Missing the Following:

Its been ages now since I last stepped foot on Korean soil. Do I miss it? Yes. Very much. Am I glad to be home- of course. But still. To think, this time last year, I was enjoying Chusok, Soju, and the beauty of Korean autumn. I miss the following in no particular order:

1. I miss being a teacher! I miss going on dorky field trips with my preschoolers.

2. I miss this guy! Convenience Store Guy never spoke much more than a lick of English but was always friendly as hell and a bright, friendly part of my day.

3. Mingi. This kid was so frickin' cute and soooo unruly and misbehaving. Gotta love a spoiled 4 year old Korean child constantly keeping you busy.

4. Wild nights as the Soju Monster and good company. Damn, I know the terrible quality Korean booze downright ruined my stomach but still, where else can you get a bottle of booze that will get you wasted and almost hallucinating for only $1,000 Won ( about $1)????

5. Weekend trips! What a blast, even if it was cold and rainy and I bitched the whole time, I was still having fun. Trust me on this:)

6. The busy streets of Meungdong. Trips to Seoul came either one of two ways. Either ride for 45 minutes on a nauseating, over-crowded bus or ride for an hour and a half on an over-crowded, stuffy subway. I always chose the subway, or else I would feel like vomiting the rest of the day. Meungdong was always the ultimate fashion and shopping mecca for young Koreans.

7. Walks along the river on the little path to my house. I miss my old neighborhood, with all of its random call-girl cards strewn about, PC Bangs, and junk convenience stores. Oh, and I miss cans of Gatorade. Soo delicious!

8. Cute stuff galore!!!! Everywhere I went, cute and bizarre things would steal my heart and practically rip my eyeballs out of thier sockets. Everything and everyone was just so dang adorable, I felt as if I might burst.

9. Mondu. Of fuck, do I ever miss mondu!!!!!!! The ultimate warm your belly food. Those soft little dumpings are what dreams are made of. And cheap, cheap, cheap.

10. Korean BBQ and drunken, misbehaving coworkers. Lindsay's face is priceless and Aram, we always loved your misbehaving, abnoxious ways, even if we pretended we didn't. And my God, Korean BBQ is just sooo frickin' amazing. Best food ever.

Sometimes, I hear a little voice that tells me that I am ready for more travel and adventure. Day in and day out, I work here. We try to spice things up by getting a dog, getting a new car, new shoes, whatever but it still seems dull in comparison to my life this time one year ago. Then again, I remember many weekends never even leaving my apartment apart from getting a bite to eat. I remember being incredibly alone in one of the most densely populated countries in the world. But to me, the past is best romanticised and played up a bit.

Good Times and Old Friends

I had an amazing day yesterday hanging out with an old friend from college! I met my friend Jin at University of Iowa because we both worked at the Museum of Natural History together. Jin was from Korea and was soo quiet when she first started at the museum, but soon enough, she picked up soo much English skill that you couldn't shut her up! Gotta love the girl!

So anyway, when I came to Korea, I tried to look her up but had no luck. Thanks to Facebook, Jin found me! Yesterday, I met up with her in Seoul and had an excellent time catching up about ourselves, and talking about old museum buddies. Jin cooked me super yummy curry and made me hot tea. And guess what? Jin is married and pregnant with a little girl! After lunch, Jin was a bit tired so we watched "Get Smart" and waited for her husband to get home. He is such a super nice husband to her. He helps her all the time since she is having a difficult time with pregnancy. Mainly nausea. He even has to do all of the dishes because the smells make her sick! What a sweetheart!

We all went to Meungdong and ate at this delicious Japanese pancake restaurant. There, they mix up all of this sea food and veggies into a batter and cook it for you on the grill at your table. It is sooooo delicious! I have to try to remember where this place is so I can take someone else to this place someday. The great thing about having a pregnant friend is that you know you will never go hungry when hanging out with her! After dinner, she wanted Coldstone and I sure couldn't complain about that! Yum!

I also did a decent amount of shopping yesterday evening. Of course! What else would you do in Meungdong?!?! I went to the Onitsuka Tiger store and picked up the limited edition Tokidoki for Onitsuka Tiger shoes that I had been eying forever. I got the last pair and they were just my size- 7 1/2!!!!!!!! Hell yes! What amazing luck! And, the shoes came with a free plushie tiger guy:)








I also stopped in at American Apparel, as I was craving some comfortable clothing that actually fits! I made a wise choice and bought a new hoodie, as my old purple one is pretty ragged at this point. I bought the trendy Acid Washed California Zip Up Hoodie in purple, of course!



My last stop was the super awesome store "Aland." This store is several stories high and full of up scale trendy and cute men and women's clothing and flea market finds. I love it! They carry lots of Cheap Monday denim and overall, I would say the store reminds me more or less of an upscale Urban Outfitters. My eye was caught by an amazing but simple red leather purse. I toyed with the purse a bit and examined its features but decided to come back for it after I was finished looking. Big mistake!

When I went back for it, some girl was trying it on and examining it closely. She was with the purse forever and I was sure she was going to buy it. Finally, she set it down and walked away a bit so I snatched it up! I adore this purse and I think it was the perfect find- exactly the purse I have been searching for! I have been wanting the perfect red purse for ages now!

Gangnam and Meungdong on a Sunday Afternoon

My Sunday was sooo fun!!!! Lindsay and I took a bus into Seoul today to explore around the fashionable parts of the city. What a girly and absolutely Korean-tastic day we had! We first got off at Gangnam, a very fashionable neighborhood with trendy coffee shops and fancy clothing shops, along with the famous ones like American Apparel and Nike. Koreans love their American fashion!

After walking around a bit, we got hungry.... For tacos! Lindsay knew of this great little taco place called Dos Tacos where you can actually get nachos, salsa, and guacamole. Yum!

When we stopped into a random building for a restroom break, the pharmacist mentioned Dr. Fish. We were soo intrigued that we just had to go and check it out!!! On the second floor of the building, there is this cafe where you order an expensive coffee and pay $2 bucks for Dr. Fish.... AKA a fishtank you stick your feet into and fish come and eat the dead skin right off! What an interesting way to get a pedicure! It was beyond the weirdest feeling in the world to have something like a hundred little fishes biting and sucking away at my feet!

At first, we were too scared to stick our feet in and were squealing like riduculous little girls. There were fish eating at my feet! We started by sticking our heels in, then I got brave and my feet all of the way in. Lindsay had to follow suit or she would look like a total pussy! It was sooooo weird and exciting and I do have to admit, my feet feel very soft now. Those fish did a great job!

At the cafe part of Dr. Fish, Lindsay and I also did the cheesy photo booth there! How fun! What better way to have a sublimely Korean day than take tons of self-indulgent photos of ourselves?! We got to choose from tons of rainbow backgrounds and colorful edging and little bitty photos printed out in no time!

I also got to take my first ride on the underground subway system in Seoul. There are malls down there to shop at! The subway is such a great way to get anywhere in the city for cheap and fast. We made our way to Meungdong to look around at all of the insane shopping around the area. INSANE! Totally packed with people, music, shops galore, outdoor vendors, and a general overload of stimuli. I love it, of course!

For extra photos, check out Lindsay's Blog. She has some really great photos from Dr. Fish!

http://lindsaysadventures.blogspot.com/



Being annoying tourists on the bus ride! Ha ha!

Lindsay on the bus ride to Seoul. We played some Scrabble on her I-Pod to pass the time!

Pretty poles in Gangnam.


Very pretty! Made of little pieces of colored glass!


Dos Tacos, anyone?

How yum, right? Lindsay's burrito (complete with avocado), my fancy nachos, and Fanta Orange. Yum, yum!

Lindsay modeling her burrito.

Lindsay taking photos with her super awesome camera.

Dos Tacos away! We love our Korean Mexican food.

Nachos!

I am trying to out cute you at Dos Tacos.

Muchos Gracias, Dos Tacos!

Style Shots away!!! We felt soo Asian taking photos galore of ourselves all day! But kinda fun, right?

What wig shall I choose?

The photobooth had a little sign that said "Touch Me Softly." Nice!

Twinkie- Lovely Underwear..... Looked lovely- if you are an A Cup that is!


Stopping for a typical tourist photo on the streets of Gangnam.

Busy Meungdong streets.

Golden tea kettles over a Dunkin' Donuts.

The mighty church of Haagen-Dazs.

A random tiny alley in Meungdong.




Me and some cute bunny in front of a store in Meungdong I think.


Lindsay washing her feet at Dr. Fish. She has no clue what she has gotten herself into.

Dunkin Donuts, She's Bar, and some random golden tea kettles.


The trees and ambient setting of Dr. Fish/ the Cafe.
Some creepy manniquens in fashionable clothing in Meungdong.



A random crazy building.



Busy streets. Korea is a sea of black hair and brand name fashion.