Seoul'd Out
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
1
First and foremost, I apologize for taking a fortnight to write my next entry. For those that are unaware, I was forced to attend EPIK Orientation in Seoul for the past 6 days. Initially, this sounded like a dream vacation; miss four days of work and get to visit Seoul. Awesome, right? Not at all. The training was a complete joke, for none of the courses were even mildly relevant to the type of school that we teach in. Furthermore, the staff told us that my school is breaking contract since we do not have co-teachers in our rooms. The only benefit was that I met a lot of great new teachers and was able to spend some free time in Seoul, albeit very little. Ray and I found a cool jazz bar a few blocks from our dormitories. Yes, that's right. We were boarded in college dormitories. Here's a sneak peek into our spacious room setup.
We were also given a random roommate, and I was very grateful that my roommate was excellent. He was from South Africa and is living in the same province as me. I just want to show you what we were greeted with before seeing the penthouse suites that we spent almost a week in.
This was an all guys floor, too. I was kind of speechless.
Now for the good parts of Seoul. I was finally able to find some soccer shoes that fit my monstrous Westerner feet (I wear a size 10 US; far from outrageous...). These are the first material goods I have purchased since arriving in Korea, and it felt great.
Here in Korea, almost all of the fields are turf, so there was no use in getting firm ground cleats. Not like you really care, anyway.
More proof that Itaewon in Seoul is pretty great:
That's me + my old friend, A & W Root Beer. Yes, it was fantastic. Proof below.
That kind of shit-eating grin doesn't create itself. Only aged vanilla dolloped in carbonated water can do that to a man's face.
That wasn't the only guilty pleasure I experienced during my stay in Seoul; feast your eyes on this, umm.. feast.
Yes, it was incredible. It was honestly some of the best french toast I have ever tasted, and I have had my fair share. Here's my friend's breakfast:
The potatoes were awesome. 'Nuff said.
More western food coming right at ya!
Lamb gyros at Mr. Kebab; they were great and really cheap. My set was 5900 won, or about $5. It was quite filling, but that didn't stop us from going to a Paraguayan restaurant mere hours later. Sorry, forgot to take pictures of that... After meal two, we all went to a gay bar since one of our friends is a lesbian. Nick and I went out of our way to order the girliest drinks on the menu, so he got a Velvet Hammer and I got a frozen strawberry daiquiri. Right before we left, I went to the restroom. I am so glad that I did; this was the result.
Words. I have none.
During orientation, there were a few cool activities, all of which we did on Sunday. We went to Incheon and experienced classic Korean pottery and was able to paint on a mug. Here's my version of Starry Night.
Are you blown away? You should be. Your friend/acquaintance/enemy is much more talented than you will ever dream of being. I'm sorry. Need further proof? OK. Check out my Korean painting skillzzz!
Take a good look because it is about to become the Republic of Korea's flag (magnets sold separately).
Enough with Seoul; next will be more letters from awesome kids.
We were also given a random roommate, and I was very grateful that my roommate was excellent. He was from South Africa and is living in the same province as me. I just want to show you what we were greeted with before seeing the penthouse suites that we spent almost a week in.
This was an all guys floor, too. I was kind of speechless.
Now for the good parts of Seoul. I was finally able to find some soccer shoes that fit my monstrous Westerner feet (I wear a size 10 US; far from outrageous...). These are the first material goods I have purchased since arriving in Korea, and it felt great.
Here in Korea, almost all of the fields are turf, so there was no use in getting firm ground cleats. Not like you really care, anyway.
More proof that Itaewon in Seoul is pretty great:
That's me + my old friend, A & W Root Beer. Yes, it was fantastic. Proof below.
That kind of shit-eating grin doesn't create itself. Only aged vanilla dolloped in carbonated water can do that to a man's face.
That wasn't the only guilty pleasure I experienced during my stay in Seoul; feast your eyes on this, umm.. feast.
Yes, it was incredible. It was honestly some of the best french toast I have ever tasted, and I have had my fair share. Here's my friend's breakfast:
The potatoes were awesome. 'Nuff said.
More western food coming right at ya!
Words. I have none.
During orientation, there were a few cool activities, all of which we did on Sunday. We went to Incheon and experienced classic Korean pottery and was able to paint on a mug. Here's my version of Starry Night.
Are you blown away? You should be. Your friend/acquaintance/enemy is much more talented than you will ever dream of being. I'm sorry. Need further proof? OK. Check out my Korean painting skillzzz!
Take a good look because it is about to become the Republic of Korea's flag (magnets sold separately).
Enough with Seoul; next will be more letters from awesome kids.
More like a shame dispenser. Pink, cartoony, warning for AIDs. Who wants to have sex after fingering that thing? I think I might purchase aidskorea.org for free traffic!