Concerning a fabulous start to February

OK. So it's time to move on from that last post....all I can say is that I can't vouch for what weird thoughts move through my head in the late night hours and I refuse to erase it as, for better or worse, it's part of my record of Korea. As for this week, not too shabby. The best development by far is my schedule- no more toiling away until 7 pm mondays, wednesdays and fridays for me and an extra class in the morning. No, my friend, intensives are done and its glorious sunset has ushered in a new era of 5:30 finishes. Aaaaaah, the bliss. The other night, I got home, washed the mountain of dishes in my sink, cooked dinner (ramen with tofu, egg, and vegetables- one of my staples here), ate, watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp (loved his expressions but didn't think it looked as lucsious and edible as the old version), took a bath, read AND went to bed early. Yay down time. I also had a great weekend- Level Eks went to my favorite mandu shop and I am now finally adept at ordering. Kogi jin mandu ju seyo! (Not to be confused with kogi yaki mandu ju seyo which, though the result is fried instead of steamed, is also delicious if procured form the 24 hr Chinese place 4 blocks from my appt). Spelling very well may be wrong on that but whatever, Korean and I have a rather phonetic relationship. Woohoo. I was pretty sleepy during the discussion but I made plans to go shopping for a true Asian LV fake with my unni Ella next weekend.

Saturday, I went to the gym and lounged for way too long after my shower watching bad TV but it was delicious. I met my Whitman friend Reese again for what turned to be a pretty epic night. 7 pm galbi in Yuseong by Choongnam University (maybe 15 or 20 minute taxi ride from my place) where he introduced me to somec (soju and mecju) which is basically Korea's version of a sake/jaegger/Irish car bomb. Pretty good. 8:30ish we decided we were really in the mood for a walk, or rather I did and Reese gamely tagged along. We walked and walked and walked and walked and walked up the river to Expo Bridge (past the turn off for my apartment). On the way, we stopped at a random cafe with gingersnapish cookies and had hot chocolate and beer and then finally went to tackle the bridge....which was not lit. The first time I walked over it, it was waay too early to see the pretty lights as it was day. The second time I did it, it was too late but to be fair, it was only maybe 11:30. We still walked over and enjoyed. 12:00 we wandered around this random, giant, cement park behind the Art Center which is one of the huge open spaces that disconcerts me in its sheer size (same as the whole apartment scale issue- it's impossible to not feel dwarfed). It was really cold and really quiet except for the ambient rush of the surrounding city, I liked seeing it entirely deserted. 12:30 we hung out in my apartment and discussed random things including which eye you look at when talking with another person and Reese's complete inability to throw a gummy teddy bear against a mirror. 3:30 I threw in the towel.

Sunday I went grocery shopping and then met Chad to venture into Yuseong in search of Subway...only to find it was moving to a new location and not repoening until March. There went all of my fantasies of turkey, olives, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, onion, lettuce, good bread, light mayo and mustard. Thwarted, we went back to our dong (neighborhood. Yes, I still laugh like a 12 year old boy every time I say it) and had to try FOUR fried chicken places before one was open. Come on Korea! 2 pm on a sunday! You can do this! We got delivery and eventually dined on some questionable chicken (as much as I love meat I can be a total snob about it), cheese sticks and fries. The delivery guy returned about an hour later with sunglasses that I'd left in the store. Let me remind you, tipping is practically forbidden here, this was just entirely to be nice and because he remembered my address. Korean cheong (see last post), I love you. While eating, we feasted our eyes on about 5 episodes of Glee. Over the course of the afternoon, I also tried my hand at chicken noodle soup. Flavor? Delicious. Carrots? Perfectly cooked. Meat? Juicy, if slightly too shredded. Consistency? Casserole. I unfortunately picked a really greedy brand of pasta that completely stole the broth right from under my nose. Well, it still tasted good. I went to bed very full and very happy.

Love!

B