Sunday, April 11, 2010

Massage=Happy Melanie

Well, all in all my week was pretty good. On Monday, I decided to join a MMA gym across town. I have to take two buses to get there, but the gym is nice...the instructor is one of the best not too mention he's hilarious!!!! And I love the other members there. I got a three month membership for 180,000 won. So, if I still enjoy it after that I may keep it up.

The rest of the week went by so quickly because I went to the gym at night after school. It was relatively uneventful until Friday. At school on Friday, I had a girl pee in her pants. She had asked me twice to go to the bathroom and both times I said no. The first time she asked we had just come back from the bathroom, and I had told them to go to the bathroom and get water. The second time, we were getting ready to leave and before they leave they have to set their table for lunch; so I told her she had to set her table first and that's when she peed on the floor. I told my Korean partner about what had happened and she just laughed. She wasn't too worried about it, but later the mom called and was mad. So my Korean partner told the mom it wouldn't ever happen again. My Korean partner still thought it was funny and didn't care, but she told me that every time the little girl asks to go to the bathroom I have to let her go even if we have just come back from the bathroom. These parents baby their kids too much!!!

On Saturday, I went to the gym again and worked out for a bit. I talked to one of the guys there. He was really nice; he doesn't speak English very well but he wants to learn. I think he wants to hang out. He asked me how old I was and I found out he was younger than me. In my experience, in Korea after the guy finds out you are older he says we can be friends which I think means that he doesn't want to try to date me because I'm older. Which is fine with me because in all honesty I am not in Korea to find a boyfriend. I would prefer to just make friends. I took the bus home from the gym, and a lady from Japan started talking to me. She has just moved to Korea as well. She asked if we could hang out sometime, and I said sure. I feel badly because I think she wanted to hang out that afternoon, but I didn't realize that at the time. I told her that I had to change buses in order to get home, but we did exchange numbers. I messaged her today to see if she wanted to meet sometime for coffee. I think we are going to meet on Saturday. Anyways after I changed buses, I decided to take the bus to the subway and take the subway home. On the subway, I noticed that one of the stops was Yuseong Spa. I thought maybe the spa would have a masseuse or something. So I figured maybe I'd get a massage. So I got off at the spa stop. I didn't see the spa, but I did see a Thai Massage Parlor. So I decided to check that out. It was 70,000 won for an hour and a half massage which is a really good price since you can't get that kind of price in America for a 45 minute massage. So I decided to get the massage. It was really good! They even gave me a mini facial at the beginning, and they served me some tea at the beginning and end of the massage. I felt really relaxed and so much better afterwards. As I walked out, I saw that there was another Thai Massage parlor right by the subway exit so I might try that one next time. I may make this a regular monthly thing to unwind and de-stress. After the massage, I was so sleepy! I just went home and went to bed at like 7:30. I slept in late too!

I wanted to get up early enough to go to the Korean lesson at the church at 9:30 but I didn't wake up in time...I almost didn't make it to the service. I was running late, but I met a Korean girl outside that wanted to go to the English service but couldn't remember where it was so I took her to the service. Her name was Cherry. A lot of Koreans go to the English service to improve their English. I decided to stay for Sunday School this time. It was interesting. The pastor led Sunday School as well. He talked about the background information on the passages before we read them. I really enjoy that. He does that a bit in his sermons as well. It really helps you understand where the people are coming from when they are righting the passages. Between church service and Sunday School, there is about a thirty minute time frame to hang around and talk with each other. A lot of people came up and talked to me. There were a couple of young Korean college guys that came up and talked to me for a bit. They wanted to know how old I was. After they found out that I was 25, they asked if I was married. When I told them I wasn't, they asked me why not. I think it is uncommon in Korea for a girl my age to not be married unless there is something wrong with her. They said that I was too pretty to be single. It was funny. They were too sweet for saying that. It really made my day.

After Sunday School, I walked home and ate. Then I decided to go to the Wholesale Market in Nouen. I saw it on the subway stop list. So I took the subway to the market; it was right outside the subway exit. I walked through and they had a ton of fresh fruits and vegetables and other fresh foods. I picked up some bananas and strawberries. I want to go back and get some other fruits and veggies too. All in all this week was pretty good. I think I am definitely starting to find my place in this city!

11 comments:

John from Daejeon said...

It looks like this year's very late Spring will finally arrive this weekend if you want to try and get some pictures of the blossoms as more of them open. If you can't track down a bicycle, you can always take the bus up to the Dam up past Sintanjin which is across (Northeast of Daedoek Techno Valley).

I'll head up either Saturday morning or Sunday morning. I have to see which is more convenient for my biking buddies.

Melanie Chastain said...

That sounds like fun! I was planning on going last weekend for the festival but it was supposed to rain so I decided not to. I still got a few pictures of the trees around town though. Maybe I can talk some people into going this weekend. Thanks for the heads up!

John from Daejeon said...

Daejeon 10-Day forecast

Anonymous said...

Sigh. The kid pees him/herself after asking repeatedly to go to the bath and it's STILL the parents' fault. Sigh.

Melanie Chastain said...

We had just come from the bathroom, give me and every other teacher a break. If your child doesn't listen well in class, they will fail not only the class but in life too. You can baby your child all you want to, but in the end, it does nothing for the child. But I suppose I should have just stopped teaching the class and waited for her to come back from the bathroom so she didn't miss anything right? That's right because every time I have done that the child comes back clueless. Where are we what did I miss? Oh so the teacher should work extra and the other 10 students should hear the same lesson again because your child didnt go to the bathroom during bathroom time. Which was literally 20 seconds before she asked. Seriously? Ok...you can be that parent...better yet why dont you try to be that teacher....manage a class of kids just like that one and see how well it goes.

Uriel Sunstein said...

When a Korean says "we can be friends", it usually means that "the age difference between two of us isn't that far apart so we are within the 'friend-able' bracket". It's an asian culture thingy where you have to be polite and more formal when facing a senior, which means that they cannot be 'labeled' as friends. I can't be a 100% certain, but I highly doubt that there were any sense of 'I don't want to date an older woman' when he said that.

I just wanted you to know if you found it strange that Koreans keep saying about being friends after asking someone's age.

Unknown said...

How is the massage experience ?
Who does it ,Boy or girl ?
And do you need to get naked when you are in massage therapy ?

Melanie Chastain said...

For most of the massage parlors here, hey provide clothes for you to wear. The only issue I have is every now and then they have a sort of one size fits all outfit that really isnt comfortable for me. In that case I bring a set of lose shrts and t shirt for them and ask if I can use them instead. Some places are picky and wont let you use them. Most of the time the massage therapist is a woman. I have seen very few men doing the massages as even most men here prefer a woman masseuse.

Melanie Chastain said...

For most of the massage parlors here, hey provide clothes for you to wear. The only issue I have is every now and then they have a sort of one size fits all outfit that really isnt comfortable for me. In that case I bring a set of lose shrts and t shirt for them and ask if I can use them instead. Some places are picky and wont let you use them. Most of the time the massage therapist is a woman. I have seen very few men doing the massages as even most men here prefer a woman masseuse.

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