On Friday, Hye Yun's cousin and boyfriend came into Incheon and we went to Guworldong to celebrate Minji's birthday. Minji's dating Chris, the former Jungchul teacher who I worked with for two months when I first arrived. It was nice to see both of them again. I saw them right before I left, but that's still about a two-month stretch.
Chris and Minji
Hye Yun and meWe went to our usual spot in Guworldong -- Damotori -- and had a really fun time. We drank some beer and soju and sang "happy birthday" and Hye Yun brought a cake. It was nice to catch up, and Hye Yun and Minji are more than happy to let me speak Korean.
I got home from that around midnight and went to meet Popper, Schwaby and Josh at a bar in Yeonsu-dong. We had a few drinks and played a few games of darts.
On our walk home from there, we found a desk that a PC Bang was throwing out. Schwaby desperately needed a desk, so the two of them lugged it a few blocks back to Schwaby's place. One man's trash is another man's treasure. Nowhere is that more true than in Korea.
Hauling the find homeSaturday was really exciting. I was showing Schwaby my new school when I got a call from Hye Yun. Her dad invited me to go to Yeongjongdo with her family. He was going to see his high school buddies and their families, and I was fortunate enough that he wanted me to go as well.
Yeongjongdo is a small island off the coast of Incheon. You can reach it by taking the new Incheon bridge. It is famous for its shellfish and calguksu restaurants.
There must have been 50 restaurants along the main road through the island. They were all similarly decorated with Christmas-type lights and they all had similar layouts with seating both outdoors in tents and inside the restaurants.
The restaurantWe sat inside the restaurant with Vicky's dad's friends. One of the guys spoke a tiny bit of English, but the whole night, we all just spoke Korean. We had a lot of fun, and the guy's appreciate my grasp of the language. They were very welcoming.
The shellfish meal included clams, oysters and various other shelled creatures that I didn't recognize. They come out on a big plate, and we just pop them on the grill until the crack open. Some of the bigger oysters were pre-cracked. As far as I can tell, though, everything we put on the grill came right out of the tank.
Our first full grill of shellfishI wasn't a big fan of shellfish before, but to prepare them on the grill like that was incredibly delicious. It was sooooo good.
After we stuffed ourselves with the shellfish, we stopped at another restaurant on the island. This was for calguksu, a traditional noodle dish that is handmade. The noodles are thick and remind me of a the style of noodles in a homemade chicken noodle soup. But the broth of the Korean noodle dish is filled with even more shellfish and other fish.
They were really good, even though I was totally stuffed at that point. Hye Yun's family said the restaurant we ate at is famous for the noodles. We had to wait about 15 minutes to get a seat, and it was packed inside.
I am so thankful her family continues to include me on their trips. I'm learning so much through these experiences. Also, I get to practice my Korean the whole time I'm with them. There are no downsides to this.
After Hye Yun's dad dropped me off at home, I popped my head into Colin's place. He was there with his girlfriend, her friend, Schwaby and Popper. We just hung out, had some drinks and ate some food. It was a really nice, relaxing evening after a busy and fun weekend.
It might be a busy week, but I don't mind too much. We'll see. I have another dinner with Principal Kim on Wednesday, and I'm meeting my InHa friends on Thursday.
I've posted all the other pics from the weekend in my Picasa albums.
Check out Minji's birthday here.
Check out shell fish and noodles here.
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