teacher's day, palace museum, and games

We haven't updated in two weeks, so here's another quick update on our lives.

Last weekend was a relaxing weekend, because we didn't go anywhere or do that much. On Saturday we just cleaned and rested, and on Sunday some of Aaron's relatives came by and dropped off a table, a fan, some pots, and lots of food, so it was very appreciated and pretty good, especially the table, because we had been eating off a tray off the floor. Also, we figured out the AC so we are ready for the humid hot summer!

This Friday was Teachers Day in Korea, so apparently the teachers get presents from students (and their parents) or the school. Aaron didn't really get much (except lunch out on Friday and got to go home early) but I got some flowers, perfume, little bunny decoration thing, and some soap.



This weekend was pretty cold and rainy. On Saturday it rained ALL day and was pretty chilly, but we headed to Seoul, where first we went to the National Palace Museum, which was better than the Ho Am, because it had some more interesting exhibits, such as instruments and clothes and such. We wanted to do the palace but it was so rainy that we didn't really want to stay outside too long.










After that, we headed to Yongsan, where we helped two friends get cell phones. The first one was good because we headed to the second stall and he got a good deal, but the other friend had a lot of trouble trying to get a phone that works as a prepaid phone, and he had to go to many stalls, and ended up with not as a good deal.




It was Costco after that, and we bought some food, such as oatmeal, mashed poatoes, canned meat, etc. We almost got lost but eventually found out way. We managed to pack most things into our bag so it was good, because it was raining pretty hard when we got back.

Today (Sunday), we invited one of our friends over to play some games. It was a pretty fun day, although he did get lost to our boonies, since it was pretty hard to get to. First he took the bus the wrong direction, then got off one stop after us, etc. But eventually he got here and we played some our games, such as Guillotine, Flux, and Gloom. We also had chocolate cake and I made curry. Then he also taught us how to play Magic Cards. A pretty enjoyable day.





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last few days

It's Monday once again, and the beginning of another week.

The last few days were somewhat productive, but not the most eventful.

On Thursday, we went with a bunch of other expats in Anseong for some galbi, which was pretty good. There was a lot of expats, including some new ones as well.





And then on Saturday we went to Emart and picked up some random groceries and such. Going to Emart is always an adventure because it's like a 40 min bus ride, and somehow the bus over there never comes on time so we wait for a long time. We also checked out a "World Market" near downtown Anseong, but the selection was kinda eh. We did buy a couple of different curry packets though.

On Sunday we journeyed all the way to Daejeon. We had to take a bus to Cheonan and then transfer, apparently. The transit there didn't accept Tmoney so we had to buy everything with cash, which was a hassle. The subway there was very clean, because it's very new, and only had one line. It wasn't nearly as crowded as Seoul's. Anyway, so while there we went to costco, where we bought some stuff like hash browns, pancake mix, tortilla chips, sausages, etc. Then we went to another Emart because I was curious about a few dogs I wanted to see in that area, and then afterwards we ate some bibimbap at the food court as well as a few snacks (rice cake, juice, some bakery thing) while we waited for our bus back. Click here to read more

last few days, cell phone, and sickness

Right now it's Sunday morning, yet another weekend. So far we've been here for 5 weeks now.

On Thursday my school had another dinner, of which they of course didn't tell me until the very last minute possible. Literally, I was just going out the door when they were like "Oh, did you want to come to dinner?" So that's how it is, last minute plans. We had a spicy chicken stew, dakbokkemtang. It was pretty good but pretty hot and spicy. You don't really drink the broth, you just eat the pieces of chicken from it.

On Friday evening we met up with some other expats in downtown Anseong for dinner. Since no one could decide, we went back to that samgyeopsal place again. We did meet a few new people, so that was pretty nice. There was a guy Paul who came from Seattle only a few days ago who seemed pretty nice, so we invited him to join us to Seoul the following day.




So on Saturday was our "seoul errands day." First we went to Yongsan, the electronics district. It was quite confusing because there was a ton of buildings and stands and it wasn't very organized it seems. So finally we ended up in a cell phone booth in one of the buildings and I got my cell phone. I got a prepaid phone since I didn't think I was going to use it too much, and txt messages are pretty cheap anyway. Also, Aaron already has a phone as well so we can use his if we really need to call anyone.

Aaron's phone

my phone

Next we went to costco. We didn't buy toooo much, but we did pick up more cheese, some bacon, rye bread, conditioner, curry, etc. We didn't spend as much as last time! We also got some lunch by buying a bulgogi pizza at the food area, which was actually very good.






I think I am getting a little sick these days. I've been coughing and having itchy/sneezy nose these days, but I really don't know what medicines and stuff I can take here. I did buy some halls at a local store to maybe help my throat a little bit, but we'll see. It's a little inconvenient to be sick right now

And now for three random pictures.

We saw a turkey last morning near our area!

"cheese factory"

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Seoul - Irish Festival, Insadong, and Costco

Today, since it is Saturday, we decided to take a trip to Seoul, since it's not too far.

First, we took the local bus to the Anseong Bus Terminal to buy our tickets to Seoul. We were having a little trouble deciding between the different buses but this Australian man with his son and son's friend helped us get on the right bus and helped us out a little, for which we were grateful.

The bus ride to Seoul from Anseong took about an hour, not too long. When we got there, we caught the Subway, which was pretty crowded but not too bad. It was actually pretty smooth, unlike the buses here, which jerk and move so much that it's hard to keep balanced if you're standing.

So first we went to this Irish Festival thing at Marconnier Park. It just started so there wasn't too much yet - there was a face painting place, a beer booth, and a stew booth. They had some shows too, we saw some Korean drummers and dancers. The free beef stew was pretty good as well, especially since it was pretty chilly (for our Texan bodies).

free soup!

We didn't stay long since we wanted to do some other things, so we high-tailed it out of there and headed towards Insadong. Insadong is this street that has lots of little art places, teashops, lots of little souvenir shops and stands, and food stands and stalls as well. It was pretty nice just walking down the street, which was filled with color from all the little pieces of art and knick knacks that are just lying around, hanging around, or displayed in their own little ways. We did have some snacks, first we had a hot cake filled with honey. It was pretty good. Aaron accidentally spilled some of it on his sleeve because it just oozed out. We also had this hot dog thing, which was wrapped in fish cakes and seaweed. For lunch, we went to this little restaurant and we had some dumplings and beef soup, which was delicious as well. Of course it came with three types of kimchi and seaweed.

yummy beef soup!

delicious dumplings!

Mickey's twin brother, "Mickel"?

hot dog wrapped in fish cakes and seaweed, topped with ketchup, mustard, and something white?

fluffy!

hot cake filled with honey!

hot cake stand

After Insadong we decided to go the Korean Costco, and boy, what an adventure it was. So we got off the right subway station, and then we realized we had to take a bus to get to Costco. So we jammed pack into a bus (literally, we had like no room to breathe) on a busy stopngo traffic. When we finally got there, the Costco was pretty big, but there was lots and lots of people WITH THEIR CARTS, so it was nearly impossible to move around at all. We could just walk around a little without our cart but with it, you could barely move to navigate anywhere. We did manage to a buy a few things to fit into Aaron's backpack and another bag, as well as holding a few boxes. We ended up spending 155,000 won, which is about $104, on bread, cheese, deli ham, canned beef, canned clams, canned anchovies, canned shredded beef, instant oatmeal, these cracker stick things, and walnuts. Not too bad.




So then we headed back towards the bus station in Seoul to catch the bus to Anseong. From costco, first we had to get back on that superjammedpack bus to the subway station, take the Subway to the bus terminal, and then take that bus to Anseong, and then another local bus to our area, and then a 5 min walk in the cold and dark to our apartment. Whew! We kept on getting lost in the bus terminal/subway station/shopping mall place, but eventually we found it and went on our merry way. And so that was our long day in Seoul.



In other news, on Wednesday both Aaron and I went to get our ARC card, but of course they say it'll take a week or two so we are just waiting for our cards so we can have a bank account and all that good stuff.


Also, I uploaded more pictures here, so if anyone is curious, go check it out. Click here to read more