Filipino Festival, Lunar New Year and Baseball in the cultural part of town
As payment for helping us put the lock-down on Backstreet Boys tickets, Amy and I took Gus to dinner on Wednesday night, his choice. He picked a Czech brewery in the fancy area of town. It was HUGE and right in the middle were large, copper barrels where they brewed their own beer. Amy likes dark beer, I like light, and Gus doesn’t care, so we compromised on a medium-colored brew that was positively deeeelish! It went down smoother than any beer I ever recall having. The food was pretty good—we got some sort of chicken that was doused in hot sauce. And for a Cajun girl, this stuff was H-O-T! Gus was too macho to admit it, but it forced Amy and I to consume more beer than we’d planned.
Amy and I were out shopping for scarves and decided to take a detour around one area in the Northern part of town. We just sort of meandered around and kept seeing Southeast Asians passing us. As we continued walking, we came across a Filipino Festival! They had all sorts of foods, luxury items (Victoria’s Secret Lotion, anyone? Not for $20!), and goodies that I hadn’t ever seen and that I haven’t seen in a while. Once we reached the end of this block-long party, we didn’t want to turn around and walk back through the same crowd, so we figured we’d look for a detour back to the subway. And upon our walk, we happened across an absolutely beautiful campus! I don’t think we were supposed to be walking around where we were since we aren’t paying tuition there, but nonetheless, it was quite exciting to have the sprawl of a rural campus right in the middle of the world’s 5th largest city! There were trees, shady streets, lots of space between buildings, dormitories (ahh—it brought me back!), chapels, etc. It was really cool! Amy didn’t seem as excited about it as me, though she’s from New York and went to school upstate. I thought it was fantastic! When we finally made our way back to the street after exploring the nearby playground and large visitor maps (for parents, not passers-by), we noticed a big sign for the Catholic University of Korea. If I ever am looking to go to school in Asia, it’d be worth checking out!
I took Sam to see Insa-Dong, the cultural part of town I’ve mentioned many times before. He had never been and I just wanted someone from “the country” to see what this area is known for as well as be able to refer back to this place when our friends come in February or if anyone requests cultural gifts to be shipped back home. Shortly after we exited the subway, this former high school pitcher heard the familiar clanking sound of metal against leather and asked to check it out. I figured I might be in for an afternoon of cheerleading, but I doubt he’ll ever see another batting cage in Seoul, so I obliged. $.50 and about 10 minutes later, we were throwing away our hot chocolate cups and exiting the small building. The whole place wasn’t bigger than 40feet by 20 feet. The floor in the center dipped down to a drain-type thing where all the balls would roll in and be put on a conveyer belt that took them to the machine that launched them back out. Hey, you have to be efficient with small spaces!
This past weekend was Lunar New Year, as many Koreans won’t call it “Chinese New Year.” It’s the second biggest holiday in this country behind Chuseok (their Thanksgiving) and one of the few days when workers don’t spent 14 hours at their offices, since most businesses are closed. I decided I would sleep, catch up on email and dinners with local friends, and go to Seoul Land Amusement Park while I had the extra day off. (Pictures already emailed out—let me know if you didn’t receive them and want to).
There’s a rumor that 50Cent is supposed to play in Seoul on March 1st. I’ve seen rap live (for free) and I think it’s terrible. There are normally 40 people on stage, hollering and spitting all over the microphone, while they rap over a track and do the radio or CD version practically no justice. Yes, I like rap. No, I don’t like rap concerts. Would I pay to see “fitee cen,” as his beloved fans call him? Depends on the company who would join me, but I’d consider it. Would I have paid to see the Backstreet Boys in the USA? Doubtful. But in Korea, it’s entertaining, amusing, and a whole different experience. The men in pastels, standing up and getting excited about a boy band was amusement enough, but I can only imagine a bunch of Koreans attempting to keep up with the lyrics of a fast-paced group jamming about $800 grand worth of dental work.
Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed
Amy and I were out shopping for scarves and decided to take a detour around one area in the Northern part of town. We just sort of meandered around and kept seeing Southeast Asians passing us. As we continued walking, we came across a Filipino Festival! They had all sorts of foods, luxury items (Victoria’s Secret Lotion, anyone? Not for $20!), and goodies that I hadn’t ever seen and that I haven’t seen in a while. Once we reached the end of this block-long party, we didn’t want to turn around and walk back through the same crowd, so we figured we’d look for a detour back to the subway. And upon our walk, we happened across an absolutely beautiful campus! I don’t think we were supposed to be walking around where we were since we aren’t paying tuition there, but nonetheless, it was quite exciting to have the sprawl of a rural campus right in the middle of the world’s 5th largest city! There were trees, shady streets, lots of space between buildings, dormitories (ahh—it brought me back!), chapels, etc. It was really cool! Amy didn’t seem as excited about it as me, though she’s from New York and went to school upstate. I thought it was fantastic! When we finally made our way back to the street after exploring the nearby playground and large visitor maps (for parents, not passers-by), we noticed a big sign for the Catholic University of Korea. If I ever am looking to go to school in Asia, it’d be worth checking out!
I took Sam to see Insa-Dong, the cultural part of town I’ve mentioned many times before. He had never been and I just wanted someone from “the country” to see what this area is known for as well as be able to refer back to this place when our friends come in February or if anyone requests cultural gifts to be shipped back home. Shortly after we exited the subway, this former high school pitcher heard the familiar clanking sound of metal against leather and asked to check it out. I figured I might be in for an afternoon of cheerleading, but I doubt he’ll ever see another batting cage in Seoul, so I obliged. $.50 and about 10 minutes later, we were throwing away our hot chocolate cups and exiting the small building. The whole place wasn’t bigger than 40feet by 20 feet. The floor in the center dipped down to a drain-type thing where all the balls would roll in and be put on a conveyer belt that took them to the machine that launched them back out. Hey, you have to be efficient with small spaces!
This past weekend was Lunar New Year, as many Koreans won’t call it “Chinese New Year.” It’s the second biggest holiday in this country behind Chuseok (their Thanksgiving) and one of the few days when workers don’t spent 14 hours at their offices, since most businesses are closed. I decided I would sleep, catch up on email and dinners with local friends, and go to Seoul Land Amusement Park while I had the extra day off. (Pictures already emailed out—let me know if you didn’t receive them and want to).
There’s a rumor that 50Cent is supposed to play in Seoul on March 1st. I’ve seen rap live (for free) and I think it’s terrible. There are normally 40 people on stage, hollering and spitting all over the microphone, while they rap over a track and do the radio or CD version practically no justice. Yes, I like rap. No, I don’t like rap concerts. Would I pay to see “fitee cen,” as his beloved fans call him? Depends on the company who would join me, but I’d consider it. Would I have paid to see the Backstreet Boys in the USA? Doubtful. But in Korea, it’s entertaining, amusing, and a whole different experience. The men in pastels, standing up and getting excited about a boy band was amusement enough, but I can only imagine a bunch of Koreans attempting to keep up with the lyrics of a fast-paced group jamming about $800 grand worth of dental work.
Copyright 2005 Olivia R. Reed
posted by LSULiv | 2:21 PM
1 Comments:
Missy,
You really do have a gift for writing and telling an interesting story, thank you for sharing it with us. By the way, to help cool a meal that is too spicy-hot, milk or some other kind of fat will help reduce the heat.
I love you, I miss you!
Dad
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