As little as a week ago, Igor was decidedly over S. Korea. It's nice and all, but let's face it, it's humid, muggy, hot, smoggy, and there are mosquitoes everywhere, those vile pests. Despite Igor's beautiful and lustrous hard shell, those pesky bugs always manage to get at the delicate skin of Igor's beautiful neck. And it is not skin that was meant to be nibbled, but instead, to be looked upon in wonder and glory.

But this post is not about mosquitoes and how they dare to defile the inestimable Igor, but instead, about Igor's newfound love for Korea. Which brings us to the subject of this entry, traveling. Igor has found that as long as he doesn't stay in the same place too long, he doesn't get too bored (no offense, Seoul, but you're kind of small).

Igor failed to mention because it didn't relate directly to him (thus, who cares?) but Heeseung began working with a small concert booking organization about a month ago. Igor actually forgot a few times because it wasn't interfering with Heeseung's work with him and thus was permissible, but then he found out that Heeseung heard about lots of concerts in Seoul and elsewhere and thus decided Heeseung's other work was of interest to him after all.

Last weekend in conjunction with Heeseung's work, Heeseung and Igor traveled to Daejeon, which is about an hour (or less) away from Seoul via KTX, Korea's fastest train. Heeseung and Igor, aside from seeing new and interesting lands, met lots of supercool musicians (who can be found here, here, here and here). Heeseung was also put to work as a bouncer, while Igor danced the night away. Sadly, there is no photographic evidence of either. Igor may or may not have had a hand in this.

This past weekend, Heeseung and Igor went to Malipo, a beach area that was filled with mosquitoes and sunshine. The sun made Igor happy. The mosquitoes did not, and he has 27 bites on his wrinkled (yet soft, well moisturized) neck to prove it. Actually, a few years ago, Malipo was the site of a fairly catastrophic oil spill, although much of the waste was cleaned up and life continues onward, as evidenced by the sight of many crabs, fish, and jellyfish, among other animals. Yes, life blooms on the coast, although Igor can't decide if he approves of the presence of such creatures or not. In any case, Igor took a moment for his fallen brethren then proceeded to swim for three glorious days straight, although, he is quick to note, Malipo wasn't any ultra-exclusive European hotel/spa. Not that he's comparing (but really he is). 

Next weekend, though Sogang's one week vacation is over, Heeseung and Igor shall head over to Daegu, on another music-related trip. Heeseung will hopefully use the KTX time to study as her exams (and the end of her time in Korea) are rapidly approaching, although if all else fails, she will study Korean in what she has found to be the best way possible-- by just jumping in and mingling with the natives. Igor approves of Heeseung taking the initiative to continue working on her Korean because it is her job to be more useful to him, but has now taken to wondering why all of Korea can't just learn English, because really, don't Koreans know what they're missing by not being able to talk directly to him? But ultimately, it's their loss. Not that they'll ever know.

Heeseung has been slow in updating her blog (Igor would just like to remind you all that it is actually his blog, and not hers, of course, because who would read a blog about Heeseung's life, really?) not because, as some of you may have been lead to believe, her life is so terribly mundane that she has nothing to blog about, but because she has been so very busy. Although a certain turtle may have portrayed her life in a certain manner, Heeseung actually experiences much variation within her day-to-day living and is often busy enough to not know where the time has gone as she sits at home late at night, doing homework and writing blog entries as dictated by Igor, such as this one right now. In all honestly, Heeseung is mildly alarmed at the speed at which the days are passing and was quite shocked to realize there is less than one month left in Korea. Igor, on the other hand, has a calendar marking the days left. He's been so over Korea since that hotel/spa visit in an undisclosed, super exclusive area of Europe a few weeks back.

But to return back to topic: Heeseung has been quite busy. With what? you all clamor to know. After a certain turtle misrepresented Heeseung's life, Heeseung has been getting no less than six phone calls and text messages a day asking her if she wants to hang out (out of pity, of course). While these invitations are much appreciated, Heeseung would like these callers to know that actually she does have friends and actually she cannot "meet up 4 coffee u poor lil thing u" because she has had a number of engagements and activities to fulfill. The past two weeks have consisted of the following, in roughly chronological order:

Hitting up karaoke with classmates. Igor hid in his shell the whole time and feigned deafness due to the "murder of music" for the next three and a half hours post-karaoke session.

Battle of the Year, Korea eliminations, another bboy event Heeseung went to by way of John. John and Christine are clearly enthralled. Igor may have been mildly impressed, although he's sure he can spin on his shell much better than some of those bboys could spin on their backs, heads, elbows, and who knows what else. No offense to them or anything but sometimes the truth hurts.

More subway. Always the subway. Igor claims to hate the plebeian method of transport, but in actuality enjoys the free air conditioning, not that he'd ever admit it. To class up the fact that he's on ... the subway (who even knows what kind of unsavory characters and, even worse, germs are roaming around, just waiting to attack a delicate young flower such as himself), Igor listens to classical music and reads tasteful literature.

An old school parade on a not so old school street.

And here it is, not only in color but in motion as well. Igor warns you all that you may get motion sickness from watching this video. 

Listening to live music in small cafes with good friends. Although Igor is on a diet (he'd never admit it, but it's suspected he's gained as much as 2 ounces since he came to Korea), he cannot resist green tea lattes, and thus dislikes the excessive cafe pitstops per day. Furthermore, because it is always Heeseung who takes Igor to such cafes (not that Igor is incapable of traveling himself, but it is simply far more efficient to use Heeseung as a vehicle of transportation) any future weight gain will be blamed on Heeseung and she will thus have to pay compensation for the emotional stress Igor will indubitably encounter.

A K-pop concert. Igor was strangely infatuated with the center dancer allegedly labeled as the Korean Angelina Jolie, although when asked directly, he feigns indifference. Indeed, Igor. Indeed.

Apparently Koreans like ballad-style songs. Not as much as Igor, though. Wait, Heeseung retracts that last statement as it was not authorized by Igor. That was apparently a falsehood because Igor listens exclusively to classical baroque music. Heeseung formally apologizes to Igor for spreading rumors about him and hopes he doesn't read the rest of the blog entry before it is posted.

So this is basically what Heeseung has been spending her time doing lately, although Igor knows that no one cares about that if it weren't for the fact that  Igor has been graciously accompanying Heeseung on her journeys. Oh, how excessive boredom has caused Igor's standards on what he does with his precious time to fall so greatly.

There are other times when Heeseung is busy, either with school or with her work, which she just started with a concert booking organization that books shows for progressive artists around Korea, during which Igor does mysterious things with his time (Sorry, he can't tell you.). However, although Igor is very busy in his own right as an independent, self-sufficient being, he is still mildly irritated that Heeseung has not been devoting as much time to him as she should be doing, hence failing her duties as lackey and right-hand woman, although he's sure she will come to her senses soon ... or suffer the consequences. Not that he's bored when she's not there or anything.

And to finish off tonight's post, a peek at monsoon rains past, taken on the way home from school. Igor despises the rain and is sure he will die of poisoning by way of acid rain. But worry not, should that happen, he already has a plan to sue Korea.

Hello, my adoring fans. Tonight, you all have the honor of reading a blog post written directly by me, the inestimable Igor. Heeseung is out cold, allegedly exhausted by her day, although I don't see why she would be, considering her life is unbelievably dull and she does nothing all day, unlike myself, who has to read no less than 6.2 lbs. of fan mail a day (I don't respond, of course, as that's below me, but if I have time, I delegate some responsibilities to some of the lower members of my entourage).

Anyhow, I, still rejuvenated from my super exclusive spa visit to the Old Country, thought on a whim it might be amusing to follow Heeseung around for a day. 

It wasn't. 

Because it would be far too dull to even try to describe the dreariness of Heeseung's every day life, I present to you "Heeseung's Life: In Picture Format" (shockingly, even giving it an official title can't stop it from being less boring).

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Morning. I should have known from the start that this was not a lifestyle for me. We woke up too early, I barely had enough to polish my shell before we left.

Breakfast. On the go. I just have to say I am simply appalled. Where's my usual three-course breakfast?

School. Awful drudgery. I fell asleep for 3.5 of 4 hours. Probably due to waking up so early. At least I didn't visit last week, as that was midterms period. If you thought it couldn't get any worse, as I did, you're probably wrong. (Not me, though, I'm always right.)

A brief break. Some rude hooligan put me in his shoe. Disgusting.

Cafe. The two-person tables could not accommodate all of my entourage. How thoughtless.

Back on the subway. Oh joy.

Off to another cafe. Homework. Since I took a nap on the subway, I thought I'd be able to stay awake, but it was just too boring. Three green lattes couldn't keep me up.

In short, Heeseung leads a consistently dull life in Korea.

Here, look at this cicada instead.

And with that, I am off to bed, my fans, as it's nearing my bedtime and I need my beauty sleep, as it is.