Seoul's Western Food

Besides shopping, the variety of non-Korean food is one of the best reasons to go up to Seoul for the weekend. Stephanie and I went up this past weekend, and our whole weekend essentially revolved around Forever 21 in Myeongdong and eating as much non-Korean food as possible.

We first began with a Kebab from Mr. Kebab in Hongdae, for which I now have a punch card. Sorry, no picture of this as we were both too hungry to wait to snap a picture!

Saturday, we picked up a coffee from Dunkin Doughnuts in Hongdae, and by the time we were finished, Dos Tacos had opened up. We each ordered a burrito, mine was rice and bean with beef and avocado. It was simply fantastic, even though I couldn't eat it all. It was completely worth the 9,900 won!



After having perhaps too much success at Forever 21, we refueled with a giant, 1,500 won ice cream cone. It was fantastic because it was cool in the hot, afternoon sun, but it wasn't so filling that we were stuffed after.



Before we had dinner, we went to Happy Hour in Hongdae. The group next to us had a pitcher of what appeared to be fruit soju with real fruit. We ordered the same thing, but had to add the soju ourselves. It had a yogurty base, and was pretty unique.



The next place our group went to was a hopping Hof in Hongdae. Despite Hongdae being one of the main tourist areas, we were one of two tables of foreigners. Every other table was full, and it did take a while to get served. We ordered two types of chicken- a cheesy, boneless bbq style, and a spicy garlic chicken. The garlic chicken came in a shovel! I'd never seen that before.



Sunday, we began with breakfast at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon. This is probably the best Western-style breakfast for less than 10,000 in town. And the IPA we each ordered with it may not have been the healthiest decision for 11 am, but, oh, it tasted so good!



Finally, something I'd been literally dreaming about! Subway! I missed my chance when my parents were here when I stumbled upon a Subway in Gangnam, but forgot to go back to order! I was so happy to see one in Hongdae, where I generally stay. I chose the Subway Club, and it was just like back home. It was by far the best sandwich I've ever had in Korea!



When we weren't eating, we were either shopping, relaxing, or people watching around town. Even though we didn't do too much, we were both exhausted by the time we came back Sunday evening!

This is not a panini

I may have jumped the gun a little bit. I was very excited when I noticed a new coffee shop/restaurant (LavAzza) opened in Suwan two days ago. I'd noticed on their outdoor menu that they serve paninis! Panini's are one of my favorite sandwiches, and I was thrilled that I could get one so easily. They also had a bunch of other yummy sounding things on their menu.

First, let's take a look at a delicious panini:



I've always thought at panini should be grilled in a press, just like the one pictured. However, after a quick search on Wikipedia, I learned that sometimes they aren't. However, a grilled, pressed sandwich is what I associate with "panini."

The sandwich I ordered was called the "Rustico." There wasn't a description of what it was, but the price seemed right (6,500). What I got wasn't anything close to what I was expecting.



Woah, wait a sec. Did they use sauce to mimic the grill mark lines?



Yes, I think they did! Also, the fillings were minimal- some melted "cheese," "bacon," and sun-dried tomatoes. LavAzza did have other things on their menu, like pasta, risotto, and toasts. I do know one thing- if I ever end up going back, I won't be having another panini! Having this disappointing of a sandwich just makes me want a real one even more!!

TAO- Family Restaurant

To celebrate my birthday dinner, Kenny treated me to dinner at a new organic restaurant in Suwan. The restaurant, TAO, is located close to the Women's Hospital, and above Coffee Bene, which means it's got a great view of the bustling street below, as well as the Lotte Mart Lake Park.

Since we celebrated early on a Monday night, the restaurant was nearly empty. We choose to sit outside because the weather was so comfortable. Our waiters were very attentive, and they did speak some English, so we didn't have any problems ordering. We choose two main dishes, which we split.

The easy choice was the roasted duck with chutney sauce. It was served with grapefruit, asparagus, and crasins, which are both expensive and difficult to find in Korea. It was perfectly cooked and went so well with the apricots:



We choose the shrimp and scallops cream pasta to go with it. Even though the scallops were small compared to US standards, the flavor was great. The saffron on the side added a lot to the dish.



Our meal also came with a complementary salad, breads, and soup. They were nice, but nothing special. The wine we had originally chosen was out, so we opted for a half bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, reasonably priced. I thought the young waiter wasn't going to be able to get the cork out, but he eventually did. After that, we had him take a picture of the both of us. Forgive the angle, it was a very narrow seating area outdoors!



If you look closely at my wrist, you can see the beautiful bracelet Kenny gave me! I adore it! If you can't quite make out the detail, here's another shot :)



It was a great evening, and I'd definitely recommend Tao! We both thought it was the best Western food we've had in Gwangju. I know I'll be back soon, because they gave me a coupon for a free steak (before May 24th) as a birthday present. As my 9th graders would say (Unit 2, Teenage Years), it was "the icing on the cake!"

Parent's Visit- Daegu

One of the places I took my parents to was Daegu. I'd never been to Daegu before, so I was also eager to see what it was like. Daegu is famous for their traditional market, named Seomun, as well as their traditional herbal medicines. It sounded like a place worth checking out.

After we'd stored our luggage in the subway lockers upon arrival, we rode the subway to Seomun Market. Seomun had it all- dried fish, seaweed, fruit, comforters, street food, and great people watching. We weren't looking for anything in particular, but enjoyed the almond samples and taking pictures of all the "strange" food (strange for Mom and Dad, normal for me!). I thought I was going to have to hold dad back from sampling one of the dirt-flavored silk worm larva- thank goodness I was able to convince him that they really do taste like dirt!


(thanks Google Images)

My friend Jeannine who lives in Daegu recommended some good street vendors for lunch, a place that specializes in flat mando, and a place that has the best Heoddeok, a fried pancake with sweet filling. However, once we entered the food area, I knew we'd never be able to find the right one! There were just too many! Every stand was busy, so we knew wherever we decided to eat that it would be hot and fresh.

We settled on the busiest stall, and came back once three plastic chairs were empty. We ordered 4 dishes- a plain kimbap roll, udon, guksu, and heoddeok. All the dishes were good, Mom liked the guksu best because of the non-fishy broth, and Dad enjoyed them all, especially the heoddeok! The best part was that we were all full after, and the meal came to less than $9!



The medicine market wasn't exactly what I'd expected, it was more a cobblestone road with various medicine shops selling roots, barks, seeds, and the like. We paused to look around the medicine museum, and sampled some tea made from 10 different herbs that we continued to look for during the duration of our trip, but never found.

We enjoyed the temples in Gyeongsangamyeong Park, close to downtown before meeting Jeannine for dinner and desert (spicy fried bokumbap and ice cream waffle).

Daegu was great to explore for a day, and even though we all got tired in the afternoon, having Jeannine as our guide perked us up. When we got back to our hotel (16th floor!) later on, we all crashed before 10pm!

Outback Steakhouse

Last Saturday, two of my coteachers and I went to Outback Steakhouse here in Gwangju. It was almost exactly like home!



We were given a free blueberry drink when we first walked in the door, and were promptly seated. We decided to get the lunch specials: Crispy chicken salad, cream pasta, and a garlic steak:



The steak was prepared as well as it could have been, but the cut wasn't that good to begin with. Everyone enjoyed the pasta, salad, and sides of fried rice and bread. With our lunch set, we also got fruit drinks, soda, and coffee. By the end of the meal, we were stuffed!

I figured the meal would have been more expensive, but Youngran had a discount card with her, so we got 12,000 won off. In the end, it ended up being only about $12 a person! For those prices, I'll definitely be back.

Suwan-dong

My neighborhood, Suwan, has really changed since I first moved to Gwangju 1 year and 7 months ago. At first, Suwan didn't have much to offer, other than space, but now, I've got my pick of restaurants, coffee shops, and ice cream cafes. If you're looking for a great place to eat, choose Suwan!

Currently, we have two Vietnamese restaurants, Hoa Binh and Pho Bay. The prices at Pho Bay are about 1,000 won more, but I think the quality is better. Kenny and I also got a free sampler platter of dumplings on our visit.

There are also two new Japanese noodle restaurants open. I went to one last night, and had a bowl of creamy, homemade Ramen noodles for 4,900. Kenny's noodles were different (separate noodles and broth), but just as delicious, and cost 5,900.

If you're looking for Western food, we've got Lemon Table, Tao, Red Piano, Kraze Burger, Gio's, Starbucks (opening soon), Pizza School, Dunkin Doughnuts, Coldstone, and various other pasta and steak houses. The Lemon Table is the same as all the others, and I plan to try Tao in a couple of weeks. The interior of Tao looks welcoming, and there are tables that overlook the Lotte Mart park on their 4th floor balcony.

Naturally, there are many Korean foods available- "slow food," kimbap, Chigae, Samgypsal, and Shabu Shabu. I'd have to say the Shabu Shabu restaurant is my favorite.

For drinking, there aren't many original options, but we do have WA, Millertime, and Fish and Grill, not including the small Hof's. As far a coffee goes, there's the usuals: Kenya, Angel In Us, Coffee Bean, and Ludens.

If you're hungry and looking for a different part of town to check out, I'd definitely recommend Suwan!

Boshintang (Otherwise known as dog soup)

Last night I did something illegal. I went out with 5 other friends (Kenny, Matt, Steve, Emily, and Miguel) to a restaurant in Pungam-dong to try boshintang soup. It was my first time, along with Steve, Emily, and Miguel. Gaegogi (dog meat) is illegal to serve in Korea, but I read an article not long ago that estimated there are around 3,000 restaurants in Korea still serving it. Back in 1998, there were as many as 20,000 I won't get into any animal rights or treatment of the dogs, because thats just sad. I do know that nowdays there are not beaten to death in Korea, as they still are in other parts of the world. There is a specific breed of dog raised for this purpose, called Nureongi, so it's not as if we're eating random strays off the street, or cute fluffy pet dogs. Nureongi dogs are not normally kept as pets, according to Wikipedia.

We were really nervous, because we had no idea what to expect. We had to get some beer and soju before hand to help it all go down.

Here's what the soup looked like when it first came out:



Here's the first bite!



It didn't taste quite as bad as it looks like it does. The broth wasn't bad, it tasted similar to other Korean broths I've had before. Then there were some onions and vegetables, which I ate. There were some unknown chunks of something that honestly looked like skin... but it may have just been a tendon or fat. I don't really want to think about that! As for the meat itself, it wasn't horrible. It's more of a mental hurdle you have to get over. If it wasn't in the soup, it would taste greasy, gamey, and fatty. However, when you took a bit of broth, rice, onion, and meat in one bite, it wasn't the worse thing in the world.

Kenny did the best out of all of us finishing the soup, but didn't do it entirely. The rest of us had about a third, and filled up on the kimchi and rice. Including the drinks, the total for each of us was 10,000 won, or about $9. Not a bad meal cost wise, but I'm pretty positive it will be the last time I have boshintang!

Seoul Getaway

A few weekends ago, Kenny and I went up to Seoul for our 6th month anniversary. I hadn't really been out of Gwangju since I'd come back in August, so I really felt the need to get out!

We just went up for Saturday night, but we seemed to do so much in the short amount of time that it felt longer than it actually was. We did lots of fun things, but I think our favorite was going out to dinner at "Between" in Itaewon, and going to "All That Jazz," also in Itaewon.

"Between" is a relatively new restaurant on the main drag in Itaewon. They're known for their wide variety of Tapas and bar selections. We had no problem getting a seat in the non-smoking section, even though it was busy. It was much bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside!

We poured over the extensive tapas menu for a while before we decided. We chose the set menu, assuming it was a "couples set." Unfortunately it wasn't (but for the price, it should have been! 55,000 won!). However, we looovveed every dish they brought us!

We had a total of 6 courses, and started with the appetizer- raw beef, lettuce, fresh Parmesan, olive oil, and some nuts:



Our second course, the tapas, we selected seared scallops wrapped in bacon. They were my favorite!



Third course was a spicy seafood pasta:



Fourth course was our meat dish- so good! Roasted duck with a orange glaze, garlic mashed potatoes, and cooked apples.



Fifth and sixth courses was desert (creme brule) and tea (mango). All this food was washed down with a nice Canadian IPA, Alley Cat. Even though the food was delish, we weren't completely full, but that made getting the late night Kebab from the street vendors all the better!

Here are some more shots of the restaurant:

Dakgalbi (닭갈비)

After hiking on the 7th, Kenny and I ate at Chonnam Back Gate, one of our favorite places to eat. The area is packed with a variety of "traditional Korean restaurants," as well as having some Italian restaurants, cafe's, and even a Mexican restaurant.

One of the best things to get there is the 닭갈비 (Dakgalbi). It's a cheap dish, and very filling, especially when split between only two people! We were starving from the hike, so it was exactly what we needed.

Dakgalbi is a spicy stir-fried chicken dish with a lot of intense flavors. The waitress will bring out a large pan and put it on the table in front of you. It will look something like this:



On the bottom is sliced cabbage and on the top is the chicken, onion, ddeok (rice cake), and spicy sauce (usually a mix of gochujang, red peppers, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper, and sugar). You cook this by swirling it in the pan for about 10-15 minutes. This way, the chicken is cooked, but the cabbage still has a bit of crunch in it. You cook it until it's bubbling away and looks like this:



As you can see, it made a ton of food. However, we were still hungry, and opted to the get Bokumbap (fried rice) for an additional 1,500 Won. After that, we could barely move! If you're ever looking to get a big meal on a small budget, dakgalbi is definitely the way to go (if you like spicy foods)!!

Samgyetang

Monday evening, I went out to eat Samgyetang at Chon Dae Hu Mun with Kenny. We couldn't find the restaurant we were looking for at first, because there are so many. Somehow we managed to stumble upon it, I'm so glad we found it!

Samgyetang is a dish that Koreans typically eat in the summer, though it is available year round. It is a type of chicken soup (a whole chicken!) with ginseng. The whole chicken is boiled in the ginseng broth along with dried jujube fruits, garlic, ginger and glutinous rice. When we ate it, it came with some salt on the side for you to dip the incredible tender chicken is. I think even if I wasn't skilled at using chopsticks, eating samgyetang would be realitively easy because it literally just fell off the bone.

I'd love to try making it sometime on my own. Here's what it looks like:


Delish!

Lessons Learned- Don't try the 홍어

I learned a very important lesson last night that I should have learned 10 months ago. I went out to dinner with two English teachers, Mihey and Youngran, and the two PE teachers, Mr. Kim and Mr. Ahn. The restaurant we went to was in Damyang, a small town to the east of Gwangju. I was told we'd be having a traditional Korean meal, which didn't suprise me, because they say every food we eat is "traditional Korean food."

The restaurant was on a road in Damyang which is famous for its restaurants. The funny thing was, all the restaurants looked like mushrooms! On the way back, they were lit up with neon lights, of course, so that made them look pretty strange. Anyway, it was incredibly scenic. The light rain and the lush, green mountains made it seem like we were hours away from Gwangju. Here's a picture of the back side of the restaurant at dusk. Our table was overlooking this pond.



This is the type of restaurant where there's no menu. You simply sit down, and they bring out the courses. Yep, courses. We had three courses last night, now lets see if I can remember what all we had!

Appetizer- Best described as a green salad submerged in cold soup, and tea to drink.

First course~


Starting from the very top: crab-in-shell kimchi; Right- ROTTEN fish*, kimchi, and pork pieces; Center- marinated chicken, some sort of pink vegetable, onion, and shredded laver; Far Bottom- mashed potatoes with purple dressing; Left- seasoned shrimp and bean sprouts; Far Left Top- seasoned tofu; Far Left Bottom- green salad.

*Yes, really, rotten fish. Here's the lesson I learned: Don't eat something you're unsure of if not everyone is eating it. For example, Mr. Ahn saw me eat a piece of the kimchi plain, which apparently you're not supposed to do. He demonstrated the best way to eat it- spread a piece of the kimchi out on your plate, place the pork on top of it, and the fish on top of that. Then, eat it all in one, giant bite. Well, I like all of those things separate, so why not try them together, right? Remember at this point, I didn't know the fish was ROTTEN! So, I do just as he says, but as soon as I begin chewing this massive amount of food, I can tell something's just not right. Of course, the four other teachers are watching me expectantly. I'm sure the faces I was making were pretty amusing. The kimchi and pork was good, but I couldn't place my finger on how the fish tasted. It faintly reminded me of how I think nail polish remover would taste. I didn't end up eating the whole thing, it was so bad I literally had to spit out the rest of the fish in my napkin! I also came across some strange piece of cartilage while eating it, gross! I felt bad, but I can't even begin to describe how bad it tasted.

I asked Mihey afterwards what the deal was with the fish. She explained that this type of fish is caught, then let to rot for three or four days!!! Apparently, it's the only fish that can be "prepared" like this. Mr. Ahn was also describing it to me in broken English, and somewhere along the way, he said "ammonia," and that's exactly how it tasted! I'm assuming when the fish rots, it tastes like ammonia!!!! So if you're ever in Korea, don't try the '홍어' or 'hongeo.'

So, on an happier note, here's course two (sorry it's a bit blurry)~



Starting from the top right- seasoned green lettuce to mix in with your rice; Bottom Right- marinated garlic and mushroom; Center- three cooked fish; Left side- different kinds of kimchi. The seasonings in the circle dishes are for your rice.

Not pictured- Course Three: An extra large rice bowl, bean sprout soup, warm scorched rice soup, and milk coffee.

Everything was pretty delicious, aside from that fish. And the best part is, only 12,000 won! At the current exchange rate, that's only $9.99!

Samgyupsal- Chon Dae Hu Mun Style

This is a picture of probably the best samgyupsal restaurant I've been to so far in Korea. We got two different kinds of meat, the is the basic, but the honey red pepper pork was even better. We also grilled the onion, garlic, mushrooms, green peppers, and kimchi. With everything combined, it was quite the feast. Not pictured is the lettuce plate, 5 different condiments, cucumber dish, raddish kimchi, and salad. Kenny and I even splurged at got 2 glasses of wine. The delicious food and stylish decor made for a great dinner!

Octopus on a stick.

This is a chewy yet delicious snack I had while hanging out at my host family's church festival on Saturday. The sauce was decent but it was so chewy and hard to even bite through. I had my host brother bite the head off, then I had the rest. It was pretty strange. My host brother really liked them... he had 10!

Ashely- American Grill and Salad

On Thursday night, 6 of the English teachers went to Ilgok-dong (North of Chonnam National University) to have a dinner meeting. I didn't know where we were going specifically, but wow, was I impressed. It was easily the best non-Korean meal I've had here!

The restaurant is called Ashley. It's basically a salad bar featuring different dishes from around the world (America, England, South Africa, Spain, and Korea).



This building must have been new, everything looked so fresh and clean! I loved the interior of this place:





As a group, we ordered two main dishes. We chose the "Comeback Alfredo Pasta Pan" and the "Cheddar Vermont Pan." The pasta was delicious- comparable to Olive Garden, which is saying a lot, given that the Italian food is pretty horrible in Korea! The Cheddar Vermont Pan was a kind of meatloaf with potatoes and velveeta like cheese on top. Both were delicious.



But the best part was the salad bar. Actually, they hardly had any salads! Soup, bibimbap, antipasta, fruit, vegetables, desert, drinks, pasta, South Africian couscous, Spanish rice, fish and chips, meatballs, honey-glazed chicken, and the list goes on.

This is what I had. My favorite was the sweet potatoes and the pumpkin with cherry sauce:


What a great dinner, and excellent company!

http://diner.tistory.com/793

http://www.myashley.co.kr/

Boseong Workshop, Spring 2010

These are some of my favorite people in Korea. The Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education treats us really well. We're the only EPIK city I'm aware of that does fun retreats like this. Dinner was a sushi buffet- so delicious!



The MOE also views these retreats as a sort of reward for our hard work. They were kind enough to provide some "social lubricant" (otherwise known as poju- Poweraid and Soju) to make the time more enjoyable.

Budget Meeting at Gio's

Tonight we had our English teachers budget meeting at Gio's Italian Restaurant in Suwan. The best part of the meal was by far the fresh mozarella salad! We also had pizza that had what I'm pretty sure was a hunk of butter on top- ew!

We talked about the budget (mostly in Korean, so I'm not sure what all was said), and somebody said we should give out vitamins instead of candy for kids that came into the EOZ during lunch period. I'm not sure how seriously people took that, but Mihey wrote it down. The idea would be to say 5 things in English, then you'd get a Vitamic C pill. Those lucky kids, they'll all be lining up now, I can see it!

Here's the group of us. From left- Mihey, Youngran, Hyunjeong, Me, Jieun, Chiwon, and Ms. Jo. I share an office now with Hyunjeong, and Chiwon's personality reminds me of my Uncle Tim, which means he's great to joke around with. :)

Balut

Tonight I've only got one word: balut.


Well, alright, maybe a few more.


In the Philippines a few months back, I decided to be brave and fully embrace the culture. That meant eating balut. For those of you who don't know, balut is egg. Not just any egg though. This is special stuff.

A balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell.

Popularly believed to be an aphrodisiac and considered a high-protein, hearty snack, balut are mostly sold by street vendors in the regions where they are available. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the Philippines.

Here's some of the best of 40 pictures Kenny took of me trying my best not to throw up. The pictures are not flattering at all (I had just gotten out of the pool and I'm a bit sunburned) but I personally think the pictures are HILARIOUS.

First, this is what it looked like with a part of the shell off:



Here I am trying to get up the courage to eat it:



I needed a swig of liquid courage:



I make scary faces sometimes:



Taking a big bite:



Trying to keep it down:



Swallow:



Just seeing the pictures that Kenny posted to Facebook bring back the memories. That was something I'll never forget!

An American "Dinner"

If you can recall from a previous post, I had my host family over for dinner earlier this evening. I decided to do something relatively simple, breakfast for dinner. On the menu was French Toast, bacon, strawberries and pineapple, 2 crossants from Paris Baguette, and a variety of chocolate and sweets from the good of U.S. of A.

The Mun family came right on time- 7pm. I was ready for them, and thankfully everything went smoothly, cookingwise. We had a good time playing One Card (Korean Uno), and they stuck around until about 9pm. I did learn a few things during the night:

One: If it is a families first time visiting someone, they bring tissue as a gift. I now have 6 boxes of Kleenex, and will not have to buy any more the entire time I'm in Korea. (Edit: I tried one later on, and I'm pretty sure they are scented. It almost makes me want to sneeze again when I use them!)

Two: Chocolate is expensive. I knew this before tonight when I dropped about $5 on a small bag of M&M's at Lotte Mart. My brother and sister were so excited about the chocolate for desert. I put out some treats that were recently mailed to me (Ferrero Rocher, Dove, and Lindt). I think they may have liked it more than the meal.

Three: My putting out forks and knives really indimidated them. "How else to you eat French Toast," I thought? Koreans take the easy way out- roll it up like a burrito, syrup and all!

Four: The people that work at City Hall with my host dad like me (I hope). As another present, I got a few magents, a CD, and 4 sets of Gwangju Artwork Postcards. They are... unique looking. I'll try to mail some out soon.

Five: Third grade is not too old to get upset about a card game. My little host sister got upset at something that happened during One Card. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but she started to cry, and refused to play the rest of the game. Her mom took her place, and then she joined in for a hand later on.

It was a very fun and entertaining night. I got to learn a few more Korean words and terms, and taught them some English sayings. We plan on seeing each other once a month, and I think next time, they are taking me out to eat. I'm pretty lucky to have such a nice family here!

Tom and Mike come to Korea

For those of you who don't know, my brother Tom and his best friend Mike have been visiting me in Gwangju for the last two weeks. It's been busy, and I hope they've enjoyed their time here. They have been keeping up with their journaling, so they probably remember everything we did better than I do! It's their last night tonight, they'll leave at 3:15 am tomorrow morning to go to the Gwangju bus terminal, then catch a bus to the Incheon Airport. We're taking it easy at home tonight, watching Dante's Peak and I'm thinking they'll probably lay down and rest pretty soon, even though it's only 6:45 pm.

Tom and Mike had some difficulty getting here. There was confusion with their airline carrier, and eventually found out from Pavlov the courrier at the MSP airport that it was Korea Air, not Delta. Due to the heavy storms in Seoul/Incheon (the most in 70 years!), they were delayed about 6 hours, and that pushed back their arrival time into Gwangju to about 2 am!

They were pretty jet lagged the first few days, but I made them get out and do things in hope that it would help reset their clocks. I think they saw all the main highlights Gwangju has to offer, and were semi-courageous when it came to trying foods out of their comfort level. We did lots of eating, I wanted to make sure they got to experience a variety of cusine.

Some of the fun sites in Gwangju we saw were the CGV Imax Theater (Avatar 3D!), Downtown, May 18 Park, Sangmu, Suwan MS, Lotte Mart, Shinsaegae, Keun Beol Elementary School for my EIC camp, the virtual roller coaster, and the insides of a few bars, cafes, and restaurant. Mike did get to meet his pen pal partner, YeoChan, but unfortunately Tom's partner was out of town in Seoul. We never made it to the Noraebang, PC bang, or DVD bang, but I guess there's always next time.

Here are the boys at one of our lunches out:



The highlight of our trip was our weekend in Seoul. We were there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Friday, we were downtown in the skyscraper district and looked at the stream running through the city. It was so pretty at night with the Christmas lights. We had a simple dinner of Kimbap and went back early to our hostel in Hongdae to rest for the early morning DMZ/JSA tour.

Sunday we saw Gyeongbukgung Palace (which I'd already seen in the fall with Alli) and Seoul Tower. Here we are at the palace:



We didn't actually go up in Seoul tower because we had a good view of the city from the base (it's on a mountan) and it was somewhat cloudy anyhow. In the afternoon, we met my friend Kenny from Gwangju in Itaewon, the foreigners district in Seoul. We spent some time at a bar, got Thai food which was amazing, and then had after dinner drinks. I had originally planned on leaving at 2 pm, but because we were out in Itaewon, we didn't get a bus back until 9:45 pm. The four of us crashed on the bus on the way back, and got back to Gwangju around 2 am!

Overall, we had a great time. I was worried that the boys would be bored in the morning when I was working at the EIC camps, but I think they were happy to have some rest time and watch Entourage. I got lots of wonderful presents/cards from my parents (thanks for the food!) and it is so nice to have some more clothes here! I'm not sending much back however because I think I'll wear most of the clothes again next season/year when I resign :) I'll worry about sending things home much later on.