go doosan!

koreans love baseball. i was invited to go to a game after work one day last week so, after a brief hesitation, i went. one of the korean teachers at my school is a HUGE fan of the local team, the Doosan Bears. she had enough hats, t-shirts & noise-makers for the whole office, so we fit right in at the game. there weren't a whole lot of fans in the stadium, the game itself wasn't all that great, and "our" team ended up losing 1-0...but it was a GREAT time. we had good seats, almost right in front of the MC stage...that's right...they have an MC, leading the fans in hilarious chants and cheers throughout the game. oh, and not to leave out the dancers...there were only 2 of them, but they were also entertaining, to say the least. all of this was made more enjoyable thanks to the beer guys...walking around w/ little mini-keg backbacks to keep our cups full. there weren't any hotdogs or peanuts, but plenty of dried squid jerky to appease any oral fixations. i will definely do this again. go doosan!

to market

i love the open air markets. on saturday i went to namdaemun market, more just to explore than to shop. this market takes you through an endless, winding maze of bargain clothing, hair accessories, housewares, tea shops & food. one could spend an entire day here and perhaps not find your way down each and every crowded, narrow alleyway. i was most intrigued by the food...all of the vibrant and fragrant varieties of kimchi and seafood. and although tempted by the piles of cheap & amusing t-shirts on sale, i managed to come out w/ only a balsa wood box of ginseng tea.

mt. namsan, seoul tower

this past weekend i ventured to mount namsan with friends to catch the view of seoul at night from seoul tower. there was a cable car that goes to the top, but 1) we're cheap skates and 2) we all concurred that we could use the exercise. not to mention, there was a gorgeous path along the mountain, which was tunneled by glowing cherry blossoms. at the top, we discovered that the admission fee to the tower was $7, and there was a 35 minute wait. we all opted out (did i say cheap skates?) and decided that the view from the base of the tower was good enough (and it was). the city looks amazing at night, and no doubt even more so on a clearer night. the fence surrounding the tower area is covered w/ padlocks. thousands of lovers visit the tower (kinda like the empire state building), link their two locks together, and then throw the keys over the edge. locking in their love "forever". gag. no, really, it's kind of adorable. why is it that i always find myself in the most romantic spots either by myself or with friends? :)

my new coffee grinder

man, it's not easy to find real coffee in this place. they sure do drink plenty of it because there is a coffee shop (starbucks, coffee bean, etc) on almost every corner..... but they obviously don't make coffee at home. the only kind of coffee you can find anywhere is either a really sweet and milky pre-made coffee in a can or a package of the instant mix, which consists of mostly powdered creamer & sugar. however, i found out you can get the big bags of starbucks-roasted coffee at costco, but i don't have a membership. one day, i came across a couple of these big bags of coffee at a foreign food market in itaewon, the gringo part of town. all they had was whole bean, so i said, what the heck. i planned to just take it to a nearby starbucks and have them grind the whole thing, but i never got around to doing that, plus i'm stubborn. so i started grinding it myself. i thought about buying an electric grinder, but at $40 and up, i'll pass. the apparatus in the picture, a nice wooden mortar & pestle, is actually an upgrade from what i initially used (a ceramic bowl & a glass jelly jar). drinking my coffee every morning takes some work, but now i appreciate its goodness all the more. who needs a gym membership, really? i need to work on using my left hand in this daily grinding and pounding task. if i don't, a difference might be visible in my arms after a whole year. ;)

cherry blossom bike tour extravaganza

never in my life have i seen so many cherry blossoms. GORGEOUS!!!!
....so this past weekend i went on a bus trip to historic gyeongju where we (myself & 4 other rockin' ladies) rented bikes, saw hella cherry blossoms, festivals, buddhas, tombs and temples, and "slept" at traditional bathhouses. was an exhausting, yet epic weekend. my ass still hurts, but i'm all smiles.

meet my class!

so this is my lovely classroom and these are my wonderful students. things get a little crazy toward the end..but they're great. so cute, right?

gakwonsa temple

this past sunday i ventured to cheonan, on the outskirts of seoul, with friends smilja & jonna. i was determined to visit a buddhist temple before the weekend's end...and the determination paid off. little did i realize (by the looks of the subway map) that it would take 2 hours to get there, but i think it was well worth the trip. first of all, cheonan is the birthplace of these yummy walnut waffle-bite things, which were being made & sold on every corner. and, best of all, the temple, atop mt. taejosan, is home to a giant bronze buddha statue. it really was impressive... 15m tall & weighing 60 tons. one of his ears is about the size of me. the temple itself was lovely, as temples go. amazing architecture, brilliant colors, deep, resonating and peaceful sounds of the gong and chanting monks. we stayed until just after sunset, whence (thanks to smilja) we hitched a ride back to the metro station w/ a really nice guy, sagwon, who is a photographer. a bag full of walnut balls later & we were on the long ride home. ohm.