Halloween in Korea (just for the foreigners)

Living in Korea for Halloween is a lot of fun. You have to be more creative with your costumes. Most people go to our downtown area and just have a blast! I decided to be a Mexican Drunk Man (aka Baracho). I found the hat and the pancho (a blanket I cut) at a second hand store along with my cowboy boots. I borrowed a belt from a friend and used one I already had to make the gun holster (I bought one additional one at a thrift store as well). I borrow the gun from a friend and that was that. I got several compliments from people and three people even said I had the best costume! Check out some other creative costumes I saw.

My friend Kevin was "Ameri-can" white trash.

this guy was the gogo party guy (a club downtown's mascot I guess)

I couldn't fit into the entrance

Phantom of the Opera in Korean of Course (Sat, Oct 30)

My work went to lunch together on Saturday, October 30 for two reasons. One reason was that several of us were going to see the Phantom of the Opera, but the other reason was because the owner and his wife were leaving our Hagwan. I'll post a different post about what happened. The entire staff came to Lunch at  korean BBQ place. It was delicious! There were 15 people.

They brought the side dishes in on a cart.

This is what an average Korean table looks like during dinner.

Rebekah ans I ended up being twins today!

The hot coals to cook on are built into the tables.

Here is the whole crew!

Snail anyone?

Gloria, SJ, June, and Haena

Lauren and Sharon

The Ladies

The ladies at the University where the performance was held.

Kris and I 

The show was in Korean and I could understand it for the most part. I tried to download it in English and watch it before hand, but for some reason it didn't work.  The set was beautiful and I thought their voices were amazing as well. We had really good seats. We were in the very front section near the stage. Overall it was a really fun time. It was nice to go on an outing with the people from my work. 

Movie Theaters in Korea

There are many things I think the US is way behind on and movie theaters is one of them.

I love going to the movies in Korea!!!

1) You don't have to wait in line to purchase your seats. There are tons of automatic machines to use (the States has this option) and you can also buy them online (I can't figure this out yet and the States has this option as well).
2) If you do choose to wait in line you pick a number and you can sit and wait until your number is called (it's like being at the deli counter).
3) When you buy your ticket, you actually choose your seat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the coolest option ever. You don;t have to get to the theater early to get a good seat. You can get there right before it begins and go to your prearranged seats! This is the coolest thing in the movie world. US needs to figure this out.
4) Food and drinks don't cost an arm and a leg! You can get a large popcorn and 2 large drinks for about $6.75!


Let's just say......I love going to the movies here!


They do play English movies with Korean subtitles. We don't get all of them, but we get a lot to say the least. This weekend I saw "RED" and "Letters to Juliet." A few weeks ago I saw "Eat Prey Love."

Pepero Day (11-11)

November 11th is Pepero Day in Korea. It is a made up Holiday to sell candy to give to your friends and loved ones (like Valentine's Day, which they also celebrate). A Pepero is a cookie stick dipped in chocolate. They are very good. I got several boxes from my students!

Rock Festival Daeseon (Sat, Oct 16)

I went to Daeseon which is about 2 hours North West from Daegu for a  Free Rock Festival with some friends. We left Daegu around 1pm. Here is my journey!

Beth, Julie and Kevin on the train. The seats are cool. You can just push a button and flip the seats to face each other!

Oh, yes you can sing in a Norabang (singing room) on the train. We were cozy inside this little room, but we had a fun time!

The also have a massage room. I sat in the massage chair for about 30 mins. It was only 1000W ($1) for 10 mins! It was amazing!

When we arrived there was some kind of rally. We couldn't quite figure it out, but they were all men and they were chanting and raising their fists to the air.

Took a cab to go hiking. I told kevin to give me a thumbs up and I got this!

An old run down cable car. Well at least I hope it is.

Construction here happens every day of the week. Even on Saturdays and Sundays.

We decided not to go hiking, but we had a fun journey from the mountain back to the EXPO center here the concert would be held. We took a city bus and then got off and walked along the river. We had a map that looked like all we needed to do was follow the river and we would get to our destination! 

Walking bridge.

The old man in the back was wasted and he had a busted up eye from trying to cross. These people were not even with him they were just trying to help him across safely. it was funny and sad all at the same time.  He made it across and his wife was sitting waiting for him. Getting drunk mid-day for Korean men is common. He was probably drinking Soju!

Baseball game

Sunset (can't really see, but the sky was beautiful)

Photo op, reminded me of the wizard of oz forest. din, din, in, to nina.

We walked through a park where many families were flying kites.

Bonsi (spelling sorry) Competition. They were very beautiful.

We made it! This is the bridge we cross to get to the EXPO. It was dusk so all of the lights turned on as we were crossing. It was really nice.

Fireworks!

At the Rock Festival. We got some good food and listened to some not so good music.

I couldn't figure out the mode to use, but these lines in the sky were therese cool lights attached to a motor of some sort flying through the air.

The arches at night!

There was also a ballon festival going on and you could buy a candle ballon and send it off.  This picture is of a random person.

Kevin assembling ours.

1, 2, 3 Liftoff

Hot air balloon

I'm glad this wasn't out balloon

This burst of fire was what gets shot into a hot air balloon

all of the candle balloons!

Back to the Rock show

We went to the Family Mart (Corner Store) and began playing cards. This is where the night really started. The Rock Festival wasn't that good and they ended up shutting it down earlier than they had said. There were sooooo many foreigners here, it was incredible. Everyone ended up at the Family Mart at one point in time before heading downtown. The Taxi's in the city for some reason didn't want to pick anyone up. One guy hit a taxi cab....Way to go dude! We had a blast. Here are the pics from the rest of the night!

We finished the night a t Hookah Lounge. It was beautiful as you can see. We got kicked out when they closed and everyone kinda went their own way. Some people got a motel, some people just stayed up until the first train left back at 6:30am, some people slept in the car, I slept at a DVD bang for a few hours and took the train back at 2pm on Sunday. I met a lot of cool people and had a really great time. When I got home I went straight to bed. It felt soooooo good to be home!