Brighid, Lisa, and I decided to celebrate Valentine's Day together after work. I took the subway after work, and the girls hopped in the same car as me. We rode to Apgujeong (the same place I lost my bag last week...), and went to a bowling place, Pierrot Strike. It was AWESOME! We made a bowling reservation, got some food and drinks, and just relaxed until our bowling time came up. We bowled two games. I WON THE FIRST GAME!! That's never happened to me before. And I lost the second game. We just don't need to talk about that...
After we finished bowling, we found the air hockey table and played a few rounds. I haven't played air hockey in ages. So fun! After that, we went to Bunker, a pub nearby. We played Connect 4, another game I haven't played in ages! Brighid told us that she's never lost a game before. We challenged her to multiple games in a row before we believed her. It was incredible! After that, the girls wanted to stay out a bit longer, but I was ready to call it a night. We had to teach today, and I knew I would be kicking myself if I stayed out much later. I hailed a taxi and went home. It was a really great Valentine's Day, if I do say so myself! :)
Friday, February 15, 2013
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
I lost my purse.
This past weekend was Lunar New Year, so I had a four-day weekend! I had plans to relax, see a few friends, and just enjoy my time off. My Saturday and Sunday were good, up until Sunday night. Brighid, Sonya, Lisa, and I decided to go out on Sunday night. We hadn't been out in awhile, and we wanted a girls' night. We met up and took the subway to Apgujeong, a really neat area nearby. We found a pub that we'd never been to and decided to try it out.
After a few hours of eating, dancing, and having a good time, we decided to walk down the street about five minutes to another place. It's still freezing cold here (ugh!), so the roads are really icy. I don't really like to carry bags with me, so I had consolidated all of my things into a small clutch. As we were walking, I somehow dropped my bag at some point along the way. I realized it after only five minutes. Sonya and Lisa went ahead, and Brighid backtracked with me to help me look for my clutch. There was snow and ice everywhere, but we looked as well as we could. We even went back into the pub to see if I had actually dropped it on my way out. No such luck...
I gave the waiter Brighid's number in case they found my clutch, and then the four of us headed home. I've never lost a purse before, and I don't tend to lose things in general. I was really upset with myself, and kept beating myself up about it. In my purse was my cell phone, my Korean bank card, $100 in cash, and my Korean Alien Registration Card. :(
On Monday, everything was closed because it was the official holiday. Therefore, I couldn't go to the bank and cancel my card, I couldn't notify the phone company, and the Immigration Office was closed. I basically sat in a panic all day, feeling quite helpless. Luckily, Brighid came over to my apartment to keep me company for a few hours. We snacked on pizza and chatted. Then, we made our way over to Lisa's apartment and ate dinner and watched a movie together. Having something to do helped the time pass quickly.
Tuesday (yesterday), I woke up early and went straight to the bank. Fortunately, my card had not been used that whole weekend! I'm so thankful for that! They canceled my card and immediately gave me a new card with my name on it and everything! Then, I met up with Brighid, and she accompanied me to the Immigration Office, which was an hour away by subway. We were there for a few hours, so it was kind of a pain. I had to report my Alien Registration Card lost and apply for a new one. I'll have my new card in about three weeks. I also canceled my phone and ordered a new one. I should have one in about a week or so.
This whole situation could've been so much worse, and I'm really thankful that everything has been resolved quite smoothly! Korea is a very honest country, so I'm not worried about anything being stolen. I'm mostly upset about the inconvenience of it all. Fortunately, I have some really great friends who were willing to help me out this weekend! :)
After a few hours of eating, dancing, and having a good time, we decided to walk down the street about five minutes to another place. It's still freezing cold here (ugh!), so the roads are really icy. I don't really like to carry bags with me, so I had consolidated all of my things into a small clutch. As we were walking, I somehow dropped my bag at some point along the way. I realized it after only five minutes. Sonya and Lisa went ahead, and Brighid backtracked with me to help me look for my clutch. There was snow and ice everywhere, but we looked as well as we could. We even went back into the pub to see if I had actually dropped it on my way out. No such luck...
I gave the waiter Brighid's number in case they found my clutch, and then the four of us headed home. I've never lost a purse before, and I don't tend to lose things in general. I was really upset with myself, and kept beating myself up about it. In my purse was my cell phone, my Korean bank card, $100 in cash, and my Korean Alien Registration Card. :(
On Monday, everything was closed because it was the official holiday. Therefore, I couldn't go to the bank and cancel my card, I couldn't notify the phone company, and the Immigration Office was closed. I basically sat in a panic all day, feeling quite helpless. Luckily, Brighid came over to my apartment to keep me company for a few hours. We snacked on pizza and chatted. Then, we made our way over to Lisa's apartment and ate dinner and watched a movie together. Having something to do helped the time pass quickly.
Tuesday (yesterday), I woke up early and went straight to the bank. Fortunately, my card had not been used that whole weekend! I'm so thankful for that! They canceled my card and immediately gave me a new card with my name on it and everything! Then, I met up with Brighid, and she accompanied me to the Immigration Office, which was an hour away by subway. We were there for a few hours, so it was kind of a pain. I had to report my Alien Registration Card lost and apply for a new one. I'll have my new card in about three weeks. I also canceled my phone and ordered a new one. I should have one in about a week or so.
This whole situation could've been so much worse, and I'm really thankful that everything has been resolved quite smoothly! Korea is a very honest country, so I'm not worried about anything being stolen. I'm mostly upset about the inconvenience of it all. Fortunately, I have some really great friends who were willing to help me out this weekend! :)
Friday, February 1, 2013
When it rains, it pours.
This morning when I woke up, it was raining. Normally this wouldn't be too big of a deal for me, except for one thing: I teach Kindergarteners. And when it rains, for some reason, all of them go CRAZY!! It hasn't been scientifically-proven or anything, but based on my own observations over the past six months, my students get really weird when it rains. So, I walked into school this morning preparing for this craziness. Little did I know, it would be the worst "rainy day" yet.
From the first class I taught, all my students were unable to stay in their seats, even the quietest, most reserved students became chatterboxes, and none of them could pay attention long enough for me to explain the directions. It took every ounce of my patience to make it to lunchtime.
Brighid Teacher and I had a lunch break together today, so we decided to run to the kimbap place on the corner for a quick, cheap meal. Of course, it took us AGES to get our food (which has actually never happened at this place before!), and had to basically inhale our food so we wouldn't be late for class. I had an umbrella, but because we were running so behind, Brighid and I ended up running back to school in the rain, all the way to the elevator. We walked in just seconds after the bell rang for the start of class.
My afternoon continued the same as the morning. Crazy students, random outbursts, everyone having to use the bathroom at five-minute intervals. It was nuts. My biggest class of the day has 12 students. For some reason, 6 of them, out of 12, as in half, 50%, didn't have any of their books!! So, I spent the first fifteen minutes of class time in the Teacher Room making copies of the book, the workbook, the reading book, and the study guide. Because of this wasted time, I was unable to finish the lesson for the day, so I will have more work to finish in Monday's class.
I think it's just one of those days. When it rains, it pours. Everything goes wrong, one thing after another. My patience ran out hours ago, so I had to paste a smile on before every class, say a quick prayer, and just hope for the best. I only have two classes left, and I'll be outta here! I couldn't be ANY happier that it's Friday.
From the first class I taught, all my students were unable to stay in their seats, even the quietest, most reserved students became chatterboxes, and none of them could pay attention long enough for me to explain the directions. It took every ounce of my patience to make it to lunchtime.
Brighid Teacher and I had a lunch break together today, so we decided to run to the kimbap place on the corner for a quick, cheap meal. Of course, it took us AGES to get our food (which has actually never happened at this place before!), and had to basically inhale our food so we wouldn't be late for class. I had an umbrella, but because we were running so behind, Brighid and I ended up running back to school in the rain, all the way to the elevator. We walked in just seconds after the bell rang for the start of class.
My afternoon continued the same as the morning. Crazy students, random outbursts, everyone having to use the bathroom at five-minute intervals. It was nuts. My biggest class of the day has 12 students. For some reason, 6 of them, out of 12, as in half, 50%, didn't have any of their books!! So, I spent the first fifteen minutes of class time in the Teacher Room making copies of the book, the workbook, the reading book, and the study guide. Because of this wasted time, I was unable to finish the lesson for the day, so I will have more work to finish in Monday's class.
I think it's just one of those days. When it rains, it pours. Everything goes wrong, one thing after another. My patience ran out hours ago, so I had to paste a smile on before every class, say a quick prayer, and just hope for the best. I only have two classes left, and I'll be outta here! I couldn't be ANY happier that it's Friday.
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