I will learn to speak your language

So the scavenger hunt was fun, though a little out of my comfort zone. I hadn't realized that it was with a group called Seoul Sisters (Seoul is the capital of South Korea), which is a lesbian group that gets together about once a month or so. We were assigned to teams, so I wasn't with the two people that I came with, and we had to go to 6 different bars around Hyundai and take pictures of certain things in each bar, get someone's number, and ask about something at each bar (for example: a picture of you and a member of the bar staff in a reflection in a mirrored mural, and ask who painted the mural). At each bar we were supposed to buy a drink each to get a stamp on our paper, so we could get the clue for the next bar we were supposed to go to. I ended up ordering cokes, and about halfway through, realized I didn't have to order anything- as long as one of the other girls on my team ordered something they would give us the stamp. So I was 'forced' to wander around Hyundai, which is full of interesting places (there's an 80's bar there that I want to go in next time), and spend about 2 hours with three other people that I'd never met. It was fun for the most part, but asking strange Korean women for their phone number when I had no intention of ever using it was a little awkward.

What I also hadn't realized when we went out is that the metro stops running around 12am or so. Hyundai is about an hour and a half on the metro from Uijeongbu, and about 30 minutes by cab (though 20 times more expensive). So once we were done with the scavenger hunt, we had to stay out until the metro started again - at 5:30am. If I'd known that, I probably would have stayed in bed longer yesterday morning. So we stayed at the first bar until about 4am, where I hung out with some of the other teams and met some other people. But Cherita and I were hungry and tired, so around 4:30 we went to a 24hour KFC and grabbed something to eat, and then Cherita paid for the 30,000 won to get home (about $30). At first the cab driver wanted to charge us 30,000 plus the meter. He said it was because we were leaving Seoul, but we both knew it was the "foreigner tax". But Cherita can speak basic Korean, and managed to tell the guy that she's never paid more than 35,000 to get home, and it was either 30,000 or the meter, not both. Our total at 5:30 am when we left the cab was just under 30,000. 

And then I had my first Korean lesson this morning around 10:30. I had put an ad on Craig's list for a language exchange (I teach you english, you teach me korean, no money involved), and got a reply back from someone. Turns out they were Cherita's teacher that she has lessons with every Sunday morning. So I went to her house this morning where Yong-tae Kim (he's 28 and just got married) worked with me on the basic consanants and vowels, and worked with Cherita on dialogue. So now I'm going to make some flash cards to practice, and maybe soon I'll be able to at least pronounce all the signs I see.