Merengue, Salsa....and shopping

I had many things on my shopping list. New jeans, a belt, an adapter, and a winter coat. I ended up buying some fancy stuff for my face, a winter coat, and a leather jacket. The winter coat is great. However, notice that my sweater peeks out from the sleeves. It's one of those stylish winter coats with 3/4 sleeves that demand you buy elbow length leather glove. So while the coat was far less than I thought it would be, buying the gloves will take the price back up I suppose. I tried to buy gloves too but I couldn't find any the right length in Anyang. Very strange, considering how popular these coats seem to be. As for the leather jacket? It was on sale, gorgeous Italian leather and I've wanted one Forever. Forever. Those types of jackets will last ages and it will be my spring/fall jacket. Do I sound like I'm trying to justify this purchase? Well, you are absolutely right. I will try to get someone to take a picture of me wearing it next time I meet people at my apartment.

I actually went Salsa dancing! The club played a mixture of merengue and salsa and it turns out that merengue is much easier. I picked up the step in no time and and had a blast being twirled around. Salsa is another story. The step is more complicated so I had to expend a lot of energy thinking about what my feet were doing instead of just enjoying myself. I'm addicted to merengue. I would like to practice salsa a little more before going out again, at least the step so I don't have to think about it quite so much. The club had an interesting mix of Latino army boys, Koreans (who had obviously taken the classes), and random Itaewon foreigners. It was nice being in the minority as an American teacher I suppose. My only complaint: the amazing merengue and salsa music was interspersed with some truly bad hip hop. Hip hop clubs and bars are a dime a dozen, especially in Itaewon. If you are the Salsa club of Itaewon, stick with your branding. Most of the people left the dance floor for these numbers. Don't get me wrong, I love hip hop clubs for dancing but it wasn't what I was there for.

Tonight was supposed to be Benjamin Button but my friend got the dates wrong and it actually comes out next weekend. This is probably a fortunate occurrence as I'm sick, yet again and would have annoyed the rest of the movie patrons by coughing, sneezing and blowing my nose throughout the movie. You know how in movies they have those sterile rooms and people have to be hosed down before and after the room? I want one of those at the entrance to my classroom. Also, face masks should be mandatory for all of the kids. Mandatory I tell you.

While walking home from the store today, one of the people who works at the sam gip sal restaurant I'm always going to said hello and asked me where I was going in Korean and I UNDERSTOOD. It was exciting. I was even able to say 'home!' My ghetto Korean is blossoming. I do feel slightly gratified that at least I know the alphabet. There are plenty of foreigners here who don't. This week: Valentine's day. It's actually a kind of fun holiday though I dread the sugar highs from all of the candy on Friday. Also, the red and pink is a bit nauseating. But other than that, fun!