Sunsets and Bloodletting

Okay, so first off, the sunset was really pretty tonight. And I would have/should have gone up on my roof to get a better picture. But I am lazy.


Today was the first day that I'd spent at home in over 2 weeks. I spent the morning drinking coffee and being chewed on by Jakob, who really really missed me since he had to stay with Alex for the past few weeks, and it was totally traumatizing for Alex (and Jakob too, I think).

I decided to be more productive in the afternoon. First off, I knew that I had received a package (books) from Seoul, and I started the long process of locating it, which involved first asking my building manager, then heading to three different post offices to mime out "I have received a package from Seoul, is it here?" (it comes out more like "box-uh!" *make a square* "Seoul" *flail randomly* "Me!" *point to self, then make universal 'I don't know' gesture* - it's almost like performance art for the other 50 people who happen to find themselves in the post office...). Finally, I decided to try my apartment office again.... I went in, asked them if they had found that package??? Once again, the answer was no, so I pointed at a small box, which surprisingly had a Seoul return address on it and MY NAME in English on it and was like, hey, maybe this could be it? So, yay, got some books.

I had somehow managed to talk Jen, who has been complaining about her knee, into getting acupuncture/bloodletting done. I decided to go with her, just for the fun of it. We agreed to meet up at the train station, and while I was waiting, two very dirty old guys started fighting in front of a row of chairs (containing about 30 people) and a big screen TV. They were joined by another guy, and I seemed to be the only person who was reacting. Like, did the rest of the people in the waiting room think it was a one-act play?

Anyway, Jen arrived, and we went to the bloodletting place. Since I really had nothing wrong with me, they took Jen off to be stabbed, electrocuted and bled, while I got to play with some really fun machines. First off, they sat me in a massage chair for half an hour. Once my spine had been reduced to jelly, they brought me to another room where, um... okay... picture a pair of thigh-high stockings, made of snowpant material, filled with air, and then you sort of zip it on, like sleeping bags for your legs. And... then... okay, the pockets fill with air and it "massages" your legs. I really have no idea how to describe this.... After that, they put me in what looked like an iron lung, with only my head sticking out. The inside of the iron lung was all warm, so it was like a personal sauna? I have no idea. Anyway, Jen found me in the iron lung/sauna and was like "Okay then". Then, while Jen was on the massage chair (for a paltry 15 minutes), they sat me on a chair next to a vibrating platform where I put my feet and got all shook up. Once again, weird.

The best surprise was that they did all this to me for free - when we went out to pay, they shook their heads at me and said "Serbis-uh" (service aka free). And I went home and took a nap.

I don't start back at school until Friday and I'm trying to find fun things to do for the next three days, that doesn't involve acting like an ass in a post office or any sort of Korean "health" treatment.