Settling in Slightly :)

Yesterday was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. The Sewing/ Fashion Club went on a field trip. We went to Dongdaemun, where there is a large collection of vendors selling sewing necessities. The whole thing is inside and you can buy anything from buttons to neon zippers to caret- like fabric to make a coat. The kids had a whole lot of fun, and I look forward to bringing my parents there to look around and maybe buy something, since the prices are probably a whole lot cheaper than anything that can be easily found in the United States. The kids were searching for things to make into the faces of their dolls and small bits and bobs to decorate their dresses once they made them. The best part was seeing how into it the kids all got, especially the two boys in the club. The two little English- speaking girls were really excited about the whole thing, chattering to me about the differences between Seoul and their homes in Australia and Connecticut.
In other news, last week I got to go on a very small walking adventure with one of my coworkers. First we went to a small store (I have no better word for this than colmado, which is neither English, nor easy to spell- I might not have spelled it correctly) to pick out snacks for the upcoming weekend's activities that have now passed. The cool thing about this is that after the snacks were chosen, my coworker told the cashier the address of our place of work, and the snacks were then delivered in a bog box, so we did not actually have to lug the whole thing around with us, to my pleasure. We also went to two bookstores and a craft store. I was in heaven in both, being surrounded by so many things that exist for the primary purpose of building up and exploring creativity always makes me really happy. While we were in the craft store, I heard the best line in a KPOP rap I have ever stumbled across. The guy in the song said something about "I got a lot of ice like an Eskimo." I laughed almost to the point of tears in the middle of the small store, something that I am sure the shop workers and the woman I work with thought was pretty odd. The whole purpose of the bookstore stops was so that I could locate some text books to work my English curriculum for the office around.
Just as a side note, it was so helpful to have my parents helping me with all the things that have to do with culture sickness. I am settling into my new role as teacher of English, even though that is most certainly not what I want to be doing with my time in Korea, especially because it means that I really will not be leaving the office much... sigh. Basically, I just have really high hopes that everything will get easier for me soon, especially since November is my favorite month of the year, and I hate being negative because I feel like I am wasting my time being mean and sour when I could be having a bunch of wonderful experiences. Next weekend my host mom , host sister, and I will be going to see "In The Heights" in Korean and I am honestly completely excited, especially since next week holds a Friday the 13th, a day that is always a good one for me. Then, the weekend after that, Germany and I have plans to go thrift shopping (yayay)!!!
Observations:
In Korea, eating with your mouth open seems to be culturally permissible, something that I have a really hard time with, since it is a sort of taboo in the States. In addition, it seems that pedestrians do not have the right of way in Korea, so y'all need to pay attention to that if / when you come to SK.
I love you all so much, and please recommend my blog to your friends!
EG