Catch-up post

The last two days have been jam-packed, and I'm going to cover both in one post. So brace yourselves; this is gonna be a long one.

I'll start with our trip to the beach. We left Suwon on Thursday night with a car full of bags. I didn't know what was in the bags, but I kind of wondered why they needed to pack so much (spoiler: the bags were full of food).

At a rest stop, Aunt Jung-hee noticed that I didn't have a coat. I had stopped carrying one around since it started getting hot recently; it gets a little chilly at night, but I'd rather be a little cold than have to haul a coat around. Well, she got worried about me and gave me a jacket to wear. I'm glad she did, because I can now say that I have found the least-flattering jacket on me ever.

We actually got to listen to the music on my iPhone on the drive due to this little setup.

 Now that's old-school.

We reached the hotel late, so we went right to bed. My aunt and uncle together could snore a whole concert, but I was tired enough that it didn't keep me up. In the morning we went out to a thick sheet of fog and started to explore.

I thought it was pretty funny that they just let their boats sit on the sand during low tide, but then I guess there aren't really any docks in deeper water. You work with what you've got.

My uncle fished all day, but to no avail.

Eunmi and I spent all day walking on the beach and playing in the tidepools. It wasn't warm enough to swim, but I probably wouldn't have done it anyway because we didn't have any hot water for our shower. The last time I swam in the ocean without access to a hot shower, I ended up huddled together with Mimi, Kiki, and Emily while we tried to overcome our hypothermia. Good times.

So this is why they packed so many bags. We had a feast for lunch, with tons of fruits and veggies, kimchi, salad, pork, and fresh fish (no, Uncle didn't catch them, some lady took pity on him and gave them to him).

The pork was similar to samgyupsal, and very tasty. I swear Korean cuisine makes up for how healthy it is by going all-out on its red meat. This pork was basically giant chunks of bacon, and to eat it you dip each piece in oil and salt. You can feel your arteries clogging with each bite, but it's so good you can't stop! And you can always assuage your guilt with more rice and kimchi.

These boards told about an oil spill that happened two years ago and almost destroyed part of the coast. Eunmi told me about it, because she remembered it firsthand. Apparently they put together an insane amount of volunteer manpower to clean up the beaches, and now the ecosystem is recovering.

We left the beach, and after a few hours of driving they dropped me off in Seoul. I was all ready to get an early night, since Sunghun and I were the only ones in the house and I didn't have to worry about Eun-hyuk begging me to play Beyblade. But Sunghun reminded me that it was Buddha's birthday, and that the temple down the street was having a huge celebration. Well, I couldn't resist that!

We went, and it was A-FREAKIN'-MAZING. The temple is beyond beautiful, and for the holiday they had decorated everything with lanterns, candles, and incense. Many people were there worshiping, but there were also enough sightseers with cameras that I didn't feel out of place snapping loads of pictures. Here are some of them:

Whew! Okay, now did you see all those lanterns and candles? You realize that I only got photos of a fraction of them? Now get this: each one represents a prayer, and someone payed money for it. It was something like ten dollars per lantern. Jesus Christ! No wonder the temple has enough money for their crazy-awesome statues and buildings.

Sunghun took me out for a chicken dinner, and we bonded over soju. We talked a lot about family and religion. He reminded me that I should always respect my parents and be grateful for them. You know I am!

NEXT DAY! My Korean class has learned that I can sing. I think they're going to make me sing in the talent show next week. Not that I'm complaining; I'll take any opportunity to serenade a captive audience (Tyson, when he's trapped with me on long car rides, can attest to this).

These things are awesome! I see them every once in a while from a car on the highway, and I'm so happy I finally found one while I was on foot so I could take a picture of it. That is not a road worker directing traffic! That is a mannequin! It is holding a red warning-baton-thing, and its arm moves up and down automatically. It actually looks pretty realistic, and I suppose the point is that people will pay more attention to it compared to if it was just a "Caution" sign in the road. But the Uncanny Valley effect is in full force here.

Later that afternoon, I went to my first meeting of the Seoul Explorers Club!  One of the guys in my class, Friedhelm, has been living with his wife in Seoul for years. He put together a weekly meeting for people who want to hang out and walk around different parts of the city. He's been doing it for a month or two, but this was my first time joining in. We went to the theater district.

That's a map of the district. There are over a hundred theaters just in this small area! They don't mess around.

The big white guy is Friedhelm. The woman in pink is Jessie, my wonderful Korean teacher. It was sprinkling, and I was in a tank top, so she kept shepherding me back under other people's umbrellas. I told her that I didn't mind the rain, but she eventually just went and bought me an umbrella from a roadside stand. Haha! Don't worry, Mom, I have people looking out for me.

We walked around, climbed a little hill, and finally went out for dinner together. Everyone was great, and we had a lot of fun. Jessie jokes around a lot, and is kind of intense. I was surprised that I could keep up with her teasing and enjoy myself with her. I have a feeling that even just a couple of years ago I would have been completely intimidated by her, but now I'm more comfortable joking around with people that way. Everyone traded numbers so we can hang out during the week.

Okay, you're all caught up! Join me tomorrow for a decidedly shorter post, due to the fact that I will be sleeping in until noon.