Indian Boy

Here is one of the new hit songs.  This video would give the Native Americans a field day in the States or in Canada.

 

 

– Kimchi King

The Army Base

We had a chance to visit the army base that is smack dab in the middle of Seoul.  As you may or may not know the Koreans have a love hate with the US Army.  They love that we are here to hedge against the North, but they hate the fact that we have a huge base in the middle of the city and bus loads of wasted 18 year-olds terrorizing their favorite nightspots.  A few of the highlights of the visit to the base were eating taco bell, seeing a drive thru for the first time in 5 months, buying bbq sunflower seeds, seeing baseball diamonds instead of soccer fields litter the landscape, and buying boxed wine (makes me miss football Saturdays).  We also played an epic game of mini-golf that was featured on a course that may or may not have been a malaria breeding ground.

-kimchi king

Mudfest and Monsoon Season

I think I heard about Mudfest within 24 hours of living in Korea.  It was a mythical event.  Thousands and thousands of foreigners and Koreans mixing in the wonderful mud of Korea.  Unfortunately for us, our mudfest weekend included horizontal rain and a lot of wind.  We took a packed train out to the city the festival takes place and quickly found our hotel.  We spent the day playing in the mud, but by late afternoon we were too cold to handle any more of the rain.  That night we had a traditional Korean bbq with an appetiser of “man’s meat (also known as samgapsal)” which only the guys eat before I cooked up some steak for the rest of the crew.  It was an awesome cap to a mediocre day.

On our way home that day we got a taste of what Korean Monsoon season had in store for us.  The Han River rose 8 or 9 feet in a day and was spilling over its banks and washing out a lot of the city beautification projects that were under construction along it’s banks.

-kimchi king

America and Canada Day

Working with a lot of Canadians you pick up things like saying eh? at the end of your sentences as well as learning how to ride a moose.  For Canada day I tried my best accent (it almost worked with a married Canadian woman) and wore a red maple leaf tank top.  A few days later we celebrated America day with some bbq, some jimi hendrix, a little jack daniels,  a ford explorer, and a hamburger and fries.  The 4th was one of the few days when I wish I was home to watch fireworks, bbq, and chill at the beach or on the river.  I was a little nostalgic because it was my third 4th of July in the last 4 years I have been out of the country.  Enjoy the pics.

-kimchi king

SLP Paintball

So a few weeks ago our school had a great idea.  Lets let everyone go paint balling on the owners dime.  While it was a little chaotic at first, I couldn’t help but smile when I had the chance to kill my boss at close range.  4 paint balls is enough right?

Dr. Fish

All over the city there are these places called Dr. Fish, which are like cafe’s where you can go and drink coffee or wine or whatever and while you drink you put your feet in a pool of water and little fish nibble on/eat the dead skin on your feet.  Sounds weird but its really relaxing if you can get over the tickling feeling of fish eating your feet. You can also choose from two different sizes of fish, Turkish fish which are the smaller ones, and Chinese fish, which are bigger.

 

  

Anna getting tickled

Grayce

Hungry fish on Grayce's feet

Hungry fish eating Emerson's feet

Vino

Chinese fish

little fishies

Buddha’s Birthday

Buddha’s Birthday was at the end of May.  I already shared some pictures of the parade leading up to the big guy’s birthday (see lantern festival) but we came across the temple where they hang up the lanterns and it was spectacular.  The temple is hidden between the famous palace Gyeongbokgung and the art/tea district of the city called Insadong.  

Here is Jogyesa Temple in all it’s glory.

 

Buddha’s

The hanging lanterns

Some really attractive people

-kimchiking

Dentist Ad

A great ad I ran upon in Busan two weeks ago:

 

Smile

 

 

 

Remember you only get one tooth so choose wisely!

-kimchiking

The Han River

With the weather starting to heat up a bit we have been spending more time on the weekends bbqing on our roof and hanging out by the Han River.  The Han River runs through the heart of Seoul and the city has bike paths, benches, sitting areas, and parks on both sides of the river.  It really makes for a great place to spend a Sunday picnicking with some wine and snacks.  You just don’t want to fall into this river because it is filthy…

 

Don't fall down buddy!

Don’t fall down buddy!

The river in winter

How to help people

The “Rainbow Bridge” by our house

We are also trying to find out where we can ride this:

-kimchi king

Korean Fire Escape

I live on the 13th floor of my apartment building.  We have two elevators and two stairwells, but just in case the inferno engulfing my building is too overwhelming the Koreans have created something ingenious…

 

MacGyver Style

That’s right, you have to repel down the building.  I wish the old Korean men and their soju bottles good luck with this.

-kimchiking