26th Birthday in South Korea

My 26th birthday here on June 26 was, as expected, a really great time.

On Friday, the teachers all got me a cake and some of my students got me presents. Mr. No offered to take me out for dinner, but I had to politely decline because I had plans with my friends.

That night, a big group of us (see pictures) went to Guworldong to have a few drinks and relax. It was a really laid-back night and we all had a really good time. The teachers chipped in and bought me some spicy underwear. Everyone was very generous.

They were maybe too generous, as they let me participate in another Korean tradition -- the birthday drink. It's simply a disgusting concoction of anything they want to mix. Mine wasn't too bad.

On Saturday, Vicky, Minji, Jeongha, Chris, Kevin and I rented a hotel room in Seocho, in Seoul. The room was a really nice two-bed place with a loft.

The girls made us dinner and we drank a fair share of alcohol. We also introduced them to a timeless American university game -- flip cup.

The girls went all-out on the party. They even bought balloons, a sign and birthday hats, as well as a cake. I bought everyone a matching pair of socks with some insulting slang on them.

It was so much fun.

The only downside to the weekend was that the water in our ward was shut off due to subway construction. It was supposed to come back on Sunday night. It did not. We had to wait until Monday night. Thanks to Vicky's parents, I got to go shower at her house Monday morning.

Even more annoying is that the water for the rest of our area came back on time. We asked Sunny to call out landlady to ask about our water, but she dragged her feet. My Korean skills paid off because I decided I would just ask her. It lead to a nice conversation.

She had a water truck brought in and sat outside all Monday with a friend of hers, and they handed out big containers of water so we could deal with our toilets. She's a really nice landlady.

But now the weekend is over, the water is back on and all is fairly well in the world. Enjoy the pictures from my weekend birthday fun!

Check the pictures out here.