Last weekend I had my first (and last) experience with the infamous soju. It's a dirt cheap liquor that's about $1 for a bottle the size of a beer bottle. It's only 20%, but there's something about it that gets you really drunk and gives you monstrous hangovers the next day. I've heard that they use soju to clean bbqs, enough said!!
Long story short, at the DJ festival they ran out of beer, so we started drinking soju. This was near the end of the night, so when about an hour later we decided to go home I knew I was in trouble. Nothing like drinking a whole lot of cheap booze then going to bed! The cab ride was about 45 mins home, and I think I fell asleep before he even started moving. Next thing I know it's Sunday morning, and I'm on bed, still in my clothes, purse still on my shoulder. I didn't feel too bad and got up to shower, and it didn't take me long to realize that I didn't feel too bad because I was still drunk!! So I went back to bed, and in true Ashley styles woke up at 5pm feeling like death, then went back to bed for the night at 9pm. You know how normally you'd wake up after the second night's sleep feeling fine and ready to go to work?? Not with soju. I was still hungover all day. And trying to teach energetic kids English while you have a pounding headache is not my idea of fun. So I have decided that no matter how cheap soju is I'm not drinking it again. Not worth it.
The DJ fest was pretty fun though, a good mix of foreigners and Koreans, some awesome breakdancing and live hip hop. Here's a picture of the stage, and a big (and creepy marionette):
Yesterday I met Wennie, Jin and some teachers from another school in Dongdaemun, an area known for its shopping. It's a huge mall, but I didn't see any stores, just booths set up kind of like a market. There are different floors for different things, and when we got to the shoe floor I felt like I was in heaven. Wall to wall shoes for as far as the eye could see, and all cheap too! I didn't bring my camera, but I'll have to go back because the pictures would be worth it. I know I didn't even see half of it either, so much to see!
Today I went and a got a haircut at a place by my apartment, and was definitely a little nervous. For those who remember the '02 mullet mishap, I was scared that it might happen again. They spoke no English, so I actually called Jin and had her explain to him in Korean what I wanted. Turns out that he just gave me a trim and didn't thin out my hair at all (which is what I wanted, tame the 'lyon' mane - haha). But it still feels a lot healthier, and I'd rather have him under-cut than over-cut my hair. The best part was when they blowdried and straightened it. The stylist had 2 people helping him blowdry... yes, 3 people and 3 hairdryers all at once. And then there were two people at a time straightening it, and they were 4 or 5 of them standing around, taking turns and watching. I felt like a celebrity! Well, I felt like my hair was a celebrity. Not sure why they were so fascinated, lots of Koreans have permed hair, but I think maybe they don't get too many foreigners in for haircuts.
One more picture... here's a typical Seoul landscape. Mom and Matt - now you know why I said I didn't know that there were little mountains around me. I basically live in a pack of apartment buildings like this one, so there's not much to see but patches of sky and concrete. Oh and it was kind of a rainy day, but I'm pretty sure that it's hazy because of the smog. The second picture is of one of the highways.. not a big deal to anyone in Toronto, but for Vancouverites this is a big highway!!
So that's it for now. Nothing too exciting... started my new course this week, which will keep me busy for a while.
Hugs and Kisses
Ashley
