I have internet in my apartment, finally!

I need more than a few minutes to give a proper update on my adventures of the past few days, but right now I need to type up a 2 week curriculum plan and calendar for my morning class, and I can't be bothered to do one for my 3 afternoon classes because I hate them all. Well, the second MWF afternoon class are a bunch of cute kids, but the problem is that none of them really know any english, so they all just stare at me and then ignore me. Fuck them, my morning kids are the best people in the world.

So. My apartment situation needs a full story, but suffice to say, it was completely and utterly trashed by the previous teacher; a middle-aged, chain-smoking, heavy woman who was fired after two months. So, the apartment still smells like cigarettes BECAUSE OF COURSE SHE SMOKED IN THE APARTMENT, THANKS, as well as just an odd old lady smell. FFFFF.

The bathroom floor was black with dirt and unknown scum. I wanted to cry when I saw it. I'm still only half-way done scrubbing everything, two days later, and I suppose I might be able to unpack sometime this weekend, or maybe Monday. :C

It is somewhat presentable enough to post a video though, because once this place is clean...HAHAHA:

Protected
Unfortunately, the peril of stealing wireless internet is that the source is quite likely to disappear on you. So until I can find another network to sneak onto, I'm stuck typing this out on good old Notepad.

So, my first morning in Seoul! I made a delightful composite blog video where you can see me get more and more exhausted on my Journey to the PastFuture, and hopefull Youtube won't kill itself whenever I try to upload it.

In the meantime, I'm staying in a hotel for three days, called Co-op Residences which I think is part hostel, cheap hotel, and post-graduate apartments all combined into one. The result is a super cute, compact studio apartment with a 24 convenience mart in the basement. That's alright with me! I guess the former teacher occupying my future apartment needs the time to pack up and move out. I can't imagine the 'real' apartment being any smaller than the
hotel studio, which is really tiny by anything but New York standards, so I think I should be fine.

Anyways, I finally arrived in Incheon International Airport at 8:30pm last night (so, 8:30 AM-Renee-wants-to-die-Time) and finally got my luggage and through customs by 9, not too shabby. Unfortunately for all involved, customs did not give a dick about what I had in my suitecases, so possible mental-scarring-by-tampons did not occur. Tim and Fred, assistants to school branch, picked myself and another teacher up at the airport, which was ace, because it turns out the airport is a good 40 minutes away, and a taxi would have cost roughly $100. :C Patrick, the other teacher is on his second year teaching english in Korea, and shared some awesome horror stories about his first year's school. He seems like a chill guy, so I think I'll have at least one sort-of friend in Korea.
Besides Lee-san of course 8D.

Completely not on topic, but fuck Vista, I have no idea what to do to type in Korean. :C

Okay, back to BLOGGING ABOUT MY DAY. Because it's not quite lunch yet. I woke up this morning at 7:30, and sort of lazed about in bed till 8:15, so I guess the upside to not sleeping on a plane is crashing and then not experiencing any jet lag, sweet deal. Putzed around on the internet - thanks Mom for being on Skype but clearly away from the computer, breaking my heart here - and then went out in a quest to not be such a shut in.

So the Co-op building is literally right next to I think the big river that runs through Seoul - there's a nature reserve and running and biking tracks running all along the edge, it's gorgeous. And all the signs have english, and I'm already getting less shitty at reading hangul (although I still have no idea what any of it means, hush). I spent a couple hours just walking along the trails, and then back onto the sidewalk for a couple blocks around the hotel - the subway is literally a block away. I'm reading through the Rough Guide to Korea right now before I head back out (Thanks Anna, ♥) but apparently the subway has english signs too; I could cry with joy. I found several barbeque places (haha, I don't have to call it korean barbeque I guess) but they were all closed because I am a super loser and want steak for breakfast, unlike the rest of the country. Unfortunately, they weren't any cheaper than K-town :C

There's also something going on at the World Cup Stadium across the river; they keep releasing ballons and have some crazy floating signs attached to even bigger ballons. SO EXCITING! I wish I knew korean.

Look at me, I'm blogging! I'm also trying to get into the habit of using the camera a bit more; so far so good.

Just look how empty my room is now (trust me, it's empty in comparison to before) -




So I think this'll be the last update before I get on my EIGHTEEN HOUR FLIGHT EXPERIENCE (thanks, layover in Tokyo) tomorrow, since I have to be up bright and early.

Looks like it's time for me to go

Oh jeez, I have a flight date...

Friday! Thanks for the head's up. D:

Now my stress levels are shooting through the roof and my packing attempts ought to get even more half-assed and frantic. Let's go!

Sorry for all the constant posting, but I've been trying to give myself a crash course in Korean so I don't completely fall apart when I get there - even though I don't know how to ask where the toilet is yet, which is clearly the most important phrase of all - and I've been searching for free online resources.

Well, I discovered Livemocha, which is a website that has free courses for a TON of different languages. You sign up and create a profile, and although I haven't gotten to that part yet, you apparently can chat with native speakers of whatever language you're trying to learn, and you can practice with eachother. Sounds really nifty, although that sounds like something for more fluent speakers.

I might have to go back and try it with French too, since I've forgotten all of mine.

Who has two thumbs and an E-2 Visa? THIS GUY Emailed the head of the school and her assistant yesterday. When do I fly over? No idea, haven't heard back yet! D: I guess I'll send them another email, although I probably shouldn't send them that particular picture.

Copied from the lj!

Korean Adventure Update: I got my visa issuance number today, and I called the Korean Consulate to set up an appointment. Tomorrow at 3, it turns out! Lordy, this might happen faster than I expected, unless I don't get the visa same day. Sort of hoping that it takes a couple weeks to be processed, actually, I haven't packed or gotten all my visits in yet.

Important things to remember! I need to pack a year supply of my BFF forever, Clean & Clear face moisturizer and acne crap, because I refuse to part with it. Also, I need a year's supply of deodorant - it's ungodly unfair, but ASIANS don't get B.O, as my darling Anna has pointed out, and I've constantly lamented over. Especially when I have had to dance with especially pungent but otherwise nice partners for show performances.
The most important one: YEAR'S SUPPLY OF TAMPONS.

Why do Koreans use pads exclusively? WHO KNOWS. Thank god my recruiting agency sent me a little 'congrats' packet with important fun facts like that on a cd.

Anyways, this is my attempt to blog more. I figure I'll just try to write about things that, if I was the one reading the blog, I'd want to hear about. It's a little surreal but I'm still feeling like this whole EPIC JOURNEY is happening to someone else, because crazy spontaneous adventures across the world? It's hard to imagine doing it myself. OH WELL. I did have to struggle to not make an entry with just a video of kittens going 'OM NOM NOM'.

Testing, testing. Actual content coming soon!