Open Weekend

I spent the first free weekend from lab with the NSF students.

Friday I met with Joe Kim at Yonsei and we visited a school friend of his from Madison, Wisconsin who had married a Korean girl. Lindsay came up from Suwon for this shindig, and we drank and talked over the football match at John's apartment. They had an adorable kitten and a laser pointer, which was all I needed to have a happy Friday evening.

Hello, kitty.

On Saturday a group of students met at Dongdaemun, or North Gate, to get dinner and do some shopping. We mostly looked at clothes in malls and did some haggling, but nothing too exciting. Tried a waffle snack that had been taunting me for days, but I was left unsatisfied. It smelled much better than it tasted. We walked past a Disco Jump, where teenagers were being violently spun and thrown in a carnival ride while Disco Jump employees did flips over their chairs. It did not look fun. We found an American style bar called Boston to watch the Germany vs. Argentina game. Germany tore it up but I was left dissatisfied again by food, this time a chicken burger at a Lotteria (a knock-off McDonald's).

JHK and I got haircuts.

Posing after the curry meal.

The actual Dongdaemun, or East Gate.

For Fourth of July we decided to hit up a baseball game. The Lotte Giants from Busan were playing the LG Twins in Seoul at the Jamsil Sports Complex. I really wanted a hot dog, but all their game food was dried squid, kimbop, KFC, and Burger King. However, you could bring in anything you wanted, and people did. I saw a guy walking to his seat with two pads of beer like you get from Sam's Club.

And the pitch!

The Giants fans were really into it, with almost non-stop cheering and crazy cheering devices. They blew up orange plastic bags and tied them on their heads, and also used shredded newspapers for pom-poms. The plastic bags even had advertisements printed upside-down so you could read them when you wore the bag "properly."

The boys are correctly wearing their uniforms.

We finished the weekend walking around Coex Mall looking for food. I realized after the meal that I had ordered from a Korean woman who spoke no English. I guess I am learning something here.