Lights, Camera, Lotus!

Hello! So this past weekend was SO busy. Unfortunately, I left my apartment in such a rush on Friday that I forgot my camera L Everyone else did a good job of documenting the weekend though, so I can put up another entry once I steal get all the pics. Sara’s mom gave me a few already as well. The whole Dorsey clan was in town so we tried our best to show them Seoul. Friday night we went to the hotel in Myeongdong and took them out for some Korean BBQ. We decided to take Sara’s little brother out to our favorite spots in Hongdae, which ended up being one of our more ridiculous nights. Its really warm out now so it was nice to finally be out without dragging around a huge coat. We ended up at one club that’s usually really crowded, but we were the only ones there. So naturally we had a raging dance party just the 4 of us. Don’t judge.

The next morning we were all feeling the aftermath of such a crazy night, but we tried to pull it together. The Dorsey fam went to Seoul tower, and then we all went to a baseball game. It was my first one here in Korea, and it was pretty fun. They have convenience stores, Burger Kings, and KFCs inside the stadium – so you can get normal food at normal prices. There’s none of that $6 for a beer nonsense. We watched the Lotte Giants battle the LG Twins. The twins were HORRIBLE. I think there was a point where the score was 13-0. Finally in the bottom of the 9^th the Twins scored 4 runs, so there was a little bit of redemption there, but clearly not enough. We were cheering for the Twins too since they’re from Seoul, and the Giants are from Busan (I think?). I love watching baseball, but the Twins were so bad it was a little hard to watch. Also, I’ve never seen so many people get hit by pitches in a game, even in little league games I don’t think its that bad! I’m pretty sure the Twins pitcher hit like 3 of the Giants in a row, and then walked another guy, causing them to walk in a run. Unreal. The game was still a lot of fun though, and I’m excited to go to more.

After the baseball game we went back to the hotel to meet up with John and Q. We went to a little Korean restaurant and then took the Dorsey fam to a noraebang. After the noraebang we took them to our favorite hookah bar. After we had figured out what we wanted, we asked Q to explain it all to the waitress assuming that she couldn’t speak English. After a few seconds of Q babbling away in Korean, the waitressed asked us a question in perfect English, and we all just burst out laughing. Turns out, she was from California. Oops. I’m so used to assuming that people don’t speak English so when they can speak it perfectly its always so funny

Sunday we walked around Myeongdong and explored the area around the hotel.

Sara's dad, me, Q, Reebs, Sara, Sara's bro, John - practicing for the World Cup

We found a little sticker photobooth and crammed all 8 of us into it to snap some totally ridiculous pictures. We then walked over to Insadong to check out the Lotus Lantern festival that was happening. The festival is sort of the kick-off to the celebration of Buddha’s Birthday (which we celebrate on May 21^st this year). We got some food at a restaurant in Insadong and then went out to roam the streets. We tried “bundaegi” which is sort of a roasted silkworm larvae. I thought they were pretty gross, but I’ve eaten worse (scorpions and grasshoppers anyone?).

Having a very genuine reaction to the bundaegi (Q wasn't amused - he loves those things)

Me, Sara, and Reebs with our lotus lanterns in Bongeunsa Temple

There were tents set up in the street where we could make paper lotus lanterns. We went to Bongeunsa Temple where there were hundreds of paper lanterns set up. Just outside the temple on the street was a man holding some unknown critters. They looked cute enough, so we crept in a little closer to check it out. Before I knew it, he was holding the little creature out by its tail and threw it at me!! It was a flying squirrel!!!! It landed on my leg, and proceeded to crawl up my leg, up my body, and down my arm. The little kids started to swarm and I’m pretty sure I’m in about 300 random pictures. But aww the little guy was so scared and so adorable.

Showing off my new flying squirrel friend

Just a little baby! Look how cute he is :)

Once the excitement of the flying squirrel attack had subsided, we found out spots for the parade and watch the parade of lanterns, which goes from Dongdaemun Stadium to Bongeunsa Temple. We sat near the Jongno Tower - where we celebrated New Years a few months ago in the street. The parade ended around 9 and from there we called it a night. Here's some of the parade pics tho - complements of Mrs. D.

Allergy season is starting booooo. I’m starting to become sniffly mess. On the bright side – health care is cheap over here and I got lots of drugs from the pharmacy for about $4. Win.

The K-Pop song for this week is another Girls Generation song. Its called Run Devil Run. I've linked you to the version with the English subtitles so you know what its all about.

"Once in a while it really hits people that they don't have to experience the world in the way they have been told to." -- Alan Keightley