.crushed. under the crest of a foreign wave.

this past week has been really refreshing and i'm finally getting adjusted to life in good ol' paju. i moved into my permanent apartment this thursday, and ever since i put up my dream catcher, i've been having strange and powerful dreams again. coincidence or the power of suggestion perhaps? 


if i hear one more korean say that this food or that food is 'good for health' i might have an aneurism; apparently all korean food is good for you in one shape or another, and any korean will be happy to personally vouche for this fact. however, of course korean food is going to be good for you and you're going to loose weight when all you're eating is spicy kimchi or ramen. #1- spicy food speeds up your metabolism and #2- kimchi/ramen has no real fat-gaining substance. maybe they should introduce the korean kimchi diet in america in place of the jenny craig diet... it would be a hell of a lot cheaper.


speaking of health, i was told that dog soup was 'good for stamina.' i'll let you guess what this means but i will give you a hint, they weren't talking about running a marathon....


this weekend i went to the hong-ik area of seoul, which is understood to be the "hip" part of town. to emphasize this inherent western coolness, they had 5 american apparel stores which i thought was neat until i went inside and started to see the price tags. one pair of pants cost 99,000 won which equates to roughly $90.00 USD. needless to say i only got one pair of pants. 


i made some new friends and went to the river front park which was really beautiful.  at night it becomes a major hang out spot, is all lit up, and overlooks a good portion of seoul. on my way back home from geumchon station i somehow managed to get horribly lost and ended up at some estranged korean karaoke bar.  i figured "well, since i'm here, why the hell not go in for a drink?" as i proceeded to walk down the flight of stairs and into the karaoke bar (it was located in the basement) i could hear loud music and laughter. however, when i finally did make it down stairs and into the bar there was absolutely not a soul in sight. i could have literally walked out with the cash register and no one would have noticed...very strange. i felt like i had just instantly been cast for a b-rated horror movie of sorts.