Friday night was dinner and drinks with the other English teachers that work in Yeoju. After school, Mr. Jung came with me to Yeoju to get a cell phone. There are literally cell phone shops EVERYWHERE, like more on a block than you would see Tim Horton's or Starbucks. Some are even beside each other. Anyway, we went to the shop and basically it was a lot of Korean between Mr. J and the phone guy with the odd explanation to me in English. It all came down to prepaid being 30 cents a minute vs. 2 yr contract being 10 cents a minute...we did the math since they charge actually by every 10 seconds, weird no? I obviously chose contract, and even though I am only here for a year, I can end my contract early for a flat fee of $65. BUT, I got a used cell phone so I waived the $65 dollar fee!! And the phone itself was only $50 :) So the bills here every month start at $13 + any minutes / texts you accumulate (texts cost 10 cents per outgoing, incoming is free). Mr. J pays about 40 dollars a month so that isn't bad...basically all I am using my phone for is my "phone teaching" and to call/text friends if need be. Oh, and I have very little money right now so Mr. Jung paid the $50 and I am paying him back when I get paid at the end of the month (I seriously underestimated how much money I would need coming here...or spent wayyy to much for no reason!) What a gent, hey!? After I got my phone I was told to activate it in an hour.
I then met some of the English teachers at a convenience store called One Time right behind the bus terminal. I had FB messaged some peeps and they arranged for some of the newer peeps to meet there before heading to the restaurant. We had a drink then headed to The Lumberjack...which is probably not called that, but it has a picture of one on it so...
Everyone eventually got there and there were like 20 of us in a room with 4 tables. It was a Korean BBQ restaurant so I was pumped! I got to meet so many new people, it was great. I met a girl that is actually the sister of a good friend of mine's brother and is from Mississauga!! Small world! Her name is Natasha and she is great (Ayesha's friend's sister, for those who know Ayesha). So crazy. I also found out there are 5 Canadians in total, all from Ontario...1 from Ottawa, 1 from Windsor, 1 from Hamilton (didn't know Waterdown but knew Saint Alvia!) and Natasha & myself. There are mostly Americans, most who went to the University of Wisconsin and some from other parts of the states. We also have a couple New Zealanders and a Scottish gal. Nice bunch of peeps, they were very welcoming :)
So we ordered meat (mostly pork at this meal) and I ordered some rice which came with this spicy tofu soup which was absolutely fantastic...everything was fantastic! The side dishes were great, there were some sweet pickles that I devoured and garlic that we grilled, mmm, I LOVE garlic and the meat was so tender and melted in your mouth...WAY better than Canadian Korean cuisine for sure! We also got the standard bottles of beer and soju for all to enjoy.
The reason everyone was out for dinner was to say farewell to a fellow teacher who was leaving. His name is Peter and they call his 6-pack his "chocolates" because apparently that is what they call abs here, or I could have been fooled, they are a sarcastic bunch... so they were giving him a bunch of shots of soju and he wore a beautiful pink party hat.
Peter's chocolates
After dinner we went back to the convenience store, One Time, and since it was absolutely beautiful out for October we decided to drink there, AND it's way cheaper! We simply put a few of the patio tables together into one long table. I had bought a bottle of soju and bought myself a big bottle of Cass beer and then the party got started.
obviously they would name a beer after me...
They play a game called "Soju Croc" and how it works is, they have a crocodile from the board game "Crocodile Dentist" and you have to push a tooth per person. If the croc bites down on your finger when you push down a tooth, you have to do a shot of soju. Well this is probably why we were all so sloppy, well it could have been the fact that I was drinking soju before the game began, and at dinner, and before dinner! Soju is just a bad time all around.
Everyone said some speeches for Peter, even yours truly, then some Koreans wanted to join in on the soju croc, aaannd wanted to arm wrestle girls apparently...not sure how that started but it ended in one of said Koreans having an arm wrestle with a fellow Canadian (Windsor) named Alex. It was a good struggle but to be honest, I can't even remember who won!
Jackie vs. Korean man
We then moved on to a bar they frequent called Q's...I am hammered by this point so I don't even remember getting there! We ordered beer and then for some reason I thought it would be a great idea to order fried chicken. Not sure there was even a menu in front of me, I am pretty sure I just asked if they made fried chicken then ordered it. It was delicious and came with this spicy sauce that I remember being really spicy...I shared with others and we enjoyed our feast (pretty sure they just took a chicken, cut it into its pieces, breaded, deep fried then served it!).
Peter and Rob
Steven (far left), Alex (from Windsor), Casey creeping, and Rob
Moe (from Ottawa) & Natasha (Mississauga)
SO many English teacher (YIPEE!)
Then I began to get tooooo drunk and too loco so I decided to see if Shannon was ready to hit the hay. It wasn't late but I was wasted and I had to get up early to go to Seoul. Thank goodness she was ready and we went to her place to bed.
Good times with my new friends.
Next up, sloptastic weekend part 2...
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