Happy New Year!

I didn't end up taking any pictures of the actual New Year's Eve festivities. I am always so bad with my camera. I didn't really end up doing anything particularly festive anyway. A coworker and I wanted to go see them ring the New Year's bell but it was absolutely frigid and we decided traffic would have been a nightmare. Plus, the western New Year's isn't that big of a deal in Seoul, so we figured it would be better to find the expats. So, we headed to one of the kind of heavily foreign districts, Hongdae, where I had already been with my coworkers on the first night I was here. We just ended up going to a bar and dancing and singing all night and all in all it was quite a bit of fun.

An update on the rest of my break.

On Tuesday one of my coworkers got back from her trip to China, so we headed to Itaewon, where the US military base is, to get dinner. Itaewon is full of foreign restaurants and pubs etc. and is pretty much the best place to go for homesick food. We went to The Wolfhound, a pretty popular English-style pub/restaurant, for two-for-one fish and chips. I had never had fish and chips before, but I have to say I approve, despite the unhealthiness factor.














Before my coworker got back I was pretty much the only one here, so I had been trying to at least go out and see some parts of Seoul. So, I headed to one of the big markets, Dongdaemun, and just got out of the subway and explored a bit. The area is crazy and full of cute little outdoor food stalls and places selling everything you can imagine. It was pretty cold though, so I headed to one of the big mall-like places. The one I ended up in was called Shopping Town and even though the picture is really blurry I took it because I knew my Mom and Dad would have died and gone to heaven in this place. It was a six-story shopping mall filled entirely with little stalls selling every kind of fabric and button and lace etc. you could ever imagine. I think probably all told there was enough fabric in that building to sew all of Seoul at least four outfits. I was pretty overwhelmed.




















These next two pictures are of what used to be the eastern gate to the city. The gate kind of marks the entrance to the Dongdaemun market. It looked really pretty once it got dark out and was pretty much the only thing that made it so I didn't get lost while I was wandering around there.



































Other than the touristy things I have mostly just been staying at home catching up on reading and trying to learn Korean. I am already dreading heading back to work though, since I have to teach my first Kindergarten class on Monday and I am really nervous.

Hope you all had a lovely New Year's Eve. Happy 2010!