영어 잘하고 싶다고`ㅅ'

english diary #22

Aww, it's been a while since I haven't kept tracks of my diaries. I spent quite busy days.

2.Feb.2017 The first get-together (회식) was scheduled around 11p.m. Since I was off at 6p.m., I needed to wait for it. A few days ago, I asked my friend to meet up since he's living nearby. Also, we were supposed to meet someday this week. So, I thought I explained my situation clearly and he got me. After work, I haven't got any contacts over 1 hour. I was pretty mad at waiting but soon, I just let it go and decided to go to a cafe by myself. Luckily, I brought some books to study with me. As soon as I headed for a cafe, I got a phone call from him. Turns out we were totally disconnected. Due to my poor english skill, he totally misunderstood it. Originally he planed to visit me around 10p.m. that he thought I would be off. Ugh. Anyways, he came to the cafe shortly and apologized to me. Well;;; I don't think it was his fault but me ;;;; When will my skills be improved?

I got back to the workplace for the get-together. Shortly, we moved on to a chicken place. Honestly, I assumed that we would eat 삼겹살 since my senior told me she's not into chicken so much. Oh well, who can deny a boss's choice? I ordered 3 different types of chicken. While we were waiting for the other workers to come, I was talking with my senior. I asked lots of questions that I couldn't do at work something more private. It help me change my opinion for her personality.

Finally, everyone came and ordered beers. For the first half an hour we didn't talk much. It was pretty awkward to bring some topic first. As we drank beers more, we began to talk more. Mostly it was about work. Not only did they tell us some personal stories but also gave me some advices on working. The mood was filled with laughter. However at the same time, I felt under pressure that I had to get up early tomorrow so I wished I could go back home as soon as possible. It was over around 1:30 am. Since all the public transportaions were out of serive, I needed to take a taxi. I almost dozed off in the taxi.

English diary #21 

Today is my dayoff! I didn't want to just stay home. I felt like going outside to get some fresh air and white noise. Before taking a shower, I ate a bowl of cereal and 2 호빵 (Red bean steamed bun). Nowadays I've been eating like a horse. As a result, I gained some weight (I just took my weight). However, as of right now, I don't consider trying to cut down diet. If anything, I'd like to eat well so that I can gain daily energy.

I visited a viliage office to deal with some stuff. I could see civil servants there. Yeah, they are the ones that a large number of koreans are trying to be. Looking at them working, especially their face expression, I couldn't help but ponder over many things. I've dreamed of working at my cubicle in the office, dealing with piles of papers. Unfortunately, I am currently working at a place far from it. Also, they looked pretty annoyed and unhappy. Well, it is just what I felt at the first sight when I saw them.

I went to a cafe near my house. Before I started going to the Starbucks regularly, this cafe was on my list of frequent visit. I haa a free drink so I used it for an iced-american. Additionally I ordered a piece of Camembert cake. The cake tasted awful. As soon as I had a bite, I regreted my choice. I became absorbed in studying. After a while, somebody called my name and I raised my head. There were my friends standing in front of me. We laughed so hard when we recongnized each other. Actually, we were supposed to meet last night and to sleepover in my house. However it's cancelled for some reason. We didn't expect to run into each other like this today. They told me that they were not sure whether that girl was me or not since I was sort of free, no make-up and thick glasses.

English Diary # 20

28.Jan.2017 My family served memorial ceremony in the morning. First, we set the memorial sevice table with sacrificial food and drink. Then, We lit the two candles on the corner of the table and burned 3 incenses in the front of the table. We bowed twice in a row and repeat this once again after a few minutes later. Lastly, We ate a small portion of foods from the table. It prograss took around 10 minutes. For this, my mom had to spend all day to cook foods and lots of money. It got me thinking, do we have to follow this tradition even though it's so ineifficient?

I visited my grandmother's house with my famaily after taking a nap. She lives in another town, 40 minutes drive. Honestly speaking, I am sort of loath of staying there. It's messy and I occasionally saw insects such as centipede, spider, cockroach etc. I am just afraid. My grandmother is really fond of us. She always shows tears when we viste her. Also, She crys in sorrow when we leave her house. Everytime I see her crying, it hurts so much and tears my hearts. So I couldn't help but cry along. Today wasn't an exception. I really hope all of our family stay healthy. That's all I wish for us.

I met a friend at 6:30. She's one of my closest and old friend since middle school. We went to a chicken place. Today's topic was Working holiday. Since she has an expierence in living in Australia for 2 years, she knows lots of things accordingly. Not only she told me her own experience, but also she told me about others doing working-holiday. I had lots of questions at that moment. So I asked her about From A to Z. All the answers were clear enough. She has a plan to go for working holiday in New-zealand for a year (she said, "I will just pick kiwi crazily for a year!") and after achieving a certain visa (maybe student visa?), she will go to Australia. Awesome!

29.Jan.2017 Since I've arrived at my hometown, I've been relexing so well. Actually, the bed is super cozy and warm compared to the one I have in my room. I don't remember when the first time was that I slept with my mom. It's not like my mom and dad were in bad relationship, but my dad prefered sleeping on the floor whereas my mom prefered the bed. Anyways, I love sleeping next to my mom with hugging her. I missed sleeping in her arms so much! Now that I am home, I could sleep tight last night.

English Diary #19

Now that I'm back to my home, it's time to write some undone diaries of past couple of days. Here we go!

26.Jan.2017 Today has to be marked as a clumsiest day of my life. Ever since I got a cell phone, It has being always with me either in my pocket or my hands. I make sure to bring all the time wherever I go. Anyways, I left home in hurry to catch a bus this morning. When I was about to cross the road, I realized that something was missing. Yeah, I left my phone at home, on the table. I checked the bus schedule while I was brushing my teeth and ...I put on the table to rinse my mouth. I was thinking for a second if I had to go back home or just go work. Luckily, I wore a watch and I checked the time. Obviously it was time for the bus to be approaching. Well, what could I do? I just changed my mind to spend my day without a smartphone today , then I became calm. Instead of buryng my face to the phone, I looked at outside view and people getting on and off. It was a pretty interesting.

I invited my friend to my house for dinner and sleepover. Since I moved in this place, I would ask some friends over and completely enjoy it. I made a food, 닭볶음탕, following a popular recipe faithfully. However, what's wrong with my food...... why did It become a ...soup full with water..Ugh. Why on earth my cooking ability never improved.............What's wrong with me T___T. I kept saying sorry to my friend for the bland taste while we were eating. lol.

27.Jan.2017 Finally, it's time to put a period at my journey of watching 'Lord of the rings' over the 3 weeks.Since the biggest holiday in korean, new year's(설날) began from today, I saw many people in the theater inspite of the early time slot. After finishing watching movie, I headed for a bus terminal. As I said before, it's the first day of new year's. Generally, koreans visit their hometown where their family is living in during this holiday. It normally takes around 3hours to my hometown. It is peaceful city and located in south part of korea, which means warmer than where I currently live. As soon as I got off the bus, I absolutely could feel how warm this city was and It made me feel delight. When I got home, my mom was busy cooking some traditional foods for tomorrow's memorial ceremony.

After couple of hours, she asked me what I'd like to eat for dinner. Instinctively, I replied, 'meat (고기)'. She called her friend to have dinner together. We went to a popular place which is known for tasty pork ribs. Most of workers there were foreigners, maybe chinese. I didn't expect to see chinese people working in my hometown. It seemed like they had a subtle trouble in communicatin with customers. My mom was also actually pretty mad when they failed to understand what she asked. She had to say same thing more than 2 times, which my mom disliked (Maybe the reasone why I have a quick-temper, it's because she gave me a birth ;;) Luckily, the meats were quite satisfying us.

When I got out of the place, I looked up the sky. There were lots of stars, which I nearly fotgot in city life. I couldn't help but stare them for a while. There looked pretty close also. Beutiful!

28.Jan.2017

..to be continued

29.Jan.2017 ..to be continued

Now that I’m back home, it’s time to make up for some undone diaries from the past couple of days. Here we go! 26.Jan.2017 Today would have to be labelled as the clumsiest day of my life. Ever since I’ve had my cell phone, it has always been with me, either in my pocket or in my hands. I make sure to bring it with me all the time, wherever I go. Anyways, I left home in a hurry to catch the bus this morning. When I was about to cross the road, I realized that something was missing. Yeah, I left my phone at home, on the table. I checked the bus schedule while I was brushing my teeth and …I put it on the table when I had to rinse my mouth. I pondered for a second, whether I should go back home or just go straight to work. Luckily, I wore a watch and I checked the time. It was nearly time for the bus to arrive. Well, what could I do? So I changed my mind and decided to spend the day without my smartphone today, which brought me peace of mind. During the bus ride, instead of burying my face into my phone, I looked at the view outside and at the people getting on and off. It was pretty interesting.

I invited my friend to my house for dinner and to sleepover. Ever since I moved into this place, I would often ask some friends over and I really enjoy it. I made a dish called 닭볶음탕 by following a popular recipe exactly. However, what’s wrong with my cooking…… why did It become…….watery soup…..Ugh. Why on earth doesn’t my cooking ability ever improved………….What’s wrong with me T___T. I kept saying sorry to my friend for the bland taste while we were eating. lol. 27.Jan.2017 Finally, my 3 week long ‘Lord of the Rings’ movie marathon has come to an end. Since the biggest holiday in Korea, new year’s(설날) began today, I saw many people in the theatre despite the early screening time. After finishing the movie, I headed for a bus terminal. As I said before, it’s the first day of new year’s. Generally, Koreans visit their hometown, where their family members live, during this holiday. It normally takes around 3hours to get to my hometown. It is peaceful city located in the southern regions of Korea. This means the temperature is warmer than Daejeon, where I currently live. As soon as I got off the bus, I could instantly feel how warm this city was and it was a delightful feeling. When I got home, my mom was busy cooking some traditional foods for tomorrow’s memorial ceremony.

After a couple of hours, she asked me what I’d like to eat for dinner. Instinctively, I replied, 'meat (고기)’. She called her friend to have dinner together with us. We went to a popular place which is known for having tasty pork ribs. Most of the workers there were foreigners, maybe Chinese. I didn’t expect to see Chinese people working in my hometown. It seems like they had some trouble communicating with customers. My mom was also actually pretty mad when they failed to understand what she asked. She had to say the same thing more than twice, which my mom disliked (Maybe the reason why I’m quick-tempered is because she gave birth to me ;;) Luckily, the meat satisfied us.

English Diary #18

Unlike yesterday, I woke up a bit early. I kept on saying to myself that "SB, you gotta wake up right away, or else you won't eat breakfast and it will make you regret so much when working." Breakfast...is important and precious......After eating 2 bowls of cereal, I headed for work!

From yesterday, I've been checking the expiration date of refrigerated foods such as milk, tofu, cheese, sliced rice cake and so on. When I found some products whose expiration date is on the point, I felt plasant so much! I made me think that I did something!

I brought my lunchbox as usuall. However, when I was about to take lunch time, my senior suggested me to have lunch with others together. It was 3rd time for me to eat delievery food in the office. Same chinese food delivery place, but different menu. For this time, we ordered 잡채밥. Honestly, I wanted to choose a different one, 짬뽕. I didn't have a choice but to accept what the manager wanted to eat. (- In korean company culture, when people have chinese food delivered, they uaually order same dish so that the foods can arrive quickly. Remember, one of the greatest advantage of chinese food is 'speed'. For reference, ordering same food is called '통일(unity)'

The foods arrived less than 30minutes. It looked good. Howere the taste was quite a let-down. It tasted bland. Actually, there is a reason why I said it's bland. In my hometown(경상도 area), 잡채밥 always comes with black soysause on the top and we eat it mixed together. While I was eating it, I couldn't help but miss it so bad.

ahhhhhhhhhh Honestly, I have so many topics to write about. However since I am a little bit tired and have a struggling in describing them in 2nd language, it's so challenging and at the same time it's a real shame. I feel sort of frustrated tonight, so let me call it a day T__T

English Diary #17

After a whole week of working afternoon shifts, it's time back to work morning shifts! My alarm was on 6:30 a.m and I reset it into 10 minutes later. I repeated this process 2 times more. In a word, I woke up at 7:00a.m. ;;;

On the way to the bus stop, I saw a girl waiting for a bus. Surprisingly, she called my name and I couldn't recognized who she was. A few more steps forward, I could. Apparently, she was my friend. What a small city! I bump into familiar faces at times. Come to think of it, I ran into one friend on bus 2days ago also...Well, it seemed like he was pretending that he didn't see me though. (why?)

Time really goes fast at work. It's a typical working routine : Work-Lunch-Work again-Getoff. It doesn't feel like 9 hours at all even though I don't play with my phone.

My senior looked a little bit edgy today. Normally, a sale period begins on Thursday. However, as Korean New Year's Day is around the corner, the sale started today exceptively. Yet, the store wasn't ready for the sale completely since she took day-off yesterday. Every workers were rushed into changing all the special shelves and products, which was expected to be selling much during this big natioanl holiday.

I met a friend after work. Turns out he lives near to my workplace. We ate some tasty dishes and then, Starbucks. We talked over coffee.

While I was waiting for bus to go back home, I couldn't feel my face and feet. It was so cold that the piled snows on the street didn't melt. It rather turned to the ice..... Ah, so freezing !

English diary #16

I was so happy to sleep to my heart's content this morning. I didn't set my alarm in order to avoid disturbing me. I've been eager to have a whole free day. In fact, I had a schedule to meet a friend today but luckily it had canceled yesterday.

I made some plans to do : Visit printing office, the bank and then the cafe. Before I left home, I check the outside temperature and it was horrible. The weather became extremely cold suddenly.As soon as I saw the temperature, I quickly changed my mind, skipping bank. Also, instead of going to a cafe near to the bank, I made my mind up to go to the Starbucks. As a matter of fact, the Starbucks nearby is not a good place to stay in. All the tables and seats are pretty uncomfortable. Other than that, it's super crowded at all times. However, I didn't have choice but to go there.

A couple of hours after studying at the Starbucks, I came back to home to eat something. I made a quick meal : Mussel soup. I bet it's the one of the easiest soup to cook in the world. It doesn't need special seasonings. Water, fresh mussels, crushed garlic and sliced green onion are enough to make decent taste. My favorite food is all kinds of seafood. Especially, shellfish !

This morning I was so happy I was able to sleep to my heart’s content. I didn’t set an alarm in order to not disturb my sleep. I’ve been eager for a whole free day. Actually, I was scheduled to meet a friend today but luckily it was cancelled yesterday. I originally made some plans for today: Visit the printing office, then the bank and lastly the cafe. Before I left home, I check the outside temperature and it was horrible. The weather suddenly became extremely cold. As soon as I saw today’s temperature, I quickly changed my mind and decided to skip going to the bank. Also, instead of going to a cafe near the bank, I decided to go to Starbucks. However, the closest Starbucks to me isn’t the ideal place to go. All the tables and seats there are pretty uncomfortable and it’s usually super crowded. However, I didn’t have any other choices. A couple of hours after studying at Starbucks, I came back home to eat something. I cooked a quick meal: Mussel soup. I think it’s probably one of the easiest soups to cook in the world. It doesn’t need special seasonings. Water, fresh mussels, crushed garlic and sliced green onion are all you need to make it taste decent. My favourite kind of food is seafood, I love all kinds of seafood, especially shellfish !

English Diary # 15

I had 3 schedules in total. I started my day with attending to english-conversation-meeting. There were 4 members for today. There would be more than 4 members up to 8 usually. As a matter of fact, 4 members are the best number to have a conversation together. Luckily, I was the leader. For the first session, we refered to the english topic book and 'Fasjhion' was today's topic. Turns out none of us was a trend-setter. Rather, we just follow our own style and prefer comfortable clothes to stylish ones. After having 10 minutes break, we talked about the Korea civil service exam that I prepared. More and more koreans tend to take this exam for a living as time goes by. Lots of people around me study for it these days. To be honest, I cannot say that I haven't considered the test before. Well, since there is no age limit for the test takers, If I really happen to wanna try it, I am willing to rethink about it later. (-Only if I still live in korea)

After finishing the meeting, I ate japanese ramen with my friend. I pursuaded her to eat lunch and watch the movie, 'Lord of the ring' with me. The ramen place is completely popular here. I got there at noon but I had to wait for my table. My turn was 5th. a few minutes later, we got our seats and ordered foods right away: 2 bowls of ramen and 오꼬노미야끼. I normally don't eat 오꼬노미야끼, but my friend insisted. A bowl of warm ramen in this snowy weather.......Perfect!

Following the last week, I made my way to the CGV to see the movie, 'Lord of the ring 2 : the two towers'.It's 4 hours long movie, so I thought snack would be necessary for the movie. This time I brought popcorn that I bought yesterday at my workplace. The popcorn which is being sold in the cinema is ridiculously pricey. I don't think they are fresh either. It was so wonderful to see the great scenes with a big screen and grand stereo sound. I couldn't stop getting goosebumps! I cannot wait to see the last one now! (Aside: Legolas was just elf itself. Who could possibly appear an elf more than him? and, Frodo's beautiful blue eyes... I wish I could see them in person!)

Only the last schedule had left by the time I finished the movie : Interns meeting. We met at the starbucks, which was my 3rd time today. I really didn't feel like getting coffee nor any kinds of beverages. So I just ordered chicken sandwich. Thanks to this, finally I became a gold member of starbucks! Now I have a right to get a free drink every 12 drinks!

Anyways, There came 3 interns except me. To be specific, 6 interns were supposed to come here. But, one intern had advanced schedule and the other worker, suprisingly enough, quit 2days ago. He texted us he got another job so decided to leave. We shared our own experiences so far and feelings. We were informed that workload and the intensity would depend on store by store. Turns out I was the luckiest person among them. Actually, it has been no more than 2weeks since I start working. I have little complait about it so far. The workload was less than I expected nor did I overwork It wasn't on my purpose. My seniors had me prepared to get off 10minutes ago to get-off. Therefore I thought every interns were working like this, which was absolutely opposite. I couldn't take a pity for them more. One told us that he would quit maybe next week and change his career to the other area far from distribution industry. He realized that it's not the way he expected. Well, That's a nice decision in my book. It's important to try various experiences until find something that fits us.

As time passed by, 2 interns's face turned gray. They have to work tomorrow and I don't. That's why we didn't grab a beer but coffee. So we agreed to meet the day when we have same day-off for the next day in order to drink a beer together. All in all, it was quite fun to meet them.

English Diary # 14

As I have been working over 1 week, I realized a few things. Firstly, my seniors drink lots of instant coffee. (Oh, before I forget, there are 4 full-time worker including me. They are in charge of different field indivisually : agricultural food, animal&marine products and grocery.) They even drink instant coffee right before eating meal. Yesterday I boiled water in the electronic pot to drink tea. My senior looked and asked me, "are you making mine also, right?". I was surprised because I wasn't. I said, "you mean coffee? but your food is on the way here and it's about to arrive" and then my senior said "So what?" It's obvious that they are too addicted to drink it to skip any chance they have. No wonder 'Maxim instant coffee' is the top selling products in  korea market as a whole.

Secondly, they use (-I'd rather to call it 'waste') tons of papers. They print every single tiny stuff. Also, they would print to get a piece of 5cmX4.5cm and then throw away. There are heaps of abandoned papers in our office. Well, let's say it's inevitable. Then comes paper cup. I swear, no less than 50+ pieces of them are wasted by 3 people every day. They use one to drink pure water and then throw it away. After a few minutes, they use another cup to drink water. Why does it happen without awaring its badness...I cannot say that I'm a completely environment-concious person. However, this is too much, isn't it?

After eating dinner, I'd like to learn cashier work. So instead of staying in the office, I asked my senior if it's okay for me to go and learn from cashiers. She instructed me something important with computer first and then let me go. I was sort of confident to do that. That used to be my duty for the past 9 months. However, I found out the system was quite different. The only same thing was 'greeting' before and after scanning bar-code, which has nothing to do with using the system. ^^;;;;;;;;;;;. Cashier should be careful because it is related to the customer's money and they couldn't be sensitive more. I knew it very well. I sort of hegitated to do it quickly to avoid the risk. In spite of that, I volunteered to do it by myself. Bottons, milege manual, promotions were so complicated. Unfortunately, get-off time came so fast.

Since I’ve been working for over a week now, I’ve realized a few things. Firstly, my seniors drink a lot of instant coffee. (Oh, before I forget, there are 4 full-time worker, including me. They are in charge of their own individual fields: agricultural food, animal/marine products and grocery) They even drink coffee right before eating a meal. Yesterday while I was boiling water make some drink tea, my senior asked me, “you’re making some for me also, right?” I was surprised because I wasn’t planning on making hers. So I said, “You mean coffee? But your food is on the way here soon” and my senior replied “So what?” It’s obvious that they’re so addicted to drinking it, skipping an opportunity to drink is out of the question. No wonder Maxim instant coffee is the top selling product in the whole of Korea.

English diary # 13 Another day has passed fine without any problems. Even if I don’t need to wake up early in the morning when I work the afternoon shift, I’m trying not to oversleep. So I woke up and ate some leftovers of yesterday’s dumpling soup. It’s one of my odd habits that I normally eat first, and then take shower. Maybe it’s because I want to get away from food-coma unconciously. After that, I switched on my computer to write a diary. Then, I made some side dish to pack for my dinner. It was just simple one : Onion, mushroom, carrot and salary sir fry with oyster sauce and saseme. The smell was so great thanks to the salary and it filled my entire room.

I think I make sure enough to keep my lunchbox in stable position but everytime I open it, it looks somewhat disgusting. Side dishes are mixed together and the water of them spilt out of the container. I should get another container soon which is sealed strongly. Well,it was also too small for me anyways.

I got into another habit. I am always back home with something in my hands. I buy things when I get off work. I bought milk and cereal. I might be considered nothing special. However, I scarcely buy them on my own. For me, I’d prefer eating rice than cereal. It’s just nothing but a snack and it doesn’t make me full in any degree. Nevertheless for some reasons, I bought it. I guess I was tempted by it while I was exposure to it at work. (-I know, it doesn’t make sense at all. What a stupid excuse it is).

Come to think of it, I think I miss something at work. That’s friend at my age. I am the yongest. What’s more, I am the only 20’s. Meanwhile I’ve dreamed of gathering together after work with coworkers and finding new faces at my age. ahhh. Turns out dream is just dream. I don’t know I feel a little bit gloomy, ever since one of my friend told me that she’s gonna grab a beer after work with cowokers.

Another day has passed just fine without any problems. Even though I don’t need to wake up early in the morning when working afternoon shifts, I’m trying to not oversleep. So I woke up and ate some dumpling soup leftover from yesterday. One of my odd habits is that I normally eat first, then take shower right after. Maybe, unconsciously, I want to avoid a food-coma. After that, I turned on my computer and started writing my diary. Then I made some dishes to eat at work for dinner. It was a simple one : Onions, mushrooms, carrots and celery, stir fried together with oyster sauce and sesame. My entire room was filled with an amazing aroma thanks to the celery.

I thought I made sure to keep my lunchbox from shaking around but everytime I open it, it looks somewhat disgusting. Side dishes became mixed together and some of the sauce spilt out of the container. I really should get another container soon, one that's sealed more tightly. Well to be honest, the one I was using was too small for me.

I got into another habit. I always end up going back home with something in my hands. I buy things whenever I get off work. This time I bought milk and cereal. This purchase might seem like nothing special. However, I rarely buy them. Personally, I prefer eating rice more than cereal. For me, cereal is simply a snack and it doesn’t make me feel full in any way. Nevertheless, for some reasons, I bought it. I guess, since I was constantly exposed to it at work, I became tempted to buy it. (-I know, it doesn’t make any sense at all. What a stupid excuse).

English diary # 12

As soon as I entered the office, I was asked about what to eat for lunch. Unfortunately, I was extremely full at that moment since I had have eaten a lot at home. So I said I am too full to eat another meal then my boss told me "then, just eat 탕수육". Although I was completely full, that suggestion was too sweet to turn down. The reason why couldn't refuse was last time when I ate it, it was out of this world. While I was waiting for the delivery and afterwards, I didn't do anything. It made me feel uneasy. I feel sort of guilty to get paid for not working. My boss saw through my mind and said to me, "You must be uncomfortable to death since you haven't been told your work for today so far, right?" and I said, "Yes, I feel like being on pins and needle." Well, what else should I do? I couldn't but waiting for the delicious food.

I heard some welfare benefit of our company providing. First of all, 15 days of annual leave are given to all the workers who have worked for 1 year. Second of all, 3~5 days is provided for summer holiday and it depends on how many years I've worked for. Honestly speaking, I was nearly giving up traveling in case I have a chance to turn to a regular worker. However, I can take advantage of holiday and day-off more than I expected. I was shouting when my senior told me. >_< . As our company is affiliate of Shinsegea conglomerate, I'm also able to take advantage of all the subsidiaries of it such as STARBUCKS! *T___T*

Recently, I got into a habit of checking if my friend is working or who's working at the Gmart which I used to work until not too long ago when I pass the mart on the bus ride. The bus goes by right in front of it. I saw my friends were working so I was thinking about texting but I promptly changed my mind and decided to visit. Anyways I needed to buy some onions. They welcomed me delightly, and we did some catch-up.

They were 2 cashiers and I am pretty close with both of them. One of them is at the similiar age of me. The other is at the age of my mother. We generally call her (or that kind of person) as "○○이모". (-I have no idea how to translate this into english so I just wrote "friends" above. I will say 'imo' for now here, I don't feel good calling her as a friend, it sounds sort of rude. Nor something like elder, it sounds too stiff ;;)

Imo asked me lots of things about my resent life and was trying to buy me something continuously. She's always acting like that. I kept refusing politely but to the last she gave me some snacks she bought for herself. T____T

It was just in the time my friend was to be off. So I waited for a few minutes to go back home together since she's living near to my house. Before leaving the mart, 3 of us (there are 3 people more in our usual gathering) came to a decision to gather next month. Considering that I am a stranger in this city, I'm happy that I know this kind of friendly people around me no matter how old they are.

As soon as I entered the office, I was asked what should we eat for lunch. Unfortunately, at that moment I was extremely full since I had already eaten a lot at home. So I said to my boss "I am way too full right now to eat another meal". In response my boss replied “then, just eat 탕수육”. Although I was already completely stuffed, the suggestion was too good to pass. I couldn’t refuse the offer since, last time I ate that particular 탕수육, it was out of this world. While I was waiting for the delivery to come and also after the meal, I didn’t do anything, literally. It made me feel a bit uneasy. I sort of felt guilty for getting paid but not working. My boss saw through me and said to me, “You must be feeling really uncomfortable since you haven’t been told about what you're doing today, right?” and I said, “Yes, I feel extremely uncomfortable and awkward.” Well, what else could I do? I couldn’t do anything but wait for the delicious food to arrive.

I heard about some welfare benefit provided by our company. Firstly, 15 days of annual leave are given to all the workers who have worked there for 1 year. Secondly, 3~5 days off is provided during the summer holiday but it really depends on how many years I’ve worked for them. Honestly speaking, I nearly gave up on the idea of traveling, in case I had the chance to become a full-time worker. However, with these benefits, I can take advantage of the holidays and day-offs, much more than I expected. I was shouting in joy when my senior told me. >_< . Since our company is an affiliate of the Shinsegea conglomerate, I’m also able to take advantage of all it's subsidiaries such as STARBUCKS! *T___T*

Recently, I got into a habit of checking if my friend was working or who else was working at Gmart whenever my bus went pass. Until not long ago, Gmart was where I used to work. The bus goes right pass the front of the mart. I saw that my friends were working so I thought about texting them but I quickly changed my mind and decided to visit them instead. I might as well do it since I needed to buy some onions. They welcomed me happily, and we had a quick catch-up session.

They were 2 cashiers, both of which I am pretty close with. One of them is near my age,  the other worker is near the age of my mother. We generally call her (or women at that age) “이모”. (-I have no idea how to translate this into english so before I just wrote “friends” . I will just call her ‘imo’ for now, I don’t feel good calling her a friend since it sounds sort of rude. Nor do I want to call her something like elder since that would sound too formal ;;)

Imo asked me lots of things about my recent life and kept trying to buy me stuff. She’s always like that. I kept refusing politely since last time she gave me some snacks she had bought for herself. T____T

english diary #11 

It was first time to work afternoon shift. I followed my senior all day long. She taught me details for real. All I did was just looking at how she processes tasks until yesterday. However, today, she let me do it by myself. I thought I have understood the general system to some degree but it was a huge mistake. I was at a loss honestly. So, my kind senior taught me one by one and I followed her instructions thoroughly. Then, I could see the silver lining.

Every Tuesday and Wednesday is the busiest day to the whole workers. New promotion begins on every Thursday so we have to prepare for it according to the guidelines from the headquater. While I was following my senior, I could feel her great abillity and know-how. If I can, I would like to adopt every single bit of them.

Finally, the time came, lifting and handling all the heavy products such as detergent, fabric softer, bottled water and so on (-For the record, What I mean is boxes and bundles of them, not just one piece) Even if I used cart to move them to the right spot, It was too heavy to have it moved to the right direction. It was nearly crashed into stuff on display. I am so lack of muscles...Maybe I should go to gym to develope some muscles and increase strength. *sob*

Phew, finally I came back home. It's about to be 11pm. Certainly, I do prefer the morning shift because some free time is given to me to do something productive after work. However, afternoon shift, it feels like this equation is completed : One day - work = 0. Well, I can relax and sleep more before going to work but it's not what I long for.

Since I ate up all the sides for lunchbox, I should get going to make some simple dishes to pack. *humming*

english diary #10 (yay)

What's going on with me? Why all of sudden have I become a light sleeper? I used to sleep so deeply that I couldn't feel anything when someone woke me up calling my name. Last night, I kept being awake every hours and check the time. I guess I feel unconsciously some pressure to wake up in the early morning. When the moment that I should wake up comes, I feel so tired. I may need to fix this bad sleeping habit.

It was 4th day of working. I think I am being absorbed in working area quite well. The terms are no longer unfamiliar than they were used to be and I am able to use the computer programs for the company without troubles. The problem is, I am still struggling with finding the locations of certain products and products itself. Although it's not a huge store, there are countless things. How am I supposed to figure out and order stuff, anticipating which one has a possibility of out of stock just simply by reading the name on the screen. I am absolutely in charge of being close to the things in the store until I can imagine the product promptly when I read its name. Hey, all products! let's be friends, I am a kind person.^___________^

At any rate, I am 100% enjoying my job so far. It's just fun and I occasionally forget the time passing.(-and It also applies to the break time. ;;;;). While I was working, I really didn't realize that it was time to go. I rushed into writing a paper which every new interns have to write for a week, and could be off on time. If I can, I am trying to avoid overworking at all cost, which most of korean-hard-workers take it for granted.

After I got home, I cooked some dumplings I bought from our store. I made 2 dipping sauces. One was based on soy sauce mixed with vinegar and red pepper powder, which is so common and the best match for dumpling. The other was mixed ketchup  with tabasco. It was simple but it went well with the dumplings pretty well.

Since my working schedule for this week has changed to afternoon shift, I will have some free time before going to work. I made a reservation on the dental hospital to have the stitches on my gum taken out at 9:30 am. To be more specific, It was actually supposed to be operated on last Saturday. However, like I wrote in my diary, I was so drunk that I failed to make it. *sweat*

english diary #9

Yes, I made it. I thought I would be either too tired or lazy to get up early in the morning. But, I was rather worried about the chance that I might sleep through the alarm I set. I woke up in the middle of night with being startled, and checked the time. It was 3:00 am. So nervous!

It felt so good beyond my imagination to go outside in the early morning for a movie.It was still dark and I could see the moon glaring up in the sky.

I got to the cinema on time. In my head, not many audiences weren't expected to see this movie at this time. However there were a number of people already seating at the cinema, which I was surprised at.

It's been awhile I have watched it. As far as I remember, I binge-watched this series in the begining of last year. It felt so boring at the first par. For some reason, I couldn't stop watching it. In the past, I knew next to nothing about the movies based on fatasy concept : some terms like elf, trol, gobline. Since I barely got the hang of the whole story,I had to look up some information on the internet and rough stories.

At any rate, as it wans't my first time, I could follow it with the flow without having to organize characters one by one in my head. Even though it was 4hours long, I scarcely noticed it. It was absolutely amazing movie. plots, characters, sound tracks, every single scenes, none of them were missable. Well, If I had to point out what I was disappointed at was, Aragon's voice tone. I didn't realized that his voice wasn't that mannish. It sounded like David Beckham's. ;;

After the movie ended, I was going to go out straight. However, I saw many people keep their seats. It made me wonder why they are not moving on. What did I do? I followed them in the same way. I stayed still with watching all the ending credits rolling up. Turns out nothing special was waiting for me. I literally wasted my valuable 30 minutes.  still I don't get their behavior. I guess they are just a super big fan of the movie so that they didn't want to leave right away. it's my best assumption.

English Diary #8

1.I woke up with huge pain. I needed to go straight to the bathroom. I dislike throwing up so much but I couldn't help doing that to feel better. I had terrible headache also. I wasn't able to stand up even for a few seconds. So I lay down on the bed and took some sleep until I get better.

Yes, I was absolutely drunk last night. At first, I intended to feel tipsy a little bit since the next day is my dayoff. From yesterday, I suddenly became craving for soju, not beer or any other kinds of alcohol. Maybe because of the main character of drama I recently started to watch, who drank soju so delightly in one scene, I was sort of tempted.

Anyways, I only bought 1bottle at first. After taking few sips, I needed some more. I didn't feel good about myself not feeling tipsy. So I bought 2 bottles on impulse. All of sudden, I wanted to test myself, my drinking capacity. Asking someone and being asked about 'what's your drinking capacity?' is so common and universal. Everytime somebody asked me about it, I couldn't tell them specifically because literally I didn't know.

So I kept on pouring myself soju continuously. I remember vaguely that I opened 3rd bottle. That's it. All of my memories are gone. I don't remember how I went to bed. My laptop was turned on but weirdly, the light of my room was off. It means, I went to bed intentionally. Hmm..

I learn the hard way: my alcohol tolerance is 소주 1.5병. (fatality : 2.5병) I won't repeat this stupid test again in the future. As of right now, I don't even wanna give a glimpse to the soju bottles.

2. Tomorrow is gonna be historical day for me. I've been always eager to watch a movie alone in the cinema, so-called 혼영(혼자 영화보기). Finally, I manage to delete one thing from my to-do-list. What's more special about this is, the movie itself actually. LORD OF THE RINGS! What's more, it's extended version! The first episode re-released this week. Starting from this week, other episodes will be coming out per a week. I really didn't want to miss this valuable chance so I purchased package ticket. Since it's special one, the ticket price is as much as 15,000won, which is super expensive compared to the original price. However, there was a special offer for certain amount of people who wants to see Lord of the rings: 30,000 won for 3 tickets. Luckily, I was able to purchase them online.

However, as I checked the movie schedule, it was so miserable. Who made movie schedule like this? First of all, It starts either super early or super late. Second of all, there is only one cinema playing that movie in 대전, where it takes 40~50 minutes bus ride from where I live. So, If I buy one which starts late, there is no way to come back home except taking taxi. The movie is 4hours long and it will end at around 2am. What do I do? I had only one choice left. Early one. How early? . It starts at 7:00am. To make a long story short, I need to leave my home at 6:00am. *sigh*. It will be sooo memorable day in many reasons. HAHAHAHA. I give up my sweet morning sleep of day off and english study gatherings only for this movie........I need someone who saying "you made a right choice" kindly since all of my friends said that's crazy. I hope it will be worthy.

English diary#7

There was a huge fuss at the work. It arose between a cashier and a customer. I roughly know about the details and how it happened: I heard the customer(A) saying "can't you do more kindly?" to the cashier(B). B apologized right away but it made B more mad. A screamed that "is that an attitude of a apologizing person? you didn't see my eyes!" well, B got mad also. B also spoke up "what? what kind of attitude you have then, you always throw things and cash to me. do you ever happen to have manner?"

 It seems like A is a regular customer and there have been a subtle tension between them. It became noisier and bigger. Since I was near to the counter, B saw and ask me to bring the store manager out there. I didn't know what to do at that moment. so I was just staring and standing by the situation. After a few seconds, I realized that I am here as a regular worker, not a part-timer! Luckily, the manager came quickly and tried to settled it down. 

Seeing the cashier insulted by a younger woman, I felt bad deeply. Although the elder doesn't mean to be respected all the time, it's a still general and basic social rule. I don't think the cashier did wrong as much to be insulted. At the same time, I couldn’t help but think how to deal with this kind of stuff in the future. hmm...

There was a huge fuss at work. It happened between a cashier and a customer. I roughly know the details and how it all happened: I heard the customer(A) saying “can’t you do it more kindly?” to the cashier(B). B apologized right away but it also made B mad. A screamed to B “is that the kind of attitude you use to apologize to people? You didn’t look at my eyes!” Well, because of that, B got madder also. B also spoke up, “What? What kind of attitude do you have then? You keep throwing things and cash at me. Do you even happen to have manners?” It seems like A is a regular customer and there had been some tension between them. It became noisier and bigger. Since I was near to the counter, B saw and asked me to bring the store manager out. I didn’t know what to do at that moment. So I ended up just staring and standing as the situation continued. After a few seconds, I realized that I am here as a regular worker, not a part-timer! Luckily, the manager came quickly and tried to resolve it.

English diary#6

Since it was first day of working, I wanted to get there early. So I rushed into getting ready to go from the early morning and I left home. However, the problem was that the bus interval was big. It comes every 20minutes. When I checked the upcoming bus schedule, It turned out that I just missed one. As a result, I arrived to the workplace nearly on time. phew....I could've made a better first impression to the manager.

Before opening the store, all the staffs gathered and the manager gave it a speech. Then, introduction of me was followed. Everyone was so kind and friendly, which completely made me feel welcome and comfortable.

I was so busy following my senior like a shadow to get used to the surroundings. To be honest, Much of them were faded away as soon as I learned new things gradually............... But, who am I? I am sure that I will be perfectly absored here with managing all the tasks!  .... m;;

In general, everything seemed to go well without any troubles and I didn't have to put effort and energy as much as I was told from others. I guess it was just nothing but a first day. Besides, my senior told me that the lowest sales is marked on every wednesdays, which means the freest day of a week in my store. haha. It might be a good sign and I think my luck gotta be continued this year also.

The words I looked up

-전반적으로 ; in general

-가장 한가한 ; freest

-매출 ;sales