It’s been awhile since we posted last because we’ve gotten kinda lazy. But now, it’s time for that laziness to end! I’m going to get right back on it!
Because it’s been awhile, there have been a couple events that haven’t been discussed. Because it would take to long to write them all out and include pictures and blah blah blah, I’ll just write a quick list. That way I can get to this weekend without overloading myself on blog updating and then never wanting to write again! So…the past few weeks have included:-Snowboarding trip
- Rock Climbing competition in Deagu
- Trick Art Museum
- Another snowboarding trip
- A snowstorm
- Homigot
- Birthday Dinners
- Trips to Yeongcheon
- Winter camp
Ok….on to last weekend! Friday afternoon Sam and I met at the bus terminal – the reason? To go to Seoul. Even though it had barely been a month since I had last been there, I was going back. Why? Rock climbing of course! There was a big competition that Sam and I wanted to see! Our friend DongYup was competing and we wanted to cheer him on.
We arrived later that we expected so we just went to dinner and planned on heading to the Jimmjillbong that DongYup was staying at afterwords. He called when he arrived so we took the address he gave us and headed to the nearest taxi. Unfortunately, it was taken, as were every single other taxi around. The ones that weren’t taken, they just wouldn’t let us in. Lost and confused, we decided to ask someone. That someone ended up being a man in the subway office.
“Excuse me, how to you get here?” We’d ask in our best Korean (how go? – in literal terms – our Korean still isn’t so hot)
*we show our paper with the address and phone number*
“uhh…..”
*lots of confused looks*
*picks up the phone*
“Excuse me….two foreigners are looking for you……where are you?”
He give us a direction and we go there.
We find another taxi
The taxi looks at the address and kicks us out.
We go into a DunkenDoughnuts
“Excuse me, we are closed…..”
“How go?”
“uhhhhh……..”
*Iphone search begins*
*iphone search is set aside and phone call is made*
“Hello….where are you located? These two foreigners…….”
He sends us in another direction with a little more help.
“Turn left at the family mart, and it’s near a big building name somethingkoreansometingNAM”
So we thanked him and continued to look.
We found a family mart.
We turned left.
We looked.
We found a building somethingkoreansomethingNAM
“Is this the right building?”
We look around it.
We turn left at it (just in case, you never know when you are supposed to turn left)
We found nothing.
We went into a mart of sometype.
“How go?”
“Uhhh….hold on”
*stares at the address in confusion”
*helps some customers that want to buy lame things*
*more staring in confusion*
*goes to a nearby laptop and googles it*
*more staring in confusion*
*Picks up the cell phone*
“Hi there, I’m calling because I need some directions for these two foreigners……”
*Grabs a set of keys*
“Follow me girls! I’ll be your night in shining armor and take you directly there!”
*shout of joy!*
*20 or more minutes of walking around in confusion*
“Um…is that it?”
“Oh yes! That’s it! Thank you so much! You are so wonderful!”
*runs back to his shop he abandoned for us*
We walk around the sign for the Jimjillbang, looking for a way in
“Sam, look there is a door right here under the sign. We should go in that one!”
“Good idea Courtney!”
*we walk down the stairs – which lead to a dead end – we walk up the stairs*
“Uhh……what now?”
“Let’s ask those guards in that guard room over there”
“How go”
“Blahblahblahkoreanblahblahkorean”
*Point in a direction*
We head there. There are elevators. We go down.
We arrive!
Total Travel time = 3hrs
The first thing the lady and the desk did when we walked in? Hand us a business card with a map on the back of it.
The next day we woke up and departed for the days main event – the Seoul Bouldering Competition. Our friend DongYup was competing, along with some other people he brought along. We were super excited to watch!
The competition was held in the middle of a sports expo. There was sporting equipment everywhere! Climbing gear, hiking gear, canoeing gear, exercise machines, scuba equipment, biking gear, and even a slackline! The place was great! We ended up staying all day watching the climbing and touring the exhibits. There was also a Travel Korea exhibit upstairs that we went to see. We got loads of information about different places in Korea as well as food samples!  |
| Sam with the biggest tent ever! |
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| DongYup, with all the name tags for the competition |
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| Climbers! |
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| The competion |
During the breaks in the competition, they had a bit of entertainment for the masses. This entertainment involved 2 groups of 6 highly make-uped persons parading around the stage modeling outdoor wear. The best part? One of the groups of six was a dance group! Yes, they would break-dance in their hiking backpacks and bicycle helmets.
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| Fashion Show! |
After enjoying ourselves throughoutly at the expo, the competition ended and we had dinner. Then, after saying our goodbyes, we went shopping. Shopping in Korea is a lot different than back home. And where we went was a LOT LOT different! We went to what you would think is a giant department store, but instead, it’s like a giant department store with a flea market inside. But the booths are really tiny, they only sell clothes, and it’s hard to walk around. Each booth has it’s own type of clothes, but if you walk around enough you’ll notice many repeats. In order to try something on, you either had to hide in a corner of the stall, put it on over your clothes, or wear a skirt and pull something on underneath. In many cases you weren’t allowed to try things on. And in many other cases you were dressed by the saleswoman!
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| Just a couple of break-dancing models |
After looking around for a few hours we headed to the nearest Jimjillbang and went to bed. The next morning it was raining like crazy. Our plan had been to go shopping at the foreigners side of town, but because we had no idea where we were going and we were cold and wet, we settled for lunch at Subway. And by settle I mean were were positively extatic! It was my first real sandwich in 6 months and I savored every moment of it! Maybe it’s a good thing there isn’t a subway in Pohang or I would just eat that everyday. But, if I did eat that everyday, wouldn’t that be good? I mean….it was for Jarred right? I could handle that. So never mind. I wish there was a subway in Pohang. I never thought I’d ever wish for a subway this much. Oh, how things change.
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| Sam and DongYup with the winners trophys |
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