I recently read an entry from my friend
Angela's blog in which she acknowledges that her blog entries have been very far and few between in the past few months. I related and it inspired me to do some catch up! *Remember to click the pictures to enlarge them!*
It's hard to believe that last week marked my sixth month of being in Korea. Time has gone by incredibly fast and slowly at the same time (words from
Meaghan). I have many reasons why my blog has fallen on the back burner: wanting to relax over choosing to write after a long day at work or on the weekends, wanting to hang out with my boyfriend Kevin instead of posting tons of pictures, getting so overwhelmed at how far behind I am that I don't even know how to catch up (haha!) etc... But as I've mentioned, this blog is for me to keep track of my adventures also. It's a great way for those of you without facebook to keep track of what I'm doing but it's also something I'll really like looking back at when I move back home and want to reminisce on my time spent here. So, family members with no facebook and future Kristen..... Here's what I've been up to!
(May-July 2013)
1) I've gone to several baseball games in Seoul and cheered for the Doosan Bears! It's been great fun going with coworkers, drinking, trying to mumble the Korean cheers from the crowd. I even bought a jersey! Therefore, I'm definitely committed to this team while I'm here lol. One of my coworkers has been in Korea for several years and it was him that invited everyone to go to the games. I asked another coworker why Doosan was our chosen team and she told me that years ago, Doosan was the only Seoul team (there are 3 in Seoul, 9 total in Korea) that had any English information on their website about the team and regarding buying tickets. For this reason, the Bears have a lot of foreigner (Waygookin) fans!
2) Visited some Palaces
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| Deoksu Palace on the day of a protest. The protests I've seen while being here lead me to believe that protests are very heavily policed here. There are usually buses and buses of policemen. |
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| Gyeongbokgung Palace |
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| We went to this palace during their Children's Day festival. This was a basket weaving tent. |
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| Mask making tent. |
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| Kite making tent. |
3) Attended the 1st birthday party of a son of one of my coworkers. It was such a cool experience! 1st birthdays are a HUGE deal here. The party was in a rented room and there was a large buffet and many tables. It was very reminiscent of what a wedding reception would be like. The best part was the "ceremony" where the baby picks an item off of a platter that is supposed to symbolize what life will be like in the future. There were at least 5 items on the plate and before the party, guests wrote their name on a raffle ticket and put it in one of the 5 boxes depending on what they thought the baby would pick. I know there was a pencil for intelligence and good grades, a golfball to symbolize him being a pro golf player, and I can't remember the others. Later, the platter is held by one parent while the other parent holds the baby and the baby reaches for an item. He ended up choosing the golf ball! Then, the host choses the box full of names of people that picked the golf ball as the baby's grab item and they pick a name out of the box. That person gets a nicely wrapped prize. It was so cool! I'm definitely going to have to bring this tradition home for my kids' first birthday parties!
4) Attended the Lotus Lantern festival celebrating Buddha's Birthday! Gorgeous! Definitely one of my favorite things I've seen since moving here and something that really made me remember how awesome my life is.
5) Field trips!!!!! My favorite part of being a Kindy teacher is going on field trips! I get to go see things around Seoul AND they're paying me for it. Yes please.
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| My fab coteacher. |
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| Picnic lunch at the zoo :) |
6) Hiked up to see Namsan Tower.
7) Continued to eat delicious food. Both Korean and not.
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| Dak Galbi continues to be my favorite Korean meal. Marinated chicken and vegetables cooked at your table. Yum! I don't know the name of this restaurant and only recognize it with the help of landmarks. It's a Dak Galbi restaurant in Hongdae close to the H&M for those interested! |
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| Shabu Shabu. First introduced to me by Katy and Andrea on Katy's last day in Korea. Also delicious. There's a big pot of broth that cooks at the table and you order which meat and vegetables you want and you put them in the pot and make a soup. At the end, rice and egg are added to the left over broth to make a type of porridge. Again, don't know the name of this place but it's in Sinchon near the metro stations by the Loving Hut and Dunkin Donuts. |
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| Jyoti! Introduced to me by Mimi on the Saturday after my birthday before we went to see Nanta. I've gone back with Kevin to this Indian restaurant so many times that we couldn't even count. This is my favorite restaurant in Korea. Located in Sinchon across the street from On the Border and down a side street. (At least I know the name of this one!) |
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| Another great restaurant Mimi introduced me to is Garobee. It's a Vegan buffet located in Gangnam. |
8) Kevin and I went to Busan the weekend of his birthday in early June :)
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| We happened to be there during the Sand Festival |
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| Heading out to dinner. |
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| Birthday boy! |
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| Shooting fireworks off at Gwangli Beach. |
9) Visited the War Memorial Museum of Korea
10) Visited the Fish Market again
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| Prawns & Soju |
11) Celebrated the 4th 13 hours ahead of everyone at home!
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| Yummy burger, fries and soda. Closest thing to a cookout that we could get! |
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| Watched some fireworks from outside of Garrison Army base in Itaewon :) |
12) Wrote a little something for my school's Kindy newsletter <3
13) (Kevin) made a fort in my apartment to watch movies in!!!!!!
14) Received lots of goodies from iherb.com
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| Seriously if you are living in Korea and don't know about this site you are MISSING OUT! It's notorious among my coworkers! They have everything from tea, to beauty products, to laundry soap, to breakfast bars. Shipping to Korea starts at only $7!!!! You can get so much for so much cheaper than trying to find some of these products here, even including the shipping cost! Don't forget to use this code for a discount from your first purchase: FNK519 :) |
15) Water day!
16) Work, work work!
I'm still having the time of my life over here. I get home sick from time to time but I know that this is the opportunity of a life time. Thank you so much for all of your continued love and support. I'm so happy to share these updates with everyone <3
