(no subject)
David finally finished at the airline academy, which means we can hang out on Saturdays now, AND Sundays, and despite my determination to maintain my independence and autonomy, that is how I want to spend most of my weekends now.
Yesterday we went on this huge adventure in order to get to the coffee museum, which is out at the end of the Jungang Line (aqua colored for those who know the Seoul subway system). So we met at Oksu station, ate waffles from a stand because I was starving, and then journeyed onward. They kicked us off the train at Deoksu station, and the train that connects from there to the end of the line only shows up every 30 minutes on Saturday...and we just missed one. So we hung out and emphasized the adventurousness of the trip to distract ourselves from the fact that we were at a windy outdoor station. And then our train came and we carried on.
By this time we had travelled for several hours, so we had lunch across the street from the station, grilled eel and tofu with kimchi, and makkoli (milky rice wine). David doesn't usually drink, but apparently this kind of food is generally served with makkoli. It was really good. David's been much more careful about choosing food lately. We were kind of out in the country, so the waiter kept checking on me and making sure I was okay with the spiciness level of the food. (I was, of course.)
Next was the bus, which we caught on the side of the road where there was no bus stop signs, after consulting three different people. After that it was easy:
We borrowed audio guides for the museum journey, mine in English and his in Korean. His took a bit longer than mine (maybe it was more detailed?). At one point, the tape said something like "Americans import a lot of coffee, just like us." As in, just like WE KOREANS. I was kind of touched by the tape, like, awww the English-speaking tape thinks I am Korean and not American. How sweet."
I knew a fair amount about coffee already just from reading the side of my Starbucks cups, but I did learn that people in Norway and Finland drink 2-3 times as much coffee as Americans. Americans drink around 4 and a quarter kilograms per year, and Finnish people drink 12 kilograms per year! I think Norwegians were around 8-10. Is it because of the dark winter? Scandinavians have to drink tons of coffee to stay awake? But I don't remember seeing Sweden anywhere near that high.
Of course, there is no possible way you could go to a coffee museum without drinking coffee, so we got to grind and brew our own (ethiopian mocha), which was very very good. There was a sign of rules for good coffee: grind and brew it fresh (it should foam up like rising bread), use water between 90-95 degrees, pour the water slowly, and use a cup with a thin rim and no colored designs on the inside. We did all those things.
Anyway, we took our coffee into another room where we could sip and watch a DVD about the curator of the museum. It was in Korean so I didn't understand much (except that the curator travelled to coffee destinations a lot), and David fell asleep (ironic, I know), so he couldn't explain it to me.
We checked out the teacups from different countries, and the experimental coffee plants in the greenhouse, and then went on our merry way.
The way back took even longer. We waited a full hour for the return bus, along with two girls who would have shared a taxi with us had we managed to find any taxis.
We finally got back to my house at 8 PM, and I made pasta (thanks Liz!!) and we watched old episodes of Friends and then David went home.
This morning I went to church. It is Palm Sunday! And I drank coffee and chatted with a couple people. I have this weird thing about not wanting to be recognized at church (I don't want people to start expecting me, because the next thing you know I'll be in the choir), but I stand out so much even at the English-speaking mass that it is inevitable.
And then I met David in Yeouido, which is the island in the middle of the Han River. Jason and Anthony and I tried to find it last weekend, but all we saw was construction. This was much better.
David wanted to go inline skating but I was wearing a dress so we went tandem biking instead. I balked a bit at first, as I believe tandem bicycling to be excessively cute, but I soon realized that this way we could actually talk to each other the whole time which was kind of awesome.
We biked for about an hour and forty minutes, after which our tushies hurt, and we walked and drank iced tea and ate bread and I asked David what all the flowers were but he only knew the names of the ones I already knew.
Also! We watched mediocre basketball players and some decent ones, and some guys on trick bicycles.
Then we went to have dinner, sushi and udong noodles. Mmm.
Later, we went to the 63 building, which used to be the tallest building in Korea but now it is third, I believe. Anyway, we were gonna just ride the elevator to the top but tickets just for that were 12,000 won so we decided to come back another day and do everything, everything being IMAX, Seaworld, and the rooftop art gallery. So we just had tea (well, I did, David had a smoothie) and discussed the pros and cons of internet dating. As it turns out, I am excellent and telling whether people are lying in print, and David is excellent at telling whether people are lying to his face. And neither of us can do the other.
After that we went home. I started reading "Love in the Time of Cholera" sort of in response to the BBC book list, sort of because my sister just finished it, and sort of because it is prominently featured in the movie "Serendipity." Anyway, it took a while to get into. But now I am into it and it's really good.
Mmmhmmm.
Hi everyone. How are you?
Yesterday we went on this huge adventure in order to get to the coffee museum, which is out at the end of the Jungang Line (aqua colored for those who know the Seoul subway system). So we met at Oksu station, ate waffles from a stand because I was starving, and then journeyed onward. They kicked us off the train at Deoksu station, and the train that connects from there to the end of the line only shows up every 30 minutes on Saturday...and we just missed one. So we hung out and emphasized the adventurousness of the trip to distract ourselves from the fact that we were at a windy outdoor station. And then our train came and we carried on.
By this time we had travelled for several hours, so we had lunch across the street from the station, grilled eel and tofu with kimchi, and makkoli (milky rice wine). David doesn't usually drink, but apparently this kind of food is generally served with makkoli. It was really good. David's been much more careful about choosing food lately. We were kind of out in the country, so the waiter kept checking on me and making sure I was okay with the spiciness level of the food. (I was, of course.)
Next was the bus, which we caught on the side of the road where there was no bus stop signs, after consulting three different people. After that it was easy:
We borrowed audio guides for the museum journey, mine in English and his in Korean. His took a bit longer than mine (maybe it was more detailed?). At one point, the tape said something like "Americans import a lot of coffee, just like us." As in, just like WE KOREANS. I was kind of touched by the tape, like, awww the English-speaking tape thinks I am Korean and not American. How sweet."
I knew a fair amount about coffee already just from reading the side of my Starbucks cups, but I did learn that people in Norway and Finland drink 2-3 times as much coffee as Americans. Americans drink around 4 and a quarter kilograms per year, and Finnish people drink 12 kilograms per year! I think Norwegians were around 8-10. Is it because of the dark winter? Scandinavians have to drink tons of coffee to stay awake? But I don't remember seeing Sweden anywhere near that high.
Of course, there is no possible way you could go to a coffee museum without drinking coffee, so we got to grind and brew our own (ethiopian mocha), which was very very good. There was a sign of rules for good coffee: grind and brew it fresh (it should foam up like rising bread), use water between 90-95 degrees, pour the water slowly, and use a cup with a thin rim and no colored designs on the inside. We did all those things.
Anyway, we took our coffee into another room where we could sip and watch a DVD about the curator of the museum. It was in Korean so I didn't understand much (except that the curator travelled to coffee destinations a lot), and David fell asleep (ironic, I know), so he couldn't explain it to me.
We checked out the teacups from different countries, and the experimental coffee plants in the greenhouse, and then went on our merry way.
The way back took even longer. We waited a full hour for the return bus, along with two girls who would have shared a taxi with us had we managed to find any taxis.
We finally got back to my house at 8 PM, and I made pasta (thanks Liz!!) and we watched old episodes of Friends and then David went home.
This morning I went to church. It is Palm Sunday! And I drank coffee and chatted with a couple people. I have this weird thing about not wanting to be recognized at church (I don't want people to start expecting me, because the next thing you know I'll be in the choir), but I stand out so much even at the English-speaking mass that it is inevitable.
And then I met David in Yeouido, which is the island in the middle of the Han River. Jason and Anthony and I tried to find it last weekend, but all we saw was construction. This was much better.
David wanted to go inline skating but I was wearing a dress so we went tandem biking instead. I balked a bit at first, as I believe tandem bicycling to be excessively cute, but I soon realized that this way we could actually talk to each other the whole time which was kind of awesome.
We biked for about an hour and forty minutes, after which our tushies hurt, and we walked and drank iced tea and ate bread and I asked David what all the flowers were but he only knew the names of the ones I already knew.
Also! We watched mediocre basketball players and some decent ones, and some guys on trick bicycles.
Then we went to have dinner, sushi and udong noodles. Mmm.
Later, we went to the 63 building, which used to be the tallest building in Korea but now it is third, I believe. Anyway, we were gonna just ride the elevator to the top but tickets just for that were 12,000 won so we decided to come back another day and do everything, everything being IMAX, Seaworld, and the rooftop art gallery. So we just had tea (well, I did, David had a smoothie) and discussed the pros and cons of internet dating. As it turns out, I am excellent and telling whether people are lying in print, and David is excellent at telling whether people are lying to his face. And neither of us can do the other.
After that we went home. I started reading "Love in the Time of Cholera" sort of in response to the BBC book list, sort of because my sister just finished it, and sort of because it is prominently featured in the movie "Serendipity." Anyway, it took a while to get into. But now I am into it and it's really good.
Mmmhmmm.
Hi everyone. How are you?