Seoul & Chuseok

Seoul last weekend was awesome! I think mostly I was just impressed with how well we all did getting around and figuring things out without being able to communicate because we didn't actually do that much. :) Friday was payday, so Friday night after work I was able to walk to the bus station in our little town and buy a ticket to get to Seoul. It was a little tricky because all the schedules are written in Hangul and the people working that night didn't speak any English, but some very nice girls walking through heard me trying to explain what I wanted and offered to translate for me so I was able to get my ticket and feel fairly confidant that it would take me to the right place! So, bright and early Saturday morning I walked back to the bus station and took my first solo trip through Korea. My friends that I was meeting there were all coming different ways and at different times, so we were meeting across town from where I had arrived. I took the easy way out and paid for a taxi to take me to our meeting spot so I was sure I got to the right place in time. I'm getting spoiled, I think, by the taxis here... my taxi ride halfway across Seoul came to less than $10.00 US. Can you imagine that in L.A.?! Once we had met up with everyone that was able to arrive in the morning we shopped a little in Yongsan- where they have an enormous electronics mall- mostly cameras, cell phones, and mp3 players- and then all braved the subway system together and learned how to get to Itaewon (after, I think, 3 or 4 transfers.) :) Itaewon is the foreigner portion of the city filled with Western bars and restaurants and is where most of the American military personnel in Seoul spend their time, as well as the many Hagwon (private or after school) teachers that stay in Seoul. It's also rumored to be the only place in Korea where you can buy clothes and shoes big enough to fit a Western sized person so we were all excited to make it there after our first paycheck. Unfortunately, other than a couple hats, some backpacks, and shoes, no one found too much that they were looking for. We did however find a nice little foreigner run used bookstore called 'What the Book' that many foreigners flock to to trade in the books they brought with them for some that someone else was done with. The Korean bookstores here not having any English language books makes this little place our only option other than Amazon. And they very nicely deliver throughout the country. :) After we'd seen a bit of Itaewon we ended up taking the subway back to Yongsan to meet up with a couple more people who were coming on later trains and then went back to Itaewon so they could see it too. By this time it was afternoon and we'd been walking all morning, so we went to lunch- a nice little bibimbap restaurant- and then found a place where we could all stay for the night (after many many phone calls- must have been a busy weekend in Seoul!) We were all very glad to drop off our full backpacks that we'd been lugging around all day and felt better knowing we had a place to stay and wouldn't have to travel back home that night. Next we took a taxi over to Namsan where Seoul tower is. By this time there were enough of us that we had to take two taxis everywhere we went the rest of the weekend and Dan quickly took to hopping in the second cab, pointing dramatically and yelling out in his thick English accent 'follow that cab!' the rest of the weekend like we were on a perpetual car chase! It was pretty funny :) We had a nice long hike up the mountain to where the tower is (before discovering that there were cable cars that would have taken us up!) and then bought tickets to ride the elevator up the actual tower. I believe Seoul tower is the second tallest tower in Korea, but it's very famous for having amazing views of the city and has cities throughout the world painted on the windows so you can know which direction and how far away San Francisco or the South Pole is. (San Francisco is 9,040.09km away for anyone curious.) We looked at the incredible views for a little while, then took the cable cars back down the mountain and a taxi across the river to another little neighborhood that Frank remembered from his time when he was stationed in Seoul. Turns out he didn't remember it that well and we never found what he was looking for, but had wandered long enough that we decided to stop in a little Japanese restaurant for dinner. It was funny trying to order by picture and guess what we might end up with. Dan asked me what I was getting and I pointed to the picture and couldn't say- I was pretty sure it was either chicken or pork cutlet, turned out to be pork and was very tasty :) After dinner we headed back to Itaewon, spent some time at the bars there. It turns out Soju punch is never a good idea, but we had a lot of fun playing pool and hanging out together since (except for Dan and I who live in the same building) we are all in different towns most of the time and can only talk on facebook. We stayed out pretty late considering how early we'd all gotten up to catch buses and trains into the city, had a late night snack at one of the street stands, and headed back to our motel. The next morning was rough on everyone (again, Soju punch=liquid evil) so we slept in, walked around Itaewon a bit, then Frank went home, I stayed to try to find a sweater (no luck) and the rest went on to Insadong which I will have to see another time. I wanted to take an early bus home so I could get plenty of sleep and make sure my lessons were ready for the next morning.

This week at school was a crazy one. It was a short holiday week (this weekend is Chuseok- the Korean Thanksgiving) so the kids were all riled up, the Korean teachers were frazzled, and I was very very tired by the end- even being a short week. :) So, I changed my Chuseok plans, and instead of braving the very busy trains this weekend and heading to Daegu to visit friends, I decided to stay home, rest, and get ahead on my lesson plans. I was able to go out for dinner last night with some of the other EPIK teachers here in Sangju who I hadn't been able to spend much time with before. Jessica and Julian are a couple from South Africa who have been here a year already and are very nice (and informative!) and Scott and Sarah are another nice couple who I had met at orientation and then not run into again since we'd all moved here to Sangju. Turns out they live in the apartments across the street from me, so I think I'll be seeing much more of them now :) Dan has been going to yoga quite regularly with Kelsey (also in our building, she got here 6 months ahead of us and is a lot of fun to hang out with) and Sarah and I think we might start tagging along with them. And Sarah, Scott, and I might go hiking here in town this weekend since we've all decided to be lazy and stay here :D So, I think my 4-day weekend in my deserted town will turn out well after all.

Next weekend, I have plans to go to Pusan (a city in the South on the beach!) for their big International Film Festival. Still trying to pick through all the movies and see what looks good- and hoping tickets are still available. But we know enough people down there that we may be able to stay for free on someones floor, so I think that should be an exciting weekend. Then that next week I have a business trip to Gyeongju. Two days away from school and a sort of reunion of all of us EPIK teachers in the province, including many of the teachers that have been here longer than us. We're doing teacher training during the day, and it sounds like we'll be able to hang out at night which should be lots of fun. Gyeongju also has a number of cultural sites nearby, like the old silla palace and such so maybe we'll be able to site see some before coming back home or maybe I'll stay the weekend and take a train back.

All in all I'm keeping very busy, but having lots of fun. I miss everyone back home! And I'll try to post more pictures soon.