It's amazing how much you can do in just a short amount of time!
My friend Kath had a house-warming party at her apartment on Tuesday night. She had invited all of her Korean teachers and her boss, Mr. Jung, from her hogwan (private school) and a couple of foreign teachers (me, Shannon, and her boyfriend Dave). Her apartment is in Ilsan, which is only a 15 minute subway ride from Hwajeong. Her apartment is real nice; she has a great view, large kitchen (for Korea), and a loft. Her apartment building is right off of Ilsan Lake. I met her co-workers who spoke English very well and were all very nice. Her boss was real quiet but after a few beers and some wine, he became very outgoing. After going out for a cigarette, he came back with milk and some milk drink (kind of like cream soda?), pineapple, a can of something. He went to work and made us this great watermelon dessert with the pineapple and milk drinks. He then sauteed these things that looked like mushrooms in butter. I was told by the Korean teachers (Mr. Jung doesn't speak any English) that they were kind of like snails but bigger. For some reason, I immediately thought of geoducks. haha. Well, always willing to try something once, I tried one and it was surprisingly really tasty! It was chewy and kind of tasted like snails...but not really. I guess if you come to visit, I'll have to cook 'em for ya! When the snail things were gone, he went out and got some fried chicken. Sure, whatever floats your boat man! After more beer, I think he really began to like me because he told me that I should come work for him after my year at Hwajeong...and that he wants to set me up with his cousin who lives in L.A! It was so funny because he started giving me his cousin's stats; how much he weighed, his height, age, etc. Everyone thought it was hilarious!
So, after drinking the last of the beer and wine, where were we to go? What were we to do? Well, Kath informed us that there was a Noraebang in her building. WHAT?! KARAOKE IN HER APARTMENT BUILDING?!?! It was a no-brainer. We get there and it was just awesome. It's a small room with about 9 television screens on one wall. There were Korean songs and American songs to choose from. There were tambourines that LIT UP when you hit them. There were two microphones. AND you were rated by how well you sung IN ENGLISH. Oh my god, it was the most fun ever. I have no idea how long we were there but I could have gone all night. I was just getting over a cold and yeah, I totally lost my voice.
Well, we finally decide to call it a night, much to my dismay. Since the subway is no longer running, Kath is gracious enough to help me catch a cab back to Hwajeong. We say good-bye to her co-workers and begin to wander the streets in Ilsan to find a cab. After talking to several cab drivers who refused to take me because I was "out of their way", we get discouraged and end up at the 24 hour McDonalds across the street. It angers me because these cab drivers are from Seoul and will refuse to take you anywhere but Seoul...even though Hwajeong is on the way to Seoul. But, there's always a silver lining, right?
Kath and I made friends with the fry guy in McDonalds. He works the 11-7 shift and hates it because it's always dead. Ouch, that sucks. And while we were waiting for our food, a group of foreigners walk in and lo and behold, there's a guy wearing a St. Olaf T-shirt. His girlfriend, who was with him, just graduated this Spring! It's crazy that I've met two people within two weeks that graduated from St. Olaf.
Well, Kath decides it's too late and she wants to head to bed. So I tell her I'm fine to find my own cab. Plus, I figured since it's almost 5 am, the subway will be starting up soon. Well, I walk to the subway station and it's still closed. Dang. Luckily, I finally get a cab to stop and jump in before he can refuse, and tell him to take me home. I finally get home at around 5:15am. Oh, what a night!
Good thing Wednesday was a national holiday (Korean Memorial Day) and school was closed. I call up Luc and Yoomi and we decide to make the best of the day by heading to Ilsan Lake. We strolled down LaFesta, the main strip in Ilsan with a bunch of shops and outdoor markets. I find a juice bar named Isaac. That's probably the last name I would have expected to see in Korea.
We walked to Ilsan Lake and took a few pictures. Ilsan Lake is Korea's largest man-made lake. It's also the place where the annual International Flower Festival is held. Unfortunately, the event already occurred.
Since it seemed like it was going to rain at any moment, we decide to head indoors. Yoomi takes us to a Game bang, game room, where people can go and play board games. We were the oldest patrons in there...we played some card game and Clue: The Simpsons Edition. I was expecting a private room, similar to a noraebang, where we were going to play board games but it was like a restaurant...without food? There are sorts of different rooms that people go to. PC bangs, DVD bangs, etc. You rent these rooms to play video games, watch movies, etc and they're EVERYWHERE! It's crazy to think that the space and privacy we have at home in the States, they pay money for in Korea! I guess the main reason for these bangs is that there's no space b/c most Koreans live in small apartments.
After the game room, we go to Rosen Brau, a huge German pub. It was a really nice place but so random. There was a Filipino band there and it was weird to me for a second that I was listening to a Filipino band in a German pub in South Korea. This place was crazy too. They had three foot beer glasses that you could order and surprisingly, it was really popular...even with the older crowd! There were a bunch of business men all over the bar with them! I didn't catch them drinking 'em though...but I was real curious as to how you would drink a three foot beer. And apparently, when it gets really busy, they have a golf-cart that will take you to the restrooms! I'm definitely going back there sometime!
Random Korea Fact of the Day: Here's something that I just learned. When you go to E-Mart or a store, they will charge something like, 50 cents per plastic bag. BUT if you go to a take-out restaurant, like Starbucks or McDonalds, they will charge you extra for the paper bag and paper cup BUT if you return the used bag or cup back to the same place, they will reimburse you. I don't really get why. My friend told me it was because Korea doesn't really have people to pick up the garbage or they don't pay people to pick up trash...which is why it's nearly impossible to find trash cans anywhere. Hmmmm, interesting...
