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Published: November 20th 2012
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A couple of years ago Seoul started the Seoul Lantern festival in November. I tried looking up the exact reason why they have it every year but I couldn't find any. So they do it because the Koreans love to have festivals. So anyway, we decided to head over to Seoul for day/night to spend some time in the nice fall weather and to relax a bit. Later that night once it got dark we headed over to Cheonggyecheon Stream which is a manmade 1.5km stream that runs through the heart of Seoul. Kind of like Cherry creek in Denver. There is a streamside walkway that runs besides it and then one above that you can walk along as well. One thing about Korea, you always have to assume that there are going to be a ton of people doing something. This was no exception. There was a huge line to be able to go down below and walk beside the stream. Probably a couple thousand just waiting to go down there and check out the lanterns. We walked along the stream for awhile taking pictures of all the different lanterns and then unanimously decided that we were starving and that
we should eat. Trying to pick a place to eat in Korea can be a huge hassle. It's either too expensive, too crowded, don't know what the menu says, or not all people agree on the restaurant. This was yet again the case for dinner tonight. The first place we went to had room but was too expensive, the other place was not big enough and then finally we found a place that was small and packed and had to wait but it was cheap! It ended up being one of the best meals I have had here. It was a chicken Galbi place. There was a burner in the middle of the table and the guy throw some onions,jalapeno, and chicken on there and started dicing and cooking it all up. Then came the rice and red sauce which he mixed in and patted down (I have a video) and then threw in some cheese. Oh man! It was delicious! And it came out to be maybe 7,000 won a person which is like maybe $6.
After dinner a couple people branched off to go out partying since it was party time in Seoul. For the rest of
us we ended up taking the subway home to chill in the hostel and get ready for the 10k the following morning. We kept checking the weather reports and hoping for no rain but everyone's weather app stated 60% chance of rain right when we were running the race. The next morning, sure enough, we woke up to rain. It wossn't too bad so we were a little optimistic that it wouldn't be too bad. Well, right when we showed up to the event and found the tent we were supposed to meet at, it really started to rain. We changed into our running gear, put our gear in the "gear" bags and took them to the "gear" tent. It was a terrible set up. They gave you a number, then they basically put your plastic bag out behind the tent on the ground, in the rain. Whatever, that taken care of we were off to the starting line to try and find out when the 10k started. We found some people waiting and proceeded to ask those in line "10k" with a thumbs up sign. They nodded yes to the 10k then we realized that they had balloons and
were going to the 10k, as a couple! They actually had an entry for a couples 10k.
The race started and we all took off through the chaos that always begins at the start of the race. Jumping and dodging people running slowly and those that were walking to finally find a little space to run. It was raining pretty bad by then and we were already soaked so there was no need to avoid the puddles now. It was nice having the race be in kilometers because I had no idea where I was but as long as I was getting closer to 10 I was happy. We came up on the final 1km stretch and I turned it on hoping to get a good time and see what I could do since I didn't really train for it. I ended up crossing the finish line at 53 minutes. Not too bad overall. I'm just glad I broke 1 hour.
After everyone crossed the finish line we went to retrieve our gear bag from the tent. There was no one there manning the tent and so basically everybody was just walking around trying to find their bag.
So disorganized. It was so cold and we were soaking so we took off for the subway to get back to Itaewon and our hostel so we could change and shower and then head off to lunch.
A couple weeks prior our Korean/American friend Jason showed us this "underground" authentic Italian meal in the basement of an expat elementary school near the Italian embassy. You basically walk into this school and down 2 flights of stairs to the basement that has a pool table, foosball, kitchen with a full bar! You sit down at your table and then when the food is ready, everyone just stands up, gets in line and waits to get served. The meals are extremely good and you feel like you are part of this club that no one else knows about that is run by the mafia. We've only been there a couple times but it's a sweet spot that we are glad Jason shared with us.
A little off topic but this website is a staple for Guest English Teachers in Korea. Some of you reading this may not understand it at all and think it's not funny but this
website basically describes my life in Korea in pictures. Sometimes, these pictures are beyond better than my words could do justice. When I am bored at school or just need a good laugh, I just glance through this website and start giggling to myself at my desk. Enjoy!
http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/
BTW - these photos are with my new camera that I bought. I figured my iPhone camera wasn't really cutting it for a year in South Korea. It only cost me 190,000!! Sounds expensive but it's only like $175.
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