Lonely Nights

What do I do when I'm at home? I get home usually by 5PM from school. Other than surf the internet for hours until my shoulders stiffen.

• Clean my apartment. I don't know where all the dust comes from, but it exists.
• Bathroom duties. Nature calls.
• Prepare dinner. It could take up to an hour, if I don't have my ingredients pre-made.
• Prepare for the following day's classes. I review the lessons for the next day or create PowerPoint from pre-made lessons.
• Wash my laundry. Usually by the end of the week I do it.
• Wash the dishes. I like to save money on the water bill.
• Organize my finances. I scribble in all my daily expenses in my money planner, to remind me how much I am spending.
• Write. I like to reflect on my time being spent or how I will spend it.
• Read. I have a collection of free e-books I got from bloggers to unpublished authors.
• Visit Icheon's E-Mart. I've vacated that place too many times in the past 3-weeks. The commute is 45-minutes both ways, that doesn't even include the wait time.

Here's what I did while waiting for the ground-pork to defrost and rice to soak:

I made my own pre-made chopped garlic. I bought a bag of garlic bulbs for 1200 won and they were going to become rotten by next week if I didn't use them, so I decided to chop them. Luckily I just finished a jar of grape jam so I reused it. Thankfully, I don't reek of garlic. (Tip: Wash your hands with a silver spoon and it will rid the garlicky smell.)

As I said earlier, preparing dinner could take up to an hour, that is if I don't have my vegetables already pre-cut and frozen.

[Sliced green onion, shredded cabbage, and diced carrots with a few bulbs of garlic.]

Tonight's menu: Ground-pork with cabbage, carrots, and green onion. (Seasoned with garlic, sprinkled with ginger powder, dashed of salt and pepper, and kicked with oyster sauce. Over cooked it, but it was good.)

잘 먹을께요!

Would you like some more?

My Grandpa's 72....

...actually I've been telling that to everyone for about 10 years. He turns 83 years young this January 20th. I can't believe he still carries my rice-sack (50-lbs) cousins on his back.

2011 Adventures

My D-Day app says, "IPO DAY 34".

Rather than counting down my days here, in South Korea, I'm counting them. What have I done since I've landed? Well, not blogging, that's for sure. But I have been posting videos on Facebook and YouTube. Here's a recap for readers and not viewers, starting with the earliest to the latest.

Day 1 - Went to Hell and back in a day.

Day 3 - Tour of the English classroom and the first day I officially met the entire town.

Day 5 - In the 'Hood

(I still don't know how to take out the trash.)

Day 11: Christmas with K.will (Korean solo artist)

Week 4: Ipo's English Winter Camp

A month has gone by and I have accomplished a lot more since my first day here, more than I would have imagined or anyone would have after viewing my first video. I'm actually really happy that I did record it, because my family and friends, even people I don't know, have motivated and encouraged me to be strong. I'm just thankful to have running water, a blanket, and toilet paper. Yes, the mold is still here in my apartment. No I didn't throw out the random condiments in my refrigerator out (I even drank all the instant coffee mixes leftover). And I still have recycling piling before my eyes, because I haven't gotten around to asking some body how to do it. But I have met many people within the past month that has made me more comfortable living in Korea.

Status Update: Waiting Hurts My Ass

Last Monday, I sent all of my documents that I have acquired throughout the month of October to my recruiter's office in Seoul. FedEx's tracking system reported that my recruiter, Scott, received the package. Scott is usually responsive, so I had assumed he would e-mail that he had gotten everything.

Thus far, I haven't done shit for the past week, other than go to work and the chiropractor to make the days go by faster.

Status update from Scottie:

your case no rpoblem

we are waiting your visa issue number

it takes 10-14days

i will le tyou know as soon as I get

thank hyou

Actually, I am lying when I say that I haven't done "shit" the past week. I've been visiting bookstores to find any book on travelling or English grammar. Out of all books, I did picked up Eat, Shoots & Leaves. Reading the book made me irritated because the author's tone itself sounded irritated toward people who just don't know or understand the English grammar (I even heard her British accent while reading), so I've decided to stop reading it and exchanging it for a reference book. I point this out, because obviously from Scott's e-mail, he needs a little help too. But I'm not going to be the one to point his errors out, not until my ass is in my apartment in Yeoju come this December.