this internet is garbage ...

i'm going to be hopeful and see if i can upload some pics on the wireless signal we're stealing in our "love motel" (also known as too-small-room to stay in for 10 days with luggage full of a year's worth of stuff + can be rented by the hour if necessary, 2 free channels of 24-hour korean porn included!) ... only one pic is working for me, so here's one of yours truly doing some trekking around. sweet track pants!

we've been busy exploring, drinking soju (cheap rice vodka-ish beverage), and eating korean bbq with some of our new friends. oh yes, and teaching. we spent two days observing, and we've already started doing some of the classes on our own. i've got ten classes myself, 5 a day on a 2-day rotating schedule. mark's got eight. (they must've realized beforehand that i'm smarter and more capable - ha, just kidding, baby!) the little ones are cute, and some of the older ones are a bit of a handful - who would've thought? some funny student names i've already come across: jojo (of jojo's psychic alliance, i'm told), k-fed, ganja... amazing. the kids' english is limited to what they learn in class, so they're not much of conversationalists. mostly a lot of "teacher! teacher! where you from? how old are you? blue eyes!?!?"

we made it into seoul today with the teacher-couple we're replacing. we were in awe of the multi-floored department stores and overwhelmed by all the shopping options. seriously, they have so much inventory in their stores it's a wonder how they sell it all - every colour of the rainbow. i've told myself to wait until payday before any frivilous spending begins (ie, shopping!) i will keep you updated on how that goes. completely outside of that rule, i bought a new hair straightener at homeplus (massive department+grocery+electronics store) with a suitable asian plug as i can't get my chi to work with our plug adaptor and my hair hasn't been the same since. but, for instance, they had 20+ different straighteners to choose from! options galore.

mark's napping right now as we prepare for an exciting evening of drinks and karaoke. seriously, i was initially disappointed that there didn't seem to be any noraebangs in our area - we're making a trek for korean singalongs! i'm very excited.