Becoming Korean...
Becoming Korean:
Lesson one:
Learn to shop all night long!
After my Korean lesson on Saturday night, Lili, Perrine and I decided to go shopping in Dongdaemun, but not without a healthy meal. After stopping in Yongsan to meet some friends, we headed to Itaewon. The greatest thing about the whole night was that neither one of us was rushed to do anything. It was so relaxing and refreshing not worrying about following a schedule, making millions of people happy, or rushing around trying to keep everyone together.
When we arrived in Itaewon, one of the first things we saw were two sumo wrestling type woman pulling each others hair out, punching each other and kicking their heads in ...quite disturbing. After taking a nice walk around, we found this Thai restaurant near the embassy. We ordered a bunch of food, curries, pad thai and some other plate I can't remember the name of - delicious!! After a nice and relaxing dinner that lasted over two hours filled with a variety of socio-political conversations, we headed to Dongdaemun for some less intellectual stimulation.
I have to say, it was nice to have someone I have so much in common with - Perrine. She's studying International Relations and currently on a scholarship learning Korean at the local university. Anyway, after a night filled of no success at Dongdaemun, we finally found this hand crafted jewelry shop. The three of us were in awe and it lasted long enough to make us miss the last bus home. Between Perrine and I, we spent nearly 150,000 won - but we got great deals - a value of certainly more than 400$ back home!
I found this handbag I fell in love with, but it was too expensive. Today though, I saw a similar one that was even nicer! I gotta find it. It's this square purse with funky straps. I love it!
After having a snack around 3 am, we realised there was no point in wasting our money on a cab so we decided to do some more shopping until the buses started running again at 5:30. Sometime around 4:30, I found a wicked army fatigue style skirt, without the army print - plain green. To waste our last hour, we had our last bout of sophistication at a nearby coffee shop. Quite interesting! Mostly because during the whole time we were there, these two girls at the table behind us were fixing their makeup, their hair and constantly looking at themselves in the mirror. While the three on our right were comparing the nail jobs that they had just had done... DUDE! IT'S 5 IN THE MORNING!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!
Anyway, I got home sometime around 7, got up at 3-4 then went for sushi with Marc for dinner - MMmmm! Then I bought him some shoes after buying him dinner. After dinner we chilled in a coffee shop before heading home. Quite the weekend!
(he's paying me back!)
Lesson one:
Learn to shop all night long!
After my Korean lesson on Saturday night, Lili, Perrine and I decided to go shopping in Dongdaemun, but not without a healthy meal. After stopping in Yongsan to meet some friends, we headed to Itaewon. The greatest thing about the whole night was that neither one of us was rushed to do anything. It was so relaxing and refreshing not worrying about following a schedule, making millions of people happy, or rushing around trying to keep everyone together.
When we arrived in Itaewon, one of the first things we saw were two sumo wrestling type woman pulling each others hair out, punching each other and kicking their heads in ...quite disturbing. After taking a nice walk around, we found this Thai restaurant near the embassy. We ordered a bunch of food, curries, pad thai and some other plate I can't remember the name of - delicious!! After a nice and relaxing dinner that lasted over two hours filled with a variety of socio-political conversations, we headed to Dongdaemun for some less intellectual stimulation.
I have to say, it was nice to have someone I have so much in common with - Perrine. She's studying International Relations and currently on a scholarship learning Korean at the local university. Anyway, after a night filled of no success at Dongdaemun, we finally found this hand crafted jewelry shop. The three of us were in awe and it lasted long enough to make us miss the last bus home. Between Perrine and I, we spent nearly 150,000 won - but we got great deals - a value of certainly more than 400$ back home!
I found this handbag I fell in love with, but it was too expensive. Today though, I saw a similar one that was even nicer! I gotta find it. It's this square purse with funky straps. I love it!
After having a snack around 3 am, we realised there was no point in wasting our money on a cab so we decided to do some more shopping until the buses started running again at 5:30. Sometime around 4:30, I found a wicked army fatigue style skirt, without the army print - plain green. To waste our last hour, we had our last bout of sophistication at a nearby coffee shop. Quite interesting! Mostly because during the whole time we were there, these two girls at the table behind us were fixing their makeup, their hair and constantly looking at themselves in the mirror. While the three on our right were comparing the nail jobs that they had just had done... DUDE! IT'S 5 IN THE MORNING!!! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!
Anyway, I got home sometime around 7, got up at 3-4 then went for sushi with Marc for dinner - MMmmm! Then I bought him some shoes after buying him dinner. After dinner we chilled in a coffee shop before heading home. Quite the weekend!
(he's paying me back!)