힘을 내 이만큼 왔잖아*

* = have strength, we've come this far (him-eul-nae, ee man-keum wasst-jan-ah)

An already-embarrassing obsession with K-Pop has lent itself nicely to creating titles for these posts. The above line is from an SNSD song called "Him Nae." For the latest additions to my collection, courtesy of Hayeon, see this, this, or this.

Aside from skyping until late last night, thus forcing me to do my homework at an ungodly hour, I had a fabulous weekend, and I finally bring you photographs of my travels, along with documented proof that I am, indeed, in Korea.

Friday night, following dinner & shopping with Becky and Sejin, I finally ventured out to Hongdae with a bunch of people to check out the clubbing scene. Evidently, Koreans do not really have a time limit on partying; we arrived at Noise Basement via taxi (subways close at midnight on weekends; WHY?) at around 1AM to find the place completely packed, incredibly smoky, and loud. Still, it was a lot of fun, and when we finally escaped at 3:30ish, the club was still just as packed, smoky, and loud. When do these people go home? Anyway, we ourselves didn't even head back, but instead went to the nearest noraebang (karaoke room) for a few hours of screaming/singing. The ajumma running the whole operation must have liked us for some reason, because she let us stay for an extra 40 minutes or so, giving me enough time to belt out some American classics as well as Super Junior's "Don't Don" and "Maria," a track from a great (if morally ambiguous) Korean film called 200 Pounds Beauty. Look it up on Youtube.

You know what is not a great Korean film? This godawful movie we actually paid money to watch on Saturday night at a DVD bang (like a noraebang, this is kind of a like a Blockbuster that allows you to watch the movies there for a small fee). It was called My Wife Got Married, and I'm not even going to bother hyperlinking it because that is how much I hated it. When we got there, I had wanted to watch another Korean movie that Hayeon had recommended, but the stupid nerd at the front desk talked us out of it, saying that it was 재미없어, not interesting or funny. Well, his replacement suggestion of My Wife Got Married was neither interesting, funny, or even sensical; basically, it was a mess of a film. Sejin & Lee Sunsaengnim, my speaking teacher, said that it was really popular when it came out last year, and I can't for the life of me figure out why. FAIL. Win some, lose some, I guess?

Anyway.

Sunday was by far the most awesome day of the weekend, beginning with some much-needed sleep after late-ish nights on Friday and Saturday. After lunch, I met up again with Becky and Sejin, whose wonderful mother drove us out to a galbi restaurant for perhaps the best dinner I've had here in Korea. Galbi (갈비) is essentially beef, marinated in I don't know what, and grilled on your table right in front of you. Once it's cooked, you can eat it however you want, really, but the best way by far is to make a little lettuce envelope. Start with a lettuce leaf; in the center, put a piece of the galbi, some bean paste, garlic, chives, vegetables, basically whatever suits your fancy, really. Wrap it up all up as best you can and then stuff the whole thing into your mouth. Lather, rinse, repeat. Seriously, so awesome. Perhaps not the most glamorous thing to eat, but one of the best, for sure.

Following dinner, Sejin's mom took us to 엔 서울 타워, North Seoul Tower, a popular tourist destination in. I wish I had some sort of history to back it up with, but evidently it is/was a communications tower that has now become popular for providing a magnificent panoramic view of the city:

Seoul by night

You can take a Namsan cable car to get to the Tower, followed by an elevator that can take you up to view the city. It was a touch foggy yesterday (as it always seems to be in Seoul), but it was awesome nonetheless. Sejin's mom is fabulous, and I wish I could have spoken more to her (she doesn't speak any English whatsoever, so it made communicating a little difficult). Hopefully, by the end of the summer, we'll be able to have a conversation. That way, I can thank her for the fact that she not only generously treated us to dinner and touristy things, but also gave Sejin her credit card and told her to buy fruit (which is ridiculously expensive here) for me and Becky so that we are getting enough vitamins and such. ISN'T THAT SO CUTE? SO SWEET!

Thus beings week 3, with some vocab review and more head-spinning hyper-concentration for 4 hours at a time in the KLEC building. It's actually quite fun, though, and I am enjoying it a lot. The next few days should bring another epic encounter with Jihye, perhaps more studying/food/shopping with Sejin, an outing to Hongdae with the rest of Level 3, and hopefully more karaoke. And food.

I close now with some pictures for your viewing pleasure, as well as with a note that I miss you all (really, really, really - especially T^3, and Hayeon, I can't wait til you are here!), and continue to keep in touch, yeah?

From Week 1's trip to Gyeongbokgung Palace

The gardens around the Palace; a pagoda and some gorgeous mountains. Probably the coolest thing about Seoul is how the whole city is wedged completely within breathtaking mountains.

The palace facade; the changing of the guard

view from inside the palace, with a crazy backdrop of Seoul, the metropolitan center; a blend of old & new if I ever saw one. If it weren't for all the freaking kimchi, sometimes I might think I'm in NY.

dessert from Waffle It Up! near E-Dae. Sejin & I went here on Friday, and it was so good - waffles with blueberry yogurt & chocolate gelato. On that note, I promise to post more pictures of Korean food...

me & Sejin's mom! You can see the galbi cooking right on the table, along with the 8000 other side dishes...

L-R: Becky, Sejin's mom, Sejin, me; outside the restaurant!

view from the Namsan Cable Car

At the top of Namsan, couples put locks on a link fence as a declaration of their undying love for each other. There were thousands of them. I think you're supposed to chuck the key over the ledge; as Sejin put it, probably half of these couples no longer speak to each other.

Sejin and Becky, two wonderful, wonderful people! I'm so happy to have these two in Seoul :)