대한민국 화이팅!

Korea Fighting!

Ok, so I last lest off with the Korean elections and have really been slacking on the blog since then.
Two exciting things have happened since then. Three weeks ago I got a call from Matt saying that his director was starting to look for his replacement and that he wanted to give me a chance to take it before he posted it for everyone. After a long and emotional weekend of debate, I decided to take it! The next weekend I had an interview. It had to be the most awkward interview ever! haha. I showed up and she only had 3 questions for me and was quiet a lot of the time. I took the opportunity to ask a few questions myself, but overall it was a very quiet and awkward sitting. So I left with her telling me she would think about it and call me later that day.
My friend Travis and I decided to go to Seoul for the day, so after the interview I met him at the train station. Since whether or not it would be my last trip to Seoul was pending, we decided to take the KTX (fast train) since I hadn't yet (It's 45,000 won compared to a 27,000 won bus). We got onto the KTX and found that it was slightly smaller and less comfortable than the Mugunghwa train that we had to take to Daegu before transferring to the KTX. We took a walk through the trian, but all the cars looked the same, though we were surprised to see computer stations in a few cars. I will also say this, it's much nicer to get to Seoul in 3 hours via train than it is to sit on a bus for 4.

We got to Seoul and had lunch at Bennigans then made our way to Insadong when it started to rain. I went into a shop and bought a few souveniers, then we decided to leave. We went and found building 63, which we had been told you can go to the top of, but we couldn't get in. There was a little plaza next to it where there was a wax museum and an aquarium. We went into the aquarium and it was kinda cool. We saw some penguins, lots of fish, seals, an eel, otters and they had the same fish that they have at Dr. Fish cafes so we were able to put our fingers into the tank and the little fish eat off the dead skin. It just tickles a little.

After that we just sat in a coffee shop as I got anxious about still not having received a call from Cate about the job. At this point it was nearly 7 and my interview had been at 10 that morning. We moved on to Hongdae, the university area and found a bar to watch the game. Most of the bars and restaurants, even coffee shops were full of people watching the Korea v. Greece World Cup match. Eventually we got off the main roads and found a nice little bar with only a few people. We got taken to the upstars bit where they had a projector and screen set up, ordered a beer, and watched the game.

We left for a change of scenery and found a nice little dive bar to watch the next game, then made our way to Itaewon to meet a friend. In Itaewon I met up with a guy who had couchsurfed with me. He took us to a gay bar where he had been with his friends. We ended up running into some of our other friends from Gyeongju and Pohang there, so we stayed and had a good time.

After a bit we made our way back to Hongdae with the intentions of finding another bar to watch the America match, but instead went back to the Hotel where I immediately fell asleep haha. The next morning we got on a bus and went back to Gyeongju. I had given up on getting the job, had told all my friends that I hadn't heard back and wasn't optimistic. After a 4 hour bus ride, as we were pulling into the city I got a text message from Cate saying "Ok, I'll work with you" haha.
I GET TO STAY IN KOREA FOR ANOTHER YEAR!! ^_^

From that point on I was excited about my life here, still am! Last thursday for the second Korea match was another memory that made me sure I had made the right decision. Liz, Ryan, Katherine, and I went to the soccer stadium near our house where they were playing the match on the scoreboard. It was a great time! We met up with some of the other foreigners and just enjoyed the atmosphere of sitting on the field with all the Koreans.

Since Korea has now made it through to the World Cup, I'm hoping Saturday's game at the stadium will be just as memorable.
That's all I have for now!