Hey everyone,

Some of you have heard, and some of you have not, but things in Korea are pretty crazy!

Upon landing in Korea our working group was whisked off to our hotels and separated into groups of 5 to prevent any sort of swine flu outbreak. After that we were told not to talk to the different groups and stay out of the public eye. Breaking that rule was my first priority. I explored the whole area and even hiked one of Seoul’s mountains. After two or three days of relaxing our training for our job ensued.

The job training was really intense. The whole time we were wearing face masks in the office and we had to use hand sanitizer like it was a an oxygen source. The trainers also intended to “break us” by creating an intense course outline we had to abide by and create. This training went on for five days and afterwards people were shipped off to their jobs. Except me! Well, me and a couple others from different groups. We were informed the job wasn’t available anymore and had been filled, and after all that hard work too! So they gave me a list of sites and said that I could mail all my material to them if I needed anything from the states.

After being tossed around I had to retire to a hostel. The hostel itself was really gross and I was forced to enjoy a nice comfortable stay on a bed filled with bedbugs (didn’t know it at the time). The mattress was so uncomfortable I had to reside on alcohol to really get the rest I deserved (my excuse at least!). The plus side to the hostel was that I switched beds, and met a lot of interesting people! I’ve met people from Czech, Russia, Brazil, and Germany! Everyone had lots of stories and I learned so much.

So lately I have had a lot of time to explore. I hiked another mountain (the highest one) and it was really challenging. There was even some ropes to pull yourself up and cliff edges you had to walk along! Lotta fun. Besides that, I’ve also visited the foreign district and a lot of party/bar areas, and a palace or two. Seoul is really cool and I can’t wait to explore everything. I haven’t done any intense tourist events such as the DMZ or the aquarium until I know I’ll have a steady income flowing.

Lately I’ve had a bunch of job interviews, with just about each one of them wanting to hire me. I have a couple more this week, but I only can get the job once I get all the papers I used to get my visa the first time. I have my mother collecting the documentation and sending it to me. After that I can do another “visa run” and accept any of these jobs. The visa run would be a trip to japan that they pay for! So for the next few days I have been clean shaven (I shaved with a blade, so there ain’t any stubble!), wearing a suit and tie, and walking around with my “briefcase”. This trip is fun