You just got yourself excluded from ravioli night

I've had a lot of jobs. Last year, I had 5 jobs in one year. This is def my first job to require an HIV test. Tomorrow I go for my complete physical exam, which determines whether or not I am allowed to remain in Korea. On the agenda: eye exam, dental exam, urine test, blood work, and chest x-ray. What, no MRI? If I fail any of these tests, test positive for any diseases or drug use, I am outta here! Obvs I think I will pass, but what if I don't?! I keep thinking of that Seinfeld episode where Elaine fails the drug test because of the poppy seed muffin. Try explaining that in Korean.

Went to dinner tonight with a fellow teacher at Poly. Korean restaurants can be very intimidating. First off, you are expected to know what you want to order upon walking through the entrance. They ask you in Korean right away, before you are at your table, before you have removed all your layers of outerwear. If you don't know, you're screwed. The menu is written in Korean on the wall, so looking at the picture and pointing is not an option. Second, if you don't order right away, they don't come back to you. Some tables have buzzers, but in the smaller places, you just yell when you are ready. Bibimbap is the only thing we are sure they serve, so we yell for two. You help yourself to the water cooler and drink out of tiny cups. There is usually a box on your table that has chopsticks (they use metal chopsticks, hard to get used to) and tablespoons. You get your food as it is ready, they don't wait for the entire order to come up. Soup is served boiling, and Koreans can down it that hot! You don't get a check, you just pay on your way out the door. Our meal tonight was $7 total. And you don't hang out after, you eat and get the fuck out.

Everyone works out here. Even my kids write in their essays how important it is to be healthy and exercise everyday -- and that walking to school is better than the bus because it is exercise. One would think this is a plus. Not me, I am pissed. This means the gyms in my neighborhood charge whatever the hell they want. Gym in my building is like $60 a month with a year contract and has nothing fancy! No pools, no sauna, def no steam room. The ghetto gym down the street is $40, but they only have treadmills (with no incline) and weight machines from 1975. Pics of Arnold Schwarzenegger hang on the wall... Yeah, so that's my current dilemma. Because, you know, I'm at the gym for like a hour and a half...workin on my fitness :-) (you may have noticed I am trying to incorporate as many Jersey Shore references as possible in every post).

Not sure what we are up to this weekend. We plan to do some more exploring on Saturday, so I am certain something entertaining will come from that!