so, this is going to be a long one. ha. when have they not been? however, it IS complete with pictures!!!!

on saturday, margaret and i went to korean class. we were supposed to have kevin with us but he was mia. haha. we ended up figuring out where we were supposed to be and it was all good in the hood. when we got there, we had to be put on a waiting list but it was no big deal because we got right in. i think this might be part of the koreans' "never say no" mentality but it works for me. the class was pretty good. some of the time i had no idea what was going on but i could generally follow. after class, margaret and i went up to the teacher to ask where the samsung lions baseball stadium was. as we were talking, some girl came up and asked if she could join our excursion. of course, we said, "yes!"

so, we added jennifer on to the group and proceeded to find some lunch. we found a cute little place with many koreans so we decided that would be good. this was after we wandered around trying to find a restaurant that would accomodate me (no landwalking meat) and jen (no dairy). haha.

the koreans have this sweet thing i like to call the dinner doorbell. when you sit at the table, instead of the waiter immediately coming over and asking you 80 times if you are ready to order, you simply push a little doorbell and they come right over. brilliant! a+ for the koreans.

we ordered and our meals came and they were masheesahyo! (my version of how to spell delicious in korean. ha!)

so, this was raw fish on top of some kind of salad-y thing. the little dish had eggplant kimchi which was the best i have eaten so far. that red sauce was really spice and extremely delicious.

after eating, we went to a bookstore called kyobo. love it. obviously, they sell english books there. they weren't terribly expensive. everyone was making it out like the books here are way out of control but if you're into reading classics, no problem! i did manage to buy a planner with some fun konglish. (english "phrases" written by koreans) most of the time, these konglish phrases make little to no sense. this makes them all the funnier.

we got into the taxi and proceeded to SAMSUNG LIONS STADIUM!!!! after, of course, we bought beers to take in with us. let me just tell you, this is an amazing place of insane baseball fans.
this is one of the lions mascots. there were many running around and doing silly things. we got there at 4:00 and the stadium was almost full; the game didn't start until 5:00. it is first come first serve seating. after we found seats, i went on the hunt for thundersticks. if you don't know what these are, they are blown up sticks that you smack together to make an extraordinarily loud and obnoxious clapping noise. of course, i love this. i asked the man behind me and he pointed to where the insane crowd was sitting. i found the line and jumped in. i reached this counter and tried to buy some but the woman pointed forward like i should stay in the line. needless to say, i should not have stayed in the line. it was a self-fill thunderstick line. damn! so, i had to get in a line across from the one i had been waiting in for 20 minutes. but, it was ok because i ended up getting the coveted stick of thunder!!!


so, we sat and watched the game and talked and cheered and drank. it was super fun. i am under the impression that the fans are much more important than the actual players. compared to u.s. baseball, these people are high school players. although, it doesn't seem to matter because everyone has a great time. the people on 3rd base had memorized cheers and songs which were being led by a crazy man on top of the lions' dugout. next time i go, i am definitely sitting in that section. hopefully by that time, i will speak enough korean to be able to actually participate in the cheers and know what is being said. (the next game is the beginning of the next season, unfortunately :()

the lions ended up winning 7-0!!! 1st baseball game? great success!!!

following the game, we walked back downtown to find somewhere to eat. we ended up eating at a restaurant called rana. it was a fusion place. i had gorgonzola pizza that came with a honey sauce. it was reallllly good. while at dinner, we decided to go to go go vinyl, my new favorite place on earth. at go go vinyl, you are given a juice box with alcohol!!! it actually looks more like a capri sun but what's more fun to say? obviously, juice box.

so, when i received aforementioned juice box, i was handed a sparkler by that man in a jumpsuit!!! awesome! this was the nicest and happiest thing. i love this place. after go go vinyl, we went to a nooribon which was the next greatest invention EVER!!! basically, you pay to go into a room with your friends and sing karaoke. by this point, we had about 25 people with us packed into a tiny room. we sang for an hour. during this hour, you are scored on how well you do on each song similar to guitar hero. needless to say, there was a great cacophony coming from our room. a great deal of cheering for our 100 and much booing, dismay, and flipping off at the 78 we received for singing Queen.

at the next place, we got glasses made of ice. after you drank your poison, you went up and threw the ice at a target where you can win prizes. my first trip to ice, FREE ice beer!!! woohoo! it's silly. i got a certificate because i wasn't really drinking.

this was my whole saturday. i think it was the best day so far in korea. i also think that i will try to update more frequently so that these aren't so long. however, it's difficult because i don't have internet in my apartment, yet. so, i guess i will just have to keep typing until i have calluses and you will just have to keep reading until your eyeballs are glazed over.

i love everyone and miss you all!!!

laceface