Saturday was the annual Cherry Blossom Marathon in Gyeongju. My 2 foreign co-workers and I signed up to do the 5k. It was only 20,000 won and we got a nice sports jersey to wear during the marathon. Although, I was kinda hoping for a cheesy t-shirt that said Gyeongju Cherry Blossom Marathon on it like you get at these types of events in the States. The weather was beautiful-clear and warm-but the Cherry Blossoms hadn't come out yet. We walked part of the 5k then ran the rest. It was a great run, I think I might start training and do part of the Columbus Marathon when I get home in October. I've always wanted to do a marathon. I could by no means do it now, but with training I'm sure I could at least do a half marathon.
After the marathon I met with my friend 문영. We got some lunch then went to Tumuli park and walked around. The tombs here are covered with a large mound of dirt and rocks then covered in grass. The park is beautiful. 문영walked up to the top of one of the burial mounds and was yelled at by a little kid to get down haha, let it be known this kid was doing the same thing not 5 minutes earlier haha. After the park we went across the street to the observatory. We got to see some Cherry Blossom trees that had bloomed, kids flying kites, and a rake that had somehow gotten up into one of the trees. We grabbed some coffee and I went home to sleep (had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep the night before, just couldn't sleep..)
I gladly woke up to a message from True about having a little party out at his cabin again. I love hanging out at his cabin. I met up with some friends and we all drove out to the cabin. We cooked some food, then drank, a lot. haha. It was fun, playing drinking games, talking with the girls ^_^, dance party, pics. It was a great night. We eventually all fell asleep, but I didn't sleep much at first. Sat outside to clear my head and enjoy the refreshing night air. True's cabin is such a peaceful place. I woke up a few times in the morning, it was warm enough to just sit outside and read for a bit. Once everyone woke up we hung out outside for a bit, listening to some music and then Rach and Jess left. This leaves True, Matt, and myself. We just relaxed around the cabin, which I was more than happy to do. Decided against doing anything too active due to 소주 hangovers (which I somehow managed to avoid). We cleaned up and left, deciding to go to the sea, then changed our minds and decided to go to Bomun, then Matt changed his mind and decided to go home. But right after we drop him off he calls me--he left his keys at the cabin! So off we went back to the cabin to search for the keys, found them. We ended up spending about 2 hours in the car! ugh. Unfortunately by time we finally did drop Matt off neither True nor I were really up for doing much so he dropped me off.
Overall a great weekend-a new goal to train for, quality time spent with some great friends, some good memories made. Hopefully, things will soon be a bit more interesting...
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Gyeongju Spring
Wow. I've been living here for just over 7 months and haven't really said much about the place.
Gyeongju is such a beautiful city, but it's been too cold to really get out and appreciate it. It's been warming up lately though, the Cherry Blossoms are finally out! This weekend was great, on Sunday my friend True Park invited me and about 10 of our friends out to his Dad's cabin in the countryside near Mt. Namsan. The taxi driver dropped us off at the bottom of a slight hill. We had no idea where we were or where we were going and all True had to say when I called him was "just keep walking". haha. It had the potential to be the start of a scary story (much like that time we were on Korean TV...)The Cabin is an awesome place. The experience got off to a bad start, completely my fault. I've been studying Korean for a few months and when I met True's Dad (who speaks no English) I totally chickened out and didn't say anything beyond 안년하세요, even though I knew how to say much more than that. I'm still pretty upset with myself for missing that opportunity, which would have also impressed and made his Dad feel a bit more comfortable. Nothing left to do now but to learn from it and step it up next time...right?! Anyway, the rest of the night was great (sort of ;)) We had some delicious 삼겹살 for dinner outside the cabin, followed by tons of drinking and cream of mushroom soup (made by a Chinese Woman ;)) inside the cabin. I didn't have to work the next day, so drank quite a bit of 소주, was hoping to just crash at the cabin and get back in the morning, but that hint went without notice.
I also finally went out to Anapji pond with Kayley and her friend Andrew who was visiting from the U.K. It is a beautiful place, it's perfectly lit up at night. I'm not much of a photographer (but have been more interested in photography lately so maybe someday I will be able to take wonderfully artistic photos!) so I didn't take any pictures, but it is a great place to just take a stroll with friends. Andrew's last night here was on Monday. We had one last get together, had dinner at a 김밥천국 then went out for Makgeolli (traditional korean rice wine). The Makgeolli place we went to was a bit more run down than the other places I had been, but it was a great place. They gave us some 삼겹살 and kimchi as a service (free) and we sat around a table and played Korean drinking games ( 3,6,9, the chopstick pointing game, baskin robins 31, the finger game, the counting game) It was a great time. It really was a shame that Andrew had to leave so soon.
I'm excited for spring to be here! I want to get back out and enjoy this beautiful country. Starting this weekend with the Cherry Blossom Marathon! I will definitely try to blog more often, if nothing else than for me to look back on in a few years.
WOW! I just realized I never blogged about the time I was on Korean TV!!
Ok, so one day I got a call from Nina. She use to take Korean Lessons at the community center and a representative called there asking for foreigner's names. They called her and invited her and 3 friends to taste traditional Korean food for a TV show. Nina, Cara, James, Felisa, and myself met this guy at the bus station and drove out into the countryside. Out in the middle of nowhere was this traditional Korean house(? when we asked what it was he told us it was an "experience" haha-so we were out in the middle of nowhere with some random Korean man at an "experience") where there was a table set for us. They brought out two dishes, one was Codfish skin wrapped around some sort of meat. It was not enjoyable. The other was Codfish skin wrapped around veggies, it was pretty good. They taped us saying how we couldn't believe it was fish skin and how good it was haha. After the taping they brought us some chicken soup and then drove us back to the bus station. It aired later that week and was a very short clip, but it was a good "experience" haha.
Gyeongju is such a beautiful city, but it's been too cold to really get out and appreciate it. It's been warming up lately though, the Cherry Blossoms are finally out! This weekend was great, on Sunday my friend True Park invited me and about 10 of our friends out to his Dad's cabin in the countryside near Mt. Namsan. The taxi driver dropped us off at the bottom of a slight hill. We had no idea where we were or where we were going and all True had to say when I called him was "just keep walking". haha. It had the potential to be the start of a scary story (much like that time we were on Korean TV...)The Cabin is an awesome place. The experience got off to a bad start, completely my fault. I've been studying Korean for a few months and when I met True's Dad (who speaks no English) I totally chickened out and didn't say anything beyond 안년하세요, even though I knew how to say much more than that. I'm still pretty upset with myself for missing that opportunity, which would have also impressed and made his Dad feel a bit more comfortable. Nothing left to do now but to learn from it and step it up next time...right?! Anyway, the rest of the night was great (sort of ;)) We had some delicious 삼겹살 for dinner outside the cabin, followed by tons of drinking and cream of mushroom soup (made by a Chinese Woman ;)) inside the cabin. I didn't have to work the next day, so drank quite a bit of 소주, was hoping to just crash at the cabin and get back in the morning, but that hint went without notice.
I also finally went out to Anapji pond with Kayley and her friend Andrew who was visiting from the U.K. It is a beautiful place, it's perfectly lit up at night. I'm not much of a photographer (but have been more interested in photography lately so maybe someday I will be able to take wonderfully artistic photos!) so I didn't take any pictures, but it is a great place to just take a stroll with friends. Andrew's last night here was on Monday. We had one last get together, had dinner at a 김밥천국 then went out for Makgeolli (traditional korean rice wine). The Makgeolli place we went to was a bit more run down than the other places I had been, but it was a great place. They gave us some 삼겹살 and kimchi as a service (free) and we sat around a table and played Korean drinking games ( 3,6,9, the chopstick pointing game, baskin robins 31, the finger game, the counting game) It was a great time. It really was a shame that Andrew had to leave so soon.
I'm excited for spring to be here! I want to get back out and enjoy this beautiful country. Starting this weekend with the Cherry Blossom Marathon! I will definitely try to blog more often, if nothing else than for me to look back on in a few years.
WOW! I just realized I never blogged about the time I was on Korean TV!!
Ok, so one day I got a call from Nina. She use to take Korean Lessons at the community center and a representative called there asking for foreigner's names. They called her and invited her and 3 friends to taste traditional Korean food for a TV show. Nina, Cara, James, Felisa, and myself met this guy at the bus station and drove out into the countryside. Out in the middle of nowhere was this traditional Korean house(? when we asked what it was he told us it was an "experience" haha-so we were out in the middle of nowhere with some random Korean man at an "experience") where there was a table set for us. They brought out two dishes, one was Codfish skin wrapped around some sort of meat. It was not enjoyable. The other was Codfish skin wrapped around veggies, it was pretty good. They taped us saying how we couldn't believe it was fish skin and how good it was haha. After the taping they brought us some chicken soup and then drove us back to the bus station. It aired later that week and was a very short clip, but it was a good "experience" haha.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Indonesia
As our plane landed on the beautiful island of Bali, we saw the most amazing sunset in the horizon. We took a taxi to the beautiful Vilarisi hotel. We had a nice, clean room with a balcony that looked out over the pool area. We were about a 10minute walk from Legian and Kuta beach. Our first day on Kuta beach was gross-there was trash and dead fish in the water so throughout the week we didn't go swimming. Kuta is definitely a surfer-not swimmers- beach. We ended up spending time laying out on the beach and going back to the hotel to swim in the pool.
Our second day on Kuta we rented a car and tour guide for $50 to take us to Ubud, a group of villages in the center of Bali. In Ubud we went to the sacred monkey forest, simply a forest area where the monkeys roam free around the tourists. Outside you can buy bananas for 15,000 Rupiah-definitely recommend buying them hahaha. I walked into the forest with a bunch of bananas and was immediately harassed by monkeys. They crawled up my clothes, onto my shoulders, hanging off my arms, even had one on my head for a bit. It was a great, fun memory haha.
After the monkey forest we went to the Ubud palace and the traditional markets. I don't really know any details of the Ubud Palace, but it was a small area with traditional Indonesian structures.
After Ubud we drove the rice padis and took some pictures. It was a neat site-rice padis up and down the hills with palm trees everywhere and the light reflecting off the water in the fields. It was really pretty.
Our last stop of the night was Tanah Lot temple, the Temple of the Sea. The temple buildings were spread out over the cliffs and rock formations in the sea. Before high tide you could go down to the shore and see both the "Holy Snake" and the "Holy Fountain" which were in small caves. Once the tide started coming in everyone climbed back up to the mainland to watch the sunset. We found a seat at a cafe on the edge of the island, you could see the shore below the cliff we were sitting on, the temple on the rock out in the sea and the sun setting behind it. It is a must see for any visitors to Bali!
The rest of our days on the island were spent sitting out on the beach, shopping (wonderful markets!!!), and eating western food! On Kuta I recommend The Balcony, Flapjacks (amazing smoothies!), and Chi-Chi's. ^_^ I love that I had to go to Indonesia to get real, good western food...
New Years was spent on the beach. Thousands of people bought fireworks and were setting them off on the beach. There was no real countdown so everyone kinda did their own at any point within 5 minutes of midnight.
Security was tight that day, when we went to dinner at a western sports bar we had our bags checked by security guarding the door. We later found out that there had been a terrorist threat against westerners.Obviously, the threat was not acted on.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/b
photos for Malaysia and Indonesia here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/aeihrig
Our second day on Kuta we rented a car and tour guide for $50 to take us to Ubud, a group of villages in the center of Bali. In Ubud we went to the sacred monkey forest, simply a forest area where the monkeys roam free around the tourists. Outside you can buy bananas for 15,000 Rupiah-definitely recommend buying them hahaha. I walked into the forest with a bunch of bananas and was immediately harassed by monkeys. They crawled up my clothes, onto my shoulders, hanging off my arms, even had one on my head for a bit. It was a great, fun memory haha.
After the monkey forest we went to the Ubud palace and the traditional markets. I don't really know any details of the Ubud Palace, but it was a small area with traditional Indonesian structures.
After Ubud we drove the rice padis and took some pictures. It was a neat site-rice padis up and down the hills with palm trees everywhere and the light reflecting off the water in the fields. It was really pretty.
Our last stop of the night was Tanah Lot temple, the Temple of the Sea. The temple buildings were spread out over the cliffs and rock formations in the sea. Before high tide you could go down to the shore and see both the "Holy Snake" and the "Holy Fountain" which were in small caves. Once the tide started coming in everyone climbed back up to the mainland to watch the sunset. We found a seat at a cafe on the edge of the island, you could see the shore below the cliff we were sitting on, the temple on the rock out in the sea and the sun setting behind it. It is a must see for any visitors to Bali!
The rest of our days on the island were spent sitting out on the beach, shopping (wonderful markets!!!), and eating western food! On Kuta I recommend The Balcony, Flapjacks (amazing smoothies!), and Chi-Chi's. ^_^ I love that I had to go to Indonesia to get real, good western food...
New Years was spent on the beach. Thousands of people bought fireworks and were setting them off on the beach. There was no real countdown so everyone kinda did their own at any point within 5 minutes of midnight.
Security was tight that day, when we went to dinner at a western sports bar we had our bags checked by security guarding the door. We later found out that there had been a terrorist threat against westerners.Obviously, the threat was not acted on.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/b
photos for Malaysia and Indonesia here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/aeihrig
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Malaysia
Merry Christmas to me!!
Christmas morning I woke up bright and early to catch a bus to Incheon Airport with Liz and Ryan. The flight was awesome. They had the Columbus Blue Jacket's (hockey) game on, so I got to watch my team loose by one point in a shoot out. They also served tons of food, they had the normal airline dinner, followed by ice cream, tea and coffee, pizza as a snack later, peanuts and drinks-this was only a 7 hour flight! Finally arrived in Kuala Lumpur Airport around 11 that night. In the airport they have a desk where you can get a budget taxi to wherever you are going, so we paid 75 Ringgit for a taxi to the hostel. So we're driving along enjoying the new scenery and about an hour later the driver drops us off on a main street and tells us the hostel is just to left of us down the alley. "Just go straight, you'll see it". Ok, fine so we just walk a minute and it's just around the corner, right? NO! The damn driver dropped us off and sent us into the middle of China town a few blocks away from the hostel. It's after midnight, nothing is open, we're in the middle of a foreign city with no idea where we are. I would also like to add that the streets were disgusting-trash everywhere, it smelled, rats running all over the place, and the stray cats were abnormally large and muscular. So we walk down the main alley of Chinatown, get to another road that runs perpendicular and just decide to turn right and start wandering. Luckily we just kinda stumbled upon the street we needed, good thing they use the Roman alphabet or we wouldn't have had a chance of finding it. We turned down the road and had to walk about 5 blocks before finally finding it-mind you this is after we had turned around, ended up back on the main road we started out on and turned around again. So, around 1, maybe 2 we found the hostel "Back Home". It was a decent place- air conditioned rooms, nice bathrooms, clean, coffee tea and toast for breakfast.
Saturday morning we went to the Batu Caves. It was easy to get to, got on a bus about 2 blocks away from the hostel and it took us right there. When you get there you see the main gate which is decorated with Hindu gods. You walk through the gate and the parking lot and you just see the 272 steps that lead up to the caves and the 50foot statue of Hanuman. As you are climbing up the stairs there are monkeys all around searching for food. We saw a woman's food get stolen just after she bought it from a stand haha.
Once you finally get up the stairs you go into the cave, the first part is just a big cave opening, you walk through and on the other side you reach a smaller cave, which has a small Hindu temple inside. It was really pretty and I loved being able to watch the puja(worship ceremony) that was taking place. And still, you had monkeys walking around trying to get food from the tourists. On the way out I bought a nice little Ganesha wall hanging ^_^ haha, Liz and I also got stopped by two guys who wanted their picture taken with us.
There is another temple outside of the caves and another large statue, neither of which are as interesting or impressive as the first ones.
We went out and took the bus back into the city, wandered into a Malaysian "Restaraun" and got chicken for lunch. You would think we'd be safe ordering chicken right? wrong again. It was served with rice and gravy which was really good, but the chicken itself looked like parts of the chicken I didn't want to (nor did I actually) eat. Maybe it was a large blood vessel, maybe around the spine or neck? Still I'm not sure, it looked gross and the blood was congealed inside the meat.
Then we made our way to the Kuala Lumpur Tower. It's a neat tower, but a bit expensive to get inside. It cost 40 Ringgits, but included the observation deck and an animal exhibit. It's 421 meters tall, and the fifth tallest freestanding tower in the world. We had a great view of the city and of the nearby Patronas towers. The animal exhibit wasn't great, it was mostly full of snakes and spiders, had a few raccoons and some birds. It started to storm so we made our way down the hill through the "jungle in the city" which was pretty neat, and ran back to the hostel which was only about 15 minutes away.
We left the hostel a few hours later for dinner. 15 subway stops and 2 hours later we finally go to city center. haha. We first took the wrong subway line (both directions!) before we figured out that there were 2 subway stations on the same corner, but one is located behind the other and it's easy to miss. We came out under the Patronas Twin Towers, they are the world's tallest twin towers and were the tallest towers until 2004 before Taipai 101 took the title. The towers are really pretty, with alternating layers of colors of black, white, and green and a design that alternates between semicircles and corners. Entrance is free, but we got there too late to be able to go up. It's really neat looking from the outside though, especially at night. We also found a Chilis!!! Best meal I've had in months!! Left full and happy for a good night sleep before our flight the next morning.
Christmas morning I woke up bright and early to catch a bus to Incheon Airport with Liz and Ryan. The flight was awesome. They had the Columbus Blue Jacket's (hockey) game on, so I got to watch my team loose by one point in a shoot out. They also served tons of food, they had the normal airline dinner, followed by ice cream, tea and coffee, pizza as a snack later, peanuts and drinks-this was only a 7 hour flight! Finally arrived in Kuala Lumpur Airport around 11 that night. In the airport they have a desk where you can get a budget taxi to wherever you are going, so we paid 75 Ringgit for a taxi to the hostel. So we're driving along enjoying the new scenery and about an hour later the driver drops us off on a main street and tells us the hostel is just to left of us down the alley. "Just go straight, you'll see it". Ok, fine so we just walk a minute and it's just around the corner, right? NO! The damn driver dropped us off and sent us into the middle of China town a few blocks away from the hostel. It's after midnight, nothing is open, we're in the middle of a foreign city with no idea where we are. I would also like to add that the streets were disgusting-trash everywhere, it smelled, rats running all over the place, and the stray cats were abnormally large and muscular. So we walk down the main alley of Chinatown, get to another road that runs perpendicular and just decide to turn right and start wandering. Luckily we just kinda stumbled upon the street we needed, good thing they use the Roman alphabet or we wouldn't have had a chance of finding it. We turned down the road and had to walk about 5 blocks before finally finding it-mind you this is after we had turned around, ended up back on the main road we started out on and turned around again. So, around 1, maybe 2 we found the hostel "Back Home". It was a decent place- air conditioned rooms, nice bathrooms, clean, coffee tea and toast for breakfast.
Saturday morning we went to the Batu Caves. It was easy to get to, got on a bus about 2 blocks away from the hostel and it took us right there. When you get there you see the main gate which is decorated with Hindu gods. You walk through the gate and the parking lot and you just see the 272 steps that lead up to the caves and the 50foot statue of Hanuman. As you are climbing up the stairs there are monkeys all around searching for food. We saw a woman's food get stolen just after she bought it from a stand haha.
Once you finally get up the stairs you go into the cave, the first part is just a big cave opening, you walk through and on the other side you reach a smaller cave, which has a small Hindu temple inside. It was really pretty and I loved being able to watch the puja(worship ceremony) that was taking place. And still, you had monkeys walking around trying to get food from the tourists. On the way out I bought a nice little Ganesha wall hanging ^_^ haha, Liz and I also got stopped by two guys who wanted their picture taken with us.
There is another temple outside of the caves and another large statue, neither of which are as interesting or impressive as the first ones.
We went out and took the bus back into the city, wandered into a Malaysian "Restaraun" and got chicken for lunch. You would think we'd be safe ordering chicken right? wrong again. It was served with rice and gravy which was really good, but the chicken itself looked like parts of the chicken I didn't want to (nor did I actually) eat. Maybe it was a large blood vessel, maybe around the spine or neck? Still I'm not sure, it looked gross and the blood was congealed inside the meat.
Then we made our way to the Kuala Lumpur Tower. It's a neat tower, but a bit expensive to get inside. It cost 40 Ringgits, but included the observation deck and an animal exhibit. It's 421 meters tall, and the fifth tallest freestanding tower in the world. We had a great view of the city and of the nearby Patronas towers. The animal exhibit wasn't great, it was mostly full of snakes and spiders, had a few raccoons and some birds. It started to storm so we made our way down the hill through the "jungle in the city" which was pretty neat, and ran back to the hostel which was only about 15 minutes away.
We left the hostel a few hours later for dinner. 15 subway stops and 2 hours later we finally go to city center. haha. We first took the wrong subway line (both directions!) before we figured out that there were 2 subway stations on the same corner, but one is located behind the other and it's easy to miss. We came out under the Patronas Twin Towers, they are the world's tallest twin towers and were the tallest towers until 2004 before Taipai 101 took the title. The towers are really pretty, with alternating layers of colors of black, white, and green and a design that alternates between semicircles and corners. Entrance is free, but we got there too late to be able to go up. It's really neat looking from the outside though, especially at night. We also found a Chilis!!! Best meal I've had in months!! Left full and happy for a good night sleep before our flight the next morning.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Thanksgiving 2009
Where to start....
Thanksgiving. It's a bit late, but I haven't had much to say. Thanksgiving this year was spent at a (British) friend's house. All the foreigners got together for a potluck dinner, it was less of a thanksgiving and more just a reason for everyone to get together for a big dinner and drink. It was fun though. I got to meet a lot of really cool people, share stories with the girls ;), and feel like I'm not alone while my family is together halfway across the world.
That weekend was wonderful too. Friday night I went to a bar that the foreigners had just started hanging out in, called Grazie! The owner started charging the foreigners 15,000 won (maybe about $10) for all you can drink and pizza. It's a great deal for us. I met an awesome guy, spent the rest of the weekend with him, and things were over as quickly as they started. =/ Also had to say goodbye to a couple who went home, they were great, but I must say that I think I will get along great with the couple who replaced them.
Last weekend was a lot of fun too! Went again to Grazie friday night, followed by my first noraebang. Noraebang is something I thought I would have to learn to like, but that was not the case. A bunch of drunk foreigners in a room singing the best songs as loudly as they can, great fun for us, I wonder what the Koreans think of that though....hehe.
This weekend (so far) is a lot like last weekend. Went to Grazie last night. Turns out the owner is loosing money by only charging us 15,000 won-we drink a lot! so starting next week it will be 15,000won until midnight, then we have to start paying for our drinks again. That's ok with me, I usually only have a beer or two after that anyway. Went to noraebang with a new Korean friend and an awesome foreigner. I love noraebang!
Not sure what tonight will hold. Some people are going to Busan for the day and a night out there, but I think I'd rather stay in the city and see what goes on tonight. Also, have my eyes set on a new guy ;) we'll see how that goes...will keep you updated. ^^
What else? Let's talk about my future. I'm always thinking about where I will end up next, and what I want always changes slightly. Honestly I think that will depend on if I meet a guy. I'm ready to meet someone. I want to travel more, but I'm young enough that I could stay somewhere, start a real relationship, and continue my traveling adventures in a few years with someone by my side. I know I'm always talking about guys and wanting a relationship, but I think about it a lot, and I really would rather not travel alone. Anyway, I now am thinking about three options that I will continue to go over until I HAVE to make a decision. 1-I can stay here. I really do like South Korea. I could extend my contract, get a job at another school, or even go to Dongguk for Buddhist studies. 2-I could go home. I could meet a guy, get a job, and travel every now and then. I was against the idea a while ago, but I could be really happy at home, settled down and close to my family. 3-I leave my contract next August as planned, go home for a few months, maybe do a month volunteering in India, then go to grad school in Australia. hmmm.....
On a side note (because this whole post hasn't been random from the start...hehe) I love the gym here! Okay, so the working out part isn't amazing, but going to the sauna-which is included in the membership-is amazing! especially in the winter. I get done working out, take a shower, relax in the sauna, then a hot tub. ^_^ The sauna this winter will be my motivation to be at the gym all the time!
I think that's all I have for you guys! Missing people back home, but am lucky to have friends like you! I really didn't think I'd still be in touch with some of the people who are really making an effort to! There is no doubt that you are wonderful friends, and if everyone keeps this up, it will be more motivation to return home and be with you all! I love you and miss you all! ^^
Thanksgiving. It's a bit late, but I haven't had much to say. Thanksgiving this year was spent at a (British) friend's house. All the foreigners got together for a potluck dinner, it was less of a thanksgiving and more just a reason for everyone to get together for a big dinner and drink. It was fun though. I got to meet a lot of really cool people, share stories with the girls ;), and feel like I'm not alone while my family is together halfway across the world.
That weekend was wonderful too. Friday night I went to a bar that the foreigners had just started hanging out in, called Grazie! The owner started charging the foreigners 15,000 won (maybe about $10) for all you can drink and pizza. It's a great deal for us. I met an awesome guy, spent the rest of the weekend with him, and things were over as quickly as they started. =/ Also had to say goodbye to a couple who went home, they were great, but I must say that I think I will get along great with the couple who replaced them.
Last weekend was a lot of fun too! Went again to Grazie friday night, followed by my first noraebang. Noraebang is something I thought I would have to learn to like, but that was not the case. A bunch of drunk foreigners in a room singing the best songs as loudly as they can, great fun for us, I wonder what the Koreans think of that though....hehe.
This weekend (so far) is a lot like last weekend. Went to Grazie last night. Turns out the owner is loosing money by only charging us 15,000 won-we drink a lot! so starting next week it will be 15,000won until midnight, then we have to start paying for our drinks again. That's ok with me, I usually only have a beer or two after that anyway. Went to noraebang with a new Korean friend and an awesome foreigner. I love noraebang!
Not sure what tonight will hold. Some people are going to Busan for the day and a night out there, but I think I'd rather stay in the city and see what goes on tonight. Also, have my eyes set on a new guy ;) we'll see how that goes...will keep you updated. ^^
What else? Let's talk about my future. I'm always thinking about where I will end up next, and what I want always changes slightly. Honestly I think that will depend on if I meet a guy. I'm ready to meet someone. I want to travel more, but I'm young enough that I could stay somewhere, start a real relationship, and continue my traveling adventures in a few years with someone by my side. I know I'm always talking about guys and wanting a relationship, but I think about it a lot, and I really would rather not travel alone. Anyway, I now am thinking about three options that I will continue to go over until I HAVE to make a decision. 1-I can stay here. I really do like South Korea. I could extend my contract, get a job at another school, or even go to Dongguk for Buddhist studies. 2-I could go home. I could meet a guy, get a job, and travel every now and then. I was against the idea a while ago, but I could be really happy at home, settled down and close to my family. 3-I leave my contract next August as planned, go home for a few months, maybe do a month volunteering in India, then go to grad school in Australia. hmmm.....
On a side note (because this whole post hasn't been random from the start...hehe) I love the gym here! Okay, so the working out part isn't amazing, but going to the sauna-which is included in the membership-is amazing! especially in the winter. I get done working out, take a shower, relax in the sauna, then a hot tub. ^_^ The sauna this winter will be my motivation to be at the gym all the time!
I think that's all I have for you guys! Missing people back home, but am lucky to have friends like you! I really didn't think I'd still be in touch with some of the people who are really making an effort to! There is no doubt that you are wonderful friends, and if everyone keeps this up, it will be more motivation to return home and be with you all! I love you and miss you all! ^^
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Seoul 2
Finally home in Gyeongju. ^_^
No school friday meant a 3 day weekend that I could spend partying in Seoul. Got to Bong House (awesome Hostel!) early and went to Myeongdong to do some more shopping. As I said before, 1 hour in forever 21 just isn't enough time!...so 100,000 Won later I go back to the hostel to make plans for the night. Ended up meeting a friend in Itaewon, he's a DJ for the East to West rock and roll bar. At first, I wasn't sure how fun the night would be,but turned out ok! after a while people finally started showing up and I started to get drunk. Met two great army guys at the bar, one of which I hope to keep contact with ^^ Around 1230 I realize that the subway had stopped running so I would have to take a taxi back to the hostel (getting a taxi for a foreigner in Itaewon is a lot harder than it should be!).
Next day was not so interesting. Had planned on doing some site seeing, but ended up just going to a New York French Fry stand in Gangnam station-delicious! My friend got a cup fries covered in gravy and swiss cheese (or at least as close to swiss as you can find in korea), mine were covered in a cheddar cheese sauce, sour cream, and tomatoes. They were amazing!!
Saturday night was spent with my best friend's boyfriend who is also teaching English in Korea. We had lunch at a korean bbq near the hostel, walked around Insadong, had dinner at pizza hut and ended up drinking at Bong Bar. (bar next to the hostel-both owned by Mr. Bong. note also the subway stop is 420) Bong bar was empty, the two of us and the owner. I was glad to note that a few pictures of our last stay at bong house and bong bar made it up on the bar wall ^^ It ended up being an early night, my old friend went home and the guy from the bar the night before wasn't allowed to leave his post. oh well. I'm sure I can make my next stay in Seoul (and Bong House) more adventurous! Due back in mid december!
On a separate note, i'm starting to take my future plans a bit more seriously. Now, i'm thinking when my contract is up next August I will spend a bit of time volunteering at an orphanage in India. How awesome would that be!!! then go home for 2 months or so. It will be good to go home for a bit, but just for a bit. I will slowly make my way across the world through WWOOF (look it up) and hopefully end up at Graduate School in Sydney, Australia. I'm thinking either Buddhist studies or Anthropology. I think Anthropology would take my life in a more interesting and fulfilling direction. Will decide after much more research which path to take before I have to apply. After graduate school i'm not really sure. Hopefully in the next few years I will meet a great guy who wants to travel for a bit. Hopefully after grad school I could get some cool jobs around the world, and I would want someone who would also be travelling for work. teaching, army, w/e. I'm interested to see how my future works out...
No school friday meant a 3 day weekend that I could spend partying in Seoul. Got to Bong House (awesome Hostel!) early and went to Myeongdong to do some more shopping. As I said before, 1 hour in forever 21 just isn't enough time!...so 100,000 Won later I go back to the hostel to make plans for the night. Ended up meeting a friend in Itaewon, he's a DJ for the East to West rock and roll bar. At first, I wasn't sure how fun the night would be,but turned out ok! after a while people finally started showing up and I started to get drunk. Met two great army guys at the bar, one of which I hope to keep contact with ^^ Around 1230 I realize that the subway had stopped running so I would have to take a taxi back to the hostel (getting a taxi for a foreigner in Itaewon is a lot harder than it should be!).
Next day was not so interesting. Had planned on doing some site seeing, but ended up just going to a New York French Fry stand in Gangnam station-delicious! My friend got a cup fries covered in gravy and swiss cheese (or at least as close to swiss as you can find in korea), mine were covered in a cheddar cheese sauce, sour cream, and tomatoes. They were amazing!!
Saturday night was spent with my best friend's boyfriend who is also teaching English in Korea. We had lunch at a korean bbq near the hostel, walked around Insadong, had dinner at pizza hut and ended up drinking at Bong Bar. (bar next to the hostel-both owned by Mr. Bong. note also the subway stop is 420) Bong bar was empty, the two of us and the owner. I was glad to note that a few pictures of our last stay at bong house and bong bar made it up on the bar wall ^^ It ended up being an early night, my old friend went home and the guy from the bar the night before wasn't allowed to leave his post. oh well. I'm sure I can make my next stay in Seoul (and Bong House) more adventurous! Due back in mid december!
On a separate note, i'm starting to take my future plans a bit more seriously. Now, i'm thinking when my contract is up next August I will spend a bit of time volunteering at an orphanage in India. How awesome would that be!!! then go home for 2 months or so. It will be good to go home for a bit, but just for a bit. I will slowly make my way across the world through WWOOF (look it up) and hopefully end up at Graduate School in Sydney, Australia. I'm thinking either Buddhist studies or Anthropology. I think Anthropology would take my life in a more interesting and fulfilling direction. Will decide after much more research which path to take before I have to apply. After graduate school i'm not really sure. Hopefully in the next few years I will meet a great guy who wants to travel for a bit. Hopefully after grad school I could get some cool jobs around the world, and I would want someone who would also be travelling for work. teaching, army, w/e. I'm interested to see how my future works out...
Monday, November 9, 2009
Seoul 1
This weekend I went to Seoul with some friends, it was a great time! We took a midnight bus and arrived at 4 in the morning. Found a McDonalds, got some coffee and just waited for the subway lines to open up. Around 6 we made our way to Camp Kim where we got on a USO tour bus for the DMZ! The DMZ tour was really cool, went to Camp Bonifas where you can see the border b/w North and South Korea as well as the guards just standing and watching each other. There is also a conference room there where you are supposed to be able to go into and technically be standing in North Korea, but due to swine flu concerns they would not let us do that. =/ Guess I will have to go back again to do that part of the tour. After Camp Bonifas we went to the third infiltration tunnel. They showed us a video about how the 4 infiltration tunnels were found then we got to walk down it ourselves. It was neat to see and when you got to the end where the first barricade was you could see past it into the second barricade. Be prepared to walk hunched over though! the cave is low and the return from the cave is uphill. After that we went to a korean restaurant and got overpriced bulgolgi, it's good but not worth 10,000 won! Then we made our way to the Dora Observatory where you are able to see into North Korea. It really is a shame that the North Koreans built this area up to look good and it's not actually how the rest of North Korea is, but it's still pretty cool. Of course you can't take pictures past a certain point and where you can take pictures has no view at all of North Korea. Last stop of the tour was Dorasan Station which was built in hopes of unifying the country and has a train from Seoul to Pyongyang. The station was really nice, and they have a station where you can get a commemorative stamp. Our stupid tour guide told us we could get our passports stamped, but when we got there we saw signs saying not to stamp our passports, i'm sure our government would wonder why we had a north korean stamp...Overall a wonderful tour and I highly recommend the USO tour (after the swine flu concern dwindles down).
When we got back into Seoul around 2:30 we found two rooms at the Namsan Guest House. It was a decent place to stay and was 90,000won for two rooms split between 5 people. That night we walked up Namsan to Seoul Tower...Beautiful! The walk was gorgeous with all the fall colors and the view of the city. The tower was cool and of course had a great view over Seoul. It was actually my first tower! There was also a wonderful Italian restaurant where we ate dinner and drank some wine. After dinner we got some Coldstone Icecream and walked around Myeongdong, what a great place! We were exhausted before too long and ended up back at the hotel and sleeping before 10:30.
9 in the morning came too quickly and greeted us with too much rain. That didn't stop us! The girls made their way to Forever 21 and the guys found something else to do. What a great store! 3 floors of too many clothes, we spent an hour but that was not enough time to look at everything! After Myeongdong we went to Insadong and walked through all the souvenir shops, then caught a bus home.
It was a great weekend and I'm planning on going back soon, maybe a bit too soon....next weekend! This time I will see some palaces, maybe go to the museum there. For now I'm back home and have a 4-day work week ahead of me!
When we got back into Seoul around 2:30 we found two rooms at the Namsan Guest House. It was a decent place to stay and was 90,000won for two rooms split between 5 people. That night we walked up Namsan to Seoul Tower...Beautiful! The walk was gorgeous with all the fall colors and the view of the city. The tower was cool and of course had a great view over Seoul. It was actually my first tower! There was also a wonderful Italian restaurant where we ate dinner and drank some wine. After dinner we got some Coldstone Icecream and walked around Myeongdong, what a great place! We were exhausted before too long and ended up back at the hotel and sleeping before 10:30.
9 in the morning came too quickly and greeted us with too much rain. That didn't stop us! The girls made their way to Forever 21 and the guys found something else to do. What a great store! 3 floors of too many clothes, we spent an hour but that was not enough time to look at everything! After Myeongdong we went to Insadong and walked through all the souvenir shops, then caught a bus home.
It was a great weekend and I'm planning on going back soon, maybe a bit too soon....next weekend! This time I will see some palaces, maybe go to the museum there. For now I'm back home and have a 4-day work week ahead of me!
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