the reality looks far now but don't go

Anyeonghaseyo!

I've been really concentrating on my Hangul as of late (Korean). I am able to read it now with much more speed...and though I have no idea what most of it means, at least I can read it, right? A lot of the times they sound like English words. For example, Taxi is "tahkshi" and icecream is "i-suh-cre-muh." And it helps when watching TV programs since they're all in English, but written in Hangul.

I told David that whenever I read the Korean I channel an old asian man for some reason and he said, "I know." That must mean I do it without even thinking! So random...

Anyway, this past week was Christmas. It didn't really feel like Christmas though - at least not one that I'm used to. I learned yesterday that Christmas is a couple's holiday in Korea as opposed to a family holiday. After we opened our presents (filled with goods from home and lovely jewelry for me!) we noticed that traffic was quite busy. So we decided to join the masses and head out into the cold to see what was happening.

We ventured over to Jamsil station where Lotte World is located...I wrote about it when I first got here. Anyway, it was packed shoulder to shoulder with couples buying cakes, eating dinner and shopping. David and I watched a few indoor fireworks (crazy) and attempted to see a movie but opted against it since the wait was so long. We also had a Korean/Japanese dinner that involved kimchi, tempura, udon noodles and bimbap! It was delicious, though we were stared at pretty hardcore.

Last night we met up with 4 other friends in Korea. We ate Mexican food, got lured into a brand new bar that I enjoyed very much(it had beds for chairs...) and then went to a German pub for David and Shin, who are beer snobs! ;D

I still need to upload pictures from that wild and fun adventure. I can't wait to make plans for new years! New years in the 2nd biggest city in the world! I'm pumped.

I finally uploaded those pictures from last week (that I alluded to in the last update). To jog your memory, we went to Itaewon, Seoul's most exotic area of town. To give you an idea, last night at the bar we sat next to German's, ran into Australian's in the bathroom, were served by Koreans and sitting with Canadian's. Anyway - here are the pictures from last weekend:

This was in front of an antique store. We didn't go in, but I plan to go back in the next few weeks!




I thought this alley was eye-catching.




David and I had dinner at an Italian place. It was so delicious and the service was excellent. They took our coats, pulled back our chairs and waited a few feet away from the table the entire time! We went at a slow time which made for a quiet meal!




A tiny lounge area...I love the lights hanging in the back.


We found this sign quite amusing.


David took this picture inside of Starbucks. Two men bought us coffee and then we did a 10-minute interview for 50,000 won (like $50). Totally random, but totally worth it!


Itaewon at night (it gets dark here around 5pm)


Toward the end of the evening we met up with Julia and Andy at Seoul Tower, one of the highest (if not the highest) points in South Korea. It's located on top of a mountain and the view is incredible, especially at night.


This picture is just dreadful, but it gives you an idea of how big Seoul is. This is just a sliver.


These are locks at Seoul Tower. Couples come here to put a lock on the fence. There are thousands of them, literally!


The teddy bear tree! With a flying person!






Andy and Julia

After spending several hours at Seoul Tower, we went to Insadong to eat dinner. It was, needless, to say, a little different. We had a traditional Korean meal. We took our shoes off, sat on the heated floor and enjoyed a plethora of side dishes (which are free and never-ending here). Then we pointed to something on the menu and watched in horror (varying degrees of horror depending on the person) as they brought out 2 live octopuses, stuck them in the pan in front of us and let it cook there (alive). The server then came out and chopped it up with scissors, including the head/brain/octopus ink area. David has vowed to never eat an octopus again. I thought it was delicious, despite the brutality of it all!


ordering


side dishes


The server cutting the octopus.


Almost ready to eat!


Servin' it up.


David NOT eating octopus.


Dinner is served!


How's that for an interesting meal? :) I plan to do several more while I'm here. Anyway, I have so many more pictures and things to say, but I'll wait until next time. Until then!