Korea = good food, taekwondo, and soju

My Saturday was exceptionally busy, but also very fun. In Korean class, they taught us how to sing Happy Birthday in Korean (obviously). The teachers went around the room and sang it to every student. You would think the repetition would solidify it into my memory, but no, I've forgotten it already. They also taught us a winter song that roughly translates into: "Cold hands, ice. Cold feet, ice. Winter wind because of ice ice ice. Hands, ice ice ice. Feet, ice ice ice. Winter wind because of ice ice ice". It was good times.

As you can tell by the song, it's getting cold here. The leaves are starting to change colour too. I've begun my search for a winter jacket. After Korean class, I went to Dong-A department store near the YMCA. Maybe it was the location, but I wasn't successful at all. First of all, the vast majority of the jackets I found were not practical. They were either super thin, old lady jackets or were ridiculous (who buys a winter jacket with 3/4 length sleeves?). Also, a regular size in Korea would a small or extra small back in Canada. I found a couple jackets I liked, but they were all between $500 and $700. Forget that!! I'll have to check out some other department stores or maybe a sports store where they sell ski jackets. Hopefully I can find something decent before it starts getting really cold.

After shopping, Diana and I had our taekwondo lesson. At the lesson, there was a group of black belt kids there. I think they were in grade 3 or 4. Sa Beom Nim had them show off for us. They were cute little killing machines. Diana and I sat there, ate Korean twinkies and drank juice while they impressed us with their energy and TKD moves.

Saturday night, Diana, Sa Beom Nim, his wife, the parents of one of my students, and I went out for dinner. We went to one restaurant where we ate tons of Korean food. Some stuff was super spicy, which still scares me a bit, but I still try it. We had this ginseng alcohol drink. It was okay, just very very strong. After we stuffed ourselves there, they took us to ANOTHER restaurant. This time it was seafood. We had BBQ shellfish and soju (type of liquor). I loved the shellfish. It was amazingly good. I'm definitely going back for more! I think Sa Beom Nim's wife was a little drunk. She was hilarious though and we were lucky because she knew a lot of English and could translate for us.

Here's some more pics of my apartment too: