Bundaegi and Hongdae

Sorry for the week's delay in this post. I've been busy with tests at school. As a result I've stayed at home a lot recently, but I do have a few adventures to share.

Last weekend, Van, Amy, and I went out with Rebekah and Karla for a few drinks and dinner. That was all well and good until Rebekah and Karla turned in for the night and then things went a little crazy. Amy and Van decided we should head down to a little place near Rhythm and Booze, the local foreigner bar, where they serve Bundaegi. Bundaegi, for those who are not aware are roasted silkworm larvae. Since they'd both tried some the weekend before when I couldn't go out, they decided it was my turn.

So here's how that turned out:

Yes, that's right. I ate one. Only one. They tasted really weird, like slightly sweet and slightly sour, but also at the same time I couldn't get over the fact that the things had faces. The fish on the table was treated with about as much disdain but after eating a bug I figured I'd have to at least try that as well, and decided that in hindsight, fish is not that bad. Silkworms, though, are off the menu for now.

After that adventure, this weekend, we ended up going out for drinks on friday night with some of the guys from work. We ended up at a club, which was an experience, and then finally a sake bar. In all, I spent only about $15 the whole night. At the Sake Bar, a trio of Korean men decided that they were in love with my smile and told me I had beautiful eyes, and refused after that to let us pay for ourselves. They kept wanting to drink and talk, so with the brother of a Korean friend playing translator we passed quite a great evening all said and done with them all.

Yesterday we went into Hongdae, the hipster part of Seoul, which is packed with bars, clubs, and late-night market stalls. We were going to go a silly art museum with funny artwork, but instead we ended up just wandering around and found ourselves in a place called the Fuzzle club, which was done up to look like a dorm room, with lofted beds above glowing tables, disco balls on the ceiling, and mismatched dorm room type furniture all over the place. Amy was thrilled to find gin and tonic, but overall we didn't drink too much, instead just wandering around, and finally caught the last subway home to Bucheon in time to get some hot chocolate.

Today we stayed in and watched Murray and Djokovic playing in the Australian Open in tennis. This upcoming week we finish intensives, and our kids have a graduation ceremony. Next weekend, Amy and I are going to head back to the art museum.

Until then, that's all folks!

Itaewon and Tim Burton

Today was one of those days where a lot of different things happened. Amy, Van, and I headed out at 11am to Itaewon, which is a part of Seoul known for selling clothes in so-called "Big Sizes" for Westerners. It's located near the military bases in Seoul, and turned out to be quite a seedy, dirty sort of place. Compared to the rest of what I've seen of Korea, I was quite disappointed by it all. The place was full of t-shirts with slogans complaining about being based in Korea, or over-priced merchandise because the Hilton Hotel was in the area too. It was also full of miserable, rude people who would wander around the streets loudly and complain of the place being "provincial" or who would say "It's locked. That's why he has to come and open it" when we stopped by to go into a shop (the man did unlock the shop at that point, but there wasn't a sign or anything, and there was no need for this American man to be such a smarmy so-and-so to someone who was just going to try and enter a shop. If it hadn't been for the shock of what he said, Amy and I both would probably have gone for him at that point.

All in all, Itaewon's not really worth a visit unless you absolutely must go there for something you absolutely cannot find anywhere else. It's filthy and old and full of people who hate life and the world. Avoid it if you can. Compared to Myeong-dong or the shops in Bucheon, it's really a horrible place to be.

After Itaewon, we met up with Brooke and Beks to visit the Tim Burton exhibit at the Seoul Art Museum. Tim Burton, for those of you who do not know, did the Nightmare Before Christmas, the Corpse Bride, and most recently Alice in Wonderland and Frankenweenie. He's known for dark humor and stop-motion animation. The exhibit was a continuation of one that had been originally done in the U.s. (primarily in New York). As the only Asian stop, Seoul's Art Museum was really popular, so popular in fact that it was hard just trying to get into the place. Tickets were 12,000won each, or about $12, and then there were so many sold they had to break up the number of people into groups of 100 to let in at a time so they didn't get overpacked. So we had an hour and a half wait before we got in. It was really good though, showing old work he'd drawn on napkins and paintings he did when he was younger all the way through the original Batman costumes, Edward Scissorhands props from the movies, and stop-animation clay figures used for the films themselves. As an artist, he really is an interesting piece of work. There was one wall covered in drawings he'd done of idioms taken literally. So flossing between the ears was someone actually running floss between their ears, and "Jen and Joe like to hold hands" was a picture of people just holding extra hands.

The front gate.

Part of the exterior.

Another part of the exterior.

The characters sitting in the windows.

Amy, Brooke, and Beks while we were waiting in line for tickets.

Then on our way home in the subway station we ended up being interrogated by an elderly drunk man who wanted to practice his English. When he learned we were teachers he wanted to buy us all coffee, and we couldn't avoid him, so we ended up with coffee we didn't really want. He then informed Brooke that she was fat and that was frowned upon in Korea, but that she also had "a real treasure, and would be powerful" whatever that meant. Somedays Korea can be a really weird place. After escaping him with our unwanted coffee (he wasn't a threat, he was just way too friendly, and over here they just tell you what they think straight away), we finally managed to make it home, or at least to the next station for dinner at a Japanese burger place called Mos Burger, which sells Melon soda. It tasted a bit like jolly rangers watermelon flavor, so I didn't have more than a sip, but the food was nice, and we had onion rings.

By that time we were finally worn out and it was 8:00 at night, so we headed back on the train to go home, and that leads us to this point.

Tomorrow we shall go and see about getting hair cut, but for now, that's me, signing off. :)

New Year and Making Korean Friends!

Hey all,

It's now 2013!!! Happy New Year!

I did have to teach on New Year, but that was alright. The kids were about as happy about it as we all were. Someone forgot you celebrate New Year on New Year's Eve so we all had to be in early on New Year's Day as well, but we all managed and Intensive Classes have begun, meaning we will all teach more and earn more this month.

My Intensive Class is a speech-writing class with the lowest level we teach. These kids are all about 12 or 13, and they're a lot of fun to work with, so it isn't so bad teaching them. They are all having fun too it seems, and they're fascinated by me. They're newer than most kids are at the school, so it's all still a novelty for them.

Case in point:
Usually I put my hair up for class, or we're wearing hats because it's cold inside. Today, however, I had it down, and so the kids got a good look at it for the first time. For those of you who are not aware, I'm a natural blond. That's really rare in Korea. I bent over to correct one boy's speech and the girl next to him suddenly goes "Oh!". Next thing I know, she's got hold of some of my hair (carefully) and is petting it and running her fingers through it. I just laugh and ask what she's doing. She goes "Teacher, your hair is yellow!" So I told her yes, and it had always been yellow, and that surprised her too. She asked if it had ever been brown or black (the only blonds she has ever seen in her life are fake blonds: Koreans who have dyed/bleached their hair), and cannot get enough of it. Every time I'm nearby, she's reaching for it now, fascinated by the color. That got the rest of the kids started so next thing I know I've got five of them around me, petting my hair, and wondering at the fact it is not only blond but soft as well, as though they thought it wouldn't be. These kids are really funny sometimes.

Anyway, New Years was good. It wasn't the usual party I'm used to (I've been spoiled at home), but we did all get together at Joseph and Alex's apartment with a bunch of Korean friends to celebrate. We had some really bad champagne and wiled away the hours. Twenty some people were never made to fit into the apartment, but we made it work. At about 1 am we got kicked out by the neighbors. In Korea they celebrate the Lunar New Year, so we were, in there view, just making noise for no good reason on a Monday night. The good thing about the fact Koreans don't celebrate it, however, is that the bars were still open, so we went there instead and they put up with us while we kept singing and drinking.

-Look how many of us fit into this little apartment! From the top down is Karla, Nina, and Bryan. Then from left to right are: Alex (behind the arm), Joseph (both hands in the air), Andrew (looking down), one of Alex's friends (with the red hat on), Robert (with one arm in the air, looking at the camera), Lindsey (next to Robert and his girlfriend), and in the corner Van. We didn't even all fit into the picture, and there are more people back in the hall in shoved into the corners as well.-


The other day we went out with some of the part-timers from CDI. They're about my age, and I'm the youngest teacher at our branch, so it was nice hanging out with them a bit. Martin and Daniel speak English (not fluently but they're still learning like we're learning Korean) and Emma and Nari bonded with us over K-pop stars that are topping the charts right now. We all went and got some dinner, then we went and got a second dinner across the road from the first place. We exchanged phone numbers so we will go out with them again sometime as well.

Daniel, Nari, and Emma at the first dinner place when we went out with the part-timers. Thanks guys!

Brooke, Van, and Martin at the first place. We ate fried chicken and a really nice Kimchijun, which is like a Kimchi pancake. It tastes a little like hashbrowns really.

This was the second place after Emma and Nari left us. Here's Daniel, Brooke, Van, Beks, Martin, me, and Amy!

Also, last weekend, Brooke, Amy, and I paid a visit to Seoul because Brooke and Amy wanted to go to a K-pop shop and I wanted to leave my apartment and take a look around the place too. We were going to go to a Tim Burton exhibit, but didn't make it in time that weekend, so it's in the plans for this weekend. While we were wandering about Seoul, it began to get dark, so here's a picture of the square near one of the palaces in Seoul that we passed. In the background, lit up, you can see Seoul Tower, but that will be a trip for when the weather is warmer!

Anyway, that's it for the week for now. Wishing you all the very best and a happy New Year!