Coming Up: 2S2 November

Remember that group my friends and I have started? Well guess what 2S2 is meeting this Saturday for the November edition.

If you are in the area or are thinking of coming out to Seoul why not join us?

The theme we have going for this time is "games" but could evolve into anything. I think we really want to discuss what the group is about and what we can do. A representative from the Seoul Global Center will be there so it would be a good time to chime in about what kind of services you would want in Seoul.

Otherwise it will be a great way to meet new people.

Here's the info:

Where: Anguk Station near Jongno 3 Seoul. Specifically at the "Twosome Cafe" nearby. It's very close don't worry.
Time: 2:00 pm
When: Saturday the 14th of November.
What: Bring yourself or some friends.

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Quieter Closet

There are many things one has to battle with on a daily basis living in Korea. For instance, if you don't know the language then that means you can't really speak to the people around you. Other occurrences are the lack of trash receptacles along the street or that people still smoke indoors in this country.

I don't know about the rest of the expat population here but for me some days these aspects of life really get to me and other days I just look past it all.

Whenever you move into a new place in this country it seems there is a list of things that is bothersome, which you have no control over. At my last place it was the Octopus restaurant underneath me that had fowl smells wafting up into my room. And now at the goshiwon it has been that I was positioned close to a main road, which meant the constant hum and buzz of cars going past. Along with this the window faced the alleyway where the buildings vents are located. Therefore I heard the humming sound of the vents and on occasion getting a whiff of what was coming out.

That is why I am grateful now that I managed to move rooms to a more quieter space in the Goshiwon. How I managed this seems like it was a miracle but took the finessing skills that I think is picked up after living here for a while.

I met another tenant here while I was in the kitchen last week. She spoke English and asked about my residency. She was an older woman staying in the goshiwon to help her daughter who lives nearby as she studies for a college entrance exam. That was a brief meeting until today when I ran into her again.

I was doing my laundry and had run into some trouble with the machine. It had finished washing but my clothes were still dripping wet. I had seen her in the kitchen on my way to the laundry room and figured I could ask her for help. She did just that and we started up a conversation in the meantime while my clothes took another spin in the washer. It turned out she knew the owners of the goshiwon as close friends and I took this as an opportunity to talk about how I want to change rooms. But I did it with great finesse!

Me: Oh, I like living in this goshiwon.
Nice Ahjumma: Ah yes, I know the owners they are friends of my daughter.
Me: Ah that is nice. Hmm I like living here but my room is so noisy. Unfortunately I am next to the big road.
NA: Oh really?! Well I know there are open rooms over here. (Near the laundry room side...which is in the back of the building).
Me: Oh yes, I was thinking of asking my boyfriend to ask the Ahjusshi if I can move rooms. But I think he might say no.
NA: Oh I will talk to him and I think there will not be a problem.
Me: Oh really? Thank you so much.

There you have it, for that is how I managed to get into the quieter side of the building. Sure the room is still small and everything but I think I will sleep better.

Nothing comes for free, you know, so in exchange for her helping me out she mentioned how her daughter will need tutoring next year as she starts University. I gladly exchanged contact information and so will work on that.

I made a little video of my new room. Why? Oh what the heck right?

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Chatjip: Zenkimchi Gets an Upgrade

I don't know what website you have been using to keep up on expat life and what to do in Korea but for me it has always been Zenkimchi.

Over the course of my life here in South Korea I have gottten to know the creator of Zenkimchi and his friends. They have been great moral support in the tough times and also reliable voices for the expat community.

Now they have upgraded Zenkimchi to a more extensive and useful website: Chatjip or The Teahouse.
There you can get connected to other bloggers and expats or just read about a great restaurant to go to in an area of interest.

The forum is fresh and clean waiting for people to chime in with experiences and stories. I am a moderator on the forum and look forward to keeping that space free of the kind of junk you see on Dave's ESL Cafe.

This website is also a tool in the kit that we hope to use as a way to form a more unified expat community. I hope you take a look and enjoy what you see.

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Places

These are the places I have been around lately as I meander through my off time. Fall is settling in these days with more rain and cloudy skies. But here and there you can still see some treasures outside.

On my way into COEX I spotted this flower arrangement exhibition outside.

And then as I was making a transfer one day I came upon this Subway wall display. It was a fun twist on the usual industrial and urban wall that is typically seen.

Since it is typical for me to be home by nighttime I tend to not see the nightlife of Seoul. Now of course the days are getting shorter and so I find myself out at night. Here we were passing Dongdaemun on our way to Insadong for dinner. The area was lit up in fluorescent lighting.

The restaurant we ate was a well known place that specializes in black tofu. Sometimes I wonder how vegetarians get along here in Korea. But if I were a green eater I think I would find myself in the land of the tastiest tofu. They sure do it right and accompany it with great sauces and side dishes.





One day last week I was on a mission to buy a traveling book for my trip to Kyoto. So I stopped in the Gangnam station area. This is a look down a famous street known for pubs and clubs. I went around the corner to Butterfinger Pancakes for a messy bagel sandwich which I didn't get any pictures of.
On my way to the Kyobo Tower bookstore I passed by those new fancy towers, which have a huge touchscreen like an iPod.

I have seen this logo before and now finally have taken a picture. I would like to think they named the city after me but eh ... ya know.

Going up the street you come across the Urban hive building, which has an interesting architecture if you read that link.

I found my book in Kyobo and also bought the Seoul Selection book by the Marmot's Robert Koehler. I hope to get that signed one day.

Then I had the crazy idea that I would go shoe shopping in Myeongdong. Thankfully line #9 had just opened recently and is connected to the Kyobo bookstore. So all I had to do was walk through a tunnel and hop on the nice, clean and new subway.
I really think San Francisco could benefit by having a Korean company come in and just revamp their whole underground public transit system. The underground MUNI in San Francisco is half the size of these train cars. I totally dig the open spaces in the center that allow room for standing passengers. If it is one thing I have taken for granted living in South Korea it is the public transit system. Even on days when it is hot and crowded it gets you from point A to point B without many hiccups.
The shoes I am in search of are a brand from Spain that are all naturally made and in my open creative looking. Last year there were an abundance of them at the specialty store Oh My Sole. But I have a feeling that with the economy taking a dive recently it has been hard to import these shoes. So now the stores seem to have narrowed their stock to only having Ugg boots. Sigh~

My shoe hunt will have to continue just with a different brand.

In the area that I have been residing recently and temporarily it has been nice to walk around a neighborhood like setting. Most areas in Seoul are just gray buildings crammed next to each other with shops blasting Kpop music at nearly all hours. Any sense of "home" and peaceful quietude has been left in the haze of urbanization. That is why I tend to have a fancy towards Gyeonggi-do or any area where there are an acute cluster of apartment buildings.

Don't get me wrong, though, I do enjoy many places within Seoul and I am sure many live in an area that feels like a "normal" enough neighborhood. And I am sure living in Bundang amongst the greenery and space costs a pretty penny.

Yesterday I made my way into Seoul to check out cameras at Technomart and see a movie with JH. It took a few transfers but I got there.
We watched The Time Traveler's Wife which wasn't spectacular. I suggest watching it at home or I guess reading the book, maybe that is more interesting.

Exiting the theater we came upon this balcony area, which had a great view of the Han river.

There you have it folks the places I have been to lately. When I finish my stunt down here in Bundang I hope to do more looking around Seoul. Certainly there is more to see and find in that great urban enclave.

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In Between Places

Since Thursday I have been staying at my friends house down in Bundang (an area of Gyeonggi-do that is South of Seoul). She had a family emergency and so had to go back to the States for a few weeks. I will only be down here till Monday but I thought I update you guys in case you are wondering what is up with me.

It has been interesting staying at her home because she is a veteran resident here in Korea and has 2 kids and a hubby. The kids are...well...mix-race.

It makes me wonder about the "what-ifs" in life. Like what if I were to have mix-race kids. I wonder which culture they would feel more keen towards. Overall though I feel that if they were raised in Korea their childhood experience would likely contrast the kind of experience I had as a kid. I don't know whether to feel good or bad about this. I am sure they would still be kids exploring the world. I guess it is all something to think about. Yet I don't see myself having kids anytime soon so thank goodness they are just thoughts for now.

Another trade off of staying in this family's house seems that I wake up a little confused. Since they speak English and the house feels well American like I think I have started to feel like I left Korea and am back in America. Of course that blows away when I see stuff around me in Korean. But it is making me a little discombobulated at times.

In school news I sent in my documents at the beginning of last week to be processed. That means in about 10 - 14 days I will be heading off to Japan for my visa run. I am going to stay in Osaka and explore the Kansai area. Sure I could go to China or Thailand I guess but I kind of like the no-jet-lag feeling of going to Japan.

All right well today is Saturday and JH and I are meeting to see a movie and do some shoe shopping. For some reason the shoes I like to buy are a rare find out here but nevertheless I am not going to give up. haha~ darn shoe shopping ;)

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Children's Grand Park

Last Sunday JH and I went to the Children's Grand Park (어린이대공원) since it is in the Goshiwon's neighborhood. It was my first time going and I have to say it was really pleasant to step out of the grayness of city life and into the greenery of a park.

This is the entrance area to the park and it has free admission.

Look at all those fall colors! I love summer and spring and I guess I now have an affinity towards Fall as the colors and cool air does feel nice. However I am still at odds with winter.

As you advance further up you come upon a humongous fountain that does some fanciful aerobatics to music.

All around are trees and sounds of nature.

Further in we stopped at a mini-mart to get something to drink. I spotted these sodas inside and thought their design to be colorful.

What would a park meant for children be complete without some playgrounds? I sneaked on to this swing and JH took my picture. The seat was pretty low to the ground so I couldn't really swing that much.

Walking further into the park you come to the fairground and amusement park area. Here there were roller coaster rides and other spinning gizmos.

The overall feel of this part of the park was old and outdated. It seemed I had stepped back in time to the 70's or 80's. Surely I could tell most of the rides had been there forever and made me wonder how safe they were.

There were prize winning games where you could pay a little fee and try to win a prize.

This one game had you shoot balls down the alley and if they landed in holes then you got some points. Here some guy is doing a pretty good job.

I convinced JH to give it a go despite that he said he doesn't have any "pocket ball" experience. Which by looking at his stance and hand posture I can tell he must of played the game a few times in his life. We tried to win enough points to get a prize but alas failed.

Around this area were some large fuzzy toy animals. Kids could put in a few coins and then it became alive. It was a little surreal to see them move around and come to life.

We spotted one ride that we wanted to try out and so bought a ticket. Apparently it was like a mini roller coaster or train track set up above ground. You got on a bicycle like apparatus and peddled yourself around the track.

The funny part is that once we were up there and peddling around on this thing it seemed very dangerous. Provided with just a seat belt and no helmet I could imagine this ride getting banned in the US for safety issues. Plus the thing shacked and shimmied whenever we went over a bend.

Nevertheless, it was fun and of course thrilling.


The Children's Grand Park was a great way to rest one's weary city body. Later on we went shopping at Emart and then had dinner. Below you will see some of the best pasta I have had so far in Korea. It was a spinach linguine with vegetables dish. I had it at the department store area near the Konkuk station. It was in a restaurant titled "Pompodoro". Good stuff!
Having no work has been nice but I haven't really done anything extravagant yet. The weather was chilly the past few days so I didn't really go out exploring and instead went to COEX and hung out at JH's office. Also I may have to help out a friend here in some emergency trouble she is in, so my days may get busier again. What I do need to do is start planning my visa run to Osaka, where I would like to spend a few days as a tourist. So I need to get out and buy a good tourist book on the place.

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