A Productive Seoul Trip

Ian and I met up with the Seoul Vegetarian club this afternoon for some Mexican food in Itaewon (the foreign influenced neighborhood surrounding the American military base in Seoul).  The food wasn't bad, but as usual there was too much sweetness and no depth to the flavor.  Koreans also aren't fans of bright spicy flavors (like jalapenos), so it lacked the right spiciness.

The restaurant, Pancho's, created a set menu especially for us that included a side salad (mostly iceberg with guacamole, but I was so stoked for the avocado, I didn't care), Mexican rice, a taco and a bean burrito.  You also could have all the chips you could eat, which they warmed before serving.  So, while it wasn't great food, it was a nice change of pace.

Ian and I spent all our time out today in Itaewon.  We've been looking for a ruck sack for me for our Europe trip.  Ian has an imitation Australian ruck sack that's really cool, so I've been looking for one similar.  We went into an army surplus store today and found authentic, used ruck sacks from all over the world.  We liked the French bag the best, but when I put it on, the metal bracing supports rested right against my spine.  I ended up choosing a Korean ruck sack with a sturdy, square frame, but no metal.

I'm very happy with it.  Its shape distributes weight really well.  We also picked up a couple of inexpensive canvas duffel bags for any day trips we may take.  Either they are "Outdoor" brand or they are knock offs, but we didn't really mind either way.

I meant to take more photos today, but we didn't do much other than shop.  Our meal at Pancho's did have a couple of interesting moments, including a discussion about the new Arizona Immigration Laws that quickly turned sour when the parties involved realized they had no common ground.  I may or may not have been one of the said parties.  I also discussed America's problem of corporate greed with a French woman and a Dutch man who work here in Korea, but not as teachers (extremely rare).  She is an engineer and he is working on his thesis.

So, a rewarding day indeed, but not much photographic evidence.

Good night!

Preperations

Today was a good, but slow, day.  Julia treated Ian with a little respect today; you might even say she was polite.  This of course made Ian nervous so he hunted the internet to see if our positions were posted for new applicants.

My day was very productive.  During my 4:30 hour I have no class, so I sat down and made all (but one) of my lesson plans for next week.  I didn't do my Fluent 1 plan because I leave the book at the Haso campus.  But that class isn't until Thursday anyway.  Now I am free to play all weekend, which is a good feeling indeed.

Tomorrow we are hopping on a very early bus to meet Mom in Seoul.  We have to get up a little before 5 and we still have several things to accomplish before we can go to bed.  So, I will be cutting this post short.  There will probably not be a post tomorrow night, as we'll be in a hostel.  Perhaps I'll write a short update from Mom's iTouch.  But, unless we simply get back too late on Sunday, I plan to upload the numerous photos I will inevitably take over the weekend.

I'm so excited!

Good night!

Seoul Veggie Club

We hopped a bus yesterday morning to meet up with a group of vegetarians and vegans in Seoul.  There are all sorts of people in the club, teachers, military, students etc.  They have meals together a couple of times a month at places that either have veg options or are completely vegetarian.

Yesterday's place was called Dubai Restaurant.  They served pan-Middle Eastern food.  The only real vegetarian options were on the appetizer menu, so Ian and I were a little disappointed.  Ian and I shared falafel, flat bread and a spread plate that included hummus, baba ganoush and yogurt.  In reality, we could have went downstairs and got a falafel wrap including many of the same components for less money (Itaewon is full of foreign food options), but the company was good, so it didn't really matter.

The falafel was very good.

Mazza.  The spread plate.

The group.  There were about 30 of us and for most people it was either their first meal with the group or their first in a long time.  We spent most of the time talking to Mirika (Ian's right) from New Zealand.  She's here doing research for her Master's (I think) thesis on the DMZ Peace Park (the natural area up there).  There is supposed to be another event next Sunday.  It'll be at a vegan place (the club always does one strictly vegan event a month), so there should be lots of food options.  I think Steve wanted to do it at the Loving Hut buffet.  We've been to Loving Hut before, but never the buffet (which is it's claim to fame).  So, I think we'll be heading up there again.  It's nice to meet new people who have something so fundamental in common with you.  Though, this event did make us realize how different our experience would be if we lived in or near Seoul.  We finished our food around 1:30, but we were there talking until 3 and we weren't the last to leave.

After our unexpectedly small lunch we went to the foreign food market.  We bought chickpeas and couscous, so there should be some photograph worthy dinners to come.  Then we headed to What the Book?.  It's an all English new and used bookstore.  We've ordered online from them once, but we decided to stop in.  I didn't know how much I had missed browsing books.  Ian got a Vonnegut, The Sirens of Titan and I got A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon (author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time).  A stranger randomly recommended Empire of the Ants to Ian, so we got it.  We'd heard positive things about it.  I'm excited to start my new book.  I'm currently two thirds through Gaiman's American Gods, but I think I'm going to give it up.  I'm simply not into it and I've been pushing through it forever. I'll try a different Gaiman some other time.

After doing our shopping we were already hungry, so we decided on an early dinner.  We chose Kraze Burger, remembering that they had a couple vegetarian burger/ sandwich options.  We shared a side of fries and each got the "Veg and Bean" burger, a tofu patty with mushrooms, lettuce and tomato on a wheat bun.

The pickles were sweet, but homemade and delicious.  The burger was great.  I even ate some of the mushrooms.  The sauce on the plate is bulgogi sauce (a Korean specialty made from soy, vinegar, sugar and other spices).  It was our first time trying this ubiquitous Korean invention.  It's a very good barbecue sauce, actually.  I hope to make some at home.

After dinner we went to Costco to pick up some necessities: Tums, socks, tortillas, Cheerios, JellyBelly's, Reese's Whopper eggs.  Easter is coming up and Costco was full of enough holiday candy to make anyone homesick.  But, the samples were fabulous.

Naturally, we stopped for ice cream before we went home.

Mine is on the left.  I'm trying to be very conscious about portions these days.  Not that Ian doesn't watch his.  His ice cream was simply large and in charge last night.

We had a minor fiasco getting home.  We wanted to take the train, but we accidentally directed the taxi driver to the wrong station.  Then we made the mistake of asking a station worker for help.  He enlisted four others to help him and after ten minutes of waiting for them to figure out what we needed, they called us into the back room where he showed us a map (to tell us where Jecheon is) and gave us all the train times for Seoul to Jecheon.  It was all very nice, and had we actually been lost, his info would have been a life saver (I hope he can help some confused tourist some day).  But, we simply did not need the level help as he wanted to give.  We decided to go back to the bus terminal.  Buses are a little faster and we'd already wasted time at the wrong station.  

It was a very good day.  This afternoon we will be heading to the park to play basketball with the other Jecheon teachers.  A very social weekend, indeed.

Good... afternoon!

Seoul with Ben and Amy

We met Ben and Amy at the train station at 6:40am to make sure we got on our 6:55am train. We chose the train for two reasons. The bus gives Amy motion sickness and it usually gives me a virus. It was really nice, I think we'll be taking it from now on.

We intended to get coffee and go to Namsan Tower first, but ended we got off at a subway station that was so close to the War Memorial that it had a sign showing which exit to take. So, we started there and placed coffee and food on the back burner.

We didn't take any pictures inside the memorial/museum because it looks like any other museum dedicated to Asian studies. It was very interesting, but I don't think museum exhibits fulfill their purpose in photographs. So, here are some photos from the monuments outside the museum.

A water mine with children's faces on it.

There were jets outside on the lot.

The center sculpture is a fusion between the Korean tree of life and a golden sword. Around it are sculptures of Korean people from "all walks of life" participating in or feeling the effects of war.

This is the Statue of Brothers. One is southern, the other northern. This statue, like many things in the plaza and museum itself reveals the nations hope for forgiveness, reconnection and eventually reunification. The division is referred to as "the tragedy."

The Clock Tower of Peace has two clocks. One telling current time. The other stopped at 4 o'clock on June 25th, 1950: the beginning of the Korean War. The two girls are sisters, representing the two nations as separate, but with an eternal familial bond.

It says that this clock will be placed on the tower when the North and the South are reunited. It will capture the time and forever mark the reconciliation.

We failed to take a picture of Memorial Hall. It's a corridor leading to the building that lists the names of all the Korean, American and all other U.N. nation soldiers that lost their lives during the war.

Just inside the lobby. Drums are used as a symbol of Korean culture and pride. The rest of the memorial was very much a museum. Ian and I expected it to solely cover the Korean War (the civil war), but it actually covered every war the country has been involved in since prehistory, with an exhibit discussing the "shameful" time in which Korea was occupied by Japan.

After the memorial, we headed to Starbucks. I tried the seasonal special, a Honey Orange Latte, and it was amazing. I wish we had a coffee place near us with (first) decent coffee and creative flavor specials. I like black coffee and vanilla lattes, but there's something special about drinks that coincide with the weather or seasonal food. On our way to Starbucks, we witnessed a bum fight. You don't see many bums in Korea, even in Seoul. I think they were fighting over sleeping territory and no one stepped in to stop them. A man near us excitedly explained that they get drunk and fight everyday.

This isn't the Starbucks we went to. I think it's the headquarter store because of the sign and the Koreanized building.

We wondered through Namdaemun Market a little and Amy got some wooden chopsticks and little cups at a shop and Ian and I got Korean flag patches (for his rucksack and my rucksack that I'm planning to purchase for our trek home).

Near City Hall at a design exhibition for the future of Seoul, Ian helped power a giant educational wind tunnel (the faux-ice sculpture behind him) that has something to do with Antarctica.

Amy and I got a good look at the changing of the guards ceremony outside the Gyeongbok Palace gate.  Be sure to watch the video.  I'm pretty pleased with what I got.

When the ceremony was over we headed over to Krispy Kreme so that Ben could get his fix (he held out at Starbucks in anticipation). Ian and I split a cheesecake donut that was pretty damn good. Then we wandered around the Lotte Department Store to kill a little time before heading to the pub. Yes, we needed to kill time between gorge fests. Living in a rural area can bring out strange (read: terrible) eating habits when one gets back to an urban setting where choices are available.

The Wolfhound!  The pub was mostly full of foreigners and our waitress spoke perfect English and had no idea where Jecheon is.

Amy with her Kilkenny and Ben with his Coke.

Ian is deliriously happy about his Guinness.

And I about my Kilkenny.  It was amazing.  I had forgotten that I actually like beer.

Ian and I started with curry chips (french fries with curry sauce) and then got their house made veggie burgers with side salads.

Delicious.  I didn't manage to get a photo of the curry chips that didn't make them look disgusting.  The burger patty was soft (black beans and chickpeas) with a crispy breading.  So good, but I wish it were just a little firmer.  I didn't manage to finish it, so Ian was treated to a another quarter of burger.

Ian made a spaceship out of our beer coasters.

After siiting, talking and digesting a little, Amy and I shared an apple crumble.  It was good, but a little over buttered and under salted.  People always forget that baked desserts need salt.


We hopped on the subway and headed to Costco.  We had bought our return tickets in the morning, so we had a time limit.  When we came up from the subway station, we accidentally walked the wrong direction, so we had to hop a cab.  We ran around Costco for forty minutes getting Tillamook cheese, Cheerios, croutons, pretzels, and Whoppers.  We split the pretzels and Whoppers with Ben and Amy.  We came out of Costco a minute or two behind schedule, but we found a cab quickly and directed him (with much effort) to the train station.  Several figure eights later, he finally took us there.  His taking advantage of us caused us to have to run (truly, run) for our train.  We made it, though we were worried for Ian who trailed behind due to his Costco loaded rucksack.

His stuffed bag on the train rack.

Relaxing on the train.

The trip was great fun and exhausting.  It was a good change of pace to share it with friends.

Good night!

To Tide You Over

Today we went to Seoul with Ben and Amy.  We didn't take as many photos as we usually do (we only took about 70 as opposed to the usual 140).  I think we were pretty wrapped up in conversations most of the time.  It's sounds trite, but we're seriously thankful to have them around.  Their presence definitely helps us stay sane.

It was an excellent, exhausting day.  And I'd like to describe it in detail, but it will have to wait until tomorrow.  I don't feel like I've been keeping up the level of detail in the blog because I've been so tired, and, honestly, it's difficult to post when not much happens during the day.  But, I've got some ideas to get us back up to speed (read: quality).

But, here is a photo of something strange we found at Costco.

Yum.  I actually think it's just a stock, but there was a picture of a glass with a drinking straw on the side.

Good night!

The Wolfhound Pub

I'm so excited.  And for something that would be trivial and maybe even ridiculous in any other setting.  I found an actual pub in Seoul (we're going with Ben and Amy on Sunday).

It's in Itaewon (the neighborhood near the military base) and it has real pub food on it's menu.  Here's a link to their facebook photos of their menu.  They even have a veggie burger (one made with black beans and chickpeas), real salads and imported beer at 'reasonable' prices.  I know it's bizarre, but I'm so excited I can hardly think about anything else.

It's going to be a great trip.  Ben and Amy want to see Namsan Tower, so we're heading up there again.  The base is a lot like the Space Needle, so it's pretty cool.  I think we're also heading to the War Memorial, so that will be great.  I hope the weather/ light cooperate for photos.  We're ending our day at Costco to pick up some much needed comforts.

I'm bringing the camera to the gym tomorrow, so expect to see a video of one of us on a jiggle machine.  Good night!

Lotte World

When we first got up this morning, we weren't sure if we were going to go to the amusement park or not.  I hadn't slept very well.  So, we crashed for another hour and decided that we would go.  It was raining and hailing and slushing outside, so we got really bundled up and hopped on the 9 o'clock bus.  We got to Seoul around 11 (where it was sunny, but pretty cold) and decided to find somewhere close to the meeting place for breakfast.

We found a  Krispy Kreme and had some coffee and a donut.  The coffee was decent, until we got to the bottom of our cups where it tasted like 7/11 Cappuccino.

Our meeting place was the "big fountain" outside of the Lotte World entrance.  There were a few fountains to choose from, but luckily we chose the right one.

The correct fountain.

I never got a photo of the group (or anyone, actually) because there was just never a good time to do it without it being awkward.  So, my apologies.  But, we met Asia (our recruiter from ESL Park, though she no longer works there as of a few days ago), Andy, Jessie, and then five other people (two guy friends, a girl who didn't talk much, and two girls who disappeared early in our adventures ) whose names escape us.  All nice folks, but it's tough to get to know people at an amusement park and we didn't spend much time introducing ourselves.  Luckily, I can just go back to the Facebook event for today and refresh my memory.

We were about thirty minutes early so we checked out the area near the entrance.  You don't technically leave the subway station to get to the park, it just turns into a shopping center.  It's amazing how many things the Lotte company has it's fingers in.

Happy Christmas from Ian and Lotte World.

Lotteria, Lotte's version of McDonald's, only with crunchy squid rings.

LotteCard, a mini bank inside the shopping center.

Lotte Mart for all your shopping needs.

Lotty's Plaza (the L is covered) for your souvenir specific needs.

Lotte World Famous Goods, a skincare shop.

And last but not least, Lotte World.

The park has an indoor section and a smaller outdoor section (where the better rides are).  We went through the indoor section first and took the monorail hoping it would take us outside, but it didn't.  At least we saw what the indoor part had to offer. 

Some shots of the inside:

We went on this pirate ship, it was pretty stellar.

We never actually made it on this one.

We went outside to check out some of the better rides.  The outside is a pretty typical nice themepark, but it's not set up so that it's easy to photograph.

Ian the contortionist prisoner.

Inside the queue area for one of the roller coasters.  The best ride was definitely the Lotte Comet.  It's like Space Mountain with the seats from the Haunted Mansion, only they spin more.  Most of the other rides were relatively lame (there was one called Gyro... something that was a little frightening.  It swung 90 degrees and spun slowly as it did it).  I just wish the rides were longer.  The wait time was not proportional to the fun time.

The castle from an escalator.

The castle (with Ian) up close.

When we were all popsicles we decided to go back inside.  We all sat in a "tourist restaurant" and chatted for awhile before walking around again.

Santa band!

We found this "Magic Donkey" and were really confused about it at first.  Then we realized you could put 1000 won in it and it does something.  So, we tried it.  When you put your money in, it lifts it's tail and poops something out for you.

Candy.  Or, as Ian named it, ass candy.

There's also an ice skating rink in the park.  You can see kids speed skating in the middle.

While we were in line for a coaster, Asia got a phone call and left suddenly.  The other people said she had to go pick up a friend.  After we got off the coaster, everyone went their own way.  I texted Asia to make sure everything was alright and say it was nice meeting her.  She texted me back that she was still in the park, so we found each other.  A teacher that ESL Park brought over was arrested for shipping in cocaine.  Not the brightest move.  So, Asia had to go over to the jail and talk to him (she still felt she had a responsibilty to him even though she doesn't work for ESL Park anymore, because her old boss intended just to hang him out to dry.  I'm guessing that Asia's visit wasn't very fun for either of them.

She fold us and told us this right as I was planning to get a picture of Ian on one of those walking animal rides.  So, sorry Rob, no photo this time around.

We were done with Lotte World at about 4:30, so we decided to head over to Itaeeon (the neighborhood where the military base is). 

A "ghetto" alleyway in Itaewon.

We had excellent felafel at a tiny Jordani place and then we went to the Foreign Food Mart. 

I've been wanting cilantro for so long.  Luckily, they restocked it while we were there and we have some in a glass of water in our fridge.  We also got tortillas and naan, so it was a good trip.

A Christmas tree all by itself in the Itaewon subway station.

It was a good trip, well worth fighting through feeling sick.  There might be snow on the ground tomorrow (there's a bit now and some in the hills).  If so, I'll take pictures of the landscape.

Good night!