Getting Your Future Told In Korea

Walk around certain parts of Seoul and you will see areas devoted to 사주, which is a type of fortune telling based on the Chinese astrology. Although I don't believe in fortune tellers whatsoever, I've always wanted to try. Yesterday, I had a chance. After a delicious meal in 피맛골, a friend and I stopped into a 사주 tent near Insadong and had our fortunes told.

After asking for my birthday, the woman started scribbling out all of these Chinese characters. In about five minutes, she started analyzing my fortune. Luckily, I was with a Korean friend, because she was talking quickly and using vocabulary words that I didn't know. This is what I was told (note, these are things that are characteristics of my personality/energy and not necessarily what the future has to hold)

• I have strong leadership qualities.
• I don't like when other people boss me around.
• I am always on the move (whether that is physically or mentally)
• I could be interested in decorating --> this led her to saying a plastic surgeon would be a good job
• I have some sort of energy that attracts people (what was it called...)
• I have a lot of wood in me (4), while only one each of fire, water, and earth. I have no metal inside of me.
• I need to meet someone with a lot of metal so they can knock me over and get into my heart. (The person I went with happened to have a lot of metal ... bum bum bum)
• I'm not very careful with my money. I should watch it more carefully.
• I might have some respiratory problems

Yeah, I still don't believe in fortune telling. Even though some of these traits match, I could read into any trait and be like, oh yeah, that partly applies to me in these situations.  Still, it was a cheap experience so I guess it was worth it. 15,000 won for two people. 

Wandering in Donam Dong (돈암동)

Since I'm at my new school, I've been exploring a couple of new areas near my school. One of these areas in Donam Dong, which is a part of a long walk I take from my school to central Seoul.

Walking through Jeongneung into Donam I saw a random temple. Located close to Gireum station exit 3, Bongkuksa (봉국사) is far from a must see in Korea, but if you are in the neighborhood you could check it out. It isn't far away from the road to be quiet, but the trees sure are beautiful.

Festival going on

Bell at the entrance

I then continued my wander through hill after hill in Donam dong. Seriously, I don't want to walk the same route everyday, but is walking along the subway line the only way to get from northern Seoul to the center without climbing hill after hill? One thing I noticed was an excessive number of new apartment buildings. I've complained about this before, but Seoul's awesomeness is a bit marred by these huge complexes that are all designed in the same way. Donam had some very cute and unique buildings. Like this:

This isn't the best example, but you get my point

Something about villas and outdoor staircases really does it for me. They are unique and they seem so cozy. Of course, I can see why someone wants a more modern apartment building with all the newest amenities. It is convenient, comfortable, and easy to show off to your neighbors. However, I think it is only a matter of time that the elites realize that a re-modeled villa could give the comforts of modern living with much more pleasing aesthetics. I wish this realization would happen sooner than later; on this walk in Donam, I saw what seemed to be a poorer neighborhood entirely demolished.

Looks more like post-war Korea than modern Seoul

I'm sure next time I walk through Donam this will be replaced by some fancy apartment building with a ridiculous name (like Human Ville ㅋ ㅋ ). But of course when you see this destruction you wonder who used to live here, whether or not they were able to leave by their own volition, how much money they were paid, and how much big corporations are going to make off their new land. Gangnam may have been impressive in its ability to turn from farm land to a sprawling metropolis in just 30 years, but northern Seoul has a hell of a lot more character, and doesn't need any more huge apartment complexes. I imagine there are local community organizers trying to preserve the local character, so I wish them the best of luck. 

Another Full Weekend in Seoul ^^

This past weekend was pretty grand. Kaleigh had her going away party on Friday. That meant makkeoli and food in Gangnam. Many of Kaleigh's friends showed up, including some people who I had never met before. Always good to meet new people, right? A lot of the party continued at Octagon (a really fancy club south of the river) but I ended up going to noraebang with a smaller group.
On Saturday, I spent the day volunteering for a sports festival being thrown by the Deaf association. I think they probably just wanted to have a token 외국인 (foreigner). I spent the start of the day greeting participants, After lunch, I worked pretty much as a cheerleader trying to get my team (TEAM BLUE!) to win the very variety-show style games.

After the festival, the volunteers all went out together for some budaejjigae. This soup originated during the Korean war when a hungry country would make use of excess food supplies in military bases (like hot dogs and spam), throw it together with broth and red pepper and any other ingredient they could fine. The result is surprisingly palatable, though I would never head to a budaejjigae restaurant if I had the choice.

The weather was glorious Saturday evening, so I decided to walk from dinner (near 용마산역) to my friend's housewarming party (near 청량리역). The walk was probably just around an hour and quite worth it. Look at these cloud formations over northeastern Seoul!

The housewarming party, thrown by my fabulous friend Magaly, was a great time with some wonderful people. Life is nice when you like the people you surround yourself with.

It also helps when your friends are so good looking

Sunday morning started with a breakfast back home in Haebangchon (HBC). C and I made a delicious breakfast from our home country: eggs, bacon and pancakes. ^^

More attractive people

After a coffee (and a terrace beer) with some of my favorite boys in Seoul, C and I met up with some peeps for the 2012 Incheon Music Festival. Foreigners were able to purchase tickets for the great price of 150 won. That is about ten cents. The lineup was pretty spectacular, with the top stars being Kara, Shinee, 4 Minute, IU and BOA. There were a bunch of other artists as well (some that I had heard of). Our seats were decent, the price was perfect, and though the vocals weren't always the best, my goodness can these artists dance.

I also met someone this weekend... could be a good match for me. We'll see where that goes.
Writing about this weekend tires me out a bit. It was quite full... I would say that I'm going to take it easy this weekend but I don't want to lie; I love full weekends!

August's Aliments

Food wise, August was pretty spectacular. Then again, pretty much every day in Korea has at least one delicious meal.

I posted about this before, but I love 추어탕

Some sort of Korean fusion dish with seafood

Fresh squid

Cheese stuffed rice cakes

Samgyeopsal on the beach

찐빵

Crazy good curry chicken salad sandwiches Kaleigh and I made

찜닭 with the minister's son

Ajjuma making us fried food

Soju is great with fried food

The meal for ancestral rites

Mackerel dinner in Suyu

Making okonomoyaki (Japanese cabbage and potato pancake)

Frying up some shrimp

Almost ready

Let's eat!

Brunch at PDS Coffee in Suyu

묵밥 (acorn jelly iced soup)

닭국수 (chicken noodle soup) near Insadong

Ddeok from my old school to my new school

New school buffet dish one

New school buffet dish two

Burger Mine's burger buffet

New Neighborhood: Jeongneung-dong (정릉)

One thing I love about Seoul is the never-ending sense of discovery. It is hard to say you really know this city when there are so many neighborhoods and districts. Many of these areas aren't even connected to the incredibly expansive Seoul metro system. My new school is in Jeongneung, and even though it is somewhat far from my home, I think I'll love wandering around this neighborhood everyday after school.

The above-pictured park leads up to my school. As you can see, there are huge mountains in the background. From my office window, I have a great view of nature. It feels like I'm out in the countryside, but I'm still in central Seoul (well, northern Central Seoul).

Wandering around Jeongneung, you definitely see Seoul's ubiquitous high rises that make a neighborhood kind of 'meh'. In a city that is still as rapidly developing as Seoul, they are kind of unavoidable. I hope, however, that citizens start appreciating architecture and design before everything just becomes row after row of convenience and efficiency.

Efficient? Yes. Beautiful? Sometimes

Jeongneung still has a lot of Seongbuk charm, however. The area is quite hilly, and there are a lot of cute staircases, hidden restaurants, and markets. Jeongneung market, while not by any stretch of the imagination jaw-dropping, has a cute character that is complimented with the stream running by.

Entrance to Jeongneung Market

Jeongneung's Stream

Older people were bathing in the stream, drinking soju, and just enjoying the slightly cooler temperature near the water.

But what I like most about this neighborhood is something you can't really find in southern Seoul. Old rickety houses with personality. Like this two floor house connected by a rickety staircase:

Maybe the heating isn't the greatest, but it certainly has character

Of course, Jeongneung has all the amenties you'd expect from Seoul. Lots of coffee shops, pizza chains, Daisos and officetels. But it also has unique antique shops, hidden restaurants for Korean food junkies, and stairwells that lead to new areas waiting to be discovered. It also is home to the Josun-era Jeongneung tomb as well as a couple of temples. I have yet to visit these historical site, but I'm sure I will within the coming months.

To get to Jeongneung, take line 4 to Gireum station (길음). Outside of exit 2 to the right you will see various buses. Many of them go into Jeongneung, including 143 and 1114. Hop off when something looks interesting and wander around. I think you'll enjoy what you find. I'm sure I have a lot more to see.

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!

Enjoying Andong

The last leg of our trip started out with just Kaleigh and me, but we met up with some Korean friends in the city. We took a beautiful train ride from Donghae to Andong (about three and a half hours) and spent the evening getting our bearings in the new city. Andong has some very traditional Korean sites, but they are all outside of the city; this is great, because the countryside surrounding Andong is beautiful.
Some memorable moments:
-Train ride into Andong with all the glorious rivers and mountains of Gangwon-Do and Gyeongbuk-Do
-Trying Andong Soju (which is more like vodka than soju)
-Meeting up with Ron, and realizing we probs should be great friends
-Eating 재사밥 (ancestral rites meal)
-Hitchhiking from Hahoe village back to Andong
-Getting a free meal from the guy that picked us up
-This meal being jjim dalk (braised chicken), which is definitely better in Andong
-Meeting some new friends (and getting to practice a lot of Korean)
-Sitting under a pagoda under a bridge when a quick, but violent, storm passed
-Enjoying all the green space
-Seeing my first Confucian Academy
-Driving around in cars

Valley

I want to be as cute as Totoro

So cute!

Hahoe Folk Village

More of the village

The river that passes by Hahoe village

Giving a wish to the 600 year old tree

Hitchhiking champions

YUM!

Oh, this was pretty good too. 

At the Confucian Academy

Roof detail

I could live here ^^

HAHAHAHA

A storm was coming

Ancestral Rites Rice

Right before the storm