos and cake is a winner in my books. Before the date I was texting Gaby, my 13 year old friend back home. Here is her wise dating advice for me. Also Gaby told me she is my #1 blog fan and checks it regularly for updates. So, the rest of you can eat it on being my #1 fan.
Saturday evening I was sitting in my pajamas walking Netflix when Jessica, a fellow teacher. asked in our group chat if anyone wanted to grab a drink and go to a noraebang (karaoke). Uumm.. yes! I promptly threw my jeans on and met her at the bottom floor of our building. I drank a tequila sunrise in a tiny Korean bar while she drank a Long Island iced tea. Then we went for karaoke which was in this tiny room for no more than 3 people. I sang Lady Gaga, Amy Winehouse, Spice Girls, and Outkast. She wrapped some Eminem and sang Alicia Keys. It was great!
Please know that the microphone is auto-tuned and I am a horrible singer.
Today (Sunday) I wanted to go into Itaewon because everyone told me I would love it there. It's full of foreigners and lots of foreign shops. Parts of it feels like you're walking in Europe, then America, then Korea. It's a cool mix. I walked by a little international shop and bought a box of Kraft Dinner and a can of Campbell's soup. Haven't seen that here yet. Was it way over priced? Yes. Because it's imported. But it will taste so good going down. Basically if a 5 year likes to eat it, then I like to eat it.
First solo subway ride in a foreign country by myself.
As I got off the subway and was going up the platform a guy stopped me and asked me where I was going. Normally I would do something rude like walk by him and just say "no thank you" because I can be a real bitch sometimes. I have this slight fear of men approaching me. But I decided to have a conversation with him. I told him I was here to look around and see the sights. He told me his name is James and asked if I wanted to go to KFC with him and his friends. I said no, I want a juicy burger and fries from a pub. We exchanged info and said maybe we would meet up later. I walked around for a bit and then ate a nice juicy burger and fries at a pub. I like a good follow through on a plan.
I walked around, went into an English book store and bought some things for my classroom. Then I went to a coffee shop to sit for a bit and charge my phone. James texted me asking if we could meet up. I told him I was at a coffee shop and he could meet me there so he did. We sat and talked for a bit. You are probably reading this thinking this is completely normal. That's probably true for a normal person but not for me. I DO NOT TALK TO STRANGERS. Like ever. Like this is the first time I ever let this happen to me. I wish I were lying. We talked about our jobs here, our home countries (he's from Ghana), what we like about Korea so far (he's been here 4 months), and he showed me pictures of the orphanage his family runs back home. I showed him pics of Autumn Rose, because she's the cutest thing on my phone! We walked around Itaewon some more, I bought some silly socks for friends back home and then we caught the subway back. He lives one town away from me so it was handy to have a friend with me. He offered to carry my shopping bag so many times but I told him no. He said he just wants to be nice, but my trust issues got the best of me. Baby steps.
I saw this sweater in store today and laughed so hard. Who would wear this? Someone who is trying to distract people from looking at their acne by looking down at their acne sweater?
This is the first day I've felt like a tourist here. For the most part I just feel like someone working in another country. But today I loved seeing new things and walking around. I stumbled on some mini international festival about the size of one square block with people singing and some flags hanging up singing the Korean lyrics to "This World is Made for You and Me." Itaweon is full of international restaurants. I saw Turkish, American, Canadian, Bulgarian. food. I saw so many halal restaurants. It's only an hour away from here, I can see myself going there a lot over the next year!
Lots of love,
Alli
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