I got a poster!!! (yep, that was the highlight of my week)

As you can see from the title, the previous week wasn't terribly thrilling by any definition of the word. I contemplated not even writing this week, but I decided against it for you, my readers (maybe just singular reader, as I know my mom still reads it....Hi Mom!), as I know how soul-depleting it would be to have to go a whole 2 weeks without word from me.

Like I said, the last week was terribly ordinary, but I guess that means I've adjusted and settled in, given my mood. Several months ago I would have been tearing my hair out if I had to "suffer" through a weekend like I just had, as I needed some manner of alcohol/mischief/misadventure to energize or numb me enough to get through the week without losing it. The fact that I just went through a weekend without nearly anything happening and I'm still okay with it come Monday means that life here isn't quite as awful as I once thought it was.

Don't get me wrong, school still sucks most of the time. I've just numbed myself to the bullshit. Hell, I sleepwalk through the classes with the co-teacher maybe even more than the kids. Show up to class, spend the first 10 to 15 minutes watching the co-teacher yell at the kids and beat them with a stick for not doing their homework, read and repeat several passages several times, leave, repeat. I've managed to fill most of the dead time quite effectively with heavy reading and Korean studying. I should start planning for the open class at the end of the month, but it means nothing to me and the co-teacher hasn't bothered to lift a finger to help me and I doubt she ever will. I only have 2 more weeks left for my after school classes, so once those are done I'll have an additional 2 hours of dead time every day and zero actual teaching to do during a given day.

Free time is filled much the same as usual. Tuesday-Thursday night spent going to and from Seoul for capoeira. My frustrations with the manner of instruction seem to be shared by all the foreigners and to address the problem, the instructor has allowed one of the foreigners, who has been training for 7 years, to lead class on Thursday. On the first Thursday, we had warm up before stretching, conditioning, basic movement/kick practice, and stripped down practice rodas with only one or two moves available. Yes, yes, yes and more yes. Thankfully, the other foreigners also saw the absurdity of being able to pull off a gorgeous macacau while being unable to ginga or throw even the most basic kick well. Crazy western logic to the rescue!

On to the big news: the poster. So last week saw the final piece of the care package from Madison in the form of a long cardboard tube. I knew roughly what it was, as Rounds prefaced it by saying that he was understanding of my frustrations with the inadequacies of most Korean women and was sending help. I really wanted to open it as soon as I received it, but the package came to school and the ensuing scene wouldn't have be overly pleasant, despite being undoubtedly hilarious. I hid the poster quite well, as I know from experience how nosy Koreans can be and didn't wanna be forced to open it in front of all the teachers. As I gaze at it above my computer back at the apartment, I must say it was everything I had hoped for. Finally, a light at the end of the tunnel. I was starting to wonder if women only come in one size (tiny), have only one hair style and color, have no figure and have a complexion pale enough to make apparitions envious. I can now say without a doubt that that is not true. Rounds, thank you. I did have to take the poster down almost immediately after sticking it up on the wall, though. The landlord came by to install a air conditioning unit for the room and I figured it would be good to keep him from realizing I'm on of those sex-crazed sexual deviant foreigners that their mothers warn them about.

As for the weekend, I went to Olympic Park for a couple hours on Saturday, then ate at quality Turkish restaurant in Gangnam Saturday evening. That's it. Spent all of Sunday cleaning and wasting time. Olympic Park is a exceedingly pretty and quiet park, which is surprising given its location in the heart of Seoul. My only complaints were that there were too many people, but its Korea, so what the hell can you do about that? Just laid down in the grass and stared at the perfect blue sky for several hours. That's all. Caused a scene, I presume, since Koreans simply will not sit or lay down in the grass without a blanket. I assume to prevent from getting dirty and we all know how serious a sin is being dirty. Cleanliness is next to godliness, so the Koreans are batting 2 for 2. I know that sounds like a stereotype, but I've been to Olympic Park twice and seen hundreds of people sitting in the grass and have to yet seen a group without a blanket. Numbers don't lie.

In unrelated news, I bought the newest Roots album and it is wonderful. Dark, angry, paranoid, gritty and so much more. A nice change of pace from the "rap" here in Korea that would make Aaron Carter look hardcore.