Walk and Talk Group

• Work has been a bit isolating, so I decided to begin a “walk and talk” group. I sent out at email to all of the cool people I have met at work letting them know about it. Basically, it’s a walking group that meets Tuesdays and Thursdays before lunch to go walking in Olympic park. They get to practice speaking conversational English, and I get to feel a little less isolated at work. So far, the weather has made it difficult to meet consistently. Just when I thought it was the beginning of spring, and perfect for the group to start meeting, it decided to snow again!
• Squirrel!!!!!! Where? Lotte Mart!!! That’s right; they sell pet squirrels at the Lotte Mart!!!!! They cost around 100 dollars. Next time I will remember to take a picture, or maybe come home with another roommate / friend for Tokey Pokey!
• I am shocked by the Korean’s ability to multitask. I went to the restroom at work, and one of the girls was using the toilet, talking on her cell phone, and brushing her teeth all at the same time!!! Talk about using your break time efficiently!
• I am also shocked by the advice Korean doctors give to the Koreans. One of my friends went to a doctor for acne and said it gets worse after she works out. The doctor told her not to workout so hard, and that she shouldn’t sweat. Not, wash your face before and after you work out, not use this cream to clear it up, just avoid working out too hard.
I had another friend who hurt her shoulder and the doctor took an x-ray and gave her some medicine for it. Three weeks later and that x-ray and medicine has done nothing for the pain. Do you think the doctor recommended icing it daily, or any stretches for her to do; no, of course not. I keep telling her to ice it, like Angela would tell her to do, but since I’m not a doctor she won’t listen to me. She just keeps refilling the medicine that isn’t doing anything to help. Oh if only Angela was here to force her to use ice on her shoulder.
• Ok, this next sorry involves poop, so you can skip this story if you think it’s gross to talk about pooping. Everyday at work I get to take a break at around 3:30 so I can talk to my family on skype for 10 minutes. Before I talk to them, I take a quick trip to the restroom. And everyday, there is a girl in their taking her break too. She is in their reading a newspaper and pooping! Korean girls poop like guys!!!!! It’s so different from at home. Girls here actually poop in the public restroom, and not just during cases of extreme emergencies. The toilets at work are bidets so people actually save their poops till they come to work so they can use the bidet to clean their butts properly. I know, it’s really had to wrap my head around it too, girls just don’t poop in public like that, but apparently in Korea they do!
• I went hiking this weekend with the hiking club from work. Because it snowed the other day, the hiking club is still a skeleton crew, just 3 people went. Myself, one guy, and for the first time…. another girl! Hooray! I am amazed that every hike I go on is so different. This hike was different, not only because it offered a breathtaking panoramic view of Seoul, but the people I encountered on the tail were different as well. We passed people that had radios blaring. I have never come across this before on any other trail, but on this mountain, people don’t want to listen to the sounds of nature, or hold a conversation with the people they are with; no, they want to listen to their favorite radio programs or songs, and share them with all the other hikes on the tail. Another thing that sets this mountain apart was that near the peak, they have all this exercise equipment set up. Because hiking to the top of a mountain just isn’t enough for this old people, once you get up there you need to lift some weights, do some pull ups, and hula hoop with the world largest hula hoop.
After we finished our hike we went to Costco for some authentic Costco cheese pizza. It’s just like the Costco pizza back home! And, I got to take the left over slices home. They give you cardboard triangle boxes to put the slices in, and then I tied them all together and gave it a handle, creating a one of a kind Costco pizza purse. Man, I got some strange looks on the subway ride home. I mean, I already get looks because I’m a foreigner, but then I was also dressed for hiking, which is something that young people don’t really do here, let alone foreigners. Plus, I was toting a hiking pole in one hand, and a pizza purse in the other.