With Phones Comes Happiness

Yesterday we finally got our cell phones. So now that I have a phone I was able to book three interviews and two photo shoots for this week alone. I also met up with a new friend named Vicky. She's a Korean girl who lived in Australia for a year. She has her own trade company and sells accessories. We had coffee ^^

I had my first interview today for a company that finds ESL teachers for Hakwons (private schools). Tomorrow I have an interview for a hotel position as a concierge. Then Friday I have an interview for an office job at a nail art company. Hopefully, I will have a job locked down by next week. :/

Keep in mind I'm purely looking for a part-time job so I can spend my days squeezing into the fashion industry either modeling or styling because I love CLOTHES!

XOXO

Sylbee

PICTURES

We love Graffiti

Word

Finally got my Alien Registration Card!

So we could finally get our phones!

Ben and his girlfriend Hyo Joo at Waggle Waggle. They are both awesome! John was there but didn't have a photo opp.

Pretty dogs!

Waiting for our bus (Number 7024~!)

Lazy Saturday

On set at MBC. All the actors were either Russian or French.

Russian guys wear purses ...

I need to learn Korean... I can understand it okay, especially when there are hand gestures involved, but as far as speaking goes I might as well be a stuttering mute (hope no one takes offense to that). I've been trying to look for language exchange partners so that I can practice speaking Korean as well as make new friends.

We are going to meet up with old friends John and Ben tomorrow. I haven't met Gentle Ben yet but Kalan speaks very highly of him. They might have some advice about finding tutoring jobs and what not. Knowing Kalan and John most of our time together will be spent cracking jokes and cheesy puns (I just sat for five minutes thinking of a pun to put here. I suck at puns.)

Packed bus

MBC Trip Outside Seoul

Me and Kalan at a Dalkalbi place.

We decided we are going to bring our

friends here when the come to visit.

Today Kalan got booked by MBC and has been filming all day. I tagged along thinking there might be something for me to do. It was really fun to watch for a while and give Kalan support but then the boredom got overbearing so I left. I did talk to a French guy that might be able to get Kalan hooked up with a manager for modeling. It didn't work out for me because I'm not white :P. Well can't let that get me down. Either way it's a good thing because apparently foreigners get paid a lot for modeling which will be good.

My photo shoot yesterday went very well. The photographer was originally from Egypt and lived in Kuwait. He comes to Korea often which will be good for my portfolio. He gave me cake which is always a big plus. I'll post finished pictures as soon as I can.

Breaking Through Borders

After a week of walking around the city like chickens with our heads cut off things finally feel settled and comfortable. We both booked the pilot for the food/travel show and have a meeting with the director again today. I guess we are planning to go to the countryside this weekend and film uncomfortable cooking situations. Sounds interesting!

Today I'm going to tag along to a casting that Kalan is going to for MBC. I'm going to bring my port (just in case). Then tonight I have my first photo shoot in Korea. I'm going to work on a cutesy/young look so that I can build on my port. A photography once told me "The agencies that deal exclusively with Koreans want that cute, innocent, pouty, just got back from the plastic surgeon with my new fake big western eyes and nose look. Creeps me out personally....lol! But if you can play the role...they will pay you." Don't worry I'm not going to get plastic surgery but it's good to know that my somewhat westernized eyes will help me out.

Today I was inspired by watching some of BOA's music videos. If she can make it in a new country, I can. Well it doesn't help that she's oober famous and has a lot of money, but it's still inspirational.

Seoul

Me: "Are we crazy?"

Boyfriend: "Yes."
Me: "How so?"
Boyfriend: "Well we're both quitting our jobs in a time when everyone else is getting fired. And we're moving to a country that is in a worse economic recession than ours to chase jobs in one of the most competitive and uncertain fields."
Me: "..."

I forgot how big the city is. The buildings are tall, the streets are loud and the people are WALKING. Unlike Orange County, where everyone owns like two cars, the public transportation here is convenient and used by everyone. In the last three days, I must have been around the city five times already.

I stand out here. Especially with Kalan, my white American boyfriend, at my side holding my hand. I used to think when people would stare, they hated us. But now I feel like it is because we are so unique to the country. This keeps me optimistic about what we are doing because we stand a part from everyone else. We're unique ^^


When we arrived I guess you could say we were homeless, jobless, and well lost. But we have now managed to get an apt at a really secure nice place called The Ville. It's right next to our old school Yonsei and in a pretty hip and young district called Sinchon. We found COSTCO (the hot dogs are cheaper here!) and bought some Americanized stuff and are sitting pretty comfortably in our apt.

So now we are just jobless. I had an interview yesterday and today that were both promising. One was for a part-time baby sitting position that is during the evenings. The dad is from New Zealand and the mom is Korean and just got a job with H&M (good contact). I think it will be perfect since I will have free time during the day to pursue modeling and getting signed with an agency. The other interview is for an acting position in a pilot for a food/travel show. This interview was actually Kalan's but I tagged along and the director thought it would be cool to do a couple thing. So hopefully we will be getting some sort of income soon. Tomorrow, I will go to the immigration office and apply for an immigration ID so that I can get a cell phone and really get the ball rolling.

So yeah... it's all happening. It's kinda scary.. and really exciting.