Full Weekend

It is already Wednesday! So before the new weekend starts (and I forget all that transpired this past weekend) I'm gonna write really quickly about the weekend of the 13th and 14th. The Itaewon Global Festival was taking place, so I spent a lot of my weekend in my neighborhood eating delicious food and taking some not so great photos (I need a new camera). While the festival had stuff going on other than food (including concerts and information booths), I just focused in on trying some goodies. Yum yum. It also was a great time to hang out with friends.

Since I live in HBC, it isn't too difficult for me to try new foods. However, a lot of foreign restaurants are rather expensive, especially compared to their Korean counterparts, so it was nice to try smaller portions at cheaper prices. The crowds were massive (especially Saturday night) and mostly Korean. Itaewon has been becoming increasingly popular with Koreans and really is definitely shaping up to be a nice area of the city with really good bars and restaurants (Oh how I love you Vatos Tacos). Despite the increasing popularity of Itaewon, during the festival I definitely saw way more Koreans than usual, including many families and children.

Of course the best time to do some welding is at a festival

 The rest of the weekend was spent enjoying the weather. Fall is the best season in Korea, and there is no excuse to stay in your house on these amazing days. Saturday evening was spent on the Han River, where Chris and Josh played the guitar while we all sang along.

With such great weather, we've decided to make it a point to visit new areas of Seoul. Sunday brought us to Seoul Children's Grand Park, which, surprisingly, I had never been to before. There were some cool animals (I loved the kangaroos) but the cages left a bit to be desired. Zoos are harder to enjoy when you spend half the time wondering if their cage is big enough. 

^^

So that was the weekend! Better head back to work.

First Day of Work

It is my first day working at my new job. I've moved from a middle school to an elementary school and I have been a bit nervous about teaching. I mean, these kids are tiny. I have had a warm reception at my school, but otherwise a very boring work day. No classes, VERY bad lunch, and sitting at my desk until 4:30... One thing that lightened up my day was a present from my old school.

With tears, we give you Mark. -Beondong Middle School

Tomorrow is apparently going to be the same thing at the new school; because of the incoming typhoon we will have to be at school, just not teaching. Maybe they'll let us out early? I just want to observe some of the classes and figure out how I'm supposed to teach at an elementary school. Wednesday we have orientation, but I doubt it is going to help too much with the actual classroom. I'm ready to jump right in.

On a less blah note, C and I moved into a new apartment. It is a handsome place, and I think it will persuade me to lounge around at home more often. That is probably a good thing, since I couldn't recall the last time I stayed at home on a Saturday night. This past Saturday, however, we had a small get together at our place. It is nice to have a living room big enough for people to actually live in. For your viewing pleasure, here is C's tour of the place:

 

Decently big, huh? Our apartment is in the Haebangchon (해방촌) neighborhood in Yongsan Gu. This area is pretty close to the foreign district of Itaewon which had once been quite grimy but is now turning into a really interesting part of Seoul. HBC is one of the few neighborhoods where you can get a household at an affordable price, and it is also in the CENTER of Seoul.  Ten minute bus ride brings you to Jongno, Fifteen minute subway ride to Hongdae, Twenty minute bus ride to Gangnam. In addition, C's twin sister lives on the Yongsan military base, so we have access to American grocery stores and other amenities. Apparently, fruit is cheaper over on the base. Love it!

Walk near Samgakji

It feels almost like summer is here. The flowers are starting to look beautiful and the trees on the mountain outside my window are getting pretty green. Love this time of year.