These past couple of days have not yielded me much sleep. How oh-so-very-lame. You'd think that after the past couple of weeks trawling around to various teacher's houses for homestay, I would be happy to finally get a house to ourselves in the Korean forest, secluded, and about 15 minutes walk away from the school. I was. Until I discovered that the house was monstrously huge and the ondol (Korean system of floor heating) had a life of it's own.
I discovered that I am a true city-dweller. I can stand neither complete and utter silence nor the total blackness that night and it's faint, glistening friends bring when I am trying to sleep. I need sounds of people talking outside my bedroom window, I need a radio blaring it's discontented tunes from up the street, and I need the soft sound that tyres make on the hard, dry road. I need the light of street lamps, the intermittent brightness of headlights, and the slow blinking of a neighbour's various rooms being lit and darkened as they move heavily through their house. Without all this I start at every sound, and freak when my eyes play tricks with light that I know doesn't actually exist. My superstitious nature didn't exactly help for the past three nights, either. And now, I think that the house enacted revenge on my blatant hatred of it's secluded being. Last night was the final night of our stay there, and through the restlessness that the light falling of snow brings to a creakity lumbering house, the floor system's heat fluctuated to a high of unbearable fire. And it was to be, that my arse would bear the brunt of the floor's evil intensity.
I HAVE A GIANT BURN ON MY LEFT BUTT CHEEK.
I am not even joking.
I am in pain. Even the number of curses I uttered and screamed towards the downwardsness of the ground haven't helped to relieve my hawt ass burn.
That is all.
Friday, 7 December 2007
Tuesday, 4 December 2007
Get on the...sTEAmtrain!!!! ^___^
Lost this post somehow! But now it's back up! Also lost the comment left, sorry!! :( I don't know who it was from either!! ><
Just do it!
Y'know what's damn good? Tea. Oh Wow. We have had some damn fine teas in the last couple of weeks, the computer teacher gave us some of his own made jam-like substance stuff made out of some sort of untranslatable citrus rind, and the English teacher taught me how to make this amazing ginger tea. Peeling ginger! Adding sugar! And sloshing it around in a massive barrel full of hot water for 10 hours! We definitely enjoyed the fruits of our labours there!! (Wait, do you get it?... fruits?! Oh, wait... ginger is not actually fruit is it. Damn.) The most amazing tea experience though, yet, was at an incredibly awesome Tea House in Insadon. Yes, I did sort of flame that district last post, however I have since changed my view of the area. Sigh. Once again, I prove myself wrong. How I do hate that so! Anyway, after purchasing some radcore chewy taffy-esque substance that is of utmost deliciosity, we stumbled up the seemingly most unreliable and narrow set of stairs I have dared to creak on. We opened the doors on a darkened senseriffic paradise, a place with such eclectic collectibles, it felt like a more crowded, more awesome version of my house. Times one thousand. People sat on a variety of different chairs, the room's random pieces of wooden furnishings creating little alcoves and screens covered in handmade and painted Hanji (Korean paper) creating low cave-like places for those within to whisper and sip tea. The best thing about this place, however, was the tiny birds who flitted around in flashes of yellow, gray, and black, in shadows, and in the fading sounds of their calls. They were so charming that one was inclined to stop talking or suckin' down [one's] darjeeling like Mrs. Nesbit (I actually had plum tea, but, one cannot avoid quoting Toy Story. Ever.) and just stare in naive wonderment at the sheer cuteness of these little dears. The plum tea, by the way, was spectacular. It came out in a rustic looking cup and with a pine nut floating on it's liquid goodness. Mmmmm. And with the tea we were served two Tteok (traditional rice cakes) and these little marshmallowish things made of rice covered in black sesame seeds and little hardened bits of rice. Sigh. I am getting used to the fact that everything is made out of rice. But it was all very good, nevertheless.
Tea on!
There was also a really cool looking 'Free Hugs' dude in Insadon, who I totally glomped. I think he was surprised. Mabes it was the speed at which I came at him. I'm Monsoon Moon, comin' atcha like a beam, like a ray, like a laser. Don't try and stop me. I'm quick like lightning. I'm frightening. I'm comin' atcha like a buzzard. Glompage with strangers = win.
We made our way back that Sunday night to Gangwha, the island off Korea where the school exists, meanwhile I discovering the delights that is known as intense nausea on coaches. I knew I hated bus travel for a reason. Lame. Unfortunately this will have to endure twice a week until Christmas. Fortunately my angel of a mother packed me some ginger tablets for this reason. It was just bad luck that I have only just discovered that I actually had them on me at the time. Although I was pretty delirious for those two hours, so I had no mind to even think of looking in my bag.
So we slept that night with the awesome lady near the North/South Korean border. It appears that we'll be there most of next week, which is an awesome change to crashing in random people's houses every couple of nights. It becomes tiring after...the first couple of times. It's now been something like 10 or 12 different houses. Anyhoo, we spent the next day with the poor kids, playing around and being hung on like trees with bunches of monkeys. I spent the whole day worrying about the Korean bathhouse we were purportedly attending that night, until I got word that we were to have sashimi instead. Whheeeeee! Oh ya, it was great. And then... we went to the bathhouse. Plans changed again, and my worries were back to haunt me. I've been naked with strangers heaps of times. Okay, once, at a bathhouse in Turkey. So I wasn't worried at all about this aspect. I was terrified that we were attending with the ajumma we were staying with and two other girls. I would rather be with old people in the form of strangers than with people I had been talking and joking around with the whole day.
But I was to go in and come out unscathed by the experience. We stripped down, and entered a steamy bath room. We showered and scrubbed ourselves silly, and then sat in a tub at 37 degrees centigrade. It was so relaxing, if not a little bit unnerving in that all the other ajummas were staring at a western girl sitting in the tub with them. I think I am grateful, rather than annoyed, that I can barely understand a word of Korean. We then joined the men in the sauna room, a massive hall-like place with two televisions and mats sprawled everywhere. The fact that I had to wear pink while the guys got to wear blue annoyed me. On most walls of this giant room were massive oven-like structures, each holding a circular room full of people sweating to different temperatures. We baked ourselves in the 56 degrees C room, drank Shikhye a traditional dessert drink made out of, you guessed it, rice. How rice-ist of me. We then boiled our skin in the 61 degrees C salt room. The floor in that one was unbearable to walk on, and as we lay on salt rocks sweat finally dripped off me. How cleansing!! We did not dare to do the 100 degree C room that night, however I think that the bath houses will be visited on a regular basis during this trip. Hopefully. I'm sure we'll burn in one then.
Also: Photos!! XD
Just do it!
Y'know what's damn good? Tea. Oh Wow. We have had some damn fine teas in the last couple of weeks, the computer teacher gave us some of his own made jam-like substance stuff made out of some sort of untranslatable citrus rind, and the English teacher taught me how to make this amazing ginger tea. Peeling ginger! Adding sugar! And sloshing it around in a massive barrel full of hot water for 10 hours! We definitely enjoyed the fruits of our labours there!! (Wait, do you get it?... fruits?! Oh, wait... ginger is not actually fruit is it. Damn.) The most amazing tea experience though, yet, was at an incredibly awesome Tea House in Insadon. Yes, I did sort of flame that district last post, however I have since changed my view of the area. Sigh. Once again, I prove myself wrong. How I do hate that so! Anyway, after purchasing some radcore chewy taffy-esque substance that is of utmost deliciosity, we stumbled up the seemingly most unreliable and narrow set of stairs I have dared to creak on. We opened the doors on a darkened senseriffic paradise, a place with such eclectic collectibles, it felt like a more crowded, more awesome version of my house. Times one thousand. People sat on a variety of different chairs, the room's random pieces of wooden furnishings creating little alcoves and screens covered in handmade and painted Hanji (Korean paper) creating low cave-like places for those within to whisper and sip tea. The best thing about this place, however, was the tiny birds who flitted around in flashes of yellow, gray, and black, in shadows, and in the fading sounds of their calls. They were so charming that one was inclined to stop talking or suckin' down [one's] darjeeling like Mrs. Nesbit (I actually had plum tea, but, one cannot avoid quoting Toy Story. Ever.) and just stare in naive wonderment at the sheer cuteness of these little dears. The plum tea, by the way, was spectacular. It came out in a rustic looking cup and with a pine nut floating on it's liquid goodness. Mmmmm. And with the tea we were served two Tteok (traditional rice cakes) and these little marshmallowish things made of rice covered in black sesame seeds and little hardened bits of rice. Sigh. I am getting used to the fact that everything is made out of rice. But it was all very good, nevertheless.
Tea on!
There was also a really cool looking 'Free Hugs' dude in Insadon, who I totally glomped. I think he was surprised. Mabes it was the speed at which I came at him. I'm Monsoon Moon, comin' atcha like a beam, like a ray, like a laser. Don't try and stop me. I'm quick like lightning. I'm frightening. I'm comin' atcha like a buzzard. Glompage with strangers = win.
We made our way back that Sunday night to Gangwha, the island off Korea where the school exists, meanwhile I discovering the delights that is known as intense nausea on coaches. I knew I hated bus travel for a reason. Lame. Unfortunately this will have to endure twice a week until Christmas. Fortunately my angel of a mother packed me some ginger tablets for this reason. It was just bad luck that I have only just discovered that I actually had them on me at the time. Although I was pretty delirious for those two hours, so I had no mind to even think of looking in my bag.
So we slept that night with the awesome lady near the North/South Korean border. It appears that we'll be there most of next week, which is an awesome change to crashing in random people's houses every couple of nights. It becomes tiring after...the first couple of times. It's now been something like 10 or 12 different houses. Anyhoo, we spent the next day with the poor kids, playing around and being hung on like trees with bunches of monkeys. I spent the whole day worrying about the Korean bathhouse we were purportedly attending that night, until I got word that we were to have sashimi instead. Whheeeeee! Oh ya, it was great. And then... we went to the bathhouse. Plans changed again, and my worries were back to haunt me. I've been naked with strangers heaps of times. Okay, once, at a bathhouse in Turkey. So I wasn't worried at all about this aspect. I was terrified that we were attending with the ajumma we were staying with and two other girls. I would rather be with old people in the form of strangers than with people I had been talking and joking around with the whole day.
But I was to go in and come out unscathed by the experience. We stripped down, and entered a steamy bath room. We showered and scrubbed ourselves silly, and then sat in a tub at 37 degrees centigrade. It was so relaxing, if not a little bit unnerving in that all the other ajummas were staring at a western girl sitting in the tub with them. I think I am grateful, rather than annoyed, that I can barely understand a word of Korean. We then joined the men in the sauna room, a massive hall-like place with two televisions and mats sprawled everywhere. The fact that I had to wear pink while the guys got to wear blue annoyed me. On most walls of this giant room were massive oven-like structures, each holding a circular room full of people sweating to different temperatures. We baked ourselves in the 56 degrees C room, drank Shikhye a traditional dessert drink made out of, you guessed it, rice. How rice-ist of me. We then boiled our skin in the 61 degrees C salt room. The floor in that one was unbearable to walk on, and as we lay on salt rocks sweat finally dripped off me. How cleansing!! We did not dare to do the 100 degree C room that night, however I think that the bath houses will be visited on a regular basis during this trip. Hopefully. I'm sure we'll burn in one then.
Also: Photos!! XD
SUDDEN UPDATE
The best thing about being in a ridiculously homophobic nation such as Korea is that public bathhouses are much less taboo than it otherwise would be.
We visited one last night, the first time I'd been to one in over 3 years. Considering how n00bish I've been in Korea so far, I was afraid that even getting naked with a bunch of old dudes would be awkward and unenjoyable. Instead, I found that I loved it more than ever.
They're wonderful places, Korean bathhouses. I'd probably never take a friend to one, but as a place where I can take a nice hot, thorough shower, soak in a hot tub, move to an ice water pool, and then back again to another tub, I relax like I'm not able to anywhere else. Sure, everywhere you look there's some old shrivelled dude, but if your like me, the bliss of soaking in such a nice tub at such a perfect temperature is more than enough to cancel that out.
We went in to a Sauna after that, first room being 56 degress, the next one 61. I sweated buckets up on buckets as Mia tried to muster up some moisture on her brow. Once I got out, I felt lighter, healthier, refreshed and alive. I am determined to hit as many bathhouses as I can before I go.
We also headed back to Insadong to visit a Teahouse, known simply as the Old Tea Shop. This place is filled to the fuckin gills with odd bits and pieces to the point that it's hard to get around. Old furniture, korean paper and live birds flit around. I kid you not. I had a nice chrysanthemum tea, while Mia discovered the delights of Plum tea.
It's been good. A couple of days of rest for now! My uni marks have been okay, but unspectacular. Rawr.
We visited one last night, the first time I'd been to one in over 3 years. Considering how n00bish I've been in Korea so far, I was afraid that even getting naked with a bunch of old dudes would be awkward and unenjoyable. Instead, I found that I loved it more than ever.
They're wonderful places, Korean bathhouses. I'd probably never take a friend to one, but as a place where I can take a nice hot, thorough shower, soak in a hot tub, move to an ice water pool, and then back again to another tub, I relax like I'm not able to anywhere else. Sure, everywhere you look there's some old shrivelled dude, but if your like me, the bliss of soaking in such a nice tub at such a perfect temperature is more than enough to cancel that out.
We went in to a Sauna after that, first room being 56 degress, the next one 61. I sweated buckets up on buckets as Mia tried to muster up some moisture on her brow. Once I got out, I felt lighter, healthier, refreshed and alive. I am determined to hit as many bathhouses as I can before I go.
We also headed back to Insadong to visit a Teahouse, known simply as the Old Tea Shop. This place is filled to the fuckin gills with odd bits and pieces to the point that it's hard to get around. Old furniture, korean paper and live birds flit around. I kid you not. I had a nice chrysanthemum tea, while Mia discovered the delights of Plum tea.
It's been good. A couple of days of rest for now! My uni marks have been okay, but unspectacular. Rawr.
Sunday, 2 December 2007
No really...Totoro!!! ^___^
It has been an interesting week. I've...been places. Seen...things. And eaten...foods.
What times.
I would prefer, though, to not talk about the plastic square cheese + fried egg + strawberry jam + rice bread sandwich I half-consumed this morning. Don't ask, and I won't cry.
Don't really know where to start. The beginning, mayhaps? Errr...Myeongdong? Yeah. That was a pretty cool place. I forgot to mention last post that that was teh place that we ate massive amounts of street food. Oh, and then we went and got a huge and delicious bowl of Japanese ramen. Mmmmmmm, soup with handmade noodles and a healthy dose of green leafy vegetables. It's a little area of Seoul which is considered 'boutique' but really just had a lot of expensive (and mostly Western) stores; the likes of Gucci, Oroton, and...other things that I care little for. But the vibe of the place was great. The streets are possibly the most crowded I have ever encountered, which was a lot less frustrating and intimidating than I would have imagined. Also, a giant chicken took a liking to my butt with one of it's wings. As in one of those people in furry chicken suits. That was way scary. I hate those dressed-up...things. Urgh. *Shiverrrr*
The next day we went to one big-ass palace. Gyeongbokgung is the first azn-stylez palace I have seen, and it was incredibly eye-opening. Such damn huge courtyards and the gorgeous fusion of an Art Nouveau-esque naturalism and strict lines of a minimalist linear style in the building's patterns and organisation was stunning. Also: the sheer design reserved for the roofs of every building really makes you see that the purpose of the architecture was to make you look up to the goddamn heavens; your neck breaks and your mind explodes for the king and his glorious being. Like, y'know, literally and metaphorically.
And so, post-palace envy, we wandered away still in awe and managed our way through the backstreets of a much more polished part of Seoul. Y'know those streets that are in theme parks? Too clean and seemingly in mini form? Yeah, it felt like that weirdly. Although I have definitely learnt my lesson with the Korean take on Western food I still have way too many urges to try outlandish claims of authentic European food. Like the bakery, for example, that we walked into in the area outside Gyeongbokgung. After looking like a ba bo (idiot) wandering around breadstuffs and pastries, for what must have been a curious 15 minutes for the staff behind the counter, I ended up buying a tiny croissant ridiculously overpriced and way too buttery. My excuse for that (not the silliest) purchase was that they had a certificate from the world-renowned and extraordinarily elite Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. Aiiight! Don't lie, otai!?
We then headed over to the tourist-trap that is Insadon. On the outskirts we found an awesome Tteok (rice cake) - a dessert that one is easily accustomed to despite it being way heavier than, say baklava or Turkish delight - shoppe, in which we picked up some with red bean in the centre and outside rolled in slithers of dried date. Mmmmmm...you should turn ENVY ON. I'm not the biggest fan of Insadon. I abhor touristy things. And I really have an inner weirdo that loathes seeing other people that are not of the culture I am viewing and taking part in...I know, strange, but I like to at least think that I am seeing things that a lot of other people won't - and I am!! But still...know what I mean? Anyone? The only thing I can see that here (or Dongdaemun, a huge market that will surely be visited soon) will be useful for is for the gifts to bring home; you've just got to have a discerning eye to separate the bullshit artefacts and the genuine articles. Thankfully for you guys, you have two peeps dedicated to that which is quality! Ayup!!! ^________^ You'll all get something awesome, fo sho.
So apart from wandering around, and getting hella confused in some absolute dears of tiny alleyways, we decided to go to a speciality dumpling place. It was even I, who six months ago claimed that dumplings and anything involved I had extreme dislike for, that suggested it. And we got a damn tasty meal. Holy Halmuni (grandmother). Why is it that old women in every culture are Absolute Gods when they step into a kitchen. I need to see if I can find a stall in Dongdaemun or Namdaemun that sells these jewels for cheap. I need one for my house! Anyway, suffice to say I was totally convinced by the massive photo on the front door of the shop of an old woman looking kindly into the dough she was kneading. I was further indoctrinated into the dumpling ways from the first bite right up until to the last slurp of soup. Halmuni chuseyo!!! (Give me a grandmother!) .\/. Now!
We spent the start of the week sleeping right on the border of North and South Korea. I was shown the incredible expanses of mud flats (one of the largest in the world, I was told) that head out to the Yellow Sea. I was shown North Korean land, literally reachable in ten minutes if swum through the cold and icy sea, through a heavily barbed-wire fence and under the watch of nearby militants. The first house we stayed at was with an incredibly awesome woman who felt like a benevolent aunt, and who runs basically an afterschool place for poor and disadvantaged children from as young as 7 to 16 or so. Although extraordinarily tiring, I am all too happy spend every Monday until Christmas there, being an absolute kid myself, playing and running around with them. It was nerve-racking at first, none would talk to us at first, shying away at any little comment we said. About half an hour later I had about four hanging off my arms, giving me back massages (child labour, wheeee!!!), and gabbling on in fast Korean, and despite my repeated explanations that I could neither understand nor respond, my efforts came to absolute no avail.
The second night we stayed with another awesome person, this time the computer teacher from the High School we were to attend for the next three days as usual. Living also extraordinarily close to the border, we were once again waived through the restricted area by armed guards, I having to hide my face a little on the way through as foreigners are generally not accepted into the area, let alone Korean citizens who are non-residents. The dude was great, he took us out to a freaking three-level Kalbi (Korean-style ribs) "castle"...well, that was the restaurants name!!! His two children were adorable, the little girl seemingly thinking I was some sort of secret-holder and trickster. Which, it turned out I was, as she egged me on to poke Mintie and then act as if I didn't. Our fun-having was greeted by peals of her laughter. So cute.
Soooo...that was all great. The week at the school went fast, I think I felt as if I were on a high from the past couple of days of being treated so nicely and being so welcomed. The kids at the High School seem to really like us, the second year being the most interested. We usually waste about 3/4 of the time in that class just talking to them. The most awkward question this week (god, I hope there isn't one for every week!!) was asked by a dude sitting right at the front. He asked me which boy was the most good-looking in the class, which I avoided, I thought cleverly, by pointing to a girl to his left. Phewww...I thought. Okay, so who was the second-best looking then? Grah. "God!!! Fine, you!" I exclaimed through rolled eyes and laughter. Although he already held his arms in victory, he had to ask me "True?" before he looked around at a laughing class and smiled. Total LOL FACTORY. But, probably one of the nicest dudes at the school, we played soccer with him the week before.
This weekend, though? Contempory Art. It was great to be in amongst it all for a while. Some extraordinarily interesting pieces, a few pieces I recognised, a bit of Warhol, Sherman, and Park, an amazing Korean video artist which a few people had told me to go see while here. What an absolute dude. This gallery loves him, having a whole room dedicated to him and his awesome skillzorz. Unfortunately his most famous work and centrepiece of the big spiral ramp up to other galleries, was not open until next May. As it is a gorram huge sculpture of televisions, I was still damned impressed. I cannot imagine what it would have been like had they all been working. We also froze our arses off taking an open cable car back down to the station, over a huge lake and in a valley surrounded by sizable mountains. FUN!!! XD
Electronics. I love markets. I love gadgets. The former fills me with glee and the latter, well, I am a lady so I can't talk about that! Add the two together and I explode. Yongsan is rad. Description from fellow travel friend will suffice, I am sure. Needless to say, we shall be re-visiting. I had strong desires for the laptops I saw there that were no bigger than your average book, but I need to consider my finances before I spend about a thousand on one of these babies. God. I SO WANT ONE!!!111jgkjfdklgjklfjl!!!! Maybe I will just have to settle with a DS. It's tough, really.
Mall. We went to the biggest underground shopping centres in Asia, that which is known as COEX. Fascinating stuff. Bombarded with uber-advertising from the moment you step off the Metro, a tunnel leads you into a wonderland of flashing lights, a megaplex of cinemas, and speciality shops from the ridiculous to the sublime. Ridiculous being a pseudo-French market where you pick what you want to eat off the mini-stalls...and then eat. What the hell?! Sublime being the joint Totoro + Nintendo stores. Shit, yes. Much screaming was done. Packed with a katrillion people, you barely navigate your way around the ultrAA-confusing place, re-seeing that which you have already seen and stumbling across some of the more stranger sights. We managed to stumble into a fine food and coffee convention. How? I don't know. We looked at espresso machines, and homemade chocolates, realised that Korea has a long way to go in terms of these goods which we so easily procure in Australia but, nevertheless, managed to score some gelato (Godsend or what?!) which will be the best I will get here. It was no Bar Italia or Gelatomassi in terms of flavours, but the texture was just perfect. As we walked out gobbling it up in excited hiccups, we realised that we totally gatecrashed the place. Everyone there was either a cafe owner, paid visitor, or exhibitor. Hehehehe...that was fun!! I have no idea how we managed to just walk right past the security checking the name tags required to be displayed at all times. *Grins* We do luck out an awful lot.
Then it was a DVD bang for our weary legs, and a treat to ourselves for surviving the less-than-nice place we stayed in over the weekend...no details, but let's just say it wasn't the most welcoming reception ever. I was barely even acknowledged. :( Nevertomind, we found a great little place hidden at the top of a building which gave me a whole damn chicken stuffed with a whole chestnut, a date, and some of the most beautful rice I have ever had. The soup was incredible. And it was all washed down nicely with a bottle of Soju. I really like it!! That is all.
Totorrroooooooooo.... *squeeglomp!* ^_________________________^
GADGET LUST
Wow, it's been a while since we blogged. We've done so many things, I hope I remember them all.
Instead of hitting up some art goodness, we instead headed to a fucking castle, one known as Gyeongbokgung. I hadn't been there since I was a wee tyke of about... 8 or 10, but I remembered as being kind of dry so I wasn't expecting to be blown away by the majestic majesty of the place. It's just so goddamn big, for starters, with every part of the architecture resembling some sort of intricate hand-painted artisan bullshit that I love so dearly. We wandered around, in general wonder at the awesomeness of the buildings, whilst generally imagining living in that kind of splendour. Who needs electricity when you have a giant paved courtyard, or a house sitting on a lake? Or some claycarved mural thing? Truly cool.
We walked from there to Seouls tourist-trap/delicious food area known as Insadong. Its basically a street blocked off to cars on the weekend where they sell souveniers, traditional korean paper, sell traditional streetfood, have tons of authentic old-skool korean food and teahouses with birds flying around inside. One teahouse used to have a monkey (I'm not joking) but they got rid of it for some reason. We haven't gone to any, but I'm determined to find the one with a squirrel.
We browsed around, and checked out the local art gallery. It was pretty mediocre, looking amateurish at times, but it was a pleasant enough sort of place. We obviously ingested huge quantities of korean food (our money stocks are DWINDLING) and ended up having lunch at a dumpling specialty place which was ++ radcore. Since my grandmother doesn't cook anymore, I have to get my homemade awesome korean food fix elsewhere, and this place was just the ticket. We ended up at a DVD room, as always, and we watched a movie to ease our aching legs. This is becoming a recurring theme. We've gone through My Sassy Girl, Stranger than Fiction, Hot Fuzz and a couple of other great movies. I really do hope they become popular in Australia because they seem to fit my needs for a movie experience much more than a theatre these days.
After that was our first day at the after-school care/study room that we were supposed to be helping out with. The lady that runs the place worked for my dad when he was involved with the whole democracy thing in korea, and was uber nice to us from the get go. It's a non-profit place that is open to any kid who wants to attend. They provide a place where kids get forced to do a bit of study, and then they're free to run around, play with all the books and toys that are around as well as the computers, and are fed dinner at night. Our job is to basically give a shit about these kids, they are poor and disobedient but some of them come from rougher backgrounds and by teaching them a little english, maybe we can help them a little. The kids have a lot of energy, and they aren't exactly angels, but compared the the more formal dry existence at the high-school, it was really invigorating. It helps also that the woman taking care of us is the utmost in awesome. Buying us delicious things like smoked salmon, and generally treating us like her own children.
By the time we got back to the high-school, we were in high spirits, and maybe that's why the week went so quick. We stayed in two different houses over 4 nights, which was hell of annoying, but both houses were uber hospitable. The first house bought us delicious meats for dinner, and then a grandma made us awesome bul-go-gi, while the second had a tiring but cute child as well as cheesecake for breakfast. Eat Mia, EAT! *^___^*
We hit MoCA on the first day of the weekend. It's inside Seouls biggest park, aptly named, literally translating to roughly just that, and were pleased to see a really good selection of art. I was moved, challenged and pleased, often at the same time, and we just wandered around having a look at what Korean art was actually like. I was dissapointed that we didn't get to see one of Paik's major works, Dadaiksun(The More the Better), because some of the ONE BAJILLION monitors that make up the work were broken and the renovations wouldn't be finished till may. It was so impressive in its turned off state that I wonder how amazing it would have been on.
The real star of this weekend however, for me, has been the ALMIGHTY YONGSAN.
Yongsan is a huge electronics market. It basically takes up 20 buildings, maybe more with apparently over 5000 stores. There are pirated DVDs, programs, every mp3 player ever made, used computers, new computers, laptops, CCTV, karaoke machines, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It's just ridiculous. You could walk around and assemble parts for a PC on the cheap and have it assembled in half an hour if you wanted. Or walk through an alley dedicated to vacuum cleaners, or mobilephones or console games. It's basically heaven to me. I ended up buying an iAudio 7, and I plan to go back to pick up a headphone amp on the cheap. Mia has her eyes set on some of those Etymotic 6is that will improve her listening experience, while I'm still tossing up whether to get some speakers and lug them around till I go home. Regardless, I'm looking forward to spending many a day there, just wondering around like an idiot. I mean, I could buy a PC faster than mine for about 3 or 400 dollars. Or buy speakers or headphones that I simply can't get over in australia. It's like a window shopping orgasm x 10 million.
The bargaining with the stalls can be fun too. There are no prices listed anywhere in the market, so if you're not on your guard, you can be ripped off here while feeling you got a great price. However, the few stalls I interacted with seem to be jovial enough, if a bit shitty that every customer is trying to squeeze every last penny of savings out of them. Good atmosphere really, all things considered.
Then we hit COEX, a giant underground shopping centre with a bookstore that has an english section bigger than borders. We walked around aimlessly, looking at shitty clothes stores and interesting stationery places until we came across the Totoro store. Attatched to a DS store. I am not even kidding. We both freaked out, yelling out TOTORO! every few seconds while crying due to how crazily overpriced everything was. Mia seems pretty set on getting a DS now, while my dreams of having a bed that is actually a giant Totoro Doll become more and more alluring. Damn you, money constraints. Afterward, we used a DVD room to soothe our legs, and then had some Samgyetang. I haven't had a good samgyetang in forever, and this place gave us the works. A whole ginseng, some jujube fruit (think a date), a whole roasted chestnut and rice were stuffed inside a whole chicken, that seemed to have been simmering since before I was born. The broth was perfect, not needing any salt, and the chicken fell of the bones. So rejuvenating, I felt like I could punch through walls. Instead, the two of us polished off a bottle of soju and lurched home.
Good times.
Would love to hear from you guys and what you've been up to. The blogosphere goes quiet as soon as we leave? What gives?
Instead of hitting up some art goodness, we instead headed to a fucking castle, one known as Gyeongbokgung. I hadn't been there since I was a wee tyke of about... 8 or 10, but I remembered as being kind of dry so I wasn't expecting to be blown away by the majestic majesty of the place. It's just so goddamn big, for starters, with every part of the architecture resembling some sort of intricate hand-painted artisan bullshit that I love so dearly. We wandered around, in general wonder at the awesomeness of the buildings, whilst generally imagining living in that kind of splendour. Who needs electricity when you have a giant paved courtyard, or a house sitting on a lake? Or some claycarved mural thing? Truly cool.
We walked from there to Seouls tourist-trap/delicious food area known as Insadong. Its basically a street blocked off to cars on the weekend where they sell souveniers, traditional korean paper, sell traditional streetfood, have tons of authentic old-skool korean food and teahouses with birds flying around inside. One teahouse used to have a monkey (I'm not joking) but they got rid of it for some reason. We haven't gone to any, but I'm determined to find the one with a squirrel.
We browsed around, and checked out the local art gallery. It was pretty mediocre, looking amateurish at times, but it was a pleasant enough sort of place. We obviously ingested huge quantities of korean food (our money stocks are DWINDLING) and ended up having lunch at a dumpling specialty place which was ++ radcore. Since my grandmother doesn't cook anymore, I have to get my homemade awesome korean food fix elsewhere, and this place was just the ticket. We ended up at a DVD room, as always, and we watched a movie to ease our aching legs. This is becoming a recurring theme. We've gone through My Sassy Girl, Stranger than Fiction, Hot Fuzz and a couple of other great movies. I really do hope they become popular in Australia because they seem to fit my needs for a movie experience much more than a theatre these days.
After that was our first day at the after-school care/study room that we were supposed to be helping out with. The lady that runs the place worked for my dad when he was involved with the whole democracy thing in korea, and was uber nice to us from the get go. It's a non-profit place that is open to any kid who wants to attend. They provide a place where kids get forced to do a bit of study, and then they're free to run around, play with all the books and toys that are around as well as the computers, and are fed dinner at night. Our job is to basically give a shit about these kids, they are poor and disobedient but some of them come from rougher backgrounds and by teaching them a little english, maybe we can help them a little. The kids have a lot of energy, and they aren't exactly angels, but compared the the more formal dry existence at the high-school, it was really invigorating. It helps also that the woman taking care of us is the utmost in awesome. Buying us delicious things like smoked salmon, and generally treating us like her own children.
By the time we got back to the high-school, we were in high spirits, and maybe that's why the week went so quick. We stayed in two different houses over 4 nights, which was hell of annoying, but both houses were uber hospitable. The first house bought us delicious meats for dinner, and then a grandma made us awesome bul-go-gi, while the second had a tiring but cute child as well as cheesecake for breakfast. Eat Mia, EAT! *^___^*
We hit MoCA on the first day of the weekend. It's inside Seouls biggest park, aptly named, literally translating to roughly just that, and were pleased to see a really good selection of art. I was moved, challenged and pleased, often at the same time, and we just wandered around having a look at what Korean art was actually like. I was dissapointed that we didn't get to see one of Paik's major works, Dadaiksun(The More the Better), because some of the ONE BAJILLION monitors that make up the work were broken and the renovations wouldn't be finished till may. It was so impressive in its turned off state that I wonder how amazing it would have been on.
The real star of this weekend however, for me, has been the ALMIGHTY YONGSAN.
Yongsan is a huge electronics market. It basically takes up 20 buildings, maybe more with apparently over 5000 stores. There are pirated DVDs, programs, every mp3 player ever made, used computers, new computers, laptops, CCTV, karaoke machines, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It's just ridiculous. You could walk around and assemble parts for a PC on the cheap and have it assembled in half an hour if you wanted. Or walk through an alley dedicated to vacuum cleaners, or mobilephones or console games. It's basically heaven to me. I ended up buying an iAudio 7, and I plan to go back to pick up a headphone amp on the cheap. Mia has her eyes set on some of those Etymotic 6is that will improve her listening experience, while I'm still tossing up whether to get some speakers and lug them around till I go home. Regardless, I'm looking forward to spending many a day there, just wondering around like an idiot. I mean, I could buy a PC faster than mine for about 3 or 400 dollars. Or buy speakers or headphones that I simply can't get over in australia. It's like a window shopping orgasm x 10 million.
The bargaining with the stalls can be fun too. There are no prices listed anywhere in the market, so if you're not on your guard, you can be ripped off here while feeling you got a great price. However, the few stalls I interacted with seem to be jovial enough, if a bit shitty that every customer is trying to squeeze every last penny of savings out of them. Good atmosphere really, all things considered.
Then we hit COEX, a giant underground shopping centre with a bookstore that has an english section bigger than borders. We walked around aimlessly, looking at shitty clothes stores and interesting stationery places until we came across the Totoro store. Attatched to a DS store. I am not even kidding. We both freaked out, yelling out TOTORO! every few seconds while crying due to how crazily overpriced everything was. Mia seems pretty set on getting a DS now, while my dreams of having a bed that is actually a giant Totoro Doll become more and more alluring. Damn you, money constraints. Afterward, we used a DVD room to soothe our legs, and then had some Samgyetang. I haven't had a good samgyetang in forever, and this place gave us the works. A whole ginseng, some jujube fruit (think a date), a whole roasted chestnut and rice were stuffed inside a whole chicken, that seemed to have been simmering since before I was born. The broth was perfect, not needing any salt, and the chicken fell of the bones. So rejuvenating, I felt like I could punch through walls. Instead, the two of us polished off a bottle of soju and lurched home.
Good times.
Would love to hear from you guys and what you've been up to. The blogosphere goes quiet as soon as we leave? What gives?
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