Cafe/Jongno Tower

This weekend, I went to a Dr. Fish Cafe. It is a coffee/tea shop that also has small tanks of fish. You put your feet in them for 15 minutes. The fish then eat all the old flesh off of your feet. It tickles a little bit, but the fish are so small that it isn't too bad. Most of them are mini-minnow size. The cafe also has many places to sit with magazines and books to read. Unfortunately, I can't read any of the books, but I can look at the pictures of the Korean version of GQ, Men's Health, and other magazines.

Also, I went to Jongno Tower. It is a unique building that is triangular shaped. It has a glass exterior and near the top there is a big opening. On the 33rd floor, there is a restaurant/bar. I went with a "friend" and we enjoyed a cocktail (a little expensive), but it has a nice view of downtown Seoul at night. It would be a nice place to have a romantic (and expensive) dinner with someone special.

It is almost of the end of July. Work has been crazy. This is the busiest month of the year because university students are on summer break. Most students choose to travel in August. I haven't had many extra students, but I did have more hours of class. So, my working hours still are inconvenient. I have to work early mornings and late evenings. Also, I am doing some TOEIC writing and proofreading for R&D, so I will get paid a lot this month. Even with the bigger paycheck, I will be ready for the month to be over.

Geoje Island

I went on a day-trip (Mon./Tues.) to Geojedo (거제도). It is a island of the southern end of Korea, so it takes about 4 hours or so by bus. I went with a "friend." Since I had never heard of it,my "friend" arranged and paid for the tour. The tour left at 10pm from Seoul. As part of the package, we spent a couple hours at a sauna, which was my first experience with a Korean bath. After the sauna, we went to have breakfast at 6am and we ate seafood jjigae (soup, slightly spicy). It isn't exactly the breakfast of choice, but it was part of the package. Afterwards, we could walk around the marina to wait our boat ride. We took a ride on a boat around some islands and then stopped at Oedo (외도). It is a small island, but it is a botanical garden with many people taking care of it and manicuring the landscape. From the island, there are so many wonderful views. For the rest of the day, we went to different beaches on Geojedo. It was a wonderful day since the weather was nice and there is a lot less pollution. Fresh air, scenic views, and a "friend" made it for an amazing day away from the "rat race" of Seoul. We arrived back in Seoul the next day at 8pm.

Aside: Tuesday (July 17th) is Constitution Day, so it is a national holiday and Pagoda took Monday off also, since we only work 20 working days per month.

Korean Wedding

Last weekend, I attended my first Korean wedding. They are a little bit different than American weddings. Before the wedding, the bride is taking pictures with her friends in a side room. My friend, a former teacher, even had me come take a photo with her. We can't communicate too well because she speaks only a little English and my Korean is still terrible. I did meet her husband for lunch a few months ago, so since I knew them both they invited me. It was kind of unusual because all of the other teachers that attended were women and they kept asking me how I got invited.

As for the wedding, it was in a wedding hall, which is very popular in Korea. The wedding started with the mothers being escorted down the aisle and having them light two candles. Then, groom walks down, and finally the bride. She wore a white wedding dress. Someone gives a message (in Korean), then they had some special wedding singers, friends of the couple. After, the groom read a message to his bride and next played a song on guitar with two other guitarists. The bride and groom are pronounced married (I guess) and they walk down the aisle. Afterwards, they take group pictures with parents, family, extended family, and finally, friends. So, I was in a group picture with about 80 other people.

For dinner, this wedding was a buffet. They served all kinds of different Korean food, but no wedding cake. It was nice to go and see the wedding because the teacher taught at my first teaching location (Sinchon) and I hadn't seen many of the teachers for a few months. All of this finished in about 2 hours, so Korean weddings are notorious for being over in a short amount of time.



P.S. Congratulations to my sister and brother-in-law for making me an uncle for the second time. Sorry that I can come visit any time soon, Congratulations anyway.