Happy Easter!

Yesterday, while on the subway, I realized something. Namely, teaching in Korea is a lot like college. You're young, you don't have a car, you spend a lot of time in classrooms, and it's both easy to party super-hard, or just be a hermit and hang out in your little room somewhere. Also, the beer is pretty crappy. Though for the full college experience, I'm gonna have to find some nerds to play D&D with.

I've been taking it pretty easy this last week. As I mentioned in my previous post, last Saturday was crazy ridiculous, so it took me a day or two to get caught up on sleep. Fascinating, I know. So thus far, my weekdays have the same typical pattern. I could stand to mix things up a bit, probably- I imagine I'll be hanging out at the local park a bit more once things get warmer. Not to say it's dreary right now, but the trees are still beginning to bloom. Greenery, and all that.

Though I still make progress! Yesterday, I got on the subway and popped over a station, whereupon I got myself a Korean CostCo card. Woo. The costco itself was a ZOO- not too surprising, considering it was a weekend. I kind of wonder if I should've brought my camera- but then again, pallets full of olive oil probably aren't all that interesting.

The actual shopping part of CostCo is underground- the lack of natural light, and the plain grey concrete everywhere reminded me of a bunker (which, for all I know, might be its secondary purpose). They were giving out tons of free samples, which was neat: ice cream, cheese, wine, beer (Miller, admittedly, but free beer is awesome), and even vitamin supplements. I passed on that one, as taking an unidentified pill in an outlet store struck me as a bad idea. Though the real kicker about that is, it's not like you can 'taste' a vitamin supplement pill, or even feel the effects right away. Go fig.

The sample-highlight was the cheese, though- I had a sample of genuine blue cheese, and I couldn't help but melt a little once I had it. I mean, it's been two months since I've had any cheese besides Korean-made imitation-American (which is good for fast food and/or grilled cheese sandwiches, and not much else). I went home with some tortillas and a two pound block of colby jack, so that's exciting. Quesadillas! They will be delicious and all for me.

I did more exciting (ish) stuff today, however. I made it a point to wake up early, so I could make the hour subway ride down to the Myong-dong cathedral for their 9am English mass. There's actually a catholic church a bit closer to my neck of the woods...but I've no idea how to get there. No nearby subway stations, unfortunately.

So that's why I went to Myong-Dong Catherdral. It's over a century old, but in very good condition. I'm afraid I didn't snap too many pictures- as I didn't want to be TOO touristy, especially since I was there for the service. I got there about 15 minutes early, which worked out well- as by the time Mass started, it was standing room only. Probably about an even mix between Koreans and expats.

 If you look at the left of my crappy photo, you'll notice a flatscreen TV. They had TV's & speakers mounted on the pillars, showing the altar. I'm sure they're not the first Cathedral to do this, but I couldn't help but be amused at the juxtaposition between old & new. Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if they do the same in Rome, and the Cathedrals are a lot older there.

The service was surprisingly short, too- started at 9, and we were out of there by 9:50- and as we were walking out, there were already people lined up for the next mass (whenever that was). Go fig! Again, due to the crowds, I'm afraid I didn't get very many pictures.

The funny thing is, Myong-dong is a big shopping district- so you walked out of church, turned the corner, and you get to see this.

The place is an absolute warren of shopping malls and restaurants and the like. Interesting enough- though in Korea, not much tends to be open in the morning. Things are open late, sure- but most stuff doesn't get going 'til at least 11 or 12, at the very earliest.

Not that there was all that much to get my attention in the first place. A large percentage of the stuff there is either for clothes (and we all know how fashionable I am), for cellphone stuff (and I already have a cellphone), or skin-care beauty makeup girly stuff. I did find a little record store, but I didn't feel like sticking around 'til it opened. Perhaps I should do s'more research into finding cool/nerdy stuff to poke around.

So after meandering through Myong-Dong, I hopped back on the subway- a few stops later, I was back at Craftworks, whereupon I treated myself to brunch (with beer, natch). They've just released a new IPA, which is nice & bitter. I'm not a huge hop-head, but again, it's always nice to appreciate a proper beer (especially considering how crappy Korean beer is).

So yeah. Did some reading, enjoyed my brunch, and...headed back to Ilsan. I did a little shopping, a little writing, and otherwise had a nice and lazy Sunday. And since it's Easter, I nabbed some Korean candy- this stuff called peporo- cookie sticks dipped in chocolate. It's basically the Korean equivalent of Pocky, and therefore delicious.

So yeah. Uneventful week, but there's nothing wrong with that. I've got some nebulous plans for this next week, however- including possibly going to see the RockTigers at long last. Whooo!