Han River Bike Riding and a Baseball Game!

I have done so much since my last post about my weekend in Busan! The weather has gotten considerably warmer over the last month, and as a result I am out doing things more than before. The weather has been hovering 27-30 which has been amazing but not so fun in our classrooms where the air con doesn't seem to work usually. My students are literally sweating in their seats, it's awful. 

This past month, my co-workers and I decided to have a potluck. So on a Tuesday night, we all got together at Megan's house and ate delicious food. I made a veggie tofu lasagna. Some of the other food included guacamole, homemade salsa, chicken, and stuffed bell peppers. Laura and Megan had intended to make veggie burgers but after all the food we already had everyone was stuffed. It was nice to get together outside of work and share dinner with them. Since the beginning of March, we have dropped from 9 to 6 so I currently work with Chris, Jessica, Chuck, Laura and Megan. Chuck will be on his way out in the next couple of months and I will miss my neighbour so much! 

One weekend I got together with my friend Myan and we rented bikes and rode along the Han river in Seoul. This is something that I had been wanting to do since I got here last year and it was so much fun! It was about $3 to rent the bike for an hour, then every subsequent 15 minutes after that was 50 cents. Chris also joined us for the bike ride. We came across a beautiful rose garden and took some pictures there. Also there seems to be "bike police". A guy kept riding by us sounding his alarm and telling us that we can only ride single lane - oops! Chris headed back before Myan and I did and we later learned that they charged Chris for the extra since we biked for more than an hour. But when Myan and I returned our bikes the guy did not charge us. Chris calls it the blonde discount - which I get a decent amount much to her and probably other people's frustration. And for those who may be wondering, they keep your ID to ensure that you do in fact bring back their bike. 

Chris smelling the roses

 

Myan doing a classic jump photo

One of the several bridges that cross the Han River

That night, I made my way to the HBC music fest. HBC is an area in Seoul that has several bars, and they hosted a music festival for the weekend. Tons of bands played throughout the different bars and there were people everyone.When I got there I met up with Maynah, Tatiana, Greg and Scott and later met up with Matt. We spent the night listening to the different bands, enjoying drinks outside on the street with the masses and playing flip cup. I wasn't super keen on going, but I was glad I did. 

The following day was spend on the grass by the river playing scrabble with friends - could you ask for a better day? A few people who were walking by would stop and peek over at what we were doing. One man came and sat with us for a bit and got Scott to read to him which was kind of hilarious to watch but very nice of Scott to do. The man was very friendly. 

Mel, Myself and Maynah - Micle and Tatiana were also there. 

Scott reading to the older man

The following weekend Ben, Chris, SY, Matt and I went to see a baseball game. This was not only my first Korean baseball game, but my first baseball game ever! I really enjoyed the experience. Beforehand, Matt and I went to a wine tasting which was fun and a bit intimidating because he knows a lot more about wine than I do. My favourite was an Italian wine (Vinottimo) - Frescobaldi Toscana Rosso. After several tasting of wine, we headed to the baseball game to watch the Doosan Bears play. They were doing so well at the beginning but went downhill from there and they lost the game. Despite the loss, it was still a blast. We concluded the night by having galbi and going to noraebang.  

Matt and I 

Matt, myself, Chris, Ben and SY

The following night I was back in Seoul once again as my co-worker Sunny has a friend who opened up a restaurant and she wanted Chris and I to come check it out. The three of us met at a nearby subway station and walked the restaurant. It's a Korean/American fusion restaurant and they fed us soo much! We ate wraps that were made from tofu paper with pork and greens. Korean soup with sliced hot dogs in it and the delicious Nori Wrap which was a hot dog wrapped in pastry with ketchup and mustard. It was just us and the restaurant owner's friends. One of the ladies was so adorable. She was telling us about her husband and you could just tell how absolutely in love she was after being married for so many years. I love meeting and seeing people who are still so in love, I think it's so special and I hope to find that kind of love. 

On that note, I will leave you until my next post about the more recent few weekends! <3