Mudflat trip!

There is a non profit organization called Manam that holds classes in Korean, and Korean cultural classes. I went on a cultural class trip out to the mudflats on Moido Island.

short version: We took the bus, then the subway, then the bus, then walked, then took a ferry, then walked for miles and figured out it was in the wrong direction, then took the car to the right place, then hung out on the beach and raced in the mud, did a treasure hunt, got caught by the tide, and then walked up a giant hill, everyone else had no problem but I almost passed out, the put me in the car, then we did the walking and the ferry and the bus and the subway and the bus and then walked home and I took a shower and my feet had cuts and I passed out. It was fun.

Full Album
Long version!

So First we all met up at the train station and took the subway out to the Incheon Airport, and from there we took the bus out to the ferry dock, where we had to walk across the road. Here is a video of some of that walk across that road/bridge.

Then onto the Ferry:

Then we walked for hours in the wrong direction, here are some picks:

Then they got the car for us and drove us to the place here is a video I made:

Then we played in the mud:

Then we did the treasure Hunt:

Then we got drenched when the tide came in and we had to cross the little rock bridge again but it was now under water. After that they fed us Ramen and I bought a beer and here is what it looked like when the tide came in:

Then here are some pictures of the segals which I thought were brave coming so close to us:

and then we were told at 6pm that the last ferry off the island left at 7pm, so we had to leave. We didn't actually leave until 6:30, and they tried to rush us up this giant hill to get back out. Which, after an entire day of activity, I just wasn't able to handle, and almost passed out. Me being the only one who wasn't able to handle the day sucked for me, everyone was really nice but I felt crappy that I wasn't healthy enough to do it all like they could. So they got me into the car quickly and then we somehow managed to all get to the ferry on time. After that we just all walked back across the bridge, then took the bus, then subway, then the bus, and then I crawled home took a shower. Because at this point I was covered in mud and sweat and seawater and wasn't smelling or looking too pretty. Also, my feet had cuts from the shells in the mudflat

pictures:

So I had a great time and met a bunch of new, fun people. There were some problems with it not quite going as planned, but the only real problem I had was from my own lack of health. Next time I hope to do better, and I plan on taking more of the cultural classes and Korean classes that Manam offers. 

Hello Kitty Cafe

So in Hongdae South Korea is the Hello Kitty Cafe.

I went there because well, its Hello Kitty. Who doesn't like Hello Kitty? You don't? Stop readying my blog then, we really don't have anything in common.

First of all, Hello Kitty Cafe is very cute. It's pink, pink, and more pink, and the food and beverages are all cute too.

The seating:
There is a small front patio for outdoor seating, and then indoors on the first level there are two rooms, and then upstairs there is more seating, and some larger seating groups, and some more cozy seats. The lighting makes everything look pink. My favorite seating was in the rounded window at the front of the building on the 2nd floor.

Even the bathrooms were adorably pink and decorated, and there was a bathroom on both floors, which I'm not used to seeing in Korea. The service area is as soon as you walk in, looking directly at the sweets first. The menu is in Korean and English, and the staff is friendly. They were very busy so it was hard to find a seat, if you plan to go with a large group you may wish to have someone go in early to claim spots.

at the aproach to hello kitty cafe. We also saw some mascots walking around, which seemed to fit the theme. 

First walking into the cafe. 

Food selection

cute decorative windows above the seats. 

a fun way to show the theme of the cafe and share lighting between rooms.

I loved the cute chandlers! 

Some of the seating

More of the seating types

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trip to Hongdae

I went out on a daytrip to Hongdae. Hondae is full of clubbing at night, but during the day is still a very nice place to hang out.

We walked all over, and ate a lot of food, watch street entertainment, and relaxed. It was an inexpensive fun day to explore and have fun. I also got to enjoy looking at the architecture and took tons of pictures! my album crashes every time I try to load them all though, so I'll just post what I have.

Full Album

Some of my favorites

the sky looked like a dragon

drummers!

band was playing

random street dancing!

nummy iced food

fooooood

fancy cafe, I loved that it was called Snob

I loved the facade here, 

Field trip: habitat museum

The school took us out on a trip to a museum about different habitats. It reminded me of the children's museum back home a lot. We went a bit ago but I didn't have time to upload the pictures until more recently.

I felt like it wasn't really set up well for the children because we couldn't really explain everything, they were a little too young for some of the exhibits. Also, we didn't really have enough time to teach them anything, because we had to hurry through every exhibit so even the ones that would have been good they didn't have a lot of time. However, they had a lot of fun there, and I enjoyed showing them things. We had another nummy lunch with them too, their mom's are really good cooks!

 There was an exhibit where they showed what poo the animals had!  I thought this was super funny!

Here is a link to the full album of pictures I took Photo Album

Teachers Day in Korea

Today was Teachers day!

I didn't really know what to expect for Teacher's day, other than I knew there was going to be a dinner the school was going to take us too. So I was really surprised when I got to school and all of my kids gave me presents!

Here are a couple of examples

It was very nice of them, and I wrote thank you cards for all of them. I also prepaired presents for my helper teachers, because they are always there for me.

After school, all of the teachers go together at Vikings in the Lotte Department Store. This restaraunt was VERY good. It is an all you can eat buffet that cost a lot, but I have no idea how much I didn't get to see the prices. They have amazing sushi, and pasta's, salads, they cook up food, and a good desert bar and drink selection (omg pepsi products! they had Mountain Dew <3). They also give you Shabu Shabu right at the table which is soo good.

here is the Shabu Shabu

Here is a picture of a couple of the selections they had. I should have take a better picture but I ate all my food before I remembered to take a picture and so I took a picture of someone else's plate.

From the desert bar

After the eating I stayed after and chatted with my coworkers. It was the first night I really got to hang out with and get to know a lot of them better so I was very happy, and had a wonderful evening. I really liked Teacher's Day!

Having a drink In Korea

First of all, this isn't about drinking customs, but about me just having a drink. I may have a post about social customs later. Probably not though, there are a lot out there that can explain it better than I ever can.

1st thing to know is you can buy alcohol at any connivence store. I'd had a tough Monday, and so had my fellow teachers, so we decided to sit down outside of one on their patio and share a small bottle of wine while whining about work. It was a black raspberry wine that was very good. Now this stuff its hard because it managed to get all of us tipsy with a little bottle.

During this, a man came up and bought us another bottle. He just bought the bottle, some chips, and left. That's it. No idea what it was about.

However, I also made a drunk video.

Busan Trip!

The Short Version: I went down to Busan and hung out at the beach with friends, was almost killed in a cab, enjoyed the train ride, loved my hotel room, and had a good time.
Click here for pictures ---> Photo Album

The Long Version:
This weekend I headed down to Busan with some friends. We left Saturday morning bright and early, and headed off to Seoul Station to buy tickets for the KTX down to Busan. Most of them were sold out, and it was really difficult, and the lady behind the counter wasn't very friendly or helpful. I suggest if you wish to plan a trip you buy your tickets beforehand.

After sorting out the ticket situation we were able to get tickets with us all in different train cars, so I spent the train ride down admiring the view, going "squee I'm on a TRAIN!" and drawing and practicing my Korean.

Train Video!

Pictures of the view!

     We passed through both city and countryside, it was interesting to see the different areas. Korea has a lot of amazing views if you are looking.

We arrived in Busan and the first thing I marveled at was the View. It was defiantly and interesting sight. 

Also took some time to take dorky photo's with my friends. 

There was a travel assistance place right in the train station so we were able to get help figuring out busses and such. Then we decided to take a taxi to the beach anyway!

    I haven't taken a lot of taxi's in Korea, and I feel that maybe they will have their own, special blog someday. For now what I'll say is that every ride has been a near death experience, and while I really wanted to take pictures and admire the city, I was constantly going "Oh my god he almost hit him, shit that's a red light, OH GOD OH GOD." and also making noises like I was on a roller coaster when we went over the bridges and hills because he was going like 100kmh which is... 62mph? seriously thats it? The fastest he got was up to 120kmph which felt WAY faster but since he was going around tight turns and little roads in the city I guess everything flying by at such a quick speed enhanced the going fast. Also going down all those hills. We counted and he ran 7 red lights, and almost crashed on the 7th. One time he stopped to wait for the pedestrians to pass since they were already in the road but then started as soon as they passed even though the light was still red. We were debating if we should count that, but decided it should be counted as going through a red light. 

   We safely made it to our destination Haeundae Beach, and blessed the lord and hugs all around for our continued survival. We went out to a pub called the Wolfhound, which was like leaving korea and walking into one of those british or irish pubs back home. It had a real hamburger and chili fries and so many nummy nummy things to eat. I fattened myself up and then waddled down to the beach with my friends and then slathered more sunscreen on myself and rolled around the sand. I tried to turn myself like on a spit so I wouldn't burn too badly. I also made sure to apply more sunblock and keep my hat on. I brought water so I wouldn't dehydrate as well. I'm a good adult!

Picture time! Here are a couple pictures from where I was on the Beach. We were right by the Aquarium but didn't go because we were all pretty broke after our first class train tickets... which were worth it.

Beach Video!

   There was a music/dance competition going on so we got to enjoy that since it was just down the beach, and lots of other people. The ocean was still a little TOO cold to swim in, but I did walk in it some. It was a great view, and the sun felt good. As a person who generally does her best to NOT encounter sunlight, I have to admit I was sad when we did have to leave the beach. We got coffee and juice drinks and chatted, then hopped a bus at about sunset back to Busan station. 

   We checked into our Hotel, which was the Toyuko Inn in Jung-Dong Busan, and got dinner at a korea BBQ Chicken place. It was good, but the service sucked. 

   The hotel room was interesting. First, there was an actual KEY! I know, shocking right? 

Not only was there a key, but on the key is this stick. You have to put the stick in the wall socket or your electricity doesn't work in your room. 

There was free wifi and breakfast and the room was 77,000 won a night for a double, so not a horrible price at all. It wasn't the largest room ever, but it was ok, had an amazing bathtub, and wonderful view.

I was really tired in the morning so I didn't take any more pictures after this. Breakfast was Rice, Kimichi, Crabcake/sausage things some other meat thing, bean sprout soup, toast and jam, hot dogs, and cucumber cabbage salad. There was also Orange Juice, but the coffee machine wasn't working. We left and went and bought train tickets, and were able to get tickets out at noon on the KTX back to Seoul in the Cinema Car. It was a Korean movie playing, and while I can't understand Korean, I enjoyed the movie and could figure out mostly what was going on.

After getting back I collapsed on my couch, ate ice cream, unpacked, and praised myself for having cleaned the apartment before I left, so I didn't have to clean when I got home. 

Now I'm getting everything ready for work tomorrow, and wishing I could still be on that beach.