Last weekend, I saw Alice in Wonderland (for the second time). But this time we watched it in 3D & it was very cool. I highly recommend it if you haven't been to a 3D movie.. The closest and best movie theater is about a 40 minute busride from my town. It's a CGV, which is a huge media company based in Seoul. They also have an English TV channel that I sometimes watch. They always play NCIS/CSI/Bones (i.e., forensic crime shows - they love them!). There is a closer movie theater in the local EMart complex, but the movies are unfortunately mostly in Korean.
I've discovered the magical world known as torrent downloading! I had heard about it before while in the States, but never tried it because of the slow connection speeds. The awesome technology here makes it so quick to download music and movie files. I've already nearly filled my hard drives now, I'm thinking about buying a new terabyte drive (1000 gigabytes!). These are also very cheap here. A terabyte drive will hold more than 1000 movies!
I had some more interesting new food last weekend. I was a little put off at first by the menu: ox stomach! But once you get past the chewy texture, the taste is surprisingly good! They say it's also a very healthy food - it must at least have some sort of minerals that I don't normally get. I went to this restaurant with a group of Koreans that I (again) met at the gym. The gym has turned out to be a great place for making new friends :)
Thursday morning of last week, I joined the Kindergarten classes on their monthly field trip - this month was a musical. It was the Korean version of 'Everybody Poops', and although it was entirely in Korean, I thoroughly enjoyed it! I had the fortune of sitting next to a fellow Korean teacher, so she was able to translate for me occasionally during the show. Here's the Readers' Digest version: The hero character (henceforth referred to as Good Poo) visits a racoon character, and they embark on a journey of discovery for how to defeat the 'evil poos' (played in the musical by bad poos of 3 kinds - with one carrying a devil's pitchfork, one a plunger, and one a toilet brush). Good Poo carries a magical rock that allows the Good Duo to travel searching for the 3 things that must be obtained to defeat the Evil Poos. They visit a variety of people and places - including the birthplace of all poos, a wise old frog, and a fun-loving skateboarding turtle. In the end, the 3 tokens turn out to be: 1) exercise, 2) vegetables, and 3) love. The Good Duo collects all 3 and unlocks the portal that sends the Evil Poos to their final resting place - that Big Toiletbowl in the Sky. So I saw a good show, learned a little more about Korean culture, and possibly learned something new about my GI health!
The Good Duo is here on the left, facing two of the Evil Poos.
Another new experience last weekend was finding a weather phenomenon worse than the pollen season in the Southeastern US. Until now, I didn't think I would ever come across another yellow coating that covers absolutely EVERYTHING outside. Well guess what they have here in Korea in the spring? It's called Yellow Dust (brought by 'the yellow winds'), and is said to be sand and pollution blown to the Korean peninsula from China. Many people wear face masks during storms like these, for great reason. Accompanying the Yellow Dust are winds that I have never experienced - it feels like being in a tornado. And not being able to see anything because of everything in the air makes it feel like you're in a whiteout. They advise people to stay indoors on days like this, for obvious health reasons. On a personal note, I had a sore throat and felt sick for over a week afterwards. I should really invest in a good facemask. Read more about Asian Dust here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Dust.
The crazy weather hasn't been limited to only the disgusting dust, either. For weeks now, Mother Nature has played cruel temperature games with us. It has warmed up on several occasions to near T-shirt weather. But just when we're convinced that warmer weather is here to stay, a cold spell will snap again! Last Monday snowed hard all day long, but it only stayed for a few days before completely melting. It must have been right on the edge of freezing temperatures, because the snow was very wet and slushy. This weekend was rather chilly too. Hopefully warm temperatures will be coming soon..
On Saturday a group of us went to see the Korean show Nanta. Nanta is at the core a traditional drum performance, but it has also modernized the performance and added some comedy - it's very good. The show has toured all around the globe, and has even appeared on Broadway in the US. The show mostly takes place in a restaurant kitchen, and follows a day in the life of 5 characters. They have a lot of fun drumming on every imaginable surface and object - and the show even being largely unspoken, is very funny. I've definitely learned that comedy is universal. For more information on the show: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanta_(musical) or http://nanta.i-pmc.co.kr/en/about/nanta_01.asp.
We went for a special promo for Nanta too - it was a half price performance, plus they included a small brunch for us prior to the show. The brunch was quite unsatisfying though - I was expecting a giant spread like our American buffets, but all we got was some coffee and juice, a tiny sandwich, and a cupcake. But after the show, my buddy won a nice door prize - a Polaroid camera!
Also this past weekend, I went to my second FC Seoul soccer game. They play in the World Cup Stadium in Seoul, where the home team is obviously FC Seoul. They play other football clubs throughout the country - this last time the visiting team was Pohang. I've never been much of a soccer fan, but it's pretty huge here, apparently also in the entire world..! :) The fans get very into the games - lots of cheering. Here's a few pics:
Fireworks before (and all throughout) the game:
Wild crowd cheering, chanting, and waving flags:
Our team
Sunday I made the trip to the nearby Korean Folk Village. I had heard about it even prior to arriving, as it's very nearby in our city. Although, unlike most places, it isn't very easy accessible by public transit. So a taxi is a must-do, but taxis are also so very cheap around here. The village is very cool - it has recreations of all types of traditional houses - from slave quarters to yangban (the Korean aristocracy). My favorite part of the village was definitely the performances. They have all kinds of things ranging from music and dancing to tightrope and equestrian acrobatics.
Hoping all is well with you, and I'll update you again in the near future!
Take care,
Matt
