Insadong and Cheongju

Whew. . .well that was quite a week! My dad leaves Korea today to return to the States after coming to visit Seoul for the past six days and what interesting adventures we had! Before diving into our fun filled week however let me try to catch up by starting where I left off, at last weekend.

Again, working all week and having soccer games on Sunday leaves Nate and I only Saturday to explore the city. So what we've been doing is simply picking a destination or area highlighted in LP (or recommended to us by others), hoping on the subway and going to check it out!

Last Saturday we settled on Insadong, a small foot-traffic only neighborhood nestled in the heart of downtown Seoul. From what I understand, Insadong has long been an arts and cultural center for Korea. The area also incubated the largest independence movement against Japanese colonization of the peninsula during the early 20th century.

To get to Insadong we took the subway, three lines in all, to the Jongno 3-ga Station. We wandered the area around the station for a short while checking out the numerous movie theaters in the area. We concluded that Piccadilly Cinemas was by far the nicest and it seemed to have the greatest selection of English movies. . .although none to our liking at the time. I think we'll wait until the new Bond comes out in November before testing the waters of a Korean cinema!

From Jongno we wandered towards the sun and in to Tapgol Park. This small green area is surround by what look like ancient walls and entrance is granted only through a grand gate facing a busy four lane street. Inside the park all the outside noise seems to subside as we were immersed in a beautiful landscape of sculptures, trees and walkways. The centerpiece of the park is a giant pagoda like building that seems to offer no purpose other than shade!

Pagoda Park

Just behind the pagoda in the back of the park is a massive class structure that towers at least 50 feet into the air. Contained within is a giant stone tower, known as the Monument of Wongaksa, that dates back almost 600 years. The base of this monument is made of solid granite while the tower itself is carved from marble! It truly is an impressive structure that had both foreigners and Koreans clicking their shutters.

Wongaksa Stone Pagoda

Noticing a solo guitarist taking a load off in the park's grounds, I inquired as to where we could find the Nakwon Music Arcade. He suggested exiting the park, taking a left at the intersection and looking for a building that went over the road. This sounded easy enough so we set off in search of this supposedly massive music warehouse. We tried to exit Tapgol from the North side but soon realized that traffic was regulated by the one open gate through which we entered.

Back out on the street we managed to find the arcade with little problem. Just as the man suggested, we encountered a giant building that created a bridge over a small back road. Even though the description fit perfectly, as the surrounding buildings were all seemingly packed with instruments, the 'arcade' that we were looking at showed no signs of life or vibrancy one would expect to see at a large music store. Instead, the building was of the 'big block' variety with very few windows and no markings other than dirt on the sides of it's white exterior. Even so, we decided to check it out and wandered up the few flights of outdoor stairs to what apparently was an entrance.

Inside there was no question that we had arrived at our destination. The long building was literally filled to the brim with any and all types of musical instruments and supplies that once could imagine. On each side of the building were shops that couldn't have been bigger than 15'x15'. In the middle passage were more 'stalls' lined with musical equipment, staked to the ceiling, leaving only two narrow walkways, one on each side. We wandered the arcade for a half an hour or so just checking out the different displays from afar. The whole atmosphere is really overwhelming and I wouldn't know where to begin when purchasing anything as it seems as though one's options are literally endless. No clue how the middle stalls really demarcate their boundaries, or, if there are any!

Nagwon Music Arcade

From Nagwon we headed towards Insadonggil, the main road running through Insadong on which the majority of its famous tea shops and art galleries are situated. We knew we had arrived as we stepped out of a narrow alleyway into a bustling street just teeming with people. We wandered up and down the pedestrian only passage, checking out the vast array of Korean 'knick-knacks' on display by the numerous vendors as we went.

Noticing a large crowd of people gathered around, we pushed our way to the front to see what was happening. Just kidding, no need to push past Koreans as we can simply stand in the back and observe all that is going on. It turns out that the crowd had gathered around two ice cream vendors who put on a hilarious show of tricks in distributing their goods. Having watched for at least a few minutes I decided that a) I needed ice cream and b) we needed a video of the hilarity. So, I handed my camera to Nate and stepped in line. . . .check out the result below! Needless to say the ice cream was fantastic and the show was well worth 2,000won.

I-Scream!

As we were standing around watching the ice cream demo, Nate was approached by a woman who was ushering her husband to stand next to him, holding the couple's newborn in arms. At first Nate was confused, believing that he was in the way of a picture, only to realize that he was in fact the picture. The man posed for a few snapshots next to Nate for reasons that we're quite unaware of but somehow justifiable for Koreans!

Nate with Korean Robot!

We continued to wander the main drag dipping in to plazas here and there to see the different sights. In one open court yard we saw a large stage set up for a performance that people had begun to gather for. Kids stood around playing a game that remind me of pogs where they slammed a piece of something on their friends' something in hopes that the second something would flip over. . .looked fun! Here's a picture!

Korean 'Pogs'

Recycled Art in Insadong

At another small plaza there was a group of people painted blue performing something on a small stage. Not quite the blue man group but it held our attention for a minute or two. More interesting however was the man in the back of the plaza who was pounding out some sort of treat with a giant mallet that left a resounding 'CRACK' echoing throughout the plaza.

When a Mortar and Pestle Just Won't Do!

As we made it to the Northernmost end of Insadonggil we emerged into a large plaza covered in bright colors. It turns out there was a sidewalk chalk competition going on for both professionals and amatures. One part of the plaza was roped off for professional use only and some of the drawings were truly impressive, taking on three dimensional picturesque qualities. . .and to think, with only chalk! The other side of the plaza, centered around a large statue of a paintbrush was the 'amature' area where anyone could pick up some chalk and leave their mark. While I was tempted to engage, I didn't feel like trying to find a clean slate to begin with as almost every inch of canvass was already filled in!

Chalk Art Day!

About halfway up Insadonggil, which runs for no more than three-quarters of a mile, we stopped at an Information office. Inside we were given a great map of the area and a larger one of all of Seoul. Nearing dinner time we asked the women at the help counter if they could suggest a place to eat. Of course the quickest one responded with "there's a MacDonald's down the street!" Ha, sounds tempting, but no thanks, we've heard Insadong in the place for a traditional Korean mean. That being the case, they directed us, on our newly acquired map, to a small back alleyway where three different restaurants were located. We thanked them and took off in search of food.


Finding this hidden corner we did in fact have a selection between three restaurants. We decided to go with the one that looked the most traditional in its design perhaps for this reason but really just because! We were asked to take our shoes off while entering the restaurant but were fortunate enough to be seated at a table with chairs rather than having to deal with sitting on the floor (which really just doesn't work for me). We spent a great deal of time mulling over the menu, which had quasi-English descriptions, before settling on the Hanjeongsik, a feast of traditional side dishes that offer a sampling of all that is Korean!

Our Dining Venue in Insadong

American v. Korean Shoe

We waited for no longer than a few minutes before dishes began to be brought out. Every few seconds we would be brought another small steaming hot plate with some unidentifiable food item on it. All in all we had around 20 or so dishes each with a unique item. The picture below was taken before we had everything as I was unaware that more food was yet to come.

Dinner. . .with more dishes to come!

We gingerly picked out way through the strange dishes and stopped only once our hunger had subsided but before we had finished everything. . . .not because we were too full but because a few of the dishes were too. . . well. . .unpalatable! It was a great overall experience and something that we can at least say we've done now, though I doubt I'll ever return for another helping of Hanjeongsik. I'll stick to the more recognizable main courses rather than a barrage of partially satisfying side dishes!

Give this place a try for 'interesting' Hanjeongsik

More Public Art in Insadong

After dinner we headed towards the enormous Jongo Tower on the Southwest corner of Insadong. Although someone told us that it was simply a large corporate headquarters, LP seemed to imply that they had a World Food court worth checking out. We did in fact find the food court but only as it was just closing up.

We crossed the street drawn by the lights from a large temple like structure that turned out to be Bosingak, a pavilion that houses the large city bell rung only on special occasions. From here we followed the crowds, and a number of police officers standing ready with riot gear, to a more lively area that seemed to be filled with restaurants, bars and boutiques.

The City Bell at Bosingak

We slid into a 'trendy' looking place called blue room only after we were assured that we didn't have to pay cover for a place that looked like they might demand 20,000 once you were part way inside. It ended up to be more of a restaurant than anything else so we took a seat and enjoyed some refreshments while people watching both the crowded setting and the street below.

All of a sudden out of no where the Blue Room erupted in lights and sounds. It turned out to be a techno-Korean version of Happy Birthday played over the loud speakers as a cake was brought to the table of some young women sitting near us. We applauded along with them as the music died down which, of course, they found absolutely hilarious. No sooner had we turned our attention away did the birthday girl come over with an enormous piece of cake, almost a quarter of their whole thing, to give to us.

Birthday Girl!

We thanked her profusely and dug in. Heck, it would have been rude not to right!? In exchange we sent her a birthday drink at which point we were beckoned over to take pictures with the birthday crew. We again thanked them for the cake, wished the birthday girl (at least we think it was her birthday) a happy day, and went about on our way! The Korean birthday song and shared celebration was a fantastic way to end our day of exploring Korean culture. . .kind of a melding of the past and present wouldn't you say!?

We retired rather early a) so that we could catch the subway home (which closes around midnight or before) and b) because I had to wake up early Sunday to get to my soccer game in Cheongju, a good two hour bus ride away.

Saturday morning I managed to drag myself out of bed by 9:00am, shoveling a bowl of 'frosted flakes' down my throat for sustenance before packing up my soccer gear and heading downstairs. I had intended on hoping in a cab but stopped to grab a bowl of ramyeon on the way out. . .just in case I didn't get another chance to eat before my 2:00pm game. I made it Hagye Station in due time and managed to ride Line 7 directly to the Express Bus Terminal, arriving no later than 10:30am. This I had planned on, allowing myself a solid half an hour to find the ticket booth for Cheongju.

As I arrived at my destination, I realized that there were in fact two separate terminals, both seemingly bearing the name, 'Express Bus Terminal.' Luckily, I had double checked our Han River Harriers message board the night before to find more specific directions posted by a fellow teammate, Nikki. Aside from being an excellent soccer player, Nikki has been extremely helpful in offering direction and guidance, although primarily soccer related. It was interesting too to find out that he had attended Tufts only a year or so before I did (for a semester only, thank goodness) which explains his near flawless English.

Anyways. . .Nikki noted the skepticism about finding the Cheonju ticket booth in my message board posting and kindly posted these more thorough directions....

Adam,

The Chungju ticket office is across from the huge bus complex (where the buses are sitting outside). There are 2 bus complexes at Express Bus Terminal. You have to go to the one that is NOT next to Shinsaegae.

If you get lost, just ask someone that you want to go to Cheongju and they will guide you to the correct ticket booth.

if you have any problems, call me at 010 5040 6916.
Thanks

Alas, when I arrived at the bus terminal the first thing I noticed is that I was scanning a board for destinations direction next to a sign reading 'Shinsaegae,' the place where I was not supposed to be! Even so, I found a Cheongju ticketbooth and the corresponding bus just outside. This caused my great anxiety as I was instructed to meet at 11:00am sharp so I didn't want to miss anyone or be waiting in vain in the incorrect location. With time to spare, I ran out through a couple of parking lots and across a small road to the second bus terminal where I managed to find another ticket booth for Cheongju. At this point I figured I was just plum outta luck!

A great idea then struck me; why couldn't I just continue to run back and forth between the two waiting for someone to show? It only took about two minutes to make the trip so worst comes to worse I'll meet somebody by 10:58am or so, I figured! I immediately implemented this plan and took off back towards my original station. Once again coming to the Cheongju booth and noticing the 'Shinsaegae' sign in plain sight, I started to think that this was not the place I should be waiting. . . .so I took back off across the parking lot for the second terminal, a second time!

Luckily, as I burst through the front door I was blinded by the neon teal glow of our uniform, worn proudly in full by team manager and star sweeper, Ammar! Ammar was accompanied by Martin, the bloke who introduced me to the team and then subsequently made a swift departure from DYB! The three of us waited a few more minutes for others and then decided it was time to head towards the 'gate,' or whatever you call the area that a bus leaves from!

The Han River Spitfires!
(Thanks Todd's Dad)
(P.S. Joseph to my left is on his toes and in no way is taller than I)

Coming up to the ticketbooth we found Nikki already waiting with Craig and Alex, two of our loyal Cannuk teammates. As this game required extraneous travel, the team agreed to cover players' travel costs who were willing to make the trip. In turn, Nikki, a strong leader, decided it would be best if we saved on bus fare and crowded as many people as possible in to cars. Turns out, one of the cars going had three free seats. . . uh oh! Don't get me wrong, I'm a team player but I'd much rather ride on a bus, even a dirty crowded bus (which this was not) then in a car jammed between two other players!

Nikki decided that the two shortest guys, Alex and Craig, would automatically get in the car while Martin and I were left to rock, paper, scissors it. . .the way all important decisions are made in Korea. They don't mess around with any of that silly 'best of' crap here either. . .it's simply one, two, shoot and that's that! Turn out Martin was quick on the draw and I sulkily headed off behind Nikki and the others! Luckily, just as I turned to leave, one more of the 'short guys' showed up! Nikki turned around, tossed his bag to me, and told me to wait at the ticket booth! What great timing!! Thanks to whoever that late comer was, and for my Kuhnmuench genes!

The bus ride turned out to be a great deal as I hopped on, put my headphones in and passed out! Others had warned against such a strategy as sleeping before the game could lead to lethargy but I am a sure believer otherwise. . .especially when I had to wake hours early just to get a taxi. . .to get to the station. . .to get to the buses. . . to get to Cheongju. . . to get a taxi. . . .to get to the pitch!

I awoke two hours later to find myself in the beautiful town of Cheongju. . .which looked exactly like any smaller, overdeveloped city, bursting at the seems with everything but arts and culture. . . .not quite like a stroll through Insadong! Nikki hailed a cab and the four of us bussers climbed in. . .or tried to at least!

I was the last one in the cab and apparently the driver miscounted as he lurched the car into gear and took off down a hill just as I stuck my left leg in the door. At this point instinct took over and I somehow managed to hang on to the room with one hand and the door with the other, just barely pulling myself into the cab before he lurched to a stop suddenly enough to fling me from the vehicle had I not managed to wrangle my way in. . . .that was my warm up for the day!

It had been rumored that the Cheongju field was full sized and oh how happy I was to see such a grand pitch as we pulled up to the stadium. . .yes stadium! Now I'm not talking Old Trafford here but the field was located in the center of a rather large, yet run down, stadium. The infrastructure actually reminded me more of Turkish ruins than anywhere else I've been but that might have just been because of the concrete slab seating. This actually stood in stark contrast to the relatively new looking press box area at half field that we took up as our changing room!

Cheongju Stadium from the Grandstand
(Thanks Alex)

I couldn't wait to get out on to a real sized field after a couple weeks of playing on our home pitch in Apgujeong which couldn't have been more than half the size! Although the field was turf, yes my knee through upper thigh area are still angry at me, it felt amazing to be able to just run in an open field again! Playing in Apgujeong just feels so constrained as it is almost akin to packing a full 11 v 11 match into an indoor field! I had been planning on the full field and hoped that my endurance from days of yore would prove to be a valuable asset!

75 minutes or so of playing time later (I think I only rested for the first 15 min of the game) I walked off the field content with our 1-0 victory against one of the top teams in the league! Well I didn't get the goal I had hoped for (as no non-Korean has scored yet for our team) I did put in what I felt to be a solid performance playing primarily center midfield, a position that I am notoriously bad at! I had a great time though making run after run up the middle and of course, always dropping back to cover my man on defense. I don't think I stopped running the whole game and only began to collapse with a few minutes left.

It was a great feeling to have eked out a victory, especially after traveling so far to play the game! It would have been a muuuuch longer day however if the score had been reveresed!

On the return, our bus crew managed to almost double in size as noone wanted to cram into a car, especially post game! Having 'opted out' of a free ride we had to buy our own tickets but for 6,000won, I'll take a reclining individual seat any day! We had a few minutes at the bus station before heading back so I dove into the Subway. . .as in sandwhich shop, not transportion! Now the win was great but slamming a foot long down in about five minutes was perhaps the most satisfying part of the day. . . .especially when followed by fountain Pepsi. . . with refill. . . .mmmmmmmm! It doesn't get much better than this in Korea!

I was on the bus no more than five minutes before I was again out like a light, only waking briefly during the trip to find my neighbor equally asleep but uncomfortably close. . . I though about moving him but figured the closer he got the worse I had to smell and that he would be moving in no time. . .this happened almost immediately after I thought it!

I was kindly wakend two hours later by my teammates as we pulled into the Express Bus Terminal from which I found my way in to the subway and back up Line 7 to Hagye Station, arriving at around 8:00pm. I had a great time over all and to be honest, the win was definintely worth the 11 hour journey!

After each of our games, Martin kindly takes the time to offer a full game recap on our message board that is followed by a poll on which the team selects the "Man of the Match." Well, it sure felt great to check the message board a few days later to find that I had received top honors for my Sunday performance (and no, I did not cast myself the deciding vote)!! As I said, I didn't get that goal but I sure played solid and ran my little (or half, to be more precise) heart out! Guess that just goes to show that hard work can get ya something at least! I'm still holding out for the first way-guk goal though. . .my odds are 5-1. . .second highest on the team! I'll let you know how that goes!

Man O' the Match!

And so. . .that was last weekend's adventure. . . now. . .to get to the week that followed. . .and oh. . .what a week it was!

Up Till Dawn. . .

Well after completing my fifth week in Seoul life seems to have fallen into some sort of routine. . .or, at least as routine as life in Seoul can be! What this means I guess is that we're just going to have to start making the most of our weekends in order to feel like there's a reason for being here, other than laboring away in an 8th floor fluorescent cell. Ah, which reminds me, I never did show you the view from our Native Room, which we have come to realize is by far the nicest room in the building, if not in all of Junggye! We are higher up then almost all our surrounding buildings and have a corner 'office' that looks out at the nearby mountain Bulansam (which Nate managed to hike up, and down, passed each way by elderly Korean women in heels). . . .check it out!

The View from the Native Room!
In our Office; The Native Room

Although 'normal' as any week we've had here, this past week still involved two work sponsored soirees that only settled down once the sun began to come up. Monday with Mr. Lee was simply absurd as he demanded our presence for a Foreign Teacher 'meeting' in Daechidong, a small neighborhood south of the Han River where we originally made our hour long commute from each day. Having met with the elementary school teachers before heading down there, it was clear that everyone was as unenthralled at the prospect of staying out all night as we were. While David unsuccessfully tried to escape Mr. Lee's grasp, Bryn managed to eek out of the thing claiming that he plans early in the morning. Mr. Lee of course refused to hear this and interpreted Bryn's unwillingness to go out to dinner (involving an hour taxi ride starting at around 11:00pm) as a personal attack! Rather than piss off our boss, who had yet to give us a paycheck or evaluation, Nate and I decided to suck it up and take the night for what it was. . . .a free dinner!

We arrived in Daechidong much later than everyone else as we had our hour commute to take! Mr. Lee was 'waiting' for us the whole time and announced that the party may begin once we arrived. This was clearly not the first time he had made such an announcement however as he was already hard pressed to stand straight and was offering up such threats as "I will drown you in soju," or "if you _________ I will fire you." Dinner was of the bbq style where meat is brought out and cooked right before you on a grill sitting over red hot coals. While this has quickly become my favorite meals in Korea, it is always somewhat less than satisfying as their portions of meat are substantially smaller than what an American is used to!

At one point Mr. Lee insisted we take a break from our meal so that he could talk to all the newest foreign teachers, namely David, Harry, Nate, Daniel and Me. Now Daniel, I don't know if I mentioned him earlier, was a really kinda, albeit eccentric, Mexican American that Nate and I met in San Fransisco as we boarded our plane to Seoul. He has spent a number of years now teaching abroad and seems to have an absurd affinity for picking up languages in that with less than a year in each country he has managed to master Japanese, some Korean, most Chinese, English and Spanish. . .who knows what else he knows as well but I'll tell ya, you never need to repeat anything to him more than once before its burned into his head. . . fascinating!

Anyways, Mr. Lee informed us that he was happy to have all of us on board and that there were two teachers who had been noted as exceptional. . .David and. . . .Daniel. In our defense, it seems a bit biased that the two who speak Korean would be recognized! It's gotta offer some sort of solace and a level of comfort in the classroom if you can actually understand what is going on around you. Still hoping to earn an end of the month bonus, as Mr. Lee said we'd be evaluated for one, Nate and I eagerly inquired into what makes D&D such good teachers. Of course Mr. Lee was unable to offer us anything useful, or really anything for that matter. So, as of now, we are still aware (as the teachers make it known to us and others) of our sub-par teaching ability yet totally in the dark as to how to rectify the situation! Sure seems like if they've worked with 'good' teachers, and we are as bad as they make us out to be, that they'd be able to offer us some sort of advice. . .but alas no, I guess that's just the Korean way!

After finishing dinner, on Mr. Lee's word of course, I was ready to keep eating for another hour, we headed next door to, yep, you guessed it, a norebong. We sung away the rest of the evening with 12 other guys, only two of whom we met (or at least were worth meeting). It appears as though Mr. Lee has some sort of issue with hiring women as there is no shortage of female English teachers in Korea but for some reason DYB seems to have none. . .just an interesting side note. We eventually freed ourselves from Mr. Lee's grasp as he shoved Nate, Harry, Joseph and I in a taxi headed back up towards Junggyedong sometime around four in the morning.

On Wednesday we were approached by Anna who was collecting contributions of 10,000won for Julie's (or Princess') upcoming birthday. When asked what she would like for her birthday, Princess told Anna that she didn't need anything for she was a princess and her life was perfect already, ha! Anna informed us that her real birthday was Friday but that we would be going out together on Thursday to celebrate. . . .why!?!? Still trying to catch up on sleep from Monday's outing we obliged, seeing as how we were promised that the party was to remain within the Junggye area. . .phew!

The next day at work Nate and I were met with a nice surprise. As we have yet to receive our Alien Resident Cards (ARC), because we have not gone in for our Health Check, we have subsequently not been able to open up a bank account. Well, as last week marked the completion of our first month at DYB, we were due for a paycheck that is normally deposited directly into a Korean bank account. Not having one however, we were both presented with an envelope literally stuffed to the brim with cash, as reimbursement for our month of awkward, and seemingly pointless labor. As I checked out our payment receipt, I was surprised to find that only the 3.3% income tax was withheld. This is surprising in that I assumed they would withhold medical despite the fact that we weren't receiving coverage, in which case I was well prepared and willing to argue the fact. No need to however! I was somewhat less surprised to notice that neither Nate nor I received a penny more than we are contractually privileged to. . .no bonus for excellent teaching!

Payday!

While it felt great to finally be paid, it felt even better to get a wad of cash a couple inches thick. . .why you ask? Well because the largest denomination of won is a 10,000 bill, a small fraction of our monthly salary. It was rather awkward however when Joseph gave us our pay and then informed us that not only do we make more than he does but he has to pay $700 a month to live in the same building where we are provided housing free of cost (although we do cover the management fee of around 100,000 won/month). This was a little bit sobering but I wasn't going to let it ruin the fun of having an envelope too full of cash to even fit in my pocket!

After work we quickly ran home to stash our wads before returning to school to meet up with the birthday party! Thursday night went rather well for the most part as we began the evening (ha, at 11:00pm) with dinner at Diony's; a restaurant that is directly beneath me on the bottom floor of Dootavill A. Although a free meal is never bad, this was about the most uncomfortable one I could have ever eaten. Nate and I were slammed down in a corner with Cleo and Julia, the rabblerousers at school, and somehow Anna managed to get stuck across from us. Anna was clearly uncomfortable the whole evening, removed from the majority of her friends and forced to interact with the overbearing Cleo who almost refused to acknowledge her presence at times, in a very, very nontraditional Korean manner. Nevertheless it was a terribly awkward experience. . .especially for Nate!

Halfway through dinner everyone was told that we needed to quiet down. No one paid much attention until it was requested a second time and someone looked over to see who the complainers were. Turns out the group of women at the adjacent table had students at DYB, in Nate's class nonetheless. So, Hannah, Nate's Korean Teacher, went over to talk to the mothers and eventually Nate was encouraged to go say 'hello' as well. This was simply a terribly awkward experience as he stood, towering over this woman, trying to communicate anything to no avail. Eventually he realized that the excitement was over and returned to his seat.

Suddenly, everybody ushered him to stand up again as he had forgotten to say 'goodbye' to the student's mother. . .oops. Someone assisted him by whispering the correct Korean into his ear however the words that came out of his mouth were apparently hilariously offensive to everyone around. His subsequent attempts to correct himself only brought on more rounds of laughter and embarrassment from both the mother and our Korean Teachers. Turns out Nate wasn't saying 'goodbye' but something more akin to 'byebye,' an expression used when ushering someone away from you! Oh well, it couldn't have been that misconstrued! We'll see if the student is still in class this upcoming week!

At dinner, Razr, the friendly, and only, male Korean teacher, continued to harp on the idea of forming a band to compete in the inter-branch DYB talent show at the end of the year. With his beautiful voice, David on drums and my self on guitar we concluded that we were a shoe in for the win. Especially with Razr's homemade "DYB" song which as I can remember simply goes "Deeee Yiiiiiii Be, da da da da Deeeee Yiiiii Be." Oh well, I'll give it a go! Roy's bringing my Tele over tomorrow so hopefully I'll be able to pick up an amp, either used or from the Nagwon Arcade. . .a gigantic music store that is really just a giant empty office building filled to the brim with vendors of any and all musical supplies!

Nagwon Arcade!

We eventually made it out of Diony's and lost about half of our crowd on the way to "round two." Joseph led us to a second dinner in the basement of a nearby officetel that reeked of dead fish. I remember walking in to the restaurant and gagging at how bad the smell is but managed to forget about it after we were brought out aromatic bowls of seaweed soup. . . mmmmm! Round two lasted until we lost a few more of the elementary school teachers and then the remaining party, just over a half a dozen strong, headed back towards Dootavill for Nate's long awaited House Warming Party!

Everyone stayed at Nate's way longer than anyone should have and the majority of guests crawled back to bed just as the sun was rising. Well, everyone except for Joseph who decided to take up residence on Nate's floor, using a bookshelf as a pillow. While this might seem odd, we've talked about Joseph's sleeping arrangements with him before and he seems to find that sleeping on the floor is much better for his back than on a bed. . . .perhaps I should give it a try one night as I consistently wake up in pain from my bed!

Friday at work was quite the day as Nate and I both straggled in only minutes before we are expected to who up at 4:00pm. Soon there after Anna came hurriedly rushing in, looking very distraught. She asked if we had seen Harry and we told her no, not since the night before. She let us know that he was late for work (although work doesn't technically start until 4:30pm) and totally out of contact. The bad news came when she told us that one of us would have to substitute teach his class instead of simply sit around in the Native Room for six hour as we had been doing all week. This I don't quite understand as it would seem to make no sense to take an uninteresting, "boring," less than competent English teacher from one branch to fill in for a missing Native teacher when the Korean teacher could simply handle the duties, presumably much more effectively! I guess that falls in to the realm of Korean mysteries!

Finally Harry did show up to school and Anna told us that we were relived of having to substitute. . .fantastic as I'm not sure either one of us were awake enough to take on such responsibility! Anna also told us that she was very proud of us for coming into work on time and really appreciated that we could stay out late and still show up. . . .We later learned that this comment was not in direct regards to Harry but had something to do with Michelle Teacher showing up late and Joseph, who is supposed to open the office, not showing up until well in to the evening! I guess Nate's floor didn't provide him with all the rest that he needed! While we're not recognized as good teachers, it still feels good to know that we're at least looked at as good employees. . .which for now, is all I feel like I am. . .a white, blond haired pawn in the DYB machine!

Friday night was less than exciting as I eagerly awaited crawling up in bed and falling asleep! After work Nate and I decided to treat ourselves to a meal of at-your-table-bbq, a first for us on our own. We managed to order and get everything going by ourselves too without much help from the waiters! Harry eventually showed up after being balled out by Anna for showing up late (although not really late). He asked if he could join and we ushered him to our table as his broken Korean is sure to offer a better sense of what's going on then Nate and my (maybe) double digit vocabulary!

Harry asked if we wanted some beef and we both eagerly agreed, not having anything that resembled real beef since landing in Korea. . .unless you count a Mega Mac! Although absurdly expensive for the amount of meat we were brought, the two small steaks that we split between the three of us were amazing! Fantastically juicy and cooked just to the right temperature over open coals on a grill that has been covered in garlic and oil. . . .mmmmmm! To accompany our steaks Harry also ordered a dozen or so thinly rolled pieces of beef that looked like pancakes of fat with a chocolate chip of meat in the middle. When dropped on the grill however these little sheets of lard quickly shriveled up to a small piece of beef surrounded by just a think crispy layer of fat. . .and boy were they delectable!

We eventually finished up with dinner and decided to blow a couple hours in the Playstation Bong before heading to bed! Harry came with us to relieve some stress via Tekken 5 for a little while before taking off to meet up with his girlfriend; an unknown, highly mystical creature only referred to as "my girl" and never seen, only spoken of! We finally called it a night around 2:00am (very early for a Korean weekend) and decided to head out adventuring the next day with no particular plans other than a stop at the Nagwon Arcade, to check in on the Korean musical warehouse, spoken of very highly across the internet!

Bring on the weekend adventure. . . .