Year of the dragon

Yesterday I was thinking about how life will be different when I go back home. Here are some of my thoughts: (the lines of dots are the only way it would let me space. I'm trying to figure it out for next time). ............................................................................................................. 1. I will be thrilled to be able to buy cheap and wonderful coffee. Here the average price for a coffee is 3,000 won, or about 3 dollars and until this week, I hadn't found a coffee shop I could call my own. However, Monday, I went to a place I had heard about called It Coffee, which doesn't sound very promising, but after I sat down, I literally sat in wonder with my mouth open taking it all in. It was perfect. Light jazz Christmas music was playing, the smell of espresso hung in the air, the baristas were actually drinking their own coffee monitoring the place to see if anyone needed a refill. I've been several times since. The baristas speak English and also now know me and automatically put milk and sugar in my coffee. Something I found unusual is that if you get your drink to go, it's about a dollar cheaper. That seems backwards to me. But I'll take it. I'm so happy to have found somewhere I can go when I have breaks from class and to write on off days. ............................................................................................................. 2. I will miss public transportation. I haven't missed driving yet and I'm getting pretty good at understanding the bus system. Gone are the days when I get on a bus in the wrong direction and end up in another state, an hour late for my language exchange, with no cash for a taxi, only 1,000 won left on my transit card, and precious few cell phone minutes. Yesterday, I ran down the sidewalk to catch the bus I needed to make it to the pub quiz night by running down the sidewalk and climbing the steps slowly so my friend/new coworker who hurt his leg and has a splint on it could make it too. That was exciting. ............................................................................................................. 3. Eating out is going to seem like a huge hassle and very expensive. Here, I eat for an average of less than I tip at home. And servers are always walking around just looking over the place, so if you need something, you just have to say "Here" in Korean and they come and give you what you need. It's quite efficient. ............................................................................................................. All of my classes are named for prominent universities: Duke, Cornell, Harvard, Stanford, Seoul, Premier (In Bangladesh... I didn't know that), and others. The photo here is my Cornell class. I only teach them about five times a week but they are super amazing and also, obviously, super cute. They are my favorite by far because they have only gotten better every time I have taught them. Tony, the boy below, completely has my heart. A few weeks ago, he was talking to I walked up and pinched his arm and he smiled up at me and said, "Teacher, are you crab?" and I said yes and asked him if he was too and he said, "No, I'm person!" but every time he saw me that day, he pinched me and just giggled and giggled. Now, every day he decides he's a different animal for that day, including a fire-breathing dragon. .............................................................................................................

............................................................................................................. Here's another, if you didn't already have enough of him :)

............................................................................................................. I got a call from a girl I trained with, Samantha, a few days before New Year's asking if I wanted to go into Seoul with her and find a Dr. Fish. At that point, I had no idea what Dr. Fish was, but I said sure! Then I found out that it's the picture below and I had already committed. Most people know I'm a ticklish person. And if you didn't, well there you go. Samantha and I finally found the place and it was a pretty cool setup. It was called Namu (tree) Books and Coffee. It basically was a coffee shop but when you order the barista asks if you want to "add the fish" for 2,000 won. Then you sit, have some toast and jam, relax, and when you're ready/have worked up the nerve, you go up on a small platform by the window and have your feet rinsed and you can choose between pools of small fish (2-3 inches) and the big fish (5-6 inches) to sit at. The man didn't speak much English but when he pointed to the pool of big fish, he said "Strong," so we opted for the small. Anyway, it took me about 7 minutes just to finally put one heel in and it was so hard not to immediately jerk my foot out. But it was an experience and now I can post this lovely photo of tiny fish munching on the dead skin of my heels so you can all share in it with me.

............................................................................................................. I'll leave you with this image and hopefully post more soon. Goodnight.