My life in pictures

In Wonju, visiting Jessica. This is us walking around the college campus.

Jess was afraid of the bees so Katelyn is protecting her.

Spring in Korea. Walking around Children's Grand Park.

Cherry blossoms in Children's Grand Park.

Singles Pinewood Derby. This is my not so awesome car I made. But it was due to the fact that none of the saws they supplied worked... It was still fun.

The Pinewood Derby group.

I very interesting weekend

I literally had the most interesting weekend in as long as I can remember. Saturday I decided to go makeup shopping - I really needed brown mascara. I went to this place with about five different cosmetic stores thinking one of them has to have brown mascara. I went to the first one and I have a half Korean half English conversation with the worker there - she said she liked my voice I finally figured out. Then she tells me they don't have any brown mascara. But she takes my hand, interlocks her fingers with mine, and starts pulling me along. I ask where we are going and she just replies, "brown mascara." She takes me to one of the other cosmetic stores and announces to the girls working there "this is my girlfriend!" and they all look at us like we're crazy. But they didn't have any brown mascara either. So one of those girls takes me to a different place and they didn't have any, so I finally said that's okay, thanks, and left.

I went to a subway shopping area and went to another cosmetic store (if you haven't noticed yet, there are about 30 different cosmetic stores in Korea). Anyway, they finally had some there and the sales girl tells me that "this mascara is very famous in Korea." I asked why and she said, "because the color is charming and you will look so charming in it." Nice.

After that I went to meet my friends for dinner - which I ended up meeting them at a dog cafe because they were running late. I'm not a huge dog person and it was a little weird. Basically it's a place with about 15 dogs wandering around and you can pet them and give them treats and you have to order a drink to be there. I guess people who like dogs but don't have the time to own one enjoy it. I kept thinking how it would never pass health codes in America... Afterward we went to a Greek restaurant, then noraebang (aka singing room), so that was fun.

On Sunday I met my Korean friend, Chris. We went to the movies and he brought his friend Hyun Chul (aka Luther, or Luter as he said). We saw My Name is Khan – it was really good. But also funny because the movie was like a third in English and the rest in Hindi with Korean subtitles. But I still enjoyed it. Then we went to dinner. Hyun Chul did not speak English very well but he tried and he was cute. He said that I look young and when he told me he was 26 I told him I was his noona (Korean for older sister), he didn’t want to believe me. Then he told me I look like Audrey Hepburn – totally not true, but sweet nonetheless. Then I see him sitting there for like 5 minutes moving his lips and concentrating really hard until he finally turns to me and says, “can I have your phone number?” Chris and I both laughed because he was just so earnest about it and he tried so hard. I said yes… Hyun Chul by the way, is like 5’7”.

After that we headed to this shopping street but they were cold so we went into a coffee shop, but we didn’t order anything. We just sat there kind of talking until I finally asked what we were doing. Turns out we were waiting for Hyun Chul’s friend. I asked what his friend was like and he told me he was a giant. Well, his friend turns up and he’s like 5’5” and super skinny. Nice joke. His name was Cha Yoon I think, or Van. Van’s English was better than Hyun Chul's but he was shy. We talked for a while longer – they decided I needed a Korean name, which is Hyun In-Na (Hyun is the family name). I'm pretty sure I was there to give a free English lesson - but I actually hadn't paid for anything so I guess that was my compensation. They then asked if I wanted to go to noraebang and I said sure, I love noraebang. But then Chris gets a phone call and says he has to go to his brother’s house. So he puts me in a cab with these two boys I just met, who only kind of speak English to go sing with them. It’s a good thing I’m not really shy. The noraebang was fun – I sang in English they sang in Korean. And I even helped sing a Korean song , that I kind of know. At the end of it they said “Noona Jjang!” – which pretty much means “Older sister is awesome.” And then Hyun Chul tells me he’s so happy because of me. And then I went home, but not before Hyun Chul told me that he will text me.

So yeah, pretty much a very entertaining and interesting weekend.

Coffee Prince!!!!

I'm pretty sure that everyone that reads this blog is aware that I am a big dork. That being said, I shall admit my love of Korean drama. One of the first Korean dramas I ever watched was called Coffee Prince, and it also my favorite drama. I fell in love with it and the lead actor, Gong Yoo. I mean, behold the pretty:

Plus the fact that he's also a good actor and totally charming. Well, the coffee shop where they filmed this gem of a drama is in Seoul, so as part of Jessica's birthday celebration we found it. It was way over priced and slightly disappointing. But I really didn't care - I was in the same room the Gong Yoo had been in! Yeah, I'm that much of a dork. Soon he will realize is love for me and we'll get married. In the meantime, I have to content myself with the pictures we took of Coffee Prince.

This is me being really excited inside the cafe. In front of this wall is where the lovely kissing scene took place.

This is Katelyn and Jessica being really excited outside the cafe. After this we went and ate some yummy Indian food, sang our guts out at noraebang, and went to the book store to buy k-pop CDs. Happy birthday Jess!

Also exciting this weekend, I played basketball with four of my middle school students - all boys. They are adorable. We played 2 on 3, and the boys kept complaining that I was too tall and too strong. But surprisingly they were pretty good and fast. It was a workout!

I do stuff

...sometimes. I haven't blogged in awhile, obviously. I told my friend it was because I am lazy, but also because I feel like I have nothing to say. But then I thought that was sad. I have stuff to say, it's just that sometimes it's hard putting it into written word.

I like art. A couple of weeks ago Katelyn and I went to an exhibit of Marc Chagall. I knew a little bit about him, but going to the exhibit was really interesting. The exhibit was called "Master of Color," and looking at his paintings it's obvious why it was titled that. He uses lots of vibrant paint; reds, greens, purples, yellows. It was pretty to look at. When we were walking around I noticed that some of the Koreans looked at the painting for a lot longer than I did and were discussing them; I'm more of an enjoy the pretty or strange of it and move on. Or if I do interpret them they are usually silly and way off base.

Take this painting for instance. I thought, "Hmmm, this is interesting. She must be full of hot air and is flying away." And then I laughed to myself. But then Katelyn and I talked and we thought, they're having a picnic, that's what the red blanket in the corner is for, and she is really happy about so she is flying away. But he doesn't want to lose her so he's holding onto her. We're probably way off base here. What do you think?

Lunar New Year

Yay for Korea and giving us a five day weekend for Lunar New Year. Jessica, Katelyn and I ventured out of Seoul to Gyeongju, the former capital of Korea during the Shilla Dynasty. That means there was lots of historical stuff and lots of dead guys... i.e. kings' tombs. We walked a lot, looked at the historical stuff, and goofed off. As Katelyn said about a gazillion times, the weather was beautiful. It was a good three days.

Jess and Katelyn in front of some tombs

The oldest astronomical observatory in Asia

Bulguksa - an old temple

Me and Jess in front of the Anapji Pond

Walking through the park

What's been going on

My mom mentioned that I haven't posted anything in two weeks. That's mostly because I'm pretty lazy as of late, and I didn't think anything particularly interesting has happened. Definitely no more pictures of Rain without his shirt, which is a total bummer.

So here's what's been going on:
- It's freezing here. Literally. And it reminds me how much I dislike winter.
- A couple of weeks ago we went to a professional basketball game and my dream came true; really tall Korean men. Unfortunately they were all on the court so I couldn't actually interact with them. On the bright side, Korean fans are pretty much awesome and super loud. I fit right in, except for the whole being white and redheaded thing.
- I ate some delicious Indian food on Saturday - yum.
- I went out with my Korean friend Chris (real name Sung Cheon). We met up with his friend Seun Cheol who owns this really fancy salon; we're talking rock inlaid entry way, and separate rooms for hair cutting, hair washing, and facial stuff. Seun Cheol took us to an equally fancy restaurant with cool chandeliers and water ponds. And he paid for the whole thing. I felt like I was in a Korean drama. He also told me I'd look better without bangs; he asked me to pull them back and then told me I have a beautiful forehead.
- I bought a jump rope in an attempt to get into shape, only to realize that the ceilings in my apartment are too low. I may pump myself up, bundle up, and go out side to do it, but like I said it's freezing. We'll see how it goes.

New Year's Rain

Happy New Year everyone (a little late). My new year's here in Seoul started off with a lot of rain... But I don't mean precipitation. I mean the Korean pop star Rain. Jessica, her little sister Gail, and I went to a Rain concert to start the year off right - and boy was it right. Most epic new year's ever!!! He was cute (besides the oddly permed hair), funny, he sounded good when he sang, and the boy's got some moves - I need to learn some of his sweet dance moves.

Waiting excitedly for the show to start.

RAIN!!!! In some sweet army pants.

Rain in some even sweeter plaid pants. Just too cute. And I want his shoes...

Rain singing.

Rain without his shirt on (which he did a couple of time to appease the ladies). Probably the most epic part of the concert. And can you tell that his pants and shoes are sparkly? Awesome!

The concert ended at 2 am, and afterward we had to walk for an hour because the metro was closed and there were hordes of people trying to get a taxi. We finally managed to flag one down and he was kind enough to blast the heater for us. But it was all so worth it. Rain - I love you.