Today we went to Itaewon for a get together for ESL park-our recruiters set it up.
I had my first experience with a korean bus. We got on bus 72 to head to the subway. We didn't really know where we would stop but we saw a stop near the subway and we got off. The bus ride is rough. you better hold on.
I lost one of my gloves on the bus. It was a pair that my mom gave me.
Then we went to the subway. We got a ticket to Itaewon for 1400 won.(just a little over $1 to ride the subway) The guys paid for their ticket first and I asked them "how much" they said 1400. Well being the ditz that I am I was thinking 14,000 and was about to get out 2 10,000 bills and then Andrew came over and put down the correct amount for me. oh 1400. haha.
We started out on line 1 and transferred to line 6. Then we got off at the Itaewon stop. We walked around for a while before we had to be at the restaurant. We were so excited to see a Mcdonalds. we went in and got something to eat. I only got a cheeseburger. I wish I would have gotten a meal. We walked into various shops. I didnt buy anything. On the subway we saw an ad for a Canadian pub in Itaewon so we were going to look for that. James is Canadian. He was fixing to go inside a store to ask for directions but then we saw it across the street. We went in there and the guys had a beer.
At 5 we went into Hollywood Grill. I finally met my recruiter. He's crazy. He loves to drink. He tells us of how he drinks all the time. Everyone was ordering lots of beer but I don't drink so I just watched and met new people. Met some new foreign teachers who have been there anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months. My friend Joel came in and I talked to him for a little while. He taught me some Korean phrases but I can't remember them. There were 4 of us there from the SC/NC area. Me, Andrew, Joel and one other girl. A lot of people were from Chicago, IL.
My recruiter
Next everyone headed out to Baby Guinness-an irish pub. Everyone drank a lot there too. I just sat and met new people and took some pictures. Joel bought me a appletini and I drank it. It was decent but I still don't like the taste of alcohol. Everything I try has a strong taste. Why is it so weird that I don't drink?? I exchanged information with one person who added me on facebook. We stayed there till around midnight.
Then everyone wanted to go Salsa dancing. It costed 6,000 won to get into the salsa club. You could get a free beer with your ticket so I gave mine to James. I didn't dance. I just stood around and watched-some people were really good! We didn't stay long since both of the guys were drunk.
It was really good to get out and meet other ESL teachers! good times!
I had a runny nose tonight. Im not sick but its probably because of the cold weather.
The subway was closed so we decided to take a taxi. My first taxi ride ever. The taxi driver didn't speak English. James, our recruiter, told him where we were going. He agreed to take us for 10,000 won each--total of 30,000 won. We got in the taxi at 12:45. James, the teacher, showed the driver a business card of our school. The man didn't know how to get there. He was stopping everywhere asking for directions. He asked other cab drivers, police officers, people on the street. We must have stopped about 10 times including stopping at 2 police stations. He didn't know where the heck he was going!! We were scared. Andrew was passed out in the back seat and I was talking to James for most of the trip. Most of the time we were commenting on how the cab driver doesn't know what the heck he is doing. We finally made it home around 2am. It took about an hour and 20 mins to get back to Uijeongbu.
If you're looking for an adventure then you should come over. James Jeong at ESL Park will hook you up. He was always there to answer all my questions. I think I must have emailed him everyday. He always answered promptly.
EDIT: (2011) James is now at Park English. He's very knowledgable about the whole process and fluent in English. He responds promptly and keeps in contact with you after you are in Korea.
I finished "Nights in Rodanthe". Good book. Cant wait to see the movie.
EDIT: The movie sucked!! The book was 10 times better than the movie. I always like Nicolas Sparks movies, but "Nights in Rodanthe" just didn't do anything for me!
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