Reunion With Mark

Mark has been lonely, jobless, and planning his wedding up in Sinchon so it was about time to pay him a visit. Joon, Tyler and I went to meet him on Saturday night to get some $10 all you can eat barbeque. Gluttony was at a maximum that night. Joons goal was to order 16 rounds total, 4 for each person, but we only made it to 12 and could barely move. All in all we ate around 1.6 pounds each of meat. I felt terrible but it tasted good. 

After barbeque we just went to a bar and had some drinks and played darts. Eventually, Joon and I played the bartender for drinks. We ended up winning a couple of times so we got some free drinks. Also, we bought the lady bartender some drinks so we got some free drinks that way. If you know what to do in Korea you can get a lot of free stuff. When we left, Joon was still hungry. I'm not totally sure how, but I went with him because we had to share a taxi home. We ended up eating kalbi jim, which is just like a rib stew. 

On Sunday, Joon and I went to Coex to get some new shoes. I went to every store in the whole mall to find some shoes, but nothing fit me. They also have an option where you can order the shoes and they'll ship them to your house, but even with that option they didn't have my size. I have never before felt like a giant! A lot of people here are pretty big and tall so I don't understand where they find clothes and shoes. I ended up buying two pairs of converse since they are literally the only things that fit me. I know own 3 pairs of shoes in Korea, and all 3 are chucks. After the mall we went to dinner at an Italian place with Joon's girlfriend Jenny, Nancy, and an old DYB teacher Dami. The food was delicious. They had fresh basil growing all around the restaurant. When you first walk in they give you a card. You then walk around to the stations, order what you want, and they put it on the card. When you are done you take the card to the register and pay whatever you put on it. It was a really convenient way of separating the bill. I ordered a glass of Cabernet, but it was sooo sweet I could barely drink it. It was making my stomach hurt. 

But I did get a delicious, huge calzone. Jenny found a coupon on her smart phone for free salads, so everyone got a free salad. Nancy got a Caprese salad and it had a huge ball of mozzarella. Cheese is few and far between in Korea, and when you find it it is super expensive, so I made sure to eat whatever seh couldn't finish. 

These booths are where they grow the basil

Joon and I started going to sewing again since intensives ended. This project took us 9 hours to finish! It was so long. Mine is on the left and Joon's is on the right. The inside also has two pockets. I went straight to work after so I took it with me. I showed it to Nancy and she offered to buy it on the spot. I figured it would just sit in my apartment anyway and she would actually use it, so she asked everyone how much they would pay for it, and the average is what she gave me, $20! I'm on my way to opening a new line. 

These are the chucks I bought. 

Pete recently got back from England, so we went out for a few drinks. It was Peter, Ben, Tyler, Greg, Joon, Jenny and I. First we had lamb and then went to this really neat bar in some alley way. The guy was a total hippie. He had long hair and took requests for classic rock songs. So we got to chill in the bar, have some beers, and listen to some good music. The covers on the lights on the walls are baseball helmets. It was also the only time I have ever seen a hemp beer, so I had to get it. It was pretty sweet but good nonetheless. 

Everyone has been making fun of my quirky outfits now, saying I never match and that I look like a grandpa. My one class on Tuesday told me my tie looked like a curtain and refused to do any work until I took it off. So much for trying.. I went to go buy some more ties today but ended up buying a whole bunch of other clothes and no ties. Happens every time.. I'm putting myself on house arrest for at least 2 weeks. Ben and Tyler started calling me Arthur, the aardvark cartoon character from the kids show a long time ago.

Jenny snuck this picture of me

So I snuck this one of her

And then I took a legit one of her, because I don't think I have one yet. 

Today, Shyanne, Emily, Cecily, Andrew and I went to cooking class. We made soy bean paste soup, doenjang jiggae, and stir fried fish cakes, odeng bokkum. I was a little under the weather from last night, so Cecily did all the cooking and I ate. 

Cecily's man hands photobombed the picture of the soup. It has soy bean paste, clams, tofu, onions, garlic and peppers in it. It is a famous soup that they serve at most korean restaurants, usually if you order rice. 

This was the chefs. She also made daikon radish kimchi for everyone.

I found this guy when I was shopping today. Also on the street were Super Mario, Garfield, and crusaders carrying a huge cross and talking on a microphone about church (I think, it was in Korean). It was one of the stranger moments I've had so far in Seoul.