Chuseok 2013

Chuseok is the Korean version of Thanksgiving. Koreans get together with their families and pay respects to their ancestors. One of the first things we were told when we got to Korea was that traveling on Chuseok is a pain, however most foreigners do it despite the warnings. I mean, who can pass up a 5 day weekend? So when Adrienne and I FINALLY decided on where to go, most of the flights were booked, so we got horrible prices and inconvenient times. But hey, we were going to JAPAN!

But then the nuclear reactor started acting up again and all of our Korean friends, co-workers and students were telling us not to go because it was too dangerous at the time. We really did do some research, and it was kind of all a "maybe it is, maybe it isn't" situation, but what really had us thinking was the travel arrangements and the money. Once we really thought about it, we were going to be spending about $800 for 3.5 days in Japan. I really didn't want to be rushed, but I really didn't want to back out either. So after much deliberation and thought, we decided to cancel our plans and stay in Korea for Chuseok.

Kaleena, Krissy, Adrienne and myself at the Gyeongbokgung Palace 

It actually worked out really well because Kaleena's sister, Krissy, was visiting from the states and we all had a really good time.

First on the agenda was heading up to Seoul. We've been to Seoul a few times, but I hadn't gone to any of the palaces, and I can't turn down an excuse to go shopping. So we shopped a bit and visited my favorite street, Insadong, that has cute little craft shops, pottery, traditional crafts and super tacky souvenir shops. We also headed to one of the palaces which, to be honest, was much like the Forbidden City. I'm starting to think that, if you've seen one palace, you've seen 'em all.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Year of the Rabbit

We also decided to head to Busan for a few nights. We wanted to enjoy the beach before it got too cold. Well, if you know me at all, you know I hate the beach, particularly laying out on the beach. What I was looking forward to was strolling on the beach, drinking coffee and/or a beer (depending on the time of day), people watching and enjoying the beautiful sight, sound and smell of the water. We spent an awesome night chatting on the beach, enjoying the full moon and watching a few small fireworks being set off by people on the beach. Oh, and eating some AWESOME Korean BBQ.

Busan at night

Amazing BBQ

Just before sunset

Morning Haeundae 

The main reason for wanting to go to Busan, though, was to see the temples. Note to self, don't try to visit temples on holidays. They are PACKED. But they were beautiful. One was inland and one was on the coast. I'd seen pictures of the second temple before from friends that had visited... It looked beautiful, and man it didn't disappoint. Though extremely overcrowded, we had a great time watching little kids play around and the weather was beautiful, so it was a great day.

Beomeosa Temple

Yonggungsa Temple

The crazy line to get to the temple, and it wasn't always moving

After returning home, Adrienne and I decided to rent bikes (though they were free- you just leave your ID) and bike along the river and I also decided to take a full day and rest (it was vacation after all). We also decided to hike Palgongsan again, but we made it a short hike because the bus ride there was RIDICULOUS. It was so crowded that Adrienne was LITERALLY pressed up against the window, face first, and I was supporting my entire body weight on one arm against the window in order to stand because we decided to give our seats to two older ladies.

Biking along the river

Palgongsan

Next year I really hope to get tickets before they are all sold out so I can leave the country, but it was actually really nice to hang out in Korea and see what my "home country" had to offer.

Seoul is Happening!

This weekend Malia, Jordan and I went to Seoul, where we were joined by Jay, for the PSY concert. It was a huge event... there was rumor of NK trying to use it as an opportunity to bomb a bunch of people at one time, which is totally ridiculous... though I think we were a little more vigilant than we would normally be... but we are all fine and dandy...

On the (extremely long) train

Friday Malia, Jordan and I rushed to the train station for our 4 hour slow train to Seoul. Lesson #1 of the weekend, take the KTX (the fast train)... 4 hours of anticipation is just too much... take the slow train back all you want, but get to Seoul Friday night early enough (and fast enough) to go out! Once we got to Seoul, we met up with Jay before heading to the hostel. After getting settled, we headed back out to Hongdae, where all the bars and clubs are, and had a few drinks and grabbed some food, before heading back in for the evening.

Saturday, we met up with a few other people that live in Seoul (or the surrounding areas) and headed to grab coffee and go to the Kyobo Bookstore in Seoul, where they have a very large English section. After going crazy on travel guides, we headed to Itaewon (a district in Seoul that is known for its foreigner friendly restaurants and bars and where a lot of the military hang out) to grab some of the most amazing Mexican food I've ever had!

Since there was a wait, a few of us grabbed seats at the bar while some went out to wander around while we were waiting for our table. We grabbed drinks (thank you Vatos for having nice IPA beer!) and some amazing queso, then were, more quickly than expected, called for our table. Though it was a little pricey, the atmosphere was great and the food was even better. I can't wait to go back!

YUMMY Carnitas!

Malia, Lauren, Jordan, Jay, myself and Heather

NUTELLA NACHOS!

After lunch, we quickly headed back to the hostel to change and grabbed a taxi to take us to the World Cup Stadium for the event of the weekend... the PSY Happening concert!!! We grabbed our tickets, picked up a few shirts, then headed inside where all of our minds were blown. Not only was this a 4 hour long concert, but it had pyrotechnics, fireworks, confetti, flying people, great songs, and guest artists Lee Hai, 2NE1 and G-Dragon! It definitely made each of our top 3 concerts. It was great to see PSY, who everyone knows from Gamnam Style, sing wonderfully composed ballads and become emotional with his fans. This is one artist that truly cares about his work, and the people that support him. You can tell that he wants to give his fans his all, thus the 4 "encores" he gave... it was great!

On our way in!

Yay for the standing section

Psy's opening number

They had great confetti

Perfect weather, and the glow sticks really made the environment 

Psy goes flying

G DRAGON!

Dancing to Single Ladies

2NE1

One of his encores 

After the concert, we were all so hungry, but also tired, so we decided to go back to the hostel and get McDelivery... a wonderful invention.

McDelivery

Sunday morning, Jay had to catch the earliest bus out, while the rest of us slept in. We then packed our bags, which we ended up leaving in lockers at the subway station while we shopped in Meyongdong (another area of Seoul). We stumbled upon this amazing Italian restaurant where we split salads, pizza and pasta bread bowls before heading out to explore. Jordan became our Guinea pig and let Malia and I be his personal stylists. He looked very handsome when we were finished though :)

Pasta in a bread bowl... how could it get better?

The best garlic bread I've had here

This pizza was on par with the pizza I had in Italy... it was THAT good

When it was time, we headed back to the subway, picked up our bags, and headed on the train home... A great weekend full of wonderful company, food and music!

Some things I didn't expect...

After being here for almost 2 months, I sit and reflect on the time I've had, the people I've met, the things I've done, and most of all, all the things I've encountered that I didn't expect.

It is interesting when you try to describe South Korea to people from back home. The things that stick out in your mind, the things that you notice the most, are things that don't really translate well... You'd really just have to see it to understand... but I'll try to explain some of the things that I've come across so far....

Being a foreigner in a country where you don't know the language presents all kinds of obstacles. I never thought I'd complain about not knowing how to deal with trash. Back home, you take it out on a specific day and that is it. Here, well it isn't that simple. You have trash, that you have to buy specific bags from the grocery for, that comes on specific days. But you have to also find where you can drop it off at. Sounds a lot like home so far, right? Well then there is the question of what you are allowed to put in that trash bag. You aren't supposed to but food in it, you aren't supposed to put paper or plastic or glass in it. What the hell ARE you supposed to put in it? And where does all the other stuff go?! Well, you'd think that you would have a recycle bin for the paper, plastic and glass, but for some reason I don't. I see other places to put it while I'm walking around, but I have NO IDEA where to put my recyclables. I decided to take a box down the other day with some things that I thought would be recyclable, but 4 days later, they are still there. So here I sit with another box of things that need to be recycled, but nowhere to put them. Then there is the food. Your food waste is supposed to go into a little red bucket. Some people suggest putting it in the freezer, however I use my freezer for food, not waste, so I have the little red bucket under my sink area. So you put all of your food waste in this red bucket, then you are supposed to put some sort of sticker on the bucket. My land lord gave me one sticker, but now that I've used the one, where the hell do I get more? So then your food waste bucket goes in front of your apartment on certain days. Last night, I put mine out for the first time, and today my little sticker was gone. I snatched up my bucket assuming it would be empty, but noooo, it had liquid in it... all of the liquid that leaked from the food waste was in the bottom, so I had to empty that out once I got up stairs. So still on the agenda (after 1.5 months here): find the food waste stickers and figure out where the hell to put recycle.

Food waste bucket and sticker

Also, something that would seem to be easy, but actually isn't, is using your bank card... Now, setting up a bank account was difficult enough, but I expected that and my co-teacher helped me... ah she is an angel... but apparently you can only use one kind of card for some things and another kind of card for another. Also, apparently my card has a different ID number attached to it than my actual Korean ID number, so that also presents problems. So instead of just typing in your card details and clicking submit, you have to jump though all kinds of hoops to spend your own money (maybe this is a good thing though?)... On a side note, apparently I still need to go back to the bank and get another type of credit card, one that I can use outside of Korea.

Another thing I've noticed is their contradictory germ phobia... some people in Korea walk around with masks on (envision a doctor's mask, but a cute, Hello Kitty style one, and cloth instead of paper like material) and won't stand next to the foreigner (though that is rare)... while most don't cover their mouths when coughing... and worst of all, they don't wash their hands... like, EVER. Also, it seems like everyone in Korea is just always sick.

One thing I think I prepared myself for well was the food. The food here is SO different, you can't even explain it. There is different meat than you are used to, different vegetables than you are use to, the bread is different, the juice is different, the candy is different. However, I surprisingly really like most of the food here. The general meal in Korea (at schools) consists always of rice and a soup, but then some kimici and some meat maybe, some noodles or some fruit maybe. My school lunches are actually pretty good, which I'm very thankful for. And I never thought I'd say I enjoy soups now, as well as spicy food. Oh, and raw carrots (not usually at school, just something I tried and actually really liked.) Another thing I LOVE here is the salad dressings. Back home I never really liked eating salads, but I think it was because of the dressings... here, the dressings are so different from back home... and they are delicious. So yes, I now like soup, salad and raw carrots.

 Soup for lunch

Traditional Korean BBQ- you wrap the meat and sides in lettuce to eat

Noodles and soup for lunch at a market

Mystery meat on a stick with Kaleena at the Monday open market

One thing that will never get old is being so busy with all of my friends. There is always something to do here! Though it does make for one tired gal. Between the dinners, trivia nights, shopping, festivals, weekend getaways, exploring outside, hiking and all the other things we spend time doing, you stay extremely busy (oh yeah, and there is that thing called "work"). I am trying my best, though, to remember that I'll be here for a while, so there is no need to do it all right now, right this second... I have time... and I don't want to make the same mistake I did while I lived in Europe, which was go go go so much, that I forgot to get to know the city I lived in... That, I refuse to do again... so I am spending time getting to know this city that I call home... trying new restaurants and pubs, experiencing the markets and shops... going to different neighborhoods and hiking different mountains... just EXPLORE.

Exploring Duryu Park with new firends

Trying out a new bibimbap restaurant

There are so many other things that makes life interesting here... the fact that you have to bow all the time, not look older people in the eyes and you give things to someone (or receive something) with both of your hands... everyone is always on their cell phone, whether it be to play a game, watch a TV show (they are fully equipped with extendable antennas) or even if it is to look at themselves... if they aren't looking at themselves in their cell phones, then they are using a mirror to do so... public transport is amazing... boys have better style than I do... probably because I refuse to wear the 5 inch heels that all Korean women seem to be wearing...

But there are many ways life is just the same as back home... You eat, sleep, work and play... I love the life I have here in Daegu and I can't wait to experience all the other things that await!

Our trip to Costco

Today, Maila and I decided to make the hour and 15 minute trek Costco (which is located on the other side of the city) to grab some groceries...

After grabbing the bus, sitting for what seemed like forever, we headed into Costco for pit stop #1- PIZZA. Costco has the best pizza (meaning the most American-like) I've found yet, odd I know, but true. So we grabbed some pizza and soda, sat down, and enjoyed the greasy yumminess before heading into the store to shop.

View of the first floor from escalator 

Got fish?

Extensive wine seleciton

It began as a slow, casual shopping spree. A few things here and there made their way into our shared cart. We then headed up to the top floor where the food is located... ahh wine and chocolate samples... peanut butter and honey... CINNAMON TOAST CRUNCH and HONEY NUT CHEERIOS! I went WAYYY overboard... and before you know it... BAM your cart is full, you don't have enough bags, and you've spent $300... oopsies... but it was a very successful day, I finally made it home (with help from Adrienne from the bus stop) with all these goodies... I had to buy in bulk, so I won't be needing to go back for A LONG TIME...

PIIZZZAAAA

How you get your cart from the first to second floor...

Biggest bag of pretzels I've ever seen

The aftermath

 On the bus home

A picture frame, pretzels, pasta, bagels, chicken, peanut butter, tortilla chips, ravioli, lunch meat, rondele, sausages, BBQ sauce, cream cheese, brownie mix, Ritz crackers, cinnamon toast crunch, muffins, alfredo sauce, cajun spice, honey nut cheerios, garlic salt, honey, salsa and 3 bottles of wine