Blood, Sweat and Peers

• Tits it's hot. I've been in a constant state of mild-sweating since I picked up my luggage from Incheon International. It's not overly hot compared to Toronto temperatures when I left, but it's crazy humid here. I'm sweating away my heard-earned Canadian winter fat onto a puddle on the floor.
  
  
• Haven't been able to run in a few days on account of the grape-sized blisters I've conceded from the last few outings. I figured they were gone though, as I could walk normally this morning. This was until one of the little Korean preschoolers pointed out in decent English that my "pants are bleeding". As I correct the misguided student and tell him pants cannot bleed, I find myself eating my words when I look down at the Carrie-like scene unfolding at my feet. I need some new shoes.
  
  
• Downloading is super-fast here. Fire up uTorrent and it might take 5 minutes to nab a Blu-Ray version of a new release. Kai, I don't know if that speedtest is evidence of the true rate or not, but I'll try to grab a screen of my trackers next time I have a bunch going. The trick is to snap PrntScr before they all finish. :)
  
  
• Wow, this school is hard work. 11 hour days this week, and I'll be going in both weekend days. It'll calm down in a few weeks when the majority of my prep work is done. I love the challenge, though. Teaching career? Unlikely, but slowly becoming a possibility.
  
  
• You can't help but eat well here. Healthy-well. Food is as outrageously cheap as it is good for you. A meal to the point of satisfaction, not fullness, will run you under $5 CAD. We're talking vegetables and legumes, plenty of rice, sprouts, soup, light protein. It's the protein that's the adventure, though. Haven't had chicken since I've landed, but I think I've eaten every animal with more than four legs or tentacles.
  
  
  
  
• I gotta say, Seoul is not all that different from Toronto. There's been minimal culture shock, really. The language is different, sure, but you've still got your brand-name shopping, your Starbucks franchise chains everywhere (or the more popular Paris Baguette, presumably because nobody could find the "Stallbucks"), subway system, buses everywhere, similar make cars (around here there are hundreds of BMW and Benz, but this is Beverly Hills Seoul in my area). You've got your Gucci and CK clothes, short skirts (<-- this needs a full post sometime) and angry drivers, cabs, temperate weather, fastfood options among bank branches, billboards and ads everywhere, skyscrapers and strip malls, etc. Seoul is a lot like Toronto, but without as many asians.
• Meeting foreigners is a breeze. Several groups that I've introduced myself to mention the Woodstock bar that I visited two nights ago. Played a drinking game with a hottie from L.A. and then met a Virginian dancer there, so maybe there's some substance to this claim. If only I had a job where I made lots of money, had nothing better to spend it on, and had weekends free...
  
  I have some work to do this weekend, friends. Catch you on the sober side.