A weekend in Seoul

Hello Everyone!

Sorry that it's been so long since we posted last. We had a busy week since report cards were due on Tuesday (blahhhh). Anyway, I thought you'd all enjoy a re-cap of our weekend in Seoul last weekend.

We left Saturday afternoon, which was a little later than expected due all of the buses being filled up. There's a bus that leaves every 10 minutes or so, and every one of them was filled up for a couple of hours. I simply forget sometimes how many people live in Korea!

We got to Seoul around 2:00, and were instantly amazed at the number of high-rises and smog that covered the city. As soon as our bus started approaching Seoul both of our eyes started stinging, ay yi yi I don't know how people spend their lives in that! Anyway, we managed to figure out the subway system (Andrew's innate sense of direction, so he says!) and made it to our hotel.

First we went to Itaewon, which is apparently the foreigners district in Seoul. I wanted to go there to look for a winter jacket (it's starting to get cold here!). It was such a wierd place actually. There were people from all over the world. For the first time since we got here we didn't feel like the foreigners! Anyway, they had some "normal" food, like pitas, pizzas and stuff like that. Also, they had a STARBUCKS which was very exciting to see! The American military is stationed really close to Itaewon, so you saw a lot of soldiers hanging out as well. The area is apparently really dangerous at night, so after it got dark Andrew and I hung out in Starbucks to wait for our friends to come meet us. After we all went out for supper, we headed to Nanta.

The show was absolutely AMAZING! It was super high-energy, and there was a little bit of everything in it. The "cooks" used real knives and were making music on pots, cutting boards, and metal bowls (basically anything you can find in a kitchen) while they were singing, dancing AND cutting up vegetables. It was unreal actually! I'm so surprised that they have all of their fingers intact. Two of our friends we went with (Christy and Andrew) got pulled up on stage at various parts in the show. It was great!

After the show we all took the subway to the "entertainment" district. It was basically a lot of neon lights, bars, people, karaoke rooms. We went into a Hof that one of the guys we were with said was good. Hof's are sort of like pubs with western-style food (nachos and wings) with beer. Anyway, the Hof we went to managed to be almost smoke-free and there were no fluorescent blue lights in them (it seems to be a trend here). Needless to say we had a fantastic time! We stayed at the Hof until almost 3am, which as you know is pretty late for Andrew and I!

The next morning we all hit the streets (for shopping, of course). We went first to Dongdaemun market, which is Korea's largest market. It was HUGE and had just about anything you could think of possibly wanting to buy (including dogs, awww). Anyway, we managed to score a few good deals after spending around 4 hours or more looking through the market. Also, we managed to lose each other at various points, which was a little scary.

After the market, we headed to Insadong, which is a market that specializes in silver and other types of Korean handicrafts. The stuff is really expensive but it was beautiful! Andrew loved it. We could have spent our paychecks there, but common sense ended up kicking in! It was great. Before heading back to Daejeon we grabbed some food from the street (vendors!) and had some squid balls (They're disgusting, but Andrew seems to like them), omlette sushi (it was as wierd as it sounds), and good-ol'-corn (although mighty chewy). I promised myself that I wouldn't eat from the vendors in Korea, since they're slightly sketchy. But, I must admit that it was pretty good!

After eating, we headed to the train station to go home. Unfortunately, when we got there we found out that the fast train was filled up and that the slow train had only standing seats available. We had no choice but to take the train standing - and it was brutal! About 30 minutes into the trip Christy and I resorted to sitting on the floor, which I guess was a lot better than standing for the whole trip. Anyway, we made it back to Daejeon safe and sound, but with very sore legs. All-in-all it was a really fun weekend!

This week was really tiring. I think we were tired from report cards, tekkyon and our weekend in Seoul. Tekkyon is starting to get really hard! We're learning kicks and other defense moves. I learned just the other day that Tekkyon was banned in Korea for short period of time because people deemed it too deadly! Who knew?! I managed to roll my ankle on Wednesday, however after thoroughly freezing it (with liquid nitrogen, I'm sure of it!), getting on-site acupuncture, and getting it wrapped, it seems to be alright. There is never a shortage of help or attention here in Korea!

Yesterday Andrew and I headed to downtown Daejeon for some exploring. We managed to find a market where we purchased our first Christmas tree and some decorations! It's only about a foot tall, but it'll do. We had a strange (yet hilarious) experience that I thought I'd share with you. We came across a huge group of people who were all cheering in a circle, and in the middle of the circle was a man holding a sign that said something in Korean, and underneath, "FREE HUGS." Anyway, Andrew and I were giggling for a minute or so before one Korean guy quite forcefully pulled Andrew into the centre of the circle. Everyone in the crowd went crazy while the guy and Andrew gave each other a slightly awkward hug. Anyway, I thought it was absolutely hilarious. You never know what to expect here I tell you!

Last night we went all the way to Sintajin to visit our friends. We went out for supper to a dog/chicken restaurant. Don't worry, we made absolutely SURE that the Korean word for Dog was not said in the restaurant. I was so worried that they would mix up our orders. Anyway, the entire chicken is served in a big black pot boiling in some sort of rice/ginseng soup. It was actually really delicious! After supper we played a couple of games of poker. I won some won! The downside of winning however, was paying for the taxi home - so expensive! Anyway, it was a really good day.

Anyway, we're completely out of groceries so we have to go hit the agro-fishery market.

We miss you all so much!

Love, Tara and Andrew
XO