The Flyer Guy

The past couple of days I've been passing the same flyer guy on the corner as I walk back and forth between the elementary and middle schools. For a few days he'd hold out the flyer to me, but I'd politely demur as I bowed to him in passing. (I bow a lot now, and I'm afraid when I go back to America I'm going to bow to everyone and they're going to look at me like I'm a freak.)

Yesterday he held the flyer out to me and said, "Bicycle." I again politely bowed but refused to take it. I know that Korean alphabet but that doesn't mean I know what the words mean. And I don't really need a bike.

Today as I was walking to the elementary school, he held out the flyer to me and said in very good English, "Are you going to take it today?"

I smiled and said, "Anyeyo." (no in Korean)

He smiled back and asked, "Don't you know the Korean alphabet?"

I said no again - I didn't want to go into details.

He asked, "Not yet?" I guess he'd assumed I'd been in Korea for a long time. I replied, "A little."

For some reason I find our exchange humorous. I'm intrigued by the increasing level of communication. Maybe tomorrow he'll tell me I have to take the flyer.

It was my birthday!

My birthday was October 18th, and in celebration I had a joint birthday party with my super awesome friend Amber on Saturday. About 20 friends got together for dinner - really tasty pork, yum! Ange and Young Soo brought cakes, double yum. After dinner about half the brave souls went to noraebang (aka the singing room) where we belted out tunes really off key for two hours. And then the really brave ones - me, Amber, Jessica, Robyn, Gina, and Aaron - went dancing. We danced a lot and probably stayed out too late, but it was a blast. Birthday = success.

Friends and food!

Our crazy table.

The birthday girls!

Korean Celebrities

Seeing as how real guys I talk to and associate with are totally lame, I've decided to give my heart to someone who is completely unattainable.

Meet Kim Hyun Joong (this is a Korean name, so Kim is really his last name):

He's got a killer smile.

He's a decent actor.
He's a pretty good singer.
He's a pretty good dancer.
And well, he's just plain pretty.

This is really when I fell in love with him:



Plus he looks really, really good in a suit and even dances in it. Bonus points in my book.

My Korean friend Chris told me that Hyun Joong's not a real man - he looks too much like a girl. I told Chris he's just jealous and all the girls are envious of Hyun Joong's skin. But Chris also has connections. He has a quasi-famous nephew (he's been in a couple of movies), who introduced him to an actress, Kim Ok Bin. Chris taught Ok Bin English. When I was out to lunch with Chris yesterday, he called her and gave the phone to me saying, "She speaks English, talk to her." She did not say one word of English to me. Our conversation was broken bits of Korean, and then the called dropped. She texted Chris and told him she was in the middle of a photo shoot - NICE! I now feel truly special - I talked to a Korean celebrity, kind of. Chris said he'll introduce me to her. Now if only I can get her to introduce me to Hyun Joong...

Andong

I like living in Seoul, but it's nice to get away every now and then. On Saturday I and five friends went to Andong - a smaller city three hours away by bus. The air actually smelled clean, and at one point there were absolutely no cars whizzing by. It was great.

Me and Amber - we are so adorable...

The Andong walking bridge we crossed over

Andong has an annual Mask Festival. This was to the entrance of the festival. At the festival we saw some performers, walked around the booths, bought stuff, ate, and enjoyed the activities.

Masks

One of many of the dancers we saw.