Places

Back before I came on this exchange, I was supposed to do another exchange to Texas. Due to a lot of really stupid issues, we were unable to go, and came to Korea instead.

Now, when I was telling people that I was going to go to Korea...no one believed me. They all assumed that it would, like Texas, fall through. To be honest, a part of me is still surprised it didn't. This once-in-a-lifetime chance just seemed to be too awesome to be real.
Luckily, I was wrong on that part, and am now currently enjoying my last month here in the Land of Morning Calm. Which, as a side note, it really is. The mornings are breathtaking, especially where we are at the school, in the mountains. Just...wow.

Anyways, now that we are heading home soon, and finishing up degrees and stuff, we are looking to the future. We both-my husband and I-plan on transferring to UBC in Vancouver, and pursuing our respective degrees. We have been looking into classes, degrees, masters programs...and potential other exchanges.

I won't get too excited about it just yet, since it is a long ways away, but we have decided on a place to go.

After this, I wonder if people will believe me now.

xox

Spring Festival

This past week, 순전향 had it's annual Spring Festival here on campus. It is, essentially, a 3 day school sponsored bender. Now, it is A LOT more than that, of course, but there is an excessive amount of drinking, and it is-in part-encouraged.

There are also food vendors, major tents and vendors, as well as major activities.

There was also music, including a few K-pop bands, and some DJ's from all over.

But it is mostly about the booze. And food.

That as our one night. Now, it looks like a lot-and it was-but that WAS 5 people's worth. Over maybe 5 hours as well.

There was dancing-a lot of dancing, drinking, good fun, good friends, and I think everyone had an overall great time. No one got OVERLY drunk, to the point of alcohol poisoning, but everyone was good. That I saw, at least.

I only really got to see 1 Kpop band, and it was Rainbow..and, frankly, they sucked. Hard. The voices, the dancing, their outfits, and even their sex appeal-it was all bad. Makes me wonder how the 'popular' Kpop groups are picked.
There WAS a 'metal' group that was awesome, and so were the cover bands.

Oh, and this happened.

Hell, so did this.

Good times had by all. Or most, at least. ^^

xox

Dream Concert

Last weekend I had the pleasure to go to the Dream concert in Seoul. What is the dream concert, you might ask? Well, it is 20 of the top Korean K-pop bands doing a really cheap show for charity. Cheap, as in 5,000W. So, basically, 4.70$ for a 5 hour concert of all popular bands.

Good deal, I would say.

Now, as I have said before, I am not a huge K-pop fan. Not really, not as much as many of the people who were in attendance at the show. Don't get me wrong, I DO like some of it, and I have some groups that I enjoy quite a bit. I even know quite a bit about the bands and members, but this is mostly due to my workout partner, who is a huge fan of K-pop.

So, the show was held in the World Cup Stadium, which is massive, and was filled to the brim with Koreans and foreigners alike. But mostly tiny teenage girls. Hoards of them. It was...something else.

I got a lot of pictures, but most of them turned out really badly.

The highlights?

 Mostly the boy groups. I have nothing against the girl groups at all-and some of them were good, but I thought the boys had more energy, better dance moves, and better songs. They seemed to rely less on the idea of being physically attractive and more on talent. The girls were sexy, that can't be argued, but, they weren't much else, in many cases.

My faves? 

Alright, I LOVE Exo-k. A lot. And Mblaq. They were both awesome-good energy, good song choices, and great outfits. B1A4 was great too-and they won my personal outfit of the night award. The girl who's name I can NEVER remember, but she sings that Heaves song-she was brilliant. Her voice is fantastic, her song is catchy and her outfit was nice, without being over done. Sistar was also on the side of better girl groups.

Unpopular opinion?

Girls generation left something to be desired. Only the subgroup came (something I learned from other people-i had no idea) and it was...not a big deal. Not really. They were alright, but, meh. K-ara? Same boat.

I had a great time overall though, and can't complain much, seeing as it was a super cheap show, and there were more good performances than bad ones. There were a few groups I wish were there, but, whatever.

It was good.

Sky Adventure land

Remember that time that we went to Japan, so many months ago? Alright, so it was only like, 3 months ago, but it feels like it was a lot longer.
While we were there, we went to this place called Sky Adventure land. Which is kind of like an obstacle course. In the air. With more ropes, and less safe. Well, no, it WAS safe, I am just a weenie.

Looks awesome, right? It was. There was the course, zip lining, a giant swing, and a trampolene. For 5,000Yen, you can use the entire grounds for the entire day. And, as I learned from the people I was with, about 3 goes around the course is enough, since it gets exhausting.

I didn't make it all the way around, but I did make it fairly far, considering a drunk hippo on crack has more balance than I do. I did, however, have a lot of fun on the swing. Although, not enough fun for people to take pictures of, apparently. 

So, after we had our fun, the awesome staff at the venue asked to take our pictures. Naturally, we obliged, and guess what? We were featured in the Sky Adventure staff blog! You can check it out Right here  Awesome, right?

If you are ever in the Kobe/Osaka area in japan, I think that Sky Adventure land is totally a must see and do. I had a blast, and would go again, in a heartbeat. Once my balance gets better, at least.

Beach trip

My husband and I were lucky enough to have our second year wedding anniversary here in Korea, at the beginning of May. Yes, that's right, I actually found someone that I didn't want to kill-and didn't want to kill me.

Cute, right?

So, we decided to "miss" our classes-after informing the teachers as to WHY we would not be there-and take a beach trip instead. We decided to go to Daecheon (대천), since it is the closest to our school, at about an hour's train ride. 

We left super early in the morning, and had a nice breakfast before heading out to the beach. Now, I will be the first to say that the weather was not entirely cooperative with a day at the beach. It was a little on the chilly side, but still shorts weather, and the sun was not in the mood to make an appearance. Which is fine, we still hung out on the sand, enjoying the day.

Yes, that IS an Avengers top. Be jealous, since it is awesome.

Other than enjoying each others company, taking in a nap on the beach, and a nice long walk, we didn't really do too much. It was really nice to be able to hang out, just the two of us. I like the friends that I have made here in Korea, but, sometimes I need some time with the person I married for, you know, life.

I really like the Daecheon beach, and have plans to go again once more before I head back to Canada in July. Most of my remaining weekends are now booked with things, and friends, and experiences. Coming up next? Sports festival, Dream concert, and nami island!

xox

Bau House

It took a long time to do this, but I finally went to the dog cafe-bau House- in Hongdae, Seoul. Now, this was not the first time I ever tried to find it, no. This was the second, maybe the third?

The thing is, there are a LOT of places online that will give you directions to get there, and, let me assure you, they are just about all wrong.

Yes. All of them. Even the people at the damn information booth in Hongdae are wrong.

You would think they didn't want you to find it, the way they screw up the directions.

Even with google maps, it took about an house for us to find it, running into a few places that we had never seen before, including the Cure bar! I HAVE to go here! 

BUT, back to the dog cafe. It is super hard to find, and yet, once you find it, you'll have one of those OMGWTF moments.

To save you time and patience-the easiest way to get there!

Take exit 9 from Hongik Station, go towards the taco bell, and staying on the taco bell side of the street, turn up the MAIN drinking street. You know, the one with S-club, the shopping, and, like, 5 of the Ho bars. Keep walking on that main street for a WHILE. There will be a 7-11 on the left. Keep going. You will see the SECOND 7-11 on the left. At that one, there is a intersecting street, take a right, and its pretty much right at the corner. It looks like this.

And to greet you is this.

It is actually a pretty legit cafe. The coffee was pretty good, and so were the shakes. There was no food to speak of, which is a good thing, since the dogs would be all in your face over it. There are anywhere from 15-30ish dogs there at a time, and some people brought their own as well. Even with all those dogs though, there are never any real hygiene issues-the staff there are armed to the teeth with mops, towels, cleaner and freshener. And they are FAST with the cleaning. 

There are treats there for sale to feed the dogs-and they LOVE them. Most of them anyways. Oh, and, before you go and waste money-you can't bring in your own treats due to allergies, health, and money making reasons. The last one is implied, but likely. So, yes, don't bother with that. They are fairly reasonable in price-even for the 'fancy' ones, so it shouldn't be an issue. And the dogs love the fancy ones. This guy? he got the fancy ones. Can you tell?

I had a great time playing with the dogs, and it is totally a good place to go with friends and time. If I only had 1 week on Seoul, this is one of those things I would do. This guy was my favourite. He was so friendly, and a beautiful dog. And, for being a big dog surrounded by other dogs, he was very well tempered and good with everyone. Did I mention that he's a beautiful dog?

xox