Turns out there is a Turkish restaurant near Pusan National University (PNU)! Hannah and I went there Friday night after what we both decided had been an extremely booooring week. Nothing was particularly bad about the week, but school was just completely uneventful and we were too tired to do anything after work on any of the nights. So Maggie (girl from Chicago) and Paul (guy from Canada) met us, along with a couple of Paul's friends (who have finished their year and are headed to India in 3 weeks) for food and red wine. I had falafel and hummus. I can't tell you how nice it is to know that if I am ever completely sick of Korean food, I can always go here and eat my favorite food in the whole world. They even have hookah at this place. Oh yeah I should tell you the name, which happens to be the best part - Kebapistan. Very tongue-in-cheek on so many levels. So then we went to two great bars - Soul Trane and the Basement (which reminded me a lot of the Cellar for any Fort Worthers). Just to demonstrate to you how small the Western world is over here: the city has about 4 million people; PNU is not that close to my apartment; yet, I still saw at least 10 people I knew that night between the two bars, including my Korean recruiter that found me the teaching job. Pretty crazy, eh? But we managed to meet some new people as well. In fact, Hannah and I seem to work well as a team, and we befriended this group of Canadian guys who were really funny. I was cracking up when one of them asked us so seriously, "which dong are you from?" since the neighborhoods are known as dongs. We ended up leaving that place really early in the morning and then took one of the funniest cab rides of my life. Hannah kept trying to tell the driver that she wanted to stop for water, and I was looking up phrases for her in my Korean dictionary. You probably had to have been there to laugh at her grasping at her throat and switching between bad Korean and weird choking noises.
Then Saturday, Hannah, Dave (Hannah's English friend), Maggie, Paul and I all met at Jagalchi market, which is this huge outdoor seafood market next to the port. We walked around and were planning to eat live octopus (well not live, but still moving when you put the pieces in your mouth) until we saw them in the market. Instead, we went to Starbucks for coffee and talked about books and other things. Then we walked to Nampodong market, which has everything you can imagine for sale. Later, we got some wine and pizza and went to a DVD room where you can pick out a movie and watch it in your own private room with a big screen and leather couch. I really love this little group we have going. Everyone is so interesting and worldly and funny. Emily, you'll fit in perfectly.
Sunday, I went to lunch with a Korean girl in my apartment building that wants to learn English. Unfortunately, now I think she might be a stalker (long story). If it proves true, I'll go into more detail. I watched Casino Royale with Dave and Hannah, since you can get DVDs that only cost about $3 a piece off the street here and Hannah is building her collection. Overall, it was a weekend that completely redeemed the crapy week before it. Payday is this week, and we have a new guy teacher coming from Oregon, so it's looking promising so far....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Yummm falafel! I haven't had any since you left. It would just be too sad!
Brookings emily! Or Emily BI as it was in my phone haha. Go get yourself some falafel dammit. And open up a you-know-what stand (secret) while you're at it. I still think it's a golden idea.
Would that be funnel cake???
The hilarious cab ride literally made me laugh really loud. I don't know Hannah, but I can vividly picture this whole scene. Sounds like a lot of fun.
Post a Comment