Exploring Insa-dong (one week late)

Last weekend, I went exploring by myself. I went to Insa-dong, where I've been before with the other new teachers, but this time I got to poke around at my own pace. I love it! Perusing touristy Korean shops and art galleries and tables with jewelry and knick knacks; what a great way to spend a Sunday morning!

I also checked out an outdoor market/shopping center that Helena told me about. It was really neat. Very artsy and full of shops with funky jewelry or prints of local artists or all-natural drink stands. I wanted to buy everything I saw. Luckily, I'm quite broke so just looking is fine with me. But I did find would-be gifts for people, which was fun, sort of like mental shopping.

I went to an art gallery that was 3 stories and absolutely free. It was fantastic. It makes me want to surround myself with art. LeAnn's painting is the first of many, I hope. I got a print and some postcards for free too. Hello, bare apartment walls.

After looking around, I ventured out across the street to what I believe is another part of Insadong. Down a street with a tall wall on either side takes you to another set of tiny streets with boutiques, coffee shops, cafes and little restaurants. All the cafes and restaurants have open windows and lots of flowers. It's all very picturesque.

Walking around in the heat was tiring so I stopped for a smoothie. It wasn't my idea of a smoothie but it was pretty good. It was watermelon and ice blended together. It was kind of weird but pretty good. They had tomato too. That just seems a little too weird to me. But I may be missing out on something huge.

The outdoor shopping center.

Green space at the outdoor shopping center.

The wall next to a gallery (I just thought it looked neat).

Okay, so now I'm going to cheat and include pictures that were taken the first time I went to Insadong with J, S, and H. I just like them. We stopped in at this very fancy tea shop.

Rows of tea.

A tea display.

Tea, anyone?

Week One: Done!

Last night, to celebrate the great fact that the first week of teaching was officially OVER, the other new teachers and I went to Insadong for some dinner and drinks. Insadong is really neat. It's a street full of vendors and shops and art galleries and little boutiques and coffee shops and bars. It was very vibrant and sort of reminded me of downtown Austin or S. Congress because of all the nifty shops I knew I could spend hours in.

Helena and I fell behind the others because I kept stopping for pictures. Hey, I felt the need to be touristy. And I had the urge to update my blog properly. Hey, I know your eyes glaze over at about paragraph 3. Pictures help keep it interesting and you can actually SEE what I'm talking about.

We went to a restaurant/bar where they offered free fortune telling. Let me tell you, I was a little excited about this because I've secretly (or not so secretly) always wanted to have my fortune told. UnFORTUNEately (get it? I even did it in all-caps, so I'm sure you did and didn't appreciate it), because of the time difference and the fact that we're a day ahead, don't observe Daylight savings, etc, they weren't able to tell me mine. They did tell Helena her fortune. She was really funny. She was really excited when she found out my birthday and sign. We're the same sign and the same blood type. "We're such good people!" she said.

Oh, I know.

We went to a traditional Korean bar and ordered Korean "pizza" and spicy squid and veggies. We also had rice wine. I'd tried it before but I liked it this time because it was very cold. We drank it in tin bowls. I felt a little like Oliver Twist. Unfortunately, it gave me a headache so I don't think I'll have any more.


Coffee shop. I just liked the cup on the outside. And the open windows and flower pots. A lot of places were like that. I took lots of pictures.



The new teachers: Soo, Helena, Me, and Jennifer.

First week, check. Second week, bring it on!