Seoul Much Fun

Now that I am officially on summer break for school, I have more time for blogging. I get a whopping 9 days off from school (yay me, I guess) before I have to teach English summer camp. I miss the 3 month long break already. Also, I will be doing a little traveling in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for that!

Anyways, back to my regularly scheduled post.

A few weekends ago I found myself back in Seoul for another orientation roomie gathering. Somehow 6 whole months had passed since we had all seen each other, and we had much to discuss. Including this Saturday, I have now spent a grand total of 17 hours in Seoul. Woot woot!

I started my day promptly at 6:20 in the morning. I was taking a later train (8:20am) which afforded me some time to sleep in. I got ready for the day, said goodbye to Tom, and then started my journey to the train station. There was a surprising amount of people out and about at 7:15 on a Saturday morning. I bought myself a bottled coffee and a pastry while waiting for my train boarding to start. Quite tasty, I must add.

The train was a quick 3 and a half hour journey, and before I knew it, I was arriving at Seoul Station. I first met up with Alex, and we made our way over to Taylor at the bus station. I am sure we were a sight to see... group hugging next to the bathroom while squealing in excitement. We had a quick catch up right in the middle of the station (mainly talking about our love lives) and shared some exciting news. All 3 of us are staying for another year, so definitely expect some more catch up days.

Our first offical stop for the day was to grab some food at a coffee shop. In true girl trip fashion, we all decided to split our food in order to maximize food tasting. We shared a grilled cheese, custard salt bread, and a blueberry cheesecake. All three were absolutely delectable, and I do not know that I could pick a favorite (although I do have a sweet tooth so 100% it was the cheesecake). We had a longer catch up in the coffee shop just talking about how things were going at our schools, future plans for summer break, and talking more about our personal lives. Never let it be said that women cannot talk for hours upon hours when we get excited!

With our bellies full and a little more caffeine in our systems, we decided to do some window shopping. There were a few shopping areas right around the corner, and we spent our time perusing the various aisles and stalls. There were notebooks and jewelry and pottery and legos and bags as well as a plethora of other bits and bobs. I did show restraint by not buying anything, but I was greatly tempted many times.

Needing to cool down from the oppressive heat and humidity (I felt like I was wading through an armpit it was so stuffy), we headed to the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. As you all know, I am a giant sucker for museums. I have been to some incredible museums here thus far, so I had high expectations. The museum was fun and nostalgic and even showcased a special exhibit regarding coal mining in Korea. I enjoyed each area, but especially the random plastic rats in the corner of the coal mining exhibit. I was highly entertained watching 2 toddlers lose their minds out of fear of these inanimate beings. I am such a nurturer, in case you could not tell.

Peep the little rats

The day very quickly drawing to a close, we headed over to a British style pub for dinner. Taylor was beside herself in anticipation since she dearly missed her homestyle cuisine. In all fairness, the food was pretty good for it being in Korea, which is not known for its British food. Again, we decided to share our food. Cottage pie, fish and chips, and chips and salsa (I know, not technically British) were delivered to us in a timely fashion.  Of course, I made sure to text pics to Tom to try and make him jealous (I am SUCH a good girlfriend). Being on a bit of a time crunch, we dug in.

After a nice albeit somewhat hurried meal, we stopped for approximately four minutes at a photobooth studio. As per tradition, every time we meet we take a photobooth picture together. We threw our belongings to the ground, jumped into the booth, and hit whatever pose popped into our brains. Having next to no deliberation time, we selected four out of the eight photos to print, and then speed walked over to the bus stop. Sadly, we had to say our goodbyes once at the train station. Then I was back on the train to Busan for another long journey home. Thank goodness nobody sat next to me since ALL of my deodorant had sweat off throughout the day (whoopsies!).