Broken phone, Organic farming, etc.

So Friday night, I went out to Apgujeong to pre-drink at Ho Bar...the PLACE to be if you are looking for affordable drinks in the Apgu area. After Ho Bar, we went to Club Answer. It was quite an experience! I had a lot of fun. Stayed for about an hour and half and got pretty tired so we taxi'ed back home. While I was at Ho Bar, my phone started to SPAZZ out. First the screen went half white while I was trying to text. Then at Club Answer, the entire screen was out but the keypad lights were on. So I tried to turn it off and back on...only it wouldn't turn back on.

Saturday I went to the wedding without a phone. I never realized how vulnerable I felt without a phone. I went to SK Telecom and asked what's wrong. They said I had to go to service center to get it fixed. Usually in the states, if my phone was broken, I would go directly to Verizon or your service provider. But in Korea, you go directly to the service center for the phone maker (mine was Samsung). Since the service center wasn't open on weekends, I was helpless and home alone. DMC ville blocked our apartment phones from calling out because we are students. I eventually was able to use my boyfriend's skype credits to get a hold of my cousin. My cousin's husband who takes MBA classes at Yonsei on Saturday picked me up and took me to my cousins since I was helpless at home.

We went to dinner at Outback Steakhouse even though I had steak of lunch. Hey, I will NEVER turn down beef in Korea, especially when it's much more expensive here than in the states. After dinner I had a good catch-up talk with my cousin until 1am and we finally went to sleep.

Sunday morning we went to their organic farm land. As you all know, Seoul is tiny and no one has their own backyard to grow fresh vegetables. Luckily my cousin's husbands company (EMART) provides them with land and seeds and vegetables to grow! We went to go water the plans and put in some more. They had green onion, lettuce, radish leaves, tomatoes, green peppers, and some other stuff.

After the farm, I went to Sarang Church again and loved the message. I had dwenjang bi bim bap and it was so yummyyy!! Then went to Paris Crossaint Cafe to try patbingsu.

On Monday, I went to the Samsung Service Center with my cousin. They had to change the entire CPU thing on my phone. Took about 40 minutes. But Samsung REALLY knows customer service. Free coffee and water with computers for their patrons while they wait for their phones. They even had a tv lounge station where I sat and enjoyed a nice foot massage!

Phone is officially fixed. Thank goodness!

This weekend: BUSAN!!!!!!!!!!!

My First Korean Wedding

The wedding was held at the Seoul Plaza Hotel. I was fortunate to have been able to go such a nice wedding for my first wedding in Korea. My boss got married on Saturday, April 24. Like the states, hotel weddings are pretty pricey but even more so in Korea. If you have a hotel wedding, its a sign that your family is pretty wealthy.

Things I learned about Korean weddings:

1. They are super short. (this one lasted from 1pm-3pm)
2. Ceremony and reception are held together at the same time
3. No party
4. No alcohol, if you're lucky like me, you'll get a glass of wine
5. You have to pay as a gift the worth of your food
6. After the wedding, people grab the center piece bouquets and the front ladies wrap them up nicely for you to take home.

Beautiful Centerpiece

Bride and her father

KPC CEO was the guy who led the wedding. My boss can't get enough of KPC lol.

Pretty chandeliers! Must be a pain to untangle.

My team from KPC. The Sustainability Management Center (SMC) doing a dance and song for the boss. I was fortunate enough to sit this one out.

The delicious menu!

mmm steak..medium rare, just the way I like it.

This me and all the new hires that started at the beginning of April. They are really cute and fun!

ChangDukGung Palace

Thursday before my midterm, I was supposed to meet my boss to go over my work for this week because he'll be gone for his honeymoon. I told him I'll come Thursday and he makes me meet him in front of this palace called ChangDukGung where supposedly the king's mother lived. I met a fellow from Hong Kong who was the regional director for DJSI (Dow Jones Sustainability Index). He was here on business and my boss wanted to show him around. Yes, the palace was beautiful but did he really have to make me walk around this HUGE palace for 1.5 hours right before my midterm??? Anyhow, here are some pictures.

Secret Garden

There was a duck couple in this pond. It was actually considered a very unique and beautiful sighting to see these duck here.

P.S. Midterm went okay. I had listening and reading on Thursday. I had writing and speaking on Friday. I thought I completely bombed the speaking but I didn't do so much. I actually sucked the most on the listening part.

Yonsei Campus

I snatched a few pictures of campus while on the shuttle ride home. (DMC-Ville provides shuttle rides to and from campus on mornings and evenings) The flowers are blooming and so campus is getting prettier each day!

Oh yea, they were filming a drama on that bus across the street from our apartment. Also, if you see those big vans around Korea, it most likely means there is someone famous inside there.

Smoothie King = DELICIOUS

I tried smoothie king for the first time. They had the most amazing Strawberry Banana smoothie. It was called "Strawberry Kiss" and I'm not sure what all the ingredients are that go in it. But it tasted like Strawberry Banana. A MUST TRY. Too bad it's pricey to have everyday =(. I got regular size for about 4,900 won for about the size of a 16 oz. Jamba Juice.

Weekend @ Relatives in Kunsan&JeonJu

The weekend started on Thursday night for me! I met my friends Cathy & Helen at Itaewon at a pub&grill called "Helios" for some ladies night. It was free drinks for ladies. I went in and never saw so many foreigners in Korea condensed in one space. The music was bumpin', girls were dancing, it was a great night! Something different at Helios was that in order to keep getting drinks was that we had to use the same cup. So I had to make very sure I was holding my cup at all times and not putting it down so that I wouldn't mix it up with anyone else's and share saliva...gross

I woke up Friday morning very much regrettable of all the vodka+pineapples I had the night before. I video chatted with my brother, uncle, and sister-in-law. But I was soon late to meet Yuri to begin our Korean conversation presentation for class. I had about 20 minutes to shower, get ready, and pack for my weekend visiting relatives. I was afraid to be late so I taxi'd over to Ewha's Women's University and met her at a cafe. I ditched my Friday 4pm class so that I could get to my relatives by dinnertime. My cousin was going away for the mandatory army for all men.

While carrying my annoying carry-on size suitcase, I subwayed over to the bus terminal. I successfully bought a ticket on my own =)

In Kunsan, I ate dinner and met my dad's best friend since he was little. I saw him for the first time 2 years ago and although he is my dad's age, I feel like he is so handsome! Like he could be a Korean actor or something LOL Please don't think I'm weird. At night, my uncle, aunt and my cousin went to my uncle's bar and drank beer and ate dried fish~!! The fish was surprisingly very delicious.

Check out this picture of my uncle and cousin. I was sitting across from them so I had to snatch a picture. How can you NOT laugh when you see this right in front of you.

Saturday morning, I met my grandparents from my stepmother's side. After that I went on base at the U.S. Navy base in Kunsan. My uncle was going to take me to TACO BELL~~!! Korea is still building a Taco Bell in Seoul but I got real, American style Taco Bell on the base. The Chalupa was heaven. After that my grandpa took me and my 11 year old cousin to Jeonju where my aunt lived.

At E-Mart, she custom ordered American sized 100% American beef steaks! I have been craving steak and the meat here is so expensive so I told her to make me her yummy steaks. We had family bonding time at the Jimjilbang and then came home for dinner. Saturday night was chill. I played with my little cousin and began my very own aquarium on TapFish (ipod app)--it is so addicting!

My aunt is a constantly having people over her house so she is prepared and ready with dishes and plates. She is the best hostess!

Medium rare please =)

We were folding up invitations for her upcoming opera recital on April 29th~!

I bussed back Sunday morning to go to church that afternoon at Sarang Church in Gangnam. I really like this church out of the 3 I have visited. I'm pretty sure this will be my home church during my stay in Korea.

Shinsegae and Lotte Department Store Fun

Every Sunday, I go to my cousin's house on the very east side of Seoul. I sleep over on Sunday night and I just recently began tutoring her son in English speaking. He's only 10 year old but the education system in Korea is very intense and overwhelming. Not only do they have regular elementary school, most ambitious mothers put their children in: piano lessons (or another type of instrument), taekwondo, swimming, English tutoring, and chinese character lessons.

This Sunday was a special occasion because my cousin's college friend (Sugi) came from England with her Irish/English husband (Ginger). They wanted me to go so I could keep Ginger (*nicknamed from his Orange hair) company and not out of the loop while everyone spoke in Korean. We ate brunch for dinner at one of the most blogged about/rated brunch places in Seoul. Its called SUJIs and it is located just outside the gate of Itaewon. I ate there previously with my neighbor Yuri and her cousin, Nina. I had the denver omelette. It was pretty good. But last night when I decided to try the non-brunch, I chose the seafood cajun pasta. It wasn't BAD but it also wasn't really good.

After dinner, we decided to walk around Itaewon and go to a bar/pub. My cousin is about 40 years old and so I was hanging out with people much older than me. But I have to say, I LOVE hanging out with my cousin, even though she is about 18 years older than me. They're still young at heart. Sugi and Ginger were really young at heart because they don't have any children. We decided to walk into an alleyway, away from the main street of Itaewon and discovered a whole new community of bars/restaurants/pubs. One thing I noticed was BRAZILIAN BBQ. I cannot wait until I get the chance to get my hands on some brazilian bbq meat!

Anyhow, we chose a random bar and I was surprised to discover MOJITOS! I LOVE mojitos and was craving it so bad I was thinking of attempting to find the ingredients to make them myself. The mojito came regular, strawberry, diablo (some berry concoction), and I forgot the last flavor. It was about 8,000 won, which wasn't bad at all. It tasted really sweet and yummy as well. I forgot the name but it's right in front of this restaurant called Gecko (I've seen several places in Itaewon called Gecko so be weary) and in the same alleyway as Copacabana brazilian bbq. I think that was the name of the restaurant.

On Monday, we met Ginger, Sugi, and Sugi's friend from high school at Shinsegae Department Store. We ate lunch there and then had coffee on the building's rooftop garden. It was beautiful since the flowers started blooming in Seoul. But since it was windy, it was a little cold to be out there for long.

My cousin, Sugi's friend, Sugi, and Ginger

The rooftop garden of the department building

The garden outside of Shinsegae Dept. Store

After Shinsegae, we ventured to Namdaemun (huge marketplace for stuff). Ginger wanted to get glasses and so did I. I bought a pair of glasses for $65! The frame was $15 and the lens (which were thinned out to the 3rd level) were $60. Since Ginger bought glasses, my cousin cut the price down for mine to $65. Ugh, I don't know what's wrong with me but even though I want to get different styles of glasses, I always end up getting the same style...which defeated the entire purpose of buying an extra pair of glasses....darn.

Namdaemun was bustling on a Monday afternoon

After Namdaemun we took a taxi to the Seoul Plaza Hotel and then walked to Lotte Department Store. Sugi wanted to take advantage of duty free shopping, which is HUGE in Korea.

The bottom floor entrance to Lotte Dept. Store

the chandelier is made entirely of soda bottle bottoms strung together

My cousin insisted I try the half bulgogi and shrimp burger at Lotteria.

It wasn't bad at all.

After Lotte Department Store, my cousin and I separated from the rest of the group so that we could visit her old coworker's new cafe at SungShin Women's University. It was literally a HILL to walk about to campus. I thought Berkeley was hilly, but this campus is STEEP but it also has an amazing view.

Monday was a full and crazy packed day for me. I came home pooped but I had to prepare for my presentation on ISO 16000 for my internship. I practiced until 1am and went to bed but couldn't fall asleep. I wasn't sure if it was all the caffeine I had that day or if I was nervous. I only slept 3 hours. But the presentation was a SUCCESS! I was very happy it was over.

Time to catch up on lost sleep tonight. Goodnight world!

Strange Eats

I have encountered two strange consecutive lunches in a row.

Yesterday...

My director told me 5 minutes before lunchtime that I was going to eat lunch with the CEO of our company along with the 4 other new hires in our team. I was wearing jeans and a striped sweater. Great. We meet up and the CEO didn't expect a 6th person. My director didn't even tell him beforehand, he just made me go. Great. So we walk to this restaurant and there are these fried fish cakes that I've often seen and ate before. Little did I know, the fish in there wasn't the fish I was used to. It was skate, a species of stingray. The first bite was overwhelming. Skate has the tendency to smell like ammonia and when you consume it, it has this spiciness that swells up to your nose....similar to wasabi...But I was VERY sure, this was NOT wasabi. I didn't want to eat anymore but there were about a plate for each group of 3 filled with about 13-15 pieces. I started to pick at the side dishes and it was probably the un-tastiest side dishes I've had since I've been in Korea. The main dish comes out, which was an octopus soup. It actually wasn't that bad. BUT the CEO said, we have to finish all the stingray before we drink the soup. By this time, I think everyone was feeling how I was feeling and we all just looked at each other with a look of dread. We couldn't say NO to the CEO..he is THE BOSS...very OG. plus he was treating us all out and stingray is pretty expensive. Regretfully, I finished my share of the stingray..hoping the lunch would end soon. And it did. Everyone was really intimidated and shy and so there wasn't much conversation going on. I don't think I EVER want to eat stingray again.

Today...

The team and I went to go eat lunch today. They asked me if I ever had soondaegook, (blood sausage soup). I never did so I said no. So then they asked me if I ever had soondae (blood sausage) in general, and I did. They asked how it was, I said it was okay. But I HATE soondae. The taste itself isn't that bad but knowing what it is disgusts me. I didn't want to make everyone eat something else because of me and so I said it was okay and so they said I must try the soup. The entire time I was dreading it. They ordered mixed soondaegook which basically had other weird body parts of a pig including the liver. I had no idea what anything in the soup was. I drank one sip of the soup while everyone stares at me, anticipating my reaction. I smile, reluctantly, "Mmmm, it's not bad. =]" I pick out a piece of meat and ask, what's this? The girl says Liver. I say ohh..and put it back in the soup. I only drank the soup..and to not seem like a brat, I forced down a couple of soondaes. I was so..so..so.. sad.

And those are my two strange consecutive lunch encounters in Korea. =(

Sam Chung Dong

I am obsessed with this area in Seoul called Sam Chung Dong. It's not too far from Yonsei University. If you take the 3 line subway, and get off at either Anguk or Gyeongbukgoong, you just have to walk a little to find this wonderful little neighborhood. Instead of finding bars, here you will find the cutest cafes which make the most delicious of waffles and desserts. The price is pretty expensive, though, I must admit. I ate at Palette with my cousin the other day and had a macaroon set for about 7,000 won (~$7) and coffee for 5,000 (~$5) each. I love the atmosphere though. They also have plenty of girly shoes stores if you want to buy a pair of heels. You have to want to explore the little alley ways to discover these stores. If you are a coffee lover, like I am, you will definitely enjoy this area. I've already been here twice and hope to go back again when I get some free time.

During the past weekend, I went to tour the Blue House, which is the equivalent of our White House. The property itself is really big. However, we weren't able to go inside any of the buildings and they were very strict on when we could take pictures. That part wasn't that fun. I felt too touristy.

My internship has been going well. I was scheduled to do a presentation today and was all suited up but it was postponed until next week. I will have to present really early in the morning 7:30-8:30am time frame on their weekly Tuesday morning meetings. I also got a personal project for myself which involves me writing at 10 page paper.....I am dreading this. But my director wants to send this paper to international organizations around the world and so if this were to really happen...this would be great opportunity to have my name published on an actual document.

Okay, my apologies for not have a huge update prepared. I'm finding it hard to fit in time to sit down and write everything out. For now, please enjoy the pictures!

March

April