So there is such a thing called a weekend. Over the past few weekends I've been spending more and more time in Seoul and one can say that this metropolis has...
But just like the rudimentary, home-made bunkbeds from history's most fantastic movie, you've got to do a little bit of work before you have that extra space in which 'to practice your karate'. So before I talk about the weekend, the proverbial bunk-beds I speak of is the teaching week. The director of the school at which I'm working has been asking the teaching staff to 'really outperform themselves and to go beyond the call of duty to ensure that the kids see improvements that surprise even ourselves'. In other words she said 'Fit in or fuck off'. Very scary stuff, indeed, especially since she can't speak English and must communicate with us through a translator. It was a weird experience having to first listen to the Director spit scathing threats at us and then turn to hear the calmer, English version of it all. When all was said and translated with, the Kindergarten-class kids still got to graduate.
When Friday rolled around, Sebastien, a coworker, and I tried out a new restaurant down the road. I forget the place's name but I haven't forgotten how good their KRW20 000 (about USD$20) buffet was. Beef is a scarce, expensive commodity in this country. It has something to do with space restrictions and a whole bunch of other boring reasons. When the Western, beef-eating consumer (such as myself ) visits this land their fix of the typically abundant and conveniently accessible beef resource becomes almost non-existent. To say that Sebastien and I were excited at the prospect of this until-you-can't-move themed meal was accurate, and we ended up refueling on beef and pork more than once.
Right, on to Saturday. I'll give you the short of it all. A little bit of morning meditation in Anguk preceded a coffee chat-about-life with a New Zealander, a German, a Guatemalan and three Koreans. Hell of a thing hearing all the different stories. Then I took the train to Mangu, and at one of the transfer stations I chased a bit of tail...
The reason I was visiting Mangu was to find a an abandoned amusement park known as Yongma Land. It's one of those dilapidated old places that got left behind with the onset of the more popular theme parks. It was quite a thing getting to this place. I had to scour the suburbs' back alleys, stopping twice to ask for directions from wary-faced Koreans. Each of their responses consisted of a pointing finger and a simple-English 'over there'. I say simple English, but back home an 'over there' and a seemingly aimless point also warrants a sufficient response for questions with regard to directions. However...
Do you even English...
When Friday rolled around, Sebastien, a coworker, and I tried out a new restaurant down the road. I forget the place's name but I haven't forgotten how good their KRW20 000 (about USD$20) buffet was. Beef is a scarce, expensive commodity in this country. It has something to do with space restrictions and a whole bunch of other boring reasons. When the Western, beef-eating consumer (such as myself ) visits this land their fix of the typically abundant and conveniently accessible beef resource becomes almost non-existent. To say that Sebastien and I were excited at the prospect of this until-you-can't-move themed meal was accurate, and we ended up refueling on beef and pork more than once.
Moisture...
Unsuccessfully.
The reason I was visiting Mangu was to find a an abandoned amusement park known as Yongma Land. It's one of those dilapidated old places that got left behind with the onset of the more popular theme parks. It was quite a thing getting to this place. I had to scour the suburbs' back alleys, stopping twice to ask for directions from wary-faced Koreans. Each of their responses consisted of a pointing finger and a simple-English 'over there'. I say simple English, but back home an 'over there' and a seemingly aimless point also warrants a sufficient response for questions with regard to directions. However...
After that I joined another group of people for a creative writing meet up in Gangnam. Once we were done chatting about two of the group members' submissions we went out to scavenge for supper. Gangnam is a busy place as it is, but on a Saturday it's a little bit more so. In our search for supper, we were a distorted version of Mary and Joseph. We were looking for a place to have a (food)baby but being turned away by all the innkeepers because their establishments were full. Eventually we found a little stable of a restaurant called Woodstock. Coincidentally, this place had 60's, 70's and 80's classic- and pop-rock album covers plastered on the walls. The restaurant's stereo system had an on-request policy. Look, it wasn't kak being accompanied by The Beatles, David Bowie, Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Led Zeppelin, etc, while feasting on mangers of buffalo wings and pitchers of beer. Feeling musically inspired, we visited a karaoke joint aaaaaaaand...
I think the name of this place was "Don't Quit Your Day Job"
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