"Camping" and by "Camping" I mean "Retreat"

So this weekend, I went "camping" with the gym. Camping was a lot of fun! We didn't really camp though. Hahaha. We stayed in a large cabin that had a few different apartments. They call them pensions. We stayed in one of the pensions. The last of the rain from the typhoon made it a bit rainy and muddy but that kind of made it better. I think it might have been too hot if it wasn't rainy. We also had fun playing around in the mud. The pension came to the gym to pick us up in a van. There were 15 of us and we all had to cram in this van. It was so funny.

When we got there, it was really cool because the guys did all of the work. They said that in Korea, a woman never does the work when they are on vacation. One of the guys, Tae Su, was the "head chef" and the meals were better than any of the restaurants we have eaten at here in Korea! All of the younger boys had to help him in the kitchen. I told him that he was going to make his future wife very happy. The food was amazing! We had samgipsal and bulgogi.

We got to the pension early. Check in wasn't until 2pm and we arrived at about 11ish. It was up in the mountains with several waterfalls. It was beautiful! We did some hiking. Although no one told us that we could leave our bags in the van so we hiked up this mountain with our bags. They got kind of heavy. It wasn't really too bad. I wasn't miserable, and I was still able to enjoy the hike and take pictures. Although, every time I stopped to take pictures Tae Su kept telling me to hurry up in Korean. I got so mad at him. I made San Ha translate to Kwangjungnim why I was so angry. I told her that they have lived their entire lives here in Korea, and they can see this anytime. I just got here and I don't know how long I'm going to stay or if I will be able to come back to this place. I want to see and experience everything. I think Kwangjungnim talked to him about it.

It was funny because Tae Su is younger than me but the entire trip he kept telling me he was just worried about me. Everything I did he would tell me to stop because its too dangerous. Hahaha. I was just climbing a tree and he started freaking out! I am such a kid because I still love to climb trees and this tree was the perfect climbing tree. I wanted to climb over the fence to go down to the river, and he made me crawl under because going over is too dangerous. I was teasing him that he didn't really speak Korean because he only said two words in Korean "Palli wa" (hurry up), and the only English word he knew was "dangerous".

Anyways, the trail we went up had these cool stairs its called the 300 stairs or something but there's 300 stairs to lead the last bit of the way to the top of the mountain. Some of them were really steep and it was a really good workout. Once again, Tae Su was right behind me telling me to "Palli wa". My calves are seriously sore today from the palli wa up the stairs.

There was a really cool bridge up there too leading to another mountain, I wanted to walk across it but guess what? Tae Su said it was too dangerous and to palli wa. Grrrr. So I took a picture in front of it instead. Hahaha.

After our hike, we had a few minutes before check in so we just sat around for a bit. After we checked in, Tae Su and the guys started lunch. While the guys were cooking lunch the girls took showers! Hahaha. At lunch, we sat outside under a shelter at some picnic tables. They cooked the samgipsal on a grill in front of us. It was so good because it had the charcoal flavor to it.

After lunch, we cleaned up and changed clothes to go swimming in the river. They told us that we weren't going swimming on this trip so Douchi and I didn't bring our swimsuits. I went in with just a tshirt and shorts. Mell brought her suit, and Douchi didn't go in. She took pictures. They were good pictures too! We had so much fun swimming in the river! We brought a soccer ball. While Tae Su was figuring out where would be "safe enough" for us to swim, some of us started kicking the ball around. I kicked the ball too hard and it bounced off one of the guy's legs and landed in the middle of a rice field! Hahaha. It was so funny! Have you ever seen a rice field before? It has tall grass in a flooded field. So it was very muddy and we couldn't see the ball. One of the guys went in and almost lost his flip flops so he had to go barefoot through the mud to find it. Another guy was sitting on Tae Su's shoulders to see if he could see the ball. It was so funny! He finally found the ball, and we walked down to the river. It was so much fun! The water was super cold but we splashed and dunked each other. We also played volleyball with the soccer ball. It was so much fun! We were trying to play water polo but Tae Su decided it was too dangerous with the rocks. Hahaha. So we decided to head back to the pension where we took our second shower of the day. Hahaha.

Then, we decided to play basketball on a "dirt court" which was more of a weed and mud court instead. We played with a volleyball (go figure, volleyball with a soccerball and then basketball with the volleyball). Nothing makes sense. We slipped and slid all over the court and we couldn't bounce the ball because of the weeds. It was hilarious! We were all covered in mud. So we all took our third shower of the day. We hung our clothes up on the balcony to dry so we wouldn't track the mud into the pension, but the wind started blowing later during the night and the clothes ended up everywhere! This morning, I found my shorts and tshirt along with two guys boxer shorts in a tree under the balcony. It was so funny because I grabbed them and brought them up. One of the guys was like hey that's my underwear and grabbed them from me. It was hilarious. He kept thanking me for finding them for him.

But after basketball, we took showers and Tae Su and the boys started on dinner. After dinner, we played games, talked, listened to music, and danced. It was a lot of fun. We stayed up all night. Well, I tried to anyways, but apparently I was sleeping in my chair and Tae Su made me go to bed. Hahaha. Poor Tae Su, I gave him a hard time all weekend!

This afternoon, the pension drove us back to the gym. Once again we crammed in the van. But, one of the guys got a little car sick and started vomiting in the back seat. The back seat was the most crowded because there were six guys in a four person seat. All of the other guys were really sweet about it and held a plastic bag while he was vomiting. They were tapping his back and everything. No one made him feel bad about it either. They had to have been miserable but they were trying to be light about it. Luckily, we were only ten minutes from the gym, but the back smelled like ramen from the bag of vomit. I had a window seat and Mell and I stuck our heads right by the window. Her and I were both about to vomit too from the smell. I don't know how the guys in the back did it. Those guys are quite possibly the nicest people I have ever met in my entire life.

It was an amazing weekend! I cannot wait for the next trip!

Korean Food

I realized that all this time I have been talking about my experiences in Korea I haven't taken much time to talk about the food I eat. I know I have mentioned several times that Koreans eat a lot, but I haven't talked about what. I'll start with my favorites.

The Seven Elevens here in Daejeon have an extremely delicious tuna kimbop that I absolutely love! Kimbop is stuffed with rice and various veggies and sometimes a meat or cheese (it comes in different meats including ham and beef, as I said my favorite is tuna) all wrapped up in seaweed. It is very yummy!!!!

There are many restaurants throughout the city that serve samgipsal. It is the Korean barbeque that I mentioned after I first got here. It is served with many delicious sides. The restaurants have a burner in the middle of the table where they put a small grill to cook the samgipsal. There is different types of samgipsal from thinly sliced bacon to a thicker beef. They place the meat on the grill, and you can add whatever sides to the flavor the meat. I like to put the gimchi and garlic on the grill. They also have a few different sauces that you can dip your cooked meat into before eating it. One is a red pepper paste sauce, one is more of an oily sauce, and then there's a vinegar based sauce. My favorite is the vinegar based sauce. Most Koreans like to eat the samgipsal with just a sauce. I prefer to put it in the lettuce leaves that they serve with the samgipsal. I stuff the leaf with the samgipsal, gimchi, garlic, and the vinegar sauce. It is very delicious this way. However, most Koreans don't like salad so they avoid lettuce...hahaha.

Another popular food here in Korea are "pancakes". These pancakes are made with a bisquick type mix with veggies and various meats added to it. The most popular I believe are the seafood ones. I have not eaten a lot of them, but I do like the octopus ones. They are really good, but I do think that it depends on the restaurant that makes them. I think that some of the pancakes I've tried didn't taste good not because of the type of pancake but because of the restaurant.

One of the most popular dishes and one of my favorites is galbi. There is different types of galbi. My favorite is tok galbi which is chicken. Once again, the restaurants have a burner in the middle of the table, but this time they put a large skillet type bowl with handles on the burner to cook the food. They bring the food uncooked on dishes and dump it all in the big bowl with some sauces. They come by the table to stir it. It is very delicious.

Another popular dish is dopoki. I didn't like it at first, but its growing on me. Dopoki is a really doughy noodle. It's served in dishes like galbi. It is also served by itself.

One of the most traditional dishes is bimibop. The best bimibop I had was at the Buddhist temple I went to on Buddha's Birthday. It was so yummy!!!! Bimibop is rice with sprouts and turnips and I think gimchi too. It's all mixed in together with a red pepper paste. Very yummy!

Perhaps the most popular dish here in Korea is ice cream! Koreans love their ice cream (and doughnuts but we won't talk about that). Every convenient store has a variety of ice creams for less than 1,000 won (which is $1). They even have milkshakes in a pack...its crazy! The most popular ice cream dish I would say is the pabingsu. It's shaved iced with little candy jellies and red beans. It is really good. It sounds disgusting, but its delicious.

There are many other Korean dishes that I haven't mentioned, and I'm not promising that I got every ingredient correct in the dishes that I mentioned. It is very difficult to know for sure exactly what I am eating since it is all in Korean. Most Korean meals are served with rice, gimchi, and soup. Every meal that I have eaten at school has been served with rice, gimchi, and soup. They served spaghetti one time with rice, gimchi, and soup (weird).

Alright, so now that everyone's mouths are watering with the deliciousness that I have shared with you...I will start with the details of my week! This week was very hot and most people are on vacation so the gym was pretty dead all week. However, we did have a visitor. A spider decided to join the class during jiu jitsu and even though I was screaming, no man in the room offered to kill it, and no one would let me kill it. I asked San Ha why no one was killing the spider, and she said that you cannot kill a spider at night time. If you kill a spider at night, you will have bad luck. Seriously?!?!

On Friday, I went out with Kwangjungnim, Song Won, and Mike for some samgipsal after my workout. It was pretty good. Song Won is quite possibly the coolest kid in Korea. He is always at the gym training, but he takes the time to goof off with me to make gym a little more fun. He's hilarious! He helps me with my Korean, and I try to help him with his English, but I think he's the better teacher.

On Saturday, I went to Korean class with Mell. After, we stopped by Jungangno Station for some shopping and some food. We had some dopoki and kimbop. After, I made a trip to Costco to pick up some yogurt and vitamins. Later, I met Mell again for a little snack and some talking. It was pretty relaxed.

Today, I made it to church again! Yay! I was so proud of myself; three weeks in a row! I've really been slacking lately! I met some of the new girls from SLP, and I saw one of the foreign guys that had checked out the gym. He works at Poly which is a very demanding school so he doesn't really have the time and energy to make it to Daejeon MMA. So he joined a gym closer to Munnyeon dong. We talked for a bit, and I talked for a bit with the girls from SLP. They are all pretty sweet! It was a really good Sunday. I even stayed for Bible study. I was kind of hesitant because the last time I went to Bible study, it was mostly men, and I didn't quite feel welcomed to the conversation. But I heard that more women were going to Bible study now so I decided to check it out. It was really good, and I was finally able to ask my question about "seeing God" like physically. They confirmed my original suspicion that it was in fact a cult. For those of you new to reading my ramblings, when I first arrived in Daejeon, I was greeted by a sweet woman who asked me if I was a Christian. When I told her I was, she asked me to go to dinner with her. I said sure thinking it would just be us two. However, a few other women joined and started talking about seeing God physically and asked me why I couldn't see God, and if I wanted to. I was really freaked out. I told them that I had to leave and rushed out. They had said that Koreans were deeply spiritual and that's why they could see God, but the pastor of the church I am attending told me that it was not true. After Bible study, the worship team asked me again to sing with them. I really want to, but I hate saying that I will do something when I cannot truly commit to it. Maybe that is what I need to do though so that I will be more motivated to wake up on Sunday mornings. I told them that I would think about it and let them know in a few weeks after I get back from camping because I am going to miss church again next Sunday to go camping with the gym.

This weekend was pretty chilled because I am trying to rest up for next weekend! I am super excited about going camping! I cannot wait! I am not sure who all is going, but I know that Douchi, San Ha, and Mell are going and that's good enough for me!

Ah! Refreshing Summer Vacation

So this past week was summer vacation. I don't think I realized how much I needed a vacation. I was kind of scared for this vacation because Douchi still had to work and Mell, Janet, and Mariana went out of town. The guys from the gym were still around and San Ha, but I was afraid that I would miss my family too much if I spent too much time alone. I'm crazy I know, but whatever! Hahaha. I'm me and I'm ok with that! This week was definitely refreshing though! I slept in late every day!!!! Hahaha. I did some grocery shopping (I hadn't gone in about a month...there was nothing in my refrigerator). I also cleaned my apartment really well!!!! I hadn't taken the time to really clean in a few months so I know my apartment needed it! I also went to the gym earlier than I normally do; so I got in a better workout! It was very nice. I did better with my Jiu Jitsu because I wasn't completely exhausted from working all day. A couple of days, I met Douchi for "dinner" before my workout. I enjoyed the time with Douchi, but eating before a workout is never a good idea! Hahaha...especially when its super hot outside. Oh well, you live and learn right?

Friday, Douchi and I skipped the gym to go to Seoul for the afternoon. We met up with one of my friends. He met us at Seoul Station, and we went shopping. It was interesting because he was super patient while Douchi and I looked at clothing. Also, I've never met a guy volunteer to go shopping. I told him we could meet up later, but he wanted to go shopping with us. He thought we were crazy though because we split up when we got inside the store! Hahaha. We always do that and don't even think about it, but he was so confused...he wasn't sure what he should do. He didn't know if he should go with me or her. Of course, Douchi and I always meet back up in the dressing room and help each other decide what we want. One of his friends met up with us while we were shopping. So we had not only one but two guys voluntarily shop with us!!! Wow! Hahaha. We only went to one store because we found everything we needed, but we also didn't want to subject them to any more torture. Although, they never would have said anything! Hahaha. They were surprised that we didn't shop more than we did. After, we decided to go to Holly's Coffee to sit and talk for a bit. It was nice. Then, of course, we had to go eat...I mean this is still Korea...you have to eat every time you go out with someone its the law! We got a Korean pancake which has octopus and veggies inside it. It's not too bad. I kind of like it!

After, we headed back to Daejeon. We met up with Song Sok (one of the guys from the gym) at Mr. Chicken and Beer. It's his last weekend in Daejeon for about a month. He is going to training for the army. He's definitely one of my favorite people at the gym. I hate that I won't see him for a month. It's going to suck even more when he leaves for the army next year. I won't see him much at all :(
It was a relaxing evening. We just hung out at Mr. Chicken all night and talked.

It was definitely a good week! I am glad I stayed here. I think if I had gone away on vacation, I may not have relaxed like I needed to!

Summer Vacation Kickoff

Summer vacation officially started at 5:15 Friday afternoon! Of course like the dedicated gym member that I am...I went to the gym for a few hours before heading home. Thursday was Mell's birthday so Friday night we celebrated with a b-day dinner in Dunsan. We were only going to be out for a few hours because I had to go to Korean lessons, and Mell and Janet had to catch their flight for China in the morning. As always, a few hours is never a few hours. I totally slept through my Korean lesson, but somehow Mell and Janet managed to catch their flight. It was a really fun night, and I am glad that I went out. I am not happy that I skipped my Korean lesson, but this is summer vacation and I'm the only one actually spending my summer vacation in Daejeon...so I'll forgive myself this one time.

After waking up late for my Korean lesson, I still had time to catch my Jiu jitsu lesson on Saturday afternoon. I was still exhausted, but I had promised I'd be there so I dragged my lazy bum to the gym. Turns out, one of the girls bailed on the lesson and the other one was running late. Kwangjungnim was really mad that one of the girls had bailed and the other one was late. He kept telling me that I was a good person for keeping my promise even though I was tired. Koreans are really big on promises and commitments. I am so glad that I made it to the gym. After the gym, we went out for some Korean barbecue, I think its called sumgipsal or something like it. I had not had any Korean barbecue since the first week I was here. It was delicious!!!! After barbecue, we went noraebonging. It was fun, but there were only three of us so it was not as fun as it usually is. Then, of course, we ate again. Koreans are constantly eating!!!!!!! I have no idea how they stay so thin; they are always, always, always eating! It's crazy!

Today, Sunday, I woke up in time to go to church for the first time in a few weeks. I've felt so badly about missing church. It has been one thing after another, and I never seem to be able to make it. So I went and I met a few new girls, and I talked to a few familiar faces. One of the girls is studying in America, and she came home for summer vacation. The other girl lives in Daejeon with her family.

I am a little nervous about this week. Everyone is either working or going away for the vacation; so I am probably going to have quite a bit of alone time. It will be good for studying Korean and cleaning my apartment, but I'm not sure how much of that I can stand! Hahaha. This may be a test for strength of character. Hahaha.

Relaxed Weekend?

I had a fairly relaxed weekend this weekend. By relaxed, I mean that I went to bed before the sun came up. Hahahaha. So, Friday night Douchi and I just chilled at our regular spots. At our "End Cap", we heard some guys at another table practicing their English on each other. I kept waiting for them to come over and start talking, but they didn't. It wasn't until we walked past their table to leave before they said something to us. It was cute! Korean guys are so shy! Hahahaha. Douchi and I went home fairly early because I had Korean lessons at 1 on Saturday.

Mell and I went to Korean lessons, and we got our textbooks!!! I think that it is going to help a lot. We've already started practicing reading. I practice with San Ha because she is really good about telling me what I'm pronouncing wrong. I've also started practicing with some of the guys' names at the gym. It's pretty cool.

After lessons, I had my one stripe Jiu Jitsu test. It was so hard! I only had an hour to eat, get to the gym, change, practice and stretch before the test. It was definitely not enough time for my food to settle. Hahahaha. I almost vomited! San said she felt like vomiting too, and she didn't even eat. Maybe it was just because we were exerting so much energy for a long time. The first part of the test was the techniques. I was so nervous about the technique because he is watching to make sure you do it perfectly. It's hard for me because I miss some things because he is speaking in Korean, and I can't always see everything. But I did okay on that part of the test. The next part of the test was the sparring. We had to spar with so many people!!! I lost count! It was one after another with no breaks. It was hard! But I think we did well. All of the one stripe testers passed. Only two out of the four two stripe testers passed, the three stripe tester and the four stripe tester failed. After the test, everyone went out to eat. It was a lot of fun! I love hanging out with the guys after events. It's always fun getting to know them.

After dinner, I met up with Douchi to celebrate her birthday. We went dancing at Cocoon. The music sucked this weekend. I am not sure if it was because we got there too early or what, but it was all techno junk which is okay for a song or two but not the entire night. I was tired anyways after testing so I headed out early.

Then today, Sunday, San Ha came over, and we went to get my haircut. I got the magic straight perm, but they had to put some sort of clinic treatment on my hair to strengthen it. It looks pretty good; it's not as straight as I would like it, but we'll see how it is after I wash it. I can always straighten it with an iron. I really just wanted something I could wash and go with. Also, I have to go back next weekend to receive another treatment, and the girl said that if I was unhappy with anything she would fix it then. We'll see!

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!!!