Jeju Island

One of the big items on my to-do list in Korea was visiting Jeju-do. It's considered one of the most beautiful parts of Korea and has fantastic beaches. Unfortunately, the only practical way to get there is by plane. Sure, there's a ferry, but by the time I arrived I would have to turn right back around. I put it off as something I would try to do eventually, since whenever I looked plane tickets seemed to hover around $300.

I was looking at what to do over my summer break (since 3 days in the US was not sufficient for the effort it would take to get there), and decided to look at prices for Jeju flights just to take a break from figuring out my trip to Japan. (Yup, stay tuned, I'm going to Okinawa.) With Coupang, the Korean equivalent of Groupon, my coworker and I found tickets for...drumroll..$116.

Done.

Ideally we would have gone over Memorial Day weekend since it was three days instead of two, but we would have had to pay quite a bit more. We decided on the next weekend instead.

Instead of trying to find a hotel, we decided to crash in saunas. It ended up giving us more flexibility - we decided at the last minute to switch up our itinerary and stay the first night in Seogwipo instead of Jeju-si. It was also significantly cheaper: less than 10 dollars a night each. Granted, we were sleeping on the floor in a community area, but that's nothing new to us. Saunas are our friends. (LonelyPlanet has a lovely guide to Korean bathhouses/saunas that might give a clearer idea of why this is a good budget accommodation.)

Day 1: Going to Jeju!

I have Korean classes every Saturday and Sunday from 9-2. Fortunately, our flight left at 5pm, so I didn't have to miss Saturday's class. As soon as class was over, I booked it out of there and went straight to the airport. I'd never gone through Gimpo before, so I was very curious how different it would be from Incheon.  It definitely has the feel of a smaller airport, but checking in and getting through security was really fast. (Side note: not having to take off your shoes at the airport is wonderful. I've never had to take off my shoes anywhere but the US.) On top of that, since it was a domestic flight, I was a little excited that I could get on a flight without my passport for the first time in years. Obviously I still brought it just in case, but I ended up only ever needing my Korean ID.

Along with many other firsts, this was my first experience with a budget airline. We flew with Jin Air, and I was pretty impressed. Check-in was quick and easy, we got nice seats (you don't get to choose in advance), and everything was clearly marked. Our flight did get delayed by about half an hour, but that was no big deal. There was no screen on the back of the seat in front of me, but unless I'm on a flight that's longer than 6 hours I hardly use that anyway. What I think I liked best, though, was that it felt very relaxed and casual, yet still professional. The Jin Air employees all wore uniform polos or button down shirts with nice jeans and Converse (high tops, of course), and they were all very nice and helpful. I was actually disappointed when our return flight got canceled and we were moved to a Korean Air flight. (Korean Air is Jin Air's parent company and is known for being all-around excellent.)

After we landed in Jeju, we had no checked luggage so we went straight for the bus. The first bus was easy. The second one we waited for took a bit, but it wasn't too bad. The third bus....well, the third bus never showed up. According to the tables we found online, we figured there would have been one or two more buses that were going to the "station" (post on the side of the road) where we got off. Nooope. We sat there for an hour before deciding to just hail a taxi to take us to the sauna.


Day 2: Adventure day!

We got up at 5 a.m., got ready, and left by about 6ish. We caught a bus to the first destination: 천지연폭포/Cheonjiyeon Waterfall. I'm pretty sure that this bus and the first bus we took from the airport were the only ones we didn't have to wait forever for on this trip.

At the waterfall park entrance, we had our first encounter with the dol hareubang (돌 하르방): the famous "stone grandfather" statues.

People say the hats are supposed to look like mushrooms. Yeah...mushrooms. Right.

It was drizzling, so the park was practically empty. There was a small stream with beautifully clear water, and the waterfall at the end was gorgeous. I really wanted to go swimming, but we were short on time (plus I don't think swimming is allowed there, even though I didn't see any signs). My coworker wanted to jump off the top, but I'm not quite brave enough to want to try something that daring. We ended up agreeing that it would be a bad idea, though - the water at the bottom was probably too shallow.

Next stop was Jusangjeolli Cliff (주상절리). It was a long bus ride followed by a bit of a walk to the ticket booth, but once we actually got to see the cliffs...man, it was worth it. The water was a gorgeous emerald color, and the dark color of the volcanic rocks made it pop even more. At first there were just average volcanic cliffs with beautiful water...

...but then we got around the bend in the path and saw what we had come for. Somehow the lava here had naturally formed into hexagons.

Look at that water. Absolutely gorgeous.

I wish there had been a little more space where we could stand and look. Even on a cool, overcast Sunday with near-constant mist/drizzle, there were quite a few people competing for space next to the railings.

After that, it was off to 만장굴 - the lava tubes! We made the long walk back to the bus stop, where we caught the first of three buses we intended to take. Our planned route had us going (roughly) clockwise around the island, from the cliffs to Seogwipo City, from there to Jeju City, and then from Jeju City to the lava tubes. We were the only two people on the bus when we first got on, so the bus driver asked where we were going. I told him, he asked how we were getting there, and he insisted that there must be a faster route. He then proceeded to call the Jeju Island information center, ask them for a better route, and then after the phone call he forwarded me the text message they sent him with directions. We thanked him and took the new route, but halfway through the insanely long bus ride we realized it was a counterclockwise route that had us going for nearly three hours on the same bus. I had deliberately planned on avoiding that route simply because we would be spending so long sitting on the same bus. Oh well.

We finally got off the bus after what felt like forever, and we walked 2km to the lava tubes. Once we got there, we discovered that there were lockers where we could store our backpacks. Score! Then we went down into the cave. As soon as we went below ground level, the temperature dropped dramatically and I found myself wishing for the jacket I left back home in Seoul. It was pretty cool to see all the different parts of the cave and read about how they formed.

This was once an underground river of lava.

Leaving the lava tubes was the biggest bus SNAFU of the whole trip, and that includes the bus that never arrived. We missed the bus to Jeju City by about 5 minutes, and we had to wait an hour for the next one. While we waited, a dude in an OSU shirt walked by and we chatted for a bit before he grabbed a taxi. We thought we were the smart ones for fending off the pushy taxi drivers. The bus finally got there...and it didn't go where we needed it to go. Whaaa? Apparently all the buses with the same number don't actually go the same route. The driver said he would drop us where we needed to transfer, so we figured that would be the end of it. Nope. We had to wait another hour at that stop as well, and we spent a decent chunk of that time trying to figure out if it was even going to show up.

Lesson learned: Jeju buses are ridiculous. You might think you have them all figured out, but that is a lie.

Eventually,after quite a bit of effort, we made it to Jeju City, sat in a Starbucks and charged our phones for a while, and then made our way to that night's sauna for dinner and relaxing.

Day 3: Going home

We thought we woke up in plenty of time to walk to the airport, but we ended up catching a taxi halfway through because we realized there was no way we would be able to walk there in time. Oh well, no big deal. The person at the check-in counter had trouble with our names and how they were processed in the system, but in the end we got our tickets without too much extra trouble. Then we saw the line to check the tickets. Not get through security, just go from the ticketing area to the place where we would go through security. There were probably three different massive travel groups ahead of us, and we started to worry that we might be cutting it close.

We got in line, and I finally learned firsthand why Chinese tourists have a bad reputation. We were waiting in line between the poles and ropes, just like any other reasonable and rule-abiding travelers. The line was double-file, but there was a little space on either side because nobody likes to be squished up against the boundaries and/or other people. Instead of waiting in line properly, a huge Chinese tour group starts pushing through the line. There was space to move? They took it. An orderly line became total anarchy. I ended up getting death stares from an old grandma because I wasn't letting her pass, and then returning those death stares when she eventually managed to barge past me.

Eventually we made it through the line and through security. I picked up a quick breakfast at a convenience store and we waited at the gate. Soon we were joined by a large group of deaf Chinese tourists. The language nerd in me was really excited because sign languages are fascinating and I got to see a non-English one being used in real life and not videos.  On top of that, I figured the previous group must have been the odd group of rude people, so this group was probably much nicer and knew how to queue properly. HA, wrong. Once it was time to board the plane, they were worse than the first group. There was an older Korean family in front of us (in the LINE where you are supposed to WAIT YOUR TURN because that is how queues WORK) and they actually turned around and made a great effort to convey to us that the people being rude were not Korean and this was not how Koreans acted. Seriously, how rude do you have to be to cause locals to turn and try to make sure foreigners don't look at their country poorly because of your behavior?  I'm sure not all Chinese people act like this when they travel, but still, geez...

Despite the delayed flight, my coworker and I still made it back to Seoul in enough time to drop our things at home, change, and relax for a little bit before heading in to work to teach at 1:00. Another nice thing about flying in and out of Gimpo is that it's actually in the city of Seoul and not an hour away in Incheon.

Overall, I had a lot of fun on Jeju Island. I definitely want to go back sometime and actually experience the beaches (and some nice weather), but I don't think I want to rely solely on buses again. That was a nightmare.  My experience with a budget airline was also a pleasant surprise, and I'm much less antsy about my upcoming budget airline flight to Okinawa.

'Tis the season for...beverages.

I've posted a lot about food, but I haven't really talked about drinks much on here. I've been on the search for specific things recently, so I might as well write about it.

Alcohol here is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, soju is everywhere and it's pretty inexpensive. On the other hand, have fun finding something stronger than beer that isn't soju. There are fun flavors that are popular right now, but it's like flavored vodka - everyone defaults to the original.  I know stores where I can find vodka and Kahlua, but I have yet to find spiced rum. Maybe one day I will find Sailor Jerry on a shelf and do a happy dance in the middle of the store. One day.

Beer is...well, I don't care much for beer, so it probably says something for how tasteless it is that I can drink Korean beer without any problem whatsoever. In most places, you can find Japanese beers and possibly a couple American and German options alongside the Korean ones. Sometimes you'll even see Guinness, but that's much less common.

Cider is starting to pick up in popularity, albeit very slowly. I've seen Strongbow and Somersby's in a couple marts and convenience stores, but very few. I've been missing Angry Orchard like mad and thought it would a long time before I could have it again, but apparently Korea started importing it in August. I never would have known if a friend of a friend hadn't stumbled across it. My friend remembered the name because I've been constantly mentioning how much I miss it, so she immediately told me.

What did I do? I went out on an adventure with nothing but vague directions, high hopes, and a picture of the bottle my friend had received from her friends and passed on to me. (I drank it before leaving. I couldn't resist. Who cares if it's 2 p.m. here? It's midnight back in Ohio.)

I had two destinations in mind. The first was an import beer shop in Hongdae that I found on Naver, which is basically Korean Google. I didn't know if they would have what I wanted, but since it was waaaay closer than the other one, it was worth a shot.  The second was an unnamed craft beer/import beer shop somewhere in the French area of Seoul. I didn't even know there was a French area of Seoul.

The Hongdae shop was pretty easy to find, but it was tiny. Itty bitty. They had individual bottles for sale of various different beers, and I was surprised how many I actually recognized. They only had one cider, but it was the one I was looking for. Victory!

On to the mystery shop. The people who originally found the cider remembered the area of town the shop was in, but nothing beyond that. Luckily for me, it's not a huge area. I didn't even have to walk down the main street for very long before I caught sight of a sign for craft beer, and it turned out to have exactly what I was looking for. This was a combination bar/shop, and the shop area wasn't much bigger than the one in Hongdae. They also only sold by the bottle, but they had a lot more variety (and a lot more of each). Their Angry Orchard was slightly more expensive than the Hongdae shop, so I picked up a couple ciders that I haven't tried before instead.  I had no idea if it was good or not, but there was a deal where I got a free glass if I bought two bottles of it, so I figured I might as well.

So, all in all, it was a productive adventure!

(One of these days I'm going to remember to start taking pictures of everywhere I go so I don't have gigantic boring chunks of text on my blog. One day. Maybe. Possibly.)

FC Seoul

This past Sunday, I got to see another professional sports game in Seoul - soccer!

It was a special event that I heard about through Facebook: foreigners got discounted tickets, and there were special performances before the game. It sounded fun and was at World Cup Stadium, which is pretty close to my neighborhood, so I figured I'd give it a go.

First of all, the area around the stadium is really nice. There are lovely little parks nearby and it's right next to a stream with a bike path (which I happen to use all the time because it leads straight to the Han River). There's also a movie theater and a grocery store on the lower levels of the stadium, so while I've never actually been to a soccer game here, I've been to the stadium a few times before.

It wasn't exactly packed, but it's October and a bit chilly in the mornings. It also didn't seem to be an important game, so that might have had more to do with it than the weather.  Before the game started, I went ahead and bought an FC Seoul scarf. Why not, show some spirit for the home team, right?

The tickets were open seating, which was nice. We got pretty good seats, but also ended up behind a bunch of super fans. They were standing and cheering the whole time, which was simultaneously fun and annoying. It was cool to have such team spirit right by us, but they kinda impeded my view of the game. Maybe I'm weird, but I go to sports events more for the game than the cheering.

 I was a bit surprised at how few people were there...but then I remembered that the stadium was originally built for a global event. No way would they be able to fill it on a regular basis. I also hear way more from my students about Korean baseball teams than about soccer. Not that I'm complaining - soccer is fun, but baseball is still my favorite.

Everything was going great, but then I managed to lose my phone within the first ten minutes of the game. Go me.  I hit the restroom, went to grab refreshments, and realized when I got back to my seat that I had set my phone down in the bathroom and never picked it up. I went back to find it and it was gone. I used my friend's phone to call it...nobody answered. Worry worry worry, ask for a lost and found, get told there isn't one, walk around with a stadium employee who doesn't really know what to do either, start trying to figure out how the hell I'm supposed to get a new phone...and suddenly the guy I'm walking around with notices some of his coworkers huddled over something: my phone. Woo! Safe and sound.

After that, it was all about the game...ish. I was really amused by the kids behind me, who were screaming like banshees and cursing out the players for this and that. In front of me, there were some really enthusiastic people with flags who knew all the cheers. In particular, there was a drunk dude (who sounded American) and he was kind of obnoxious. His poor Korean friend kept trying to rein him in, but it was a losing battle.  He and another one of his friends (who also sounded American) ended up taking their shirts off in the later part of the game and a lot of people were looking at them really awkwardly. The Koreans they were with told them to put their shirts back on multiple times, but they kept taking them off again. It wasn't even warm out - why did they think it was at all necessary to cheer half-naked? Somebody please explain. (Actually, don't.)

This was actually the first professional soccer game I've ever attended. I always meant to go to a Crew game back in Columbus, but I never ended up doing it. This would definitely be an awesome thing to do with a group of people...why did I never do this in college? WHY? It would have been fantastic!

So, yeah! Good times were had and I would definitely consider doing this again...minus the bit where I lose my phone.

The little things

I get frustrated with my language learning progress a lot. I feel like I'm not improving, even though I'm taking classes and self-studying. There are TV programs with foreigners who speak Korean extremely well, and whenever I see a program like that I get a little sad. I worry that I'll never be that good. How does one even DO that? I'm trying to read a book intended for kids right now and I'm struggling through, even with a dictionary. It takes me forever to say anything because I'm always searching for the correct words or grammar. I often have to ask people to repeat themselves or explain what they mean because I couldn't understand one or two key words.

I'm learning - and constantly reminding myself - that improvement shows itself best in the little things.

For example, I hate phone calls. Hate them. Hate them in any and every language. I don't communicate well over the phone. When I first got here, I would put things off for days if they required a phone call. Hair appointment? It can wait, right? Not really, but I don't want to call. Whenever one of the Korean teachers ever offered to make a phone call for me to make an appointment, I would feel so relieved. It's been a year now and I still hate phone calls, but I can call my hair salon the same day I realize I really should get a haircut this weekend. It's something.

In fact, just the other day, I had to call and reschedule a doctor's appointment. One of the Korean teachers offered to do it for me, but I told her I could do it. And I did. I rescheduled that appointment and - with a separate phone call to a separate place - cancelled a follow-up appointment with a dentist I didn't like. No extra time spent with a dictionary and a notebook, writing out what I would need to say. I decided it needed to be done and 5 minutes later, it was.

I always knew I could muddle my way through things if it came down to it, but I worried about not being good enough. I don't worry quite so much anymore. I know there will be times I'm not good enough, but I'll get through them anyway.

Korean beauty products

I never used to care much about makeup. All through high school and college, makeup was for special occasions only. I didn't bother with it for day-to-day things. Class? Nah. Grabbing dinner with friends? Maybe, if I feel like it. Bar or party? Yeah, I probably should. My rule of thumb was if I paid particular attention to wearing nice clothes, I should throw on some eyeshadow and mascara.  I didn't even learn how to wear foundation until just before I studied in Korea...at 21 years old.

When I was here last time, I bought a pack of face masks and used, like...three.  I didn't bring a lot of eyeshadow colors with me when I moved in August, so I picked a few up when I first got here.

That is when I learned about the samples.

I mean, I already knew that makeup/beauty stores usually gave samples, but I'd never gotten any before.

Ohhhh how times have changed.

Not pictured: all the samples I have already used or packed up to send to friends/family

I have a skincare routine now. It's weird to think about. I used to resist all forms of skincare/makeup/anything even remotely resembling any of that, and now I love going into makeup/beauty stores.

Face masks are 10+10? Whoops, now I have 20 more face masks.

There are stores for this stuff pretty much everywhere, and stuff is generally pretty reasonably priced. I have favorites for different things - I get my eyeshadow here, my face masks there, my nail polish at that one...it's great.  Most of all, I love trying out the different product samples I get. It lets me explore new stuff without worrying about being stuck with a jar or bottle of something I don't like.

The U.S. needs to up its game in regards to this stuff. Seriously. If I ever end up leaving Korea, I'm going to miss the beauty products so much. SO much.

Korean classes!

Apologies in advance for the long post with no pictures. It's a blog, not a novel, so I should insert pictures to break up the text...but I don't have any. Whoops. 

I finally started Korean classes today! I've been putting it off because I didn't know where to look for classes that fit my schedule - definitely one of the downsides of being an afternoon teacher. This place was recommended to me by one of the newer NETs (Native English Teachers).  She wanted to take classes there, but couldn't quite commit herself to taking classes for various reasons.  I went to check out the school a couple of weeks ago, and since it seemed nice I went ahead and signed up that day.  They have a pronunciation class that would LOVE to take, but it's during my work hours so I'm out of luck for now. Maybe eventually I'll switch to a public school and get an average schedule, but for right now my only option is weekend classes. Fortunately for me, this academy offers classes on Saturday mornings.

Signing up was an adventure in and of itself. The map led me to a building...that was gutted and under construction. The school sign was still on the side of the building, so it looked like I was SOL. I was about to give up, but I really wanted to take classes...so I braved my fear/hatred of using my phone for its true purpose and called the number on the sign. It turned out that they had just relocated to somewhere very close by. The woman on the phone was incredibly patient with me. I had trouble finding things and getting to where she was trying to have me go, and it didn't help that there were a few words I didn't understand. Normally I can get past unknown words, but these were kind of key to the sentence...there was a lot of difficulty and embarrassment involved. BUT. But but but. I eventually found it and the woman in the office seemed very happy to see the lost foreigner from the phone actually arriving in the office.

I knew from the website and brochures that my coworker had shared with me that the academy used Sogang's textbooks for most of the levels, which was good news. I had gotten through level 3A when I studied at Sogang, so I bought the 3B books to study from back in winter.  The website mentioned a level test, so I was nervous about that. I didn't know if they only offered it on certain days, how long I would have to wait to take it, if I would totally flunk it and get in a really low level, if I would somehow manage to accidentally do really well and get put in a level I wasn't ready for...so many worries. It turned out that I didn't need to be concerned. I mentioned that I had studied at Sogang previously and that we finished the 3A book, and the woman at the desk just basically went "well, cool, you can go to 3B." Easy peasy.

I got into class today a little bit early, still feeling very nervous. Whenever I do anything that involves people knowing I speak Korean (or, even worse, that I studied it at university), I feel like I have to perform to a very high standard or I'm letting all of my professors down. Even though I hear Korean every day and speak it multiple times a week, it's been over a year since I last took a Korean class. I had nothing to back up my suspicions, but I figured that while my speech fluidity may have gone up, I was probably going to have trouble with things like conjugating and applying certain grammatical rules. You know, the school stuff that you don't really practice when you're out and about.

As always happens, I was nervous for no reason. I didn't quite catch why, but our class had missed one class day in May so we were still on the last bit of 3A. I didn't have the books but it was a nice bit of review for me. There were a few words I didn't fully remember, including two that I always mix up - to turn off and to turn on. The class was entirely in Korean, which is what I was expecting (and, honestly, what I'm used to). My instructor is really nice, and she encouraged us to talk even if the subject wasn't entirely related to the material we were supposed to be learning.

My teacher says my classmates are all Japanese men, but only one was there today. I haven't interacted at length with any native Japanese speakers, so there were a couple times when I couldn't quite understand his accent. Give it a few classes, though, and it'll be much easier for me to understand him. The linguist in me kinda geeked a bit (internally, of course) when I could hear certain patterns in his Korean pronunciation that I could tell came from this or that rule of Japanese pronunciation...though I'm struggling to remember how I came to know anything at all about Japanese phonology. I don't remember it being one of the languages we worked with in my phono class...did I randomly look it up? Did someone explain it to me? I had to work with hiragana once in my crypto class, but that wouldn't quite do the trick...

Anywhos.

I feel like being a teacher has definitely made me a better student. Up until now, I was always on the quiet side in classes and I hated being called on because I felt like it put so much pressure on me to perform well. It felt like a quiz or mini-exam every time. I paid attention, took good notes, and did my homework (well, usually), but participation was scary. Now, I think about what I'm always wishing my students did or didn't do and try to follow those guidelines. I'm super-conscious about making sure I don't speak up significantly more or less than other students, asking questions even if it's a minor thing that I'm trying to clarify, getting creative during dialogue practice and not just repeating the example with minor changes, talking around the words that I can't remember or don't know, and other things like that.

I'm really happy that I'm finally taking classes and doing something to improve my Korean.  I've been self-studying vocabulary, but it doesn't feel like enough. I don't practice my Korean on a daily basis...or even a weekly one, for that matter. The most I usually speak in a week is a couple short interactions with whatever cashier happens to be at the convenience store or mart I go to. I hear Korean at work a lot when the Korean teachers talk to each other or when my students chatter during break, but I almost never contribute to conversations. Hopefully these classes will help me give my Korean the boost it needs.

DE 4

I've decided to call the events that my school's director finds and coaxes her foreign teachers into - mostly volunteering and special guided tours - "director's excursions" (DE for short).

The first DE was a trip out to Namhansanseong, which I wrote about in a previous post.  After that was a trip to a palace garden, which also got a post.  A few weeks ago, we went out to a mountain and were part of a campaign to prevent forest fires.  (산불을 예방합시다! <-- I swear I said this, like, a couple hundred times. Never going to forget the words for "forest fire" and "to prevent," that's for damn sure.)This past excursion, we went to North Jeolla Province/Jeollabuk-do (전라북도), which is in the southern area of the peninsula.

We had to be downtown at 8:30, which meant an early morning and a crowded subway ride. Luckily, we already knew basically where we were going, so we didn't have to plan too much extra time into our commute.

When we arrived at the meetup point, we encountered a Vietnamese couple whom we had met on the first DE. It was definitely nice to see some familiar faces, but they were on the other bus so we didn't see them nearly as much this trip as on the other one.

Unfortunately, it was the weekend before Children's Day, so the traffic was insane. We were supposed to arrive around noon and eat lunch right away, but we didn't get there until nearly one and had to eat very quickly. The food was really good, but there was a lot of seafood so I didn't eat very much.  There was an awesome mushroom soup that I really wish I knew how to make, though. Maybe someday I'll find a recipe somewhere.


Right after lunch, we went to see a 농악 (nong-ak) performance.

I was behind a few people, so I couldn't get many pictures (or see very well, actually). Luckily, I had seen something similar before, so I didn't miss too terribly much while I tried to see past the heads in front of me.

After that, we listened to a lecture on Ganggangsullae (강강술래), which is another traditional dance.  We had an interpreter whom we could listen to via headphones, but I did without for most of the lecture just so I could test my Korean ability. I definitely missed out on some things, but I feel like I understood a fair bit about the history of the dance.

Before we went to the hotel, we walked to the local mulberry festival for some special events. We didn't get to spend much time there, but it was still neat to see a local festival in a smaller town instead of just in a part of Seoul.

The hotel was about an hour away (I think...I fell asleep on the bus, to tell the truth), and it was by the ocean.

Yay surprise beach trip!

We only had a little time in the room to clean up before dinner, which was very enjoyable barbecue. There were 6 people to a table, so we sat with our two Vietnamese friends and two of their friends (another Vietnamese couple).  After dinner it was completely dark, and the beach wasn't the long type you can walk along for ages. The plan was to get up early and explore the rocky area under the balcony, but the tide was in when we woke up so there was no way to get there but to swim. Rather than attempt that, we went back to sleep. Still, being by the beach was still awesome, even if there weren't many opportunities to enjoy it.

After breakfast, we took a trip to learn about the Saemangeum Seawall.  It was cloudy, so we couldn't really see much from the center where we learned about the project's construction and the future work that would be done in the area.  We got a tour that explained all about the project (the interpretation was sequential rather than simultaneous this time, so I listened carefully to the original Korean and the translation this time) and learned about the plans to develop the area. The seawall is a really cool accomplishment, but I'm not sure how I feel about the project as a whole. They plan to build a city there that's supposed to be a center for trade or something...but how do you just plan a whole new city and say it's going to be super important? Important cities aren't built up all at once; they just kind of...grow. And then there's all the argument about the environmental impact, which they entirely skimmed over with a couple sentences. I would have liked to hear more about that.  Still, it was a really interesting tour.

Traffic back to Seoul was crazy once again. We had to make multiple stops at rest stations (which are 1000 times better than the ones I've stopped at in the States), and we ended up taking around 6 hours to get home.

Overall, definitely a really awesome event. Each person paid ₩10,000 (~$10 US) for this trip, and that included food, hotel, bus, and all the events. Preeeeetty ridiculously awesome. There were also some fun people that I hope I see again if I get to go on other trips this group puts on.

Cycling!

I've taken multiple bicycle outings since the weather started warming up.

The first one I went out with a coworker and we rented bikes. I'd bought a bike back in fall, but she didn't have one yet.  (That problem has since been remedied.)  We took a train to the other end of town, rented bikes with no fee but a two-hour limit, and rode out to Seoul Forest Park. It was a bit chilly and everything still looked dead, but it was still a very enjoyable ride. I'm really looking forward to returning once everything is a bit greener.

The second time, I set out alone from home on my bike and rode for the trail that starts at Eungam Station and leads all the way to the Han River.  I had no particular end point in mind, which was nice.

I had a great view the whole way.

 

 

I even saw some gorgeous little flowers next to the bike path.

Eventually I made my way to the other side of the river via the Banpo Bridge (반포대교) and tried to figure out the best place to get myself some lunch. I had meant to stop at a kimbap place and pick something up before I hit the trail, but I completely forgot.  Eventually I picked a random side-road and followed it. I had no idea where I was or where I was going, which made me a bit nervous.  I had to keep reminding myself that everything was fine - I could always just ask for directions or use my phone to find the nearest subway station.  Eventually I found a really nice kimbap place, got a roll to go, and took it back to the river.

The wind going back was terrible. It was very strong, very cold, and very annoying. I couldn't feel my hands by the time I got to Yeouido (여의도), where Ingrid was going to meet me.  I ended up hanging out by a river monster while I waited.

It even made sound when you stood in front of it.

We decided it was far too cold to ride all the way back home with no gloves, especially as it was dusk at that point, so we caught the subway back.


Sunday was supposed to hold a trip back to Yeouido for the cherry blossoms, but it was too rainy to be worth it. This weekend ought to have better weather, though, so hopefully I can make it back out for the flowers.

It's not freezing!

Warm weather has FINALLY arrived!  It's still a bit chilly at times, but I've been able to leave my gloves at home and cut down on the layers.

In the colder months, there was a conversation between the Korean teachers and the American teachers regarding the weather. Neither party could make much sense of the other because the Koreans only knew the temperatures in Celsius and the Americans only knew Fahrenheit. After that, I resolved only to use Celsius and have removed Fahrenheit from my phone's weather notifications.  It was a bit rough for quite a while (My daily thought process was basically "is it above zero? I can survive today. Under zero? I'm gonna die.") but I'm finally getting a good guesstimate for temperatures.  Unfortunately...I still can't do mental conversions on the fly.  Thanks to some conversion tools online, I know it's been in the 50s and 60s here as of late.  However, in my head, it's been in the teens. Lately it's been tending toward the upper portions, and there have even been days where we hit 20 or 21.

Yes, this DOES mean I have been out and about doing things. In turn, that means that YES, there will be more posts from me coming up. I've been out cycling, and I'll be hiking (I think?) for some school thing (I have no idea what I got dragged into but I'm going so we'll see) tomorrow.  Well, it's past 2am here, so technically it's today.  9am. Buhhuhuhuh whyyy.

Anywho. Be on the lookout for photos from my bicycle outings, hiking, random walks through the city, and whatever other shenanigans I get up to~

More baking!

Yes, another post about food. There isn't a whole lot else to write about in winter. Besides, life is so much happier with an oven.  It really is.  I've already posted pictures of my scones, but I've made quite a few other things since that first batch.

 

Chocolate chip cookies~ They weren't perfect, but I think my brown sugar mixture was just a bit off. They were still quite good, and I'll be able to fix it for next time.

(Please ignore the derp cookie that's sitting front and center. That was the heel of the roll, so it was doomed from the start. The other side of it looked nice, though.)

These cookies were SO. MUCH. FREAKING. WORK. A coworker and I stayed up until 4am on a Thursday night and 2am the following night so we could make cookies for our students, who had to come in for Saturday classes on Valentine's Day. We thought it would be cute to make heart-shaped sugar cookies.  My coworker found a video and recipe for sugar cookies with shapes in the middle and sprinkles on the outside, so we decided to try to make them. It looked easy enough.

NO.

It was easy to do, but it took an eternity. Thursday night we made four rolls of what were basically slice-and-bake sugar cookies with sprinkles on the outside. Like I said, we were up until 4am...and we were finished mixing the dough at, like, 11pm. 

Eventually we gave up and put the remaining dough back in the fridge for Friday night, when we would do most of the baking. We decided to just roll out the rest of the dough and cut heart shapes out of it instead of trying to make fancy cookies with heart shapes in the middle. 

Grand cookie total: Three hundred. 

Yes. We made three hundred cookies for our students (and coworkers). No, I will not EVER do that again. Next time it'll be something that's less effort.

I grabbed mini loaf pans when I went shopping for the Valentine's Day cookies, so when Ingrid had some very ripe bananas and I found some bananas on special at Homeplus because they were starting to turn a bit brown, I knew it was time for banana bread.  It turned out really well, but I think I'm going to add a bit more cinnamon next time. The recipe called for half a teaspoon, but I think it needs more than that.

Next endeavor: pumpkin bread. I have a can of pumpkin sitting in my pantry, and it's the exact same brand I used back in the US.  It's gonna be awesome. 

Meanwhile, my apartment still smells like banana bread. Awesome.

Scone saga

I love baking. Baking is my favorite thing to do in the kitchen. Looove it.  Unfortunately, most Korean apartments and houses do not have ovens. This meant that even though I know how to make wonderfully delicious baked things, I was not able to.

Until now.

My parents decided to be awesome and get me a toaster oven for Christmas. A large one. My mother also included my pastry mixer and scraper along with some measuring spoons in my Christmas box, which made me feel much more at home in my kitchen. Since then, I have been on a search for all the necessary ingredients for scones. Baking soda and baking powder were a bit of an adventure, and buttermilk was all but impossible. White vinegar to add to milk for a buttermilk substitute was also a pain, but eventually Costco came to the rescue. Today the final piece came together: baking sheets.  The trip out to a supposed "baking street" was a bit frustrating at times, but eventually very rewarding.  I now know of multiple stores with baking supplies, from cookie cutters and loaf pans to melting chocolate and food coloring.  On the way back to the subway, I even ran across at least a dozen shops selling yarn - talk about a bonus!

Immediately upon returning home, I began my endeavor of making delicious little treats with (mostly) unfamiliar equipment.  Preparing the dough was reasonably easy, except for the part where my mixing bowl was too small so I spilled flour all over myself. I always spill flour on my shirt. Always. This time, however, it got on my shirt, pants, floor, and counter. Whoops.

Unfamiliar ovens are always scary. There is no way of knowing if you'll accidentally overcook or undercook your food because it could be finnicky. Also, Fahrenheit to Celsius is a problem. So is the fact that my oven's instruction manual was all in Korean. 

MY SCONELESSNESS IS FINALLY OVER!!!!

 

The only casualty of the evening was the oven mitt that came with my oven. All I did was try to grab the baking sheet that the scones were on, and this happened. Apparently this oven mitt was not designed to be used with hot things, which begs the question of what exactly it was designed to do. Look pretty hanging on a hook? Thanks, I'll get a functional one that does the same thing.  Luckily I had a clean hand towel, so I was able to use that to handle the baking sheet.

My scones ended up darker on the outside than I typically make them, but the inside was perfect. I'm really looking forward to learning more about this oven's nuances and trying some new things~

Boo cold :(

I hate cold. Hate hate hate. If hell exists, it is not fire; it is ice. I spend most of my evenings wearing the warm pj pants and socks my grandma made for me and drinking tea. Going outside is kept to a minimum.  It doesn't help that my hat, which is super warm, is also kinda tight on my head and therefore irritates my cartilage piercing. Those suckers take for-freaking-ever to fully heal, and mine is at the point where I forget about it except when I have to put on a shirt with a tight collar, accidentally get too close with the hairdryer, or some idiot at the club isn't looking where he's throwing his arms and elbows me right in the ear. That last one really did happen a couple weeks ago and it made my ear bleed a bit. Grumble grumble. I had plans to change my earring the next day, but NOPE. Not gonna happen when it's sore.

Ahem. Anyway. Cold.

I've also been getting the sniffles, which I've been keeping largely at bay with vitamin C supplements and a number of cups of tea per day that I would rather not disclose out of possible-though-unconfirmed embarrassment. I will, however, say that I might need to order tea again sooner than I expected, even though I steep my loose tea 2 or 3 times per portion. I will also admit that the (partially-used) box of fillable tea bags that my mother included in my first care package has been entirely used up. Whoops. I am now down to my reusable infusers and the full box of bags I brought with me. No comment on how much tea is left.

Today was the first sticking snow in my part of Seoul. I think I remember hearing something about snow in other parts before now and there were definitely flurries sometime last week, but the snow today actually turned things white. It was a dusting, but it turned to ice once the sun set and I nearly slipped and fell when I went out to get my pizza from the delivery guy.  My current shoe options are heels or old and worn-out Converse. Tomorrow I have a haircut in the morning and a birthday event in the evening, so I plan on getting myself some fur-lined snow boots sometime in between. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up some HeatTech as well. I already have hot packs at the ready. I DON'T PLAY AROUND WHEN IT COMES TO COLD, GUYS.

I also have been wanting to go geocaching lately but haven't been able to because screw going out in the cold and wind by myself to search for itty bitty microcaches. I do think I converted one of the Korean teachers by accident, though - she seemed utterly fascinated when I was explaining the concept after she overheard me talking about why I wanted a trackable something-or-other to one of the other English teachers. I might have to brave the cold just so I can take her out to find a couple caches and show her how much fun it can be.

More food~

I love food. A lot.  Which is why the majority of these pictures are not of the food as pretty as it is when it comes out.  They're from the middle of the meal when I go "oh crap, I should have taken a picture of this to show people back home."  Food pictures and selfies do not come naturally to me.  Nor do hashtags. This is probably why my Instagram has practically nothing on it.  #failing

Anyway, food!

Spicy seafood soup with tofu. Don't know what it was called, but it tasted good even though I had to eat around the shellfish and little bits of octopus/squid tentacle in it.

Barbecue may or may not be my weakness. Pork belly, rice, and side dishes? Yes please.

 

Mix it up on occasion and go with beef...

I also went to a barbecue buffet - all you can grill and eat in an hour in a half, but don't leave leftovers or you get charged - and it was wonderful.  Didn't think to take pictures until the meal was pretty much over :(

Kimbap, a wonderful picnic food or snack.

 

부대찌개/budaejjigae, roughly translated as "army stew." So delicious.

  

닭갈비/chicken galbi, with added rice and 떡/ddeok

라볶이/rabokki, ramen plus 떡볶이/ddeokbokki (떡/ddeok in a special spicy sauce)

 

See all the red/orange in the last few pictures?  That's because a lot of Korean food is spicy and it's awesome. Spicy food for life.  (Though people who hate spicy food can definitely survive here - there are options for you.  I just usually don't choose them.)

This next one I made in my itty bitty kitchen using my new not-crappy, nonstick skillet~  Kitchen sink rice is my go-to meal.  What's in it?  Some kimchi, some veggies, some sausage...everything but the kitchen sink.  I really should start taking more pictures of my home-cooked meals to prove that yes, I can survive with one burner, no microwave, no oven, no toaster oven, a mini fridge, and no dishwasher.

 

I also made macaroni and cheese. It wasn't anything particularly delightful, but I used sliced American cheese and a couple slices of Gouda and it tasted almost exactly like I made it with Velveeta. It wasn't super-pretty, so no pictures of that one.  Same goes for my chicken and rice soup and my potato soup. The soups were pretty fantastic, but I'm not a food photographer so I couldn't capture the deliciousness of them. 

I can make Korean food too! This one is 된장찌개/bean paste stew, which I actually made for the first time back in the States. It tastes much better here, though. Also, the bowl of rice makes every single Korean soup I ever attempt taste better. Korean soups need rice with them. Fact of life. 

 

Caramel popcorn and vanilla soft-serve. Don't know why. Tasted pretty good, though.

 

Hehehe...back to barbecue. This restaurant has the best kimchi I've found anywhere...so far.

Strictly speaking this next one isn't food, it's tea. 오미자차/omijacha, 5-taste berry tea~ It has a bit of a strange taste, but I love it.  It's fantastic cold or hot and I need to get my hands on it so I can make it at home.

I've also finally branched out into delivery food.  There's an app - all in Korean - that lets me order without having to pick up the phone and call a restaurant. Score. I hate talking on the phone in any language. Text? Sure. Email? Sure. Skype? Sure! But phone? No thanks. I put off my hair appointments because it involves calling the salon on the phone.

So this is my first adventure into the life of "it's too cold to go out and I don't feel like washing the pot so I can cook":

It was actually really delicious. I ordered a preset pizza - I didn't pick my toppings - and got potato slices, bacon, corn, onion, and mushroom.  I picked the onion off for the most part, but I did eat some of it.

More food to come! (Eventually)