I have about 20 acquaintanceships with foreigners in Korea at this time. It is no wonder I am having a hard time feeling satisfied with my social potential. Does it sound weird to say, "I want a best friend in Korea." My friends and family matter a great deal to me at home, but proximity does count. I want a confidant here, near me.

Week 8 was monthly tests. Every month these kids have massive tests. Every week they have vocab tests. Every 2.5 months they have an extremely important level test. I threw a pizza party for one of my classes. Although they were excited beforehand, I didn't think they seemed especially grateful during.

That weekend involved a lot of drinking and singing at noorie-baang on Friday, a chill out day on Saturday with my book, and a trip into Seoul on Sunday for a parade (I think near Insadong). After the parade, we went to the only good western style food restaurant I have found in Korea called "The Flying Pan" which is in Itaewon (the foreigner district).

Week 9 I started to get sick again with a sore throat, I felt slow and tired. Two new teachers started at the school on Monday, an engaged couple from Toronto, named Shayna and Brandon.

I went to language exchange on Tuesday and learned how to pronounce the Korean alphabet. My Korean partner teacher, Sunny, was very encouraging.

We went out to dinner on Thursday night as a goodbye for New Dennis, who is leaving school early in order to take advantage of an excellent opportunity; One of his advisors offered him a job and his graduate degree on the spot one day, without him even applying. He doesn't even have to take his GREs.

The week went quickly until Friday. Then time seemed to crawl on like the day might take an infinite amount of time to finish.

I've had problems with rude children lately and this week I think I am going to be more strict.

I met the another new teacher Jenny on Friday. On Saturday I tried to help welcome her by inviting her to Rhythm and Booze. Unfortunately the conversation didn't go well and I was offended that she told Melinda and me that we "hated" our jobs when I was frank about the ups and downs with working at the school. She might as well have pledged her undying allegiance to Grace. That presumption along with several other incidents made it so I am going to reduce any possible conversation. Unfortunately that won't be easy as she is a very determined talker. That night she dragged me to the Orange Diner (I don't know it's real name, that is just what all the Americans call it) while drunk, was very rude to the servers there (to the point where the other customers were watching us, and I wanted to leave), and kept me out until 4 AM. By the time I got home and settled in in the morning, the early morning light was starting to crawl out.

Saturday and Sunday I finally did a thorough clean of my apartment, including 3 loads of laundry (which is a big deal, as they don't have dryers here). I did my daily coffee run and reading excursion.

On Sunday, Korea celebrated the Buddha's birthday. I looked out my window to see a mile long procession of people marching in the street right below. They were playing drums and doing demonstrations of martial arts and dance. The weather was beautiful and I went downstairs to see more. There was a high school marching band (one small girl and her huge golden tuba stuck out in my mind). My favorite part was the Hapkido demonstration. I don't know much about Hapkido, except that it is a martial arts form that several of my students learn. The demonstration had about 15 youngish men in uniforms and black-belts handling num-chucks (sp?), staffs, and, best of all, a series of back-flips. Seeing a man in flip-flops do five consecutive back-flips on the rough cement road was a sight to be seen!

Later that day I had a get-lost-on-purpose walk for an hour. I found really beautiful and interesting things, I discovered by accident Cafe Niccolia, the foreigner coffee shop of Bucheon (though I didn't go in). The most amazing discovery was that of old brick style houses in a section that must be reserved for the richest in Bucheon. The buildings imitated an old style, but the architectural lines, such as round corner windows, indicated that the buildings must be fairly new. In any case, I didn't feel so much as though I was in Korea, but that I had magically transported myself to Europe in seeing so many brick houses on narrow streets. I found my way home easily and instinctually.

The walk helped ease tension within myself and I felt so livened up by my walk I decided to explore the rooftop of my building. The part that was incredible was the 15-20 story buildings as far as the eye could see. I also I came face to face with my vertigo, despite the high walls to keep me from falling. All in all a very good Sunday. Happy birthday, Buddha.