Weekend Adventure, Saturday

Saturday morning, we joined another Adventure Korea trip for a Raspberry Festival and other activities. We started out picking berries.

There were photographers (paparazzi) everywhere. We quickly realized they were there specifically to take a zillion pictures of us, the white people picking berries. It must have been for publicity purposes. It was awkward and funny at the same time.

We ate everything we picked. Well, I did.

Cynthia hates berries (weirdo), so she promised me hers, right before she dropped them all over the road.

Then some traditional Korean rafting.

At the festival, the first order of business was an eel catching contest. Not fun, not entertaining. I felt like the eels were looking at me and saying "I know you're not in here trying to catch me, but you aren't doing a thing to stop this, and so I blame you too." We had to leave...

And see a fountain of a man peeing and eating berries. Much better.

A walk to a temple was next.

After dinner, we went back to the festival, where free bokbunja (raspberry liqueur/wine) was waiting for us. The literal translation of the name is "a force so strong it can knock a urinal over." We were told it was a costume party, so we brought the heat...

Rivals

Captains

Weekend Adventure, Sunday

Sunday morning, we gathered for breakfast. On our last Adventure Korea trip, the breakfast stories about the previous night were very entertaining. Interesting anecdotes, like "I remember the hose, but nothing after that". This time, I sat at a table with a group of strangers. A girl sits next to me and says to the table "I'm just going to apologize now...sorry." After being reassured that no apologies were needed, the comments included:

"Where's Mario? We should check the stairs"

"Who's idea was it to take a cab to the beach?"

"Why was the cab driver so mad?"

" I think we tried to pay with 1s instead of 10s, thats why he stormed into the hostel looking for us"

"He did?"

Where we were during all this? Probably in bed.

After breakfast, we drove to a terribly ugly beach, with lots of jelly fish.

Next, we went to a huge muddy area, where people could dig for clams.

We forwent clam digging for taking pictures of our feet in mud boots...

And playing a game where you purposely get stuck in the mud, and try to pry yourself out...

Steve got really stuck. I had to dig his feet out. We played a bit of mud soccer and headed home. All in all, it was a good trip.

World Cup

While walking home from school, Heather and I noticed how many tables and chairs were set up in our little town, and people trickling in, all in preparation for the big Korea vs. Argentina game. It was immediately decided that we needed to partake.

Korea lost, but the spirit of the people was amazing. Everyone was going nuts: kids, parents, corporate types, and dogs. And when the game was over, they were still having a great time, cheering and singing songs. So fun!

River Walk

The weather is finally warming up here, so we planned to be outside all weekend. Yesterday, we sat by the Han River and watched Koreans picnic. Their picnic spreads are usually quite impressive - a bunch of tupperware containers full of Korean side-dishes, BBQ, beer and Makgeolli. Or, if you want to be lazy, people hand out flyers for a variety of fried chicken places, and you can call on your cell phone and have it delivered to the park.

After sunset (spent underground on the subway), we did a small part of the river walk in Seoul. It's a man-made walking path with plenty of places to sit, a laser show, art, and lots of live bands along the way. The path draws families, couples, friends and everyone seemed to be truly enjoying themselves. What saves this from being Disneyland-esque cheezy is how beautiful the whole thing is. Pictures don't do it justice.

This one's for you, Mom

Cuteness

I ran into these little angels outside our hotel in Seoraksan. We think the kitten is really just a prop.

My Girls

That's Emily, just listening to The National and stealing my nose. Little hipster.

And Rose. We played a game where I placed body part post-its all over the class and they had to stick em to themselves. Rose won.

Girls are the cutest.