So I Went to Seoul.... and Took SO MANY Pictures and Videos

Back in April, I took a 4-day trip to Seoul and forgot to post the pics I took. I had an excellent time! Got to catch up with friends and former students and do one of the things on my Korea bucket list that I never completed the last time around: Namsan Tower! And as a bonus, I now have a Korean name!

Day 1 (half-day really): The friend I was to meet up with right after getting off the train fell ill so we weren't able to see each other. I needed to kill some time before I could check-in at the hostel I was staying at (Moon Hostel if you must know), so I put a quick call out on my favourite Facebook group, BSSK (Brothas&Sistas of South Korea). Lo and behold, the lovely Summer and dapper Macho were willing and able to have lunch with me! So we did, in Itaewon, and it was delicious! So good, I went straight to the hostel and took a nap after haha. Later that day I met up with my friend Dom, and we hung out around Hongdae, where I was staying, and had some din-din. And that was pretty much it.

The Busan KTX station has an ondol floor for resting on! Genius!

Do it.

Banh Mi fries or something, I can't remember the name but this app was yummy!

Summer and Macho to the rescue!

Dom and I

Hongdae at night

Hongdae at night

Hongdae at night

Hongdae at night. This guy's playing reminded me of my dad. See video below.

Day 2: I met up with two former-students-turned-friends (FSTF) Ji Hye and Woo Kyoung. We had a great time! We ate a delicious meal at this restaurant it took forever to find(we went the long way haha). Then they showed me some places in Hongdae I'd never seen, like a glasses store that sells $285 sunglasses!! Then we went to Insadong and finally we made the journey up to Namsan Tower! It was beautiful! This was also the day I was officially named 민별 (Min Byeol). Min is the family name and Byeol, which means Star, is my name! 만나서 반갑습니다 ! Nice to meet you!

 

 

How awesome is that?!

That's a syringe filled with chocolate! ^_^

Bringing life and light to Insadong.

My Korean name is in writing and locked in place!

Day 3: Caught up with my old friend CJ in Ansan (old stomping grounds to us both, him more than me). We had Thai food (SO GOOD) and checked out a street arts festival happening around there. There was even some interactive art we got to participate in! There was also this clown lady but she was not good (too much prep in front of the audience. I'm impatient). After that I got to see another FSTF, Dongwon (who I like to call Don Juan hehehehe). It was good to catch up with him and the 3 of us had dinner (I did most of the eating though).

Day 4: Saw my friends Matt and Mike! Not at the same time. Had a delicious Flying Pan brunch with Matt and a quick but pleasant snack/coffee/drink with Mike at the train station just before coming back to Busan.

A fun bench in Hongdae

So good! Wish there had been more of it.

Some cinnamon maple cappuccino thing. Yummy!

Matt 'n' Me!

These women (below) are geniuses! This way is the only way to clean escalators really.

Mike 'n' Me!

A VERY successful trip! Thanks for making time for me friends!!

Angel, xo

Random Chat Up

Have any of you ever been just walking, minding your own business, when someone comes up to you and just... starts talking? You don't know them, they don't know you, and you don't even know how the conversation started, because you had your earphones in and didn't even realise they were talking to you until you noticed they were keeping step with you and glancing at you every now and then?

No?

Just me?

Ok, well that was my walk home from the train station. Definitely made me laugh (and I love to laugh), but I was so confused and a little annoyed at the same time. As above I was walking with my music on. I noticed a guy crossing the street to my side. He was walking his dog. I think he was smiling, but I thought he was friends with the 2 guys walking behind me, so I kept on walking. Then I noticed he was trying to match my stride and looking at me and I realised he'd been talking this whole time and I wasn't listening. So I took out one earbud. Why did I take out one earbud? I don't know, but I did. The walk home from the train station is 15-20 minutes, longer if I'm strolling. I definitely wasn't strolling.

For the majority of my walk home, "Bobby" (probably not his real name as he was Korean) talked and I half-listened. And boy can he talk. I suspect he was using me for English practice, but really he could have done that all by himself in front of his mirror because my comments were a rotation of:

Mmmhmmm
Yeah
Ah
Oh
Why not? / Sounds good. / Do it. - Whenever he asked "What do you think?"

It was very weird but he looked so normal (except for the spit gathering on the sides of his mouth - you know, when you don't stop talking to take a breath or a swallow). Am I being mean? I don't know. I also don't care. This guy ruined my peaceful walk home, but it was comical enough for me to be able to laugh about it after (and kind of during, but he didn't seem to notice).

I actually started to wonder where the cameras were....

OH! And in case you were wondering what he talked about, I'll share some of what I remember:

African American women are beautiful.
American movies like Bad Boys are great but so violent.
Actors like Samuel Jackson and Terry Crews are hilarious.
African Americans are very fast runners and great dancers.
He has a dream of building some kind of battle robot.....
Some commentary on puppies....
Some remarks about food, though I can't remember what.

Dareum Mountain 달음산

The last time I went hiking was just last November.  It took a total of 10 hours and I felt it for weeks. So of course I was apprehensive when I learned that I was expected to participate in the school hike that is done in honour of the 3rd year students who will be doing their university entrance exams in November. Then I learned that it's really steep. THEN I learned that near the top, it's also rocky (like climbing with hands rocky). So I got nervous. At the same time, though, I was pretty excited. I'd never gone hiking in Korea before so I was glad to have the opportunity. Not to mention I was getting paid to do it and there were no classes as a result of the hike. And now.... I've done it! It's 3 pm and I'm already home! So that's nice.

This was a much better and much more encouraging experience than in November for a number of reasons (length of time, distance, how my body felt doing it, weather), so I'm happy I got to the top. I wasn't sure I would, to be honest. But here are some of the thoughts I had on the way up:

You can do it.

Get it girl. 

The time will pass anyway, might as well keep going.

If you need to quit you can, so just go until you can't go any more.

Okay let's rest for a bit.

Stretch it out. 

Shall I stop or keep going? Let's keep going.

Where the hell am I?

Spirit, guide me. No, seriously. I don't know if this is the right path. (Metaphor for life, anyone?)

And now, some photos! 

My week so far

The past few days have been quite eventful! Between my ARC, my phone, my bed and sofa, and a lovely surprise last night, my head is spinning!

I ordered a bed (well, mattress) and sofa online and they both arrived days/weeks earlier than estimated! Bonus! They both look great and they're comfortable enough. They're both a bit firmer than I had expected, and I have learned why people test these things out rather than just buying online. I say that but I'm pretty happy with the way things have worked out. Pictures!

So that experience has been great. My ARC (Alien Registration Card) came a week earlier than I'd been told, so I went to get my new phone straight from work. The phone situation has ended well (I mean, I have a phone!), but I got a bit of a shocker when I got to Olleh to sign up. Apparently in 2011, I had left behind a whopping ₩184,400 unpaid charge and had to pay that before I could sign up with any phone company. I don't remember whether or not I knew in 2011 that this would happen but last night I was certain there was a huge mistake. But systems don't lie, I guess. So obviously I failed to pay that charge 4 years ago and had to pay now. So I did and now I'm equipped with a great phone and data to get me through until I set up Internet in my apartment.

Something really cool happened after the phone fiasco, though! I went to the french bakery across the street called "Pain d'Amour" for some good old fashioned stress eating lol. When I got there I asked the worker for suggestions. As he was suggesting things, I noticed his French accent was really good. Then another man (the owner I think), started making sone more suggestions,  also with a good accent when naming the foods. At one point he said micro-onde instead of microwave,  so when I had made my decision I said,  "Merci!" WELL, he started talking in rapid fire French and then said that the worker also spoke French. The 3 of us had a conversation in French!!! It was amazing! The owner lived in France and the worker lived in the Côte d'Ivoire! They both spoke much better than I could. They were talking so fast I just barely understood everything, but I was proud that I understood all but one sentence! Right across the street from me, I was NOT expecting to find something as awesome as that. It was definitely a good end to the day.

To add to the bonuses, I found out that one of my classes has been canceled for today so I don't have to go into work until 4:00pm! I have a 2.5 hour work day today hahaha.

Life, it would seem, is good.

Angel xo