With tired, bleary eyes I searched for the bus signs from the Seoul airport and walked outside. It was cold. Properly, truly, my-hoodie-wasn't-warm-enough-for-the-weather, cold. It was wonderful. The air felt brisk and fresh and clean. I had to count, and realized that I'd been in various stages of summer for about a year (Seattle from April to September, Southern California from September to very early November- which is still very warm, Sydney summer from November to early March, then Southeast Asia until April) so the coldness really did feel fantastic and strange. I don't know exactly how to explain it, but it was almost like tasting something bitter after eating tons of chocolate; for a while you love it just because it's different and the contrast is fabulous. It really was stranger than I can explain; it felt like a truly foreign experience.
As much as I was enjoying the cold, I was quite happy to eventually make it to my hostel, a nice little hostel in a University area that felt like someone's apartment. On Skype I called Sandra, a friend of mine from high school who said she'd show me around Seoul, where she's been living on and off for three years, and she told me a subway station and exit number to meet her at for lunch.
I met Sandra at Euljiro3ga and she took me to a restaurant she really liked. She ordered noodles and stuff in soup for us both and right away the waitress brought out the kimchee. It's entirely possible that I've tried it before and blocked it from my memory, but to my knowledge, this was the first time I tasted it. It was not good- to the point that I actually had to spit it out. At the time, I'd assumed that it was just so spicy that I couldn't taste it, but after tasting other spicy Korean foods (one of which was good,) I now realize that it was partially the spiciness level and partially the fact that kimchee is disgustingly horrible. I ate a bit of my soup and noodles, but I wasn't really that hungry and even though I'm normally pretty good with them now, I was having trouble with my chopsticks at the time (but come on! I was using chopsticks to try to eat soup and angel-hair noodles!)
We walked around the area for a while, shopping and chatting. It was a really nice area, very central and busy but with lots of interesting stores, and then she left to go tutor one of her students and I went back to my hostel for a while.
That night, I met Sandra in Apgujeong, a fancy and expensive but very cool area which she lives near. We wandered a bit, just looking around and then went to Mr. Pizza to try Korean pizza. It was quite good, and I think it woke my appetite up because suddenly I was starving and ate half of the small/ medium? pizza. It was basically a crust with some kind of sauce, covered in cheese and with onions, peppers, squid and crab meat on top, with half of the pieces holding a shrimp wrapped in mashed potato type thing, wrapped in thin, fried-type things. I know it has a name and I know I've had that type of shrimp before and like it a lot, but I can't remember the name right now. Anyway, the whole thing was basically: crust, cheese and seafood, so I was happy.
It seemed really random to me that we were just walking down the street and passed a batting cage, but apparently, it's quite normal to just have them anywhere. After I pointed it out, Sandra asked me if I'd ever been in a batting cage before, and oddly, I realized I hadn't so we went. She told me that she'd never gone to one before Korea either, but that now she loved them and that they were great for getting out your anger and aggression. So I went first, and did terribly, but it was fun, and I would definitely do it again, especially since it was quite cheap- something like 50 cents for a few minutes. And though I wasn't angry right then, I could see what she meant. Sandra went next and did much better than I, while I watched and furtively took a few pictures; this was the best.
Next, we passed a photo booth store, where you can go in and take sticker pictures of yourselves and your friends. We do have these in the U.S. but they're pretty bland. They're extremely popular here so all the bells and whistles have been added, practically elevating it to an art form. We went into a booth with special lighting, chose our basic backgrounds (we went with open field, stripper pole, tea party and vanity mirror) and took ridiculous pictures. Then we went over to another machine where we got to add all kinds of funny things like time stamps, borders, little pictures of things like balloons and hearts, sparkles and more. It was so much fun- it reminded me of being a kid. I think I could've spent hours screwing around with it, but sadly it had a time limit, presumably for exactly that reason. Then our pictures came out, we added a special sparkly cover paper and cut them up. I wish I could show them here, but I have nowhere to scan them in. Just trust me when I say that these pictures are awesome.
We walked over to Koobar, a bar where we were supposed to meet Sandra's friend, but he never showed. There were some other people there that she kind of knew, but we mostly stuck to ourselves and danced around a bit. Mostly we started dancing because I'd been judging the other people dancing and they were doing a terrible job. Nearly everyone looks a little ridiculous when they dance, but people who try really hard and think they're really good almost always look the worst, at least to me. I like the people who are just enjoying it, and as long as they're not doing something wildly ridiculous, I think those people are best.
At Koobar, I decided that I really wanted a vodka and Diet Coke. They didn't have it on the menu, but they had vodka on the menu and that was good enough for me. The server came over and Sandra ordered but they didn't have Diet Coke so I said just Coke was fine and pointed out on the menu that I wanted a bottle (which was 3,000 won- about $3, which is crazy anyway) and not a glass, which for some reason was 10,000 won- $10. So my drink should've been about 12,000 won (3,000 for the Coke and 9,000 for the vodka,) totally overpriced and ridiculous, but a Vodka and Coke just sounded so good right then, and I hadn't had one in a long time. When the bill came, Sandra's drink was charged correctly but mine had somehow come out to 19,000 won! They'd charged me correctly for the vodka, but had charged me 10,000 won for my can of Coke. Yes can, I'd thought it was strange too when he'd brought me a can instead of a bottle, but had ignored it. Sandra said that was really weird too and argued with him about it. Apparently, it's $3 for a Coke if you buy a bottle of liquor, $10 without! It was crap and ridiculous and a scam, but it had basically happened due to my lack of understanding so I just paid it, and got over it since I didn't want my night ruined, even though that was basically the end of my night and I went home afterwards (not because I was upset, just because I had to get the subway to get back and the lines stop running at midnight).*
It was a good night, though, and I was thrilled with the pictures.
*I have a whole system about whether to fight or argue about something while abroad/ in a country where I don't speak the language that I'll get into another time.
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