Seollal Seo-lolz

Today is Seollal, Lunar New Year in Korea. It's one of the biggest holidays of the year here- much bigger than December 31. It is also one of the biggest travel holidays in Korea- about 35-40 million people hit the highways, busses and trains in just two days. I decided to head to Daegu, a city about two hours away, with CR, Tony and Jenna for a second chance at New Year's Eve. Eve and her boyfriend (visiting from New Zealand) were supposed to come, but because of traffic delays, he didn't arrive to Jinju in time to catch the train with us. 

walking the streets, a cold, sunny january day!

Tony and Jenna were there already and had found us a 'love motel,' which is basically a super cheap, scummy (but awesome!) place that Korean 'couples' stay at. To better describe it to you, there is a window that allows you to see into the shower, a very large, comfortable, sometimes vibrating bed, at least one 24/7 porn channel, and always a 'love kit' with all the essentials for lovers included. Perfect! The theme to our room was "Marilyn Monroe: A Tribute." Tony and Jenna got "Lichtenstein: A History."

We went to a super delicious buffet at a brewery right next door with WESTERN FOOD and microbrews! It was unbelievable- all you can eat AND all you can drink for less than $20!! To top it all off, there was a house band, husband and wife, playing 80s hair band covers, no joke. They were dressed in Axl Rose attire, and they were actually incredible. I can't wait to go back.

CR, Tony, Jenna and I loving the buffet!

After the buffet, we ventured out into the city where we met this guy, Jason Irish, who is from Lewiston, NY! He went to school with the Clark sisters, two of my dear friends from Buffalo!! It's so crazy, I really do meet people from Western New York so frequently here. We started a "LET'S GO BUFFALO/Bills make me wanna SHOUT/716!" chant, ate pizza in a cup and drank gin out of a bag (they do things differently here). I made friends with the bartender and fun times were had!

representing buffalo in the far east, two well behaved americans 

Bar Art/Bart

99+ luftballoons

In the morning, CR and I gathered up all of our strength and got ourselves home. It was a little more difficult than we had anticipated- we forgot we were competing for train seats with thousands of other people- but we managed to snag two seats on the bus and snored all the way back. I spent the rest of my vacation in various forms of disrepair, in and out of bed, and loving not doing anything. Most everything in Jinju is closed today- and it's far too cold out for me to be motivated to do much else :)

Tomorrow I hope to do more of the same! Haha. Happy New Year again!!
More soon,
<3M

KAPS/Streetcar in Daegu

Yesterday six friends and I travelled to Daegu, a big city a two hour bus ride away. The trip was full of anticipation for me. We arrived to a clean, cool metropolis easily accessible by a nice, new subway system (that my friends luckily knew how to navigate!). We first went to our hostel and dropped our stuff off, and then made the journey to the Korean Animal Protection Society (KAPS) and volunteered our time walking dogs. The KAPS does a lot of really good work in Korea; similar to the SPCA, they work to rescue and rehabilitate animals who have been abused, abandoned by their owners, or are simply roaming the streets. They also work to save dogs from meat markets in Daegu- that's right, dogs are still sold (alive) in Korean meat markets. The KAPS saves these dogs and helps to raise awareness about how abominable a practice it is to eat a family member. They fix these animals up and work on finding them forever homes.

When we finally made it to the shelter (after about an hour of searching for it), we were greeted by about 50 excited little dogs who were so anxious to get out of their cages and come for a walk with us! An American girl who either works there or volunteers really regularly guided us through the volunteering process, and told us to each pick a dog we'd like to walk, and she would aid us with finding a harness and leash for the little guys. It was really hard to choose; these poor animals looked up at me with such sad eyes. Some were really sick, or really skinny. I wanted to hug and walk them all. It was really kind of heartbreaking, but at least I know they won't end up on someone's dinner plate.

I ended up choosing a small, nervous Daschund I started calling "Oscar." Everyone else quickly found their dog and soon we were off. I couldn't stop smiling, I loved it so much. Everyone was so happy, and the dogs were, too. We stayed for a good while!

A tiny baby puppy sleeping in his food/water dish 

Me and Borges!!! A crazy little Corgi <3

By this time in the walk (3/4 of the way through) poor little Oscar's legs were too tired to keep going. He lay down like this and refused to get up; I had to carry him the rest of the way back, haha)

From left to right: Me + Oscar, John, CR + Borges, Aine + Shag Pile, Gareth + Stumps, Jess + Gus, Sarah (Her dog is hiding, haha) 

After walking the dogs, we went out for Indian food. In Korea, it's pretty difficult to find "exotic" food- that is, anything that isn't Korean or a Western fast-food chain. The demand just isn't high. So, we took full advantage of being in a city with a lot of choices and enjoyed curry, nan, and chai. It was great.

Next, we went to a production of "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Daegu YMCA (about a 10 minute walk from our hostel!) The play was performed by foreigners, and though it was over THREE HOURS LONG!, it was actually pretty good, having both read the play and seen the movie before. Most of the people in the play had never acted before, and I was impressed by some performances. There was also a bake sale there and all of the proceeds from it went to KAPS!! So I was extra happy to buy fresh baked chocolate chip cookies (exceedingly rare!).

After the play we decided to join the cast party at a downtown bar called "Who's Bob?" When we got there, I was seriously overwhelmed and kind of got really shy; there were 100 foreigners there! The place was packed. It's been so long since I've experienced a packed bar where I can understand everyone in the room, and it was overwhelming! I knew every song the jukebox played! A real toilet! Signs and drink specials in English! It blew my mind. We had a great time there and even were able to talk to the cast a little bit. It seems the western scene in Daegu is much more lively than in Jinju.

Aine, me, Jess and Sarah outside the bar. 

This morning we woke up and everyone wanted pancakes (pretty difficult to find here). We searched the city for some kind of diner, but we ended up at McDonald's (the worst McDonald's ever... but it still tasted delicious to me). Then we caught the bus back to Jinju and I resumed my ordinary weekend duties. Overall, it was a great time. I'm so lucky to have met these people; everyone is so cool and nice and funny. We make a good group I think. I can't wait to go back to Daegu and visit the dogs again; I know I'm not alone in that.

It's getting better every day!
More soon,
M