Last week was “Festival Week” on campus.  It wasn’t as loud and rambunctious as on other campuses in Korea because my university has a no alcohol and smoking policy.  There weren’t a lot of people on campus for the afternoon festivities, and I felt a little bad for the students.  I tried to spend some money were I could, to help the student groups raise funds.

The foreign teachers also had our own booth, with our homemade food.  (I made carrot cake.)  It was all kind of thrown together quickly, but we did pretty well.  All the money raised is going to help the cyclone survivors in Myanmar.  Vegemite was the least popular food, which wasn’t a surprise.  One teacher tricked some students into thinking it tasted like chocolate and gave them a huge free sample.  You should have seen their faces!  I thought for sure they’d throw up in their mouths.  I also had some Vegemite for the second time in my life, and it was “okay.”  Not something I would crave, but it must be one of those things that grows on you.

On the second day of the festival, the Korean girl group “Jewelry” performed.  Two songs they sang were live, and two were lip-synced.  Can you tell what category the following song falls into?

You might as well have been watching this video - they both sound a little too perfect.

Yesterday, Bart drove Ras and I to have an early dinner at a relatively famous restaurant in Gunpo called “Chakhangogi.”  It’s located off a main road, but is deep in the country.  It was originally a cattle farm, eventually opening up a butchery on site, and soon was providing seats for people to grill their newly purchased beef.  It’s not even really a restaurant, but a covered outdoor area with low tables and plastic stools.  Hey, as long as the food’s good, I’m not picky.

Once you get there and order your meat, the butcher cuts it up and will bring it to your table ten minutes later.  It cost 28,000 won for 600g (of some cut I can’t remember).  Of course, the price reflects that it’s  “hanwoo” beef and very fresh.  In the meantime, we had to go to another area to get the lettuce, “saamjaang,” garlic, salt and kimchi.  Once the meat is bought, everything else is sold separately.  Our lunch tray of goodies cost 4500 won each.

This place is simple, delicious, and with no frills.  Since the restaurant doesn’t serve rice or side dishes, customers can bring their own rice if they want.  For that matter, they can bring anything else they want: extra vegetable for grilling, chigae,  or their own alcohol.  You don’t really have to bring the latter, since beers were 2000 won a bottle (but not very cold).

Bart and Ras were loving their rare pieces of beef.  The meat was delicious and we’re definitely coming back.

(Left: The cows near the parking lot.  Right: The view from the parking lot.)

More pictures can be seen here.

I woke up this morning, cleaned the apartment, and wondered what I should do with the rest of my day.  I then remembered that I wanted to check out the swimming pool at the Gunpo Welfare Center.

About a month a go, Ras and I were on a walk and noticed a very new building next to a park and Buddhist temple.  I was curious about the building because I saw a child and mother go through the doors, carrying swimming caps and goggles.  Through our cell phone dictionaries, we found out it was some kind of government office, but couldn’t get an accurate translation.  I had forgotten about it until two weeks ago when I was talking to Peter and he said the building I walked pass was the Welfare Center, and his wife was taking a pilates class there.  I then proceeded to google the Welfare Center and do a little research.

I got pages from the website translated and found that the center was like a community center.  They offered yoga, pilates, swimming, and various adult and children’s educational classes.  I decided to attend one of the drop-in lap swim session, from noon to 3pm today.  One time admission is 4000 won, while a month’s pass is 50,000 won.

I haven’t been regularly exercising for at least six months, so I figured swimming would be a good way to transition to working out.  I made the mistake of hopping in and just going at it.  I was working muscles I hadn’t in a long time and I was starting to feel sore early on.  Still, I persevered and was in the pool for almost an hour and a half.  During my last lap, a cramp set in and it was the sign I needed to stop and go shower.

After the seven minute walk back home, I was so TIRED.  I felt as if I had just run a marathon.  My body was so sore and narcolepsy was setting in fast.  I barely had time to inhale a roll of gimbap before the sofa beckoned me into its arms.  What I thought would be a half hour nap turned into two hours!  Five hours later, I’m still exhausted.  Nonetheless, I’m vowing to wake up early tomorrow and go to the 8am swim session tomorrow.  I’ll try swimming regularly now… especially since I bought new goggles at the center’s swim shop as I was leaving.

Tomorrow’s schedule: swimming, spend the morning at home, then off to City Hall for the Seoul Friendship Fair and lots of good food.

This is a shout-out to J, one of Ras’ classmates. In this post, he mentions dropping by my blog and says “i cant say i dont visit frequently in hope of a new pic of everyones favourite topless dane.” Well, your dreams have come true. It’s not the top half, but hey… skin is skin.

Ras pulled a muscle at the gym a few weeks ago. As a result, he was having some serious back pains. After a week of it not going away, he went to see an oriential medicine doctor. This wasn’t the first time he’d been to one. The first time was in Kunsas about two years ago. Back then, we didn’t have medical insurance (because our shady school refused to pay for it) and it cost about 35,000 won per session. Ras didn’t want to pay the money for numerous visits needed and decided not to go back after the initial visit.

This time, he has insurance, so it was only 4000-6000 won ($4-6) for each one hour session. After four sessions, the pain hasn’t completely gone away, but he feels much better. I’ve never needed to get acupuncture, but it’s something I wouldn’t mind trying out.

I the picture above is electric stimulation for the muscles.  This time, he didn’t get “cupping” done, which has some shocking after effects.

I wasn’t happy with the first panoramic from my apartment.  The picture was very distorted.  This version is closer to what I see when I look out the window.

The larger version can be seen here.