Happy New Year

i was secretly hoping that wifi networks would be abundant over here. but instead it seems that everyone jumps on the internet it the PC bangs. There are very many people here. All playing video games too. I used to wonder who those people on Unreal Tournament were who had ultrafast internet connections and seemed to live inside the network... now i know.

woke up this morning and took a hike. there is a mountain right outside my back door. well not a very tall mountain, more like a very large hill i suppose, and i don't have a backdoor. just the one in the front by the toilet cleaner service (does this explain the curious aroma?). i hadn't exactly dressed for a hike, actually i was planning on just taking a short jog, but the mountain was calling my name. koreans apparently love to hike. they were out in droves this morning. and dressed to fit. so i really stood out. being the tall skinny white guy without a coat or gloves. i hadn't exactly intended to hike all the way to the top of the tallest peak. but its hard to turn around when there is still higher ground. in all i climbed 628 meters. which really. isn't that tall.

at one point i sat to rest at a lower peak next to a man eating a tangerine. he offered me one. i declined, but he insisted. then he insisted that i join him and eat an apple. they were very tasty.

last night my boss, hannah, took me to costco and emart to do some shopping, i found most of what i needed. then we took the bus downtown. she left me there after i assured her i would be fine. of course i got lost. but honestly who could blame me, jostling throught the throng of windowshopping teenagers through streets of identical vendors. all day the weather had been nice, but after the sun went down, the temperature began to plummet. so i decided to take the bus back and skip the new years festivities. so i proceded to walk in a large circle about a dozen times ("how did i get back here again?"), being tempted many times to simply through in the towel and hail a cab. i swear a cab was following me. he kept leaning forward, peering at me through his windshield to see if had finally been beaten. finally i popped out of the maze of crisscrossing clothiers. there before me (angels singing) the bus stop. i thought my worries were over, just a 30min ride back to my district and i'll be home. but alas, i had not wandered in these streets yet in the dark. and lost my way yet again. i began to grow increasingly hopeless and defiant in the face of this absurd night. and there sprung a bitter apathy.

by the time i finally stumbled into my apartment, there were only 5 minutes left of the old year.

so i counted them down silently and as the clock hands came together, i said,

'happy new year.'