Korea: my life, my story: JC's birthday & more

( JC & our Korean teachers )

First order of business; Happy Birthday JC!

He turned 27 on Saint Patrick's Day. Naturally, it was another excuse for a fun night out. JC printed out invitations and invited all of us, as well as all of the Korean teachers. This doesn't seem like a big deal or anything, but the Korean teachers at our academy never come out with us. Surprisingly, five of the Champ program Korean teachers showed, and we all had a good time eating galbi and doing some light drinking.

( Birthday Boy )

( Liz showing us how it's done )

( Mindy )

( Lucy, Grace & Ashley )

( JC & Justin showing us the birthday North Korean soju )

( Justin getting serious )

( Lucy's extreme concentration )

( Lucy, JC, Grace & Ashley )

( Myself, JC & Lucy )

( The Lucy Pose )

( The Avalon Gang -me ]: )

( JC, Erik, Liz & Mindy )

( Mindy )

After dinner, we went to Jurok for some drinks and darts, followed by a fun walk home and some skateboarding.

( JC )

( Erik, Connor & Calvin )

( JC, Justin, myself & Erik )

Saint Patrick's Day Celebration

Because everybody works on the weekdays, which is when St. Patty's fell, there was a big celebration the following weekend in Insadong. On Saturday morning, Erik & I awoke and went down for some festivities. It was actually a really good time. I ran into some SHITY hikers, some Suwonites, and also, met some new friends. I learned how to do a traditional Irish dance that was really fun, and I proceeded to dance for about an hour. We drank a little and ended up at in Gangnam at some point that evening with Ciaran, Sori & Sarah. If any of you are around Korea next Saint Patrick's Day, I would definitely suggest hitting up this party, because it's quite a time.

( Andrea & myself )

( Myself & the crowd )

( some Irish folk enjoying the day )

( doing some Irish dancing )

( face painting... I didn't partake. )

( Erik did. )

( Ciaran, looking EXTRA Irish )

( Sori & Sarah )

( Erik posing with randoms )

( Some people were into feeding other people beer. )

( Erik & Ciaran )

Sunday in SamcheongGak with Ji

On Sunday, I met up with Ji for a little exploration. First, we had coffee at a nice little cafe at the base of a mountain in the Hansung University area. Nice atmospher; good coffee. After that, it was time for adventure. There is a big wall that runs along a mountain ridge behind the Blue House (Korean White House) to protect from assassinations and such. We took an invigorating walk through the neighborhood where all of the ambassadors live. We saw lots of big houses, and eventually reached the base of the mountain ridge. We had the choice of either walking up the hiking trail to reach the ridge or exploring the cultural center that was right there. Naturally, we chose to poke around the site that was right there in front of us. There were no exhibitions going on, but we were able to see some cool statues and interesting architecture. We even found a door that lead to a bunch of props that are used for the exhibitions. We took turns snapping photos in the old school king hat. It was great. After our explorations were complete, we made our decent from the mountain. Once at the bottom, we ate some donkasu (fish, hamburger & pork). It was delicious. The fish was best. Then, we went our separate ways. She went to work, and I headed out to Yongsan to catch a movie. I saw Fighter, which was pretty damn great. After that, I called it an early night, and went home to my cozy bed. Another successful weekend under my belt!