Our 5 year anniversary and Noraebangs!

Anneong ha se yo everyone! Anneong hashimnikka?? We r great..its been an interesting week! We ended up not going to the Dano festival - we thought 8 hours of travelling was a little much just for a day trip!! So, instead, we headed for the nearby market, and spent the day enjoying the fact that we didnt have to be at school! Oh, there was a Wonderland conference, but Kim went as a representative for all of us, so that was GREAT. On Friday ( I think it was!), we went out to dinner with Michael and David..well, rich and I had already eaten, but we joined them anyway! We headed for a kind for bar/restaurant place called 'Beer plus' (Beer plus what?? Food? We're still not sure!), and Micheal ordered sweet and sour chicken, while David ordered spicy chicken (and it was REALLY Spicy!). Rich and I just ordered drinks..I tried a Soju and strawberry mix which was really tasty! They wanted to bring me a 3L..cos apparently this place doesnt do single glasses..but we eventually convinced the guy to go down to a 1L! Oh, cant remember if i told you guys, but here u can buy beer in 1.6L bottles!!! Theres a few different beers here called Cass, Hite or OB. On Saturday, Rich headed back to Song-Do to do some birding..this time he was armed with the right map, and his compass! He had a great time this time..he bumped into a well-known birder of the area, called Tim (a Zimbabwean). Tim has been teaching in Korea for like the last 3 years with his wife. So they had a great afternoons birding! Rich took advantage of the fact that he had a scope, so he was able to see birds like the Saunders Gull, Pheasant-tailed Jacana and Black-faced spoonbill. Rich even managed to find Tim a Whiskered Tern - an EXTREMELY rare bird for Korea. So Rich came home with a huge smile on his face cos he finally got to do some decent birding! On Saturday, i decided to get out the apartment too, and we headed back to Bukhansan, the national park just outside town. At first, we followed the quiet trail that we had found, and it was SO nice and peaceful..but just as we got to the top of the hill..we just saw Koreans EVERYWHERE! The trail met up with ALL the other trails, so everywhere u looked u saw a korean face. So we gave up and left..I cannot tell you how IRRITATING it is to go on a hike and have to worry about people passing you, and letting other people through that are going in a different direction...its like walking in a shopping mall at Christmas time!!!!!!!!!!! Not even Machu Picchu was as bad as this! On the hike down, Rich managed to see two woodpeckers..I think the one was a Japanese Pygmy woodpecker, so at least it wasnt a total disaster! On the way down we also passed the MASSIVE temple they are reconstructing - it is going to be quite something when it is finished!!!!!!!! When we reached the bottom, we stopped off and had a look at all the outdoor shops and we found some great backpacks, but we didnt have enough money on us, so we'll be going back soon. The Koreans really all out when they go 'hiking'..fancy clothing, backpacks, metal walking sticks....! But then they walk with their cell phones blasting some radio channel, or alternatively, they watch tv while they walk! Crazy! You know, Lonely Planet doesnt give any directions as to how to get to the national park from the subway stop..it literally says 'follow the crowds'!!! Which basically means that the park is ALWAYS busy. OH ja (big sigh!). So Tuesday was a public holiday here - memorial day!! YAYY! So yet another day we could forget about school! So on Monday night, we all went out to dinner at a restaurant near our apartment - i had some more bulgogi (marinated, barbequed beef), Michael had Fried Kimchee Rice which he said was great, and Rich and David had some 'Dolsot bibimbap'. Dolsot means stone pot..so it was basically chilli paste, vegetables and rice and a raw fried egg served in a hot stone pot..you mix it all up and the egg and vegetables cook. They loved it! From there we decided to get some drinks and experience some of the night life of Guri..so we headed to another pub/restaurant.. there was a girl across the table from us CRYING her eyes out at the top of the lungs..seems like not only the kids do it here! After that we decided to stop in at a Karaoke place..known here as a 'Noraebang'! You get you own room with a Karaoke machine, and they give you 2 mics for $15 an hour. It was SOOO much fun! They had all kinds of English music from Radiohead to Kelly Clarkson to Eminem etc .. We really had a great time.. i wish they'd have those kinds of things in SA!!! So we woke up late on Wedenesday morning, and decided to go on a hunt for Rollerblades. They have huge parks here..and theres even one right near school..so I've decided I just have to have some! But we didnt find any, we instead stopped in at Yongsan, the huge electronics market and bought a new case for our laptop and some speakers..we also managed to pick up a DVD of 'The Davinci Code' for $5, can u believe it!!!!!!!!!!! It hasnt even been out here at the movies for 2 weeks, but they are already selling pirated copies!!!!!!So we headed for the 'pizza mall' for supper and home to watch the movie..it was a really great movie..i'd really recommmend it!!!!! Oh, and interesting thing about the pizzas here is that they have a kind of 'tube' of pastry going around the rim and its filled with melted cheese..really nice! Well, there are quite a lot of things going on at school this month - we are having yet ANOTHER clubact day, and another park promotion. Also a huge parents day (including a barbeque), an animal speech contest and a Pajama day too!!!!!!! Wish us luck! We're gonna need it! So, yesterday (wednesday) was our 5 year anniversary(Yes..5 years!!!), so we went ice-skating!!! Yes, Rich still cannot believe that after 5 years, I am still making him get on the ice, knowing how much he hates it!! But it was really fun! Just two subway transfers away..at a huge indoor amusement park called 'Lotte World'. It was a little pricy though at $11 (about R70) a person, but it was really worth it! (well for me anyway!!). The Ice-rink is in the centre of the amusement park, and there is a glass ceiling which they light up. They have really gone all out with the amusement park - huge 'hot air' balloons with people in them moving across the celing..an indoor rollercoaster etc. And when we left there was a kind of circus performance going on. There is tons to do - from a shooting range to pool tables, a games arcade, ten-pin bowling etc Also, tons of shops too. It was really nice that we went on a week night too, cos the ice was basically empty except for the speed-skating and ice-skating lessons that were going on. You must see the kids doing speed-skating - REALLY something to watch..I'm sure the Olympics is on their parents minds! Oh, an interesting thing about this ice-rink is that you have to wear gloves! Oh, and while Rich was busy taking a break on the side, a group of high-school kids (I think it was) asked him to do an interview for them (obviously for their English classes), but they were SO shy..took them about 5 minutes just to get started! But we really had a great time, and I'm sure we'll be going back soon! So we're back at school now, just been to open a bank account finally with 'KB Star' bank, cos our alien registration cards finally arrived yesterday. It was quite an experience trying to open a bank account when you cannot even speak or write the language but we eventually got it done! Ok well, no more news from this side! Hope you are all well, and looking forward to the weekend!Keep smiling! Lots of love, us! PS If you would like to see Richs latest bird sightings..go to www.birdskorea.org . Scroll down to 'Latest Bird News' and you will see it there.