Last night, I got together with thirteen other girls for a “Sex and the City” party in Suwon.  I traveled with Kristy to Jenay’s apartment and we had appetizers and drinks before dinner.  I brought a shrimp ceviche that Ras made, while Kristy made hummus.  Mojitos and cosmopolitans were our drinks of choice.

After drinks, we walked across the street to have an dinner at the same Italian restaurant I went to for Christmas.

When dinner was done, we all headed up to the 6th floor CGV to watch “Sex and the City” together.  I tried to stay clear of reviews for the movie so I wouldn’t go into the theater with preconceptions.  To tell you the truth, the movie was surprisingly good.  Sure, it had a lot of brand name dropping, and was a little sappy, but that’s what I liked about the movie.  It was uncomplicated and fun.  Definitely a good girl movie.

While Kristy and I were in Suwon, the guys were having their own “Entourage” night.  Ras, Eddie, Jeremy, and Bart hit the town and I met up with them after returning from Suwon.  They definitely had their share of liquid fun.

My students took their final exams today, so I’m done with university classes until September.  I’ve still got to teach our university’s children camp in July, but that will be easy.  It’s four weeks, Monday through Thursday, 1 to 5pm.  I’ll take the opportunity to go workout at least five days a week, and get my fitness on.

After the exams tonight, most of the teachers went out for beer and chicken at “Mexicana Chicken”, near my apartment.  The last time I had “Mexicana Chicken” was when the World Trade Center collapsed!  At that time,  Ras and I were living in Gangneung, Gangwon-do, and we were waiting to pick up our chicken order at the restaurant.  The TV was on, and I saw some tall building with smoke billowing from the top.  The woman there spoke in broken English, telling us she had a sister in New York.  I didn’t know what the heck she was talking about, thinking she was just trying to make polite conversation because we told her we were American.  We didn’t think anything of it until our Korean friend called on Ras’ cell phone when we were almost out of the restaurant.  He said, “Turn on the TV, your country is under attack!“  WHAT!?!  We rushed home to find more information on the internet because we didn’t have a TV.  It was so surreal to be abroad when such a monumental event happened back home.  To this day, I still don’t think I have a full grasp on what happened because all my information was diluted through the internet.  I missed not having updates from the nightly news, investigative reports, in-depth stories about heroes from the event, or a constant stream of information.  I didn’t really “feel” it like Americans did at home, and I miss that.

Anyway, getting back to my topic…  Its been almost seven years since I’ve had Mexicana Chicken.  And let me tell you, it was delicious!

While there, we had a bit of a shock when an ajumma (older lady) decided to say hello.  Needless to say, she had a little too much to drink.

Now do you see why I always carry a camera with me?  You never know what life will throw at you, so be ready to capture it.

Since I’ve got a lot more free time now, I’m back to regular posting.  Check back often.

This past Saturday was spent outside near the Han River, watching the FIVB Women’s Pro Beach Volleyball Tour. The event was not publicized at all and we only heard about it through Kevin on Facebook. I initially didn’t want to go because 1) it was far (near Jamsil) and 2) isn’t it just an excuse to look at women’s asses? Saturday morning looked to be a promising day, with the sun breaking early. I eventually decided to go when lured with the promise of free sandwiches (from Kevin) and a warm day outside.

When we arrived at the river, we saw Kevin and a few of his friends near the area above (practice area for the players). We then looked for seats, and there were plenty because there weren’t many Koreans in the stands watching, even though it was a free event.

Free paper hats were passed out by the girl in the orange (see below). As you can see, they’re practical and stylish, but we chose to forgo them and enjoy the sun. This SBS camera man (below) would NOT leave us alone. He kept returning four or five times to get shots of the foreigners enjoying the game and daring the sun to give them melanoma by not wearing the paper hats. By then, we were thirteen strong, so I guess it would have been a good photo opportunity.

There were also cheerleaders! For a volleyball game! Needless to say, it looked a little ridiculous.

Last, but not least… for the guys who would come to something like this to see the volleyball player’s asses, here they are. NO, not the little one in the middle with green pants! She’s a Girl Scout. What are you, a pervert or something?!?

More pictures can be seen here.

Yesterday was the Seoul Friendship Fair near city hall. This was my third or fourth Friendship Fair, and I must say, it was the best one so far. In previous years, the event was a little chaotic and the international food selection wasn’t so international. This year, the food booths were down the entire street next to city hall, and extended to the Cheoggye Stream. There were at least 40 countries selling delicious traditional dishes. I was also impressed by the many garbage bags, covered seating, and volunteers helping out. This was one of the few times in Seoul where I looked around and really felt the sense of internationalism that Seoul wants to portray. The weather, food, and location were great. It was a perfect day. Mark your calendars for next year. If it was anything like this year’s it’ll be another great time.

I didn’t take too many pictures because it was one of those events where you either spend too much time photographing and not eating, or eating and not photographing.  I chose to eat!

Check out the entire album on Flickr.

I ate two of those mango cups, and surprisingly, they were sold at the Columbian booth!  Paraguay had some great carne empanadas!

The left picture are Lao textiles for sale, and to the right were popular Turkish kebabs.

a quickr pickr post

Just saw this on Facebook. Someone had too much fun.