Running, or rather pushing, of the Bulls

A friend of mine, Jess, suggested that a bunch of us go down south for this little festival called the Bull Fighting Festival. Jess is great at organizing trips, and she had been to the festival several years before, so I enthusiastically gave her my $38 for a round-trip train ticket to Daegu for the weekend. On St. Patrick's Day, a few of us went over to Jess' house and attempted to make paper-mache horns in preparation for the upcoming weekend. It was much more difficult than we anticipated, and rather took the spirit out of St. Patty's day as we struggled with wire, paper, and flourwater.



We took the train down to Daegu after work on Friday without incident. We arrived near midnight, and walked around for almost an hour looking for a place to stay that would hold 8 people. This was partially because the FIRST place we looked told us that the rooms would be ready in 10 minutes, and this was incorrectly told to the rest of us as the room wasn't available. So instead of waiting for 10 minutes, we wandered the streets of Daegu.



When we finally got back to the original hotel, the rooms were now taken (though by whom, we have no idea - what other group of 8 people had all of a sudden wandered in??). So we found a place right next door. Everyone except for myself and Laura decided to go out into town for "one drink". I knew this would mean they weren't going to get back until 5am, so the two of us went to sleep, and sure enough, they all straggled in sometime around/after dawn.



The hotel we stayed at was at the end of a suspicious-at-night, but character-filled-during-the-day alley. Because I got a good-night's sleep, I woke up early the next morning (7ish or so) and went off in search of coffee, which was only yo be found at that hour back by the train station. I got back to the hotel, and we all headed back to the station to get to the town of Cheong-do, which is where the festival actually was. On the way we took a different route than I had taken, and passed by this lovely sight:


A cramped and sweaty 20-minute bus ride after the pleasant 20 minute train ride got us to the festival area. We saw the standard festival fare, including bondegi, which I have yet to try (I'm sorry, does boiled silk worm larvae sound appetizing to you??). Rob decided to get some, though. Props to him.



The entrance fee was about $5, and even though the website said you didn't have to pay if you were born in the year of the ox, this sign dispelled that myth.

After wandering around the stadium area for a while we headed into the area to see what was what. Several people commented on our horns, and wanted to know where we bought them. I think if it hadn't taken the better part of 5 hours to make them, we'd have considered making extras to bring with us next year.

The actual bull-fighting was pretty self-explanatory. Two bulls were brought out into the ring and pulled head-to-head by their 'owners'. Then they just pushed at each other's heads until one tuned his head and ran away. This could take anywhere from 5 minutes to 25 minutes, depending on the bulls.

We made it more interesting by betting on which bull we thought would win (I won 1,000 won on the only bet I made), standing up and talking to the massive amount of foreigners in our area of the stadium, and drinking incessantly.

After watching the fighting for a few hours, we headed back to Daegu. Amy decided to borrow my horns for a while.

Since we ended up with about 20 people who all knew each other, we decided to split up for dinner. I went with my friends from Gueryong to a place called Gorilla Burger, which was supposed to be amazing. I thought it was decent. We had a bit of a time finding it because Chris was in the bathroom when the train stopped at our stop so he had to wait until the next stop 20 minutes away, and then buy another ticket and wait for the train to come back down to Daegu.

We stayed out for most of the evening in Daegu, with different people going to different bars and switching back and forth. I stayed out till about 2 or so, and then headed back to the hotel with Hannah, since she didn't know how to get back. I was surprised that I made a straight shot back to the hotel, seeing as how it was the first time I'd ever been to Daegu. But once I got my bearings on the main streets it was relatively easy to navigate.

The next day we got tickets back to Seoul around 1, so we headed back into town for breakfast of bi-bim-mandu, which I'd never had. Amy, Hannah and I went to a coffee shop called Amoeba, and then we all took the train back to Seoul.

Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day

I've actually had nothing of the kind. I just like that book.

I've started taking Korean lessons with someone I met through ATEK on Saturday mornings. At first I was reticent to give up one of my few days sleeping in, as well as the possibility of going out on Friday nights, but so far it's been worth it. The first lesson was way above my level, but after talking to the guy who's giving the lessons to myself and another foreigner, it's been changed to something that's much more on my level. I thought at first that I wouldn't go to the lessons if they were free - that paying for lessons would be more of a motivation to go. But since the person is doing it for me as a personal favor, it's almost like I'm being guilted into attending. Not that I mind that much, as I'm learning quite a bit. It also gets me up and going on a Saturday morning instead of laying in bed and wasting the day.

This Saturday, I met a friend of mine in Anguk after my lesson. I had heard of a place in the area where you could go to see an ice carving gallery, and you could carve your own ice. We decided to find somewhere to grab a bite to eat while on our way to the gallery. We tried to follow the directions Amy had written down, but we weren't able to find one of the big landmarks that the directions were dependent on. So we ended up wandering aimlessly around Jongno, which since it was a nice day neither of us minded. We found a strange little coffee shop called Yellow Bricks. We stopped and shared a real Belgian waffle for lunch, and then tried again to find the ice gallery.



We finally managed to find the Ice Gallery. We headed in, steps ahead of a Chinese tour group. The tour started out in the ice carving area, so we decided to go into the gallery first. For lack of a better word, and pun intended, it was really cool. There was a small group of young girls in there who seemed to be just as interested in watching us as they were in looking at the ice carvings.



After wandering through an igloo, an ice pension, ice palace, and even and ice bathroom, we went back to the carving area, just as the tourists were coming down.



We watched an 'ice expert' carve a block of ice first into a beer stein, then a wine chalice, then a coffee mug. And then she handed us two ice picks and Amy and I had a ball hacking away at the ice.







After we left the ice gallery, we wandered around Jongno a little bit, deciding to stop at Jogyesa. The last time I'd been there was at Buddha's birthday last year, when I went to the Lotus Lantern Festival. There was some ceremony going on inside the temple, and while we walked around, Amy told me about some of the different symbolism in Buddhism. I can't wait to go to Japan with her - she's gonna be like my own private tour guide!





We then headed back to Apgujeong, where we killed time in a Tom n Tom's coffee shop, until we met up with Leah for dinner at an Italian restaurant right across the street at a place I'd been meaning to try, called Pizza and Wine Married .



My "Funghi Pasta", which was string pasta with cream sauce, mushrooms, and black bread, was particularly tasty, and quite filling. After that, we headed to the Jang Cheon Art Hall close to my house, where one of my students was performing in the "Seoul Genius Junior Orchestra". June was the youngest member of the orchestra, and played both cello and trumpet. I forget sometimes how small my kids are. it was easy to be reminded when I saw June playing a cello that was larger than he was, seated with his feet dangling from his chair next to other students, some twice as old as he was.


After the performance ended around 9:30, and I had a short conversation with June's mom, Amy and I went back to my house, where I was charged with introducing Amy to the film wonderment that is Labyrinth. Before we saw the movie I checked my email, where I found out that I had won tickets to see Do Make Say Think Sunday night in Hongdae. I asked Amy if she knew who they were, and since she not only knew who they were, but also had some of their music (which was two steps ahead of me), I asked her if she wanted a free ticket to come with me. She agreed (would you turn down a $50 free ticket to a band you liked?).

Sunday morning I spent sleeping, and the afternoon was filled with putzing around my apartment, writing this blog (since I left my camera cord at school I didn't actually publish it), reading, and drinking an entire pot of coffee. Amy and I met around 4pm on the subway, and headed first to Richard Copy Cat's American Diner where we both enjoyed breakfast for dinner. We then made our way to Hapjeong station in search of Bau Haus Cafe, where Amy fulfilled her dog craving and I satisfied my curiosity.



After the dog cafe, we went to find the venue for Do Make Say Think. I had no idea where it was, only that it was in Hongdae, and it was called V-hall. Usually there are signs all over Hongdae on the streets for shows that point you in the right direction. This time there was nothing. So Amy and I stopped at the tourist box, where I asked for directions. The lady at the desk pointed out the window right across the street, and told us it was in the basement of that building.



I was worried that we might have trouble getting in because the reservations for the tickets had actually been made in someone else's name. I won the tickets through TheYeogiyo.com forum. The contest had been simple - first person to reply to the post gets the tickets. I was the second. But it turned out that the first person couldn't go, so that's how I got them. But the first person's name had already been put on the list. It didn't turn out to be a problem, and not only did Amy and I get in for free with no hassle, but we got there pretty much as the doors opened, so we were in the front the entire time.



The opening band was called On Sparrow Hills, and they were very entertaining to watch, particularly one of the drummers.


The second band was called Vidulgi Ooyoo. I couldn't tell if some of the sounds they were producing were accidental or on purpose. I'd like to think the ones that hurt my ears were accidental. Though I wasn't particularly fond of their music, it was nice to see a Korean girl playing guitar on stage.


And of course the last band was Do Make Say Think.


Even ignoring the fact that the first time I'd heard their music was the night before, I really enjoyed their performance. There were nine people in the band - two drummers, a violinist, saxophonist, two horn players, and three guitars and one bass (I think). Not only were they enjoyable to watch, but their music was interesting and varied. I'm not usually into instrumental music that's not classical style, but this was catchy, danceable, listenable music.




I wish I had better words to describe the concert. I've always envied people like my friend Steph, who can write about bands and review music and actually make it sound interesting. Anyway, the show was great, and as we were leaving, I saw a 10,000won note lying on the floor so I grabbed it, and promptly told Amy that we now had free cab fare home since the subways were just about closed.

And that was the end to my 'wonderful, marvelous, not bad, very good' weekend.

Um. Wow.

So I told my kids this morning that they were going to have a test in math. Invariably, Lawrence will always say that something is easy. In this case he yelled it out. I try to tell my kids it's not nice to say something is really easy, because what's easy for some people may be hard for others. Anyway, my response was something along the lines of "But Lawrence, you don't know what's going to be on the test! What if it's something really hard, like 567 times 432?"

And his response was "That's easy! Can you write it on the board?"

So I did.

And he promptly, and correctly, solved it.




And I was floored. I went to ask his math teacher, with whom he does an individualized computer math program every week. This seven-year old boy is on a fourth grade math level, and can do 5-digit multiplication, as well as being the best math student in the school. If only I had known! I would have had him finish his math book a long time ago and given him something much more stimulating than double digit addition to be practicing!! This is why assessments are a good thing...

East vs West

I found this blog on Chris in South Korea, who said he read it at the Kimchi Cheeseburger, who quoted Bloggerbase, who credited Buburuza. So now I'm posting it myself. Not that either side is better, but it certainly helps to know this if you're going to spend any amount of time in Asia.

Blue = Westerner (American, British, Canadian. You know who you are.)

Red = Asian (Korea, China, Japan, India, Thailand, etc.)

Opinion

Punctuality


Anger


The Boss


Contacts


Three Meals a Day


The Elderly


Party


Handling Problems


Waiting in Line


In a Restaurant


Sunday on the Road


Transportation


Traveling


Moods and the Weather


Way of Life


Trendy Eating

And now I will get back to finishing my trip to Vietnam. Right after dinner...