Much of the first portion of Spring Break was boring to hear about, unless you enjoy reading about how I slept until noon, watched stupid amounts of t.v. on the internet (watch The Big Bang Theory - sooo funny!!), didn't feel well (how is it that a little cold can make you not feel like moving? I'll never understand) and ate lots of popcorn and oranges. WOO HOO! Big stuff, eh?
When I wasn't being painfully boring, this is what I was up to:
Packing with the Husteds: Dionne, Scott and Jonah had been living across town in a really nice apartment that was too big for one of their friends rather than living in the tighter accommodations provided by our school. The lease on that apartment was up at the end of February, so they had to move into a small apartment up the road from me until a larger, more family appropriate space opens up in May. I spent a delightful afternoon helping them pack up their old apartment. Hanging out with them is always delightful and this afternoon was no exception. It's comforting to spend time with a family, though it makes me miss the witty banter I so enjoy with my family. We had great conversations, a fine mixture of funny and serious, and once we were finished packing, we sat down to an awesome meal of lasagna and green salad, nicely complimented by a red wine. I hadn't really been missing Italian food, but it was such a nice treat to have some familiar food in a family style setting. Plus, Dionne is an amazing cook, so dining at the Husted's was a treat in and of itself. During dinner, more delightful conversation ensued as well as many laughs. I'm so glad to be neighbors (sort of...) with the Husteds. I can only imagine the fun times in store over the next year and a half!
Insadong and Dongdaemun with Diane's friends from college: Much like Jill visited me in January, Diane had some pals to show around Seoul in February. Her college friend Nicki goes to graduate school in Australia, so over her break between semesters, she (and her friend from high school Michael) traveled around Asia for about a month and joined us in Seoul for one of the last portions of their adventure. Also, when Diane and Nicki studied abroad in Japan for a summer, they became good friends with Eri, who now lives in Tokyo and works for Olympus. We spent a day together roaming around Insadong and shopping in Dongdaemun and then ate at a fun barbecue dinner in Hyehwa. Such a fun day! It was fun to meet Diane's friends from another phase of her life. They were delightful and so so fun!
Hongdae: No trip to Seoul would be complete without a raucous night of clubbing in Hongdae, so Saturday night, we indulged a little. Maria and I went with Diane, Nicki and Eri, starting our night with a solid dinner and drinks at a Cajun restaurant in Hongdae. Maria had on some pretty dramatic eye makeup that was attracting looks from men all over the restaurant. We had a blast watching her make eyes with several of the guys in the restaurant. At one point, the group sitting in the adjacent booth got up to leave and they started talking to us. We learned they were on their way to a noraebong and wished them well. A couple of minutes later, one of the guys from the table came back into the restaurant, approached our table and presented Maria with a bottled coffee drink. Almost before she could even thank him, let alone talk to him at all, he disappeared through the door to rejoin his noraebong group. So random. Such is Korea.
We made our way to the same club to which we went when Jill was in town. We danced the night away from 12:30 to 5:30, experiencing several colorful moments with various fellow club goers. Maria met a really nice Korean college boy of whom we all approve. The rest of us tried to avoid getting too familiar with the plethora of intoxicated Korean men who were intrigued by our exotic foreignness. Once again, all I can say is: Oh Korea. At the end of the night, we were in line at the coat check when Nicki started conversing with the bouncer of the VIP section of the club. He invited her to enter the VIP section and then tapped me on the shoulder and told me to join her. We walked in and wandered around the seemingly deserted (given the time of the night) VIP section and found our way up some stairs to a private bar. A couple of female club employees rushed over to us and started talking to us, commenting on how tall we both were. It got pretty weird pretty fast, and just as I was suspicious we were being pimped out to dirty old men with an interest in tall women, they handed us bottles of water and showed us to an area that overlooked the still over-crowded dance floor. We stayed there and danced a little more until Diane texted me, telling me she had our coats and it was time to leave. Another night in Hongdae was thus conquered. Holy cow, was I worthless the next couple of days after staying out all night, arriving home at 7:30 Sunday morning. Ouch, but fun nonetheless.
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