Weekend Highlights

Highlights of this weekend include:

1.  Indian dinner with the Suwon Vegetarian Club

2.  Drinks with the Seoul Friends Circle

3.  National Museum of Korea

4.  Dongdaemun shopping

1.  Suwon Vegetarian Club

As you may know, I have been a vegetarian on and off for many years.  But upon coming to Korea I decided that it would be best to give up my vegetarianism in order to participate more fully in the Korean culture.  Koreans are big meat eaters and there are few vegetarian options on any given menu, if at all.  And even though I have been eating meat without a problem (well, without much of a problem) I am still a vegetarian at heart.

As such, I was excited to hear that the Suwon Vegetarian Club was hosting another dinner get-together.  There were about 15 people in total and most of them were also GEPIK teachers like me.  Most of them were from Canada and the US with one from South Africa and one from England.

Dinner was good and I enjoyed everyone's company.

2.  Seoul Friends Circle

After the dinner was over some of the Suwon vegetarians were going into Seoul for something called a Seoul Friends Circle.  I guess it is a group on Facebook.  The name sounds terribly tacky/hippie and I wasn't convinced it was going to be cool but everyone seemed to have positive impressions about it so I decided to go.

The event was at some bar called Beer Hunter and there were about 50 or so people there for the SFC but the set-up was such that everyone was sitting at these long tables and there really wasn't a lot of mingling between small groups.  Mostly, I talked to the Suwon Vegetarians but that good I enjoyed my conversation with them.

Later, we went to this bar called Monkey Beach in Gangnam that was about 1/2 Korean and 1/2 Foreigner.  It seemed like 1/2 of those foreigners were American soldiers.

One cool thing about Monkey Beach is that you get to drink a "bucket" drink.  I didn't get one but I tasted Zenas's.  He got Banana Punch which tasted exactly like a banana Now and Later candy.

3.  National Museum of Korea

I got to go into the entire museum for free because it was celebrating 100 years (of something..?) and today was the last day that you could go for free, so I decided to go back into Seoul for the museum.

The museum shows the entire cultural history of Korea from the Neolithic times to modern day.  Traditional paintings and ceramics are also on display at the museum.

 

The museum claims to be the largest museum in Asia and the 6th largest in the world in terms of floor space, but it didn't really seem all that big to me.

<--- There is the museum behind the tree and red pagoda.

The inside of the museum is really beautiful and covered entirely in marble.

  

The picture above is a 10-story Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda that if my memory serves me right, was built in 1368.  Oh darn, I looked it up and it was 1348-- so close!

Koreans like their PDA.  Look closely at the picture of the right and you can see a couple making out on the escalator.  busted.  

4.  Dongdaemun Market 

After the museum I took the subway north to Dongdaemun market to buy a pair of pants suitable for work.  Shopping in Korea can be difficult because they don't let you try on shirts-- only pants.  This can be so frustrating and you really have to take a gamble if you want to buy a shirt or sweater. Luckily, you are able to try on pants, shorts, and skirts.  I found a pair of black pants that the saleslady said looks slimming and beautiful on me.  Alright sold!

Finally it was time for me to head back home.  A long ride on the subway and bus... and I was back in Happy Suwon.

A good weekend.  Can't believe it's Monday already.  Time has been moving by fast lately.