A few weeks back I was showing a few of my friends how much closer Edae (the metro area around Ewha Women's University) is than to Sinchon. The area is more pedestrian friendly, cleaner, has a metro, and most importantly it takes less than half the time to get there than Sinchon. Anyways, I was showing them how to get to the grocery store there so that they would only have to lug back heavy bags for 10 minutes instead of over 20.
Earlier that day I had seen signs for a fashion show, but had no idea that it would be held outside. So walking to the store we happened upon some awesome music and a professional stage with cameras and lighting where the event was being held. It was a warm night and the entire soundtrack for the show was great so I stopped to watch the last hour of it. I have never been to one before so was surprised to see how rail thin the models were (yes, even Next Top Model hadn't prepared me for the real life view). Some of the outfits were outrageous! It was a nice diversion from studying though, and an interesting opportunity to see the influences for a lot of the fashion here.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Folk Village
I am always on the look out for inexpensive things to do, so when there was a flier in all the bathrooms announcing an upcoming trip to a Folk Village I quickly went to sign up. For 5,000W I got transportation to Suwon (about an hour away) and admission to a Folk Village. This place was kind of like a cross between Conner Prairie and Disneyland.
Hm, I think there was even a boat ride...
This way to Neverland?
The great thing though, was that there were plenty of props for some fun pictures!
This was indeed my profile pic for a bit
Aside from it being a bit kitschy, it was really nice to be in a place where you could walk around without bumping into tons of people. The place itself was like a large open park, and I enjoyed the feeling of being in nature for a bit. There were also performances of traditional dancing, acrobatics, horseback feats, and a wedding.
Most epic swing EVER! As soon as I saw the swingsets marked on the map I couldn't wait to go, and it was def worth the wait!
After the village they drove us to the National Museum back in Seoul. By this point I was kind of cultured out for the day, so was happy the stop was only for 45 minutes. We had all planned on returning to campus and then leaving for the Fireworks Festival after dinner that night, but due to Swine Flu the event was canceled. Truthfully I was pretty tired and happy for the excuse to call it an early evening.
To see more pics (including ones of me in the traditional Korean dress!) check out the album here:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034817&id=65202369&l=6b16538a69
Hm, I think there was even a boat ride...
This way to Neverland?
The great thing though, was that there were plenty of props for some fun pictures!
This was indeed my profile pic for a bit
Aside from it being a bit kitschy, it was really nice to be in a place where you could walk around without bumping into tons of people. The place itself was like a large open park, and I enjoyed the feeling of being in nature for a bit. There were also performances of traditional dancing, acrobatics, horseback feats, and a wedding.
Most epic swing EVER! As soon as I saw the swingsets marked on the map I couldn't wait to go, and it was def worth the wait!
After the village they drove us to the National Museum back in Seoul. By this point I was kind of cultured out for the day, so was happy the stop was only for 45 minutes. We had all planned on returning to campus and then leaving for the Fireworks Festival after dinner that night, but due to Swine Flu the event was canceled. Truthfully I was pretty tired and happy for the excuse to call it an early evening.
To see more pics (including ones of me in the traditional Korean dress!) check out the album here:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2034817&id=65202369&l=6b16538a69
Dinner With Korean Friends
A few weeks back (yeah I know, my updating has sucked...) I met up with my language partner Yeonji and her friend Ja Woon for dinner. They took me to this place that served really good Tonkatsu. I got mine topped with sweet potato, and it was so delicious that I didn't have any trouble cleaning my plate.
After dinner Yeonji had to head back to campus for an appointment, but Ja Woon asked to hangout with me some more. Or I should say she asked her friend in Korean to ask me if I would be ok with it. She was embarrassed with her English and worried about it only being the two of us. I come across this a lot in Korea, these people who speak perfectly good English but have a complex about it. Needless to say I told her I wasn't worried about this at all and we quickly set off for a cafe. After chatting over tea for a bit we walked around Sinchon.
Near Ja Woon's apartment there was a popular fortune telling tent. These are very common in Korea, and it is not surprising to see lines forming outside of them. She had always wanted to try it for fun, and since she treated me to tea I paid for us to have our hands read. According to the fortune teller I have lucky lines. While I won't have a son (something I thought to be lucky...), I will have 2 husbands and 3 houses. Even though I will be a successful specialist (I should never teach), I won't have to work once I'm married after 33 because my husband will be nice and take care of me. Ja Woon's luck wasn't as good, but I told her it was probably because the lady only had so many things to say and didn't want to sound repetitive.
All in all it was a fun night and a great chance to extend my Korean circle of friends!
After dinner Yeonji had to head back to campus for an appointment, but Ja Woon asked to hangout with me some more. Or I should say she asked her friend in Korean to ask me if I would be ok with it. She was embarrassed with her English and worried about it only being the two of us. I come across this a lot in Korea, these people who speak perfectly good English but have a complex about it. Needless to say I told her I wasn't worried about this at all and we quickly set off for a cafe. After chatting over tea for a bit we walked around Sinchon.
Near Ja Woon's apartment there was a popular fortune telling tent. These are very common in Korea, and it is not surprising to see lines forming outside of them. She had always wanted to try it for fun, and since she treated me to tea I paid for us to have our hands read. According to the fortune teller I have lucky lines. While I won't have a son (something I thought to be lucky...), I will have 2 husbands and 3 houses. Even though I will be a successful specialist (I should never teach), I won't have to work once I'm married after 33 because my husband will be nice and take care of me. Ja Woon's luck wasn't as good, but I told her it was probably because the lady only had so many things to say and didn't want to sound repetitive.
All in all it was a fun night and a great chance to extend my Korean circle of friends!
Fishing VIllage Trip
So waay back in the beginning of September I went on a government subsidized trip to a fishing village. Here are some of the high lights:
The traffic from Seoul to the ferry about 2 hours away took closer to double that amount. This meant that we missed our ferry and had to find alternative plans for the afternoon. First we went to lunch at this restaurant in a house that was a few hundred years old, beginning the deluge of all seafood meals. I finally learned how to eat a fish served whole, and even enjoyed it a bit.
To kill time before the ferry we stopped by a small town on the coast. The group next to us was a boisterous one, carrying one unwilling member at a time to be thrown into the ocean. It was quite the show, great entertainment while enjoying our less than 70cent ice creams. And of course, being that close to the ocean we all had to at least dip our feet in!
And here's why I said the wait would be worth this blog!
Some things you won't see in the videos:
Right after we grilled some of our catch, they told us that breakfast would be available at 8:30 so we needed to go to bed. This was around midnight, but after a long day not too unreasonable of a request. Well, then they opened up the Noribang so all bets for bedtime were off from there. At around 2:30 I decided to call it quits, after all, how many inebriated versions of Disney songs do you need to hear in a lifetime? Well, walking outside I found our government hosts with a bunch of people pouring round after round of soju. In this culture it is impossible to turn down a toast, so if you don't want to drink it is best to walk away.
Long story short I joined in what would turn out to be the best cultural exchange event of my time so far. The hosts kept bringing out more soju, chips and fireworks for all of us. More bottles were opened at 4 am, with no real end in sight. At around 5 am the hostess brought all of us sprinklers, laughing with us we lit them on fire (in this country, alcohol and fireworks seem to be a natural combination...).
And then she started crying, bewildering all of us English speakers until one of the students started translating. Apparently she had lived in Seoul until getting married, and had been unhappy for a long time. She was used to people who were only interested in themselves, and to see all of us so happy at such simple things (she had protested that they hadn't really done anything special for us, while we all were insistent they had treated us with above and beyond hospitality) moved her to tears. It was in that moment, in the warm morning air in a small fishing on a random island, that I knew why I had come to Korea.
The traffic from Seoul to the ferry about 2 hours away took closer to double that amount. This meant that we missed our ferry and had to find alternative plans for the afternoon. First we went to lunch at this restaurant in a house that was a few hundred years old, beginning the deluge of all seafood meals. I finally learned how to eat a fish served whole, and even enjoyed it a bit.
To kill time before the ferry we stopped by a small town on the coast. The group next to us was a boisterous one, carrying one unwilling member at a time to be thrown into the ocean. It was quite the show, great entertainment while enjoying our less than 70cent ice creams. And of course, being that close to the ocean we all had to at least dip our feet in!
And here's why I said the wait would be worth this blog!
Some things you won't see in the videos:
Right after we grilled some of our catch, they told us that breakfast would be available at 8:30 so we needed to go to bed. This was around midnight, but after a long day not too unreasonable of a request. Well, then they opened up the Noribang so all bets for bedtime were off from there. At around 2:30 I decided to call it quits, after all, how many inebriated versions of Disney songs do you need to hear in a lifetime? Well, walking outside I found our government hosts with a bunch of people pouring round after round of soju. In this culture it is impossible to turn down a toast, so if you don't want to drink it is best to walk away.
Long story short I joined in what would turn out to be the best cultural exchange event of my time so far. The hosts kept bringing out more soju, chips and fireworks for all of us. More bottles were opened at 4 am, with no real end in sight. At around 5 am the hostess brought all of us sprinklers, laughing with us we lit them on fire (in this country, alcohol and fireworks seem to be a natural combination...).
And then she started crying, bewildering all of us English speakers until one of the students started translating. Apparently she had lived in Seoul until getting married, and had been unhappy for a long time. She was used to people who were only interested in themselves, and to see all of us so happy at such simple things (she had protested that they hadn't really done anything special for us, while we all were insistent they had treated us with above and beyond hospitality) moved her to tears. It was in that moment, in the warm morning air in a small fishing on a random island, that I knew why I had come to Korea.
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