apologies
Oh, I've not been updating this as often as I'd like. All is well, and I've started being busy again as usual. The first really difficult wave of homesickness has worn off, and now I'm starting to focus on daily life here.
The last weekend of February was my co-worker Noah's birthday; he had a big, crazy party at a local bar and his apartment. We're all still recovering from lack of sleep. ~lol~
Wednesday was a holiday. I went on a date (weird, no?) with Rod. He's Canadian, from Nova Scotia. We had dinner at a cute Japanese place, went to Seoul Tower in Namsan Park, and then wandered around the city. Had an awesome day. Happy.
Saturday Michelle and I left the city. We took the bus a little over an hour north to Yeoju to see the Silleuksa buddhist temple. Here's a map of the provinces:
Yeoju and Seoul are both in the Gyeonggi province. Michelle thought we were pretty close to the North Korean border. The photos on the website make the temple look a little nicer than it actually is. The country surrounding the temple is about as bleak as they come. It was lovely to get away from the overstimulation of Seoul and wander in the woods, though. I will post my own photos soon, hopefully tonight after work.
When we got back to Seoul late that evening, we were starving and craving Thai food. Now, you'd think that in a city this large, there would be Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, Ethiopian, Indian, Greek, German - a wide variety of restaurants, yes? Well, there's not. Everything is Korean. ~lol~ I've been to one Japanese place, one Italian place, and that's it. It's a little weird to think that there is more variety in Minneapolis & St. Paul than in Seoul, which is at least 3 times larger, but it's the truth. So odd. Anyway, we had a entertaining fiasco in the rain trying to find a Thai place listed in a guide book, and ended up lost, damp, and eating scary deep-fried chicken and pajon at a bar. ~lol~
Sunday Michelle and I went to Garak Market, because I have been craving fresh vegetables like mad. The market is only 6 subway stops away, and it's GIGANTIC. We only wandered through one fruit and vegetable stall street and maybe a third of the fresh fish warehouse. I am now the proud owner of three gigantic zucchini. wh00t! We also ate the craziest, most awesome fresh sashimi and seafood meal ever at one of the tiny restaurants inside the market. I ate three oysters and a bunch of sashimi that had just been swimming in the tank two minutes earlier. We also had an incredible spicy soup with fresh fish, shrimp, clams, crab, fish cakes, rice cakes, and vegetables. I'll post photos soon. Yum.
I'm really happy. This weekend had a super mix of sightseeing and exploring and adventuring and daily life. Will have to do this more often. My goal is to see something cultural or get out of the city at least once a weekend from now on. I've been spending too much time going out to bars on Friday and Saturday. It's all part of the fun, but I can do that at home. I can't take an hour bus ride and spend the afternoon wandering a buddhist temple or eat fresh oysters at a fish market at home. This was a good weekend. Am looking forward to more.
Off to work. Hope you all have good evenings! I will try to post pictures from the last week tonight.
love,
~sara
The last weekend of February was my co-worker Noah's birthday; he had a big, crazy party at a local bar and his apartment. We're all still recovering from lack of sleep. ~lol~
Wednesday was a holiday. I went on a date (weird, no?) with Rod. He's Canadian, from Nova Scotia. We had dinner at a cute Japanese place, went to Seoul Tower in Namsan Park, and then wandered around the city. Had an awesome day. Happy.
Saturday Michelle and I left the city. We took the bus a little over an hour north to Yeoju to see the Silleuksa buddhist temple. Here's a map of the provinces:
Yeoju and Seoul are both in the Gyeonggi province. Michelle thought we were pretty close to the North Korean border. The photos on the website make the temple look a little nicer than it actually is. The country surrounding the temple is about as bleak as they come. It was lovely to get away from the overstimulation of Seoul and wander in the woods, though. I will post my own photos soon, hopefully tonight after work.
When we got back to Seoul late that evening, we were starving and craving Thai food. Now, you'd think that in a city this large, there would be Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese, Chinese, Tibetan, Ethiopian, Indian, Greek, German - a wide variety of restaurants, yes? Well, there's not. Everything is Korean. ~lol~ I've been to one Japanese place, one Italian place, and that's it. It's a little weird to think that there is more variety in Minneapolis & St. Paul than in Seoul, which is at least 3 times larger, but it's the truth. So odd. Anyway, we had a entertaining fiasco in the rain trying to find a Thai place listed in a guide book, and ended up lost, damp, and eating scary deep-fried chicken and pajon at a bar. ~lol~
Sunday Michelle and I went to Garak Market, because I have been craving fresh vegetables like mad. The market is only 6 subway stops away, and it's GIGANTIC. We only wandered through one fruit and vegetable stall street and maybe a third of the fresh fish warehouse. I am now the proud owner of three gigantic zucchini. wh00t! We also ate the craziest, most awesome fresh sashimi and seafood meal ever at one of the tiny restaurants inside the market. I ate three oysters and a bunch of sashimi that had just been swimming in the tank two minutes earlier. We also had an incredible spicy soup with fresh fish, shrimp, clams, crab, fish cakes, rice cakes, and vegetables. I'll post photos soon. Yum.
I'm really happy. This weekend had a super mix of sightseeing and exploring and adventuring and daily life. Will have to do this more often. My goal is to see something cultural or get out of the city at least once a weekend from now on. I've been spending too much time going out to bars on Friday and Saturday. It's all part of the fun, but I can do that at home. I can't take an hour bus ride and spend the afternoon wandering a buddhist temple or eat fresh oysters at a fish market at home. This was a good weekend. Am looking forward to more.
Off to work. Hope you all have good evenings! I will try to post pictures from the last week tonight.
love,
~sara
posted by smochs at 12:06 PM
3 Comments:
Hey, sweetheart. Glad you had a fun weekend! Show closed well--strike was really easy. Then Rick took us out for a huge feast at Peking Garden. Yum!
I think it's funny that you're vowing to do more sightseeing, and I'm vowing to spend more time working in my house. :)
Can't wait to see pix, especially of your date!
Good!! am glad closing went well!!!! oh dude, i want chinese food. ~lol~
yeeps, that is sort of opposite, isn't it. how is the stripping coming along? :)
The stripping is completed - for a while. Before we actually call the room 100% done there will have to be more work on it, but it's time to move on. We're pulling down the wallpaper now. It comes in 2 steps - the tough vinyl toplayer, and the paper-that's-still-glued-to-the-wall. It's not too bad.
I am jealous of you, eating native sashimi! Does it taste any different than how they make it here? Is Minnesota sushi way behind Korean?
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