The Best Sunday Date

Being a Chungdahm instructor sometimes leaves you with very little free-time during the weekend. There are often special classes, IBT make-ups or you just get bad luck and get a schedule where you work every Saturday or Sunday. This term, I was blessed or lucky to have weekends off. This past weekend, I took advantage of the fantastic weather and had the best Sunday date ever.

Dave and I first had lunch at the 김밥천국 (Kimbap Chong Guk), the "McDonalds of Korea". It boasts a less than 5000 won menu of Korean favorites such as 라면 ("ramyeon" like ramen), 비빔밥 (bibimbap-rice with vegetables, ground beef and an fried egg on top), 김밥(kimbap-korean style sushi roll), or 더밥(deobap-dish with half rice and half spicy vegetables sauteed with a meat). Living in Korea, Korean food is abound. So sometimes, I go through spells of non-Korean diets. Getting over the pasta and sandwiches diet, I was craving dirty Korean food. We had jeyuk (pork) deobap, soon doo boo jjigye (tofu spicy soup with egg) and of course my favorite, kimchi mandu (steamed dumplings).

Kimbap Chong Guk

Overindulged and feeling increasing heartburn, we walked it off towards the subway stopping at the Krispy Kreme. Can anyone ever really walk past a Krispy Kreme and not want their famous Original Glazed Donuts? Almost tempted to buy two, we only bought one each and continued toward the subway. Going 30 minutes down line 4 to Yongsan, we played Trivial Pursuit on the ITouch. I highly recommend this game. I am personally not much of a gamer after my preteen years of sleepovers playing the Super Nintendo. I love trivia games, and with an ITouch, Trivial Pursuit and is not only fun, but easier with multiple choice. Arriving at Yongsan, I immediately noticed the new Zara store. There I bought a new red knit sweater for only 19,000 won. Still tired from our food coma, we stopped at the Mini Stop to grab some Starbucks Double Shot Espresso coffees to kick up our systems for the what the rest of the day had in store for us.

Yongsan Electronics Market

Walking outside of the Yongsan subway/train terminal is where we found the DVD tents. However, they were closed. We walked up and down peering into the windows wondering why the lights were still on and why old Korean men were sitting outside of them watching us intently. As I walked by again, one man said "TV show? Ten minutes. Police." That was enough English to get the message across. We headed into a warehouse looking building with numerous vendors selling PSPs, Nintendo DS, Wii, flash drives, cameras, computers, speakers, etc. On a mission, we came back after 10 minutes looking for the shady man that had talked to us. We found him and slipped him a piece of paper with "Gossip Girl Season 2", "Nip/Tuck Season 4", and "How I Met Your Mother Season 2" on it. He took it and told us to go in an alley and wait. As we waited, I envisioned snipers aiming at us copyright exploiting globalization pushers in their cross hairs. One of his partners came back and directed us to the now open DVD tents. We browsed through his binders of movie and TV DVD options. Paying only 2000 won per DVD, we left with 3 full seasons of our current favorites for only 28,000 won.

TV Season DVDs I'm Currently Into
Nip/Tuck, How I Met Your Mother & Gossip Girl

Exhausted from the heat and ready to go biking, we jumped into a 6000 won or 10 minute cab for Yeoido, the single island/park in the middle of the Han River that splits the city of Seoul. Seeing many people on bikes, we knew the bike rental place was close. We walked along the river towards the most cyclists. Finally, we asked a couple on a tandem bike taking pictures of themselves (typical). With choppy English, he directed us West. In only 5 minutes we found a tunnel full of bikers and walked in toward a beautiful green park. I mention "green" because actual grass is few and far between in Seoul. I asked a little girl having a difficult time going uphill in the most basic English (exclusion of articles of course), and she directed me "up". Moving forward, we came across a massive setup of bikes and Koreans nearly elbowing each other for them. Turns out that renting a bike for an hour is only 3000 won! We reached for 2 bikes and surprisingly, 2 foreign children (I'm guessing they are N. American) grabbed the bikes and said in the most spoiled voice, "Sorry, those are ours." Nothing could ruin our day. We turned around and took two other red bikes with baskets and set off for the river. We rode West for about 20 minutes until we found the last convenience store. We got drinks and sat by the river with our smashed Krispy Kremes and watched the river admiring our city. After, we went back East and rode 30 minutes until there were hardly any people and decided to go back to the bike rental since our hour was almost up.

Bike Rental & Biking Along the Han River

Red Bikes with Baskets on the Han River
Me & Dave

Statue of King Sejong & the Waving Korean Flag at Yeoido Park

People Watching at Yeoido Park
Dave & I

Flowers on the Yeoido Park Path & 63 Building Lobby

We then ventured into the Yeoido Park-the green one. It was the loveliest day walking around in the crisp cool air with the sun shining. We walked hand in hand observing the greenery, families, couples, and nappers. We walked upon a stone massage path and attempted to do a couple steps. With shoes in hand determined and on-lookers hearing mostly my screeching and "ouch's", we made it all the way around while another couple was doing the same behind us. Moving along the park, we encountered a huge concrete jungle of people. We sat down on a bench and observed basketball games, in-line skaters jumping boxes, and couples teaching each other how to skate without falling. We sat there eating 1/2 Chicken Sandwich from TGI Fridays I had the night before, and Dave, the adventurous eater eating Peanut Butter Squid. We took in the cool breeze, the sunlight, our delicious food, and the show of people. It was a glorious moment where we were taken away from Seoul's busyness, the constraint of working, and any kind of responsibility. It was a freeze frame of happiness making the most of our one free day of the week and admiring what is truly good.

After our meal and sitting for quite sometime, we ventured on through the park back towards the subway station. We stopped to take pictures at the massive statue of King Sejong, Korea's "George Washington". Finally out of the park with the sun setting, we knew we weren't ready to go back yet. We walked to the 63 Building, Seoul's highest building and 2nd tallest point after Namsan Tower. We had to keep this epic day going by enjoying a beautiful sunset on our city. We paid 12,000 won to go up to the highest point we could, the 60th floor to the Sky Art Museum. Although the museum had beatiful paintings of flowers and gardens, what was more beautiful was watching the red hot sun disappear into the night over the Seoul skyline. The Seoul sky was vibrant with strokes of purples, reds, oranges, and yellows on a blue canvas. It was like the live form of the paintings we saw in the gallery. What was more beautiful was that I was sharing this moment with someone special holding me as we thought about nothing and only admired this expression of love and beauty.

Sunset Overlooking Seoul at 63 Building

On our way out, we stopped at the 63 Building Bakery and ate blueberry cheesecake. With our long subway ride home and content bellies of cheesecake goodness, we knew that this day was still not over. We weren't hungry then, but knew we would be by the time we got home. We decided to make dinner rather than go out. As any couple knows, going out to dinner is very nice, but being able to make dinner together with wine at your side can't be beat. We stopped at Paris Baguette to grab a baguette on the way to the supermarket. Being teachers in a country where it is cheaper to eat out then cook, our fridges had very few select items; one being pesto! I'm not chef, but when I cook, I try to make something better each time I make it. Determined to make pesto pasta, we decided to buy chicken to make it better. Luckily, we bought a whole chicken for 4,500 won! We went up to the butcher and said "chi-kin". With my hand chopping motions and constant head nods and "neh's" (meaning "yes"), he understood exactly what I wanted. Taking less than an hour, we made the best meal ever. For an appetizer: bruschetta (tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar) and salad (lettuce, black olives, garlic croutons, green pepper and oriental dressing). For the main course: garlic chicken pesto pasta topped with parmesan and coupled with a glass of red Cabernet-Shiraz. We enjoyed this overloaded meal watching World's Greatest Dad, a new movie with Robin Williams highly recommended by our co-worker Byron who claims it is the most evil dark comedy ever made.

Sunday Date Dinner
Garlic Chicken Pesto Pasta, Salad, Bruschetta, & Wine

It's not often that I can get away from responsibility and just have an enjoyable relaxing day. Furthermore, it's not often that I can spend a full day of activities with someone special. We could have done the typical dinner and movie date or even worst, stay in. Being a young person constantly pressured by my future, I often take for granted the simplest things in life; good weather, good food, and good laughs. This day embraced all of these things and was truly the best Sunday date.

Lotte World: "The Happiest Place"...in Korea

Lotte World Theme Park (Outdoors Area)

As an avid traveler, I'm always intrigued by articles that describe the best beaches to visit, the ever categorized seven wonders of the world, or the most popular or religious or historical places, etc. As an American and ethnocentric or americentric (just kidding) I figured that the most visited country would be the United States. However, according to the World Tourism Organization, the most visited countries are in order France, Spain, United States, China, and Italy. Surprisingly, the most popular places are mostly child or entertainment centered such as theme parks namely the various Disney World's that dot the globe.

According to an Indian blog I ran into, I was surprised to find out South Korea boasts 2 places that are part of "The 50 Most Visited Places in the World"; Everland (16) --tied with Paris' Louvre Museum! and Lotte World (22) --South Korea's most visited attraction and the world's largest indoor theme park.

http://www.itvnews.tv/Blog/Blog/the-50-most-visited-places.html

Intrigued by this news and the constant reminder from my students of how wonderful these places are, I decided to join Dave and his Korean friends Jae Won & Yuri to venture into the wonder and chaos of Lotte World.

Lotte World Theme Park (Indoors Area)

On a Friday night, Dave received numerous phone calls and texts from Jae Won constantly reminding us that we were going to meet at 9am in Jamsil Station (45 minutes away from Nowon) where Lotte World is located. These constant reminders were met with disappointment since Hagwon teachers are night creatures often waking up after noon. He wanted us to get there early because 9am is when Lotte World opens and Saturday happens to be the busiest day leaving customers waiting in line for 30 min to an hour just to enter. We ended up meeting Jae Won and Yuri around noon. Luckily, we only had to wait about 30 minutes to get entry passes. We even got a foreigner discount. Maybe Korea is picking up on the idea that foreigners are increasingly everywhere and that we should all enjoy Korea's highlights together as opposed to tucking us away in Itaewon (foreigner district).

Dave had been to Lotte World before and wasn't as shocked as I was upon entering what looked like the Magic Castle of Disney World. To get from the ticketing gate, we had to walk through what looked like a mall and ice rink. This was just the beginning. Inside the actual theme park was first an indoor replica of Indiana Jones meets Egypt and Alice in Wonderland. There were caverns, gardens, and a haunted house. Above were hot air balloons circulating the indoor arena of roller coasters, stuffed animal tent challenges, and Dippin' Dots stands a plenty. From inside to outside, you could ride the tram or go through the walkway that leads to the "magic castle". As we walked outside, the park greeted us with an overwhelming scene of families and couples taking pictures of themselves and insane queues at each ride.

According to my students and friends, I had to ride the Gyro Swing. It is a ride that looks like a disc with seats all around it. It moved in a circle and side to side bringing you to the top of its swing and also to the bottom facing any direction at anytime. This was the 2nd most popular ride in Lotte World after The Atlantis, an indoor and outdoor roller coaster. We met up with Jae Won and Yuri who had been waiting at the Gyro Swing for over 45 minutes and were still 45 minutes from actually riding. At each ride were 2 lines; the regular hour and a half line or the speedy line where you pick up a ticket that instructed you to come back in between a specific 2 hour frame to get back into the speedy line. We joined Jae Won and Yuri cutting many other people who had been there for over 45 minutes. One great thing about being a foreigner is that you can pull the foreigner card and no one can get mad at you, but I'm sure cutting in line translates very well. Unfortunately, we didn't get to ride the Atlantis because they stopped the speedy line when we were 20 people away from it. We rode two other rides whose queues were 30-45 minutes. The wave ride was a kiddy ride (a bar of people going up and down pretty slowly to simulate a wave) that actually broke down while we were in mid air. The last ride I rode was the Gyro Drop, a needle that dropped you from the top, but shot you back up rubber band style and dropped you again over and over till you slowed down to a stop. These dropping rides are my favorite because I love the feeling of surprise I get from not knowing when the ride is going to drop me.

After these 3 rides, we didn't ride anything else. Exhausted from waiting in line and filling up on sausages, fries, and smoothies, I was ready to go inside and just look around the indoor park. Surprisingly, the longest wait we had was for the tram which looked empty every time I looked up from waiting in line and saw it go by. In total, we stayed at the park from 11am to 6pm and rode 4 rides. Although it was a good day to hang out with our Korean friends Jae Won and Yuri and finally experience what my students anticipate during their vacations, once was enough. Maybe the next time I go, I'll have to go on a school day in the Winter when I know the lines won't be over an hour wait.

Being Silly in Line Wearing Devil Ears

Animal Ears are Very Popular to Wear Around the Park
Yuri, Me, & Dave

Couple Tees?

Dave & I & Yuri & Jae Won

Waiting in Line Thirsty & Too Cool in Shades

Me, Yuri, & Jae Won & Dave & Jae Won

Waiting for Entry Passes & Entrance to Lotte World Outside

Waiting Over an Hour for Gyro Swing & Lunch

So Korean: Sporting the Devil Ears

Dave & I

Boryeong Mud Festival

Official Event Flyer for Annual Boryeong Mud Festival

I arrived about one year ago. Unfortunately, the week before I arrived, the annual Boryeong Mud Festival was in full swing and many of my new co-workers spoke only about their wild and crazy experience at the mudslinging festival. I vowed that this time next year I would be there and so it was...

There are two weekends dedicated to this festival. My friends and I went the 2nd weekend. I was a bit sad because I wasn't the one who planned it. I thought all of the hype would be dedicated to the first weekend and that the second weekend would be the bare leftovers. However, torrential rains ruined the first weekend, although I'm sure many people still had a ridiculous time. Luckily, the second weekend experienced very little rain during Saturday and was gorgeous on Sunday.

Thanks to Mike Santos, who organized everything from bus pick-up to hotel accomodations, we only had to transfer money and were on our way. We were picked up by a charter bus in Itaewon (foreigner district in Seoul). Looking around the bus, I saw versions of me and my friends. We were all foreigners searching for the "best of" and taking advantage of what Korea was offering at the moment; mud, beach, and booze.

Three hours later around 2pm, we arrived in Boryeong, the city host of the mud festival located at Daecheon Beach. Thankfully, our hotel--really love motel (hourly/daily rooms available for you can guess what). There are no beds, but there are "yo's"--traditional Korean mattress. As any packed foreigner directed event, we ran into some complications. For instance, our room was already filled with 5 other foreigners. With Julie's firm Korean, the hotel manager gave us a better and bigger room. Unknowingly, we were in the same hotel as my other training friends. The foreigner community is surprisingly really small. At major foreigner events or foreigner concentrated areas (Hongdae, Gangnam, or Itaewon), you are bound to run into someone you know.

Ready to get the day started, we began with a meal of mandu and kimbap. Then, we hurried to the main area filled with blow up slides, pits, cages, and wash-off showers. We ran into yet another friend of mine; Jessie & SLP (her academy) friends. Samantha, who had rode the bus with us motioned us over asking if we've tried anything. "Let me show you the way." We pushed us into a "mud prison" where workers threw buckets of mud at us. Best initiation I ever had! Worried for my contacts, I rushed over to the wash-off showers. Next, we went down to the beach where there were mud painting set-ups. Then, we went for the mud pits. Somehow, by the end of the day, with beers & long islands in tote, we lost our friends! Dave Fallarme, Dave Beliveau, and I went to the colored paint tent and were covered with colored mud; orange, blue, and green respectively. Unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures because Julie and Mike had the camera. Although we lost our original group, I found more of the SLP crowd who found the culprit of the weekend, long island iced teas in a bag for only 3000 won! One bag and I was done. From various friends retelling the story, I apparently tried to attack my friend Sam for a hug, fell in the bath tub, and then passed out for 4 hours. When I woke up, I couldn't drink anymore and just wanted fried food and pizza.

For the rest of the night, it rained heavily. The rain didn't get us down because we still managed to get to the noraebang (karaoke room). However, the next day was absolutely gorgeous. It was really hot and sunny. We decided to stay clean on Sunday and just enjoy the beach. We all got bratwursts that Dave and Dave had apparently eaten while I was blacked-out. We ran into all the friends we had seen the day before laughing about yesterday's antics. By 3pm, we were back on the bus to Seoul. Boryeong Mud Festival--Check!

Boryeong City & Daecheon Beach



Group Muddy Shots: Awesome & Sexy Poses
Dave, Julie, Michael, Me & Dave

Waiting in Line for the Mud Pit & Dave to Get Dunked

Super Muddy & Lovin' It!

The Dave's & Me

Passed Out & the Orange Mud Man