My co-workers are all very consistently concerned that I am not eating enough,

so my co-teacher, Park Mi-Ran, brought me breakfast at work this morning. It was a tuna fish and caviar rice cake sandwich.

Oh, lordy. Fish makes me want to vomit, quite literally. It's really hard to get it down past my gag reflex. But if I've made one rule for myself here, it's to go to any lengths and all costs to be respectful and welcoming towards everyone I meet here, especially my co-workers. So I took it, made myself a large cup of strong green tea, and got the sandwich down bite by bite while making pre-class small talk with the English teachers. I had a bit of a stomach ache afterward, which could have been from the caviar (which I have never eaten before), or could have been from the fish, which I haven't eaten for a long, long time, far before I officially became a vegetarian.

My school got a new principal and vice-principal this week, so all week the school has been celebrating by showering us with snacks of dduk, shikka (a rice drink which tastes vaguely like rice milk, only sweeter), and walnut-cookie-red-bean-paste-filled snacks whose name I can't remember. I didn't even eat lunch today, I was so full from all of the snacks. Again, my co-workers expressed extreme concern that I wasn't getting enough food. :)

Though I'm still officially only doing introductions in each class I go to, I've started taking the leading role in the classes, a state which I think will continue once I officially start teaching next week. Invitations to join other teachers for coffee and snacks continue in plenty. Today, I visited the office of [Fuck! I can't remember her name! I swear I'm trying hard, but there are so many new names to remember]. Of all my co-workers, she is probably the most excited to see me, and the most eager to learn English from me. She frequently seeks me out to chat, and generally greets me with "Pah-may-lah, Pamela, Pamela" in a sing-song voice. During my visit today, I was served fresh-brewed coffee (!!) by my eager lady and her co-worker, who both teach electronics classes, and was told to come by their office if I ever wanted fresh coffee or expresso. Omfg, they have an expresso machine. Let's be friends. All I've had since I got to Seoul is instant coffee, and I am so, so tired of it.

The classes I've led/participated in are going pretty well so far. The lower level students are really challenging to teach, since they have no motivation whatsoever to learn English, but hopefully I will find some ways to make them more interested as the year goes on. The medium- and upper-level classes are usually really fun. They students are very curious about me, for the most part, and eager to ask me questions. One of the B-level girls asked Yong-gyeun to take a picture of me and her (the student) on her cell-phone today. I was cuted out.

After school today, I went exploring about my neighborhood, and managed to find a nearby supermarket (up until now, I've been subsisting on market stalls and convenience stores) and stationary shop (where I will buy the things to write to you all). So far, I haven't seen one postcard stand in Seoul, but I think that's because I haven't been in any of the touristy areas yet. Have no fear; I've no intentions of letting the absence of postcards get in the way of me sending you things. In the future, I'm going to try to set aside frequent days for exploring my neighborhood in ever-widening circles until I know the location of everything that I could ever possibly want or need.

Love, peace, heartz.