Gwanak-san (Gwacheon) - Oct 28

This week's adventure: a trip down to Gwacheon to hike the Gwanak-san mountain. It was a great way to leave the city behind. John and I headed down kind of late, but we still got in about 4 hours of hiking.

It was a steep climb, and it started raining on and off the entire time we climbed, but it was worth it. The air actually smelled like Autumn and we were surrounded by trees. Except for the shorter days and colder nights, Autumn could come and go and Seoul and you would barely be able to tell.

Gwacheon is way out in another province from Seoul, but the transit is amazing here so you can go two hours out of the city and do it by subway.

We were rushing at the end to get down off the mountain before the sun went down, but all was well in the end and we ate some pajeong to celebrate our feat.

Good-bye Sean Thrash Show - Oct 27

This Saturday we went to Sean's band's show (that's right, he was in two bands), Join the Circle, and another band. Sean was finished working at Jackie's and was heading back to Canada. The show itself was still great. I kind of liked the different genre, especially the mix of Korean and English. My friend JuJu came with, and we had a fun time. I'd also run into Jane that day to go to some free Korean lessons by the Sookmin Women's University. Halifax represent!

Yeongju and Andong Oct 20-21

A group of us from work headed down to Yeongju and Andong for the weekend. They are on more the south-east part of Korea, about a four hour bus ride from Seoul. I saw a Buddhist temple, a Confucian school, a number of bars and a folk village. Just awesome :P A number of pictures are up in my picture blog.

Seoul is a modern city, and because of globalization, that doesn't mean too much different than any other modern city. So Andong was a great trip, I feel like I've gotten a glimpse of the real Korea.

Couch Surfing

So a coworker encouraged me to join Couch Surfing. It is a community of people who believe in both sharing a space and making friends while traveling. I am certainly a believer of this philosophy myself, so I signed up immediately.

Membership comes with a lot of perks - like hanging out with the CS community in Seoul for their monthly get togethers. Their last was this Sunday, on the roof of one of the ambassadors' apartment building. I like their choice of snacks, and the people are certainly friendly, I give them a hearty thumbs up.

Now I just need to get the motivation to finish setting up my profile. Online communities are both good and extra work for my tired brain X_X

Noraebang (Singing Room) Oct 13

Check out the loser banging the tambourine! Aye Aye aye.

Visa Run - Oct 11&12

So apparently you need a visa to work out here in Korea ;) I ran out of time before coming from Canada to get mine, so I had to head to Osaka for a couple days, because for the teaching visa, you have to actually obtain it out of country, so Thurs-Friday I headed out to Osaka, Japan to get my passport stamped.

Traditionally known as the "Visa Run," many a teacher in Korea head over to the Korean Consulate in Osaka on a daily basis. These individuals often flock together in what is known as the "herd."

My "herd" turned out to be just one woman from Ottawa, but we ended up having a pretty good time. After the official business at the consulate (read, take pictures of the squatter), Christina and I found our hotel and then went out and started shopping. There is a giant covered market that runs for blocks upon blocks. The stores to note were definitely the underwear stores, man are they experimental (yet cute) in Japan! That and everyone is beautiful, especially those girls dressed in lolita fashion.

One of the department stores has this huge ferris wheel on it, really cool. Christina and I could see the whole Namba area from this weird pea pod.

We also managed to have a look at the Osaka Castle before heading out. The castle was gorgeous, and I loved the old Japanese architecture. It also made me realize I've been spending too much time in cities lately. Next trip is definitely to somewhere with trees...

Gogi Gogi - Oct 5

Korean BBQ rules, put a grill in the middle of the table, and start cooking meat on it. Serve with soju and lots of Korean side dishes.

Then follow with more soju at a local pub.

Pictures to come soon from my gogi gogi experience.