BuSaN!

I keep saying I feel like we're doing so much fun stuff this summer, it makes it go so fast! This past weekend was a trip to Busan. There were 8 of us going. We were supposed to take the train 10:30 Friday night from Seoul station to busan. Our plan was to leave bucheon around 9, but we were just taking our time and it ended up being about 9:30. On top of that, we decided to take the bus instead of the subway. Bad idea considering Korea's traffic. We realized that our chances of catching our train were not looking good so we got off the bus and took the subway the rest of the way. I'm sure it was quite amusing to watch a group of foreigners run across subway stations. Anyway, we made it to the track at 10:31. Just in time to watch our train pull away.

Luckily, our friend Doug was able to get us new tickets. We had to transfer once, but everything worked out. The train ride was actually a lot of fun. The second train had little noraebang (karaoke) booths. We managed to fit 4 people in the tiny room meant for 2 people.

I think it was like 3am when we made it to Busan. It was raining, and it pretty much rained the whole time we were there. So much for tanning on the beach! hahaha Anyway, as tired as we were, we dropped our stuff off at the minbak where we were staying, then went to the casino after some overpriced kimchi jjigae. The guys went off to play blackjack, while the girls played the slot machines. I think my luck was the worst. I lost 20 bucks and then i decided casinos weren't as fun as they looked. hahaha We finally headed back to our minbak around 6:30am to get some sleep. We had 3 tiny rooms. One for the guys and 2 for the girls. It was a sleep on the floor kind of place, which I have no problem with. The bathroom was pretty gross though. We woke up noonish to find it was still raining. Oh well, we put our bathing suits on anyway and had yummy mexican food for lunch. After a while, we decided to just go to the beach. It was kinda cold, but swimming in the rain was a lot of fun!

That night, we put our devil horns on and headed out for a sam gyup sal dinner before going to watch the world cup game on the beach (yes, still raining). I can't believe how many people were there. It was crazy.

By half-time, I was freezing, so Abby and I went back to the minbak. Korea ended up losing, but everyone said they put up a really good fight. The sun decided to come out a little sunday morning. Abby, Carissa, and I went and got sandwiches and had lunch on the beach. We went back and threw our sopping wet clothes into plastic bags and made our journey back to bucheon. Fun times!

It's been a while since I've posted. Have you missed me? haha I suppose its past time for an update.
It's World Cup season, and while I've never really cared about it before, its a huge deal in Korea. Korea's team is the Red Devils. All the little kids show up at school in their red t-shirts, devil horns, and face tattoos. They have tvs set up outside all the restaurants, and when there's a game on, people of all ages show up to cheer. 2 Saturdays ago was Korea's first game. Although none of us are big into sports, Abby, Kristina, and I weren't about to miss out on all the excitement. After a day of shopping in Seoul, we put on our red t-shirts, devil horns, and face tattoos and headed to the Park to watch the game.

There were so many people there, both foreigners and koreans. All night we were cheering DAEHAN MINGUK! (Republic of Korea) We didn't quite last to see the US play. I think that game started at 3am. It was a fun night, and Korea beat Greece 2-0! The next game was thurs against Argentina. I had open class that day (when the parents come and sit in on the class). It went well, but I was exhausted when I got home, so I decided against going to watch that game. We lost anyway.
So, Abby, Kristina, and I were asked to write a top 10 only in korea article for the new bucheon magazine for foreigners. Of course we weren't going to turn down the chance to be in a magazine! haha so Friday night we had our photo shoot. We were supposed to be men in suits on the exercise equipment....cause they do that. I haven't seen the pictures, but supposedly they turned out really cute. The magazine will be published next week.
Our friend Ashley's sister is here visiting. We were supposed to take her to hongdae after the photo shoot, but she was still jet-lagged, so we stayed in bucheon and took her to noraebang. Then we ended up having a sleepover at Ashley's house complete with mcdonalds delivery the next morning (thanks to abby). Saturday evening, we went to a baseball game. We had been wanting to go to one for a while. like i said, i'm not a big sports person, but it was a lot of fun.

The whole game they were singing, dancing, and cheering. A lot of the songs were to the same tunes as english songs so we got to sing along:) (B-I-N-G-O!) I took some videos, but all my baseball pictures, along with a lot from friday night got deleted:(
Sunday, we had another adventure. We woke up early to meet at the subway at 7:30. we took the subway across seoul, followed by a 1.5 hour bus ride to go river rafting! Sooooo much fun. The guides didn't speak a lot of english. we asked to go on a course that was fun and easy. we were assured that the course would be funny (often used interchangeably with fun in korea) and easy. After a picnic, we got our life jackets, helmets, and paddles and were given a quick training session. Then we were informed that we would have to know the commands in korean...that made me a little nervous. The course had some slightly scary points, but it was pretty easy. Abby did fall out 3 times, but only once was at a scary part with rocks. we got to take a break and go swimming and jump off a little cliff thing. That was a lot of fun.
After a weekend of almost no rest, Korea had another soccer game last night/this morning at 3am. we decided to go to sleep early and then wake up for the game. There weren't nearly as many people there as before, but for being a weeknight, there were still quite a few. When we went to the Park, it was dark outside. When we left, the sun was up. It was weird. Korea and Nigeria tied, allowing Korea to move on to the next level or round or whatever. Go Korea! Fighting!!
I'm glad i watched the game, but i've felt like i was going to fall asleep teaching several times today. i can't believe i'm actually doing this blog! haha
the plan for this weekend: busan! so excited to be at the beach! yay!

Happy June everyone! I seriously cannot believe its June already! Crajeeeee. I had today off because it was election day. I was pretty much ready for all the campaigning to stop. Its very loud and obnoxious. They all have big talking TV trucks blaring loud music. People stand in rows dancing, waving, and bowing to everyone walking by (not to foreigners, we can't vote). Seriously, there was a line of people bowing outside the mall and when Abby and I walked by they stopped:( Its nothing like campaigning in America. They have numbers, which one of my korean coworkers told me sort of represents their party. Number 3 gave me his card at dinner the other night (he thought i was korean) so i'm rooting for him.
So like I said, I had the day off. It was a really nice day outside, so after straightening my apt a little, I took a book up to the roof. I love my roof! Abby had to work, so Kristina and I met up with her after she got off for dinner and shopping by Bucheon station. We went for ice cream before heading home, where a REALLY drunk girl gave us her roses. I was sure she was going to drop her ice cream on me, but she didn't.
Back to my roof, last weekend we spent all Saturday up there. Abby's boyscout friend Stephen even set up his hammock, which he had worn as a toga the night before. Toga night=so much fun! Anyway, we barbecued on the roof that night. Abby and Kristina brought their dogs to run around and play and Abby and Stephen, cooked for us. We started out on Abby's roof, but the security guard wanted to lock the door and he made us leave, so we crossed the little bridge connecting our roofs and went to my building. The little security guard came out over there too, but im pretty sure he was just telling us to clean up our mess.
Sunday was Costco mission day. I don't think I've ever seen it that crowded. The experience of Costco in Korea is similar to being stuck in traffic. There was a line and traffic control to get down the escalator. We got a table in the food court right away though.
I guess it's about bedtime, I have work tomorrow. I think they should give us the day off every Wednesday. Maybe, if elected, number 3 will make that a rule. 2 more days til the weekend:)