Everland

So for Allison's birthday we went to Seoul to see a play and then to this place called Everland which is like the Korean version of DisneyWorld. So we are in Seoul walking around and I see this sign that you can see below. Mass individualism, definitely an oxymoron, but also the best description I have ever seen to describe the Korean people. Just had to take a picture.So there actually is this 30 or 35 foot tall Gandalf statue outside of a movie theater where we were in Seoul. How can I not take a picture with it? It would be impossible. So you can see Allison and I mugging it up in the shadow of the great wizard.

That night we went and saw the Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged. It was really funny and we got to meet the actors afterwards who were really cool. Below is the stage, they had this really cool graffiti of all the play names. I really enjoyed it!

We stayed at this home that had been converted to a hostel $10 and the owner is really cool. Always a good thing to know. Norbert really like the lady who managed the hostel we stayed in. Can you tell?

The next day we went to Everland. Little children love Everland, see?

And so do big children! We got fairy/butterfly wings that we wore all day long. We still have them.

Then it was time for some rides. Check out Allison, me and Norbert on the pirate ship. They named them after Christopher Columbus' ships. We rode the Nina.

It was the spring flower festival while we were there, so there were literally millions of flowers. I took some pretty tulip pictures especially for you mommy!

Then we headed over to the safari part of the park where Allison and I had our first camel rides. Yeah, I know they are supposed to be for the kids, but I wanted to go on the camel!

They had a wild animal enclosure which is the only place in the world where lions and tigers live side by side. They had quite a few lions and tigers and the only thing between you and the animals is the glass windows of the bus. Allison managed to get some video of the tiger, who was totally following the bus. It was so cool!

Then we went into the bear enclosure and there was a grizzly who walked next to the train. The video isn't as good as the tiger so I didn't post it. This grizzly had to be 9 or 10 feet tall. I never want to meet one of them in the wild.


They have the themed areas of course, so there is Safariland, Out West area, Rockville and European Village. So this is what Koreans think Europe is like.But that worked for us, because they had fabulous food in this part, BBQ ribs and rotisserie chicken, stuff you don't really get over here. And real beer! Korean beer is not so hot. We absolutely devoured the food, partly missing Western food and partly cause theme parks are hard work! You can tell Norbert likes his chicken, no one is touching it!
On the bus home, we decided that no Korean outing would be complete without some soju at the end of it all. So we broke out our Everland logo baby tiger cups and went to town. For those of you who do not know, soju is a very strong and very cheap Korean liquor that tastes the way rubbing alcohol smells. But it works and it is inexpensive so who am I to complain.
All in all, we had a fabulous time at Everland and I hope Allison enjoyed her birthday weekend as much as I did. I will probably have to go back to Everland before I leave Korea. Who wants to come with?

First Weekend Trip to Seoul

So we went to Seoul on Saturday. Unfortunately since we left really early I do not have any pictures. But Mark, Norbert and I went. We went to COEX which is the big mall, it even has an aquarium. But most importantly we went down to Yongsan which is the largest technology market in the world. It is massive, blocks and blocks of all the technology you can imagine, indoors and outdoors. And the prices rock. I got a 500GB hard drive for only $135. The bus ride is about an hour and a half but it costs less than $10 so you can totally do a day trip. When we were wandering around Yongsan, there was this vendor selling what I thought was seaweed out of these big metal heated bowls. Then I got closer and it smelled bad, yeah it was totally bugs. People are just eating them out of cups. I don't think I am going to be that adventurous. I just don't want to puke on anyone. Ewww!!!! Maybe I will work my way up to it, but probably not.

Joe and Norbert's Birthdays

So Norbert and Joe's birthdays were both last week so we had some festivities to celebrate. Below is James he was not with us the last night I took photos so I made him take one all by himself. He was very amiable about it, but I am pretty sure he had already put back a few by this point, so....

So it was really cool because Norbert brought his Wii to the bar for the party so we went hard core on the Wii sports, bowling, boxing, etc. It was really fun. I must say I am better at Wii sports than real sports. Unfortunately, it seems the Wii did not so much like the smoke is now dyingish.

There were these two cute little kids with their parents having dinner at the bar. Granted, not the best idea I should think to have your kids at a bar at like 10:30pm on a Saturday night, but I digress. The kids were totally eyeing the Wii so we let them play with us. The little girl totally kicked all our butts! Of course, this made her little brother a bit cranky, siblings are the same all over the world. They are adorable though!

Below is my new friend who works at the foreigner bar Road King, Ahn Jeong Hwa. We were at Road King that night and a lot of times when we go out. I totally love her, she is adorable. We are Facebook friends now so it is official. :)

Cute picture of Joe and I.....

The guy who owns Road King has a band and they played that night. Since it was Norbert's birthday, they had him be the guest singer. As you can see, the boys got quite into it. I stood back a safe distance and took pictures. It was cool though, the band was good, they do covers.

Meet the Boys

So I am the only girl at my branch. Figures right? So it is me and five boys now. From left we have, Joe, Hwoang, Ryan, Mark and Norbert. Ryan actually just left he was only here the first week that I was. James works with us too but he did not go out with us this night, so I don't have a picture of him yet. We went and got Korean BBQ. I am not sure if you can see it but there are silver wells in the table. They put really hot coals in there and you cook your own meat. Usually we get pork and beef. Also, for a lot of Korean restaurants you still sit on the floor and take off your shoes. It is kinda cool. Though after a while your legs fall asleep sometimes.
So this is Ryan, I had to take a picture of him cause he was leaving. :( Bye Ryan, have a good time back in Canada! Mark and I are technically his replacement. It is kinda funny because Ryan, Joe and Hwoang are all Canadian so until Mark and I came, they outnumbered the Americans. But now not so much. They still try to claim the majority by making James an "honorary Canadian" and saying that I count as Canadian too because I lived like 20 minutes from Canada. Kinda silly. So far I am having a pretty good time here. I do like my boys, they are a lot of fun. Of course, I don't even try to keep up with them when they drink. That would be a very bad plan! So a lot of nights we go out for Kochimi (sp?) which is meat on a stick or to the kimbop place for an assortment of Korean food. Food here is cheap which is really nice.

So Norbert's birthday party is tonight. He managed to get it set up at one of the westerner bars (Road King) so that they would let him set up his Wii for everyone to play. Should be entertaining to say the least. That is him to the left with the bone in his teeth. He is quite a character. So that is the latest and greatest from Korea. I finished my first week of teaching and my kids don't seem to hate me yet. So far so good. Don't forget to drop me a line or IM or Skype me. I miss you all!