DongdaeMun, Parades, Meokgoli and More!
5/10 Sunday:
Sunday was an inside day for Taylor and I, walking Grimm, writing, cleaning. And watching Grimm defend our home from a big, bad bug.
5/11 Monday:
Finally! After over two and a half months in this new country Taylor and I got our ARC cards (residency) and our Korean phones! I chose the iPhone 6 and Taylor opted for a Galaxy 6! So our Monday was basically just getting up early, going back to the immigration office, picking up our cards, going to Itaewon for phones...and then being an hour late to work because our taxi driver thought we said Juang, not Jungnang-Gu :O
Luckily, our awesome coworkers covered for us and we all still have our jobs, but I have never felt quite so stressed and sick in the backseat of a cab as we rolled up to DOCS halfway through when all of our first kindie classes of the day had already begun...
After work, and once my pulse had slowed back to a normal rate that can sustain life, Caroline, Danella and I went back to Itaewon (since our phones were still being set up), picked up our shiny new toys (and Taylor's) and went for some traditional American fare at Sin Bin as we waited for Tay. (Sin Bin is a western restaurant that has a great Monday special, boneless wings, that I believe will be the new tradition of Mondays)
I get out of work earlier than Taylor on Mondays, so I can go to Itaewon, go to the foreign food mart (High Street Market) while listening to music and take my time buying jalapeno kettle chips, ranch dressing and mac'n'cheese before moseying over to Sin Bin for wings, at which point Taylor will be present. Some of the other teachers get out on Mondays the same time as either Taylor or I, so hopefully this can become a co-people bonding time.
5/12 Tuesday & Wednesday 5/13:
I have no pictures in my phone for these days, nor any Facebook updates...so I will assume that they were normal working days, where Taylor and I spent much too much time setting up, petting and playing on our phones, and that Laura teacher and I went to a local cafe and worked on our writing in the evenings, which has become our plan whenever we don't have plans, and one I am very fond of. Also, I'm sure Taylor and I watched Game of Thrones and were utterly disgusted but still hooked on the show at some point one of these two days, and probably ate pizza or gimbap. So...moving on...
5/14 Thursday:
And quick selca with Jennifer Tr and I..
5/15 Friday:
Teacher's Day! The day all the kids are extra sweet and cute and sometimes come bearing gifts! (candy, perfume, flowers, gift cards, lotions, cards and notes, ect). Taylor and I made out like bandits and felt very grateful, loved and appreciated after the long work day ending the week :) Here are some of my spoils...
Next up...dinner! We were feelings like chicken, so KFC called to us and we found the little gem above: the Double Down Zinger Maxx...aka death that tastes like pure joy! It houses a fried chicken breast, ham, cheese, potato (think McDonald's hash brown), bacon, sauce and then another fried chicken breast to cap the other end. Whole lot of protein (52g), whole lot of calories (742), whole lot of fat (37g)...but very few carbs (18g)...relatively speaking. It is only available in South Korea though, so I apologize if your mouth is watering to try one of these beauties.
We then went shopping, though not before we stumbled upon some old surrounded by new, again.
In case the pictures didn't show it accurately enough, there are about five mega malls (think, River Town Crossing size and bigger) in about a 10 block area :O
And our night was a success...Taylor found some nice khaki pants and a dress shirt, and I found some running shoes (in my size!) and we went home around 3:00 am. No complaints here!
But also, DongDaeMun has a 'culture park', art exhibits and some fantastic architecture! Even at night I got some great shots!
And on our walk to find a taxi...
A beautiful temple...palace...? We weren't sure, but it was certainly pretty to look at.
5/16 Saturday:
Back to Insadong on Saturday for Buddah's Birthday parade!
Laura, Caroline, Taylor and I went out around noon, seeing the sights, eating the foods (flower ice cream) and enjoying the festive atmosphere. What a beautiful day!
And because what is a day in Seoul without getting lost, here are some awesome buildings we found as we wandered! Above and below are across the street from each other...mixing old and new again, Seoul!
Then a very nice Imo ('auntie' or older woman who is nice) offered to take some photos for us in front of the beautiful buildings. I am continually surprised by how kind people are here.
Much needed refreshment, with my Cargo-clan ring
How the lanterns look from above...
Absolutely beautiful! And with great company and great weather too! But the parade wasn't at the temple, so after our sightseeing-tourist-time was over we headed back to the meeting point for a group event to watch the parade.
It was a little long for my and Tay's tastes (about 4 hours), but it certainly was neat to see! Afterwards we went with a large group (Danella's Couch Surfing friends) our to eat and drink...
We went to a place underground (think cellar but slightly less livable) with no name and no menus who make their own Meokgoli (rice wine type thing). We then (because we had a very large group) drank them dry of beer, soju AND Meokgoli and had to move on to a new spot. I never thought I'd be able to say that, but we actually made a restaurant (though I use the term loosely here) close because we drank everything they had. Pretty cool, in a 'this will never happen again' kind of way.
And yes, the entire place was full of basically just our group of (mainly) foreigners. And in case the large bowls are baffling you, Meokgoli is drank from metal bowls and is kind of milky looking. Not my favorite, but not terrible either.
After the place with no name, we went to Hongdae for some dancing, before heading home in little groups via taxi around 3am. Weekends here are exhausting! :)
But now another week is caught up, and I assure you, there is more to come from my Seoul adventures!
All of my love...oh and the below...
To end the post, here is some young love between our kindie kids (picture credits to Jennifer Tr)
Until next time,
Tea
5/11 Monday:
Finally! After over two and a half months in this new country Taylor and I got our ARC cards (residency) and our Korean phones! I chose the iPhone 6 and Taylor opted for a Galaxy 6! So our Monday was basically just getting up early, going back to the immigration office, picking up our cards, going to Itaewon for phones...and then being an hour late to work because our taxi driver thought we said Juang, not Jungnang-Gu :O
Luckily, our awesome coworkers covered for us and we all still have our jobs, but I have never felt quite so stressed and sick in the backseat of a cab as we rolled up to DOCS halfway through when all of our first kindie classes of the day had already begun...
After work, and once my pulse had slowed back to a normal rate that can sustain life, Caroline, Danella and I went back to Itaewon (since our phones were still being set up), picked up our shiny new toys (and Taylor's) and went for some traditional American fare at Sin Bin as we waited for Tay. (Sin Bin is a western restaurant that has a great Monday special, boneless wings, that I believe will be the new tradition of Mondays)
I get out of work earlier than Taylor on Mondays, so I can go to Itaewon, go to the foreign food mart (High Street Market) while listening to music and take my time buying jalapeno kettle chips, ranch dressing and mac'n'cheese before moseying over to Sin Bin for wings, at which point Taylor will be present. Some of the other teachers get out on Mondays the same time as either Taylor or I, so hopefully this can become a co-people bonding time.
5/12 Tuesday & Wednesday 5/13:
I have no pictures in my phone for these days, nor any Facebook updates...so I will assume that they were normal working days, where Taylor and I spent much too much time setting up, petting and playing on our phones, and that Laura teacher and I went to a local cafe and worked on our writing in the evenings, which has become our plan whenever we don't have plans, and one I am very fond of. Also, I'm sure Taylor and I watched Game of Thrones and were utterly disgusted but still hooked on the show at some point one of these two days, and probably ate pizza or gimbap. So...moving on...
5/14 Thursday:
My students are fantastic artists (kindie)
After class though, as is becoming a normal event on Thursdays, Haley Tr, Jennifer Tr, Shannon Tr and Taylor, Aaron, and myself went out for dinner and dessert after work, since we all leave at the same time. This time we went to Anam for noodles. At the particular place above, you pay one price for any size...but you are expected to finish it. Taylor was quite hungry...and ordered the large.
And yes, he did finish it :P
Churros are the dessert of choice usually. Later the girls dragged the guys to a makeup shop before going to Beer Barket which is a self serve spot along the main street of Anam (along with the chain gracing many other Gus in Seoul), where we enjoyed a foreign beer before heading home. Also, 5/14 is rose day, so there were many flower street-vendors, and Taylor was a sweetheart and surprised me with a rose. Feel free to 'aww', I know I did.
5/15 Friday:
Teacher's Day! The day all the kids are extra sweet and cute and sometimes come bearing gifts! (candy, perfume, flowers, gift cards, lotions, cards and notes, ect). Taylor and I made out like bandits and felt very grateful, loved and appreciated after the long work day ending the week :) Here are some of my spoils...
And yes, the note says 'Dear Tierney Tr, thank to teacher'
I teach the kids, not the parents :P
After our lovely work day, it was my turn for a date night, and since Taylor and I usually have such a difficult time finding places that are open after we get out of work and subway to the destination, I decided to go a different route...DongDaeMun night markets! A place where the malls are open all night and some shops are ONLY open at night. But first, I treated Taylor and I to a kiwi juice and a strawberry juice which he decided was better together :P
And another reason the fast food industry in Seoul trumps GR...delivery
And our night was a success...Taylor found some nice khaki pants and a dress shirt, and I found some running shoes (in my size!) and we went home around 3:00 am. No complaints here!
But also, DongDaeMun has a 'culture park', art exhibits and some fantastic architecture! Even at night I got some great shots!
Thousands of LED roses...to be lit up during the rose festival in June.
And on our walk to find a taxi...
Unfortunately these weren't so nice to see...ick! No idea what they are though, and frankly...I don't want to know, but it gives my fear of the ocean some sturdy grounding.
5/16 Saturday:
Laura, Caroline, Taylor and I went out around noon, seeing the sights, eating the foods (flower ice cream) and enjoying the festive atmosphere. What a beautiful day!
A pretty river we also found...as we wandered...
And finally! Back to the temple, Jogyesa!
Absolutely beautiful! And with great company and great weather too! But the parade wasn't at the temple, so after our sightseeing-tourist-time was over we headed back to the meeting point for a group event to watch the parade.
We went to a place underground (think cellar but slightly less livable) with no name and no menus who make their own Meokgoli (rice wine type thing). We then (because we had a very large group) drank them dry of beer, soju AND Meokgoli and had to move on to a new spot. I never thought I'd be able to say that, but we actually made a restaurant (though I use the term loosely here) close because we drank everything they had. Pretty cool, in a 'this will never happen again' kind of way.
After the place with no name, we went to Hongdae for some dancing, before heading home in little groups via taxi around 3am. Weekends here are exhausting! :)
But now another week is caught up, and I assure you, there is more to come from my Seoul adventures!
All of my love...oh and the below...
Until next time,
Tea
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