Sunset over the water. :D
I also wandered around the park near the bridge (there are also looong walking and bike riding paths, an area to skateboard, kids' playground, etcetc).
The park area nearest the bridge (complete w/ tarp-covered seats)...
and Cherry Coke always tastes better along the water.^^
Weather here has been weird lately... It's really cold one day, really hot the next, pouring rain one day, blue skies the next...
Blue skies, and waiting for the bus in the pouring rain...
On 9/14, we moved to the other side of the subway station (nearer to school... maybe a 20 minute walk), to a bigger place with 4 usable bedrooms. It's actually the 3rd and 4th floor (and rooftop patio) of a house. It's more expensive per month, but we invited a 4th person to live with us (J), so it ended up being about the same price per month per person. Once things are cleaned up (namely in my room), I'll post some pictures. Meanwhile, here's a pic of how much the mosquitoes here love me....
In one night, I managed to get 3 bites on the back of my hand... Bugs here are vicious.
Sept 18-20 was Chuseok, the Korean equivalent of Thanksgiving. The actual Chuseok Day was Sept 19, but everyone travels home for the holiday, so the days before and after are both public holidays as well. We didn't have school. The night before, J and I went over to H's room and she made us some traditional food from her country, made mainly of chicken and tomatoes. It was really good. :) I really want to make some 'Murican foods here, but most of what I can think of require spices (or recipes) I don't have, or an oven (which only the really expensive apartments here have). I guess when I go back to the US for Thanksgiving, I'll buy some spices like Cayenne Pepper and Cumin... Foods here are often very spicy, but it's a different kind of spicy... hard to explain if you haven't had it, but generally, it's not really an enjoyable spicy. It burns without the added benefit of taste.^^ (Not to say that I don't like it, it's just not the same as, say, spicy chili...)
The microwave-made brownies actually turned out pretty well...
Also, as I mentioned almost 2 years ago when I was first here on vacation (also over Chuseok), I like that the news shows here have sign language interpreters rather than subtitles...
Sign language interpreter in the bottom right hand corner during a random news program..
On 9/29, I saw my favorite kpop band (FT Island) live... I bought the tickets myself online (though I thought sales started at 9 when they actually started at 8, so my seats were not very good), paid for them myself, had them delivered to my house... It was a nice feeling, to finally be able to do all that alone. (As the website was all in Korean... and usually they only accept Korea-issued credit cards.) Unfortunately, like most kpop concerts/fan meetings, pictures weren't allowed at all... so I didn't really take any... but... here's one of my ticket... and the signs outside... and, uh... a few of MANY "congrats!" banners purchased by the official fan club. Beneath the banners are a bunch of eggs, for donation to charity (they also donate literally tons of rice, in the band's name).
FT Island :D
Finally, more Korean food!
Mixed veggie and rice (bibimbap, a supposed favorite among foreigners),
large dumplings (wang mandu), and steamed chicken w/veggies (dakjjim or jjimdak).
Hard to believe level 4 midterms are this Friday (10/4) and Monday (10/7). Off to study (or maybe sleep...).
