Seoul Cold!

Bbbbuuuuurrrrr! Its so cold, freezing cold. It hasn't snowed since my first week here, but let me tell you, its cold enough to snow. I have a sore throat and I think that I'm losing my voice, which is really terrible since that is a necessity to teach. I've been gargling with salt water, drinking tea and orange juice, taking vitamin C and cold medicine, and I can't shake it. So last night I tried beer and soju. I mean when all else fails alcohol should kill all of the germs, right?!

I was taken to the hospital last week, for my blood test and urine test. I thought that was all that it was going to be, but boy was I wrong. After I gave my blood and urine, they wanted to take an x-ray of my chest. Then they had a dentist check out my teeth, then they weighed me, measured me, not just my height and took my blood pressure. Then I had to sit with a doctor and go over my medical history, at which point he had to check my breathing by going under the front of my shirt. I was a little weirded out by this, I'm used to doctors going up the back, but when in Rome, right?! My health checked out fine, so that was good.

I started teaching on my own this week. The kids are really cute and smart. Each time I go through a lesson with them, it amazes me how quick they can build on the English they already know. I keep thinking back to junior high and high school and how difficult learning Spanish was for me. They all have a speaking test with me next week, so the past couple of days I've been doing review with them, and trying to come up with games that incorporate vocab and grammar. So that was the highlight of school.

Last weekend was my first weekend out here and I went to another teacher's going away party. Going out in Seoul was really fun. The bar that we went to had dart boards, a pool table, and a shuffleboard table. Oh, and there's no tipping at all here. Not at bars and not at restaurants and everything here is pretty cheap. Food, public transportation, clothes, etc.

I am very excited for this weekend! Its Anna's last weekend (the teacher I'm replacing) and Alexandra gets in tomorrow!!!!! I can't wait! I'm sure that we're going to get into some sort of shenanigans! So get ready for all of the silly stories to begin.