Another Birthday.

I am now 28, still 32 years from the age at which I determined it is appropriate to start feeling old. I spent my second birthday in Korea in almost identical fashion to the first. Maybe one day I will have some sort of life crisis and start doing outlandish things to celebrate the passing of time, but, for now, I am happy to have dinner with my husband and, while we're in Korea, to eat a cake from Sticky Fingers Bakery. We had that dinner at Suji's Deli in Itaewon, in search of tasty sandwiches. They were out of turkey, so I tried pastrami for the first time. It was very meaty, but a good experience for me. And the Russian coleslaw proved an unexpected delight.

Recommencing.

See who has awakened from her month long slumber and finally remembered to take her camera out into the Eastern world. It's me! For weeks I have burdened Dan to remind me to bring my camera when we go places-- for weeks to no avail. But we went down to Itaewon for some half priced Tuesday fish and chips with Korrine, and there I was with my camera triumphantly strapped across my person.

Another hindrance to regular blogging is that our life here has just become our life. We have normal weekend activities that take up the whole of each Saturday. We eat at home on weekdays. Dan has regular language and friend appointments two nights of the week, during which I watch Britain's Next Top Model and knit baby clothes. Lovely things all, but not terribly exciting.

2 for 1 fish and chips, though. That is exciting.

Weekend 45 of 52.

High Street Market

I have been lazy about this post, because I took nary a single picture last weekend. I honestly meant to bring my camera to Itaewon when we went to check out the High Street Market, but by the time I realized I'd left it on the bed, I already had my boots on, and I didn't feel like taking them off to walk back into our room. Boots are labor intensive! But we went to High Street Market to check out some Western foods and deli meats, and we sampled jerkies and breads and we bought a huge jar of pickles, some turkey, ham, and ground beef, and Dan had a cookie. The prices were the lowest we've seen, even when it was just by a couple hundred won.

Another thing about last weekend was that it was Dan's last before going back to work, and all you want to do on your last free weekend is nothing, so that's what we did.

Oh, and now I will post something so old, by now, and so topical that it is pretty much irrelevant, but this is us singing "O Holy Night" at our Christmas show so many weeks ago.


-Serenity

Weekend 28 of 52.

Hongdae Free Market, Seoul Wow Book Festival, "Smart Donuts" at Dunkin Donuts

Dan and I (as the Bell & the Hammer) got to play at the Afternoon Stage of the Hongdae Free Market. The Free Market is an artist run flea market where you can buy handicrafts and hear some music. It's held every Saturday at the Hongdae Playground. Saturday's weather forecast called for pretty much 100% chance of rain at all times, but it managed to lessen to just sprinkling for a couple afternoon hours. That made us glad.

On our way home from the Free Market, as the rain picked up, we walked through the Seoul Wow Book Festival.

On Sunday we had our second Korean hit of Taco Bell and ate some "Smart Donuts" (made with soy milk!) at Dunkin Donuts.

Weekend 26 of 52.

Rain, Dongdaemun Shopping Town, Bangsan Baking Market, Rain, Tri Nations Rugby game at Scrooge's in Itaewon, Seoul Station, Rain

It rained a lot this weekend. Before we knew it was going to rain every day, we had decided to go to Lotte World, the largest indoor amusement park, to celebrate our 26th weekend. Dan wisely discerned that maybe a lot of people would go to an indoor amusement park on a rainy summer day, so we opted for something less. I needed to make another trip to Bangsan Baking Market for powdered sugar and maybe some bran flour, and I wanted to check out Dongdaemun Shopping Town for knitting supplies, so we trudged around through the Dongdaemun markets. We were armed with little more than flip flops and umbrellas, but we managed. And I still walked away with some black rice powder (no bran) and a couple packs of yarn.

That was Saturday. Right as Sunday was starting (read: 12AM), we were at Scrooge's in Itaewon, getting ready to watch South Africa best Australia in a Tri Nations rugby match. After we'd slept it off, we went to Seoul Station to admit freely into the Seoul Museum of Art, which is free every fourth Sunday. Unfortunately, it was August's fifth Sunday. Instead of consuming art with our minds, we consumed some Bennigan's with our mouths and bellies. Then we had some affogato at a cafe across the street. Then back across the street to Lotte Mart (not World, alas) to buy a perch for our TV, which has sat on top of two cardboard boxes for the last six months.

Maybe not a very exciting weekend, but a practical one at least.

Weekend 25 of 52.

Itaewon, Taco Bell, What the Book?, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art

For me, a weekend starts on Friday night. Most Friday nights we just go out to dinner with Korrine. It is usually pretty ordinary, so I don't bring my camera. Last Friday night, though, we decided on Cafe Rumy for our after dinner coffee. We saw what looked like a regular cafe up on the seventh floor of a building in Hongdae. We elevatored up. When we slipped off our shoes and installed them in the provided reusable plastic bags, we knew it was not a regular cafe. We were given the choice of TV room or Wii room. We chose the Wii room and then proceeded to, for W9,000 each and in a room adorned with pillows and balloons, play video games, drink bottomless soda and coffee and tea, and eat free ice cream and complimentary waffles for the next two hours. It was the best. And we got an amazing view of Hongdae from the smoker's pavilion. And I didn't have my camera, but I do have my memories.

Saturday, also with Korrine, we decided we'd wander around Itaewon, since none of us have yet given it a proper walk-through. We ate lunch at Taco Bell. We tried to find Western sized shoes. We checked out some antiques. Then we broadened our horizons at the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art. Three galleries start at ancient celadon pottery and become progressively more modern until, before you know it, you're watching video of a Korean girl hatching out of an egg.

Weekend 1 of 52.

Shabu-Shabu, Hongdae, Gyeongbokgung Palace, The National Folk Museum, Kyobo Book Store, Yongsan Electronics Market, Seoul Tower, Itaewon

We had our first weekend in Seoul, and it was packed full. On Saturday, we were on our feet from 11am til 11pm, and the brunt of that pedestrian time was walking not standing. Our feet were so sore by this evening that we couldn't even bear to go grocery shopping. I really want to try and bake cookies in my toaster oven. Someone online likened it to baking in an Easy Bake oven, so maybe I should scout out some Easy Bake recipes. I never had one of those, so I don't actually know how that works.

Anyhow, I might as well get on with the pictures as they are many and varied. Have we mentioned that we love it here? We do.