Other shenanigans of the past few weeks!

Ok so these are a few things I forgot to mention at the time but now I thought I would post them. They are in no particular order, so apologies for the randomness of this post.

So me and some of my friends went on a walk down the river one weekend:

In the words of one person present at the time : 'WILDLIFE!'

Oh so in South Korea they randomly have exercising areas just there for people to use. I have been told in retirement the old people just gather at these outdoor gyms and just work out all day! So we made the most of the equipment available!

  Then of course a traditional park:

On the night we went to this cool bar that only serves beer in these massive glasses!

  At the tables there are individual fridges for your beer:

 I ordered the second smallest beer called 'love'! Who knew you could order love at a bar!

 This is just a random performance in the middles of the street:

This is apparently a birthday cake that they would make when they are in the army, made out of choco-pies. Here it is obligatory for the men to serve two years in the army. They can opt out but have to serve longer as a civil servant, but then they are frowned upon and a little bit outcast.

 One weekend we had a good old fashioned  sleepover with girly movies, online quizzes, nail painting and of course an epic pizza:

  And what is a sleepover without finishing it off with face-masks:

Another random bit of information for you: Koreans sing Auld Lang Syne but for graduation not new year. I actually think that makes more sense as it is about moving on and remembering good times.

Amongst other things I have also gone on the dodgems, visited a Huka bar and been to a games room. They have rooms here for everything! One such place is a place that you go to play board games. They have big squeaky hammers to hit the loser with and also a place where you drop a thin metal plate on the loser's head! Luckily our group did not enforce that tradition otherwise I may have been a bit concussed.

Ok so that is all I can remember for now and I will try to keep more up to date so as to avoid these quick, random posts. Love to all!

Gat Bawi and more!

So I have been quite bad with updating my blog this month, apologies!!! A lot of things have happened, its just a case of remembering them! This week has been fun packed! On Thursday I went to a traditional Korean market which was fun, but also a little bit terrifying at some points! There was loads of fish and fruit, me and my friend bought some strawberries which looked delicious but it turned out the layer underneath were not so delicious! The man did give us some free tomatoes though so I'll let him off a little bit! Then we unfortunately walked into the meat department where there were full pig heads that had been hollowed out (needless to say no pictures were taken at the market!) and we saw some livestock that would later be killed. At this point we had to turn back as it was a little bit upsetting. At one point I saw a bunny chained to a railing and thought it was really cute until my friend pointed out that it would be for their dinner later! I was less than impressed!

Friday was really rainy, but nonetheless we went to find a church and on the way we found a medicinal museum which was really cool! There was a survey that found out what type of body you were and what things are good for your type and bad for your type! I am 'Soyang' type, I would put the description in but it is not very flattering, however I have 'energy in my eyes' and am enthusiastic! I got told I can't have most of the things I like which is a bit sad and 'food that produces heat is harmful' to me, which is devastating for a hot drinks lover! I am not sure I am convinced by this analysis as my friend got told that Soju, the paint-stripper spirit' is good for her! I find it hard to believe that is good for anyone! 

Of course I needed a photo with a giant teapot

These are some of the statues outside the museum

Me crushing my own medicine

This was a puzzle you had to fit together!

I am so a hat person!

The structure at the end is a 'gate' into the medicine market

We did find the church in the end, however we weren't sure if we were allowed in and so we only spent a little time there.

This was a  mosaic of the church on a wall

Then we had a a night out on the Friday which was hilarious and we got to put our signature on drink in a bag!!!Its a little shop where they do cocktails in a bag that you can drink on the street! They are the strongest, sugary drinks because the guy just makes up the measurements and throw in loads of different alcohol!  The owner is really friendly and is starting to get to know us and so let us decorate a bag and pin it up as part of the decoration!

Saturday was a recovery day at bed bar and dinomeat (which I have already talked about). Then I went to see my friend from work's two bands (Never Going Home and Mr Headbutt) play  in town. They were excellent and if you can support them please do! 

Today, Sunday, was a big day trip out to Gat Bawi! This is a massive mountain that has these stone steps (that are a bit dangerous in some places) up to the top. There are 1500 steps so I have been told. About a third of the way up there was a temple that we stopped at and had some kim-bap! About half of the way up there is this vending stand that sells something called 'Oh-Dang' and corn on the cobs! On the way up there was a big pile of stone and I remember seeing them at Donghwa-sa as well, and apparently it is for good luck! If you knock the stones off then it is bad luck! Then when you get to the top there is a Buddha carved from the stone where people were bowing and praying. There was a place where you could light prayer candles in this metal container and there were mats there for people praying. There were a lot of people! Also people place coins and try and make them stick to the stone. On the way back down some of the Koreans were walking down backwards to work a different muscle on their legs which I thought was quite clever! The views at Gat Bawi were amazing!

Well that concludes the update for this week. I have more to report but it was previous to this week. Love to home!

Trick art!

OK, so at the weekend I went to a trick art exhibit at EXCO Museum, it was so funny! I have asked people if I can use some of the photos that they are in and they have been nice enough to let me. I can't explain the idea better than these pictures can:

There were loads more photos, in fact my friend took 400 pictures! So, if you want to see any more just look on facebook.Also me and my friend got asked to have a photo with some Korean girls! This whole exhibit of weird and funny things to take pictures of, and they decide that we are weird and more funny-looking than any of it and want a photo with us!

It was for one of my friend's birthdays and then we went on the night. Unfortunately I then had to head home early with a cold and wasn't well from then until recently. Now I only have a bit of a sore throat. So the rest of the week has been playing games at school because it's been my last classes of the old term! Today I have a day off and tomorrow the new term starts!!!Exciting! At school we have also started doing face-to-face interviews for new students (before we did pone interviews), I really liked them; the kids try harder, you can smile at them to make them feel more comfortable and you can tell if they understand the question or not. 

Whenever I go on the subway by myself there is always a little something different, this time it is an old woman getting me to sit next to her and then sorting my hair out for me. Old people here can be bossy and you do what they say otherwise they just keep going, that being said they are always doing it to be nice and to take care of you which is sweet! There is a lovely sense of community here and it comes across most in the older generation. 

Last funny thing that happened to me was in the taxi ride home on Saturday. Everyone here seems to be able to speak at least a few words in English and the taxi drivers always seem keen to use it whenever a foreigner gets in. This time the guy kept telling me I had beautiful eyes (I think because they are blue and it isn't very common here) and then asked me how old I was. I told him 22 (23 Korean) and he was over the moon because he had a son who is 22 and being a similar age seemed to label us soul mates!!!He said 'you boyfriend', I said 'yes' and he was devastated because he thought he had made a match there. Then at the end of the journey gave me a handshake and asked for a kiss!!!I laughed and said 'no, boyfriend!' If this happened in England it would have been terrifying, but in Korea it is harmless and hilarious! 

Well in the words of Porky Pig, 'that's all folks'!

The bed cafe:

I mentioned the bed cafe in an earlier post and so I though I would just show you a picture:

Who wants to be a millionaire?

So I am a bit behind but on Thursday I got paid and now I am a millionaire haha!Crazy Korean money!

Yes that was my bank balance after all the bills were taken out!If only it was in pounds and not won!

So now I have no excuse, I am settled in and I have money so now it is time to begin a bit more exploring. On Saturday I did exactly that with my lovely new friends who took me to a Buddhist temple called the Dong-hwasa Temple. It was great we got to see where the Buddhist monks meditate and the massive Buddha statue:

The Buddha faces the North and has the object in his hand in order to symbolise the wish to be at peace with North Korea. The sign he has his hand in means 'welcome'. The picture below is a small meditation room that you take your shoes off to go in. Also you can see in the picture with the big stature of Buddha, there is a matt  directly in front when you can take your shoes off and pray. There was calming music that you could here all around this top section. There were bigger rooms with other people in meditating and praying but it was too solemn a place to use your camera. It was an amazing atmosphere to absorb though. When leaving the temples you bow to Buddha three times; one for Buddha the baby, one for Buddha the man and one for Buddha the God. It is a full body bow where you kneel each time and put your hands on the floor and you face not far off the floor.

 There were a few customary things to do when you are there;  one was to drink from the fountain, which I was slightly dubious about until I was reassured that it wasn't like a chocolate fountain. 

Another one was that you are rub these eggs and make a wish, but you have to rub all of them or it won't come true:

There was also this platform that you throw coins on to and if your coin stays on the you get good luck, I got mine but unfortunately bounced my friends coin off...sorry hun!

There was also this really nice tunnel filled with lanterns which I thought was really pretty, and on Buddha's birthday everyone sets a lantern off into the sky at the lantern festival in September, which I am definitely going to.

This was an amazing day out with fantastic people. If you want to see more photos of this day there are lots more on facebook. The night was also a great one as I went with work people to see my friend from work's bands and they were great! This is his second band Denizen - check them out if you get a chance:

So tomorrow is the start of my last week on my current schedule. Next Thursday we have a day for the national holiday that marks the date when the fight for Korean independence, from the Japanese,began. Then the new schedule starts on the Friday, which is what last weeks level up tests were for (an easy week for teachers). I have one less class than I do now and the schedule is more spread out, so I only have one day where I teach seven classes, the rest are six or less-yey!!!!

A few more snippets about Korea- valentines day is for the women to give men candy (argh America!), the 14th of March is for guys to give girls the candy, and on the 14th of April single people eat black noodles to symbolise they are single!Is it just me, or is that just rubbing single people's faces in it?However, it is a good set up for a romantic meeting- "ah I see you are eating black noodles too..."

Korean TV is the weirdest sometimes, today I saw a show that was based on women flicking their shoes in the air to hit another woman in the face!Not only that but the other woman would try to get hit in the face with the shoe - this old Korean woman who was watching it was cracking up laughing so it must me good entertainment for some people...

Ok, sorry for the extra long post. Hope you enjoyed it. Love to England!

Story time...

This is an old Korean folk tale that I heard the other day, enjoy...

A long time ago, in a far away land, there lived a lazy little boy and his family. The mother scolded the little boy because he was lazy and didn't keep himself clean, so the boy had to start clipping his toenails. When he was finished he didn't clean up the nail clippings, and he was angry at being scolded by his mother so he ran away. Then a little mouse came across the clipping and ate one. The little boy was cold and hungry and so he tried to return home, but when he got there, there was already a litle boy who looked just like him. The mouse had turned into the child's doppelganger and had taken the child's place in the family. The lazy little boy had no place to go. 

Moral: don't be lazy!

The End

Well I hope you enjoyed that little tale, I know I did -crazy! There is also a superstition that if you fall asleep with a fan on in the room you will die because the fan will blow all the air in the room away! So companies actually make fans with a feature of turning off aftr an hour so when you fall asleep the fan will turn off and you won't die!

That's all I got for now, hope you enjoyed and you are all well!

Bbbbrrrrilliant!

Hello again, I can't believe I have been here three weeks!!!Well this week it snowed on Tuesday and on Thursday it was the coldest day in over 50 years!!!I went to a few new places this week, one which was a bar called Babara lol and another which was called Dinomeat which my boyfriend would love!!!!Haha!You go in and there is like a butcher's counter and you go and pile your plate full of meat and then take it back to your table and barbeque it there!It only cost 15,000 won which is only 8 pound 50 pence, for all you can eat!!!I also went to my first gig last night it was an amazing group called Levine, here is a sample and support them if you can (they are on facebook):

So I might have already told you all about my bizarre washing machine, but if I hadn't I have got a video and picture to show you what I'm talking about:

So anyway I found out that the students who go to middle school cannot have hair longer than 15 cm lower than their ears otherwise it has been known for the teachers to cut their hair there and then in class. Also the kids have to have black hair while they are in middle school. I should make it clear that I teach in a private language academy, so the kids go to normal school from 8 until about 3 and then they go to an academy that the parents pay for. You don't just get English academies; you can get math, science etc. So the kids do work really hard, but recently they have been on winter vacation (notice American language starting to slip in ...it's taking over!) but they still have to come to academy so not a real holiday (yey English).

Another funny thing about Korea is that the couples wear matching outfits down to their underwear!!!I know this from manikins, don't worry I haven't been over-stepping boundaries lol!So watch out boyfriend...LOL!

Well I am sure there is loads more but I can't remember anything just now.So I hope you enjoyed it. Love to all of my homeland!