So Saturday was a wonderfully long day. Friday night I did some more exploring of the market and area in that direction of the city and got back to my apartment late, but was still up early the next morning. It has been gorgeous weather all week and the morning proved to be the same. I went down to a place called Teen Star; which is a Michael’s-ish specialty art store type place-needless to say it was heaven-ish to walk around and hell-ish to know I do not yet have the money to spend there. Afterwards I headed around the park a different direction of town and walked for a while till I ended up at E-mart. Finally, hanging around the park until some rain drove me back to my apartment. I edited photos and took a nap before heading to meet people to go downtown.
Now I have tried a couple of times to make it to the downtown area unsuccessfully (because I get lost in the sea of neon that is Gwang-Ju). There is a “foreigner” community that some foreigners shun and others embrace. Every month they have dinners for the foreigners and natives to get together make connections and have a little fun, food, and drink. We meet up at the downtown Starbucks (a central location) and walked a short way to this traditional Korean restaurant. A lot of us LCI-ers were there as well as tons of others that we were able to meet and greet. At our table were two ‘natives’ Bo (female) and David. Bo told us several stories about the food and Korean traditions:
-The proper time to eat a mushroom is when it has been cooked to the point that water collects in the head it is supposed to be the best taste and mean prosperity to come to you if eaten then.
-Another story: The Korean word for pepper (jalapeno) and penis is the same word; because in the ancient time when a family birthed a baby boy they would open up the gates to the estate and hang peppers across them to signal the birth.
The second story she would end up regretting telling the table. American guys who are hams, a gal with a camera, soju and dirty minds would lead to me apologizing for their behavior and me having to capture it. She accepted my apology and said that since she too was laughing at their behavior it wasn’t that bad overall.
David was joining in on the fun the guys were having; it was interesting to see Koreans so open to the vulgarity- as you will see it but never hear it from them. David, also, kept commenting on loving my laugh and smile. I know that I have a very loud laugh and love to laugh usually, but got kind of paranoid because not long after he said that Bo said the same thing. Then the foreigners started to say that as well. So, I am feel flattered and a little paranoid because everyone kept saying that, but David explained it is rare to hear such hearty and true sounding laughter-I thanked him with a hearty laugh.
After dinner we were introduced to two of the more popular foreigner bars in the area. One is “The German Bar” and the other is “Speakeasy.” Both were small and crowded and loud. (For those that know they are comparable to the Shamrock and Highlander) I think that both are good places to be to go and etc. Then there is another bar that we went to. It is the Café Twee of Gwang-Ju in my mind. It is laidback and a place to be able to have a conversation. We closed the place down. Jeremy and Brandon are regulars there and took us once before (but it was briefly) and they are good friends with the owner and most of the bartenders. Rusty, Chris, eventually Mark and I all stayed there most of the night. Talking with the bartenders (three females and one male) and playing pool. Chris, Mark and I closed the bar down around 5 am.
I was very excited to get a phone call from Keith today and I got the chance to talk to Marcella, Roz, and Daddy last week. I am supposed to be getting my residency card this week so I will have internet and the opportunity to get a cell phone here. It will be mice, because it will be cheaper for me to make and receive calls and I’ll be able to set up skype. By the way-thanks for all of the concern about my diet; I am getting plenty of food-I am going mostly vegan; the fruits and vegetables are so fresh here! And the peanuts, cashews and etc are cheap and fresh with no preservatives on them. I just have not been too adventurous in the shopping for food department due to my inability to read-which I need to be working on more than I am. I kinda gave up on it a little because I am a little lazy. Whatev…
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