Here's what you need to know. I am not cool. I coughed the whole time then proceeded to laugh at how uncool I was being for coughing. But, it was fun. We were watching Interstellar while doing it. What a dumb movie. Sorry - but when McConaughey unzips Damon and he just slides out of that liquid bag - WTF? I almost lost it laughing.
Saturday I spent some time in Itaewon having brunch at Canucks, the Canadian themed restaurant. I had eggs benedict which I love, but there it was not great. The hollandaise sauce was really different - kind of disappointing. But, it felt nice to be there amongst all the Canadiana. The servers wear shirts that say: Poutine is my routine.
Itaewon is an area of Seoul that is geared towards tourists - I've mentioned it before in my blog. There are lots of Canadian and American shops. One thing you see often there is stores with signs that say: Big Size. This means that they have clothes that fit us North Americans. It's just a little disheartening because it seems so offensive. I need to buy a belt, I didn't bring one and my jeans keep falling down. I feel like a 14 year old boy. There were 4 Big Size stores I went into and the belts were so expensive - I left without buying one. Bad idea since now I don't have a belt and probably won't be able to find one here. I wish I didn't let money rule my life so much. Anyways . . . .
For Sunday I booked a strawberry picking trip through a travel company here called Goh Korea Travel. There were 3 pick up locations around Seoul then we drove to a park where two rivers meet and become one. It was nice, but will be nicer in Spring when everything isn't still dead. But, it was nice to see lots of people out walking and enjoying the weather. I guess this park is very famous for filming TV and movies. We spent about an hour at the park then we drove to the organic strawberry farm where we ate lunch - a pork cutlet covered in strawberry sauce with sides of rice and veggies. It was really delicious!
This is a "fun" game where you walk through to see how fat you are. At the top there is a marker to tell you how many cm wide the space is.
I'm not sure exactly where the rivers meet but the two rivers are Namhan and Bukhan River and they meet and it's called Han river which means twin.
A bridge made of boa
We walked to the greenhouses where the strawberries are growing. There are simple rules - don't touch strawberries you won't pick because they will pretty much die. You can eat as many as you like, just keep the tops with you and throw them out later, not on the ground. I ate about 10 while picking, they are so sweet. I don't know how to describe this to you - they are sweeter than candy but not as sugary. I have never tasted a strawberry like this before! I looked up to find one guy - a student here studying from Pakistan - had eaten about 50 strawberries. His box was just full of tops. I said - you have to start picking! We all laughed so hard. He went to dump out his box of tops, came back, filled it up with tops again from eating, then quickly before we had to leave filled his box with actual strawberries. I can't imagine how his stomach held up.
One of the highlights from the trip was the people on the tour. There were 14 of us from: Canada, USA, Australia, India, Pakistan, France, Japan, and Philippines. It was so cool! All of us were either there studying or working. There were 3 Canadians, so we were majority. There was a couple there where she is Canadian and he is Australian. We asked how they met and she said taking Thai boxing classes in Thailand - they were literally punching each other in the face and then fell in love. The couple from India had the cutest 3 year old son. His name is Udik and he stole all of our hearts. Best part was he doesn't like strawberries - he'd put them in his mouth and spit them out. I asked one of the guys from Pakistan what he was studying here. He said Physics and that he has 4 more years left after doing 2. With great pain in my voice I asked him why he was torturing himself.
Save the bees!
I asked - what is the rule on two boxes? They just gave me a bag instead since my lid didn't close.
Altogether it was a great weekend. I am still not over the cold I contracted about 10 days ago. I think it's because there are different strains of the cold and I bet I'm not used to this one. I mostly feel find, but my nose is stuffed up all the time. One of the teachers here swears by this Chinese doctor who prescribes a strong medicine that clears you up in a day. I might try to see him this week.
This Thursday our school is going on a field trip to the Seoul Children's Museum. I'm looking forward to it and will keep you posted!
Lots of love,
Alli
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