Anyway, what new adventures can I write about today? Today is the Korean Lunar New Year, but I don't know enough about it to write about it. Plus, oftentimes I find those "cultural insights" people write on their blogs (after their great understanding that comes with living here a couple of months) really preachy and obnoxious. So, I won't write any of that today. Instead, I will dig through my bank of low quality cellphone photos for inspiration!
Have I put up pictures of my school? Last month, I realized that the hiking trail I frequented in warmer times goes the other direction, too. In fact, it leads to a lovely little hill that gives a fantastic view of my school:
I love my tiny little park. These little outdoor exercise areas are everywhere in Korea. Most of the machines don't seem to make a lot of sense, but they're still fun to play on. There's also a tiny field that seems to be reserved exclusively for grandparents playing croquet.
A few weeks ago, I experienced my first snow day. I woke up, thinking I was going to be late, and happened to see some snow falling through the uncovered part of the window. I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of walking through the snow to work, but once I was in it, was ridiculously excited. I waded in knee deep snow to my school. Now I can legitimately tell possible future grandchildren how I walked uphill in the snow to get to school, and they should be grateful for their amazing virtual reality school. Once I arrived (finally) at school, it dawned on me that no one else was there, and, oh shit, maybe they cancel school when all the roads are blocked overnight by 14 inches of snow? So I had a surprise day off.
I mentioned in my last post that I had taken a plunge and decided to get LASEK in Korea (where it's half the cost it is in the US). Well, I have to say it's totally amazing to have 20/20 vision without corrective lenses! I am really glad I did it. Last month, I went for my first monthly checkup, and had a bit of entertainment in Seoul.
First of all, though I do not recommend the jimjilbang (public bathhouse/sleeping accommodations) at the Express Terminal in Seoul, I do recommend the Krispy Kreme. I know, what an odd, sad, Western thing to suggest. Going to Western fast food chains and seeing how they're different is one of my favorite guilty pleasures when traveling. Krispy Kreme is excellent for this. I'm not a huge fan in the US, and think of them as a cheap, crappy place to buy basic glazed donuts to bring to work. Here, though, Krispy Kreme is luxurious. They have the fanciest donuts I have ever seen, including New York cheesecake donuts, blueberry cheesecake, Toblerone donuts...you get the idea. I tried the blueberry cheesecake donut. Although it did taste like it'd been in that display case for a while, it was pretty tasty. I also got a mocha nut coffee. Somehow, I still managed to be surprised that it contained actual nuts, although I was warned in the name. I recommend it!
My other great adventure that weekend was Dr. Fish! Although I think you can find a few of these places in the US, they're not exactly common. I was determined to try it here. So, after a little internet research, I found a cafe that offered it. It seems to me there are a ridiculous number of strange cafes in Korea.
Basically, you pay a couple thousand won extra (after buying a drink) to stick your feet in a tank of water with these fish. In theory, the fish eat all the dead skin off your feet, leaving them super soft. In actuality, they mostly just tickled and provided laugh therapy. I don't think these fish have had any podiatry training at all. I kept laughing like a complete nutcase almost the entire time. After about half an hour, someone came and told me my time was up and my drink was ready. I kind of felt like there actually wasn't a time limit, and they just wanted the obnoxious foreigner to shut the **** up, but it's not like I was gonna dangle my feet in there all day anyway.
In addition to the joys of fishy foot nibbles, their honey and cinnamon latte was amazing. They also offer free bread. So it would be kind of an awesome cafe even minus the Dr. Fish part.
The little fish were tickly and fun, the big fish...I don't think anyone could tolerate these fellows without shrieking. I couldn't leave my feet in, the tickling was too much. Never thought 2 inch long fish could seem so enormous.
And for your viewing entertainment, I have made a blog to share the joy and humor of Konglish:
http://konglishwisdom.tumblr.com/
