10 Tier Pagoda at the Korean National Museum
Statue outside of the Korean War Memorial
Palace Entrance
World Cup Frenzy - Game nightKorea Vs. Uruguay
Korea 1
Uruguay 2
Proudly showing my supportDaehaminggu!
It's been a busy month...excuses, excuses....here it is.
There's been a whole lot of nothing going on- or so it seems.
Work, work, work- monotonous, but fun!
This past weekend I ventured on the Seoul City Tour bus! It was great!! What a perfect thing for tourists or people who are new to the city. It's 10,000W ($10) and you ride a coach bus that tours around the city, making stops at popular places. Unfortunately we (my friend Erin and I) didn't really anticipate that it could possibly last more than 6 hours...we were mistaken and ran out of time. The places we stopped were the Deoksugung Palace, Namdaemun Market, National Museum of Korea, War Memorial of Korea and Sofitel Ambassador Hotel. Now to explain a little bit about these places...
The Deoksugung Palace was built in the Choseon dynasty and it symbolizes the modern history of Korea- it hosted beautiful grounds with lush greenery, a very nice place. The guards were also pretty cute. Unfortunately we failed to preplan this and missed the note/hours for the changing of the guards, we didn't see it.
Next was the Namdaemun Markets- no more bug eating for me. This time I opted for a lovely street sandwich, complete with dirty hands making it (probably not having been washed in hours...touching money, dirty dirty finger nails)...what doesn't kill you makes you stronger- and side note: the sandwich was delicious. Fried egg with ketchup on pan fried bread...YUM! The markets here are overwhelmingly amazing. We walked around briefly- it started to spit and we wanted to hop back on the bus vowing to return another day...honestly everywhere you look there are places to go, shop, eat, etc. It's a good place to go!
Onto the National Museum of Korea- we lucked out and planned this lovely day adventure on what marked the 60th Anniversary of the War and both the museum and Memorial were free- not that admission into any of these places is expensive, only a couple thousand won ($1-4). The museum was...a museum. It was really beautiful inside- lots to see. There was a theatre outside under the roof of the two connecting buildings of the museum.
After the museum we hit up the Korean War Memorial- also a beautiful place. Korea has so much history, so interesting! I would go back to these places again- there's just too much to see in such little time.
Our last stop was more of an experimental thing- you see, the bus has these little headsets you listen to each stop to see what's offered there. Well stop 14-Sofitel Ambassador Hotel, was "steps away from dog alley where they sell many kinds of dogs, so many different shops, pet store after pet store line the street.....and at the end of the street is motorcycle alley"....that got me. I was game- unfortunately when we got out to check out this oddity, we were unable to find it. We even scooted into the local convience store to ask them- they spoke little English BUT I did bark so they would understand...to no avail. Well we had driven past what looked like it on the way to the actual bus stop, and the "motorcycles" were more like mopeds and scooters...ugh lame. So we took this time to just relax, until the next bus pulled up (the buses come to each stop every 1/2 hour so if you want to get off you can, take your time exploring whatever stop and then just wait for the bus again!!)
After that we rode the bus a bit longer then hopped off and went to the subway to get back to my place so we could get ready for the big World Cup game...unfortunately this would be the last game for the beloved Korean team- my future husband (the handsome Korean goalie), will now be returning back to his country. It was a sad time for the Koreans- they take their soccer seriously. Take for example, the game they played last week was aired at 3am here in Korea- and there were huge parties going on...ON A WEDNESDAY NIGHT! Some of my kids I teach even watched it...crazy. They go all out- it's really fun to partake in!!
Sooo...I did something I shouldn't have done- I cracked and got a Korean perm...omg. Did I just say perm in the year 2010....wasn't that a thing of the 80's? Ugh...yes. Well let me tell you, it's really not odd here at all. Many of the Koreans I know/work with either have had one or have one. I envisioned beautiful waves- NOT like the crazy spiral perms we're used to....I was mistaken. My hair- which I was thinking would look more like Kate Hudson-ish hot mess actually turned out brutal. Since getting this "perm" of mine, I have blow dried it straight and been curling it myself...let's just hope that eating kimchi and seaweed will help pump my hair into super growth mode and I'll be able to chop it out before I get back to Canada---here's hoping!!
A couple weeks ago my Korean friend Inae invited me over for dinner- she made the most amazing meal! It was a traditional Korean meal complete with all the sides- I'm going to try and convince her to teach me! It was a real treat- so delicious and such a nice gesture. To return the favour and to also have a little girls dinner, I invited her over, along with a few other ladies, to enjoy a meal on me. I made penne with homemade meat sauce, big salad, my version of egg plant parmesean and warmed cheese croissants...dessert- whipped up some peanut butter chocolate squares...it was nice! I love having people over to eat. Cooking/baking is a slight passion of mine and being in Korea with 1. no oven, 2. no one to cook for leaves me a little sad. So it's nice to be able to cook and have company- I've looked into taking a Korean cooking class- I was thinking though that since the summer will be busy, I'll maybe start it in the fall. It's every Saturday so that will give me something to look forward to AND it will be nice to take what I learn back to Canada too!!
This coming week will mark a first for me in my Korean experience- the leaving of a co-worker. Obviously we're all coming and going- most only staying in one job for a year. But still. The time has come for us to bid our farewells to one and welcome another. Each month now it will be as if people are coming and going. Most of my co-workers started around the same time. I wish them all luck with their future endeavours!!
Last week we took the children on a field trip- The University of Aerospace Museum- something of the sorts. It was meh- alright. Mostly in Korean- they had a cheesy video made in (I believe) '96 that was in English but dubbed over in Korean. The best part of the video was snuggling up with one of my little munchkins. I adore my kids- even the thought of me leaving them breaks my heart- One of my little guys was sick for a couple days and when he got back to school he couldn't stop hugging me- precious. These babes are my life here- is it odd/pathetic/lame that come Sunday night I'm ready to get back to Monday so I can see them all again...?!
So the following things are quickly approaching come July-
USHER Concert- should be interestingggg....
Boryeong MUD FESTIVAL (they truck in mud to the beach and it's a crazy party, listed as part of the "30 Things to do Before You're 30...ewww I'm approaching 30?!)
BALIIIIII!!!! I can not believe that my flight is BOOKED for Bali- a week in tropical paradise?! I'll take it- I can't wait! Not to mention I'll be meeting some girls there from the Huron County area- it will be a blast!!
So that's what I have to look foward too! I'm sure there will be a lot to talk about in the coming month....
