The coolest bike in Korea

Today Matt, my friend-neighbor-coworker Caitlin and I set out to purchase some bicycles. We went to a particular bike store because they had some used bikes. However, once I walked in I saw the coolest bike in Korea and that no used bike could ever fill my cool bike heart. So, I bought the cool bike and it is pretty sweet. Now that we have bikes we'll be able to explore much more of the city.

Matt's bike, which, I guess is cool. 

Caitlin painting her bike. 

As promised, Mud Festival Photos

Oh hey- these are my new Korea friends. We are sexy and fun! Haha!

Muddy Madness

Painting on mud at the "Free Self Massage" station

I don't know if this guy was mud meditating or what. 

This what you do at Mud Fest. 

The next morning...... this is our we-partied-very-hard-and-we-now-are eating-ramen-at-a-convienent-store-for-breakfast face. 

Matt did not want to leave the mud festival or its cute and happy mascot. 

PS- New Address

Since my school moved, you need the new address to mail me things. I have my mail sent to school because someone is usually there to accept it, which is not necessarily the case at our apartment.

New Address:

Reading Star
Ashley Meadows
4th Floor
538 J Building
Namgu, Bongseun-dong
Gwangju City 503-060
South Korea

I like mail.

Welcome Aboard the Reading Star-ship!

This week my school moved and changed its name from Reading Town to Reading Star, but I like the call it the Reading Star-ship.  It's so futuristic and mod that I believe our English academy may take off at any moment. 

This is our new front reception area. Compare to our old reception desk below. Light years in difference. 

Below is a giant red, velvet couch in the lobby- totally cool. 

 

Here is an old Reading Town classroom and a new  Reading Star-ship classroom. 

Basically,  everything is now bigger, better looking, cleaner, and works better. My desk is now twice as large and in the same room as the other teachers, not the book closet.  I have plans to get some house plants and liven it up. I didn't post a picture of my desk because it is not much to look at right now. 

Yes, that is clearly me.

This is a drawing from one of my students- Andrea, I think she is about 10 or 11 years old. It is clearly me. 

Reading Town moved this weekend to a new building and we are now called Reading Star. The new building is amazing and I will take some pictures when I go in today and post them later. My school now could easily pass for the set of a mod spaceship movie from the 1960s. We even have a huge red velvet couch. Also, with a name like "Reading Star", I'm pretty sure we're preparing for take off always. 

This weekend was pretty quiet. I spent the first half of Saturday unpacking things at the new spaceship building. Then we just spent the rest of the weekend drinking, eating, and hanging out with friends. Matt and I going to join a gym this week- too much beer, not enough exercise. 

ps- I should get my photos back from MudFest on Wednesday. 

Mud Festival

This weekend a group of about ten of went to the Boryeong Mud Festival. It's a festival where everyone covers themselves from head-to-toe with mud, mud wrestle, mud slide, drink a lot, etc. It's pretty ridiculous. There are thousands of people there- 1.5 million people go to this festival over its 10 days. Boryeong is on the west coast of Korea about halfway between Seoul and Gwangju. Many foreigners go to this festival- mostly english teachers and military folk. I don't think there are many other kinds of foreigners in Korea. It took place on a large beach and we got to a little swimming. We realized we really missed swimming and vowed to come the beach more often this summer. There was also a sweet fireworks display, which kind of made up for the lack of fireworks on the 4th. 

 It's so nuts. If you can imagine mud-covered people, drinking, and dancing as far as you can see- that's what its like.  It may even be what Caitlin Matanle might even consider heaven (if only there was a way to prevent frat-like boys from getting in). It was strange to see so many English speakers in one spot.  The floors of convenience stores and restaurants were covered in mud. Everything was muddy, muddy, muddy. I'm honestly surprised that town didn't run out of beer. Matt and I and the rest of our party consumed a lot of it. Our hijinks  included Matt helping military guys throw their commanding officer into the Yellow Sea, I ended my non-smoking streak with half a cigarette before Matt flicked it out of my hand, wandering the streets of Daecheon Beach with 1.5 liter bottles of beer. One of our friends couldn't find our minbak (a cheap place to stay that is a room with a closet of blankets, you sleep on the floor) until about 7am. Well, that was because we had to change minbaks mid-day because we originally checked into the wrong one, we had already paid one about a block over. Many people got a streaky sunburn due to uneven application of mud, but Matt and I foresaw that problem and  always had a thick, even coating of mud.  

The above picture is not mine nor do I know these people, I pulled this from the Internet. I took a disposable camera so I wouldn't ruin my camera with mud. Hopefully, I can find a place to develop it and maybe put in on a picture CD. I'll post our pictures later. 

My favorite late night snack in Korea

I have a new favorite late night snack. I'm not sure what my old favorite late night snack was, but my new favorite is dipping little sheets of seaweed in a wasabi-mayonnaise-soy sauce mixture. I'm posting this because I believe it can be easily replicated at home except in Korea you can buy credit card sized pieces of seaweed. It contains all the things I love best in a snack- salty, crispy, and involves dipping one delicious thing in another delicious thing. Here I will guide you through this very complicated recipe.  I believe all these ingredients are available in Safeway or Food Lion, if not in your kitchens right now!

Step 1: First, you should put a little pea to 2 pea-sized amounts of wasabi and mayonnaise into a small sauce dish. This step is of course to taste and proportion of seaweed you plan on dipping. (Also, I'm pretty sure a cute dish makes its contents more delicious- just saying)

Step 2: Mix wasabi and mayonnaise thoroughly. For full authenticity, mix with a chopstick. 

Step 3: Add a small amount of soy sauce and mix thoroughly. 

Step 4: Then add more soy sauce. The quantity here is to taste and in proportion of seaweed to be consumed. 

(This is so you may see the tiny seaweed sheets, perfect size for dipping. Sushi roll size sheets should merely be ripped or cut.)

Step 5: Fold seaweed sheet and dip in delicious.

Step 6: Enjoy the salty, crispy, dipped crunch. It is best served with a giant beer of mediocre quality and enjoyed between the hours of 11:00pm and 3:00am. If you are eating after 3:00am, chances are you are too sloppy to make and fully appreciate such an exquisite treat.