Dancing the Night Away at the Seoul World DJ Festival & Strolling Through Seoul Forest

We finally finished administering the Level-Up exams to our students on Friday. Now they have to wait a week or so to find out if they moved up to the next level for the summer term. Wednesday was Children's Day, a national holiday celebrating - you guessed it - children! Danny was lucky enough to have off from work, so he went out for galbi and some drinks with his coworkers Tuesday night. On Tuesday night I went to a pork galbi place with some of my coworkers, but since I'm not eating meat, I ate two delicious bowlfuls of dwinjang jiggae (a spicy soup made with fermented soybean paste, tofu, and veggies). I wasn't lucky enough to have off from work on Children's Day, but my school decided to move our usual afternoon class to 10am-1pm. So I went into work for only 3 hours, and had the rest of the gorgeous sunny day to myself. Danny and I went to see an FC Seoul game at World Cup Stadium with his coworker. On Children's Day, every kid has off from school (except my poor students who came in 10am-1pm to take the Level-Up test!). Parents usually take their kids somewhere special for the holiday, so World Cup Stadium was packed. Well FC Seoul definitely pleased its thousands of young fans with a win of 3-0. After the game, Danny and I went to Petra, our favorite middle eastern restaurant in Itaewon. We wrapped up the night with some gift shopping in Insadong and sticky delicious Turkish ice cream (if someone knows where to buy this in America please let me know!).

On Saturday, we headed to Han River Park's Nanji area near World Cup Stadium for the Seoul World DJ Festival. I think this was the 4th year of the annual event, but it keeps getting bigger and bigger each year. This year the festival was a marathon of music from 2pm Saturday to 6am Sunday. Danny and I walked through the Mapo-gu Agrictultural & Marine Products Market on our way to the festival site. We then followed the festival music through Hanuel ("peace") Park to Han River Park. We met up with Danny's college buddy Lee, and got into the festival around 4pm. Luckily we didn't bring lots of food, because they confiscated everyone's food and drinks before entering. Fortunately, the food and drinks inside the festival grounds were way cheaper than they would be at a public event in America. The festival was set up with 4 different stage areas and various food, drink, promotional, and arts & crafts tents surrounding each stage area. The four stages were basically divided by genre: hip-hop, pop/rock, techno, and reggae. There were other performances going on simultaneously near the tents, such as drumming, Brazilian music & dancing, juggling, Samurai swordsmen, fire dancers, and belly dancers. My favorite area was the "Innertrip" stage area that features the reggae stage and most of these alternative performances. We also met up with Danny's other college friends Cormick and Christian throughout the night, and we danced from stage to stage until we were exhausted. After being at the event for nearly 8 hours and freezing from the riverside breeze, we took a taxi home.

On Sunday, the gorgeous sunshine woke us up early again and beckoned for us to come outside and enjoy the weather. We took the subway an hour away across the city to Seoul Forest. It is not really a forest, but just a huge park with various areas for recreation and relaxation. There were so many scenic picnic areas, fountains, sculptures, playgrounds, athletic courts, gardens, and eco-parks. We first had a mini "picnic" of oranges, granola bars, and cherry tomatoes along a pretty lake. Then we walked around the park for about 3 hours. After we headed to Itaewon for dinner in hopes of trying a Bulgarian restaurant that's supposed to be really authentic, fresh, and delicious! Unfortunately, the restaurant is super popular, and we couldn't get a table. So we ate at a Moroccan restaurant called Marrakech Nights. We had a buffet of salad, hummus, pita bread, cous cous, rice, and various tagines. It was delicious, but I'm still determined to go back and try the Bulgarian place. It claims to be the only Bulgarian restaurant on the entire Asian continent, and it's one ethnic cuisine I haven't tried yet!

Swine Tasting....

So I failed to mention in my last blog post that Danny's "cold" was really swine flu. He went to the doctor the first morning he felt sick, and the doctor said he had H1N1. They don't do any special test in the doctor's office, so chances are he just had a regular seasonal flu. As soon as we found out we started wearing masks around the apartment. I cleaned the whole apartment and had Danny stay on the other bed on one side of the room. The doctor said he had to isolate himself for a week, so he couldn't leave the apartment (and obviously he couldn't go to work). His school directors were really on top of everything though and they had him go back to the doctor twice during the week to get checked. My school director was concerned too, so she had me stay in an empty apartment that my school owns for the week. I felt bad leaving Danny, but I made sure to leave him with lots of food for the week. I left my laptop too so he could watch movies, so that's why I haven't really been checking email and stuff this past week.

I stayed in an apartment in Eungam, which is a 10 min walk from my school. Since I was closer to school, I did get alot of prep work done. There was a nice stream running through the area with a jogging track along it, so I was sorry I didn't bring my running shoes. I actually had a really good week at school with my students. Wednesday was Peppero Day, a commercialized holiday similar to Valentine's Day. On Peppero Day, everyone gives each other "Peppero" sticks, which are long cookie sticks dipped in chocolate. They have all different flavors, but I like almond the best. I gave Peppero sticks to each of my classes this week, and some of my students gave me theirs to try too. If anyone is familiar with Japanese "Pocky" sticks, they are exactly the same candy. Korea does have two Valentine's Day type holidays in the winter, but I will get to those when the time comes. During my stay in Eungam, I had lots of extra time before and after work because I didn't have to commute as long. So one morning before work I took the subway to World Cup Park and walked around the park near the stadium. Inside the stadium they also have a huge mall, which I walked through. One night after work, I was really bored with no TV or computer, so I hopped on the subway to see where I'd end up. Well when I got off the subway it was alotttt colder than it was near my work, and I ended up almost getting lost. I walked through these cute, winding streets filled with art galleries, shops, cafes, and restaurants. If it wasn't freezing and I wasn't lost, I would have enjoyed it much more. It turns out I was in a neighborhood that borders Gyeongbokgung Palace. I will definitely have to return in warmer weather with a map and Danny.

I went home Friday after work. Let's just say taking a huge duffle bag, pillow, and blanket on subway Line 3 on a Friday night during rush hour is a stupid idea. I got shoved around in the most crowded train I've ever been on in my life and had to lug my heavy stuff up and down the stairs in the subway stations. Danny was looking and feeling much healthier when I came home. So I guess the Tamiflu and rest helped.

On Saturday, Danny had to go to Cheongdam-dong in Gangnam-gu for more training. He will be teaching the highest level, "Junior Masters", at his school next term. The training center was in the same district of Seoul where our hotel was during training week. We met up with his head instructor outside the training center and grabbed some coffee. While they went to the training session, I walked to COEX mall. On my way I finally found Bongeunsa Temple, which we had tried to find during training week. It's hard to miss because there is a hugeeee Buddha on a hill overlooking COEX. I'm kind of glad I didn't find it until now, because it looked so beautiful with the autumn leaves. After walking around there a bit, I went to COEX. I bought some books at Bandi N Luni's, a huge bookstore that has a ton of English language books. I had my favorite roasted kabocha squash with candied sweet potatoes at Hyundai Department Store. And I shopped around a bit in the mall. When Danny got out of training, we went to the Chungmuro area of Seoul to meet up with Danny's roomate from college, Dave. We had so much trouble finding Dave's hotel, and luckily we can read Korean, because the hotel name was only written in Korean. Dave just arrived in South Korea on Friday, and he will also be teaching for CDI. We met 3 other people in his training group who just arrived Friday. We went with them back to Gangnam to meet up with Danny's other friend Cormick. Some of them ate dinner at a bar, but we wanted some real food. So we took some of the new people for their first Korean meal of bibimbap. It was my 5th dinner of bibimbap in a row because that's all I ate during the week by myself. Yet I wasn't tired of eating it. Dolsot bibimbop (served in a scorching hot stone pot) is so comforting on a cold night. Afterwards Danny and his friends went to an arcade in the subway station to play some video games. While the boys played I discovered a huge mall sprawled out in the subway station underground. Most of the clothes were $5 or $10! Unfortunately most places don't have fitting rooms, and Korean clothes fit me a bit odd, so I didn't buy anything. Most shirts seem to be too short on my arms and torso. Anyway today we might try to see a movie (in English). I'll let you know how that goes soon! Anyung!

It's been awhile!...

So I just realized I haven't posted in like 3 weeks. That's because not much has happened since our eventful field trip with Danny's school! The weekend after that Danny and I both got really sick. I thought I had the flu, but it was just a really bad cold. We went to a doctor that's in the same building as Danny's school, and the doctor actually spoke English. I was really impressed with the office, because it was so modern compared to doctor's offices back home. The doctor used some weird probe to view the inside of my nose on a big screen and they gave me medicine for my cough using this respirator machine. I don't have health insurance yet, but even without insurance the visit only cost me about $10. I had to pick up a prescription, which cost me only another $5. I will try to get health insurance, but I have to wait until my 3rd month here since I'm a foreigner. Most of the country has health insurance coverage through the government, so that's why it's so cheap. And most people seem to be pretty satisfied with it too. Let's see what else has happened in the past 3 weeks....Last Friday my school had a dinner to welcome me and another new teacher and to celebrate the departure of one of our other teachers. We all went out for galbi (Korean barbecue) after work. When Koreans go out together, they tend to drink alot, especially when there's something to celebrate. So naturally I had to be polite and accept toast after toast of soju liquor. Well let's just say I had a little too much to drink that night. I called up Danny to meet me and some of my coworkers at a bar in Hongdae after my company dinner. I didn't feel well from all the drinking and galbi, so my night was cut short. The next day Danny and I went to see another FC Seoul soccer game at World Cup Stadium. It was their last home game, and they tied. It was a good game to watch though. Every day before that soccer game had been unusually warm, but we were freezing for the first time at the game. The next two days after were so miserably cold. It went from being in the 60's/70's to 30's in one day. After only 3 cold days, it went back to 60's/70's. Since today was supposed to be 70 degrees and the last weekend with autumn leaves still on the trees, Danny and I were going to hike Mt. Bukhansan (the highest peak in Seoul) with his friend from work. Unfortunately Danny felt sick again today, so we rested instead. But it rained anyway so I guess we lucked out. I guess we will have to wait for spring time when the cherry blossoms bloom....that's another popular time to hike. Hiking is ridiculously popular here. On any given day you will see senior citizens decked out in hardcore hiking gear on the subway to their favorite mountain. Apparently some of the hiking trails are pretty treacherous, so I'm amazed at the shape some of these older people must be in to hike. Danny and I were going to try a hike of about 10km to a peak of 800+m. It's supposed to be the most popular because there are lots of historical landmarks and buddhist temples along the trail. Tomorrow is raining again, so while Danny is getting better I guess we will be relaxing again. Oh I completely forgot to mention teaching....this past week I had to administer "Level-Up" tests to my students. The poor kids had to take 2+ hour tests to determine which level they will be placed in next term. I guess I felt bad because I couldn't even sit through 3 hours Regents exams or SATS in high school. Anyway we finished week 10 of the term and there are only 3 weeks left for the Fall Term! There are 4 terms at CDI, and each term is 13 weeks. Alright I'm going to bed now...I will leave you with a funny YouTube video that gives you an idea of what a Korean apartment is like for an English teacher...Enjoy!

Go FC Seoul!!

On Sunday, Danny and I went to watch the FC Seoul soccer game with his coworkers, Daniel and Scott. The game was at FC Seoul's home field, which is the 2002 World Cup Stadium. It was a huge venue, and had a mall, Walmart-type store, movie theater, food court, and gym/spa inside. It also had a FIFA World Cup Museum, so we checked it out because we had 2 hour to spare before the game started. The museum focused on the 2002 World Cup that was jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan, but it also featured information about soccer and World Cup history. At the end, it had some virtual soccer games you could play. Apparently the boys tied the all-time record on the goal-keeping game while I was in the gift shop (they cheated though). Like the baseball game, the tickets were ridiculously cheap. We sat in the 2nd row for under $20. The game was more like a soccer game in American or anywhere else, unlike the baseball game, which was a unique experience. But FC Seoul did shoot huge fireworks to start off each half or anytime a goal was scored! As some of the only foreigners there, we made it onto the megatron screen at one point during the game. As usual, I was stuffing my face with food while they filmed us....way to represent Americans. The fans weren't all as coordinated as those at the baseball game, but the die-hard FC Seoul fan section had these crazy chants and dances. Most of the spectators had these annoying horns that sounded like dying animals instead of the thundersticks. FC Seoul won the game 3-0, and we were cheering for them since we are living near Seoul, so it was a good game. Afterwards we had some galbi, I believe that was the 4th time in one week. I know I know....I would never eat that much meat at home. But you don't really eat tons of meat because you get lots of side-dishes. Last night we went out to eat at a Korean restaurant and I actually sort-of understood the menu for the first time! We are learning to read, so I could sound out the names of dishes. I just need to learn what they actually mean!