John Mark Karr II was complaining all day at work on Friday and I made the mistake of opening my mouth. He kept mumbling stuff about how his desk was too small and he didn't have enough personal space or something. I mentioned, half kidding, that he could switch desks with me. I said this because I have the worst desk in the office since it's right next to the door, which means Korean children touch my stuff all day and things are usually flying onto the floor. I really don't mind it all that much, and since JMK was being all bitchy, I just threw the trade desks offer out there. He didn't really respond to the offer when I first said it, probably because he was complaining about something else by then, but 15 minutes later, when it was just him me and one Korean teacher, he yells something from across the room to me. It went something like this: "Blah blah blah I don't take shit from no one. After you teach for 12 years, 4 years in Korea, then you can negotiate for this desk." I told him I really didn't care where I sat and I just made the offer because he seemed so damn unhappy with his desk. I put my headphones back on and he rambled on for a few minutes. All I know is he is now off my OK to Socialize with List. I will never speak to the guy unless it involves something that is or could directly affect me. He also complained the to school director about David giving him orders, he said he will not have a boss and that's that. His attitude towards work is I'll do whatever the hell I want and if anyone says anything about it, I'll yell and bitch like a little girl.

Granted, I don't do much at work, but I understand that having a job means respecting some sort of authority and following a few rules. This guy would have been fired within three days if it wasn't such a pain in the ass/costs a lot of money for the school to recruit new Western teachers. Actually, I was playing online poker during one of my breaks on Thursday when I was supposed to be lesson planning or engaging in things they pay me for. It was going great until I got AK right before the bell rang and the herd of other teachers came storming back into the office. I think I lost $20 on that damn hand, as well any kind of respect I may have been getting from the Koreans in the office.

Another one of the Korean teachers told me how terrible China is last week. She said had heard I was going and she felt she had to warn me that it wasn't a nice place. I asked her if she had ever been there. No. She said Japan was much better. I asked if Tokyo was better than Seoul and she said they were about the same. Why do I have this strong suspicion that when I go to Japan, it's just not gonna have the wonderful smell of dirt and garbage that hovers over Seoul.

We actually out with a bunch of Chinese people on Friday night. Oh, and also one big fat gay American guy. The Chinese people all seemed like they were stoned and they provided the entertainment value of watching American Idol. Big fat gay guy redeemed the rest of the group with his not-so-subtle homoerotic remarks. At one place, he remarked about the snacks on the table, "Oh, these nuts are yummy." I almost lost it. At the end of the night, I think he was trying to get Bender and I to go back to his place to sleep on his couch.

It snowed for the first time last night. A lot. So obviously it was the perfect time to get stranded at a subway station. It was one of those times when knowing Korean would have been really helpful. We were ready to hop on the train, but then after realizing that each car was already about 50 people over capacity, we watched all the Koreans jam themselves into the car, thinking they were a bunch of idiots. No so much. It was the last train that was going on the way down its line. So we got on the next one, went two stops and then were ordered off by some dude. Then we met a Canadian guy at the station and the three of us attempted to hail a cab for about a half hour. The worst part about the whole situation was it totally ruined my grand scheme to get Bender to go to the QueensBridge hiphop dance club near my apartment. By the time we made it back, his enthusiasm for listening to Sexy Back for four hours straight had waned and thus I was devastated.

We went to Gangnam today, which is like the Beverly Hills of Seoul. All of the girls carry little umbrellas over their heads despite a lack of any sort of precipitation. Half of them were also wearing skirts. The high was 25 degrees today. The place was definitely a lot nicer than the rest of the city, it's got a distinct feel of class. But it's a good hour and a half from my place by subway, so any return trips will need to be accompanied by a few bottles of soju.

I wish my camera wasn't so terrible. These pictures are way too blurry. But that one on top is a real sign for a store in Itaewon. I also have no clue what Happy Walking 2007 means. The last photo is of the main strip in Suyu, about 500 feet from my apartment, during the snowstorm last night.