Monday

Ok, so I went to Suseong Lake for the annual Duck boat race last Sunday. There are pictures in the slide show and click it to see them in full screen. I rode up to the lake with people from church. Ben was my partner, so we started to pedal, but our shoes were too big to turn it. So, we took our shoes off and were barefoot. We did a lap around the lake, fairly small lake, but fun no less. We came in third place. A good time was had by all. I met another guy from Australia and his wife and young kid, I love the Aussie accent. I went back to Ben’s flat and he cooked mashed potatoes with pork, mushrooms, cheese, butter, it was better than the potato bowl at KFC. We listened to the U.S. military radio station, which is fitting b/c Pete is stationed here, he tells us about his exercises and routines, interesting stuff. Then we played Halo and killed some aliens.

I had a pretty uneventful week at work, some classes are really quiet, others has some rowdy kids, I have one class with one student, one with two people. Saturday I went out with Ben, we had planned on getting some stuff at Costco. But, he forgot his card, so we decided to go anyway, so we got there and we ate at the food court. We had a hot dog and Bulgolgi and chicken bake. The Bulgogi is a seasoned beef, it tasted like a philly cheese steak. Then, we set off to find the video game store, but we took the wrong exit out of Deagu Station, there are tons of exits. So, we walked through the market, quite interesting, people selling all kinds of stuff. Then it was time to meet up with folks for dinner at a Japanese place to eat and then to CVG to watch Transformers. You have assigned seats at the theater, it probably holds several hundred people. And the Hollywood movies are all in Korean subtitles.

pictures

3rd week

I am trying to play billa bowl, it's a cross b/w pool and bowling, you use a pool stick and try to knock down bowling pins, it even has a gutter!

I got a pizza last week, and guess what ‘side’ it came with? How about pickles. I went downtown, which is about a 30 minute bus ride from my place. Downtown is a big shopping district with a lot of people walking about, but cars sometimes drive down the roads. It is not very pedistrian friendly here. I’m not sure if there are any traffic rules. Cars do u turns at any point on the road, in intersections, on sidewalks, or just in the middle of the road. A Korean student at church told me that the police are a little lax because when you finish high school everyone has to go in the military, the Korean form of the peace corp, or in the police. So, people chose the police because I suppose it’s easier.

After church Sunday, some folks ate at Popeye’s and then went to PC room to play Star Craft, a computer game. We had about 8 people playing together, which makes it fun. It cost 1,000 W per hour, which came to about $2 for 2 hours. Pretty cheap deal.

I got a haircut this week which involved a typical haircut, then he whipped the hair off my face with a block of foam, which was rather hard. Then, a woman took me over and washed my hair at the sink. Then, she dried my hair by using her knuckles and she pounded my head with her fists or something. And so she combed my hair and place and off I went.

Sunday

Sunday, Ben invited me to go to his church at the Domti subway stop, called Domshin Church. I asked some folks at a church a couple of buildings down from me. A girl told the bus driver to let me off at the subway. The bus driver told me when to get off, then I went down to the subway station. I asked a worker there which line to take to go to the church. I had a brochure with a little map on it, which made it easier for directions. I found the church, but I had arrived a tad bit early. The english service didn’t start til 2pm and I arrived at around 11am. So, walked around the neighborhood a bit. There was a Popeye’s chicken place and a Burger King. I wandered into an arcade, a bunch of teenage boys playing Tekken and the like.

I made my way back to the church and up 5 flights of stairs and people started asking me where I’m from and the even tougher question where do I live. I was satisfied that I made it there. I met a guy from Australian, girl from South Africa, and the usual American folks. Some of the teachers have been in Korea for 3 or 4 years. But, having thought ahead I took a picture of my bus stop so I could show people. It was in Korean no less. But when I told them how I came to church, they said I had to transfer subways lines to come. But I took the #2 bus and then went down to the subway and took the train to the stop. They could not understand how I made it without transferring lines. But, I will take it nonetheless.