Cheers to new beginnings

I don't even know where to begin. I love this city. Plain and simple. Is that normal? will it all wear off soon. It's like living in Manhattan, i always wanted to live in Manhattan. I couldn't afford it though. I live in Seoul. Wow. I still have to pinch myself that can say that...

My training was brutal. My company is pretty intense. I watched people give up and go home after only 2 days here, and people get fired... before they could even begin. I was so stressed out I literally went, I want a cigarette, and proceeded to smoke. Never in my entire life have I ever even vaguely wanted one... the other guy who didn't smoke, or hasn't in years, bummed a cig as well. Korea will be bad for me, all my public health gone out the window.

So New Years. Yo. everyone else was staying in because they had to retake the grammar test for our company. Since I passed I knew there was no way I could be indoors when the clock struck 12. So we headed out to dinner first, me and the guys...

The other girls are much more conservative than I, so I end up being the drinking crazy chick who hangs with the boys... why does this sound like high school again. Anyways for our NYE dinner we went to some awesome restaurant and had some SOJU.... My first introduction to the stuff was brutal. I didn't know what to expect from it. It looks and tests like water. There is only a faint alcoholic taste to it. Next thing I know, I am pouring drinks out the side of my mouth. It was funny. You have to see it to understand.

So then we went back to the hotel and no one would head out with me so I decided I was going to navigate Seoul on my own. I have to figure it out sooner or later anyways, and while inebriated is not the best way to do it, I have a feeling I need to get used to that. I was meeting up with some Americans I'd been in contact with at club circle (http://www.thecircle.co.kr) So I had one of the korean-americans write the address for me in hangul so I could just show it to the taxi driver. Then I headed out.

No one told me there was a specific side of the road I had to be on to get a taxi, so at first I was uber confused when I kept handing them the paper and they'd say no. Finally someone was nice enough to point me to the other side, and once I got in the taxi we were off. Man the taxis are nice here, they all have GPS and everything. He punched it in and off we go, I pull up in the club 5 minutes to midnight and make it in just in time. Then comes the fun part of finding the people I am meeting up with because I don't yet have a cellphone. Luckily I run into her while I was in coat check and she tells me they were going to leave. Because drinks were $20... What!!! when I can buy liquor for a dollar in the store? thats unnacceptable, I've never paid that for a drink in the US. So we hop in a cab and head to Itaewon. Now Itaewon is to Seoul what Roppongi is to Tokyo. Foreigner party central. Once we pull up in the area, everyone is speaking English. It was quite a shock for me actually after becoming used to hearing everyone speak Korean.

Itaewon is mad fun yo' the liquor is cheap and the company is nice. My friends were really pretty and before we knew it, some men were asking us to join them, turned out to be military men who ended up supplying the rest of the drinks for the night. Sweet. We barhopped and ate yummy roasted street meet and before we knew it it was time to head home. Needless to say I was not in the most sober of states, and taking the subway I somehow managed to maneuver my way home and stumble into bed at 7.00am, but remember I have training at 9.30 am. I set my alarm but it didn't wake me up. Someone was nice enough to call my room, and that woke me up but by the time i got downstairs the shuttle had already left. shi*T. so I jump on the subway and somehow I was walking in the door of training at 9.35 am, and I stopped for coffee. talk about skills. needless to say i looked like crap though, and my day was horribly painful, but it made for a happy me. I would have cried if i had to stay home NYE....

My training has been super intense, even though we finally made it through. one instructor hated our class and she was not very good at hiding it. that made it torture to be in her room. since we made it through the week we had some soju to celebrate. a little too much. that stuff will kill you. but it's so cheap and accessible...


I can see Korea will be fun times....