Saying Goodbye is Never Easy

That is especially true when you must say goodbye to new found friends! Sarah and Amber, two girls I met only one month ago, are leaving Korea to head back to their homes in Canada and Florida. Both Sarah and Amber have been here 2 years now and as you could imagine, they've been shining stars to myself, Sionna, and Pauly. Whether they were sharing the ropes with us of what places to go and not to go, warning us about new comers, or even just advising how to get around, they were always there. But their kindness was more than just helpful. It led to a bond - a friendship that I hope will last for years to come. I believe Sarah and Amber have completely shaped my experience in Korea thus far and it is hard for me to imagine this place without them. Good luck to the both of you and I hope we can meet again soon!

Photos to be or not to be...

You must agree with me when I say that "Pictures say a thousand words". And most of the time, those pictures say any words a thousand times better. But what is the point of taking hundreds of pictures? Maybe some hope for the perfect candid and maybe some just want to try and capture that "perfect" moment. Well I have to admit that I love the idea of taking hundreds of pictures because it certainly documents a series of events in the PUREST form. When looking back at all of those photos...they real tell a story - and as I mentioned before, usually better than you could tell it yourself with words. Pictures are memory keepers.

So then this brings me to my next thought. If you're going to take a hundred photos, then what's the point if all you are going to do is delete them all!?! It makes no sense to me and quite frankly I'm tired of it.

Day after day and night after night, my camera happens to run dead from all the attempts at documenting a journey. Then those photos are published and then one by one, they all happen to get deleted because of this reason or that reason. "I'm not looking my best in this one, please delete." Or "My hair is not perfect".

Let me remind everyone that they are PICTURES OF REAL PEOPLE. Of course not everyone is going to be "perfect" in them at all times. Besides, every ones idea of perfect is different. Photography is an art form!

Who needs Television when you can pretend to be like STATUES!!?!

Saturday had finally come! I woke up and hopped on a bus to Suwon to meet the girls for my first afternoon hiking trip. We wandered to a trail located behind a nearby university and began the "Rocky" run up the MANY steps. It was beautiful! All of the trees, dirt, and well...nature! We stopped for a few photos and at one point some Korean women were telling us "cheeseah" and pointing to their smiles as they waited for Sionna to snap the shot before they passed by. We climbed for about another 40 mins or so, found some kind of quartz-looking mineral, and chatted up a storm! We talked about planning each others upcoming birthday bashes, future wedding plans...ya know - chick stuff. Then Paulina and Sionna shared their most favorite spot in all of Suwon. As the path began to clear, we came upon what looked like a greek inspired ampitheater. It was one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen. And I had no idea they were taking me there which made it all the better. Soon after our arrival, we decided to take advantage of my self-timer camera. Poses of everything under the sun. We even drew a Korean crowd as they stood staring at us in awe running around the place. We posed in our best "Romeo and Juliet" dying look, our best statue, Rocky - theme song, mission impossible...ya know the normal stuff! Then we decided to head back home but not before making a bet between Si and I ... ;)

And then I vowed I will perform there someday soon...just to see what it's like. You can't just run into a stage like that and not perform!

Still Single this Valentine's Day = Very Good Times with your Girlfriends

So many things happened this past weekend that in this case, pictures speak way louder than words. Thanks to Sionna, every portion of the weekend was well documented. And I'm talking 400 photos worth of documented memories! You've got to love her for that! I will share a little for those who have not yet seen our snowboarding adventure.

So I left work Friday evening and headed straight for Sionna's apartment. Soon after I arrived, we went to the jimjilbong (which for now, I will spare you the details - but you should know it's a bath house). We laid around relaxing in shallow pools of green tea and sat in the best massage chairs you have ever experienced! $1.00 gets you 10 mins of pure bliss!! Then it was food time (mind you it is 2:00 am at this point, but hey! that is Korea for ya!) We all agreed upon some galbi (which is where you are served raw meat and you cook it yourself at your table) and then we parted ways with Sarah and Amber. Considering it was 3:30 am at this point, we decided since we had to wake up at 5:00 am, sleeping was out of the question. On to Home Plus we went in search of snacks for our big weekend in the snow. We purchased Soju, water, cookies, crackers, and LOTS of V-day candy (with all of us single and fabulous, we would just have to treat each other). We went back to Si's to pack and wait for the morning bus. Si's backpack was large and in charge to say the least as she chased little asian men walking down the street. We were laughing and shouting...you'd think we were on drugs! We arrived at the bus stop where the giggles continued as we performed our morning stretches in front of the 7-11 in our shades (even though it was still dark out). The bus finally arrived and we took our usual seats or the designated foreigner seats (in the very last row) and began yet another one of our rituals: singing classic songs from the 90s for all the early birds to hear.

It turns out we may have over guesstimated our travel time to the snowboarding bus as we arrived an hour early. So we decided it would be a great time to grab some morning coffee and breakfast. To our dismay, the streets were dark - no neon lights to be seen and the sun still had not risen. Desperate for caffeine at this point, we wandered back through the subway station looking for any glimmer of hope. Paulina put her nose to the test and found us a Dunkin Donuts in no time! You could imagine our excitement as we approached our 21st hour of being awake. The hour passed by quickly and on our way to meet Aaron and his new friend Karim, we heard a voice say, "Hey! You girls going on the ski trip? Can I follow ya'll?"

Meet our new friend Nikki. We found our guys, boarded the bus with Adventure Korea, and set out to Phoenix Park (somewhere north of Seoul) for the weekend. Before we knew it, we arrived at a rest stop where Sionna helped me bargain for new winter gloves with a street vendor. Soon after we arrived at the rental place where we picked up our gear, took snapshots in various funny hats, and made yet another friend - Adrienne (she happened to be Nikki's friend and they didn't know each other were going on the trip). We then finally arrived at Phoenix Park (about 2.5 hours later) met up with Mark and Andy, and hit the slopes. Most of us were around the same level, but Aaron and Mark seemed to be having a pretty tough time. We ended up splitting up, meeting another new friend - Jamie, and all tackled a black diamond slope together.

Soon we were exhausted and needed some "chill time". The 8 of us new found friends checked into our hostel (my first one ever) and took showers one by one with our itty bitty towels. Aaron and Karim went on the hunt for bottles of CASS and ended up coming back with small shot bottles of Jameson (oops!). Si and I were about on our 32nd wind and Paulina was out for the count. I looked around the room and noticed a problem - no table. So I constructed one from the TV stand and shelves in the closet while Sionna unpacked the essentials: big ass bottle of Soju, (1) silver kettle, (2) bottles of energy drink, paper cups, and toilet paper. (We used to be party planners for a living - we don't mess around!)

Eventually, we went out looking for dinner where we walked into not one but two places and quickly walked out of each (they didn't have exactly what we had in mind). We finally spotted a Popeyes Chicken joint and observed the BEST performance of "Hey Mickey" by 3 little Korean boys on one HUGE open mic night stage at the base of the hill. After cheering at the top of our lungs, we went back to the room to get our drink on.

The rest of the night turned out to be VERY random, adventurous, and oh so exciting!!! But I'll leave all of those memories to the many photos. I'd be here until July reciting all of the craziness. So thanks Si!! And what a VERY HAPPY Valentine's Day it was!!!

I love the rain...

I arose from my slumber on Sionna's warm and cozy floor this morning to catch a bus back to Bundang. I was pleasantly surprised to step out onto the street and feel the "pitter-patter" of a light rain hitting my overly tired body. The air smelled sweet and it was actually quite warm, around 45 degrees. The sky was grey and gloomy. As much as I love the sun, a rainy day is always in order from time to time. About 20 minutes later, I boarded the red 5500-1 bus line back to my section of town. I sat staring out the window listening to the rain drops beat against the window like a drum. I watched the water spill into the road, flooding the sidewalks alike. My ride ends abruptly as all sense of time escaped me. I begin walking home, only first to cross the footbridge over the rushing river water below. The area was completely desolate, unlike any other time I had experienced in the area before. It was almost haunting in a way. I just couldn't help but stop in my tracks to take in the view of the riverside brush, the buildings on either side of the banks, the ducks floating by... I snapped a few photos with my camera and continued walking home. The rain was beating harder now, but still tolerable at best. I passed school children in the streets with umbrellas of all shapes and sizes, patterns and colors. One was bright yellow with polka-dots. Another was a pale pink color with white trim. The children twirled them in the air, splashing the sidewalks with dashes of color. I soon approached my doorstep and stood outside just a couple minutes longer to soak in a few more rain drops as they hit my pale, white skin. At that moment, I had a thought. With all the rainy days in the world, does everyone have a rainbow to look forward too?

Stop and Stare

So I have no officially been here two weeks and I'm not sure if people are just recognizing me on the street or if all of a sudden I look approachable. Because lately, well since Monday at least, random Korean strangers have been coming up to me to show off their English speaking skills. Store clerks, restaurant owners, and mostly kids of all ages. I happen to walk by a school and playground everyday on my way to work. And everyday since Monday, one child out of an entire group of kids will say hello to me. I just smile and say hello back. And then everyone giggles and goes off saying something in Korean. But to tell you the truth, I don't mind so much. I commend their curiosity.

The much older folk here certainly have another approach. They literally just stop and stare at me. I'm not sure if its the blonde hair, the blue eyes, or the albino color of my skin, but they say nothing. They only stare.

So it is at this point in my stay here where I completely sympathize with Paulina. See my friend Paulina is quite tall and very beautiful. For example, last weekend two little old men came up to her in the street, stopped, and just looked up circling her like she was some sort of alien from outer space. No speaking, no hand gestures. They just stared.

I am not so certain if I commend the elders curiosity as much, however it is really funny while in the moment.

Hooters makes you happy...

Yesterday, being that it was Tuesday, February 10th, was a glorious day for my friends Sionna and Paulina. You see, the 10th of every month is PAY DAY!! Their over month of waiting was finally over. So to celebrate, Sionna decided that everyone should go into Seoul and splurge at Hooters. Yes, there is a Hooters restaurant (as in the chain) in Seoul, South Korea. So I trekked from Bundang to Gangam via the magical subway. It was actually my first time and thankfully, it was very easy and I made it with ease (well, for the most part). I then met the gals at Hooters (it took me a little longer to get there) and we devoured all food in sight. From chicken wings, to chicken fingers, nachos, burgers, and fries - everyone was happy (just as their slogan implys) and stuffed to say the least. And yes, I ordered the largest angus cheeseburger on the menu and managed to eat the whole thing AND keep it down. I figure while I'm eating meat, I might as well go big or go home! After dinner, Sionna attempted to purchase a souvenir t-shirt but of course in Korea, they only sell size small - even in mens! Argh...

Unfortunately for as good as the transportation system is here, everything shuts down at midnight except the good ol' "cabbies". Taking a cab is always a special treat. We tried to wheel and deal a few of the drivers as they all tried to rip us off because we're foreigners and they think we don't know any better - WRONG!

Sarah: "Paulina you try to get a cab, I can't get anything lower than 50,000 won and that's absurd"
Paulina: "Okay how do you say 30,000 won (Sam chon won)"
Sionna: "You should try to speak with a Russian accent! Maybe that'll help...maybe they'll take pity!"
Paulina: "How do you speak Korean with a Russian accent?!?"
Paulina: "Samm chon vvonnnn!?!"
Me: ....HYSTERICALLY LAUGHING LOL
(Maybe you had to be there...I swear its the funniest thing I've heard in a long while!!)

We finally suckered one man into taking us to Suwon for a decent price. The entire ride was full of fun and much laughter (even from the cab ride as he could pick up a little of what we were saying). I ended up staying the night at Sionna's, picked up an ice cream cone on the way to her house, and even went to the PC Bang to catch up on the blog and tv shows!
Bed time finally came at around 3:30 am. My schedule is such a hot mess!!!