Weekends in Korea

Last weekend:

After getting paid, Andrew and I decided to go shopping for all the clothes and accessories and guitars we didn't bring to Korea with us. I got lots of clothes, and Andrew got a guitar which he's currently rocking. After shopping, we crossed the downtown river to the Land of Tiny Pets.



There is a street lined with pet stores, and each one looks pretty much the same. There are little glass cubicles lining the front windows with puppies galore. Many were sleeping, some were playing, but all were adorable. The stores themselves inside look like living rooms of homes, where puppies just go wherever they want. The employees inside all looked bored, either sitting on couches or chairs. We didn't go in, since Korean retailers have a propensity to surround you and hawk-eye you until you leave or buy something. There were also cats in big elaborate cages, but they were not next to the windows.

This weekend:

We kicked of Saturday with our academy's Sports Day. All four schools, Kumho Avalon (my school), Langcon English (Andrew's school), Bongsundong Avalon, and Reading Star, competed to win fabulous prizes.

(Unfortunately, there are no pictures, since we just figured out our camera is dual voltage and so the batteries just got charged.)

The day started off by us being shuttled on luscious tour buses which ajummas (old women) use for karaoke, complete with multi colored lights in the mirrored ceiling and a microphone that stretches throughout the bus. We were taken to a train village about 45 minutes away from where we live. It was a gorgeously sunny, but slightly chilly day. There were trains everywhere in the village, and pretty landscaping, and interesting statues. We were taken to an open area, and when we all lined up in our teams, a dancing display of fountain brilliance came out of the ground accompanied by some uplifting music. About 10 minutes later, we were moved to an adjacent open area because apparently, the music wasn't going to stop for another 30 minutes and no one could hear anything. Priceless.

Some highlights of the day:
Andrew and I and six other unlucky souls were made to drink vinegar to win points for our team. (No one felt quite so good in their stomachs after that).
Women's soccer proved that no one had any idea of what was going on save for maybe 2 people.
Andrew was one of only three out of about 50 people to kick a shoe into a bucket in a backpack on his back.
We were given a great Korean barbecue (which is only barbecued meat, without sauce).

By the end of the day, we were exhausted and passed out at around 10 pm.

Yesterday, we cleaned the apartment, did laundry, and went on a long hike to find Angel-in-Us iced tea. After we enjoyed our deliciously sweet tea, we took a walk around Pugnam reservoir.



It was such a beautiful day out. We then caught a bus to go to U-Square (the bus terminal and shopping area) on a mission to find me a new iShuffle or iPod, since I forgot the dock to my shuffle back in the states. We didn't get one, but I did get myself some fancy new shoes. We then explored E-Mart, eating all the samples in the food area. Yum! As it was at Target back home, we left with more than we intended to, so we got a fancy E-Mart tote to carry it all in.



We dropped our stuff of and checked the Internet for an English menu of a chain restaurant nearby: http://maryeats.com/2006/11/16/kimbap-nara-menu/

Finding this extremely useful, we went to try something new, and I found my new favorite food: DUMPLINGS! Mmmm... gogi mandu is what it is, and it's served with soy sauce, which makes everything taste delicious.

In conclusion, we had a great couple of weekends, and hopefully in 5 more days, we'll have another!