2nd visit to Seoul!!!

So, this weekend was pretty amazing, but that's nothing new right??? Friday night was definitely chill. I stayed at the gym pretty late, but I had a really deep conversation with one of the older guys there. He went to university in Texas so his English is really good. He is a counselor at Taejon Christian International School as well as a counselor to rape victims. We talked a good bit about Psychology, Sociology, and deviance in general. We also talked about the cultural aspects of Korea. He was telling me that Korea was becoming more and more Westernized, and how much it had changed in the past ten years. It was probably the first in depth conversation I have had with a Korean since I have arrived. It was really good to hear a Korean's perspective on life in general.

Saturday was NUTS!!!! Mell and I decided to sit outside the GS25 (a convenient store with a few patio tables outside my apartment). I had a Seoul date with Douchi at 9am on Sunday so I kind of wanted an early night. Well, some way or another we ended up changing clothes and going to Dunsan Dong to eat at a restaurant. While in Dunsan, we decided to stop by the foreigner bar, Sponge. We stayed until about three. We had fun dancing and chatting with the other foreigners. We got a few numbers and said goodbye. We caught a taxi that had the undercarriage glow (possibly a mistake on our part). Anyways, we start heading back home to Mannyeon Dong in this Disco Taxi when he starts playing some serious dance music. We are about to turn onto our street when Mell and I look at each other and decide that we need to go dancing. Hahaha. Wow, so we had back to Dunsan to the dance club Cocoon. We dance for a few more hours, get a few more numbers, and then finally, head back home! K-RAZY since I had to get up at 8 in order to get to the bus station by 9.

I went to Seoul on Sunday with Douchi on only 2 hours of sleep. We were shopping for our outfits to wear for her birthday dinner on Friday, and her birthday dance night on Saturday this coming weekend. She found some really cute dresses at Forever 21!!! She has such a cute figure so everything she tried on looked gorgeous!!!! I also found a couple of dresses for the weekend. I am so excited for her birthday!!!!!

So after spending a good bit of the day in Seoul, we came home in just enough time for me to shower and meet Mell, Kwanjungnim, and Alice Teacher for dinner. Because somehow, someone got the idea to set Kwanjungnim and Alice Teacher up on a date, and then somehow another person got roped into going on the first outing with them because in Korea you don't do blind dates. I was so tired, but it was fun. I am not sure how well it went. I will have to ask Kwanjungnim tomorrow. It seemed to go well, but what do I know; the entire thing was in Korean!

So another good weekend, here in Korea has come and gone. And I am left to start the work week once again exhausted but content! I am excited about the birthday celebrations this week!!!!!

Seoul

Man, what a great weekend!!!! Mell and I went to Seoul on Saturday. Seoul has a lot of foreigners so some of the popular stores from back home have opened stores there. We went to Forever 21 and found some really cute dresses and shirts. We also looked at H&M, but couldn't really find anything there. We also went to Insan dong, a traditional Korean area that sold a lot of nice souvenir type things to send back home to family. I think Douchi and I are going next weekend to shop for outfits for her birthday party. I am super excited!!!! She said she might even get some heels!!! Yay!

When we got home from Seoul, it was still pretty early. So we met Douchi and Trevor at Mr. Chicken and Beer for some Cajun Chicken Salad. I know we go there way too often but seriously you gotta try this salad. Its the most amazing thing you have ever put in your mouth!!! Then, we hit up Kwang Min's for a bit, but he wasn't there and we wanted to go dancing. So we headed to Dunsan Dong to some of the foreigner bars. Sponge was dead when we first got there so we left and went to a restaurant down the street. We didn't get to dance but still it was so much fun. We sat next to three Korean guys that were about mine and Mell's ages (age is very important in Korea if I haven't mentioned that lately, that and blood type, weird). Anyways, I started talking to them because I noticed that they kept staring at us (I think because I was the only one dancing in the entire restaurant...hahaha). They were really nice guys. It was funny because then Mell told them that I was single. Then, they told me to choose one of them. Maybe I am weird but I have a hard time telling people that I like someone better than them. I don't want to hurt their feelings :(. Anyways, they had to meet some other friends so they left. Then, Mell got it in her head to get me a boyfriend that night. So she dared me to go over and talk to this seriously cute Korean guy on the other side of the restaurant. Hahaha. I figured that I had nothing to lose. It's not like I am going to see the guy everyday if I get shot down. Hahaha. It was hilarious!!!! Douchi and Mell told me to ask him if he had a girlfriend. Douchi told me how to ask in Korean. So I did. Hahaha. He said that he didn't. He and his friend both spoke English very well. They invited me to sit with them. So I sat and talked with them for a bit. The hottie's name is Kim Tae Young and his friend's name was Go Myeong Young. They were college friends. They went to Incheon University near Seoul. Kim Tae Young is from Seoul, and he's a civil engineer. Go Myeong Young is an architect. Both guys were really cool, and before I left, I got Kim Tae Young's number. I am crazy, I know! I haven't heard from him yet, but I was the one to ask for his number so am I the one that is supposed to text??? The Korean Dating Game is so weird! Anyways, we left and went back to Sponge because some of the other girls from work were going there. We hung out at Sponge for a minute to dance a little before Douchi and I headed back to Hannam to finish the night at another one of our fave restaurants. Another fun weekend here in Korea!!!!

I can't wait to go back to Seoul next weekend with Douchi!!!

I am getting really bad at this!

Sorry, I am getting really bad about not updating this thing. I am just so busy. I don't remember my life ever being this full back home. It's like I am trying to keep up with everyone here and back home at the same time. Hahaha. I guess its a good thing right? I am definitely not complaining because I am really enjoying life right now and definitely living it to the fullest. I never imagined that Korea would be this amazing. I remember talking to Amanda about teaching overseas. I really wanted to teach in Europe, but she suggested Korea because it paid more. I remember thinking, Asia??? I was afraid of what I would find here, but what I found is an amazing culture that is totally different from what I grew up in. I absolutely love it. I have seriously fallen in love with everything about this city and this country!!!! I love my friends that I have here. Friends are considered family. You are only called a friend if you are born in the same year. If you are not born in the same year, you are a brother or a sister. I have formed some amazing relationships with the people I workout with. I consider them my Korean family. We are really close. I love the school that I work at because I have amazing hours. I talk to the other foreign teachers that live in our neighborhood, and they have horrible hours. I love that I have time to go to the gym everyday after school. I love that I have time to hang out with friends on the weekends. I talk to some of my Korean friends, and they work so hard that they don't have much time for anything else. I talk to my friends back home, and they are working hard just to keep their jobs and make a little money. I am very thankful for my life here in Korea.

Alright now on to the update...so World Cup has been going on for the past few weekends right? So the obvious is that Douchi and I went to the sports bar to watch the games on Friday night. Saturday, I went for a massage. It was amazing as usual! I didn't go out on Saturday night even though Korea and the US played because Sunday I had to get up at 5 am to go to the Jiu Jitsu Tourney. The tournament was so much fun!!!! I was thinking that our gym would be the only with foreigners because that's how it was at the kickboxing tourney, but I was wrong! I think because the tournament was close to Seoul that it was more of a countrywide tournament. Anyways, we walk in and almost immediately we see all of these big US Army guys. They were very good looking ;D Anyways, we sat with the gym that Kwanjungnim trained at. The guys were hilarious!!! The master of the gym told us that he had an English nickname that his friend had given him. We were thinking that it would be something like the nicknames we gave the guys at our gym (Dandy, Sweety, Cutie, Flowerboy, Pandy, Good Music Guy), but no. He said his nickname was "Sex Machine". Douchi, Mell, and I looked at each other and busted up laughing. And of course, everyone in the gym turned to look at us because girls aren't supposed to laugh wholeheartedly like we were. Korean girls giggle; they don't laugh. Whatever, it was so funny!!!! Anyways, our guys did really well in the tournament. Two of our guys got silver medals for their weight class in the gi competition, and one guy got the gold medal in the no-gi competition. Only one of our guys didn't place in the tournament. He was up against the gold medalist in the second round, but he did really well; they tied so it was the judge's decision who advanced to the next round. After the tourney, we headed back to Daejeon and had dinner with the guys before heading home. We had a really good time!!!! I am definitely looking forward to the next tournament. I am kind of nervous because Kwanjungnim wants me to compete in the next tournament. I am not sure if I am ready to compete yet. I will have to see how well I train before the tournament before I decide if I want to compete. It's kind of a bit of pressure because there is only one other girl that will compete for our gym at this tournament. We will see!

This coming weekend, I am going to Seoul with Mell on Saturday, but no other big plans so maybe I will have time to update this thing on Sunday??? We'll see! Hahaha.

World Cup

So I skipped my post last weekend because it was super busy. So here's what happened. On Friday, Douchi and I hung out with Simpson again. We stayed by Hannam and watched some of the World Cup soccer match that was on that night. We had a fairly early night. Then, on Saturday night, we went to the gym to watch the Korea vs. Greece World Cup match. Korea won which was pretty sweet. So we all went out afterward to celebrate. Kwanjungnim, the gym master, even came out with us. It was a lot of fun! We went noreabonging and just hung out and had a good time! We stayed out until the buses started running again. I had on a Korea Red Devils t-shirt, and I was sporting a Korea tattoo on my cheek so the bus driver loved me! I have no idea what he was saying but I think he was asking me about the game and telling me what a good game it was. It was funny! He had a huge smile on his face. I ended up falling asleep for a couple stops and when I woke up he was looking in the mirror at me and he was still smiling! Hahaha. On Thursday, we watched the match at the gym. This time Korea played Argentina and lost. Everyone was so upset! Most people just wanted to go home, and I had to work on Friday so we called it an early night. Then on Friday, we went to the zoo with the school. I really enjoyed it with the kids. While we were in the monkey exhibit, I was trying to point out a monkey to the kids because he was swinging on the vines. Apparently, one of the other monkeys didn't like it very much because he jumped on the glass right in front of where I was standing, and it scared the crap out of me. The kids thought it was so funny, and the helper teacher was so freaked out she made us leave the exhibit. Hahaha. On Friday night, I just hung around the house because I had some things I had to get done. It was still an interesting night because Mellissa called me at about 11ish to tell me that some guys had been fighting in the walkway by her house and one had fallen on the ground and wasn't moving. She said he was laying there for 10 minutes and people kept walking around him as if he weren't there. She asked if I would come with her to check on him. So, we went to check on him. However, he did not want or appreciate our help. He told us to go home because it was his life. In all seriousness, the guy was in his forties wearing a polo shirt and dress pants, laying on the sidewalk while bicycles were nearly running over him. I think he needed some psychological help, but whatever, like he said it's his life. So last night, Saturday night, Douchi and I went out with several of the guys from the gym and one of her friends from out of town. The guys finished their finals this week so we wanted to hang out with them to celebrate. It was a lot of fun. We don't really get to hang out much with some of those guys because they are always studying, but they were hilarious! We found out that they like to dance; so I think we are going dancing next time! Yay!

Hanwha Eagles Game

This week was pretty sweet! We did not have school on Wednesday because it was Election Day. So Douchi, Nari, and I went out on Tuesday night. We tried to get some of the guys to go out with us, but they all had other plans. So we were sitting at our usual table in Mr. Chicken and Beer (the cajun chicken salad is amazing!!!!), and in comes Tae Su, one of the guys who had other plans. He came in with a group of guys that he had just played soccer with. He was so excited to introduce us to his group of friends; it was funny! It's interesting because when we see the guys outside of the gym with their friends, they always get so excited to show us off. Its hilarious! Anyways, we just sat around talking and laughing. I love it!

Friday night, we decided to try again. We asked around to see if anyone wanted to go out, and of course, they all said no. Final exams are coming up so everyone is still pretty busy with school. So once again, Douchi and I made are trek up to Mr. Chicken and Beer. This time Son Ha joined us for a bit, but she had to leave early. After Son left, Nari came in. Mr. Chicken and Beer really likes us because we come in all of the time. So, they made us some french fries to show us how much they liked us. After Mr. Chicken and Beer, we went to Song Kwang Min's Bar. Kwang Min wasn't there because it was late, and he had a game on Saturday. But his parents were there and told him to come back because we were there. It was funny because he was sleeping, but he didn't make it back before the bar closed. We weren't really disappointed because we didn't expect to see him there anyway. But I think his whole family likes us because they kept bringing us food too. Just like Mr. Chicken and Beer. The Koreans that go out with us get so jealous because apparently that's not normal???? Hahaha. Oh well, free food! It was definitely a fun night, and we talked to the people at Kwang Min's about going to the game on Saturday. They promised to save us some seats in the good section. SWEET!

On Saturday, we got Trevor, the Canadian guy at the gym, to go with us to the game. It was just Douchi, Son Ha, Trevor, and me, but it was so much fun. We were right in front of the cheerleaders, and we had some really good seats! We could see everything! Not to mention, they gave us more free stuff! Hahaha! Seriously, I don't know what this is! It was a really good game! Kwang Min had a home run, several rbi's, and made some amazing plays! The Hanwha Eagles won the game 10-6. After the game, we were going to try a different restaurant, but they were closed. So of course, we ended up at Mr. Chicken and Beer. After Mr. Chicken, Son Ha had to leave. Then, of course we stopped by Kwang Min's to congratulate him on a game well played. Nari joined us at Kwang Min's. She was so excited to meet him in person! Hahaha. Once again, he sat and talked with us a bit. I think he even studied some English since the last time because he was very talkative. He is a very genuine and down to earth kind of guy. Which is very impressive considering he's "kind of a big deal" hahaha. He gave us all a signed baseball, and some cake too. You already know it, more free stuff! Nari had to leave early, but one of the guys from the gym decided to go out karaoking with us. His nickname is Simpson (I think his real name is Sim Shyun). He speaks English very well, and he was so much fun! He has never hung out with us before so we really got to know him. We karaoked for a bit then went to another restaurant that we always go to at the end of the night and talked forever! It was such an amazing evening! He's planning on coming out with us again next weekend. I'm super excited!!!!! I can't wait because the other guys promised to join us too! SWEET! I love it!

Another Amazing Weekend

Wow, I seriously get super excited for the weekends now. Hahahaha. When I first got here I didn't really get excited about the weekend because I knew most of it would be spent alone. Now that I have made some really good friends, I get so excited about it! Hahaha. This past weekend, Douchi and I invited the Master and some of the guys from Daejeon MMA to hang out with us. Another girl named Nari went with us as well. She is new, and super sweet! It was so much fun! We went to a Korean Traditional Bar. It was a very nice place. I loved the atmosphere and the decor. We sat at one of the floor tables. In the middle of the meal, Master made everyone change places because the guys were bored. Apparently Korean men don't really talk to each other unless there is a female present. I don't know. So they split Douchi, Nari and me up. Whatever, it was still fun! The guys crack me up. After we ate, we sat and talked for a bit, and one of the guys went out for ice cream for everyone. It was hilarious because he came back to the bar with a bag of Popsicles from the gas station. They are such kids sometimes. After a bit, we decided to go karaokeing. It was awesome because the guys are really good singers, and they sang a lot of Korean songs. I love it! I am so glad that I found this gym because we all have so much fun!

This week is going to be pretty sweet too! Tomorrow night, I am hanging out with my friend at his bar. Tuesday, Douchi, Nari and I are going to go out because we all have Wednesday off for elections. I love four day work weeks!!!!

Buddha's Birthday Weekend

Alright so this weekend was seriously amazing!!!! I cannot begin to describe how perfect this weekend was! We had Friday off for Buddha's Birthday which was awesomeness in itself! But what to do with a three day weekend? After much debating whether to hit up Seoul for the festivities or go to Busan for the beach, I decided to stay here this weekend. It was the best decision I could have possibly made! On Friday, my Korean friend Son Ha and I went to Sikjongsan to climb up 4.5 km and back down 4.5 km to see the temple there. It was an amazing hike and very challenging! My butt and calves are still sore! At the top, they served us a meal of Kimbop. It was delicious! The view was spectacular! The temple was small but there were fewer people there. It was a good experience anyways. The nature was gorgeous! I could not have asked for a better hike! We saw new born baby birds following their mother on our way back down the mountain. It was incredible! They couldn't even fly yet.


Friday night, my friend Douchi and I went to a few different bars. It was amazing. We were walking around figuring out which bar we wanted to go to when we saw this sports bar on one of the top levels. We decided to check it out. We walked in and sat down in one of the booths. I noticed a very tall and well built Korean at the bar wearing an Ed Hardy t-shirt. It was crazy because most Koreans aren't built like that and most Koreans don't wear Ed Hardy. But Douchi and I were sitting there talking and a Korean girl came up and offered us some menus. She asked us how we knew about the bar, and we told her that we didn't know about the bar; we just thought that it looked cool. Then she told us that the guy in the Ed Hardy at the bar was a famous baseball player here in Daejeon. He plays third base for the Hanwha Eagles. His name is Song Kwang Min. She asked us if we wanted a picture with him, and we said sure because we thought it would make the guys at the gym jealous. He came over and took a picture. Then, he sat with us a bit. He invited us to the game on Saturday. They told us they would save us some seats right by the cheerleaders. He also told us that we should invite our friends to the bar for a party. We talked for a bit about the game and baseball. Then the cheer captain came over to sit next to me. It was hilarious because he had kept looking over at us from his table, and so Kwang Min called him over to join us. He showed us a few of his cheers. It was fun. He acted a bit nervous. So I asked him if I was making him nervous because he was sitting next to me, and he said no but I made his heart beat super fast. Hahahaha. I was laughing so hard!!!! One of the girls reminded him that he had a girlfriend that he was about to marry. I only laughed harder. It was awesome! We stayed there until it closed at 2. After, we went to a restaurant down the road for a bit, but it wasn't as exciting as the first bar.

On Saturday, it rained so the baseball game was canceled. We were so bummed, but Douchi and I decided to go out anyways. We started out at Mr. Chicken because we both love their Cajun Chicken Salad. Then, we went to this bar called NASA which wasn't anything special. Then, we went to a couple of different "Modern Bars" that had a good chilled atmosphere but weren't exactly what we were looking for. Then, we walked into this one bar thinking that it would be a more upbeat place, and it turned out to be a gentlemen's club so we immediately turned around and walked out. It was hilarious! It's times like those that it would have been handy to be able to read the Korean. Finally, we ended up at the same restaurant as Friday night. One of the guys from the gym joined us, and we all had a really good time! I met a few guys that were sitting at a table near ours. They were really good guys. One is a soccer player (they kept telling me he had nice legs...hahahaha). The others were all kind of shy and didn't talk much except for one that really wanted to practice his English. He told me that he lives in Seoul and that I should call him if I go up to Seoul. So we exchanged numbers, and he texted me immediately after I had left. Hahaha. It's awesome that the guys here don't have issues contacting you within 24 hours of your meeting. They are always so polite too. It is definitely one of my favorite things about this city!

Today, I am just doing a bit of house cleaning and resting up for my work week. This weekend has been a lot of fun, but now I am exhausted!!! Hahaha.