an american church lunch

rizza with her delicious soup
the pasta salad that took about 6 hours longer to make than i anticipated
rizza working with jeff pretending to
chris and the dishes, yoon with alternative methods of cleaning.

(i realize that i've alluded to this lunch in a post from last week).

and, i would say the lunch was a success. rizza (the filipino) added a twist to our american meal with a filipino pea soup. but, besides that it was american through and through.

because of previously bad experiences of grilling with koreans in the past (asking us to grill and the elbowing us away from the grill, saying that we are too slow, etc...), we were extremely sensitive about allowing no koreans around the grill. they just have a way of wanting to cut all the meat up with scissors and push us away. we made hot dogs and pasta salad and had chips and pretzels and well, i was feeling pretty darn patriotic.

another seoul saturday

Oh Seoul.


what a fabulous city. especially with all my new found friends. i spent another saturday in this endless city. i met up with So Young (who ironically has had an english name, abby, this whole time without me knowing it). So Young has introduced me to about 58 new amazing cafes. she brings me to neighborhoods with excessive amounts of equally cool cafes. cafes that have all the features i love in a cafe: exposed interior brick, variety of seating, good music and (obviously) superb coffee.
my biggest complaint about seoul is that there are too many places i want to eat at, drink at, experience.
too little time...too little money.

i met up with So Young and she showed me around where she works (Far East Broadcasting). we grabbed some lunch (kimbap-rice and vegetables wrapped in seaweed- and bi bim mandu- my new found favorite- vegetables and red sauce served with dumplings).

then we wandered around a university's art building for awhile. we wandered around student's studios, in and out of classrooms to look at the art, and no one stopped us.

after that it was off to a super cool cafe with really expensive coffee (but good, none the less).

i left So Young and ended up meeting up with another friend (that sentence made it sound as if i've got an abundance of friends here, really there are only 2). Hannah (my finnish friend) and i met up and ended up eating bagels at Dunkin Donuts for dinner. sometime a girl just needs a bagel.

then, eventually i caught a bus home.

(this is Bi Bim Mandu)

school's out?

yesterday, school technically finished for the "non-preschool" students of ANCA. although breaks and "finished" is all relative here in korea.
these people do not believe in taking breaks, in resting or, in allowing their children to rest.
(save for the public baths, of course, which seems to be the only place that people here justify relaxation).
preschool goes year round here because "the parents demand it" (annoying and slightly messed up in my opinion) and the other students start an "intensive program" next week, followed by an "english camp" in august. so, though the students' school year is over, the "intensive program" is merely school with a different name and "english camp" is anything but what the word camp implies.
but regardless, on friday night there was a party for the "end" of school at our neighbor's (ella and daniel's) i popped in for the food and some hellos and then went and made 6 pounds of pasta salad for sunday's church lunch.

so, happy end of school to everyone, for whatever its worth.

hyewa

Seoul is inexhaustible.










Walking out of school on thursday evening, Esther invited me to go into to Seoul that evening. she was meeting up with some old college friends. so, being the "ever up for an adventure" girl that i strive to be, i said yes. who needs rest when you're in asia?

we went to the Hyewa area. and, as i am always thinking, seoul is undeniably, unavoidably, inexhaustible. i have been going to seoul consistently for 9 months now and still feel like i am nowhere near seeing all there is to see. i will see a new place and think, "how have i not been here yet?" so many places are worth seeing, so many streets worth exploring.
Hyewa is college-y and hip. it has a thrilling blend of familiarity (seeing starbucks, kfc and krispy kreme really can be good for the soul when one misses america) and a smattering of unique, refreshing establishments.
i just don't understand how so many restaurants, stores, cafes stay alive in this country. there are millions living here yes, and these millions all seem to love to eat but, i'm still convinced that there are more places to eat in korea then in all of america. this country just knows how to pack it in. and that is not a bad thing.

hitchhikers and korea

back in november, hannah and i once tried to hitchhike in korea. we stood by the main highway on a saturday morning and hannah put her thumb out and shouted continuously, "look at laura, she's white! she's blond! pick us up!"
we were unsuccessful and a bit disillusioned.
i went home that day and tried to figure out what we had done wrong. apparently, hitchhiking is known and done in korea but, there is no standard sign or rule for how to do it. and, it's not very common.

i've never actually seen a hitchhiker in korea until this week. i made yoon (our new bi-lingual teacher) ask him if he needed a ride to where we were going, he declined. probably because he saw me taking this picture of him.

spontaneous costco

the teachers decided to cook for the sunday lunch at church this week. and, we came up with an "american menu" that best fit into a budget, simplicity and accessibility in korea.

the menu? hot dogs, pasta salad, chips, pretzels, oreos. nothing says americana like a bunch of unhealthy, carb-heavy food.

we needed to get to costco (the mecca of american food seekers in foreign lands) and (with virtually no warning) i was swept away to go on tuesday night with ella and esther's families.

side note~
two simultaneously irritating and endearing things about korea/koreans:
1. they are virtually incapable of planning ahead. if there is a plan, they will change it. they seem to thrive on spontaneity, or perhaps, they just lack the ability to think beyond the moment. i'm not sure. but i love this sometimes and hate this sometimes.
2. they often have conversations about non-korean speakers right in front us. so that we hear "blah blah, laura, blah, blah, laura, kimchi, blah, blah". and also, they have conversations and then forget to tell us (forget that we didn't understand the language) and then seem confused/surprised when we didn't get the memo about something.
oh yes, working in a foreign country is such fun.

here is costco's food court and, here are esther and ella eating (yes, you are reading this right) spoonfuls of diced onions mixed with mustard. cups worth of onions mixed with only mustard.

folks, we are in korea, realities and normalities are out the window.

new puppy

my neighbors got a new little puppy. the new owner, david (on the left) and his friends erin and jonathan brought it over to my house for me to see. these photos are admittedly bad.

a day of perfect things

yesterday i was on a mission. it became one of those days where you periodically pinch yourself, where you catch yourself smiling at nothing and everything because everything is going so well.

i was heading into seoul, eventually meeting up with an old college friend who has been living in seoul this whole time without me realizing it. that rendezvous was at 2pm. i was, however, up before 7 to start my day of determined fun.

outside of our house there is a bus stop that (supposedly) regularly drives by en route to town. i had only ever had bad experiences waiting for the bus (ie: the bus never came) but, i took a chance and decided to try to catch it.

perfect thing #1 (uncharacteristically dependable public bus):
when i got out to the bus stop at around 7:30 am, there was an elderly woman waiting. that's always a good sign. elderly woman don't waste their time waiting for buses that never come. and, about 45 seconds after i joined her, a crowd of various neighbors also arrived to wait.
and, about 2 minutes after i arrived at the bus stop, the bus came. so, for about a dollar, i was on my way to town. this is, keep in mind, the same bus that i've once waited an hour for.

perfect thing #2 (perfect timing and a seat just for me) :
the bus drove me into town, dropping me off at the main station where i would catch a bus to seoul. i walked in, bought a ticket and walked out to where the bus would pick me up. there was a bus waiting (there's never been a bus waiting before, i've always been the one waiting) yet no one else was around (it was as if it was waiting for me). i got on the bus, there was ONE seat left. just for me. (hallelujah! i've had to stand on this bus to seoul enough times to be thankful this seat). and, as soon as i got on the bus, it pulled out. it literally had waited for me.

perfect thing #3 (freakishly fast bus) :
the efficiency/inefficiency of this bus ride to seoul is entirely dependent on the notoriously bad traffic. on a good day, it is 45 minutes from downtown YP to seoul (on my previously experience, a very not good day, 2 hours). on this trip...it took 32 minutes. i do not lie. i was astounded. but oh so happy.

perfect thing #4 (9am movies at half price and a seat just for me) :
the bus pulled in near TechnoMart and i had decided to experience a new korean phenomenon i had discovered: early movies are half price at cinemas in korea. i took the elevator up to the 10th floor along with about 25 korean teenagers and the doors open to a scene that seemed inappropriate for 8:50 am. loud music, dark and cool, and hundreds of people. i was happy to see that Sex and the City had a 9am showing but nervous as i stood in line for a ticket. i had been in this line once before a few weeks earlier and no tickets were left.
by the time it was my turn in line, it was almost time for the movie to start. the boy at the counter showed me the screen of seats remaining (in korean you have assigned seats at the theater). there were TWO seats left. TWO. one of them was perfectly centered.

perfect thing #5 (Sex and the City) :
now, i've always felt a bit scandalous talking about Sex and the City but, for the sake a justifiable excuse you must understand that, if nothing else, watching a movie that takes place in one of my favorite cities (NYC) is absolutely therapeutic for my current life. seeing yellow taxis and streets signs in english and all that wonderful familiarity is a thrill you never quite understand until you've been gone from america for 9 months. so, the movie was fun, refreshing and amusing. especially amusing was the fact that there were many jokes that only i caught, in a theater of people reading subtitles.

perfect thing #6 (espresso and newspapers) :
after the movie, i had a few hours to waste before meeting an old college friend at 2 pm.
so, i did a little shopping, and killed sometime in a cafe. sipping espresso. and, reading an english newspaper. this perfect thing needs no further explanation.

perfect thing #7 (So Young):
i've been living in korea for 9 months now. one of my old friend from college is korean and it took me an embarrassingly long amount of time living here for it to dawn on me that she would be here. i tracked her down last month and we finally got together at 2 today. we lived on the same floor our freshman year which, we were appalled to realize, was 8 years ago. i was a little nervous that we'd be strangers now but it was good. and it was again therapeutic. her english is a impeccable so, i had a rare luxury of having someone in korea who understands me and knows where i come from and has something in common with me. and, she's korean which means she knows all the cool places in seoul.

perfect thing #8 (cafes, cafes, cafes):
to think i've been living in korea 9 months without discovering this neighborhood is annoying. So Young met me in this adorable area of seoul with alley after alley stuffed with cute cafe after cute cafe after cute cafe. The samchendong area (ankuk stop, line 3) had a european flare and an inexhaustible supply of cafes. each cafe we passed was equally beautiful and equally inviting. i really didn't feel like i was in korea at all.
and, you mustn't know me well to know that cafes make me happy.

perfect thing #9 (flour-less chocolate cake):
the worst part about the day was that forgot to eat. which is fine because i made up for it by drinking my body weight in coffee. but, we stumbled upon "the coffee factory" which resembled a cafe i once worked at in chicago. (a cafe that was way too cool for me). this coffee factory roasts their coffee in house, plays refreshingly familiar music and sells flour-less chocolate cake.

i must explain. for a few weeks, for reasons not known, i have been plagued with an unbelievable cravings for flour-less chocolate cake. in korea, there are endless supplies of pretty, cute, fancy cakes but, they seem prone to puffy fluffiness. i like my cake dense and heavy. so, when i saw a piece of cafe for sale at this cafe, i caved. and it was all heaven. and absolutely worth it's $7.

perfect thing #10 (the train and not taking seats for granted):
so young and i parted ways after 6pm. i headed for the train station to catch a 7pm train. i got there with rushing by 6:52, stood in line and found out that they only had standing tickets available (which are at least a little cheaper). i was okay with that, i was willing to stand. when i got to the train (with about 1 minute to spare), the conductor looked at my ticket and said, "standing, okay?" and then, a few seconds later said, "excuse me, follow" and led me to a reserved spacious handicap seat and said, "its okay, sit".
and i sat the whole way home.

and, riding home, i caught myself smiling in the reflection on the train window a few times. i just couldn't help it. my day was that good.