So...life is fun and stuff
Here is what I have been up to this past week!
Saturday!
I went to Seoul to meet up with some English teachers that I had met online. I was kind of iffy about meeting them, since I don't really do the strangers on the internet thing (with a few notable exceptions). Before meeting up with them, I went shopping hardcore and bought some (real!) jade jewelry on the cheap, and a cool new purse. Then I headed to a Gagnam bar where I met all of the internet people. Most of them were actually really cool and we hit it off. I was one of the only females there, which was probably a good thing, since we all know that I get along with guys much better than I do with women. So after all the boring people left, the rest of us headed to Itaewon to drink it up. We hopped from bar to bar, and I hopped from drink to drink. Around 10 or so of us started out in Itaewon and then the people started dropping like flies when it hit 4 a.m. Eventually there were only three of us left, so we headed to a place called Hooker Hill, which got its name for precisely the reason you'd imagine. I drank a kettle of soju at 5 a.m., which if you know anything about soju, is a bad idea.
Soju is a rice alcohol fairly unique to Korea. It ranges from 20-45% alcohol by volume content. My friend has a bottle that is 45% ABV. If he doesn't screw the cap on tightly, it EVAPORATES very quickly. This stuff does not fuck around. However, soju is also cheap as dirt. In fact, dirt is probably more expensive than most soju.
In party/club areas, you can buy "kettles" of soju at virtually any bar. A kettle of soju is literally a 2 liter plastic bottle with the top cut off. It is then filled with an entire bottle of soju, and topped off with Sprite and powdered Kool-aid mix. If you think it sounds ghetto, you are correct. Some people will share a kettle of soju, but it is not at all uncommon to see one person drink an entire kettle.
Soju is relatively tasteless, a bit like vodka, so it tastes like whatever you mix it with. This is particularly dangerous, because drinking a kettle of soju just feels like drinking a giant glass of fruit punch. This is awesome if you don't like the taste of alcohol or are just tired of the same old drinks, but it is also highly dangerous, because it's easy to drink it more quickly than other alcohol. (And keep in mind this shit is STRONG.)
So anyway, I was sloshed, and danced the wee hours of the morning away in a super seedy club while one member of our party said various offensive things to every ethnic group present at the bar while still managing to charm them. He then asked the Turkish kebab guy why he didn't sell pork kebabs. Um. The fun and games broke up at around 6:30, when the subway opened back up, and I got on the first bus back home, while still slightly intoxicated.
Wednesday!
I got to bear witness to awesome super-drama at work when one of the Korean teachers just up and walked out! About an hour before classes were to start. I'm not sure why she left, but she hightailed it out of there like the Japanese were on her ass.
In other work related drama, the other native teacher is going back to Australia in March. My director is not hiring another native teacher, which means I am going to be ultra-extra-super isolated. *Tears* I guess this means I really need to learn Korean now. I'm actually a little concerned. The lack of contact with anyone who speaks English fluently may drive me completely insane. Lucky for you, I will probably document my slow descent into madness here.
Thursday (today)!
Today was the last day of the work week because of Seollal, which is the Korean New Year. For Seollal, everyone give gifts of various random items in bulk, ranging from typical gift-type items such as alcohol, fruit, and cookies to completely bizarre items such as Spam, toothpaste, and tuna. All in bulk, let me remind you. My boss gave me a BOX of apples today.
Then we went to a fantastic restaurant and had a crazy huge feast. It started out with various bits and pieces to wrap in lettuce leaves, with lots of kimchi and little pots of soup. Then we had a big jigae (stew) in the middle of the table that had kimchi, dumplings, octopus, scallops, shrimp, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and various other bits and pieces mixed in with udong noodles. And it came with my favorite variety of kimchi: ggakdugi, which is radish kimchi. But that was not all, it was finished off with bibimbap: rice mixed with egg, seaweed and vegetables.
I was in food heaven. Korean food is wonderful. I love the family style dinner-everything is shared. Every meal has a main dish (usually a soup or jigae), accompanied by numerous banchan (side dishes). Sometimes the amount of food on a dinner table can be overwhelming! One of these days I will get around to writing about Korean street food, too, which should both amuse and disgust you.
This weekend!
Carol is from Australia and has never seen snow, so Friday and Saturday we plan on going north up to Sokcho to try to find some snow. We also plan on going to the DMZ Unification Observatory, and possibly a jade mine if we have time/can manage to find it. On Sunday I am going to my friend Hanchul's house to meet his family and celebrate Seollal with them. It's a great honor to be invited to a Korean's home (most of their socialization is done in bars and restaurants), so I am flattered and excited. At some point I may also go out with Seha. (Reconciliation pending? Maybe!) I also have Monday off of work, so it will be a fantastic Seollal weekend.
Happy Lunar New Year everyone!
Saturday!
I went to Seoul to meet up with some English teachers that I had met online. I was kind of iffy about meeting them, since I don't really do the strangers on the internet thing (with a few notable exceptions). Before meeting up with them, I went shopping hardcore and bought some (real!) jade jewelry on the cheap, and a cool new purse. Then I headed to a Gagnam bar where I met all of the internet people. Most of them were actually really cool and we hit it off. I was one of the only females there, which was probably a good thing, since we all know that I get along with guys much better than I do with women. So after all the boring people left, the rest of us headed to Itaewon to drink it up. We hopped from bar to bar, and I hopped from drink to drink. Around 10 or so of us started out in Itaewon and then the people started dropping like flies when it hit 4 a.m. Eventually there were only three of us left, so we headed to a place called Hooker Hill, which got its name for precisely the reason you'd imagine. I drank a kettle of soju at 5 a.m., which if you know anything about soju, is a bad idea.
Soju is a rice alcohol fairly unique to Korea. It ranges from 20-45% alcohol by volume content. My friend has a bottle that is 45% ABV. If he doesn't screw the cap on tightly, it EVAPORATES very quickly. This stuff does not fuck around. However, soju is also cheap as dirt. In fact, dirt is probably more expensive than most soju.
In party/club areas, you can buy "kettles" of soju at virtually any bar. A kettle of soju is literally a 2 liter plastic bottle with the top cut off. It is then filled with an entire bottle of soju, and topped off with Sprite and powdered Kool-aid mix. If you think it sounds ghetto, you are correct. Some people will share a kettle of soju, but it is not at all uncommon to see one person drink an entire kettle.
Soju is relatively tasteless, a bit like vodka, so it tastes like whatever you mix it with. This is particularly dangerous, because drinking a kettle of soju just feels like drinking a giant glass of fruit punch. This is awesome if you don't like the taste of alcohol or are just tired of the same old drinks, but it is also highly dangerous, because it's easy to drink it more quickly than other alcohol. (And keep in mind this shit is STRONG.)
So anyway, I was sloshed, and danced the wee hours of the morning away in a super seedy club while one member of our party said various offensive things to every ethnic group present at the bar while still managing to charm them. He then asked the Turkish kebab guy why he didn't sell pork kebabs. Um. The fun and games broke up at around 6:30, when the subway opened back up, and I got on the first bus back home, while still slightly intoxicated.
Wednesday!
I got to bear witness to awesome super-drama at work when one of the Korean teachers just up and walked out! About an hour before classes were to start. I'm not sure why she left, but she hightailed it out of there like the Japanese were on her ass.
In other work related drama, the other native teacher is going back to Australia in March. My director is not hiring another native teacher, which means I am going to be ultra-extra-super isolated. *Tears* I guess this means I really need to learn Korean now. I'm actually a little concerned. The lack of contact with anyone who speaks English fluently may drive me completely insane. Lucky for you, I will probably document my slow descent into madness here.
Thursday (today)!
Today was the last day of the work week because of Seollal, which is the Korean New Year. For Seollal, everyone give gifts of various random items in bulk, ranging from typical gift-type items such as alcohol, fruit, and cookies to completely bizarre items such as Spam, toothpaste, and tuna. All in bulk, let me remind you. My boss gave me a BOX of apples today.
Then we went to a fantastic restaurant and had a crazy huge feast. It started out with various bits and pieces to wrap in lettuce leaves, with lots of kimchi and little pots of soup. Then we had a big jigae (stew) in the middle of the table that had kimchi, dumplings, octopus, scallops, shrimp, bean sprouts, mushrooms, and various other bits and pieces mixed in with udong noodles. And it came with my favorite variety of kimchi: ggakdugi, which is radish kimchi. But that was not all, it was finished off with bibimbap: rice mixed with egg, seaweed and vegetables.
I was in food heaven. Korean food is wonderful. I love the family style dinner-everything is shared. Every meal has a main dish (usually a soup or jigae), accompanied by numerous banchan (side dishes). Sometimes the amount of food on a dinner table can be overwhelming! One of these days I will get around to writing about Korean street food, too, which should both amuse and disgust you.
This weekend!
Carol is from Australia and has never seen snow, so Friday and Saturday we plan on going north up to Sokcho to try to find some snow. We also plan on going to the DMZ Unification Observatory, and possibly a jade mine if we have time/can manage to find it. On Sunday I am going to my friend Hanchul's house to meet his family and celebrate Seollal with them. It's a great honor to be invited to a Korean's home (most of their socialization is done in bars and restaurants), so I am flattered and excited. At some point I may also go out with Seha. (Reconciliation pending? Maybe!) I also have Monday off of work, so it will be a fantastic Seollal weekend.
Happy Lunar New Year everyone!