Sober Sunday

In attempt to continue our efforts in having Sober Sundays, we decided to take advantage of a beautiful, hot and sunny day and do something cultural. Off we went to Suwon Fortress with cameras in hand. We arrived about an hour later and waited for a trolley car with a giant dragon head to pick us up. We starting making our way around the giant fortress snapping pictures of everything. We even rang a giant bell and each of us made a wish for our families (which is what the bell signifies). Words can't describe how beautiful it is so here are some photos:

Here's an exerpt from the website:

"Hwaseong Fortress was constructed as an act of filial devotion by Jeongjo, the 22nd king of the Joseon Dynasty (1392~1910), and to strengthen his power, eradicate party conflict, and fortify the southern area of the capital. Construction was started along Mt.Paldalsan in January 1794 and completed in September 1796 under the supervision of Chae Je-gong, a former minister and the magistrate of Yeongjungchubu County."

Rainy Saturday

The rainy season, also known as monsoon season, has officially begun. Unfortunately, the rain can really put a damper on your plans. This past Saturday, Andrew, Songi, and I had planned to go see a Korean punk band (Songi's favorite band) in Hongdae as well as a few other local bands. But due to the rain, most of the performances were canceled because they play outdoors.

So, we started brainstorming other options so we weren't cooped up inside our apartments all day. That's when we got a phone call from Jane to meet her and her sister at Jessica's Kitchen. It's an all you can eat buffet with all you can drink beer for 20,000 won per person with no time constraint. Umm...CHA!!

You best believe we parked there until closing time at 10pm. Five hours of snacking on delicious food and drinking mug after mug of cheap beer, everyone was feeling pretty full.

Jane: "I had to button my pants back up just to go get another beer!"

As we stumbled out of the closing restaurant, we all agreed it was a pretty fun Saturday after all. Then we headed to Pub 210 for billiards and darts. Awesome.

For the Love of Galbi

Galbi is a traditional Korean style meal (or BBQ) where you are given a few slabs of raw meat (beef or pork) and you cook it over a grill that is built into your table. You are also provided with several sides of different vegetables, soups, and pickled type items. This meal is eaten on a regular basis, often times accompanied by soju or beer, and is very low in calories as it is only meat and vegetables. But for those carb lovers, sides of rice can be ordered.

I've had this meal quite a bit over the past 5 months but it seems as though this week I've had it a bit more than usual. I have finally come to the conclusion that my vegetarian/vegan confused body hates me after consuming one of these delicious meals. Every night that I've had this for dinner (three times last week from all different restaurants), I've woken up the following day feeling really sick and sluggish. After complaining to my fellow galbi eaters, on a regular basis, we put put 2 and 2 together to determine my body is still rejecting meat after 5 months.

So for now, I'm going to try and "cut-back" on eating Galbi. But it's certainly not going to be easy as it's more of a social thing than an actual meal. I've even been considering trying to be a vegetarian again.

I wish this country was more vegetarian friendly! Stay tuned.

From Bungee Jumping to Baseball

A few weekends ago, a bunch of us got together to go Bungee Jumping at Yul Dong Park which is conveniently located 10 minutes from my house. There you pay 25,000 won for one full harness jump. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and unfortunately for us, it turned out to be Korea's Memorial Day and the place was closed. I believe many in the group were relieved but I was actually pretty bummed.

We decided to grab a bite to eat at what is said to be one of the top Galbi restaurants in Bundang. After finishing, we decided to hop in a cab and go to a baseball game. I had no idea what I was in for as it was my first time. But boy was I super excited once we reached the giant stadium! All you could hear was roaring from the crowd. Everyone had two inflatable tubes that you clap together to make noise while chanting. They even had cheerleaders for each team! I have to admit I was quite content. I had had a cheap beer (that I purchased from the convenient store in the concession area) and "clappers" in my hands. The only thing that could have made it better would have been a pizza delivered to our seat (which Dominos will actually do!)

Andrew's Surprise Documentation

One night out with the crew, the following story magically appeared in my travel notebook:

Jon leaves Pub 210. Meets a guy with cake on his face. Jumps in for a picture = cake on face. We walk to LA. Jon runs into random food place, see's Cass and Sarah. Andrew sees them, eats Sarah's food, starts writing everything down.

Cass says, "SHE HAS ZEBRA PANTS ON, I WANT THEM!!!"

-Love you 4EVER-

Andrew Miller

"Is that phone for Midgets??"

Recently while out one day with the usual gang: Andrew, Songi, and Sarah, we passed by a row of public telephones. However, the one on the end was about 1/2 the size of the others.

"Is that phone for midgets?" Andrew exclaimed. All of us turned to look, stop, and laugh hysterically. Then Songi chimed in and explained that it is for disabled people (aka people in wheelchairs).

Although midgets are technically considered to be disabled, Andrews comment still makes me chuckle. Every time I've passed a "midget phone" since, I find myself chuckling. Thanks buddy!

A Day of Good, Clean Fun

Over the last month, I have joined in with the locals and have become a frequent visitor to a local bar called Dublins. It is there where I've made a tight group of friends and if nothing is going on, we all seem to venture there, often times staying into the wee hours of the morning. However recently, my friend Andrew pointed out that he doesn't have a single picture of any of us sober or outside of Dublins to say the least. So we immediately made plans to visit a famous park, rent bicycles, and have a Korean-style picnic.

After traveling an hour to the park, we were unfortunately greeted by a good rain session. That's when "Plan B" of Operation Good, Clean Fun had to be quickly thought up and put into action.

So we hopped back on the subway and headed to COEX Mall, home of Seoul's Aquarium. It wasn't raining in that part of town, so we decided to check out a Buddist Temple that was close by, taking fun pictures with sculptures every step of the way. The temple was incredible and unlike anything I've ever seen. We learned that the site of this temple is also home to the tallest Buddah statue in Seoul! After our cultural experience, we headed to the Aquarium (a place I've been dying to visit) for fishies!! (Yes I'm still an English teacher.)

It was a great experience filled with many silly pictures, two-headed turtles, monkeys, rabbits, bats (yep - I was confused too), giant sea turtles, Nemos, and sharks. Next stop, On the Border for the best Mexican food Seoul has to offer. I would say it turned out to be quite the adventure after all.

Mission Good, Clean Fun - CHECK!