Korean Election Day!

While I don't know anything about Korean politics, the campaign was certainly a source of entertainment and annoyance leading up to election day (which was today). In the weeks leading up to the election, there were candidates and their supporters (in groups ranging from 1-10) standing on street corners during the day bowing, in true Korean fashion. Yes, bowing to oncoming traffic and passersby. The crowd of bowing Koreans wore shirts of a certain color with a number on it, depending on which candidate they were supporting. They also were accompanied by trucks, on the back of which were larger posters with the candidate's picture and playing songs (and sometimes the crowds of bowing supporters would dance to the songs!). It was certainly entertaining to watch, and I am disappointed I didn't manage to get a picture =( It also became a major source of annoyance when it got within 2 weeks of the election and the trucks started coming out and blaring their music at 7am.

However, to make up for this annoyance was the pleasure of getting election off work! Not all did, but a lot of schools canceled for the day so that the parents and teachers could go vote. So for the foreigners, who can't vote but got the day off anyway, it meant more fun than a normal week! We started out Tuesday night with a bar crawl. Stacy had the great idea of starting at a Family Mart and working our way through Sunggun dong (the university neighborhood) to bars we had never been to before. One of the awesome things about Korean convenience stores is that you can drink outside them. The particular Family Mart (like a 7 eleven) had two wooden picnic tables outside so we bought some drinks and sat outside. We made, if I remember correctly, drinks called "White Dogs" which is a mixture of Soju, a little bit of yogurt, and milkis (a Korean milky soda). They were really good. After a drink at Family Mart we moved to a coffee shop/bar called Yan (얀). It was a really laid back place. The guys had a beer, the girls Kalua and milk. From there we moved onto one last bar. Woodstock was a nice jazz bar in the basement of a building we passed. It was really nice, they had a setup for live music, one of the workers there played saxophone. They played great music - I'm sure we'll be going there more often! However, after a beer there I was ready to get home so I left the group there.

Wednesday I woke up excited for my day off which would be spent at Gyeongju World! (Our local Amusement Park) So the plan was for Harry and I to be picked up by our Korean friend MiGyeong who would drive us there. Harry had trouble getting a taxi so she picked me up, then we had to go find him, then we went to pick up two of her friends who made us wait almost an hour! She picked me up at 10:30 and we didn't get to Gyeongju World until after 12, I was not happy. THEN to add to the mess that was Harry's and my annoyance, Jude for some reason wasn't coming into the park. I'm not sure what was going on, but Harry and I should have met up with Candy, Taek, James, and Felisa at 11, so we left MiGyeong and the others at the gate to work it out so we could meet up with our friends. We found them about to get on a ride, so we waited for them just to find out they were going to get lunch.

So Harry and I went off on our own to just ride a ride and start having a good time. We were waiting in line for the Phaetheon (aka Pantheon haha) which was the highlight of the park, and just happened to see Amsbry, Dan, Ronan, and Stephanie. Harry talked me into sitting up front (which I had never done on a roller coaster!) and it was so much fun! We got off the ride to see that the group had waited for us (thanks guys!) so we spent the rest of the day with them. We went on a few roller coasters, a log ride, a raft water ride, and ended with the one that goes straight up and just drops you. I didn't do well with the last one haha, started freaking out at the top. We also wandered into the petting zoo, where we saw goats, pigs, a donkey, a cow, rabbits, and a dog. Yes, a dog in a petting zoo. 

But, my favorite memory will always be this kid we saw waiting in line for the raft ride. He saw me and yelled "외국인" (Foreigners!). A few minutes later he came up and just stared at me, to which I responded "Hello" and he ran away to his mom. We happened to run into this kid after the ride too, and he just stood there, staring and pointing at me with his whole arm extended with this astonished look on his face. To which I responded "안녕" (hi) and kept walking. The look this kid was giving me while just standing there pointing at me really made my day, it was hilarious. Again, I wish I would have gotten a picture of this.

After leaving the park around 6, we got dinner at Pranzo's Italian restaurant. Dan got a dish of pasta with squid ink. When he ordered the waitress said no, haha, then followed with "It's dangerous". She said that she worried because it was an all black dish, to which Dan responded "I like black things". Anyway, the dish was ok, it tasted like noodles with a bit of oil on them. The rest of us got more appetizing dishes (in my opinion) haha. After dinner we all headed home to end the day on a more relaxing note.

It was such a fun day! (and night before! haha) I had every intention on working on my TEFL worksheets and studying some korean, but neither of those got done. Back to work tomorrow, then should have a fun weekend. Will either stay here, or go to Busan for the Sand Festival! Another update to come soon! <3