2nd City? For like number 2?

The other day, a friend asked me what about Morocco made me love it so much. I guess I didn't have a good answer. I know that I do talk about it a lot. I think about it even more, but try to filter those thoughts from reaching my mouth as to not bore whichever poor souls happen to be within earshot. It was so unreal, so unbelievable that the things I saw there were (are) normal daily life for Moroccans.

In an attempt to relive some of that Moroccan magic, I spent some time watching videos on Vimeo, my new favorite video site. That led to me spending way too much time searching for videos of places I want to see. Then I realized whoa, I grew up, and lived in for a brief 16 months the greatest city in the world! So I searched for videos on Chicago. This is what I found...shaking my head.

At least I take some comfort in the fact that this person is probably not from Chicago, as he otherwise would not be as impressed with the bathroom at O'Hare. I think it would actually be funny, were it not for his comment at the end.

Chicago O'Hare Airport Toilet from Amir on Vimeo.

And my Bordeaux year 1 amis-please look at the name of the person who posted that video. Is it some rule that people with that name have to be classless jerks?

I promise a real post soon! I have pictures from the horse races to share! Get excited! It was my first experience gambling. I lost $2 that day.

Also, if anyone has any advice for how to deal with passive aggressive junior highness, please send it my way!

I'm going to go blend something.

time and a time lapse

365 days ago, I arrived in Seoul. I spent most of the 14 hour flight trying to ignore the talker sitting next to me, while I pondered the question "Why did you think coming to Korea was a good idea?"

Fast forward to now...I know coming to Korea was a good idea. I've seen some places. I've met some good people. I've met some bad people. I've made some money.

And here is another gorgeous Korea video. When I see things like this, it makes me not want to leave, ever.

shush the haters

http://www.cnngo.com/seoul/life/50-reasons-why-seoul-worlds-greatest-city-534720


Anyone want to come visit me while I still live in the world's greatest city?

Happy Monday

I wasn't raptured. I suppose that's a bad thing. But despite that, I still remain a firm believer in the prophet Harold Camping, and since I am still here on earth, post rapture, that means I have until October to live it up...sex, drugs, and rock n roll style. Or, I guess my case would be more sloth, gluttony and rock n' roll. So I will start on that today, by sharing this Kpop video with you. It's a good Monday morning pick me up. Kpop-love it or hate it, you can't deny this is a catchy song. You also can't deny that a bad Kpop video has ever been made. They are all quality. Things like this make me never want to leave the SoKo.

Sorry to any blog subscribers. It took me a several times to get the video link right. I don't know if you get emailed every time I update, or just once, but the internet still confuses me, so I'm sorry if you got like 4 emails. haha.

Sidenote-GRRRR TO ALL all the misuse of the word I've seen on FB the past couple days ("Phew, I survived the rapture!" I really want to be that jerk who is like NO, LOOK THE WORD UP AND TELL ME IF YOU WANT TO BE LEFT ON EARTH AFTER THE RAPTURE!)

a letter

Dear mother of my student,

Your son has a penis. I do not. Therefore, there is no way he learned about penises or his inappropriate behavior regarding them from me. So when my Korean speaking supervisor calls on my behalf to tell you about his behavior, don't get angry at me. Don't refuse to believe it because I am not Korean. If you do not believe what a foreigner says about your son, perhaps you should reconsider sending him to an English school, where his teacher is (gasp!) not Korean. It is possible that your son is lying to avoid getting in trouble from you. The school has CCTV. I cordially invite you to come and watch my class. Witness firsthand your son grabbing and pointing his "pee gun" at me or asking the other students if they know "010" before you accuse me simply not liking your son.

Maybe, rather than spending all your energy hating on me, you and the mister should BE PARENTS. Sit down with junior, explain to him that yes, he does have a penis, and no, it is not okay to grab it and say "this is my guitar!" while the rest of the class is making guitars out of rubber bands and boxes.

And please know this, if you continue to act like this when you are told about a problem involving your son, I will start ignoring the problems. I will never tell you about them. That does not hurt me any. Junior is the one who will suffer.

Cheers!

Laura Teacher

spoke too soon!

I am going to write about sewage and things that smell. Finish eating. Then read.

Well, it seems as though I prematurely turned my nose up at my gift of plastic gloves and baggies. I arrived home this evening, and my apartment smelled. I hadn't had time to clean my breakfast dishes, so I thought maybe that was where it was coming from. So I cleaned the dishes. Still smelled. Ok, I thought, maybe it's coming from the drain. There is no garbage disposal here, but rather a nasty basket that I only touch with tongs. Everything that goes down the drain that is not liquid is caught in the nasty basket. So I emptied my nasty basket, but the smell was still there, and getting worse.

Garbage? No.

And it was getting so bad I thought either a sewage line had exploded outside, or there was a dead animal rotting in my apartment somewhere.

I moved furniture. I cleaned. But the smell would not go away. It was so mad it was making me feel physically ill. Suddenly, it hit me. I had flashbacks to last summer. Sewage.

I don't exactly understand it. But it's something about the pipes in Seoul going straight into the sewer, rather than having that efficient S curve full of water or whatever that traps the smell. I also don't understand why I didn't get this smell allllll winter. But now that the temperature is FINALLY getting warm, my apartment is filled with the smells of the sewers again. And I guess I just pushed it from my mind, because my apartment smelled like this ALL the time last summer...rather, my bathroom (kitchen has a plug on the drain the keeps the smells to a minimum) smelled like this all the time last summer, and on the bad days, it wafted into the rest of my apartment.

I panicked. I'll have to move. I can't live like this.

In time of uncertainty, when the future is hazy, and I don't know what to do or who to turn to, I go to my computer, I open a browser, and type in those magical 9 letters-Google.com. On Google, I found a suggestion from someone living in Korea to put a plastic bag filled with water over the shower drain. Initially I thought "shucks, I don't have any plastic bags!" Then my eyes moved to the spot on the floor where I threw the box after taking its picture for last nights blog! SUCCESS! And it actually worked. My apartment does not smell anymore!

Or else I'm just used to it.

Embarrassing side note-In order to get to the actual hole where the shower water drains (and the source of the smell) I had to pry off the two feet long decorative cover. I didn't even know it came off. I've tried removing it before, but it was so stuck on there with years of grime, I initially thought it was cemented down, a permanent fixture. Needless to say, when I got the cover off, it was in need of a good cleaning. I wished I had gloves, because it was gross. I cleaned it, gloveless. BLAAAUUUGGGHHHHHRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIICCCCCKKKKK. Then, I excitedly put my bag of water over the hole, and waited for the smell to stop. It wasn't until I sat down to write this blog that I once again looked down at the box of baggies on the floor, and remember that the box was also full of gloves.

36 hours until Hong Kong! And I am no longer traveling solo! WoOt!

goodies

I've failed as a blogger if I have not written about this before. Maybe I have. I don't remember. BUT, one of the greatest things about the SoKo is that you get free samples for everything. At the grocery store, you can get samples of dumplings, noodles, chicken nuggets, sausage, tuna, beef, juice, bread, pastries, etc. Sometimes I just go there for dinner. Haha. Trashy, I know. But this girl is on a budget.

Cereal boxes are another good way to get freebies. But I am not talking about some dinky plastic ring buried in the cereal (or outside of the bag, as they do now because one stupid kid thought that radioactive green toy in the plastic bag was simply a deformed rice krispie that made it past quality control). I am talking about actual useful stuff TAPED to the front of the cereal box. I usually pick my cereal based on what has the best free stuff. So far I've gotten spoons, forks, plates, bowls, glasses, bag clips, crayons, and my personal favorite, mini cereal boxes. Yes that is right, with my frosted flakes, I get a free mini box of frosted flakes. AND, it's not just cereal boxes-yogurt, ramen noodles, juice bottles, gum packets, oranges, and a whole lot of other stuff I am forgetting have all given me free stuff at various times.

So at my last trip to the market, I decided I wanted to do a little Indian cookin'. And, since we all know the best part of Indian food is the bread, I had to get a box of naan mix. I don't know for sure if I am even making this stuff right, since I of course can't read the directions. But the stuff I make is ok, and soaks up the curry sauce quite nicely. What else is there? So imagine my delight when I pulled the box of naan mix off the shelf, and there was a smaller box taped to the back. WIN! Unfortunately, I had no idea what was in the box.

I thought maybe it was some kind of magical batter mix, that makes cookies, pancakes, naan, bread, and these weird doughy things full of black seeds that Koreans are so fond of. I could hardly contain my excitement on my walk home. It felt like Christmas. I ripped open the box, only to discover it was full of baggies and plastic gloves.............?...

Huh.

Ok.

I don't understand this freebie, and I am slightly disappointed. I don't use plastic bags, because along with fabric softener and a vacuum cleaner, it's a luxury I gave up when I moved out of the M&J Morris casa. Where is my magic batter mix? Can't I have that instead?

At least the gloves will come in handy. I will keep them at work, and use them when I have to clean up barf.