The Kimchi Chronicles
Finally got a chance to check out a Korean baseball game. The SK Wyverns are Incheon’s official team. I don’t know what entertained me more; the actual game, or the thousands of red noise makers.
Our girl trip down south to Gwangju was a lot of fun. We were hushed on the train ride there because apparently our English was too much for Koreans to handle. We went to a bamboo forest, but no nude meditations were had. And we stayed at a love motel with mysterious stains on the floor. All in all, it was good weekend.
Yes, I’m a horrible blogger, I’m sorry. My maintenance of this blog is as bad as a two week old used porta potty on a hot summers day. I guess you can say I’m too busy/lazy/tired to write two sentences on a daily basis. There really is no excuse. To make up for it, I’d be willing to give all five of you all a million dollars just for continuing to read but I don’t have a million dollars, and if I did, I’d probably keep it for myself (just being honest.) Anyways here’s a quick glimpse of future plans/blogs for the summer:
- This weekend I’m taking a girls trip down south to Gwangju and will possibly meditate in a bamboo forrest. Naked.
July
- My birthday is in a week and a half. I will be 24. I expect gifts from every single reader. And by ‘gifts’ I mean ‘nothing.’
- I will be spending the night in a Buddhist temple with Buddhist monks while doing Buddhisty things.
- I’m going to a Mud Festival. Because nothing’s more fun than going to a festival of mud.
August
- Summer vacation to Jeju Island AND China land, more specifically, Shanghai.
Cheers for now.
I met an older Korean gentleman on the subway last night who was reading a beginners Spanish book. Intrigued, I struck up a conversation with him, assuming since he’s learning Spanish, he can get by with English. After an interesting conversation and assisting him with Spanish pronunciation, we exchanged emails, agreeing that if he had any questions, to let me know.
I got a message from him today and he wants me to call him uncle.
I just got back from Deokjeokdo on Sunday, and I have to say, I’m having withdrawals already. It was so nice to get away from the city and not have Koreans bumping into you or seeing neon lights everywhere. The place was really quaint, and definitely needed. Friday was nice and sunny and perfect beach weather, so we took the opportunity to lounge around in the sand and dip our toes into the Yellow Sea. Unfortunately, the weather was not on our side the rest of the weekend, it got pretty gloomy and rainy, but that didn’t stop the approximate 200 foreigners (English teachers) from having an amazing time. Festivities popped up all over the place from bonfires on the beach to hotel room parties. Things got kinda crazy, but that was expected. Good times were definitely had.
Working on our tans.
James serenading us with his guitar. I think he may be singing “Life sucks” in this picture =P
Alright, so tomorrow (May 21st) is Buddha’s birthday, which just so happens to be a huge holiday here in Korea. This is a major party event all over the country, and fortunately that means I get the day off from work. To celebrate, I’m taking a trip to Deokjeok island, which is about an hour ferry ride off the coast of Incheon. I’ll be going with over 60 other foreigners (aka, fellow English teachers) so madness is sure to ensue. I’ll be there until Sunday, so I’ll make sure to post stories from my trip when I get back. Until then, cheers!
(Video curtesy of Myradventures)
Yesterday, Myra and I adopted our pet hedgehog, Mochi. Why, you ask? Well… why not? You see, hedgehogs are illegal to own as pets in California, so we thought it would be neat to own one while we’re in Korea since we have the opportunity. We adopted her from another teacher in Seoul who will be going back home soon, so she needed an owner asap. Since Myra and I live so close to each other, we decided to share joint custody of our new prickly child. For now, Mochi is residing in my apartment, but she’ll go over to mama Myra in a month. So far, she’s super cute, albeit a little nervous. We were able to clean her smelly bin AND give her a bath, so luckily she’s not skanky any more. So cute!!! ^_^
Last Sunday, (May 17, 2010) I went out to Seoul in the evening to check out the Lotus Lantern Festival. This Festival is one of Seoul’s largest and most important events throughout the year. It’s done to commemorate the birth of Buddha and also to commence the week long celebrations for Buddha’s birthday on May 21. The city was turned into a beautiful glowing rainbow of lamps and floats of all shapes, colors, and sizes everywhere. We made it just in time to see the parade and walk around for a while. After the parade, we went to the beautifully decorated Buddhist temple.
(One day, when I don’t have a lap top that’s dying on me, I’ll be able to combine my video clips. But for now, this will do.)
On Saturday, Myra, Albert, myself and some friends had planned to go hang gliding at some mysterious location somewhere in Korea. I didn’t plan the trip, so I had no idea what to expect or where we were going. Turns out this mysterious location was Danyang (단양군), a cute little province in the center(ish) of S.Korea near the Namhan River. After a 1.5 hour subway ride from Incheon to the edge of Seoul, and a 2.5 hour bus ride to Danyang (I had no clue it was that far, and my iPod died halfway there *sad face*), imagine my surprise when we arrived and the company that was supposed to take us hang gliding said they didn’t offer it. Seriously Korea, what the eff? If your tour site says something, follow through with it. Don’t break the sky floating dreams of bus weary weigooks. Way to drop the ball, yet again.
Annnywayys… since we had traveled a significant distance to Danyang, Albert and I decided to stay and explore a bit (Myra had to rush back to Seoul for a Tumblr meetup later on in the evening.) Fortunately there was the nifty Gosu cave in the area. If we couldn’t sore high in the sky, then spelunking deep in the bowels of earth was the second best option. I like how Korea makes exploring a cave much easier by adding metal stairs everywhere. Unfortunately, caves are wet and leaky, so the mixture of moisture + metal stairs + my vans wasn’t very good and I was trying really hard not to fall and break my face on a stalagmite. Overall, it was a neat experience, and I’m glad I got to see the cave. After resting up a bit, we took the bus back to Seoul and met up with Myra in Hongdae. Fun Saturday!
…and then, good bye!
