Arghhhhh. Some days living abroad can be really frustrating. Like I mentioned before, I still don't have my alien registration card, so I don't have a debit card. I can still use the atm by putting my entire bank book into the machine. I did this once before, but a Korean speaker helped me. Tonight, I tried by myself, thinking there would be no problems. WHY did I think I wouldn't have a problem with this?? I have problems with everything! So I roll into atm trying to get money for dinner. I have zero dollars on me, all of my money is in my bank account. I can't figure out what the fuck I am doing. My director set up my bank account for me and the bank guy changed my pin number (he said it wasn't secure enough). I insert bank book, punch in pin, and then it prompts for some other number. I think, hmmm, I think I remember what this is and punch in other number. It asks me how many 50s or 10s I want, etc, and ends my transaction...I think successfully. I wait for cash to come out. 3 of us stare at machine for 2 mins wondering what happened. Try again, same result. So us geniuses come to the conclusion this machine is out of cash. Killed by a goomba, starting over at neighbor machine. I keep trying, no money is coming out. I have my paper that my pin is written on, but it is not working. I try about 7 times, surely deactivating my account at this point. This is like when you just get the magic mushroom to become big Mario and end up jumping off a cliff. Just when I thought I had some money!
So, now I don't know what the fuck I am going to do. I am going to roll into the bank tomorrow morning to try to fix this, but I might have a problem. Namely, immigration has my passport so I have no ID except for a California driver's license. Oh, and then there's the whole language barrier thing. Fucking A!!
Not having a camera totally sucks! I need the banking situation to get handled asap so I can hit up Digital World for a new one. I went out last night with a fellow teacher for some dinner and drinks. I just discovered there is a university neighborhood a couple blocks over, so we went exploring. We settled on some budae jjigae, which is a stew made out of tofu, onions, noodles, chili peppers, kimchi, beans, and sliced hot dogs!! It was pretty bomb. This was my first restaurant where you remove your shoes at the door and sit on the floor. Your table has a portable gas burner on it, and they simmer the huge bowl of stew right on the table. I loved it. They also gave us a great selection of kimchi snacks, including sesame mushrooms :) It was $14 total for both of us, including beer. I will def get a pic next time I am there. It's v close to my house, less than 10 mins walking, so I'll be back.
Then we went to a bar called "Gangster." Legit that's the name, written in English. The most impressive part of Gangster Bar was the toilet!! No joke. A little background on toilets in Korea: you never know what you are going to get when walking into the bathroom. There is the traditional toilet, which I have in my apartment and at school. Then there is "the hole." The hole is exactly that, a hole in the ground in a stall. Like a port-a-potty with no seat. You squat over the hole and go. It's disgusting. If the hole is the hooptie of toilets, the one at Gangster bar is the Cadillac. I walk in and think, hmm this is interesting, the toilet has an arm rest. Then I noticed it's actually a control unit to adjust the temperature of the heated seat. Say whaaaatt??! The toilet reminded me of the chairs you sit in for a pedicure. As I stare in amazement, I begin to wonder what the other buttons on the arm rest do. Of course I am going to press them all to find out! For once in my life, I had the correct instinct to step away from the toilet when pressing the buttons. I press one and out of nowhere a spout rises up from the side of the bowl and sprays a steady stream of water 3 feet into the air!!! Kinda like a bode (sp?) I guess, but right out of the seat! It was shocking. I made quite the mess in there because I couldn't figure out how to make it stop. That didn't stop me from pressing another button, which produced the same spout, but this time with a spray effect. By the time I left, there was a lake on the bathroom floor. Whoops. I come running out, so excited, and insist my male teacher friend go into the men's room and report back on toilet. Even more shocking! While the females have the luxurious heated, water spouting seat, the men's room had the hole! He was pretty pissed. Second time last night I was needing my camera.
I, of course, could go on and on with my nonsense, but it's time to call it a night. I have plenty of drama with the terds I could discuss, but I don't want to think about them. To sum it up, the school has officially banned word searches in the problem class bc the kids are beating each other up over them. Out of control.
Finally, here is an awesome video. This is my favorite song. It rules. Korean pop music rocks!
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