Fried green sushis, water management, and skinny slacks.

You heard it here first- Tomorrow I get my Alien Registration Card (ARC for those of us on the internet LOL).  And that means....
1. I can get a cell phone!  I will be able to finally prove to cell phone companies I will be living in this country, and I will no longer be isolated!  I tried to go to a get-together that was happening tonight, but no one could give me an address because the buildings are all in a jumbled mess AND THEY"RE IN KOREAN.  unable to call for direction, I wandered in the rain, about the same two-block area for a good half-hour.  When the people there started looking at my funny, I put on a far-off look and acted like I was contemplating the purpose of my existence.  or coming home from a bar.  I seriously contemplated tossing pebbles at windows with lights on.  I was five minutes and one downpour away from sending smoke signals.  Moral of the story?  Cell phone = salvation (seriously, the eight-year-olds I teach all have them.   not exaggerating.  all.). 

2.  I can get a bank account!  Because otherwise I'd just get handed a check at work (which I won't get for another month, so no worries, right?).  Bank accounts let you do wonderful things like paying your electric bill, paying a monthly cell phone plan, and getting a sweet 20% discount to Everland theme park!  But in lieu of having a bank account right now, I hear bars can cash paychecks.... 

and of course, a bank account means

3.  I can get my own internet!  I've been leeching other people's WiFi for close to two weeks now.  Its time to finally join the super-wired nation that is south korea.  (As if to prove this point, I did an exercize with one of my classes where we designed a theme park.  what did all the classes with teenagers in them put in the park?  internet cafes.)
So back to my classes.  I'm a full-fledged teacher now, teaching solo all the time, and I'm often surprised at how good my students are.  We discussed fish in my kindergarten class.  One of my four-year-olds told me:
Teacher!  Me!  House!  Fish! GCKKKK*makes throat cutting gesture*!
He had a fish.  it died.  now he has no fish.  Kids that age are blunt little creatures.
Another class discovered I have no korean name, and decided to give me one.  After carefully analyzing my first and last names in English, they settled on Dan Jae Hyun, with Dan being my family name, and Jae Hyun my name.  It's a real name.  I think it sounds cool.  So, my avid readers and adoring fans, what do you think- does this name sound cool?
Also, Ive discovered how incredibly cheap it is to eat in this place if you find local restaurants that are not part of a big chain.  Let me give one example.
Not twenty yards from the building in which I work is a Kimbap store, kimbap being korean for sushi.  Now if sushi makes you instantly think "raw fish", you're close, but not quite.  Sushi is vegetables and meat inside carbs (rice).  almost the asian cultures' version of a sandwich.  But what gave some picky japanese eater the right to decide that because he liked it best, the only meat that could go in sandwiches is cold, raw fish?  Korea laughs at the idea.  My Kimbap today had a hot, fried pork tenderloin inside.  Taking something culturally significant to another country and filling it with fried meat?
I can't believe the Koreans beat us to this idea....
America, I give you this charge, let's do this and do it better.  A bowl of Indian curry?  Deep fry it with bacon.  dust it with powdered sugar.  dip it in cheese sauce.  Thats a start.
Where was I?
Oh yes, eating on the cheap.  anyway.  I got  basically a footlong of this korean version of a tenderloin sandwich, with essentially an au jous sauce, for $2.40.  not bad.

I learned a korean expression at work.  Americans often say "plenty of fish in the sea," meaning that there are lots of other nice people for you to choose from if you're seeking a relationship.  The korean answer to "plenty of fish in the sea" is "water management".  Water management is the process of only allowing the pretty people in. 

I think I like this place.



Also, skinny jeans are ubiquitous, for men and women.  Heck, the guys even wear skinny slacks as part of their school uniforms. 

Fried meat in sushi, water management, and skinny slacks?  America....we've got some catching up to do.