Not even one of my resolutions, but I got my hair cut again. I have no classes until 3:30 today so I figured I'd make a token gesture at being productive with my time off. Bonus points if anyone back home can name the restaurant.
File under:
photos
I saw Kiwi Tony leaving the 7-11 with his nightly ice-cream and decided to follow suit. Unseasonably delicious.
These are gongi, a little present from my Korean teacher tonight. They're used in a traditional Korean game which may also be called gongi. At least, I think it's traditional. All the kids play it anyway. It seems to be pretty similar to another game that we have back home that I can only ever remember playing with my Mum, which I think is called snobs but the internet will have me call jacks instead. Back me up, ma.
At least one of my New Year's resolutions is gonna be to take more pictures. I'm constantly seeing things I want to snap, but I never have my camera with me. So I'm going to start taking my camera around with me more often, and take at least one picture every day. I'm sure this will last for about a week, but that's not too bad as my resolution life expectancies generally go.
And what better way to start than with a nice bowl of the delicious Kimchi that accompanied (well, was one of the many accompaniments to) this evening's galbi (simple but ever-tasty Korean bbq).
Sae-hae bok mani badeuseyo!
(the meaning is left as an exercise for the reader)
This New Year's Eve definitely ranks as one of my better ones. We started out with a heap of sushi in Suyu - and it was actually good sushi, especially compared to the half-frozen mostly chewy slop we choked down last time. Unfortunately, to get the decent stuff we did have to sell out and go to California Roll - previously we were being snobby about it and refusing to go, as some of the varieties they sell - like their salmon and cream cheese roll - barely qualifies as sushi at all - but after a recommendation from Vanessa, we checked it out, and it was indeed pretty good (though in fact we were not keen on the cream cheese one we ended up with).
We followed this up with a trip to Dragon Bar, where we're fast becoming regulars, though in was in fact totally dead. Me and Christa were the only ones there until Tony, Robbie and Carla turned up a little while later. After winning and then losing to them at darts (drinks for the winners being the prize) we headed to the City Hall area for the main event. Despite the ten thousand (or was it a hundred thousand?) people expected there last night, we still managed to bump into the other half of the SEV teachers that were out last night (and where did we happen to see them but right by the beverage section of the convenience store that we had all descended on to buy beer).
It was a crazy sight to behold. There was a stage with (I'm sure) some famous Korean pop acts performing, but, though we tried our best to sing along, we really didn't know who or what we were listening to. Meanwhile, traditional Korean musical troupes wove their way through the crowds, dancing and banging their drums and cymbals in time, but the real spectacle was the never ending hail of fireworks that went on from the moment we arrived to the time we left two hours later. Street traders were wandering through the square with bundles of Roman candles for sale. A lifetimes' worth of correct firework protocol instantly forgotten, we were soon twirling the firecrackers around our heads as the Koreans were. Children barely taller than the candles were long were flailing them around like we might a sparkler back home! Quite amazing, yet as far as I know nobody got hurt. Try and spot the cute little boy jumping for joy at the tail end of the video...
At midnight, the old Boshingak bell tolled 33 times, and what felt like a million fireworks were simultaneously set off - I'm sure it was quite a sight, but my eyes filled with ash and sulphur as they were, it was hard to tell. Suddenly Tony and his umbrella didn't look quite so ridiculous. After this the crowd very swiftly dissipated, and we followed suit.
The rest of the night reads much like a typical night out in Seoul - many more drinks were had back at the Dragon Bar, there was lots of bad singing, and we finally made it home just two hours shy of sunrise - it's apparently a Korean tradition to get to watch the first one of a new year, but it was never gonna happen. Maybe next year.