Again I am late with my post, but with good reason this time. This week was the Solar/Lunar New Year (also known as the Chinese New Year), so instead of posting Sunday I was on my way to Ulsan, a city in the South, since we had a few extra days off.
So working up to the weekend was another typical week, just hanging out, going to the gym and meeting up with different people for dinners. I was actually able to meet up with a friend ( Keven Wayling) that was in my program in University and have dinner before he left at the end of the month. That was Thursday, which was really good because all of us at school needed a well deserved break because for the entirety of Wednesday and Thursday we had to do speaking interviews with everyone of our students for their "Level Test" to determine if they can move up a level or not. It is really quite arbitrary because we don't get to talk to them enough to give a good assessment and even if we did the school goes by what they want not by what we think.
So on Friday tests were done and we were all taking it rather easy during the day which was good because Friday night got out of hand. We had planned to meet up with Junk, his girlfriend Gina and her friends for drinks and hanging out. The only problem was the language barrier. So instead of socializing, it turned into more of a drinking party. By half way through the night Gina had to be carried home, which her friends took care of while the rest of us went to another bar called Monkey Beach in Apgujeong. It is more of a foreigner bar, but it was late and almost empty. So we had a couple buckets of mixed drinks because that's how they serve them there and proceeded to party. By the end of the night we (Jameson and myself) we pretty drunk and we all decided to leave.
On Saturday I woke up feeling pretty rough. I had a hangover and my body hurt for some reason.........Oh wait it was because I decided it would be a good idea to sprint from the cab to my house, using muscles that have gone unused for some time. So, I spent most of the day feeling like crap, until around seven when I met up with Jameson, Brian, and Margarete to go see the Seoul Tower and Namsan (Nam mountain), in the center of the city. We took a cable car up to the top and were just in time to see the laser light show they put. After the light show we went up to the observatory level from which you can see all of Seoul. It was really nice and a good way to get out and do something without having to go to far. After the tower we all headed to Kondae to get some drinks and meet up with Blake and a few more friends. We met up and stayed out until around 3:30 just talking and having a few drinks.
Sunday I woke up feeling tired from too many late nights and wanted to go back to sleep, but I couldn't because Jameson and I had agreed to go catch a movie with the receptionist at our gym, So Hyun. She is a really cute bubbly University student who always talks with us when we go there. So we went and saw the new Tom Cruise movie "Valkyrie", which was decent, but long and a little lack luster. It was a documentary of sorts however, so I shouldn't complain. After that we grabbed some dinner and went our separate ways. At this point Blake called me and asked me if I wanted to go visit his friend Tori in Ulsan on Monday morning. She invited him and said he should bring a friend because the train ride is really long. Yeah like 5 hours, since Ulsan is near the southern end of South Korea. I agreed and came home to get a bag of clothes before going to sleep at Blakes apartment because our train left at 7:40 the next morning. (Hence why I am so late with this weeks update)
We arrived in Ulsan around 1 pm and Tori met us at the station and took us out for lunch. Then we went back to her place and chilled before the New Years party that the big bar in town was having that night. Around 9 we went for dinner and pre-drinks at a SoJu bar, before heading to the bar around 11:30. It was a really good party, lots of dance music and people. We all had a good time, partied hard but made it home no problems. EXCEPT! I was a little pissed because some douche bag guy who claimed to be Tori's friend accused me of trying to hook up with her since she was drunk. I dismissed this claim and promptly told him to get his hands off me, to later find out that he barley knows Tori and that I could have knocked him out. But, there was no need for that, because we really just had to get drunk Tori out of the bar.
Tuesday morning we all woke up feeling good, not great but better than we expected, and decided to go for a walk through Ulsan's bamboo forest. Its not a real forest as much as a man made project to create a bamboo forest to walk through in the city. Nonetheless, it was really nice and a good way to cap off the long weekend. That night I took the train home to Seoul and got back around 3 am. Then I had to wait in line for a cab at the bus station (we took a bus back because the train was sold out) because its not a free for all around here like it is back home. When you get to the bus/train station you must wait in line and a cab will get you. There are always plenty of cabs and its a pretty efficient/less dangerous way to clear the people away.
I got home and crashed by 5 am, and then started my half work week today.
That's enough for now. Hope you are all doing well. Talk to you soon.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Why what a lovely bar you have!!
Well I'm a little behind this week on the post, so here goes.
This week was a long and eventful week. For starters, Jameson and I started going to the gym. So we worked out for the first time in quite a while and spent most of the work in the bitter sweet agony that accompanies the first workouts. But, as it turns out our gym is really nice and they love having foreigners come through.
And now the good stuff........
So if anybody asks "Hey Mark have you ever been to a hooker bar?", I can now say as a matter of fact yes I have. Let me set the scene for you. On Thursday we all decided to meet up in Itaewon (the foreigner district) so that I could find somebody to work on my dreads. So Brian and I went there right after work to scope it out and Jameson and Blake were meting us there later. One wrong turn after another found Brian and I lost in the ghetto. We were well off the main streets and in the dredges of a hillside neighbourhood of sketchy jailesque houses. We would have been more afraid except the fact that we are in Korea and it is a relatively safe place even in the darkest of alleys. So we cut through the neighourhood on our way back towards the main city lights and found ourselves but a half dozen blocks away from where we started. By now, however, Blake and Jameson had made it to Itaewon and were waiting for us at the subway station. So Brian and I booked it back and met up with them so that the four of us could go in the opposite direction to find a hair salon. We finally found one and got a business card so I can make an appointment sometime soon.
Feeling good about ourselves, we decided to have a couple beers. So we went to a bar that Blake has been to in the past. It was nice, cheap and had a really dark jazzy atmosphere. After a couple beers we wanted to try a new place so we hit the streets. This is where it gets good........So we saw a bar that Blake thought he had heard of before and we went in. I went straight to the bathroom to pee, leaving them to check it out. When I came back from the bathroom I saw the 3 of them standing by the bar looking very scared. Then I looked at the only other people in the bar and realized they were women of the "hooker variety". So I walked over and asked what was up, they replied "its a hooker bar lets have one beer to not be rude and get out of here". So we got a beers each and then the girls started approaching us. We told them we weren't interested in what we thought they were peddling and went about drinking our beers. Then we realized that it wasn't a "hooker bar" but a "juicy bar". The difference being that the girls aren't hookers but instead they are girls paid by the bar to pretend to like you........if they want to. So you can buy them drinks for inflated prices, and they may or may not talk to you, but it doesn't mean that you will be going home with them. this made us feel a little better and we stayed for a bit and ended up talking to them a little. In the end we figured it wasn't as bad as we had thought it was and that thought they may be hookers, they may also just be girls trying to make a dollar.
With that behind us we moved on to Saturday. It was a nice day so we decided to go for a hike up Bukhansan (Bukhan Mountain -->san = mountain), to see the long wall that encircles the top of it like a fortress. The hike took just over 5 hours and we were the only foreigners, and people under the age of 35 there. It seems as though only the older people climb mountains, especially in the winter. So we hiked up with Koreans all around us saw some great gates and old soldier posts, and had a great view of the country outside of the concrete city. The trip down was a different story. Instead of taking the path well traveled, we decided to take the narrow path off to the side. Why walk with the slow Koreans when we can bypass them we thought. Terrible choice. It turned out to be the path you take if you have a death wish. It was incredibly narrow and slippery, and almost vertical at times so as you slid down you had to grab at trees to keep yourself form going over the edge. Exhilarating let me tell you. But, in the end we made it back to the popular path and back to the bottom. we were all a little tired and such so we went home to catch naps before meting up for dinner and a few beers Saturday night.
So it was a good week, lots of randomness to keep it lively, and educational.
I hope you are all doing well back home or wherever you may be reading this from.
Until next time.
This week was a long and eventful week. For starters, Jameson and I started going to the gym. So we worked out for the first time in quite a while and spent most of the work in the bitter sweet agony that accompanies the first workouts. But, as it turns out our gym is really nice and they love having foreigners come through.
And now the good stuff........
So if anybody asks "Hey Mark have you ever been to a hooker bar?", I can now say as a matter of fact yes I have. Let me set the scene for you. On Thursday we all decided to meet up in Itaewon (the foreigner district) so that I could find somebody to work on my dreads. So Brian and I went there right after work to scope it out and Jameson and Blake were meting us there later. One wrong turn after another found Brian and I lost in the ghetto. We were well off the main streets and in the dredges of a hillside neighbourhood of sketchy jailesque houses. We would have been more afraid except the fact that we are in Korea and it is a relatively safe place even in the darkest of alleys. So we cut through the neighourhood on our way back towards the main city lights and found ourselves but a half dozen blocks away from where we started. By now, however, Blake and Jameson had made it to Itaewon and were waiting for us at the subway station. So Brian and I booked it back and met up with them so that the four of us could go in the opposite direction to find a hair salon. We finally found one and got a business card so I can make an appointment sometime soon.
Feeling good about ourselves, we decided to have a couple beers. So we went to a bar that Blake has been to in the past. It was nice, cheap and had a really dark jazzy atmosphere. After a couple beers we wanted to try a new place so we hit the streets. This is where it gets good........So we saw a bar that Blake thought he had heard of before and we went in. I went straight to the bathroom to pee, leaving them to check it out. When I came back from the bathroom I saw the 3 of them standing by the bar looking very scared. Then I looked at the only other people in the bar and realized they were women of the "hooker variety". So I walked over and asked what was up, they replied "its a hooker bar lets have one beer to not be rude and get out of here". So we got a beers each and then the girls started approaching us. We told them we weren't interested in what we thought they were peddling and went about drinking our beers. Then we realized that it wasn't a "hooker bar" but a "juicy bar". The difference being that the girls aren't hookers but instead they are girls paid by the bar to pretend to like you........if they want to. So you can buy them drinks for inflated prices, and they may or may not talk to you, but it doesn't mean that you will be going home with them. this made us feel a little better and we stayed for a bit and ended up talking to them a little. In the end we figured it wasn't as bad as we had thought it was and that thought they may be hookers, they may also just be girls trying to make a dollar.
With that behind us we moved on to Saturday. It was a nice day so we decided to go for a hike up Bukhansan (Bukhan Mountain -->san = mountain), to see the long wall that encircles the top of it like a fortress. The hike took just over 5 hours and we were the only foreigners, and people under the age of 35 there. It seems as though only the older people climb mountains, especially in the winter. So we hiked up with Koreans all around us saw some great gates and old soldier posts, and had a great view of the country outside of the concrete city. The trip down was a different story. Instead of taking the path well traveled, we decided to take the narrow path off to the side. Why walk with the slow Koreans when we can bypass them we thought. Terrible choice. It turned out to be the path you take if you have a death wish. It was incredibly narrow and slippery, and almost vertical at times so as you slid down you had to grab at trees to keep yourself form going over the edge. Exhilarating let me tell you. But, in the end we made it back to the popular path and back to the bottom. we were all a little tired and such so we went home to catch naps before meting up for dinner and a few beers Saturday night.
So it was a good week, lots of randomness to keep it lively, and educational.
I hope you are all doing well back home or wherever you may be reading this from.
Until next time.
Monday, January 12, 2009
I Am Now An Official Alien
Well we were back to full schedules this past week, having New Years and Christmas out of the way. At the start of the week I still had not received my Alien Registration Card so I made a pint to tell work that they needed to call to find out where it was or else I was going to go to immigration myself. Something I probably should have done a couple weeks ago. Magically after threatening them two days in a row, my card showed up by Wednesday. Who knew! And by the way they talked about it, it seems as if it had been ready at head office for possibly a few days already. But there was no sense in making a scene since I now have my card. The rest of the week went by slowly since I was feeling a little under the weather. Weeks of inadequate amounts of sleep and weekend partying was nipping at my heels, so I took it easy got some rest and was feeling better by Friday.
It was a good thing too, because it was one of our Korean friend's birthdays and we ended up in Gangnam for dinner and drinks, which ultimately turned into a party. But it was OK, we all felt a little rough around the edges on Saturday until we got out and moving again. However, since we did our drinking on Friday we felt something a little more cultural was in order Saturday. So Brian, Jameson, Blake, and I went north to Dongdaemun to see the East Gate. The East Gate, which is what the word Dongdaemun means, was one of 3 (I think, because I have only read about there being 3 so far) gates that let people into the old Seoul centuries ago when it was surrounded by a stone wall. It was quite lovely, all lit up in the middle of a huge intersection. I can't wait to go back and see it in the summer when the weather and scenery is better.
We called it a night after that so that we could all get home on the last subway. Unfortunately the subway stopped running half way to my stop so I had to take a cab with some random strangers the rest of the way. The cab drivers try to maximize occupancy at the end of the night by taking a cab full of people to the same stop. They make more money that way, and can get back to other calls faster.
On Sunday Jameson and I finally went and got our gym memberships so that we can stop being such lazy jerks. The gyms is pretty nice and not far from where we are. After that we went to the mall to buy some Korean books so that we can study, and I bought my first ever cell phone. YAY! It was quite a process let me tell ya. We had a hard time with the language barrier and ended up calling Junk who spoke to her on Blake's phone to get the story straight. It was pretty cheap to buy and I will have my number by Monday afternoon. So now all I need to do is get my licence and all will be well.
Well I'm going to call it quits there. I hope you are all doing well and I will talk to you soon.
It was a good thing too, because it was one of our Korean friend's birthdays and we ended up in Gangnam for dinner and drinks, which ultimately turned into a party. But it was OK, we all felt a little rough around the edges on Saturday until we got out and moving again. However, since we did our drinking on Friday we felt something a little more cultural was in order Saturday. So Brian, Jameson, Blake, and I went north to Dongdaemun to see the East Gate. The East Gate, which is what the word Dongdaemun means, was one of 3 (I think, because I have only read about there being 3 so far) gates that let people into the old Seoul centuries ago when it was surrounded by a stone wall. It was quite lovely, all lit up in the middle of a huge intersection. I can't wait to go back and see it in the summer when the weather and scenery is better.
We called it a night after that so that we could all get home on the last subway. Unfortunately the subway stopped running half way to my stop so I had to take a cab with some random strangers the rest of the way. The cab drivers try to maximize occupancy at the end of the night by taking a cab full of people to the same stop. They make more money that way, and can get back to other calls faster.
On Sunday Jameson and I finally went and got our gym memberships so that we can stop being such lazy jerks. The gyms is pretty nice and not far from where we are. After that we went to the mall to buy some Korean books so that we can study, and I bought my first ever cell phone. YAY! It was quite a process let me tell ya. We had a hard time with the language barrier and ended up calling Junk who spoke to her on Blake's phone to get the story straight. It was pretty cheap to buy and I will have my number by Monday afternoon. So now all I need to do is get my licence and all will be well.
Well I'm going to call it quits there. I hope you are all doing well and I will talk to you soon.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
A New Years to Remember
So yeah. You ever been inside a presidential protest? Well I can now say that I have. Me and a couple guys I work with (Jameson and Brian) went out New Years Eve to the city centre (Jonggak) to see what the locals did this time of year. It turns out that they all gather around a famous temple, filling the streets as far as you can see, have a concert/performances, and do the countdown. However, there seemed to be an overwhelming number of Koreans out in protest of the current president Lee Myeong Bak. So how do you combat protester.........riot police, and lots of them. They were lining the streets upwards of 6 deep some with shields, some just standing, and doing war/formation chants. At one point we were walking down the sidewalk and the protesters were coming our way so the police rushed in and got between us and them but it resulted in us getting pushed up against the store windows. All in all nothing really big happened, the main crowd was still full of protesters with signs and flags but it all came and went quickly and hilarious. We took pictures holding anti-LMB singed but never got too involved in case the police decided to make an example out of anyone. As the new year got closer many people started shooting fireworks off above the crowd, which was nice to see but dangerous too. I think we all got hit with shrapnel a time or two. After the celebration was over while we waited for the streets to clear we had a seat at a little bar and watched as the sea of people cleared the street. Once it was safe to go back outside, we found a cab and went to meet Blake and Brandon in Gangnam to have a couple more beers and say good-bye to Brandon because he was heading home in the morning. We didn't stay out late, but we had a really good/wild experience.
The rest of the week we took it easy and had high hopes of keeping it low key this weekend. That was until we met that which is called Nori-Bong (Singing Room). Nori-bongs are private karaoke places where you and some friends can go rent a room and sing karaoke alone instead of in front of a crowd. In fact they don't really have Western style karaoke bars here. So there we we were out Friday night having dinner when a few more friends called and asked if we wanted to grab a couple drinks. Jameson, Blake, Brian and I said sure. But once we had a few drinks somebody suggested the singing room and since Jameson, Brian and myself had never been we climbed on the party train. I never realized how much fun something like that could be. We liked it so much that we went back again on Saturday night, though Saturdays trip was even more unplanned but we did it to help out a friend who was feeling a little sad.
In the long run it was a great idea to try this form of entertainment out but right now, my throat is killing me and I haven't coughed this bad in a long time. So, maybe doing a double header wasn't the best choice, but that's what I do.
I hope you are all having a good start to your new year.
Bye for now
The rest of the week we took it easy and had high hopes of keeping it low key this weekend. That was until we met that which is called Nori-Bong (Singing Room). Nori-bongs are private karaoke places where you and some friends can go rent a room and sing karaoke alone instead of in front of a crowd. In fact they don't really have Western style karaoke bars here. So there we we were out Friday night having dinner when a few more friends called and asked if we wanted to grab a couple drinks. Jameson, Blake, Brian and I said sure. But once we had a few drinks somebody suggested the singing room and since Jameson, Brian and myself had never been we climbed on the party train. I never realized how much fun something like that could be. We liked it so much that we went back again on Saturday night, though Saturdays trip was even more unplanned but we did it to help out a friend who was feeling a little sad.
In the long run it was a great idea to try this form of entertainment out but right now, my throat is killing me and I haven't coughed this bad in a long time. So, maybe doing a double header wasn't the best choice, but that's what I do.
I hope you are all having a good start to your new year.
Bye for now
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)