long weekends are always a kind of challenge for me: option 1 - go somewhere cool in korea, option 2 - go to a cool country close by, option 3 - relax and eat and play cards and save money. most often, i've stuck with option 3. thinking that i can save money for bigger trips over my bigger vacations, i'm still questioning my reasoning, but i've got more long weekends coming up to figure it out.
this most recent long weekend was due to the election. leading up to the election, the street corners are covered in people in bright reds, yellows, and blues with big 1's, 2's, and 3's all over their clothing, hats, and umbrellas urging you to vote for their candidate. not only do they wave constantly, they also bow every time cars pass. it's actually really funny to watch. and a weird way to get people to vote for you.
so nimbus and i spent a lot of quality time together over this long weekend. i listened to audiobooks and did puzzles and explored, he slept on my arm, on my legs, and on my computer. he's special. below are some of his weirder sleeping positions:
the perfect way to begin the weekend: picking lettuce from the school vegetable garden.
the first event. seeing les mis FO FREE at the university across the street from my apartment building. the set was minimal, i couldn't understand the korean, but i loved it. it reminded me of the first time i saw it at the wharton center with B and her family on an easter weekend. it reminded me of forcing mother to go see it in theaters when it came out a few christmases ago. it reminded me of a lot of happy things. and guys, les mis.
thursday evening, i went up to cheonan after school and met some michigan pals for a few rounds of euchre at a coffee shop. friday, i woke up and met some friends on the subway and we went to the zoo in seoul. i love zoos and this one had some pretty cool aspects. the insectarium (i felt at home after invertebrate zoology), the stroller parking, all the bears, and the swing that we took from the top all the way back to the parking lot. but there were some (a lot of) things that were particularly sad: the number of porcupines they squeezed into a little glass cage inside the nocturnal area, owls having no room to fly, cheetahs being in a small cage when they were made to run. it was fun, it was sad, i got giraffe ears, and i wore my shark backpack.
zoo aficionado
that night, after the zoo, i met some friends downtown at their apartment building that has a hole in the side of it that they call a "balcony." and we grilled. everything we ate was american from the base. it was awesome. american corn, american asparagus, american hot dogs. everything. and then we made s'mores and i was sure i was in heaven. and we could see over the entire city. sky grilling.
saturday, i went to my first korean pro baseball game.
the hanwha eagles v. the samsung lions
(small note: the lions jerseys looked just like the detroit lions jerseys and rumor has it the LG twins look eerily similar to the minnesota twins)
korean baseball is another world. you eat fried chicken and drink beer. there are cheerleaders. there are cheers for every player. cheering with the koreans around you and having them teach you is so fun. being involved is so fun. being immersed is so fun. it rained and it was still so fun.
it was an awesome long weekend. i didn't go further than seoul or daejeon, but i saw things i hadn't seen yet. i still explored, i still spent time wisely.
long weekends are a beautiful thing. as are mornings where i don't set an alarm and the cat sleeps more soundly than i do. and evenings spent reading. and days spent with friends.
