Friday's, White Day and Warhol

Hello everyone!  I had a pretty good weekend over here.  On Friday night I went out to eat at TGI Friday's...yes, just like the one in the US.  The menu was slightly different, but had a lot of the same stuff on it, including my favorite brownie dessert.  (Which was, however, slightly different than the one in the US.  I don't think they used Ghiradeli Chocolate.)  The mall where I ate, the COEX, is a huge mall that is kind of like a maze.  They have Friday's there as well as Uno's (with "Chicago style" food,) Pizza Hut, Quizno's, Subway, and several other Western places.  I wanted to see a movie at the theatre there too, but they were all starting way too late.  They release American movies here, usually at a later release date than in the US, and then they have Korean subtitles.  I was happy to know that I can find movie theatres here!

Saturday was a pretty relaxed day.  I spent quite a bit of time on Skype with friends and family, and then I went to Itaewon to meet up with one of my friends who is currently in Korea.  She doesn't live in Seoul, but she was up here for the weekend to go shopping and visit some other people.  Then Saturday night was a dinner party with all of the other teachers from school.

Yesterday I went to Insadong for the first time.  It's a pretty cool area with a lot of little shops and great street food.  I got this thing similar to a pancake with cinnamon sugar inside.  I keep forgetting what the Korean name for it is, but it was really good, and less than 1000 won. (Which is less than $1.)  I also caught my first sight and smell of a street vendor with silkworms, a delicacy in Korea that I'd probably rather not venture to try.  After that I met up with Greg and Danielle, two Gustavus graduates who are living and teaching right outside of Seoul.  We went to the Andy Warhol exhibition at the Seoul Museum of Art and then out for some Korean food.  It was the best Korean food I had so far!  I have not had any good Kimchi yet, as my only experience with Kimchi has been the school lunch, but last night at dinner the kimchi was really good, as well as the mondu, beef, and noodles.  Delicious!  It was also really great to spend time with them.

Yesterday was White Day in Korea.  Here, Valentine's Day is a holiday where the girl gives a guy something, and White Day is a holiday where the guy gives the girl something.  Both are considered romantic holidays.  There is also Black Day, which is single's day, and I'm not entirely sure when that is.

That's all from me for now.  Happy Monday, Western World! (Also note:  Daylight savings is NOT observed in Korea, so there is now only a 14 hour difference between here and Central Standard Time.)