Cold weather

It is finally getting c0ld here. It's really hard to believe that less than one week ago, I was in Mokpo in just a sweater. Today I wore a coat for the first time. I've been doubling up on the sweaters, and recently had to stop taking off the sweaters in class. The rooms here are not insulated at all, so that they get very cold overnight when the weather outside is cold, and stay cold once it warms up outside. If you open up the windows all you get is cold wind, so it doesn't help at all.
I have run into a bit of a problem coat-wise as well. Defying all the ample evidence to the contrary, I apparently have huge Herculaen arms. I can't even get my arms into the coat if I am wearing a big sweater. So, there was a lot of shuffling this morning as I had to find a sweater that would fit into the coat. I wound up going with the smoky number I wore out last night.
I went out last night with Robert, the other foreigner in our fair city. We did a bit of a pub crawl, which actually led to us only drinking in two bars, but entering five to inquire.
The first was alright, but it was a night for exploration, so we didn't stay too long, just for one beer. We ranted about english in Korea, and about the lack of insulation that was all too evident as cold ebbed from the one-paned window we were seated at. They haven't turned on the heat yet anywhere, so most people wear coats all day, at school and in restaurants. Robert says the heat will come eventually.
Then we tried to find another, and wound up in two Norae-bangs (karaoke rooms) which wouldn't let us just drink, we had to get a room and sing too, apparently. I wasn't that drunk yet, and an audience of one, who didn't seem to want to sing back wasn't too appealing.
The next place we tried was a salon room, which apparently can be really pricy. Apparently, in a salon room, you can wind up spending $200 and $1000 in one night. You get a private room, and you are waited on by a few waitresses. The cost apparently comes form the touching, which can be both ways. It wasn't what we were looking for, so we moved on to "Time Resto-Hof". That was pretty nice, with big windows placed just too high to give any view of the street, but great views of the neon signs on the other side.
Here we got a little drunker and a little louder, and our conversation moved to making fun of Korean infomercial speak. "Hwah!!!" We talked about contradictions in Korean hygiene rules, and the weird mix of developing/developed worlds here. Some random guy bought us our first round, and some other random guy bought our second. The whole night only wound up costing about $10. Between us!
He also gave us some basil plants, so our apartment smells pretty good right now. Someday, we may be able to make pesto from the basil, which would be pretty cool, to say the least.

Class today was pretty good. This week, I have used the "If I had $1 000 000" plan I hatched last week. It has gone pretty well, and has been really revealing about the students' listening skills. Or lack thereof.
I had problems with the same guy again in class today. He had a straightening iron, in class, and apparently decided that my lesson was the best time to crimp his friend's hair. Seriously, I couldn't make something that weird up. I took the straightening iron away, and he protested, because although it had been heated and played with all through class, he had only started styling his friend's hair after the bell had gone. My class ran a few minutes over, but it was a lie, had started sooner. Even so, a straightening iron in class? Where the hell am I?!

That's all for now.