Please sneeze in your face

Dear Koreans, listen up. If you want to sneeze in the air, I order you to inhale as soon as you spray your saliva in the air. If I get sick by having your spit in my system, I will destroy you.

I was on my way home in a bus and someone sitting behind me started sneezing. At first, he sneezed on the slightly opened windows so I thought it came out so spontaneously that he didn't have time to cover his dam mouth. But then came second, third, and so on- those constant sneezes that you can't stop but only try to suppress.

Ok Fine. I don't complain about sneezing. I fuking sneeze too but the difference is that I cover my mouth so the 'possible' virus don't escape to someone's nostrils or mouths. It's not even funny. Why would you want others to smell your spit in the first place, and get sick from it? Maybe Korean's don't want to let others' smell their spit either but why the hell are you not covering your mouths then?

I came up with two possible reasons:
 1. Korean's don't want their own spit on their body. You might think, "then it's OK to have it on someone else?" You see, Korean's are not savage as they say Chinese are. They respect others, so they go out in the public always nice and clean, never go out with white dandruff snowing from the roots of the hair or pick nose in the public or 'that girl with goatee saying a big Fuck You to the world'. no. you rarely see those people.

 2. Korean's think sneezing in the air is same as spitting. That's just wrong.

 3. Korean's don't give a shit about anyone else but themselves. This sound more likely than others. For a well-developed country, Korean's are very poor in contribution. They just don't open their wallets for those crawling in the street with rubber bag up to their waist and cassette tape playing Gospel, or give money to their own people suffering in the North. If this was North America or Japan, there would be thousands or fundraising events to deliver food and clothes if their own people are dying.

the end

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@ Work in Korea

I work for a private company in Korea. One thing I’ve noticed while working in a Korean company is that everybody runs around. Literally. 

 Today morning I was sitting in my desk sipping coffee and looking through mail. Some guy in the office came panting with a toothbrush in his mouth giving me some work related papers. I was just about to make the what-the-fuck-is-wrong-with-you face but I thought hey that's just rude.

I don’t understand what is the rush! People, you can speed walk. Why fucking run? In the office?

Koreans up for healthy living

[Gym]

Recently, I have been going to a local gym that my friend introduced me, and surprisingly, the monthly fee was really cheap. It cost me 20,000 Won, which is equivalent to around 15 Canadian dollars. The gym has everything from hoola-hoop and running machine to dumbbells and squad equipments. And the whole place is anal clean. The lady who works there is so dedicated to her job (and workout as she goes around working out every spare time), that she cleans the whole place at least once an hour.


Some places offer discounts for foreigners but they're still more expensive than 20,000 Won. If you want more information about the facilities around Seoul, visit your local district office.

Here are some of the websites:
Yeong-deung-po-gu: http://www.ydp.go.kr/english/main.do
Song-pa-gu: http://english.songpa.go.kr/eng
Mapo-gu: http://english.mapo.go.kr (It will ask you to install something just close it)

[Job-Gamevil]

Because my job as an English teacher ended after the English academy (Korean: Hakwon) went out of business, I started to look for a job. Today I got a call from the company that I visited three time because of the hierarchy that involved interviewing with the team lead, then the Head of Department, and finally the CEO. I was told that I was hired!:) I never met the CEO while I worked in Canada at CIBC, but although this company is quite large in Korea, I guess everyone goes through the same path and get interviewed three times or even more.

Cheap stay in Korea

Dear boys and girls, if you're looking for a cheap pad to crash, look no further. There are plenty of places in Korea you can take advantage and stay for cheap. If you want contact phone number for any of these locations, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll reply asap.


1. Go-shi-won
Goshi (Higher civil service examination) won (place) was originally made for people who needed utmost concentration studying for exams. It is a small room that looks like this:














It costs from 150~400k Won depending on the location, type of room and its size. There are bathrooms that you share each floor, and kitchen with free rice and kimchi.

2. Go-shi-tel (One room tel)
If you fancy go-shi-won, then you will also like go-shi-tel as it comes with exactly same feature, but bigger room and a personal bathroom. It costs from 350~550k Won, again depending on the location and the features.

**Sometimes the rate changes if the room has windows then it's most likely in the higher bracket.

3. Homestay
It's a great place to experience home made Korean food and meet fellow foreigner travelers. Usually the homestay 'mother' make 8 to 15 fixed side dishes that never change and a main dish that changes each day. The location is pretty much scattered around in Seoul, thus rate is higher if it's located in the 'expensive' part of Seoul. (Some examples of expensive areas in Seoul are: 잠실(jam-shil), 강남(kang-nam), 역삼(Yuk-sam), 공덕(Gong-duk))
The rate is very hard to put in to bracket as it differs very widely however just to give you an idea, it ranges from 350~750k Won. (Hint: Do not go asking for the price yourself. Bring a Korean friend, otherwise they'll rip you off)

4. Residences
If your priority is the quality of living then you would like to stay at Residence. It's got everything you look for in a home, with parking spot and a concierge. The price ranges from as low as 40 to 250k Won a day. The pricey one is the MER(Merriott Executive Residences) located in Yeouido, the less expensive one is the one of the apartments I found on Craigslist Korea. Here are the photos:

Less expensive

Expensive

The benefits of staying at Residence is unlike hotel suites, they come with kitchen so you can cook your favorite dish while staying in a foreign land.

Korea- library incident

I'm currently in Korea's National Assembly Library. I sat down in an empty spot in a table for four people. One of the seats was occupied, the seat next to the girl was left with her bag and coat, and both seats across from her were empty. I sat down in one of the seats, slightly moving the book to the middle corner of the desk that was left open. I positioned my cell phone on top of the book, leaving me with wider space for my laptop. I turned my computer on and started browsing. 

After so many minutes, a man showed up, in his mid 40s or 50s, short and with heavy wrinkled eyes, demanding me to move my seat. I told him, in the same straightforwardness, that I will not move. I heard the girl sitting across snorting. I asked him why I should move. He said that he saved the seat by placing a book. "An open book", he said. I was perplexed because 'an open book' does not suffice as someone's personal belonging. It's barely a personal item in a library. 

I simply said, "no". I though he would snort and move away but he demanded even more when the girl joined alliance with the old man. I could not believe what I was hearing. An open book. That's it? That's all it takes for a person to save a seat in Korea? WTF? I know that people cut in line in subways, waiting for bus and I don't say a damn word because it's conceived as a culture for the elderly in the East but in a library? I don't get it. I left Canada because of their feminist policy and now in Korea- the older you are, you get your way everywhere.