From 한국

For the first time in nearly five months (wow, can't believe I've been here five months!) I can't think of what to write in my blog...hmmm.. Maybe another sip of my orange colored fiber drink will help me with my writers block. They sell fiber drink at just about every convenience store e.g. 7-Eleven (they have that here and Japan), Buy The Way, Family Mart, or Mini-stop (the ones listed I've found to be the most popular if not all the ones they have here). In addition to finding the much beloved laxative that I enjoy after a healthy yet conspicuously vegetable/brown rice forsaken meal, you can also buy ginseng (which I often get), and aloe juice (another good one). Btw, the aloe juice is actual juice with sugar and the like; if you get a sunburn it's probably not the best thing to pour on yourself should you happen to come to Korea and think it can be used for duel purposes. If you're hungry you can buy these triangle shaped rice things wrapped in seaweed; inside the center is kinda like a jelly donut except instead of jelly they have different 'fillings' like tuna (I'd name the other 'fillings' but I got these maybe 3 times and didn't get the tuna 'filling' so I stopped buying these pretty much after my first week here). In case you're wondering (like me) if I spelled filling correctly, I found that 'fillings' has two Ls while filing, like filing papers in an office only has one L. Weird, wild, stuff! The irony is that I'm teaching English and losing it at the same time. I've actually misspelled a word and had my co-teacher correct me one time which was slightly humiliating (before you pass judgment I've heard from other teachers that they've made similar faux pas like mine before- you'd really be shocked at what an environment like this does to your English, kid you not). Oh, I almost forgot; two more slightly odd things they sell at these convenience stores: The first being dried squid/shrimp which hardly should come as a surprise to you if you are familiar with just about any East Asian culture (they love love eating squid and shrimp!!) They even have shrimp burgers at McDonald's (along with the pride of Korea, the bulgogi burger) and potato chips that are shrimp flavored. I accidentally bought the shrimp flavored chips one night while under the influence of alcohol and immediately noticed my purchasing mistake upon my first chip. The other thing that might be a little strange to you that they sell at these convenience stores are what I call, 'meat on a stick'. They usually have these in hot dog warmer upper things located right next to the cash register sitting next to their buddies, the fried chicken. For some reason every time I see these I always think of one of my favorite movies, 'There's Something About Marry'. In the movie, Ben Stiller, asks while eating a corn dog (something to the effect of), 'how come they don't have more sticks with meat on them?' Apparently, the writers of the movie never traveled to Asia because they indeed have 'meat a stick' sold at nearly every convenience store sold in Korea. Lastly, many if not all these convenience stores serve as fast food restaurants of sort. Most convenience stores have tables either inside or outside (or both) so you can eat you're food or have a beer should the need fancy you. Aside from those things mentioned above however, the convenience stores sell pretty much everything else you'd normally find in the States.

Other seemingly trivial news: I've finally figured out the train schedule which makes life a little easier. Unfortunately, I still haven't figured out the bus system around where I live; Every time I get on the bus I still have mild anxiety attacks if I don't recognize a place or surrounding. Can't think of anything interesting to write about for now and about getting tired so that's it for now. Ciao! Thanks for reading.