South Korea: Olympic Park

Not much really happened this week. The students went back to school for graduation this week, so we got to go back to regular schedule (2:40-10) which was nice.. but starting tomorrow its back to intensive schedule (7-2 or 7-6:30) for three more weeks :(

I'm supposed to have my Monday lessons planned by tonight, but the article is about Nice Guys Finishing First, and I just have no idea how I'm gonna fill 55 minutes of class with it yet.. so it may have to hold off until tomorrow.

I hate reading in my apartment. I don't have a recliner, a nice view, anything that condones a good reading environment, so I was thinking to myself Saturday night where I could go to read. I usually go to a coffee house, but I was up for something different. Then it hit me: a library.

On Sunday, after doing some googling, I found the Seoul National Library and caught the subway. The website boasted about international accommodations so I figured I would just go there, grab a coffee, find a book, read it for a few, maybe take it home with me and bring it back in say two weeks. But I couldn't have been more wrong. None of these things happened.

First off, it was really intimidating. I had to sign up, get a one day pass, and put all my belongings in a locker. The only way to get into the library is with a card, so you swipe your card and the doors open like entering a subway. On the main floor was the reading room filled with people reading, but after a quick glance around I couldn't find any books. I saw people looking up books on computers so I tried my hand at that. However, there was no English option. I spent a good 10 minutes trying to find the English option but failed. So I asked one of the help people where the English books where. She asked me what subject I was looking for. This kind of threw me off so I stared at her for a little trying to decide what to say, and finally just said uhhh literature? She directed me to the second floor. When I got there, I had to pass through some more gates. Again there were people sitting around reading, but this time there was actually books. I found the section that said literature. Unfortunately, there were no English books. Every book was Korean. I walked up and down all the aisles looking for anything, and the only English book I found was The Great Gatsby, which wasn't exactly what I had in mind for a leisurely Saturday afternoon book. I decided it was time to leave. When I was walking back down the stairs, I noticed nets on every floor, which I could only assume were suicide prevention nets. This was comforting.. I knew if I ever had the urge to kill myself from reading The Great Gatsby the nets would save me. I did get a picture though.. which was about the only thing I got out of the experience, I didn't even get a coffee.

I ended up going to a Starbuck's and reading a book I brought with me. After that, I went to Ben's house to meet him and Peter. Ben was making us dinner with the chorizo Pete bought him for Christmas. When I got to the station, they were in a pub around the corner, so I grabbed a tall dark brew

One day this week Nancy, Ben and I went to McDonald's for dinner. Nancy was dying to try the new "Mega Mac" which is like a Big Mac, but instead of 2 patties, there's four. Nancy eats more food than anyone I have ever seen in my life, yet still is tiny. They were delicious though!

When we were done, Nancy suggested we order more food. Ben and I just looked at each wondering what the hell is wrong with her. We concluded that she must have a tape worm. That's the only logical way.

On a different night of the week, Alan and I went for barbeque. The sides were amazing! They were like all the other barbeque places, but the way they made them was so delicious. Also, the first round of meat we got was fantastic. It was the best tasting barbeque I've ever had.. followed by the worst. Alan ordered the second round of meat, which he told me was beef. I never heard of it before, so I looked it up on my phone's dictionary. The first time I looked it up it said "the white membrane inside bamboo", which I thought could be interesting. Then Alan told me I spelled it wrong. It wasn't daecheong, it was daechang. So I got my dictionary back out and this is what I found: "the gut of a big animal; tripe". I almost threw up immediately. I'm not really an adventurous eater. I know I ate horse, but that was different, it looked like normal meat. When they brought out the plate of intestines, I about lost it. They were huge! Alan told me that they cooked down to 1/3 of the size, which didn't help ease my pain. They also generously threw in a few slabs of liver. Two things I thought I never would eat in my life all at one time. I decided to try both anyway. They weren't my favorite..... the intestines were okay, if you like super fatty meat. After three minutes of chewing (literally) the intestines were the same as when you first started. It was gross. And to add insult to injury, while they were cooking they kept popping and fat was oozing out. I don't know who thought of eating the part of an animal used for poop, but they had some serious problems.

I didn't know what to do with my day off today, so Ben suggested Seoul Olympic Park. Seoul hosted the Olympics in 1988. There were two subway stops that you could take to get there. Unfortunately, I took the one that ended up by the buildings and not the park. It was desolate. There was a lot of construction going on, and it was just plain empty. There were a few tents with people crowded around doing things like banging drums and playing with balloons, but for the most part there were just people sitting in empty tents. The buildings weren't really noteworthy. Maybe I'm just being bitter, but it was really cold. I eventually found the park, which was really cool. It was all dead, but it has serious potential when its warmer. It might be my new weekend spot when its warm out. There were walking paths, gardens, a stream, and benches everywhere.

I thought this tree in the middle of nowhere was a little out of place.. until I found a map of the whole park. This tree was labeled the "Alone Tree".. very creative

The building you so to the left is the swimming pool

I've never seen a magpie at home, but they are everywhere here. They are beautiful birds, but the British seem to be afraid of them. They have some strange superstitions when it comes to them. If you see one, you are supposed to salute it and say something, but if you see two together then its good luck. Fortunately for me, this guy was traveling with a partner

I've been obsessed with trees even since I was little. I was also in and out of woods, covered in poison ivy most of my childhood summers. Something about how they have no rules in how they grow. Here was a clump of some interesting pine trees. The one to the left grew into a 90 degree angle.

This is a view on top of the hill of the Peace Plaza and the Peace Gate

While walking around, I noticed a plaque on the ground that said "photo spot", so I thought it would be a good idea to take a photo. There was one of those information posts next to it with a picture of the park in the spring.

Before..