Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh my!

Other things that you come to accept in Korea - the constant yelling in the grocery stores of what I assume is the workers trying to sell the different products (more common in the meat sections) and people trying to sell you things on the subway (they come on with carts and will play music, or talk about their product then demonstrate, followed by a walk up and down the subway car trying to get people to buy what they are selling).

Friday we ventured out into "downtown Suji" which is really just a few blocks of restaurants and bars. Underground (a place we went to last weekend) was having an official party and Chris wanted to check that out. I went out for galbi after work with Nate and Chuck first then the four of us met up later that night. I am slowly getting accustomed to drinking beer since it's cheap and most accessible. Our first stop was sitting outside of the 7Eleven having beer (I think I mentioned it before that they have chairs and tables for you to hang out at) where we met some new people. There was also a really awkward Asian man that kept walking by who clearly wanted to come up and talk to us but couldn't muster up the courage. We then went to Batman bar and played darts, then to Underground. I bought a new dress for the night since the theme at Underground was "sexy black." I find it interesting that in Korea its common/custom to be modest and covered up on top, but you could wear the shortest dress/skirt/shorts etc on the bottom. Which is totally opposite to what I'm comfortable with! I had the joy of trying to communicate with the lady at the store to determine if the dress I picked out was too short (cause I sure felt it was!) but she assured me that it wasn't and that I looked good. That night I got "you are what I think Taylor Swift would look like."

 

 

I had been entertaining the idea of going on a hike Saturday all week long, but come Saturday morning all I wanted to do was go to the zoo! And that is exactly what I did. Jessica and I ended up getting there around 3pm (and it was open until 7pm which I thought would have been enough time - apparently not!). Seoul Zoo is HUGE! They have so many animals and so many different types of each animal which was really cool. On the other hand it was a little bit sad because many of the enclosures were far too small for the animals they encaged. And honestly, it's sad to see animals caged up. There are four main paths and according to the map each one takes about 2 hours to walk. Needless to say we really only did two of the four main paths but managed to see all of the major animals. No only do they have these four paths, they also have a botanical garden, a forest bathing area path, sky lift and  dolphin shows. We missed all of these because we ran out of time. So it's definitely something I would like to go back to. I also like how they have a marine pavilion, as this is not something they have at our Vancouver Zoo. I was so excited to go there and see all of the animals and most excited to see the elephants. It was just a really fun day.

 

I have also realized more and more since being here how determined I am. When I want something, I generally don't stop until I get it. For example, we did not see the elephants or giraffes, despite going by their habitats at the zoo and I was quite disappointed. We figured they had been "put away" since it was almost closing time but I really wanted to see them. I couldn't accept the fact that I'd have to wait until next time. So much so that I went to customer service to ask where they were and why I couldn't see them (politely of course and in the best way I could with the language difference). I ended up talking to a translator over the phone who in turn talked to the customer service rep and myself back and forth and in the end I found and saw the giraffes and elephants - it pays off to be determined.

 

It was also a really pretty zoo, the paths were lined with trees and they have tons of wood carvings and beautiful resting areas. I was also really happy to enjoy some snacks that you'd find at the PNE since I was sad to miss the PNE this year. Here are some pictures of the day:

 

 

 

I love the carving below. So life like, I feel like he's looking into my soul.

This was an interesting yet good snack. It looks like a corn dog but wasn't. I'm pretty sure it was a hot dog wrapped in a pancake then coated in batter then deep fried to get crispy. An Asian man imitated me and laughed as I took the first picture.

 

I found it hilarious (but makes sense) that they have Canadian geese in their zoo (as well as skunks).

 

Beautiful paths and resting areas!

 

 

Soo excited about the elephants!

 

 

Sunday I met up with Emmalee to go shopping in Myeongdong to get some outfits and plan for our weekend at Korea Burn. It was a cool shopping area with a lot of stores and restaurants. We wanted to eat at Hans Deli but they told us they were closed even though their sign said they opened at 11 and it was 11:30 ... We ended up at an Italian restaurant (very fancy looking) for pizza and it was delicious. We got some great pieces for our outfits as well, so overall it was a success and fun day of shopping.

 

Funny walking Tonkatsu (pork cutlet)

 

Today, Monday, was my kindergartener's birthday party at the school. Each class will hold a birthday party once a month (if there is a birthday in the month) to celebrate all of the birthdays in that month. Michael is the only one with a birthday in September so today we celebrated. I wasn't really sure what to expect or what was expected of me, but it went smoothly. The party is supposed to last a half hour which I did pretty good at keeping. Basically the Mother(s) will bring in a cake and fruit for the class to have and a member of the Korean staff will come into the class and set things up, take pictures, do candles and sing happy birthday. Afterwards you are on your own to cut and hand out the cake and clean up. The other students will bring presents but these are not opened in class, rather taken home at the end of the day. It's too bad that the party was scheduled for 10:30am considering the kids are super hyper from the cake the rest of the day. It was fun and Michael was so excited :)

 

 

And a video of him blowing out the candles, because it was super funny:

 

 

 

We are going on a field trip this Thursday to a power plant to learn about different sources of energy. It will be my first field trip, so I'm looking forward to that but also hoping that the kids aren't too crazy!!

 

 

4 more days until Korea Burn!

 

8 more days until Tokyo!

 

 

<3