One month in.

That was a pretty quick month.  Forced reflection time!

Accomplishments:
-found local grocery
-figured out garbage/recycling
-found good cheap local restaurants
-got phone and internet working
-cleaned apartment (soo much hair everywhere before)
-got a handle on the electronics mall
-got all classes rolling at a nice pace
-started extracurriculars (guitar, hw club)
-survived school open house
-annoyingly good start to fantasy football (for the other guys - I picked my team based on name suitability for a law firm, I have no idea what I'm doing)
-found big free tv on the street where somebody was throwing it away.  Heavy ass CRT.

Most annoying moment:
Various school related things I built up to be worse in my head than they ended up being.

Best moment:
Tired on subway going home.  60-70ish year old man comes up to me and asks if I'm American; when I say Canadian he is equally impressed and begins talking about how young Canadians came and died to help Korea, and how people won't forget that.  He said he was a senior high school teacher and that he knows I have a difficult job.  Warmly shakes my hand with one while grabbing my tricep with the other, then walks off down the train.

This week I'm acting as a chaperone on a school 3 night trip to Jeju island, the 'Hawaii of Korea'.  Sounds good, could be a ton of work.  We'll see.

Sandwicherie

If you read some type of spy-transcript of my actions, you would have to assume one thing: I'm clearly strung out on Moroccan sandwiches.

Oh, I've got food from other locations (just had glorious tacos from Vatos - the trendy mex spot from everything I've seen), but there's something about the spicy chicken, lettuce, pickled things etc. that keep me coming back.  Plus they're $7, and 4 minute walk away.  I'm building up the courage to chat more with the guys, because it'd be badass to have an in with the cool sandwich guys.

Why talk even this much about this?  Well, mainly because those delightful baguettes are emblematic, to me at least, of the neighbourhood, and of the ease of use I'm experiencing from Seoul as a whole.  As you walk around HBC you see people of all skin tones, languages, and ages, and they mostly want to have a cold drink and relax by about 5pm when I get back to the area post-work.  I've never lived in a more diverse place, even if I'm not being diverse with my meal choices.

Other than eating sandwiches I'm going to work, planning classes, and trying to live (mostly) cheaply.  My students are miles better than any I've had before, and they're relaxing into both the course material and my comedic stylings.  I've got ancient Egypt and the first world war this week, should be a good one.

I'll close this off because I'm not done my prep for the week yet, and can't fool myself any longer.  Soon I'll have a camera cable so I can get back to photo-journalizing...for the nonce all I can do is pull web material.  How much longer can I go without sharing the picture of super-busty Ultraman from across the street? Only time, and lethargy, will tell.