Since When Does Sushi Sport Relish?

Sunday I traveled into Seoul with Amy and Kelly. Fancy that, right? We're always in Seoul.

We took a long subway trip up to the mysterious orange line and made our way to World Cup Stadium. For what you ask? A Cup Festival.
Just kidding. A soccer game, of course! A Korean National Soccer game against South American rival, Ecuador. Shield your eyes my friends, spoiler alert for those who care to watch the game: we won! 2-0 and it was awesome. The stadium was MASSIVE. A venue truly suited for the international weightiness of such an event. Soccer is big folks. So is the world cup-- i recently learned.

A few things perplexed me, however about the Korean soccer culture.

• First, why do Koreans, not just soccer fans, like to take pictures with foreigners? Espcially with my friend Kelly? Two boys came up and asked her to take a picture. She agreed and grabbed for the camera. Au contraire. They wanted to take a picture with her. So interesting.

• There are, like baseball games, cheerleaders. 4 of them. Still don't understand that. But hey. Korea likes good lookin' ladies. In intimate quantities?
  
• The Korean team is the RED DEVILS. However, their mascot is a bear. A fluffy, couldn't intimidate the most angelic of creatures, more cute and cuddly than fire and brimstone kind of bear. A teddy bear if you will. Interesting.
  
• Again, much like baseball, Korean's like their soccer. These fans don't mess around. However, unlike baseball games, folks are more intent on watching the game than they are beer consumption. Not without the awesome fan display!
  

• In a valiant effort to find Amy a cheap Korean Devils shirt, we made our way around the various hustlers. Most perplexing: the ones selling shirts that had "Korea" spelled wrong. Never seen it with a "C" before. Somehow I think spelling your country's name wrong is pretty bad. Especially for the folks who bought in and rocked them proudly.

What got me most was the food situation at Soccer Games. Let's reflect back to the baseball game. I was prepared. Fried chicken and beer. And there was a fine share of both, with a nice variation for the free thinkers. Hamburgers. Snacky snacks. Drinks. You name it. There were many a well stocked snack bar. Like any real sporting event.

Not the same with soccer. Maybe their more serious about the game. We got worried when we saw the hordes of people huddled around a GS Mart, (a 7-Eleven equivalent) selling a box of chicken, a sandwich/sushi combo, a sad collection of chips and dried squid. That was about it. Add a few bev options and there you have it. This can't be good.

And it wasn't. Where's the pizza at yo?

I settled for a hardly vegetarian, or really anything, sandwich/sushi combo. Which was a tad strange of a combo, and a sad attempt at both. After the de-meating of the sandwich, left was the remnants of a tomato slice, a slightly warmed slice of fake cheese, some relish-esk sauce, cased in white bread triangles. The "sushi" was some crazy mixture of tuna and a taste of something, again, I likened to relish. Not exactly sushi. Not exactly sporting food, either. And what's with the relish?


It was a big game. I was super stoked to go! Next up for Korea- the World Cup. Big game against Greece June 12th and I shall be visiting Seoul for the final game July 11th. Which I hear is going to be massive.

The world loves soccer. With the exception of America that is. Which is also interesting.

Outside the stadium about an hour before the game.

The kickoff.

The lovely Kelly and Amy on a lovely bridge overlooking a lovely park.

Our feast was phenomenal. We had it all folks. Chips. Salsa. Guacamole. Fijitas. Black Beans. Cheese (the real stuff!).
Rachel and I even attempted Spanish rice. For those of you who know me well know that when it comes to rice, and i am anything but proficient. To be frank: i suck at making rice. But we were determined to do Cindo proud.
We got close to butchering it when i smelt smoke and realized the bottom was burning. However, quick hands quickly solved the problem. Remove pan from heat. Don't scrape too deep. I must say, it was quite delicious. And folks...it wasn't crunchy!

There you have it! Happy Cinco de Mayo! Also celebrated as Children's Day in Korea... i shall call it Happy Awesome Day. No work. Delicious Mexican Food. Great Friends.... awesome indeed!

Rock Climbing

Another Feature on Adventure Teaching!
Enjoy!

I think I am going to stop looking at the weather forecast. It just makes me sad. For instance, this weekend was prime spring weather. Clear, warm, just lovely, right? This week, you ask? Rain. All week. Everyday. Rain. All I can say is all this shower better make for a lot of May flowers. Insert shake of fist here.

In spite of the weather reports and worsening weather woes, I was determined to get outside this past week. To do what, you ask? Rock Climb. I was going to go rock climbing, and no one, even you Mother Nature, could stop me. I had read about a free climbing clinic in Seoul through Sanirang Alpine Networks, successfully found them on Facebook, confirmed my attendance, and was stoked to get out and climb again. It had been a while and despite all the forecasted gloom, I was determined to make it into Seoul. And so I did.

The weather was a bit chilly, storm threats loomed, Sadang Station almost got the best of me, but I didn’t suffocate and the rain held off nicely; and thankfully so! I enjoyed a wonderful Wednesday morning in Seoul rock climbing and met some great folks in the process.

I met up with a team from Sanirang Alpine Networks for their Free Wednesday Climbing Clinic, and it was great. I must have been the only weather smiter this week. I had the whole clinic to myself. Which was great! The guys were really kick back and helpful. Because I had some previous climbing experience they didn’t spend a lot of time on the basics, and actually spent some significant time teaching more intermediate techniques, which was awesome. But fear not, the clinic is perfect for those who want to try something new with little or no climbing experience. They’ll teach you! And it’s free! What more could you ask for?

Free Wednesday Climbing Clinics are offered through the end of June, every Wednesday in Daechi-Dong (Line 2 at Samsung Station) at an artificial wall in a pretty cool park. For those of you who works nights, like me, the morning session conveniently runs from 9-12 am. Come and go as you like, or per the croak speed of your forearms. For those of you with more flexibility, there is also an afternoon session running from 3:30-6:30pm. Equipment is free. The wall is free. Folks and fun are on the house! Awesome, right?

For those of you interested in more advanced rock climbing adventures and schools, be sure to check out http://sanirang.net. They offer many climbing schools and adventures, and the guys who run it are wonderful! There is also an online community of rock climbers called KoreaOnTheRocks.com (KOTR), which offers Korea specific information on artificial walls and gyms, bouldering and climbing areas, climbing comrades, and upcoming climbing adventures.

There you have it. Outing o’ awesome: Sanirang Free Wednesday Climbing Clinic. Invite some friends. Set your alarm, don’t forget the coffee, and avoid Sadang Station at all costs. You’ll enjoy yourself, get a nice workout, learn something new, and be back in time to suit up and teach some English.

When JM Greets You in the Park.

For those of you who know me, you will know that my heart is bent toward a boy named JM. He gets me every time! He's a good looking man. His voice. The hat. Straight to the heart, folks. Straight to the heart.

He's done it again, friends. Without even knowing it.

I was in Hongdae. An awesome city, which I believe is quickly becoming one of my favorite places in Seoul. Filled with life and music, good eats and art, and just a lively bunch of folks out to enjoy life. I'm a fan, which is why I've started to love this little place. Last night confirmed said feelings.

You see friends, I love live music. The beat. The crowd. The long instrumentals and freestyle jammin', if you will... I just LOVE it. Stage it somewhere outside, give me a warm night, some lovely friends. Mmm. Could it really get any better? I think about that one to confirm, but i think not.

Last night was just that. Live music in the park. A talented band bringing it hard in a low-key, kick-back, free flow performance. Beat boxing, eclectic covers, tap/break dancing, comedy which I could not understand but was undoubtedly funny. Friends. FRIENDS, it was good! Like so good. We probably stood there for close to two hours, oh and thankfully so.



At one point, following an awesome Glen Hasard "Falling Slowly" cover... i heard a sweet, sweet plucking that could never be mistaken for anything other than my boy Jason Mraz. Oh, and sweet it was! I'm Yours and Lucky sung by a nice lookin' man with an equally nice voice. Second to the man himself. I got really happy really fast! And I was already really happy! So that was happy to the max! Only to escape in what I know was a lively set of wide eyes, a glowing smile, and bobbin' bod. It was good... so very good!

It really is the small things.



Now. If I will ever suggest the characteristic of a man i'm really lookin' to bend my heart toward to, this is the time. So listen up. : )

A (tall) Jesus lovin', music makin', world travelin', joke crackin', JM listenin', fish taco eatin', simple livin' kinda man who likes the Packers, the Colts, and the Cowboys.

Breath.
(no wonder this seems to be taking a while.) : )

Greetings!

Hello there friends and family!

Tomorrow is the first day of May. Which makes today the last day of my third full month in Korea. Therefore, perfectly fitting for another update. It's been a few weeks anyway! I think I write this every time, but I really can't believe I've been for for as long as I have. It's really quite crazy. Just to reiterate.

I will start with most recent news first. Yesterday started off wonderful, talked to my best friend, enjoyed a nice conversation session my tutor-ee, Kyeong Min, and then I headed home for a quick bite to eat. Sadly I must share that my apple and peanut butter got the best of me. I quickly finished my lunch when i realized my back tooth had broken. Needless to say the past two days have consisted of two appointments, one root canal threat, a temporary cap, and a future capping ceremony. Lame right? Yea, I don't get worked up over much of anything. Most things ic an take in stride... however I can confidently say I hate the dentist. They hate me too. I didn't think I needed to confirm it on Korean soil, but what do I know?
Two things I can confirm from this experience:

1. I still hate the dentist. No normal human could enjoy the sound of drilling in your head and the taste of metal in your mouth.
2. If dentistry can even qualify for being rank-able, Korean dentistry trumps American dentistry ten fold. 6$ for an x-ray. 50$ for a capping procedure. Yea... not optimal, but pretty outstanding considering that is without insurance. I can confidently say that after an hour of pretty intensive work I sit here with no pain. Impressive. (Don't get ahead of yourself though, I still hate you.)
   

Since writing, I have not just become owner of a new tooth, I also became, for the second time around, the proud sister and auntie to another beautiful girl, Taelyn Elice. She is beautiful. I will, again, shower Skype with piles of accolades because meeting her screen to screen was priceless. Literally. I am so thankful. Don't get my wrong though, I count down the days to hold that sweet thing with my non-virtual arms! Oh man. Moving on.

Some awesome highlights of my last few weeks:

• Saw Nanta, an internationally recognized Korean production where cooking meets Stomp somewhere between a Korean drama and the reject skits of SNL.
  
• Visited a local brewery and enjoyed a BBQ that felt a little like summer and being home. Minus the country music, but i'll take what i can get.
  
• Went to a free rock climbing clinic and enjoyed a great morning killing my arms and learning some new technique.
• Had my first blog published on the Adventure Teaching Travel Blog, which was both encouraging and exciting! Hopefully more to come with that!
  

Work has been great! My middle school students have been taking their "big tests" and have not been attending academy. Which is nice for me (and for them too I'd assume, unless they really like me, but I doubt it.) Most days the past week I've had my last 2/3 classes canceled. Next week will look similar. May 5th is Children's Day, and students don't have school that day. Our academy will be celebrating them the entire week. Which means movie and munchies for them... and little or no prep for us! Awesome.

I think May will fly bye. The third weekend of May is a three day weekend and we're headed to Gyeounju for a few days of touring and relaxing. Which is going to be AWESOME. The weather is also starting to warm up, so i am anticipating much out-age and exploring this month! My heart will also be back home this month. My cousins will be graduating from high school. My roommates and dear sisters will be graduating from Biola and my Madre will be celebrating Mother's Day.

Again, moving on before my heart gets real sad.

So there it is friends! I am doing well. Life in Korea is chugging along in full steam and I really am enjoying it! I miss my family and friends terribly... but hey... im 1/3 of the way done! : )

God is good. Life is sweet and i am terribly blessed!
Blessings to you all!
-sarah, capa, potts, pottsie,

My Morning at the Museum of Modern Art

I work nights. Getting off around 10 somewhat limits my nighttime adventures, and while my weekends are spent exploring parts of Seoul, I’ve decided that my week day mornings are also prime times. Not only do I feel more productive that I would having spent my entire morning finding new podcasts and blogs to follow, I get to experience Seoul in a fresh way. Waking up with a city, in all its morning glory, is worth an occasional early subway trip if you ask me.

Living only 45 minutes from the heart of Seoul, I’m pretty well located to make a weekly trek to someplace awesome, before work that is! Some of you live even closer-- awesome! Set your alarm clock, grab some coffee, bring a book for the subway, and hit the track Jack. Facebook will still be buzzing after work, and we can sleep in tomorrow. There is much exploring to do!

Last week, my destination o’ awesome was the National Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). Mostly because it was free, and some friends of mine boasted about the awesome open air sculpture garden. Which, I have to agree was both outdoor and awesome. (The groaning iron man was by far my favorite.) I learned upon arrival the MOCA is brilliantly located in the beautiful Seoul Grand Park, and was delighted to take in all the recently blossomed cherry trees and other morning fellows on our early walk through the park. Or a hike? It’s hard to tell at times. Seems like people gear up to go for a walk around here. But that’s besides the point.

Seoul Grand Park is home to a lot of attractions. Many of which would make for great morning outings. The natural scenery is quite beautiful, with perfect trails for a short hike, walk, or run, and ample grassy spaces for a nice picnic or book reading session. The park also houses Seoul Grand Park Zoo, a Botanical Garden, SeoulLand, along with the MOCA, all of which, again, are worthy of a visit!

The MOCA, without hesitation, is a perfect morning outing, especially if you’re making the trek alone. Be sure to visit when the weather is nice and you’ll enjoy a pleasant walk through the park to the museum, which is about 15 minutes from the subway station. I spent close to two hours wandering my way around the museum, and it was great. There really is something for everyone. An impressive photography collection of modern and traditional Korean life, and a captivating sculpture exhibit, my favorite being a collection of hands, and a quite provocative painting collection on what I understood to be a depiction of western influences on traditional Korean life. Impressive and definitely worth a visit. On a lighter note, make sure you don’t pass over the Children’s Gallery. However, enter prepared. Mid-week mornings are hosts to school field trips and little children enjoy shouting “wei-guk-in” (foreigner) without any concern for volume control or regard for museum etiquette. Kind of funny. Somewhat embarrassing, but you can handle it. The MOCA is also temporarily home to a special exhibition of Korea’s Artist of the Year 2010, Kiwon Park: Who’s Afraid of Museums, which will be running till the end of May for only 3,000W. I’d allot a little more time to do both portions, but would definitely recommend checking it out.
There you have it. Korea MOCA located in Seoul Grand Park. It’s awesome. For those of you living in SoKo, visit for yourself and I think you’ll agree. For those of you not in SoKo, you'll have to take my word for it. Or visit me! : )

Museum Entrance. Made of wood.

It really is a lovely walk through the park. Hard to see but an air-tram run across the lake through the park.

This little guy welcomes you to the zoo.

The Deets:
Subway Station: Seoul Grand Park, Line 4
Admission: Free, Special Exhibition 3,000W
Hours: March to October 10am-6pm, open till 9 on Saturday and Sunday. CLOSED MONDAYS.
Time Allotment: Travel time + 2/3 hours depending on speed of browse and picnicking habits.
There is a small museum cafe and plenty picnic tables and grass to enjoy a picnic, or pick up some kimbap just outside the subway on your way up to the museum for a perfect Korean picnic.

Korean Baseball.

Korean's know how to have a good time. Give 'em a beer (or two and a few shots of soju), some fried chicken, and a few lively friends, much fun is to be had for sure!

Yesterday I went to my first Korean baseball game. The same held true. We had a good time! Beer. Fried chicken. Baseball. It was AWESOME. So awesome. The sheer energy, noise, and devoted fan-ery radiating in the crowd was contagious and for the equivalent of 9 bucks, it was well worth every penny.

We were right in the middle of it all. Centered behind home-plate we had the Doosan Bears' fans to the right and the Lotte Giants' fans to the left, and on fantastic view of an awesome baseball game! I rocked at home team Bears hat, for no reason other than it was the first I found under 25,000w, but I think I definitely scored some cool foreigner points! However, around the 5th inning I was wishing I had chosen the Giants. You see, at the top of the 5th, Giant fans blow up orange plastic bags and tie them on their heads. I have no bloody clue why, but I liked it!

A few observations:

• You buy tickets. They have seat numbers. However no one sits in their given seats. Unless you're a baseball game rookie. We had veterans in our group, so we knew the rule. Sadly we got booted from our seats around the 5th inning from two rookies who didn't get the "first come, first serve" memo.
• Jerky in Korea is squid. Not bagged. Not packaged. Just dried madness in the literal shape of flattened squid. Interesting. Next to other game snacks: kimbap, beer, soju. No peanuts. No sunflower seeds.
  
• Fans cheer the entire game. Yup. Most players have their own chants. And some of the chants borrow familiar English tunes. Mary Had a Little Lamb. Hallelujah. It's a Small World. awesome.
  
• There are many very fortunate looking men at baseball games. There's just something about a man wearing a baseball hat. Gets me every time. : )
• There are cheerleaders at baseball games. Clad in more strange than scandalous outfits in a humble group of 4. Strange. Very strange.
  

So there we have it. Another "To-Do List" activity marked off. Another awesome adventure! I don't even know what the score was. But i do know this: I'm a fan of baseball games in Korea and shall be attending another one here soon!

The happy group!

Rachel, Me and Jin

Fans are crazy. I had to take a video!

For my SoKo Fellows:

Jamsil Stadium
Sports Complex Exit Line 2(Green Line)
Ticketing and Game Schedule for the Doosan Bears
You can buy tickets at the game. However if you want really good ones, buy online.
Ample Korean snacks are available for cheap outside the stadium, however, you can bring your own food and drinks into the park.

Cheers friends!