Coatel Room 607

Christie, My Khan, Jenn & Me

8.18.08--This is where it all began.

Four girls arrive to Seoul and trek their way to the Chungdahm paid-for hotel--The Coatel in Gangnam. Finding my name on a list at the front desk, I am told that my room # is 607. Weary from jetlag, I trudge my two 50lbs bags along to my room at midnight. I knock on the door. No answer. I knock harder. No answer. I ring the doorbell. No answer. I ring the doorbell again. No answer. The door finally creaks open.

Although in a daze, My Khan helps me with my bags into our room.

"Where are you from?"-Texas, Seattle. Zzzzzsss...

The next morning, My Khan and I wake up to find our other two roomates are awake too, Jenn and Christie. Four girls get ready for a week of Chungdahm training.

8.22.08--We sign our contracts and we go our separate ways. Busan (Jenn), Daejon (My Khan), Taereung April, Seoul (Christie) and Junggye, Seoul (Shadiyah)

It's been 9 months and we've stuck it out in Korea. Although living apart, we've remained close friends keeping in touch and visiting as much as we could. We've come here for a life change and now we have to part ways.

Jenn decided to cut her contract short and leave Korea for personal reasons. She needed to be home back in Palm Springs, California. She missed her family. She missed her old life. Most of all, she needed serenity.

We came together for one last hoorah in Busan. Luckily, there was an 80s/denim party and we took that red headed slut out.

Shopping Results

MyKhan, Jenn, Christie, & Me

Classic 80s Shades: Ray Bans & Venetian Blinds

Jenn & Me

Ready for the 80s Party

Christie, My Khan, Jenn, & Me


Josh: Our New Drunk & Hilarious Friend
My Khan, Josh, & Me

Coatel Hotel Roomie Love
Jenn, Chrstie, My Khan & Me

Although it was sad to hear that our foursome was splitting, I am so happy to have met and kept my friendship close with these four amazing girls. We come from very different backgrounds, but Korea united us all. Everyone moves at their own pace, but somehow the universe brought four girls in four different directions to one hotel room. I know we will all do great things in the future and I cannot wait for the next reunion wherever we are in the world.

All the girls are doing it...

That's right. Laser Hair Removal...

My friend Jessie always seems to have the best ideas. Since we moved to Seoul back in August, she has gone outside of Seoul way more times than I have. She joined a hopkido class--a type of Korean martial arts. She's gotten mole's removed. She had her hair straightened-magically aka "magic straight." Out of all the things she's done, the one that I was most intrigued by was laser hair removal. One of her hopkido friends suggested the idea and so the chain reaction goes...

Jessie tells me to call SJ, her hopkido friend. SJ sets me up with Mira, another hopkido friend who actually performs the laser hair removal. Once I got to the clinic, Mira greets me outside because she has been waiting for me for 30 minutes. My lateness was kind of not my fault because Mira's office is in a children's clinic. Would you ever guess laser hair removal would be happening in a clinic with children screaming and running around? Mira was very sweet. She spoke hardly any English, but we got the point across that I wanted my lip line and under arm hair gone.

She took me to a room and told me to take off my shirt and jewelry. She laid me down and placed eye covers, the kind you get at tanning beds. She examined the length of my lip and armpit hair. She trimmed if necessary. I was instructed by SJ to have some hair and to not shave the day before. The length should be 1/3 of an inch. She placed a cold gel on my lips and rubbed it across the area with hair. Then, I started to hear a clicking. At first it was slow, then it sped up and she would count 1, 2, 3... Bzzz!

"Ok?"

"Yes."

"Is it pain?"

"No."

My pain threshold only held for 7 of 15 zaps. The zaps then started to feel like stings and I would clench my eyes forming tears.

"Ok?"

"Yyy..es."

"Are you pain?"

"Nnn..o."

Afterwards, she placed a cold pack on my lips making me hold it with one hand while my other hand was raised in the air for the next round. She again placed the cold gel and rubbed around. The process continued. I felt great until about the 7th or 8th zap. Then I start clenching my teeth and eyes. I have gone twice now and it's not that bad. Some gel, few zaps, and then a cooling pad. I already notice results (slower growth, thinner hair).

In total, it only took 15 minutes of my day. We proceed to her office to schedule to next laser day which should be monthly for 5 months to completely remove the hair. The best part of my visit is chatting with Mira. She is very good friends with Jessie and her SLP (another Hagwon) co-workers. We check out each other's Facebook pages. She tells me about her fiance. I tell her about my boyfriend. We even challenged each other to a Hangul/English test. She has to learn the months and I have to learn the body parts for the next laser day. We became so close that she gave me a wedding invitation. I'm so excited to gain another Korea friend. They come few and far between especially when most foreigners are intimidating and only hang out with each other.

My first inspiration to do this came from my college friend Teresa. She had done it before and told me it cost around $300 per session. Listed below are Mira's prices.

armpit : 50000\ for 1 session, 150000 for 5 session

lip line : 30000\ for 1 session 120000 for 5 session

bikini : 70000\ for 1 session, 200000 for 5 session.

So much cheaper! A little pain comes with beauty, but I'll never have to shave again!

In the true fashion of paying it forward, I emailed my branch about it and Mira's already had 4 of my co-workers come in for a treatment. A lot of the boys teased me about the mass email, but I'm sure deep down inside, they want to get their back hair removed.

Looking for the best shopping, the best highlights, the best galbi, the best bar...many things are known about in Korea by word of mouth. This experience is yet another example of how a foreigner can take advantage of the great opportunities in Korea.

North Korea vs. South Korea 2010 World Cup Qualifier

Me at World Cup Stadium 1st Level

On April 1, 2007 I attended a FIFA World Cup Qualifier in Seoul's World Cup Stadium: North Korea v. South Korea.

World Cup Stadium
Security Guards, 2nd Level View, Score Board

N. Korea vs. South Korea Final Score 0-1
Flags Waving, "Friendly" Handshakes, South Korea Team Bow

Outside of World Cup Stadium After Harrassing a Korean to Take Our Picture
Me & Lu

Shakha and Lu are co-workers at the Junggye Chungdahm Branch. With such bizarre schedules this term, it was very surprising to find that all three of us had Wednesdays off. I had heard that N. Korea was going to play S. Korea in April. After a random chat with Shakha in the teacher's lounge, we both decided we were definitely going. Lu had never been to a soccer game in her life, but tagged along.

Surprisingly, the public can buy tickets from Hana Bank rather than scavenging around the stadium or on-line. It was a very easy process. Thankfully, Hana Bank is my bank and I was already there because I transferred money to my travel agent for a trip to the Philippines in July. Korean banks are usually very difficult to deal with because a) you're dealing with money, b) you don't want them to screw up, c) they don't speak much English, d) lots of body language and hand gestures. However, buying tickets was cake. I went up to the counter and asked for soccer tickets. The teller immediately printed out a seating layout of the stadium and the price ranges. I picked a price range (20,000, 30,000 or 50,000). I chose 20,000. She then circled the sections where there was availability. After a few phone calls to friends and friends of friends who wanted to go, I bought 4 tickets.

Standing at Lower Level Seating at World Cup Stadium
Me & Shakha

Before the game, I dealt Lu the obligation of preparing the drinks ie. soju and mixers. I met Lu and Shakha, late of course at Noksapyeong Station near Itaewon (where most foreigners live). "Listen Shadiyah, if you put this on me, you know what happens? Half of it is already gone." Oh Lu. She had pre-gamed before our pregame at the stadium and has already drank half of our supply. Nevertheless, we drank the rest on the 30 minute subway right to World Cup Stadium. When we got to the station, it was madness. Hundreds of people roaming around the subway to find the exit closest to their seats. Thankfully, the subway station is tourist friendly with lots of maps and arrows. As we climbed the escalator up, the stadium greeted us so huge and impressive. The game started at 8pm, but we got there around 7:15pm...enough time to go more pre-gaming materials. I was starving, so in true Korean fashion, we hit up the Buy the Way and bought more soju, orange juice, chips, and triangle kim baps--tuna or "참 치" is the best.

Shakha had gone ahead into the stadium with his friend. Lu and I were not about to down all of the soju outside of the stadium. We tried to sneak it in, but the girls at the gate found our bottles and unscrewed the juices and placed stickers on our soju for post-game pick-up. Lu gave me a look that read "No, ma'm." This was not in our plan. We decided to take all of it outside of the stadium and make drinks in the huge cups we got from Buy the Way. Choosing a different gate to enter, we found success!

Walking up the stadium steps was so thrilling for me since I have been such a soccer fanatic since I was 10 years old. Lu and I had to get our picture taken outside. We harassed a Korean guy who was taking pictures himself. Because I am such a technophobe, I didn't know how to adjust my camera so that it would take clear pictures at night. After three tries and seeing his friends impatiently waiting at the top of the stairs, we let him go partially satisfied with the photos. Shakha and his friend had found seats on the lower level, but we unsure if there would be enough seats for all of us to sit together. Lu and I sat in our assigned seats on the upper level. It was a fantastic view. We were behind the goal, so we could see the entire stadium. I was entranced by the entire game. Lu apologized a couple time because three of her friends decided to sit with us, therefore keeping her attention. It was not bother to me because I would prefer to watch the whole game not talking. However, our attention was caught when Kim Yonah came out during half-time to wave to the crowd. She is the world's best female ice skater winning gold at the world championship. She is such a celebrity here although she does weird maxi-pad commercials. We all ended up joining Shakha on the lower level. Shakha and I had the obnoxious touristy moment taking photos during half-time while the Korean crowd watched. One guy even cheered us on telling us we got good shots.

The North Koreans were in white and the South Koreans were in red. Park Jisung, a Manchester United player, and the most famous S. Korean soccer player sported the red and the captain's band for his country. Even though this was a World Cup Qualifier, it was surprising to see him there because Manchester United or his club team would have priority since that is where he gets his salary and the FA Cup was approaching. Furthermore, South Korea is such a powerhouse in Asia that it was kind of a given that they would win. Some of my friends went last summer watching the same two teams told me it was boring because the final score was 0-0 and there wasn't much action. Thankfully, this game was different. North Korea actually had more close calls, while South Korea had more shots on goal. However, South Korea came out on top scoring in the last five minutes. The stadium went wild. Flags were flying, Korean fans were chanting, and Shakha and I were hyperventilating. This summer, South Korea is set to play Iran and Turkmenistan. Hopefully, I can be here for those games too.

Sitting in the Upper Level Section at World Cup Stadium
Me & Lu

*Apparently North Korea accused South Korea of food poisoning some of their players before the game. Interesting considering that North Korea was planning to launch some nuclear missiles in later in April.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/soccer/world/2009-04-06-koreas-food_N.htm?csp=34