So how have you been?! Is warming up nicely over there? Its still pretty chilly here in Seoul! Man this city is huge! I had my first day of work yesterday, it was at Seoul Tower, which is about the same height as the stratosphere, maybe smaller, but its on top of a small mountain, so you can pretty much see all of Seoul from the top. This enormity of this place is mind boggling. what really adds to it is there are clusters of high-rises everywhere, not just in one "downtown area" its amazing. first paycheck I'm buying a digital camera to show you.

There is so much to tell you about this place i really need to get a journal to jot down observations throughout the day.

As it turns out, its not as hard to sell caricatures when you can't speak the language. There is much to be said for body language and pointing at stuff. ha! Actually there are some things about not understanding that I LOVE. Like I can't understand when someone is saying: "that don't look like them" behind my back as I draw. Ignorance IS bliss! I just keep drawing, ego in tact and produce some uninhibited jacked up drawings!

Drawing a little girl:


She wasn't impressed


This girl hasn't seen the drawing yet... hence the smile.

All that being said, I'm trying to power learn the korean language. Its a little tricky, but I've got 1/2 the alphabet down and some basics, like thank you, good bye/hello, that bitch is crazy, I'm hungry, this is delicious, where's the bathroom, etc.

I was having some issues with the public bathroom practices over here, seems like businesses, namely restaurants don't want to have a bathroom in the store, so they have one on the side of the building, usually accessed by a dark damp alley, usually pretty gross and usually the eastern style toilet, aka: the squatter. Also, as it turns out I have to use the bathroom about 4 times more here due to the drastic increase in liquid consumption, soups with every meal, green tea, water and free coffee everywhere!

Yesterday I worked 10 hours then went to the gym, yeah i joined a gym down here, its kind of a dump actually, so i'm a little annoyed i decided to join but my boss really wanted a workout buddy and with the healthy eating I may as well take full advantage of this situation. But all the equipment is old and they gym itself is super small and crowded. they do have some hilarious old timey equipment though, like one of those belts attached to a motor that "shakes" your fat. I put it on my belly then butt and couldn't stop giggling, the whole gym was staring at me. hahaha. fun times.

Then there is the other part of my health regiment, the Jjimjilbang This one I actually LOVE doing. for $5 you can go to this 24 hour local spa/bathouse get buck naked with a few dozen other locals, aged 5 to 95 (gender divided in the naked rooms) and yeah, nudity is no biggie here and ladies don't shave the bush! Between my tattoos', short a-sympetrical hair, giant pale body and groomed genitals I felt like a bit of a freak here, well more so than ordinarily.
Scub, shower, scrub more, shower, soak in various pools of water of different temperatures and with different things added (like green tea!) scrub more, shower then moisturize! Put on the orange t-shirt and shorts they give you and go to the co-ed sauna rooms, several different rooms some freezing cold some hot, some super hot, some made of stone, some made of wood and you drink vinegar water or eat baked eggs, and if you like you can sleep over on a matt! Its cute to see old couples sleeping next to each other, or entire families! My boss Yonie and I actually slept over inside one of the mild sauna rooms, set at 42 degrees C. I woke up sweaty and refreshed and 3 lbs lighter!