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I went to 66 last night with Natasha. I stayed quite a long time, but Jin Kyo wasn't there. His friend (and mine), Byeong Hun, was there. He was very drunk there. He passed out there, and then became an aggressive, belligerent drunk once we tried to get him up and moving to Geun Oh's car.

I spent most of my night there, talking with Geun Oh and worrying about Byeong Hun passed out on the floor in the bar, when I wasn't being harrassed by Natasha's constant whining about her lack of a relationship with a man she's known only two weeks. I left to walk Natasha home, then come back, at around 2AM. I left with Byeong Hun, Geun Oh, and Glory at about 3:30AM. And at about 4AM, Geun Oh came to my home.

Apparently, after I had given up on helping Byeong Hun (as it's difficult for a girl to help a stumbling drunk guy, as they're generally bigger and heavier), Byeong Hun decided it would be a good idea to go back to 66 and drink more beer. Obviously, Geun Oh and Glory didn't quite agree with that. I hear that Geun Oh punched Byeong Hun to try and knock some sense into him, but all that happened was Geun Oh hurt his hand and Byeong Hun made it to 66. Thankfully, it's a small neighborhood bar, and I am sure that Mono and Robin (the bartenders) were looking out for him.

Being the concerned friend I am, I decided to send a text message to Byeong Hun this morning, asking if he was OK. The response I got? "굿". Not being terribly great with Korean, I turned to my electronic dictionary, and the entry was something along the lines of an exorcism.

But according to Natasha, my bilingual friend, "굿" is just "good" written out in hangeul. I suppose I should be glad for that. And I will see what happens tonight!

I don't know what I've done, but I'm angry and hurt by whatever it is. Since Saturday, I haven't seen Jin Kyo. Or rather, I have. I have seen him exiting the Mini Stop by my building with the bitchy girl he is friends with from Pizza Hut. I saw him that night after I had been texting him to see if he was busy and would like to go to 66. After he hadn't responded to my texts. That's alright, I don't expect him to always respond to my texts, especially since he always works. He's tired, and I can respect that he doesn't always want to go out.

But I saw him just outside my apartment building that night. I saw him, I looked straight at his face and he looked back at me, and he didn't even acknowledge me. No "hello", no "안녕", nothing. He just kept walking with his bitchy friend. So I later on sent a text message to the extent of "Am I crazy, or did I see you in 연수 tonight?" No response. It's a simple "YES" or "NO" question, and I'm not dating him, so what is the harm in answering that? So about an hour later (I was drinking at 66, I'm not usually so "desperate" wink , I text him again asking for a "YES" or a "NO". This was on Wednesday night, and I've still to hear a response.

This upsets me. It makes me feel that he thinks I am interested in being something more than friends with him, which has made him stop socializing with me. I just need him as a friend, and now he won't give me the chance to explain that to him. Here in Korea, I find I need to hold onto my friends closer than I ever did at home, and it hurts me to think that I may have lost someone who I had thought was a good friend due to a misunderstanding. I don't know what to do about it, and it's exacerbated my recent homesickness/depression.

I suppose I will see what happens when in all likelihood I will see him at 66 tonight. I've stopped drinking, with the exception of one beer that I milk in a night, because I'm on a diet. I'm going to be putting my energy into self-improvement, instead of relationships, if this is what happens. I joined a gym this morning, at 6AM. I'm going to be a hard body. And people that have written me off will be kicking themselves in a few months.

However, I went to a fortune teller with my friend Natasha (who is bilingual) in 인사동 on Wednesday. Apparently, I will not meet a good match this year, but I should meet the man I will marry next year. I should also get married before I am thirty (Korean age), which means 28 for me. That is within the next four years. And I will be an excellent wife and mother, because of my caring nature. Not to mention I have chosen the correct career path, as I was meant to be a teacher.

I'm still upset about my relationship with Jin Kyo, though.

I threw a little dinner party in my apartment on Saturday night for my Korean friends. Jin Kyo, Rosa, and Natasha came over and I cooked chicken paprikash for them. After dinner, we were going to go to our hangout, US66. Well, Hun phoned Jin Kyo to tell him that US66 was closed, for some unknown reason. What was the plan that was decided?

Come over to my apartment with three other Korean boys I have not met, and drink at my place. Then invite more people to my place. And drink. Drink 소주.

Because they were all Korean, and Natasha is bilingual, most of the evening was spent with my sitting in my apartment, listening to Korean being spoken and not understanding what was going on. Due to my boredom, after Jin Kyo left (because I am on good behavior while Jin Kyo is around), I decided to partake in 소주.

Never, never will I drink 소주 again.

미안해요 미안해요 미안해요 미안해요 미안해요 미안해요 미안해요 미안해요 미안해요 미안해요 미안해요 미안해요...

I don't know what I did, 진교, but 미안해요... A million times, I'm sorry. crying

Tomorrow is Buddha's birthday. Meaning, I don't work tomorrow. This is good for a number of reasons, one of which being I can go out tonight and still feel rested tomorrow morning. I'm going to be meeting my Korean friends, and a Korean-Australian girl out tonight at US66, and I'm planning on hustling them at darts.

Yes, yes, I'm a dart addict.

Other than that, I am going to Wolmido Island tomorrow with my friend Steve. I'll be meeting him around noon. I was also supposed to go to fortune teller this morning with Jae Yeong, but she forgot to check the time they opened, so I may go tomorrow night. It depends on what time I finish at Wolmido with Steve.

Although I don't think I'll be going to Hongdae tonight with Natasha (the Korean-Australian girl) like we had mentioned on Monday. And I think I will make an effort to control myself tonight.

How about some coffee?

I spent last night drinking, socializing, and throwing darts with my Korean friends until 6AM. I had to teach at 2PM, and I've just woken from a nap now at 8PM. The reasoning behind the nap was to prepare for doing it again tonight. Though I won't be teaching tomorrow, instead I will be climbing a mountain.

Perhaps I should leave a little earlier tonight.

I had quite the week, this week. I had Tuesday off due to Worker's Day, and I had yesterday free from book club because of Children's Day. Apparently, there is a new female teacher coming, and I only have to tough out another three weeks or so with my mixed Basic Two. Hooray!

So, on Tuesday I went into Seoul to meet a Canadian that works at a different branch of my hagwon. We met at Seoul Station, and walked around Namdaemun until we stopped somewhere for lunch. 떡보기 사랑해요! Then we toured around Namsangol Traditional Korean Village and 덕수궁. Mainly, we took a lot of photos, since that seemed to be what Steve wanted to do. It was raining lightly almost the whole day, too, so who am I to complain? The rain made for some nice greenery shots.

On Thursday, the guys from my hagwon and myself took one of the teacher's brother out for a night in 연수. He's just arrived on vacation from Canada, so we took him to our hangout at US66. We played a few rounds of darts, and I managed to both break and slice my hand on the glass that holds the darts. Surprisingly, it wasn't as negative experience as it may sound. Although Mono, the bartender, said something along the lines of, "Patricia, no diet?" to me when I came in. Gee, thanks Mono.

On Friday, the Korean counselors and some of the teachers used the newly vacated apartment as a "romper room". Beer, wine, green tea, feta cheese pringles and cards apparently equal a great time. I stayed there playing and drinking from about 11PM until 2PM, and then left to go meet Jin and Hun at US66. I hadn't planned on staying there so long, but Jin walked me home again at about 5AM. It's so easy to lose track of time here.

Then yesterday, I went to 경복궁 to do a bit of the touristy thing. It would have been nice to have had some company, but the teachers are usually doing there own thing, and my Korean friends are working more often than not. So I toured around the palace for a few hours, and took a plethora of photos. They happened to be reenacting the coronation of King Sejong when I got there, so I've come to the conclusion that I have great timing. To even further prove my point, I happened to run into one of the teacher's at my school, his brother, and his girlfriend at 경복궁. A completely unplanned meeting, with no knowledge of their plans, about an hour and a half away from where we live. Again, I've got great timing.

When I came back to Yeonsu after touring, I hopped in the shower and waited for Jin to get off work. Then we went out again to US66. The poor boy is so tired, but it seems he just can't say no! We stayed out until 5AM again, and the night ended with me continually poking him saying, "일어나"... he's the reason why I even learned that phrase!

Today was a load of nothing, but it was still a good day. I managed to clean my apartment and play on GAIA. I also went for a walk, and did my laundry. Now I am just sitting around, wondering if Jin is going to come over after he finishes work or not. It doesn't seem like he will, though. Just as well, I don't need him sleeping on my floor again.

To start this entry off, I should say that I think I've straightened things out with my unwelcome visitor. I caught him at a time where both he and I were sober, and explained to him that I didn't want him coming to my apartment at 1:30 in the morning anymore, and trying to let himself in, and how it had actually scared me. I showed him the bruises he had left on my arm, and he seemed to be geniunely sorry. He's also friends with Jin, and it seems that things are now okay. Of course, I have their permission to scream my bloody head off at him should he ever do it again.

This week went quite well for me, aside from my late night visit. I got obliterated on Friday night, because it was the temporary teacher's last day. The guys and I wisely decided that playing a drinking game with 소주 was very much appropriate, and I was the worst player. I had about five or six shots of the stuff, and I am the smallest of them all. Needless to say, I was feeling the drink. Then we went on to US66 where I continued to drink. I hung out with the guys I came with for a little while, and then defected to the Korean side. I stayed until about 3AM, when Jin walked me home. I must have been in rare form, because even as I believe I remember everything, Mono (the bartender/bar owner) asked me, "Are you okay?" as soon as he saw me the next night.

Saturday, I "taught" the book clubs. I didn't really teach, though, so much as have a pizza party with the younger ones and a "Doodle Day" with the older ones. Then I simpley hung out with Katie (or 재영), and talked with her for about an hour and a half. After that, I went to meet a Brit named Philip, and we went to eat at TGIFriday's by Incheon Arts Center. It was not a date, but apparently the guys I work with are thick-headed enough to believe that any time a girl goes anywhere with a guy, it's a date. If that were true, we've all been dating for about three months. In any case, after dinner, we returned to Woninjae and then hit up US66 again. Mono shows the Cleveland Indian's games on the television, and since they're my team, I'll be going there far too frequently. Two of my guys actually showed up there later on in the evening, which was surprising as they had spent the day in Seoul, but it was good. I scored an invitation to the Wyverns game on Sunday!

Of course, that is a natural segue into speaking about Sunday. It was a morning and afternoon spent relaxing, and then at around four o'clock, I met up with the guys. We took a cab to 인천 and Munhak Baseball Stadium to see the Incheon SK Wyverns annhilate the Seoul LG Twins! The final was 12-3. It was a great time, but I'm thinking that I won't be doing rounds at a baseball game with Eamon and Matt again any time soon. One beer, maybe two is fine... but feeling tipsy at 8:30PM is a little too far.

This week promises to be a good one, too. I have tomorrow off as it is Worker's Day. I'm thinking of going into Seoul and doing touristy things, such as enjoying the Hi Seoul! festival. It would be nice if someone would accompany me, but I think that's a bit far-fetched. Then Friday night may be a trip to the theatre to see "Sunshine". I have Saturday free, since it is Children's Day, so I should be able to do something this weekend. I just don't know what.

And the weather's been spectactular!