i love lamp!

I know, I know, you don't have to tell me, it has been awhile since my last blog! So sorry, everyone, but hopefully this will make up for it! My last week and a half since I have written have seemed to fly by! Mainly I've been busy with school, which has been getting a lot better; but my weekends have been where all the action has been. So instead of writing a few pages worth of every detail, I've decided to highlight my last two weekends in pictures. I think pictures will be able to capture the moments better than my words can!
Ok, so this last weekend, Adam, Trena, Morgan, and I took part in "An Amazing Race" similar to the reality tv show, minus the cameras and prize money. 15 teams of 4 basically had a huge scavenger hunt all over Seoul. We had to solve certain riddles and get to different landmarks. At each point judges were waiting for us. We had to answer a trivia question about Korea and also do a "challenge," ie- walking blindfolded, hackey sack, shouting loud in a park...Along the way we also had other opportunities to gain points (all documented on camera, of course.) It was a great way to explore the city and a great time as well. The race didn't leave us too much time to explore, but now we all have ideas of places to go to again and actually spend some time at. Our team, "I Love Lamp" placed 9th out of 15... You could say our team had "An Amazing Stroll" to say the least, but it was a pace well suited for a team who gets easily distracted!

Here we are at one of our checkpoints during the race. In our clue envelopes we were given photos of places to find. Then we had to find that place and take a photo too. This is an entryway to a park, whose name I forgot already. Notice the great green duct taped lamps on our shirts??

Here is a pot of boiling beondegi (silkworms). The literal Korean translation means "chrysalis" or "pupa." These are popular snacks sold on many corners by street vendors. If you are up for a tasty treat then 500 won(50cents) will get you a dixie cup full. I guess these snacks are popular among children and older generations. Back when Korea was going through it's war it was a very very poor country. I'm assuming this was a popular and cheap way to get protein at that time that has just stuck.

Yep, you guessed it... a mission for the Amazing Race! I thought you might appreciate the before and after pictures! I wasn't sure if I wanted to take one for the team or not, but I'm a team player so I had to!

It wasn't that bad...really! Actually, it tasted like you were eating grass... gross grass. Grass with silkworm pupas in them, yeah that's it! Yep, it was disgusting!

Our scavenger hunt ended at a huge fish market! It was amazing! This picture doesn't even capture the immensity of the market. Anything you could ever imagine coming out of the sea, plus things I never even knew existed were here! Most of it was live too...crabs, fish, octopus, squid, mussels, sea cucumbers. The people were constantly moving around, rearranging their fish. People are everywhere bargaining and buying. The floor is constantly wet from melting ice. Lets just say I definitely smelled like fish when I got home!

Now skip back a weekend. Here we are at the St. Patty's day festival in Hyehwa. It was impressive! Live Irish music, leprechauns, free samples of Guinness and Baileys, food stands, kids games, street vendors and tons of people! I guess I wasn't expecting Korea to get down with an Irish holiday in such a big way! It was kind of weird though, because when we walked off the subway onto the street it was almost like we weren't in Korea anymore, there were so many foreigners around. In a way it was nice, but I almost didn't like it! I have been getting used to seeing so many Korean people that it is almost a shock to see someone similar to you! A lot of the foreigners here are from Canada. I have also met a few from England, New Zealand, and even Ireland!

Here is a picture of the Banner that greets you as you walk into the festival.

So there it is... a quick photo recap of my last week and a half! I'm still waiting on a paycheck which comes April 10. I have 30 dollars to last me til then. After my payday I am planning on doing some more exploring outside of Seoul, because then I will be able to afford it! And as I said earlier in one of my blogs, I am still eating kimbop almost everyday! At least I'm not sick of it yet! Ok, well, I will end saying I have good intentions of blogging a little more faithfully, but we will see... Hope all is well back in your part of the world!