Long Weekend Recap

The weekend passes somewhat uneventfully. Could it be we’re finally at ease in the east? The following is a detail-lacking recap of our nothing-special, long weekend.

Friday night begins late, our class ending from anywhere between 10:00 – 10:30 pm. We amble through the walkways overgrown with weeds and popsicle wrappers. Should we stay or should we go to the coast? The PROS: neither of us has been to the yellow sea, the weather is beautiful, it would be (by our estimates) a relaxing escape from the crowds of Gwangju. The CONS: it’s a holiday weekend, we’ve learned that everyone is going to the beach. Staying in Gwangju seemed right not only because of the masses of people traveling to the coast, but mostly because of the masses of people traveling to the coast. The yellow sea will have to wait. Friday turns out to be a perfect evening for cards and a Chilean cabernet sauvignon.

Saturday morning is a sleepy one, probably due to the fact that Friday night ended late. The languid day passes in a mess of ramen noodles, naps, and sporadic cleaning. Later we’re upset that we wasted away a day of seething sunshine and 95 degree temperatures. What were we thinking staying indoors?! ugh.

Luckily, we had Saturday night to make up for our lackluster day. A substantial dinner is in order, so we venture to the “Pork Place”, a corner restaurant near our apartment specializing in Sam Gyup Sal (pork belly). We’re pretty sure that it’s not actually called the “Pork Place”, but neither of us has bothered to read the Hangeul on the sign next to the cartoon pig. Dinner was the one of the best I’ve had since being in country, probably due to our growing familiarity with Korean cuisine and our ability to order it. You can’t beat the prices either. Our big dinner out was a whopping $14, and the sweet waitress gave us free coca-cola with our meal. I always enjoy eating out because it’s a chance to intimately observe couples, friends, and families in a relaxed, everyday situation. Truly a reliable way to learn social graces that cannot be taught through book-learnin’. 

The rest of the evening is spent bar-hopping with Alex’s troubled, Canadian coworker, Chris. We have a few beers at Wa Bar, a bar that’s referred to as a “western ice bar”. It’s a trendy place, offering a decent assortment of beers from around the world and loud Korean pop music (aka k-pop). The décor is very “American” in influence with pictures of iconic Hollywood stars like Cary Grant and Marilynn Monroe, and homages to cowboys.  There is only one coed bathroom, which can be humorous when a drunk man is puking in the urinal, and you have to try not to laugh in the stall as he regrets that last beer. A few pints later, we venture back to the neighborhood for a nightcap at our local dive, Seven Face. 

Seven Face is run by a very energetic woman who has no discernable knowledge of English.  She wears the most outrageous shirts. Shirts that carry none-so-vague pornographic messages or suggestions, shirts that are a Kamasutra catalog, shirts that strive to include every FCC banned cursed word in boldface type.  She's really excited to see us, offering us extra snacks as she attends to a sudden burst of customers who look to be from a local pornographers club celebrating a wrap on their latest film.  By the time we wrap up our evening, it’s nearly 4:00 am. Too much good people watching to pass up. 

Let’s just say that Sunday could’ve been a slow start, but Mom & Dad P called at 9:30 am. Regardless of our antics the night before, we would never pass up a chance to hear a voice from home. Then we ate ramen. You may be worried, now that ramen has been mentioned twice in this blog. Have no fear, whereas ramen in the U.S. is “poor man’s grub”, here it is almost as much of a staple as rice. It’s a great, fast meal, so we ate it fast, and then got to our lounging. I will save you from the boring details of Sunday’s labyrinth of horrible, American, reality television, just know that you won’t be safe forever.  Later that night we ventured out for a bite at a Kimbap house, followed by a 2.5 hour walk along the river running through Gwangju. It was quiet and pleasant, fisherman dotting the banks where the water was higher. I had a bug fly up my nose, and another into my mouth, which was not very exciting or entertaining, except to my husband.  Laugh it up, smart guy!

Monday was cleaning day (aka where Alex made up for laughing at the previous night’s bug-up-the-nose), and then *poof* the weekend was over. like I said in the beginning, the weekend was nothing special, but believe me when I say, that’s fine by us. We’re still taking in unusual sights, and ordering our beer in another language. That’s certainly different enough some days.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hey Audrey and Alex!! I hope that all is going well for both of you. Things have been hectic here lately... I'm almost a homeowner, I have about one month left on the house that I'm building in Amelia, OH. It's weird how quickly life can change. I hope we can keep in touch(my email stayed the same).. once I get this digital camera thing down I'll send ya pics of the house if you want some. My mom and dad say HI Audrey! Talk to you guys later!
-Kiki

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