Highlight Reel

Well I suppose since I haven't written anything since January, which means I have about 4 and a half months to write about.. but i'm not going to do that.. because it would probably be boring.   So I'll just give some highlights that way this blog doesn't fall apart.  And when I say highlights I mean... anything I can remember...


March was a fun month with St. Patricks Day and everything.  My birthday was at the end of the month and that was pretty much a week long celebration.  Definitely the best birthday I've ever had.   The 30th was on a Wednesday so I had a long day at work... after work, the guys took me to Coco City Chicken (our favorite neighborhood Hof) for chicken and beer.  From there, Eva (my co-teacher) and her friend Song picked me up and took me clubbing!  We went to a booking club in Yoensinnae.. the hip part of Eunpyeong (my "gu").  It was a lot of fun and also an interesting experience.   For one, it was a wed. night, so most of the people at the club were between the ages of 40 and 60.  The idea of a booking club is you go with your same-sex friends to meet members of the opposite sex.  The girls get a table with a couple of beers and a fruit platter or whatever food you want.  Boys get even better food and lots of booze.  Then, the waiters take the girls away one by one away from their friends and bring them to the boys' tables.   The way they pair people is based on attractiveness.  It's a good way to find out if you're ugly or not, that's for sure.  I suppose it's an alright way to meet people, but considering my Korean conversation skills are limited to about 3 phrases (Did you eat? What is your name? and What beer/food/sports do you like?), meeting people got old after a couple of rounds.  Also, being a jersey girl, it makes me weary to drink alcohol of the tables of strange men.  It was definitely a cool experience and I had SO much fun with Eva and Song.  We danced the night way and even saw a boy-band perform at the club.  Overall, a good night!

Eva, Song and I having some drinks before our night out

That weekend, all of my friends came to town and we had a blast.  Friday night was filled with BBQ and norabang (kharaoke).  Saturday was amazing!  Johanna and Matt and I spent all morning eating candy and watching the hangover (to accompany ours).  They finally got me out of bed on the pretense that we were going "hiking" in Gangnam... (which, by the way, is the downtown area of the city.  Why did I believe that?)  We got to the "hiking area" and after all of my other friends had told me that had to bail on dinner, they were all there to surprise me !!  We had a picnic filled with wine, brie, cake and snacks.  Actually, we wound up having to put the wine away because the park was on an ancient burial site... but anyway, I've never been so happy.  I have the best friends ever!

Party hats and everything

After the amazing picnic, we headed to Big Rock Brewery in Gangnam for dinner and some good beer.  A whole bunch of people came from all over and I had an amazing time.  From there we went to some other bars and then headed to "Noise Basement," which is one of the biggest hip hop clubs in Seoul.  I'm glad I went for the experience but boy, I will never go back if I can help it.  There were thousands of people crammed in like sardines... I've never seen anything like it!   Overall, it was the best birthday ever.. We ended the night at Pomato, eating dongkass and laughing about everything that happened.

i still don't get it.

April was a good month.  I attended a beer olympics tournament, where my team, Colombia, put out a less than stellar performance.

 I can't really remember the order of events for the rest of the past couple of months.  I went hiking a few times..  here's some pictures from hiking in Dong Song

At hawk rock in Dong Song

The girls sitting outside a war bunker

An ominous view of Dong Song from above

We also hit up Samaksan in Chuncheon..

Matt at the summit

The gorges at the start of the hike

My friends and I also checked out a "Trick Art" museum here in Seoul.  It sounded much cooler on the website than it actually was.

Johanna has my head on a spoon! Oh No!

I'm getting eaten by a monster!

Another weekend we spent on the East Coast.  MJ lives in Gangneung, a pretty city on the beach... a bunch of people from Matt's orientation got together and rented some minboks at Hajodae beach, about 40 minutes north of Gangneung. What a great weekend!  I love the beaches here.  All one of them that I've been to.

A not-so-good shot of the beach.  This pic def does not do it justice.

Sparklers at night

Fireworks!

Beach volleyball

One lazy sunday night in Chuncheon, Matt, Carla, Andy and I had a BBQ next to a creek by her house.  It was such a good night.  The girls cut up peppers, zucchini, onions and things while the boys grilled sam gyp sal, galbi and duck! mmm

Also, it was Children's Day/Buddha's birthday in the beginning of May.  I got a couple of days off.  Buddha's birthday was on a Tuesday so we made sure to pay homage at a temple in Gangnam.  It was beautiful!

traditional dancers

Also, at some other point in time (I have no concept of when), Matt and I went to Goseokjung, which is supposed to be the birth place of the Korean Robin Hood.  It's in Cheorwon, not too far from where he lives.  It's really a beautiful spot!

Hantan River

Here I am! In front of a waterfall.

Here's that Robin Hood character I was talking about

There's also a small amusement park at Goseokjung.  Matt and I tried out the viking and we, along with all the middle school students on the ride, got off not feeling too well

Down by the Hantan River

Also, for the past couple of months, my friends up in Cheorwon have been putting together a salsa performance.  They've been working SO hard on it.  Last weekend I went up there to watch their show. It was a variety show at the Wasu-ri cultural center.  They were one of many performances.  There were child ballerinas, traditional Korean dancers, and my favorite was something that is hard to describe.  It was a group of grandmothers that were playing large Korean drums while also performing a dance routine.  They dressed in sequin outfits and actually stripped off portions of their clothing at certain points.  Seriously one of the best things I've ever seen.

Also, Matt got a scooter!! Woo hoo!  We spent sunday evening exploring the outskirts of Dong Song.  So beautiful out there!  It really makes you feel like you are in East Asia, riding on a motorbike through valleys and rice padis.  I'm really happy for him.  Especially because he lives in a rural area, it'll be fun to have transportation besides the bus, which often stops early evening and doesn't run constantly.  There is so much cool stuff to see up in Cheorwon that's only possible with a personal vehicle.  I'm excited to check out the DMZ on an upcoming visit!

And that's all she wrote!  Of course, plenty more stuff happened but I have to keep some mystery from my readers.  I'll try to update more frequently so there aren't any more sporadic blogs like this.

Oh and just in case anyone was wondering,  I DO still have a job.   I know it might not seem that way, but I do still go to work monday through friday.  Kids are doing well!  Got a new classroom with windows that I'm pretty psyched about.  I've got a nice view of Bukhan mountain right out the window!  I feel very lucky! :)