A Day in the Life: South Korea EAPSI Edition: I'm living for the weekends...

So, I actually hadn't posted in a lil while... My apologies folks, I've actually had more of a life here in Korea and I've done a lil research too, lol... Not to mention cathcing the worst food sickness ever, but I'll get to that.

Anyhoo... to bring you all up to speed I've realized that here in Korea, Ulsan more specifically, I'm living for the weekends... Being out in the country-side has its perks, like the beautiful scenery and peace and quiet. But I'm far away from everything I might wanna do, anything I may wanna eat, but making up for it... on the weekends.

So back to this food-born near death experience!! LOL, it wasn't that bad... felt like it for a while tho... I live here on campus, in the dorms with Hatsumomo and the Twins driving me crazy and typically I'm subjected to the cafeteria since there's no kitchen in my dorm room. That is USUALLY ok, cause if I don't want what's being served I'll eat the kimchi and rice being served along with the meal. Just to give you an idea, we eat things like this...

Seemingly harmless, while not looking too appetizing right?? Well, on one particular afternoon lunch actually looked and tasted pretty good... but I realize now that was the master plan from the start. Not even two hours later was I terribly sick. Horrible... I literally couldn't eat for 3 days and fought lingering nausea for a week and a half... Let's just say, I've been getting off campus even more now...

Getting off campus tho, was more of a challenge because I didn't know where to go and virtually NOTHING is in english nor can anyone speak english... That's fine, I'm in Korea. Ok. Since Transformers is coming out I decide I'm gonna get out and go with my labmate cause she knows the area... How about she misses the bus?? Then decides that "maybe I should take rest and she'll talk to me later" completely ignoring the fact that I caught the bus but didn't know where-in-the-sam-hell I was going. Ohhhhhhhh... talk about pissed!! And honestly, a little scared. I was lost, literally. I got off the bus and decided to let my spidey sense lead me where to go. I decided, don't get mad... get glad, lol.

I made lemonade outta my labmate ditching lemons... I was on a quest!! lol

Ready to test these wings to see if I can fly

On my journey to the shopping center I got a glimpse of a common sight in Korea... Women covered in neck scarves, detached sleeves, hats, umbrellas and even masks... all trying NOT to tan, cause lord forbid if they get dark. O_o

I also stopped to get a "brunch" donut at Papillion since I was boycotting the cafeteria for trying to poison me. The french obsession here is extremely evident... I love Paris tho so it's all good with me

I also couldn't help but notice the nearly 20 pet shops with cute lil dogs in the windows, but ALL within a block of one another... Kinda weird... esp since some Koreans eat dog in a stew called Boshintang... But, I guess its no different from my cousin who had a pet duck and chicken at one point... BTW, I wonder what happened to those things... I don't think she ate 'em?!?! Or... Ok, I lost focus...

After almost 40 minutes of walking I FINALLY found the shopping center. I was no longer the student but now, a master!! Equipped to tackle Korea without ANYONES help... It liberated me and I felt ready to explore...

This Mickey D's was definitely gonna make it to my dinner menu later cause I was taking a Korean food break til my stomach could handle what I ate...

The benefits of being closer to the city... Starbucks and its high a$$ coffee... I was glad to see it too...

Decided to treat my feet to a pedicure while I waited on my movie... which, here in Korea you have assigned seating in the movie that you chose when you buy ur ticket...

Hey, I'm still smiling!! That's always great!!

The masses at Seongnamdong for shopping and fun...

I on the other hand was on a mission to see Transformers!! Too geeked actually... And it was worth it!! SN: Not sure what the sign translates to, but in case ur wondering the movie is in English with Korean subtitles

The megabox!! I'll be back when its time to see Harry Potter!! Don't judge me!!

Got my Happy Meal for dinner!! YAY!! Reminds me of home... and glad I got a cheeseburger and not a bulgogi burger... It didn't look delish

This... literally, had me dying... Does he even know what it says?? Hope so... He was even walking with two girls... This Korean dude is keepin' his pimp hand strong!! LOL...

Ahhhhh.... Yes, I survived!! Waiting for the bus and just glad I was on my way back to the dorm... Safe and Sound

Decided I liked this shirt for one of my nieces... esp since it said made in Korea in the tag... A nice gift until I realized after the fact my Korea clothes buying mistake number 1... DON'T buy clothes here that have english words or phases... Sigh... Can you tell what's wrong?? I should have paid more attention to what it said instead of the tag...

Oh, and I thought it'd help me be more tapped into Korea if I had a lil phone fob to hang since EVERYONE... I mean, Everyone has one... Grown men and all... with Kpop ringtones to boot... I didn't go that far tho... This one says "I Love You" and since getting this one, I now have two... I'm slowly being brainwashed by Korea, lol jk

Finishing up my weekend with church!! An English service just for Foreigners. Everybody's gotta get their praise on!!

Hitting up a pseudo american restaurant with a Korean twist... Love the food, but again... the English, lol

Yeah, interesting menu and even more interesting spellings... Its really nice they try so hard 'cause I def have a challenge with my hangul... funny, but nice... Oh, and not too sure what chicken muscle salad is... but... I think I'll pass...

So I guess they didn't know what to call this group of menu items and went with some food... I can dig it... lol. The BBQ Chicken was calling my name

Our table looked like a construction site as we waited for our food

Ohhhhh, this was soooo good... and not completely americanized which is great. While I've had my issues with the food at times, I didn't come here only to eat American food that I wouldn't normally eat if I were in the states... This was a great balance...

Church crew having an after service lunch!! Dig in!!

On the fourth of July... while all my friends were in New Orleans having a blast and everybody was bbq-ing, it was a normal workday for me... Whomp... So, I got all patriotic in my red, white and blue and took myself to dinner...

Not only was I geeked that my food was great and closer to the school but I also had a fork, knife and regular sized glass of water... You just don't know how infrequent that is here... I savored it, lol... It's the lil things...