Welcome to the S.K., where are you from?

It has been a while since I've updated. Honestly, though, there isn't all that much to say.
I, basically, am already in a routine where I wake up and go to work, teach, and go home.
Obviously, there are always odd happenings, but they usually are not consequential enough to mention.

Last weekend, I went to Chongdeokgung Palace with a co-worker and her friend. We had a really good time! :D I'll post a few pictures below. We had some Dolsot Bibimbap...which is now probably one of my favorite dishes. I don't really know how to explain it...there are a lot of vegetables, it's served hot, and a little spicy, but not unbearable. On our way to the palace we saw this elderly guy in the street. He had a tupperware of kimchi on his person. He then proceeded to try and give me the kimchi--to set the scene, he grabbed the cabbage in his hand and came towards my face with it. My 2 Korean friends were flipping out and yelling at him and they dragged me away. Although kimchi is good and all, I really don't think I wanted his kimchi.

I'd ballpark it to say that the average number, weekly, that strange things happen to me is around 10...about 1.2 per day. By strange things, I don't mean the usual stares, but people who actually decide that they think it is a sound idea to approach me. Usually, I get the question, "Where are you from?". I think I'm going to start deriving outlandish answers to this question. Beyond that, usually, when you talk to them, they end the conversation with "Welcome to Korea!"...thanks, but I've already been here a month.

So, Christmas is next week. It really doesn't feel like Christmas here, at all. Perhaps, it's because it's not really a big holiday here. Although, they do play a lot of Christmas music. Which is kind of funny, right now they play the song "Last Christmas" They play it, perhaps, with a little too much liberty. It's actually kind of ridiculous. Just like America, they play the same pop songs over and over again. Right now some popular songs you can youtube, at your leisure, if you so choose, are: nobody, but you (wondergirls), rainism, eat you up (boa), and, umm, there are others, however, those are the ones I actually know the titles to.

Although I suppose there has been a semi-negative tone to this post about my experiences here, I hope you all know that, honestly, I really love it here. This is by far one of the coolest experiences. The kids I teach are really awesome too. They all call me "teacher!" and usually I respond with "student!". I had them write auto-biographies for me this week...sooo cute. One of my students named himself Jesus...kind of funny. It was hard, at first, to say his name with a straight face. I had him in my debate class...they actually turned out to be my favorite kids. They were all 3rd years though, so I won't have them again. :( Anywho, that's about all for now, I'll try and update again soon.