Hanging in Hongdae

Even though I think, you know, I really should blog about this, it still takes me weeks to sit myself down and actually DO it. So, this is an update of two weekends ago. Just because it was a terrific weekend. And quite random.

I went to Hongdae, the funky cool area around Hongik University, to check out the outdoor market. It's a lot of artists selling their crafts and jewelry. Imagine etsy come to life. It was great. I saw a lot of really neat stuff and was half happy that I'm still low on funds, because otherwise I might have spent everything. Yes, it was that good.

I met up with M-Rad later and we got dinner. "I was thinking Mexican," I said. "Hm. I was thinking Indian," she told me. Sold! Indian it was. We found this Syrian restaurant (crazy!) but settled on Indian. It was delicious. It feels sort of funny to eat food from other countries when I'm in a completely different country to begin with. Half guilty, half bemused. I'm pretty sure eating kimbap for lunch everyday does not constitute exploring Korean cuisine. Unlike my first few weeks here, I haven't been daring or adventurous and tried anything too exciting lately. Part of me feels like I should be doing more of that before I go out and eat Indian food, which I've already experienced.

That's my brain talking, trying to rationalize everything. All my stomach said was yes, please! and thank you.

After dinner, we wandered the streets a bit. We had a couple of hours to kill before the Korea game. We both stopped when we heard this jazzy swing music coming from a doorway. We looked at each other and decided to check it out. Down the stairs and to the left was a room packed with people watching an 8 piece band. There were 3 saxes! And a trumpet! It was terrific. It was a classic example of music transcending language. After the jazz band, there was this guy with crazy hair who reminded me of a Korean G. Love and Jason Mraz mix. He had plenty of attitude and did a little rap and danced like, omg, I'm so going home and practicing that!

And then we found a bar where we crammed in with a bunch of other Koreans and foreigners and watched the game. It was so bad. The game, I mean. And Korea lost. It was so disappointing. I was wearing my new Korea jersey and everything.

And then on Sunday, I went for a walk in search of a stream and just when I was about to give up, I found it! It was truly exciting. There is a walking/biking path on either side of the stream and you can rent bikes (so I'm told) at the start of the stream. Despite the fact the water was an awful brownish orange color, it was very nice to walk along. I can't decide if the water is that color because of iron or mud. That little interlude with nature really made my day.

Since I've found it, I've been back. It's not really a good place to go jogging. In the evening anyway. Every Korean grandmother, parent, and child is out at night, strolling or powerwalking along the stream. Unfortunately, when you're trying to jog and get stuck behind the ones out for a stroll, you get nowhere fast. But even so, the path is nice and you can walk under a few bridges. There is exercise equipment on the side, if you want to workout. And there are a few spots where you can jump rocks to cross the stream. On Sunday, there was a gaggle of people sitting on a platform playing what I assume was baduk or chess.

And no pictures, sorry. I still need to go get batteries. Soon, I promise.