Winter Wonderland

Well last night Nate and I caught word of some birthday party event in Hongdae from one of our kind foreign Dootavill neighbors, Jen. This sounded like something we'd be in to as we had already planned on heading down towards the Hongik University area for an AIDS awareness event dubbed "Rubber Seoul." We agreed to give Jen a call later to try and meet up somewhere between the AIDS and B-Day bash.

Our arrival in Hongdae was a bit delayed due to band practice being bumped back to six, as the elementary school teachers had to work during the late morning/afternoon. Although we (yes, Nate has begun to attend practice as well seeing as how his rap is an integral part of the 'DYB Song') had planned on taking the subway down to Gunja as I normally do, Razer was kind enough to pick us up behind work/Dootavill in his car. This turned out to be a terrible idea.

Apparently, rush hour takes no break for weekends here in Seoul meaning that our journey, which normally takes a little under half 'n hour on the subway, ended up being dragged out to a full hour. . . .which of course in turn made us about 30 minutes late for practice. Rehearsal was fun, as usual, yet unfortunately shorter than normal due to our late arrival. An added bonus this time was Sunny's (yes, our cheerful receptionist) presence. She too will be rapping with Nate, although he part is in Korean, and blew everyone away with how great she sounded. I know this sounds silly, and perhaps some goofiness was lost in translation but when Sunny's on the mic rapping she really, really sounds like she knows what she's doing. . .As for Nate. . .well. . .he's doing his best for now!

After practice we went out to eat at a small restaurant around the corner where, lucky us, we got to sit on the floor. There is really no better way to ruin a good meal than to have to struggle through fighting off cramps and leg pains from sitting in a position that I'm pretty sure humans have evolved beyond. While I really enjoyed our big hot bowl of ramyeon, tok (squishy rice cakes), potatoes, carrots and chicken, it's just so difficult to really eat my fill when the majority of my attention is focused on the searing pain in the lower half of my body.

Furthermore, I would have loved to eat more chicken except that I'm still not really sure how to. The pieces here that are served do not, in any way, resemble the chicken that you or I are used to. While I've yet to come across a beak or foot, I have heard they exist, the 'chicken' that we got was simply big chunks of bone with a little bit of stringy something attached. To make it worse, you're not allowed to use your hands which leaves you to figure out how to extract a gram or two of meat off a tangled mess of bone using only your chopsticks. . .oh yeah, and your spoon as a knife!

Luckily traffic was a bit lighter headed out of the city center (odd, I know) and we got home in less than the hour it took to get to the studio, thankfully! Nate and I cleaned up and headed down towards Hongik University or Hongdae as it's more commonly referred to. Just as we arrived, in the middle of a heated discussion on the similarities between Judaism, Christianity and Rastafarianism (don't believe me, look it up), Jen called.

We hustled down a few wrong streets before finding one of the three 'Rubber Seoul' venues. Instead of going in however Jen and her friend Katie ushered us down the street aways to a place called Bar Boom where it turned out a raging 'S' party was in full swing. What is an 'S' party you ask? Well, apparently it's one where everybody dresses up as something that starts with the letter 'S.' So how did we manage to not get thrown out of this random event that we had no business being at especially not in costume? Well, I claimed to go as 'Saper,' which, last time I checked fit the criteria and, well, Nate was wearing a 'scarf,' so. . .that worked. Oh yeah, and we paid the door charge. . .that might have helped too!

Anyways, we managed to pass the whole night without ever making it to Rubber Seoul which made me slightly disappointed only because I was really looking forward to the Ugandan necklaces that supposedly were given away throughout the night. . .think of it as the Zulu coconuts of Seoul! We both eventually made it home, though by different means, and I got to sleep just before sunrise. . .which, normally on a Saturday night would be a problem seeing as how I have soccer on Sunday but, luckily, this is our bye week!

After sleeping in a bit this morning/afternoon, Nate and I had to check out three different Gimbapchongooks before finding one with sitting room. Following a bowl of spicy cheese ramyeon and a roll of my favorite chamchi (tuna) gimbap, I made it back to my apartment just in time to catch a little nap. Waking up around four I decided that I had better get out and at least do something with my day before I committed my self to a sleepless Sunday thereby inevitably throwing off my sleep schedule for the upcoming week which I'm already dreading as I believe we have to return to actually teaching once again. . .huge bummer, yes, I know.

Having yet to complete my Christmas shopping, no, not for you, what'd you get me last year anyways, I decided to check out Namdaemun Market, located in the city center adjacent to namdeamun itself or the 'great south gate.' I hoped on the 1140 bus to Sanggye station where the blue Line 4 took me directly to Hoehyeon Station. Coming up out of the station, from no particular exist that I recall, I entered the market through a large gate that read Nandaemun Market Gate 6. So, apparently there's at least a half a dozen entrances to this thing if you're ever looking for it!

To my dismay, although some expected on a Sunday evening, the majority of the stalls were closed up and dark. As I wounded through narrow passageways of tent=like eateries, I eventually made it to what must have been the heart of the market, a vibrant walkway lit by dozens of single bulbs hanging every now and then from random wires along with, yes, a few strings of Christmas lights. I wandered up and down this long passage every now and then taking a detour down a side alley that showed a bit of life, though most were dark and quite. The majority of the vendors seemed to be selling clothing, ninety percent of which had to have been women's. Every now and then I would come across a Christmas store selling everything from gigantic wreaths to the most unbelievably tacky fake trees! While their blaring Christmas carols were a bit unnerving, it was kind of nice to see the city getting into Holiday Mode!

I hadn't been wandering for any more than an hour when all of a sudden I noticed that their were a few snowflakes drifting downwards. Steadily, and quickly, their numbers increased until it was full on snowing! A number of vendors, and market goers, reveled in the scene, coming out from behind their booths to catch snowflakes on their tongues like little children. . .mind you these are little old men and women that look like they would break if a snowflake hit them too hard. By the time I existed the market an hour or so later, the walkways were entirely covered in a thin layer of snow that remarkably held fast. . .likely attributable to the frigid temperatures we've been experiencing this past week! I, like dozens of young couples around me, starting snapping pictures of the untouched snow with my cell phone, though I soon realized that I will never be able to post or share them. . .oh well, sorry for not bringing my camera.

Ounce outside of the market I was drawn towards an enormous building by the string of bright blue/white Christmas lights leading to it. . .Shinsegae Department Store. Having yet to uncover that magic Christmas sweater that I'm so desperately searching for, I decided to wander the many floors of Shinsegae hoping to uncover a buried treasure. While I did find a number of beautiful rotten sweaters, all of them were well out of my price range. I simply refuse to spend more than a 100,000 won on something that I intended to wear once, maybe twice, as a joke! Think of it as Halloween, at Christmas time!

Anyways, I managed to kill another hour or so inside the 14 floor Shinsegae wandering from department to department. Up on the 11th floor I took a time out to grab a bite in the food court. Now food courts in Korea are a bit different then at home. While there are still a number of different vendors, orders are taken at a centrally located booth. You are then given a ticket with a number on it and expected to wait around for your number to appear on the big display screens at which point you go to your 'restaurant,' pick up your food and take it to one of the many food court's many tables.

The addict that I am, I decided to go with the Pad Thai from Pho Tai. While I enjoy sampling every and any version of my newly acquired favorite dish that I can find, I would not recommend, nor will return to Pho Tai in the Shinsegae Dept Store. . .they just didn't cut it. I once remember while looking for a pad thai recipe online that someone suggested using catchup. To this, a number of other 'chefs' responded that an authentic pad thai would never utilize ketchup and doing so would make a mockery of the dish. Well. . .imagine what it would taste like if you not only used ketchup but used bad catsup. . . exactly!

Finishing my Shinsaegae exploration I ventured out in to the night to find that the snow had not let up. Everywhere I looked people were making little snow men, engaging in mini snow ball fights and, of course, chowing down on this fluffy treat! The only part I engaged in is the later as snow is perhaps one of my favorite foods. . . mmmm, sure helped to wash down that 'pad thai.'

Wandering aimlessly I happened on Lotte Young (or something like that) another department store geared entirely at young people, which, I believe I still fall in to the category of. I quickly managed to browse the mere six floors of merchandise before slogging on disappointed, with no sweater in hand. Back on the street I realized that this store was connected to another Lotte. . .this one being Lotte Premium. I spent only about 20 minutes in Lotte Premium before deciding that my mere presence was probably detracting from the sale of 500,000 won pens and the likes. . . this was not quite my place.

Again, out in the night, I was somewhat surprised, though not entirely so, to find yet another Lotte adjacent to the one I just existed. This time, I got the real thing, Lotte Department Store. Having just been disappointed twice before by my dear friends at Lotte I figured I'd give them one more chance at providing me with that much sought after Christmas party look I so yearn to adorn. However, after a few minutes of being in yet another department store I decided that I had had enough for the day and quickly darted out.

Exiting Lotte Dept Store on the opposite side that I had come from, I was elated to walk out in to the Lotte Wonderland. . .a giant plaza literally covered in Christmas lights, trees, nutcrackers and the whole shebang which, would normally be somewhat goofy looking but, on this night, was beautiful covered in the fresh, and first, snow of the season! Again, I have a couple great pictures on my cellphone but, unless you're coming to Korea any time soon, you'll probably just have to do your best to imagine.

I wandered a bit longer until my poor running shoes has absorbed so much slush that with each step I squirted out more than I took in. Alas, my giant Christmas shopping adventure ended in near utter failure. Even so, I did manage to procure a super cool Christmas card and an even cooler small gift to attach it to (will you be the lucky one to receive it?). To be honest I wasn't really looking for anything but an adventure and that, luckily, I found! Home, safe and sound, I'm glad I made it out for the evening and even more glad that we didn't have soccer today as it would not have been pleasant playing in the snow. While I am currently still enjoying the fresh layer of white covering everything, we'll see how I feel about it in the morning as I trudge the full two hundred meters to work!

Happy Halloween!

So before the holiday escapes us entirely and all memories are forgotten. . .here is a brief pictorial recap of Halloween in Seoul! Enjoy!

Friday afternoon I arrived at school in full "costume," thoroughly enjoying the slackjawed stares that I commanded on my brief, five minute walk from Dootavill. Not once did anyone comment, laugh or commend me on my outfit, rather they just gawked, not quite sure what to make of this absurdly dressed human being!

Nate on the other hand, dressing like a Hajima, or elderly Korean woman, decided it would be best if he changed at school rather than frighten the general public by exposing them to his, possibly, inappropriate representation of Korean culture!

A before-school photo shoot with the 'rabel rousers,' our eventual accompaniments for the evening. From left to right: Michelle, Cleo and Julia.

Oh yes, I did actually teach class like this! Three of them to be exact! To be honest, I rather enjoyed teaching with sunglasses on as it allowed me to keep an eye on the students without them realizing it. . . .it also allowed me to catch some shut eye. . .without them realizing it! While many were taken aback at first, not sure if teacher was in costume or simply had gone mad, they eventually warmed up to the holiday spirit as I rained candy down upon them throughout class. Bert (bottom left) even adopted a 'scary' voice to address questions in class. This was most likely due to me jive talking my way through class in what must have been an entirely incomprehensible accent!

After finishing out first classes, Nate's co-teacher, Hannah, suggested that we stop by the elementary school, known as Parthenon, to say hit to the kids! I quickly asked Anna for permission and was elated to have her agree! Oh how wonderful it was to have a twenty minute break in the middle of an otherwise non-stop six hour day. We swung by Parthenon and, to the students' delight, brought with us handfuls of candy that we had picked up from Lotte Mart that morning. After stopping by everyone's classrooms we took a picture with Minra (sp? DYB keyboardist), David (acclaimed drummer for E.L.) and Kelly, also dressed in the spirit of the holiday!

Throughout the school day both Nate and I were continually pestered by students wanting to take pictures of and with us, most of them in high-res on their uber-advanced cellphone/television/videogame consoles. The particular student above is dressed in Nate's alternative costume of a rice paddy worker!

While the day dragged on foorreevvverrr (our Friday classes are not particularly enjoyable for either of us), 10:30 eventually rolled around as we packed up what was left of the candy and headed out. Just kidding, I had no candy left, I ate everything that the students didn't and had the stomach ache to prove it by the end of school! As we got ready to head back to Nate's apartment before hitting the town we waved goodbye to Kim Young, Joseph (enlarge to picture to see him waving to you), who was stuck working late and unable to celebrate as he had to be up early and back at school the following morning! Too bad!

Taking off from school I had only one thing on my mind. . .food! Nate dashed across the street to Mickey D's Meat Shop to pick up a pair of Big Mac sets while Cleo and I darted into the Gimbapchonggook to grab some chamci (tuna) gimbap (rice rolls wrapped in seaweed often compared to sushi but only in the sense that its rice, seaweed and rolled. Other common ingredients include sesame leaves, radishes, cooked egg, strips of ham, and plenty of unidentifiable veggies. . .oh yeah, and mayo!). Back at Nate's, the Fearsome Threesome readied themselves while I ploughed my way through my two meals; one Korean and one America but both fast food!

Back outside we dodged the cold by quickly piling into a taxi. Or so we thought! We were quickly booted from the first cab that refused to take and 'extra' person. Nevertheless, another soon came by and Celo was able to talk him into accepting a fifth passenger at a nominal cost. . .good deal! Before heading to 'Club Night' in Hongdae, as desired by our Korean accomplices, we first made a stop by Hyewah where Celo lives, with her family, to drop off work materials! While this stopover lasted much longer than expected we did eventually arrive in Hongdae where we were met by throngs of college students and English teachers dressed in all levels and varieties of costumes. The most predictable and over played: the Joker. The most original and outrageous: Nate's Hajima. . .by far!

Too bad that all of the clubs adhere to a remarkably strict dress code that requires one wear appropriate footwear, which apparently Rainbow sandals do not fall into! We tried to get in at least a half a dozen places (each time skipping the lines that must have kept hundreds of people waiting hours just to be more crowded inside a noisy club) but were rejected each time based on Nate's footwear! The bouncers evidently didn't have a problem with his orange tights, female garb or sun visor but apparently the thought of letting a sandaled freak into one of their clubs was beyond unacceptable! We eventually made it into one place, that was more like a sardine factory than a club, and promptly left. Not before Nate was able to meet a girl that randomly was not only from Michigan but familiar with Nate's red Mercury Sable that once belonged to his cousin from the Detroit area! Can't say she had fond memories of the car but hey, what're the odds that I'd meet someone who actually knew of my Bonnie here in Seoul!?

Ghosts Dancing!

We finally found our way into a basement spot that was almost entirely abandoned yet blasting brilliantly perfect Halloween music. Entering the small 'club' we were greeted by Will Smith's "Switch" which makes me think solely of Mark Abbott whom I doubt will even encounter this post (Hello! if by chance you have). After the couple sitting in the back left the five of us had free range of the dance floor as the only other souls in the bar were the DJ, a lone waitress/patron and a bartender/patron ) notice him dancing with us over my shoulder! For the next few hours I tore a whole through the dance floor enjoying not only the hilariously American music but the fact that most Koreans, even those 'close' to us, are simply blown away by any and everything that we do on the dance floor! For example, notice Michelle above closely analyzing whatever ridiculousness I happen to be partaking in at that moment! I can't lie though, it feels good to be a star!

Speaking of which, I never did adopt a true title for my costume that started out as Disco Stu* in my imagination. (*From the Simpson's episode where there's a garage sale and someone picks up a jacket with 'Disco Stu' embroidered on the back with rhinestones and shows it to his buddy in full 70's garb who declares "Disco Stuuu, doesn't advertise.") So as the evening wore on I tried on a number of different titles. To some I claimed to be Disco Stu, to other's Lenny Kravitz. Finally, Cleo decided that I was a 'Rockstar' in general. The only issue here is that in Konglish, "Rockstar" is pronounced "Lobster." Seriously, there is no distinction. . .thus, for the rest of the evening, I was a 'Lobster!!'

As our legs and patience with each other grew weary, we decided to pack up and head out, in search of another possible venue, which we did not find! What a shame it was leaving the only place where Nate really looked like he belonged (see above in full size)!

Alas, we said goodbye to Julia (above with Nate) and Michelle who called it an 'early' night around 3:30am. Not quite ready to give up on Halloween, Nate, Cleo, her Blind Date from a few nights ago, and I headed off to wind down the evening in Ho Bar 3. . .in case you're wondering, yes, there are a number of other Ho Bars that are appropriately numbered. Finally, around five in the morning we all decided to turn in and Nate and I took off for Hangik University Station where we caught the morning's first train heading north. One transfer and about an hour later we arrived at Sanggye Station where we caught a cab back to Dootavill and called Halloween night a wrap. . .well after the sun had begun to make her big comeback!

I arose Saturday afternoon just in time to catch a train towards Gunja for DYB band practice. Turns out the bus that I took to Hagye Station went the looooong way and I ended up being about ten minutes late! Oops sorry everybody! Ha, no worries, I wasn't the only late one! Cleo rolled in to the studio a few minutes after I did looking at least as dishevled and exhausted! Must've been a good Halloween!

Nate had planned on meeting us at our rehersal site to practice putting the rap into the song. Somewhere along the way, the directions that I relayed to him, which involved no subway transfers, directed him halfway across the city. Hoping to recitfy the situation I was in contact with Nate throuhgout practice, trying to direct him back to Gunja Station, where lines 5 and 7 meet. Unfortunately, he was unable to make it in time and decided to head back towards Junggye just as we were finishing up for the day! Ha, a successful practie nonetheless as Razer declared that we are at 80%. . . a big step up from our 50% last time. . .whatever that really means!

After practice Cleo came back to Junggye with me as she had planned on going out to Itaewon with us for Halloween, round two. Not quite sure what it is about the place but where Itaewon once scared her, as for somereason it does many native Koreans, she has managed to not only warm up to but fall in love with this, somewhat seedy, foriegner hang out! So anyways, we got back to Dootavill only a few minutes after Nate too returned, having spent the past hour or so aimlessly riding the subway across town! We decided that dinner was certainly in order and I ran out to grab a pair of pies from the local pizza shop. I mean local as in proximity and locally owned, as I am not in the market for the $20-$30 pizzas offered by local favorites such as Papa Johns or Dominoes!

We got through the pizza in record time sitting on Nate's recently acquired couch (thanks to Joseph moving out) while watching the start of a movie that seemed to take place entirely under the Crescent City Connection linking downtown New Orleans with Algiers point. . . ah how I yearn to return to my dear nola! After cleaning up the enormous mess that Cleo insists on making while eating, we readorned our slightly broken in costumes and headed out into the night. Without the patience, or desire, to deal with the subway anymore today, we decided that splitting a cab to the 'Twon would be reasonable enough and thus did so.

Itaewon greeted us friendly as always with English signage/speakers and pallatable food. We decided to begin our night at the famous expat hangout (read, teacher bar) Gecko's. Wouldn't you know that Nate had to fight a ninja before we were allowed inside! Good thing he was able to beat her or I dont' know what we would have done!
The rest of the night went by as any Halloween round two would! We frequented our favorite spots up and down the Hill while even trying out some new ones. Okay, I lie, we didn't end up going anywhere new but sure spent a lot of time looking for the Wolfhound where supposedly a wildly fantastic Halloween party was taking place. No worries that we missed it however as we were reassured by a throng of Canadian girls that it wasn't worth fighting the crowds. . .then again, a service elevator with a half dozen people in it is more crowded than the majority of Canada.

Doing the Halloween Boogie!

Cleo continued to try on costumes. . .that weren't hers!

In search of Wolfhound we were greeted by an interesting surprise in the form of, well, it was none other than the infamous Harry! While I am genuinely curious as to what his current plan is (last I heard he 'hated Korea' and was going home, this of course coming after his DYB fallout) I stuck around for about all of 30 seconds before deciding that whatever he was ranting about wasn't worth my Disco time. Turns out he was not only in search of but had managed to pick a fight. . the only problem is that guys that he wanted to be fighting had managed to walk away and now Harry didn't know what to do! Darn sham. . . I hate it when the guys I'm trying to fight just leave. . .why can't they fight back, but not so hard that I hurt my beautiful face!

Following my ears, heart, and possibly head, I wound up across the street at our favorite third floor, outerspace/Woodstock/rock n bowl themed venue. After bailing out on a little-bit-too-much-sound-not-enough-music band at Woodstock we rounded out our evening at Ye 'Ole Stompers, the best dance spot this side of the 38th parallel. At Stompers I was able to get the last of my grooves in before the owner decided to shut up shop as he was not only having trouble speaking but standing without assistance! Thus we decided it was time to call it a night and appropriately did so. . .

All in all, Halloween in Seoul, I give it a 6.6 outta 10. It's definitely not New Orleans but it was a bit more exciting than East Lansing! Who knows where I'll spend it next year!