Goodbye officer, hello government dog

    So yesterday I did my 2nd physical exam and failed as expected, so I'm going to be placed in a government position instead of going to the military, but I'll still have to go through boot camp which will be fun.  I have to go back for a 3rd exam just as formality but I'm pretty much set for the rest of my stay here in ze motherland.  Work-wise, I'm applying to other hagwons as the place I'm currently teaching at has a deficiency in student count...aka less money for me to make.  I'll still teach there since the director is a good guy, but I need more things to do to fill in my time the rest of the week.  I'm still waiting for my cousin to take her college entrance exam, which is in about 10 days.  I've been staying out and wandering the city by my lonesome for the majority of the days I'm not working.  There's something tranquil about wandering even though you're blasting music through your headphones and the surroundings are so hectic.  Thank you Blackmill, I'm glad I found your music ^_^.  Oh, I got some good news from Pittsburgh about my deferment.  They said that they could keep my case open until Fall 2013 but I won't be back until 2014.  I asked if I needed to retake the GRE but I don't and in the worse case scenario, I would just have to reapply and I'm pretty much back into the program.  That's one load off my mind, WIN.
    So my only student at the hagwon, Sung Min Kim, is a fun kid to be around.  To start our little sessions, I always find a friend on Skype to call so that he can practice his conversational skills.  It's quite a sight to watch because he's so nervous and awkward about talking to strangers.  I tell him that he needs to get used to it because that's what he'll have to do once he gets to Canada.  I do understand it is a little awkward talking to someone through video chatting if you don't know them but it's all in good fun :)  Anyway, recently he told the director that coming to the hagwon was getting too tiring for him and he never feels up to learning when he gets there (he has a 2 hour commute from his house) so he proposed a different way to conduct our sessions.  He would take me to fun places all over Seoul every time we would meet and just hang out and speak in English the whole time.  I definitely agreed because I don't have a travel partner and this would be a good way for me to see parts of the city I wouldn't normally have a chance to.  We had our first outing last Friday and it was fun.  We went to a ward called "Gyeong Buk Gung," which is an area known for the palace and museum where kings used to live.  As you might have guessed, such an area is usually populated heavily by tourists.  There weren't too many people from the US but a ton from different parts of Asia and Europe.  After seeing the sights there, we headed off to "Insa dong" (dong is Korean for district).  It was filled with foreigners and lots of restaurants and street vendors.  Sung Min and I stopped for lunch in a dumpling house, yummmm.  We walked some more around the city and just chatted until our time was up.
    That's about how I've been spending my time here so far.  Drinking with my uncle, teaching kids, touring, eating, and working out.  I can't wait for some friends to come visit me so I can show them around.  WinCraig is coming in the summer for a month and by then I'll be living in the house my parents would've built this upcoming winter.  We apparently own a lot of land here so we'll be moving out from my grandparent's house as soon as my mom gets here, sometime in January at the earliest.  I can't take the confrontations my grandma and dad have with the tenants that live below us.  I'm telling you angry, old Korean women scare me more than angry black girls (NO RACIAL).  For serial.  Also the little punks that come around the house at night and are rowdy as hell, one of these nights I'm going to go down there and give a major ass whoopin' to those kids.  They said they come here because they didn't want to bother their sleeping parents.  Are you serious, kid?  So you're going to come around my house and act like jackasses?  Don't think so scooter, get the hell out.  Anyway, I'm out, love you and miss you guys.  Pics from my trip with my student are down below.

Art gallery at the Gyeong Buk Gung palace subway exit.

National Folk Museum by the palace

The courtyard of Gyeong Buk Gung palace

Just inside the entrance to the palace

Yeeee, I R AZN

2 story pavilion in the middle of what used to be a lake.  It was used to entertain foreign dignitaries.

This made me want to go fishing.  I miss Beaver Dam.

View of the palace from the outside

King Se Jong, the man who invented Hangul(written Korean)

Some baller with a big sword.

Insa dong

Food

I forgot what this was called but these guys stretch hardened honey into 16,000 strips using the same method as making handmade noodles.  They use cornstarch to prevent the honey from sticking.  I bought the one with the walnut and chocolate filling.  Derrrrricious and it used to be what the kings used to have for dessert.