Midterm results came back two weeks ago.
Columns: Name, Writing, Speaking, Listening, Reading, Total.
I earned the highest score in the class, though not by much... and it's a small class... but still. Yay.
Back to spring: as stupid as it sounds, if spring was a song, K.will's Love Blossom would be it. Dang. I've spent many, many days with this song on loop. This YouTube video has English subtitles (you may have to click the Captions button). K.will is strange for a Korean artist, though. He doesn't really appear in his own videos, especially not singing along, as most artists do. He is actually in this one, with a cameo as the ride operator. The main kid in the song is L (aka Myungsoo) from the band Infinite, and the girl is Dasom from Sistar. K.will actually interviewed himself about this song. The video also has English subs, though there are some things he says that will be confusing unless you know the backstory (like, "Healing Camp" is a popular variety show in Korea.... he calls this "Healing Tent," hahah). It's actually a semi-low budget interview setup. You can even hear the wind in the mic...but it's a clever idea. Aaaand, the best part? It was filmed at Han River Park, where Joana and I went yesterday to see the cherry blossoms.
"Han River Yeouido Spring Flower Festival"
We walked ~2.5 miles from the subway station (on the purple line, near the water)
all the way to the western edge of the island, back to the far eastern edge, then
back to the station. It took about 3 hours total, though we stopped to take lots
of pictures and rest a couple times.
There were lots and lots of people, though most of them were concentrated near the subway station. The marina at the far western edge had a lot of people, too, but it didn't seem like nearly as many.
People, people, and more people. The bottom left photo is of a crowd gathered for a performance.
There were lots of people flying kites and walking dogs and riding bikes (and, of course, walking).
Bottom: A view of the underside of the Mapo Bridge (the middle one in the map above).
There was also a couple walking a cute puppy under the bridge. They had to cross this little waterway, and the dog did not want to go. Finally, the owner picked him up and plopped him on the middle rock. After some more coaxing (and after I'd put my camera away), he managed to make the final leap.
The stream the dog crossed ended in this fountain/pool thing where lots of people were playing. Had it been a little hotter, I may have put my feet in (despite the questionable cleanliness).
Where there's water, of course there'll be a bunch of kids trying to throw their friend in. Joana and I were somewhat disappointed that they just ended up putting him down on a block of cement in the middle of the water. Though, then he had to take off his socks and shoes to wade back. :)
Despite the number of pictures of people and buildings, we actually went there to see the cherry blossoms (벚꽃, "beot-kkot"), but unfortunately, we were a little early. There was one tree in bloom in front of the subway station, and a few more further down the island, and the rest were still just buds. So we'll probably go back this weekend and hope they're not all on the ground by then.
Me in front of one of the only trees that didn't get the "hey, don't
bloom yet" message that all the other trees apparently received.
And next time, I'm totally posing like the girl behind me.
By the time we finished walking around the island, it was nearly dark. The 63 Building actually looked really pretty, though.
Could K.will be camping in one of those tents?^^
And like any good festival (and all of my blog posts), there was lots of food! Joana and I only bought ice cream cones, though, because we had a big lunch before arriving. :\
Top: Cotton candy, and marinated chicken cooking on sticks.
Middle: Coconut milk straight from the coconut, and dried squid.
Bottom: A nice big pot of silk warm larvae (번데기, "beon-de-gi").
We didn't stay long enough for it to turn dark, but here are some photos of the 63 Building and the nearby Conrad building (near The One Bloomed Tree) at night. I took them last week.
The reason we left early was to meet our friend Minjae in Hongdae for a final farewell party (we kind of had one last Friday night at the river). MJ's leaving for army duty on Tuesday. He's got five weeks of basic training, then 21 months of service. Korea's one of the few countries in the world that still has mandatory military service for men under 30. MJ just started his sophomore year of college, but decided now was a good time to go (most kids go between HS and college). Sadly, he turned in his papers, then this crap with NK started to get worse. I seriously doubt anything will happen, but another reason to hope nothing does -- all these kids that were required to go for two years will instead have to stay up to seven. His electrical engineering degree would have to wait until he's 30. :\
Anyway, I bought him a chocolate cream cake from Paris Baguette. I've had their strawberry yogurt and tiramisu cakes, too, and this was definitely my least favorite.... but still, of course, tasty.
Someone may have had a bit of trouble getting the cake out of the wrapping....
Finally, some food I eat at home: ramen and kimbap (meat, veggies, and rice wrapped in laver).
Making ramen "Korean style." You put one or two raw eggs in the boiling
water so they can cook as the soup does. Mmm, cheap protein...
Top: Kimbap ingredients. (And yes, I'm the one with the milk.)
Bottom: Though we cut up ham and fish patties, my preferred ingredients were (left-to-right):
Burdock root, fake crab, egg, pickled radish, cucumber.
Speaking of food, I should make lunch....
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