after a not so successful nap yesterday evening, i met up with carla, another newbie teacher to search for groceries. we headed to lotte mart, which is kind of like a korean walmart, but with more food and not sleazy like walmart. and lotte mart confirms the two words that i associate with korean culture: cute and chaotic. it is cute because korean people are cute and because there are loads of hello kitty and snoopy products. it is chaotic because korean people are chaotic. they are chaotic when they walk down the street and cross roads, frantically trotting across, running into you and never apologizing (they just don't do that here, it's not them being rude, they just don't do it). they are chaotic when they drive. and they are chaotic when they are put in control of a lotte mart shopping cart, fully equipped with wheels that spin in all directions. it is one thing to have a korean coming at you in heels while crossing a street, but when they are armed with a cart in a relatively confined space, well, that's just a different story.
carla and i managed to make our way through lotte mart, sampling random drinks as we passed through. we sampled a delicious wine/beer drink from a very sweet korean girl who spoke excellent english. we took her picture because she was cute. (again, cute, just like hello kitty...) i didn't pick up anything too weird, but i did buy some orange juice that i thought would be delicious, but was rather sad to deem as rather disgusting this morning. after this adventure, we made our way home, put our groceries away, and made our way down insadong for a late-night korean dinner. we opted for a green onion and seafood pancake. i had this a week ago and found it rather tasty. it was the perfect size for two and we managed to chow it all down.
this brings me to a point that i must address about the food in korea. it is really delicious and i haven't disliked much of anything so far. BUT one sometimes has to just grit one's teeth and swallow what was put in one's mouth. this seafood pancake is delicious, but it has pieces of squid in it, with the squid pieces being in the form of calamari-esque bits, as well as tentacles. im not sure about you, but im not one to want to eat sucker-covered tentacles, especially when they are white and purple. yet this is at least the third time i have eaten tentacles since i have been here. i put it in my mouth, chew a bit, and try not to think about the feeling that the suckers have against my tongue...
ok let's bring it back to today, saturday. i began my day with a bit of satc, a couple skype calls to the states, and a nice carmen electra aerobic striptease workout. i have a fair number of workout dvds in my suitcase, so i opted to bring one out and get down. after working my buns, i got cleaned up and met my friend, oah. we stopped for lunch at a cute korean place (again, cute and korean...). i had this fish cutlet thing, which essentially is like classier fishsticks. it somewhat took me back to the good old days in the eagle river elementary school, eating lunch in the gym, not wanting to sit across from ben cisneros, hoping that lunch would soon be over...alas, i digress. after lunch, we did the most depressing activity i have done since i have been in seoul.
shoe shopping. depressing, you ask? if you had a size 11 foot in a sea of size 5, 6, or 7 feet, you would be depressed, too. i am a giant american in the land of tiny koreans. oah is one of those tiny koreans. and she has tiny korean feet that fit into tiny korean shoes. i found a pair of tall grey leather boots that i am dying to own, if only they made big kid sizes. without much luck there, we walked to lotte, a big department store, quite similar to galeries lafayette in paris. i wanted to show oah the lancel bag that i will be purchasing once i earn enough won in a few months. i have been coveting this bag for a year, ever since i first saw it's beautiful craftsmanship in paris last year. i wanted to see it again and i wanted to see how many won i would be dropping on it. we'll just leave it at 'a lot.' but i will save up 'a lot' and purchase this little baby. if you question my spending this much on a bag, i will say, 'have you seen the desktop on my computer?'
it is a lancel ad.
after lotte, we opted to get some tea and relax for a bit. tea ended up being an americano for me and an oreo shake for oah, along with pastries that apparently just come with the drinks. this tea shop was beautiful, with all kinds of tables surrounded by comfy couches. pairs of girls sat everywhere, drinking their ice creamy concoctions, eating waffles covered with ice cream and fruit, smoking cigarettes like it is going out of style. i asked oah if it would be appropriate to go to such an establishment to study. she said it would be ok. i also asked if it would be ok to bring a macbook in to write. she said yes, and that i would also be looked curiously at as cute because 1, im clearly foreign, and 2, i have a mac and apparently macs are really expensive in korea. score two points for me with the koreans.
after our pseudo tea-time, we made our way back to my hood to a street made of piano keys. i will post pictures later, but it is like walking on a big piano. neato frito. we walked near this little stream, which essentially is meant for lovers to walk near. oh well, perhaps when i have a korean boyfriend.
speaking of which, i saw an extremely attractive korean man today. he was working in the shoe department of lotte. i think dating him would be ideal for me. i could learn korean and he could order me big-girl shoes.
after our romantic walk by the stream, we made our way to dinner, opting for sushi. now, i love sushi. but the koreans put a unique spin on sushi, even the japanese kind. (see, there is kimbap, which is korean sushi, and then there is japanese sushi, which is not kimbap, but along the lines.) i ordered a spicy roll, and was greeted with a spicy roll, but topped with what i do believe was ketchup and chunks of tuna. it was really a delicious roll, but the taste of ketchup just gave it a somewhat cheap taste. heinz and sushi do not mix well for me. i tried to pick off as much of the red goo as i could, trying to salvage perfectly good sushi from the horrors of ketchup. funny how i normally consider ketchup to be my favorite condiment...
i am going to go shopping this week. the korean won sucks compared to the dollar. i checked the exchange rate today. one usd is about 1400 korea won, essentially what used to be 1.40 usd. i am going to hedge a bit and pull out a couple hundred dollars worth of cash on monday. all i hope is that the won eventually gets stronger and that i can wire a lot back and have it actually mean something. (speaking of exchange rates, the euro is getting super low. 1.26 usd to the euro. that's sick. i was paying 1.50 usd for one freaking euro last year. bloody hell.)
i am really quite tired. i think i will turn in somewhat early and hope that i am not rudely awoken up by the sounds of headboards slamming against my wall...
1 comment:
Love the memory of eating lunch in the elementary gym. Oh those were the days.
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