It's Sunday here.  This morning, I woke up and met a student at school who had to take a test (he got a job, and the school told me to help him find another way to finish his class).

I met Jung Ran and her boyfriend in the afternoon.  We went on the Youngsan base to go bowling.  It was fun.  I didn't get to see much of the base, because it was dark by the time we got there to bowl.  It was the first time I've ever been there, though.

Yesterday was a bad day, because I found out that both of my new front tires were flat.  I had just replaced them a few months ago, and I wondered what happened.  I hadn't driven the car in almost 2 weeks, and I remember one tire was a bit low (not both).  I thought either I'd run through some nails (common here) or maybe the middle school kids I caught smoking in our garage (and chewed out) were playing a prank.  Or, of course, there was the possibility that they were just installed incorrectly.

Luckily, I had recently purchased new car insurance, and they had a free number for such emergencies.  They sent a little guy out on a scooter who had a pump.  He pumped them up, and took me down the street to a small auto shop.  They checked for leaks, and found that the area around the tire weights were leaking slowly.  So apparently, they weren't installed correctly.  They fixed them for me, and $15 later, I was on my way.

I have been exercising lately, and will try to go again tonight.  I miss MJ, but I messed that one up so much, I'm afraid to even call and say hi.  Anyway, I will spend tonight exercising, and probably by myself.

If you've ever wondered what a Korean McDonald's sign looks like, here a photo.

I didn't do anything constructive today, except buy some better headphones for my mp3 player and get some music for it.  I did a lot of laundry.  I've been really lonely and bored lately.  Nobody to spend the holidays with. I know that's my fault, and I often regret it.

I about froze last night because the landlord must have shown the apartment and turned the heat to zero.  I hate that.  He's not paying the heat bill, so there's no reason for him to turn it down when he comes in here to show the place.  I don't like a cold house when I come home.  He probably thought he was just doing me a favor, though.  He's a very nice man. 

Oh, in case I forgot to mention it, I begin Korean classes in Kangnam again on Thursday.  I tried the class here at the school, and it's a shame, because they were already far ahead of me.  So I'm going to try the kangnam class again for 2 months.  If I can make it through level 1 before school starts again in March, I'll be thrilled.  I feel a bit better about my poor Korean speaking ability, after being here for 5 years.  Bianca (another foreigner here) speaks like 3 or 4 languages, and has been trying Korean for quite a while, but says it's by far the most difficult, and she can't get it to stick.  Sounds familiar!

It's New Years in 10 minutes, and I'm sitting at home typing on this web page!  Oh well.  I spent the day eating/shopping in Hyewha, followed by Myeong-dong, then on to Itaewon and then back home.  I was by myself.  I've also been doing laundry, and I stopped by the office for a few hours to feed the turtles.

Bad news.  One died!  It was "Chee", the small male turtle.  I don't know how he died, but one foot was chewed off (probably after he died).

Oh, I'll add one photo for my parents.  Perhaps this is why packages arrive late when you send them.  I took a photo of this in Bundang yesterday.  Read the box:

Here is a photo of my new I-River .mp3 player (S10 model).  It works really well, and puts out an impressive amount of sound for such a small unit.  I plan to use it for work-outs. 

Today I was invited to Bianca's house for a party again.  She had egg nog made with ice cream, and lots of things to snack on.  Here is a photo or two from that get-together.  The Korean girl next to Bianca is Ji-Sun, who used to be married to a guy named Derek who worked at Hansung before me.  Also you might recognize my co-worker Douglas and his wife, Eunha.   I look too shiny in my photo below!  Too much flash.  I was making a "heart" shape over my head, kind of making fun of students who do that.