As I've mentioned before, it's been a busy, busy last week or so. But busy in a good way! So let's not waste any time and get right to it, shall we?

We had a field trip on May 3rd. Woo! Only...we didn't go to the castle I thought we were going to. Instead, we went and hiked up Ilsan mountain- which makes me kind of glad I hadn't done it before.

Though 'hike' may be a strong word for it- it was uphill, sure...but the path was paved, and it wasn't that far. Which didn't stop some of the other teachers from complaining and getting tired, but I just laughed at them a little bit, 'cause I'm callous like that.

In any case, we all went up the little mountain- the kids brought their parents, too. We proceeded to have a field day sort of thing, where the parents played some silly relay games, the kids went and poked at nature-y things, and otherwise folks had a good time. Not a bad way to spend a Tuesday, I must say.

Then, on Thursday, I had a proper day off! It was a Korean holiday called Children's Day- a day where kids get to stay home from school and get presents and such. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, so I cleaned myself up a bit and went out and about. There was something big going down over at the local park- lots of vendor's stalls (at least a third of which were selling plants), TONS of people, and otherwise a big ol event.

So after bouncing around the Children's day activities for awhile, I decided I didn't wanna go back to my apartment just yet- so I headed on over to the movie theatre at the mall by my house, at which point I saw Thor. Or "Tor," in Korean, as they don't really have a 'th' sound.

In any case, seeing a movie in Korea is about the same as seeing it in the US- just, y'know, with Korean subtitles at the bottom. That, and when you buy a ticket, you have an assigned seat number, like at a play or an opera or something.

A lot of the big action movies come out in Korea before the US. Neat! There'll be no problem seeing the big blockbusters over here (I'm particularly stoked for Captain America in July, and the new X-men movie looks promising), but if I want to see something obscure and grindhousey like Hobo With a Shotgun, I'm on my own.

I suppose it makes sense, though, as back in the states, most of the Asian flicks (Chinese, Japanese, or Korean) I tended to watch were big action movies. Or, well, more obscure action movies as time went on, but you get the idea. People getting kicked in the head tends to translate well. Though it's funny, as the English-language radio station I listen to all the time sometimes runs commercials saying "You know, there are Korean movies besides Oldboy out there."

Moving on, Saturday was a fun day! I once again met up with my cousin (and my other cousin, who was still in town) and a friend of ours, and we bounced around Insadong in the afternoon. Insadong is a very popular (some might say touristy) neighborhood for 'traditional' Korean art and such. Lots of antique/souvenir shops, lots of art galleries- fun stuff! 

Of course, it's pretty well developed- the main drag is pretty much an outdoor mall- even if the Starbucks and other chain stores have their signs written in hangul for a more 'traditional' look. It gets more interesting once you start getting into the various side alleys, however.

I also managed to stumble across what I guess was some sort of toy museum- lots and lots of pop culture epherma. Kinda like the Sci Fi lounge in St. Louis (if not nearly as cool). Just goes to show my talent for finding the nerdiest corner of any given location.

Insadogn gets more interesting when you get into the narrow side alleys and such. We had a late lunch/early dinner at a little dumpling resturant, and damn if it wasn't absolutely delicious. I also made it a point to get some bamboo wine there, as, well, I've never had it before!

 

Fairly decent- tasted like a sweet white wine. Hints of apple, even. Coolest part was it coming in a bamboo tube, I'd say.

So after lunch, we bounced around a little bit more, and went to Jogyesa temple- it's the main Buddhist temple in Seoul, and it was all lit up and ready for the Lantern Festival. I snapped a couple of pictures- but I'm sure a little bit of googling will find far better pics by far better photographers than I.

The Lantern Festival concludes with a Lantern Parade, which is a really fun sort of spectacle. Instead of floats like in a western parade, they had big light-up lanterns on wheels- some of which were really impressive. My favorite was a lantern of a turtle ship that shot bursts of fire from its cannons- unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a good picture of it. Curses! Have some other pics instead.

So we wrapped it up early...ish, and I caught the train back home. Last few days have been rather uneventful in comparison. I've got today off too, on account of Buddha's birthday...but it's kinda gloomy and grey out, so I don't think I'll be going out tonight. Though I did head into Seoul earlier- I had some absolutely delicious ribs for lunch with my cousin and my other cousin before she hopped the train to the airport. Just taking the time now to catch up on the blog posting and otherwise take it easy- I've got some other stuff to do if I'm feeling ambitious, but nothing else of note.

Though after all these holidays and field trips and such, I've been spoiled- soon enough, I'm gonna have to get back to a regular work week! Pity.