Previously La Dolce Vita, which documented my time spent living in Perugia, Italy, Restless Seoul will be my way of sharing my experiences in South Korea. Enjoy!
I'm quite a bit under the weather this week. I haven't been feeling great since Monday and despite my best efforts, a twenty degree drop in temperature seemed to coincide with my illness getting worse. Hopefully I have my voice for tomorrow!
I had a really up and down week. I had a terrible Korean class on Tuesday to the point where I was like why am I even studying this language I know nothing, but I had an awesome one on Thursday so I got out of my funk pretty quickly. My classes were fun but tiring this week since it's harder to keep the kids focused when it's so close to the end of the school year. We did a "newspaper" project about movies, books, people, and songs where the 6th graders had to give their opinions on various things and make a newspaper, and my worst 6th grade class was so adorable and wonderful that I almost started crying. Only one more week til the end of the semester!
Anyway, I'm glad I'm sick now since next weekend we're going to Japan!! Ahhhh!
Friday night consisted of dinner and watching Secret Garden with Tina. I didn't actually watch the show, but Hyun Bin from Hyde, Jekyll, Me is in it and damn is that boy fine. If the story of the show wasn't so terrible I might consider it, but Secret Garden just doesn't have enough besides Hyun Bin to keep me interested for 20 episodes. It's a typical "Guy is rich and the literal worst human ever but somehow he and the poorer but exceptional specimen of humanity Female lead will end up together despite him being a dick for 14 of 20 episodes (complete with Body-switching, coma, and amnesia plots)" drama that I find difficult to stomach. I couldn't watch Boys Over Flowers for the same reason, even though I love Lee Min Ho too. Alas, handsome and awesome male actors do not a good drama make. I did see the highlights of Secret Garden, though, so I feel less inclined to suffer through the whole thing.
Saturday was our big day of the weekend, as usual. This time we were getting ready for our trip to Japan by visiting an exhibit we had been longing to see but hadn't had the time yet: the Ghibli Studios Exhibit! You may know Ghilbi studios because of the famous and amazing Hayao Miyazaki of Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, The Wind Rises, Princess Mononoke, My Neighbor Totoro, and others fame. It't the cool Japanese studio, and the exhibit was cool. The lighting was weird and it was hard to take good pictures, but Sarah, Janell, Tina and I managed.
There were 5 movies featured, and when we walked in I almost started crying because Howl's Moving Castle (My favorite!!!! Also the movie my blog post title comes from) was first, and when i heard the music it made me really emotional.
Excuse me while I cry because I got to see the moving castle move.
Heatin' things up with Calcifer. "May all your bacon burn."
The details in the exhibit were awesome! See the ants on the table?
Trippy scene from the magical door.
After Howl's room it was on to the Princess Mononoke room! I love this movie too, but it has been a long time since I saw it.
The details were pretty awesome though.
There was the cool projection screen then the movie would give way for this guy.
The princess and her wolves.
I don't remember the next movie, but the one after was MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love this movie so much though I also must confess I cannot remember the last time I watched it. Still, this one was so cute!
There was a giant tree with little windows you could look into to see more of the scene.
LOOK AT THE CUTE LITTLE BUNS
The famous scene.
Again, the next room was a movie I wasn't super familiar with, then there was an exhibit of an upcoming movie, which I also know nothing about.
We wondered at the lack of people at the exhibit. Usually in Korea, these things are packed. We soon found out why there was no one at the rest of the exhibit and where everyone was: The Spirited Away room.
Spirited Away is probably regarded as the best Miyazaki film, and when you ask people what their favorite one is, Spirited Away is the answer I've heard most. I really do love it so much, but I like Howl's Moving Castle better. Haku is one of my favorite characters though, along with No Face. I also really love Miyazaki's idea about the film that you can have a boy and a girl on an adventure together and it doesn't have to be a romantic love story. It makes me feel like there are so many different kinds of love worth exploring in the world, and Miyazaki nails it.
Ready to cross the bridge? I hope so!
Chillin with No Face
I had the Koreans cracking up.
People at these things are sometimes annoying. Parents use their kids to shove in front of you so they can get pictures with every bit of the exhibit. Everyone is standing in a line but some group of teenagers or parents think they're the only people who thought of going to the front of the line. People walk in front of your camera (why do you think I'm holding it up like that?) and other nonsense. And Koreans also comment on the number of foreigners there.
Thankfully it was a small exhibit and not that crowded, so we got through with our tempers in tact, and we got some awesome pictures. I cannot wait to go to Japan!
Afterwards, Tina, Sarah and I headed to this cool little cafe called Il Gattino near Itaewon. There we did some Korean homework, planned some things for Japan, and had awesome food. I had beef chili and it was so good I am tempted to go back like right now. We hung out and watched people bring in their cats and dogs, and it was just a relaxing time.
Found some cool street art and decided to make it look even cooler.
Tina and I headed back to Hongdae to spend some time with my friends at Gusto Taco, introducing some of them to the joys of it for the first time. Those margaritas are awesome. God bless this restaurant. I've been there like 3 of 4 weekends in the last month, but I don't care. It's awesome.
We got some ice cream for round two from Fell + Cole (I think that's the name?) gastronomic ice cream, where they have such strange flavors as Caramel Popcorn and Grapefruit Champagne. It was awesome. I've been in a real ice cream mood lately, perhaps in an effort to imagine warmer times. Sigh.
For round three we went to a luxury Noraebang, where we all got to sing and have a good time. TIna got to practice "Gee" by SNSD (Girl's Generation in English) for her teacher trip, and we brought down the house with mostly Tina's Fantastic Baby skills. We had a good time singing Beyonce and Enrique Iglesias and all the other strange classics we know. Too bad it was so busy! We usually get extended times at noraebangs, but it was so busy that we couldn't. Alas.
We went to one more bar before Tina and I tapped out and got some ddeokbokki before heading home. We enjoyed our spicy treat while watching another episode of Secret Garden (while I played with Tina's hair), then slept for like ever.
Tina has trouble braiding her hair, and I like to play with it so we all win here.
My attempt at a french braid.
Dutch braid! Instead of crossing the hair over you cross it under.
So yeah when girls had sleepovers they eat spicy food, watch shitty but entertaining tv, ad play with each others hair (and of course talk about boys duhhhh).
I woke up with a very stuff nose and no voice, feeling worse than I had all week, so I laid in bed for most of the day while Tina skyped her friend Liz and finished her show. I finally felt better enough to meander on home, and here I am now drinking honey tea and feeling mostly fine, if a little fuzzy. I hope I feel better for my last week of the semester!
I'm getting really sad about mising my little 6th grade nuggets. I've gotten very attached to them over this semester so I will be sad to see them go. Anyway, I will be sure to have a good time with them this week!
Wish me a speedy recovery!
Here's Gee by Girl's Generation (SNSD). It's pretty much what you think of when you think of Kpop (if you know nothing about Kpop) since it's a bunch of cute girls in bright colors singing a bubblegummy pop song. But I love it so much! GG is such a big group and I love them a lot.
Aaaaaaaaand Fantastic Baby! It's another one where if you know nothing about Kpopo you're like whaaat. This music video is so strange but I really love it and the song. Too bad T.O.P. raps so fast! Tina nails it when she sings it though.
And since Big Bang hasn't had a comeback in 3 years they sing this song for everything. The running joke is like "2030: Anyway, here's Fantastic Baby."
Wishing everyone health and happiness! No blog post next week, but be prepared for a long one when I get back from Japan!
I had a really lovely week and weekend (up until this exact moment when I want to destroy every Apple product in existence because they're so infuriating) so all is well in the Seoulscape.
I got back to teaching, and dear lord I am going to miss my 6th graders. It's going to be so sad to see them go! I got super lucky because they are just a great group of kids.
My 4th graders were driving me up a wall on Friday, but that was okay because I had special plans for the evening. After 5 months in school, I was FINALLY going to hang out with my coteachers, So Jung and (not currently my coteacher) Su Hyeon after school!
And boy, were we hanging out in a big way.
Excuse the worst picture ever. This is to show we were in the second row, hella close to the stage, and that the staff did not like cellphones.
That's right: we went to see the Mr. Show! This is my third time seeing the show, and it was once again spectacular. So Jung and Su Hyeon loved it.
After school, and a stressful amount of studying for So Jung as she's getting ready to take the TEPS test (a test of English proficiency for Koreans) along with Su Hyeon having to cover one of the second grade classes, we headed to Hapjeong to meet up with Tina and go to the show.
Their reaction to meeting Tina was pricelessly hilarious. Tina ran up to us and So Jung and Su Hyeon made all of the typical comments: OMG SAME FACE. OMG SAME HAIR. OMG SAME VOICE. OMG SAME GESTURES. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG. This went on for several minutes. We then headed to dinner at Serafina, and New York/Italian style restaurant.
Tina's school is really different than mine, so we talked about that a lot. Tina has 2 coteachers for some of her grades, and they have way more students than we do. So Jung and Su Hyeon were surprised to hear it. It's really interesting to compare schools and such. There are far too many differences to list here, though.
We got dessert at a cool little coffee shop, then it was time for Tina to go since seeing the show a 4th time seemed like a bit much. Alas.
While we were heading to the bathroom, a man walked up to me, So Jung, and Su Hyeon and asked them some questions about me in Korean. Mostly where I was from and what I was doing there and whatnot. Then he walked into the staff area of the Mr. Show.
So Jung and Su Hyeon were convinced that it meant I was going to get to be on stage (again...) but I told them I didn't think so. They were confused. I had to then explain to them that I get approached on a fairly regular basis and asked similar questions. They were shocked! Truly, most of the time it's harmless curiosity, but some late nights on the subway have made me really uncomfortable with the line of questioning. I also feel like guys don't get it from girls here as much, so it's shocking to hear about. I explained that sometimes people interrupt our conversations to try and talk to us especially when it's just me and Tina, and it's sometimes annoying but mostly negligible.
Anywho, we went into the show and got settled. We looked at the pictures of the guys performing that evening, and I pointed out Chris, who had been my guy when I was on stage last time. They all agreed that he was very handsome and that I was very lucky. We hung around before the show (I got a lot of foreigner stares... I know the word for foreigner by now...)
So Jung, Su Hyeon, Me. They're adorable and I love them.
We had to get a picture with some of the guys! I cannot get over how much I love these two ladies.
While waiting, we had a fun little chat about ideal types. Koreans have an "ideal type" and usually name like one person who fits it. So Jung loves Kim Woo Bin:
I love him too, but he's So Jung's ultimate bias.
I am an American where we kind of have a type but not an ideal human, plus I find a lot of different guys and types attractive. Su Hyeon things Kim Woo Bin is too tall. I commented that the guys in the show were all pretty tall too, and she made a face and said she doesn't like guys who are too tall. Admittedly, Su Hyeon is even shorter than I am, so I understand.
I then made the (delightful) mistake of saying that I liked tall guys. So Jung and Su Hyeon immediately pounced and basically sang the sports teacher's name. I good naturedly blushed and told them to stop teasing me before admitting that I do think he's handsome. So Jung was like "okay I will tell him!" And I was like noooooo. So Su Hyeon said she would! Ackkkkk! I told them they didn't have to, and they continued to tease me until we sat down and the show got ready to start.
The show is awesome. It's fun and funny, and the guys are hella handsome.
This is the first time I haven't gone with other Americans, and my coteachers were stereotyipcally fitting into the demure Korean girl mold I had expected. At the end of the first song, the guys strip all the way down to their birthday suits and while you only see their butts pressed against a clear door, Su Hyeon was scandalized. I was afraid she wouldn't like the show because she kept making shocked noises while So Jung kept hitting my arm. After the first song Su Hyeon turned to me and said "Cesca, you are such a naughty girl!" to which I responded "I'm an American!"
Hahahahhahahahahha. Right. Seriously, this show is way more tame than the Chippendale's show in Vegas.
By the time they got to the audience participation part, So Jung and Su Hyeon were more into it than I was. They could understand all of the things the MC was saying so that probably helped. They definitely let loose and had a good time.
I was anxious the whole time about being picked to go on stage again. I would have loved to, but I already did it and I have never seen that part of the show from the audience. My cos didn't want to go up, and I KNOW the MC saw me. But he picked an ahjumma, and there was a bridal party so the bride-to-be got picked, and he had a contest to see which audience member was loudest to get up there. Thankfully i had no idea what he was saying so I did not yell at the right time to get picked. He also chose the guys for the ladies. My second dilemma had been about this. If I got picked again, I would have tried to choose a different guy than last time, since i knew Chris's chair was on the opposite side of the stage from my coteachers. Thankfully no choices were presented to me so it was fun.
All of the people on stage were hilarious. Our girl in front of us was practically clawing at her dancer, Storm, and fanning herself and squealing a lot. It was really funny!
When Chris, who had the ahjumma, did his bit where he presents the girl then surprise picks her up and tosses her in the air, So Jung and Su Hyeon were like "DID THAT HAPPEN TO YOU OMG" then proceeded to ask me that every time they did anything. It was fantastic.
By the end of it, So Jung and Su Hyeon were waaaaaaaaayyyyy into it. They really enjoyed the show! The last song has the guys come around and you can like high five them and stuff, but usually they just hit the first row. I however, got hand touches/holds/high fives from Marco, who I found really attractive, and Jake, a really tall, broad shouldered one that So Jung was eyeing, but neither So Jung nor Su Hyeon managed a touch. They wailed "THEY ONLY WANT YOUUUUUUUU" to me and I got to throw down my foreigner trump card again. I really do stand out in a sea of Korean faces, so it helps.
I swear Marco had seen me before because we made eye contact and he went from a close lipped smile to a toothy grin, then later he grabbed my hand at the end of the show. No one can convince me otherwise.
The men of the Mr. Show. I really like all of them. My ideal type is apparently "tall, handsome, and muscular."
After the show, 2 of the guys come out to take pictures with people. It's never two that I really like from the show. So Jung, Su Hyeon, and I braved the madhouse for long enough to see who came out, and we got lucky because they parted the crowd right by us to let them through.
It was Chris and Storm!
Admittedly, I was much closer to Chris last time when he was running my hands all over his rock-solid abs, but this was close enough.
Look at how those tshirts look too small.
They look almost actual height to their billboard.
To compare their heights to an average Korean woman.
We decided the line was too long so we headed out, full of joy and thoughts of handsome men ripping their shirts off and dancing in their underwear.
I met up with Sarah, Lauren, and Tina, and got some drinks with them. They were way ahead of me, and being a responsible adult, I got one margarita and drank basically half of their 4th ones (EDIT: Lauren and Sarah's. Tina had come to dinner with me and also was leaving early since she had things to do Saturday, so she was also behind). I was discussing the show via text with my coteachers, and I also may or may not have texted them permission (hilariously, I might add) to tell a certain sports teacher that I think he's handsome. So Jung had started to tell him but stopped when I said Noooooooooooooo (What a good friend!) but with the addition of more emoticons and an explanation of American playing hard to get (I guess? the Gusto Taco margaritas mess with your head, man), all systems were go apparently. I have no idea if she actually told him or what will happen with that, but I suspect she will tell me tomorrow. A tiny part of me hopes that there was something from his end (this is not the first time a mention of me and a guy or what I like about guys has led to his name being brought up by any and all of my coworkers) that my coteachers are confident about, but also I am not that optimistic. The other option is that my secret admiration was not so secret this entire time. Alas. Either way, the teachers change jobs soon so the subject teachers might all change and I might not see him much anymore, or my coteachers for that matter, and no one knows now anyway. And we can just go back to like we all were in the beginning of him/them not speaking English to me and me not speaking Korean to them, since things can change pretty dramatically. Or not! Whatever. Monday will be fun.
We happened to run into some other foreigners outside of Gusto Taco, so we headed with them to another bar in the middle of Hongdae/Hapjeong and had some beers with them. I also ran into some people from my intake, one of whom happens to be taking the same flight to Japan as us in a few weeks. Strange. OMG JAPAN IS SO SOON.
Anyway, on Saturday I watched my kdrama, Hyde, Jekyll, Me, which is fantastic, then headed out to foreinger heavy and friendly Itaewon for some lunch with friends. I got a Philly Cheesesteak and it was aweeeeeeeeesome!
GET IN MY BELLYYYYYY
It really was delicious. And the company of my fellow Epikers is always enjoyable. We went to High Street Market, which sells such treasures as Ranch Dressing and Kraft Mac & Cheese for like $8, and wandered around Itaewon. A bunch of the Aussies were gearing up to watch the Australian soccer team against South Korea in the Asia cup, and since I have no investment in that, I met up with Tina and we headed back to Hongdae for some ddeeokbokki and television and settled into a relaxin Saturday that carried into Sunday.
I have been so happy these last few weeks. I miss home a lot, but I've been here for just about 6 months and I cannot believe how fast the time is flying. Really. It's terrifying. And awesome. There is still so much I want to do and see here! Ahhhh!
I'm looking forward to another relatively easy week since the school year is winding down. Only 13 days left til Japan!
This time for music, an English song! Family of the Year's "Hero." Tina played it for me and it makes me feel that kind of hurt/sad that is frankly wonderful. It's a beautiful song.
And I couldn't leave you without a Korean song. This time, it's not SuJu or Beast, but my other top 3 group, Big Bang with "Love Song" which features them walking around the desert in suits. Awesome!
Finally, since writing about the Mr. Show has kept an endless smile on my face, here's more about it.
For the weeks leading up to the show, I was so happy. Now I get to carry on the wave of joy that the show brought, and I get to ride that wave with my coteachers, who have made me one of the luckiest people in Seoul.
I'll have to watch bits of the Super Bowl at school, since it starts at 8:30 in the morning. Sigh. Hopefully it will speed up m morning!
I'm off to have another great week! Catch ya later!
