Still raining...
I really wasn't kidding about the Typhoon + Monsoon:
Which means that rather than exploring this ginormous city, I'm hanging out in my room on this Sunday (not my ideal Sunday, but relaxing nonetheless). Thankfully, my roommate informs me that the rainy season is set to end soon in Seoul - after that, the oppressively humid, hot weather will commence!
For those of you that know me (and seriously, why would anyone who doesn't know me read this drivel?!), I am a sweaty guy (it runs in the family). Which means that when it's not raining, the 15 minute walk across campus leaves me drenched. Much fun - it reminds me of my hometown, and makes me miss the dry weather of California.
But I'm not complaining - just observing. Despite the rain, I still had a great evening last night in Hongdae, a very hip area near Yonsei U that is full of bars, clubs, music venues, and on average 4 Koreans in your personal space. The original plan was to meet up with some friends to check out some of the music venues, but since the night was young, we thought we would stop into a bar for a drink. One of my friends from the Korea Summer Institute brought along two Korean girls from her lab who know the area, so we turned to them for advice on where to go. We walked for a while, but they were being indecisive, so I stepped in to suggest the one place that I do know: Nabi , a difficult-to-find, underground spot (literally) that features a dim, cave-like decor, complete with a running stream that contains floating candles and rose petals, as well as the requisite Korean hipsters smoking or playing the bongos. Needless to say, very much to my liking.
Like I said, Nabi is hard to find: go down the small, random alley and look for the small, nondescript sign that leads to the darkened stairway (every other bar is Korea has a gigantic, blinking neon sign proclaiming "Coffee / Beer / Whisky / Snack," so Nabi is an exercise in understatement). I had been there once with my Korean friend S., and I figured I would never find it again, but amazingly enough, I did find the right alley - much to the amusement of the Koreans. I was quite proud to serve as tour guide, and show off my knowledge of Hongdae. Keep in mind, this is the only place that I know in Hongdae, but it helps me pretend that I know Seoul like a native.
After we'd hung out at Nabi, we still wanted to find some live music, but unfortunately, it had started raining cats and dogs - just sheets of water coming down, which made exploring on foot, looking for a good club, seem like a less attractive option. So, we ended up at a nearby bar, Moon Yang, and had a very quiet, relaxed evening of chilling and chatting, which is more interesting if you're hanging out with new Korean friends, especially if they have traeveled / lived / studied in the States, which these girls had. Anyway, it wasn't quite the evening that we had set out for, but it was good nonetheless.
But back to today - and the rain. One benefit of my enforced indoor status is that I've been exploring YouTube - I know, everyone else was into this months ago, but I'm really just testing the waters now. So far, this short is my favorite, especially because of the main character's name:
Which means that rather than exploring this ginormous city, I'm hanging out in my room on this Sunday (not my ideal Sunday, but relaxing nonetheless). Thankfully, my roommate informs me that the rainy season is set to end soon in Seoul - after that, the oppressively humid, hot weather will commence!For those of you that know me (and seriously, why would anyone who doesn't know me read this drivel?!), I am a sweaty guy (it runs in the family). Which means that when it's not raining, the 15 minute walk across campus leaves me drenched. Much fun - it reminds me of my hometown, and makes me miss the dry weather of California.
But I'm not complaining - just observing. Despite the rain, I still had a great evening last night in Hongdae, a very hip area near Yonsei U that is full of bars, clubs, music venues, and on average 4 Koreans in your personal space. The original plan was to meet up with some friends to check out some of the music venues, but since the night was young, we thought we would stop into a bar for a drink. One of my friends from the Korea Summer Institute brought along two Korean girls from her lab who know the area, so we turned to them for advice on where to go. We walked for a while, but they were being indecisive, so I stepped in to suggest the one place that I do know: Nabi , a difficult-to-find, underground spot (literally) that features a dim, cave-like decor, complete with a running stream that contains floating candles and rose petals, as well as the requisite Korean hipsters smoking or playing the bongos. Needless to say, very much to my liking.
Like I said, Nabi is hard to find: go down the small, random alley and look for the small, nondescript sign that leads to the darkened stairway (every other bar is Korea has a gigantic, blinking neon sign proclaiming "Coffee / Beer / Whisky / Snack," so Nabi is an exercise in understatement). I had been there once with my Korean friend S., and I figured I would never find it again, but amazingly enough, I did find the right alley - much to the amusement of the Koreans. I was quite proud to serve as tour guide, and show off my knowledge of Hongdae. Keep in mind, this is the only place that I know in Hongdae, but it helps me pretend that I know Seoul like a native.
After we'd hung out at Nabi, we still wanted to find some live music, but unfortunately, it had started raining cats and dogs - just sheets of water coming down, which made exploring on foot, looking for a good club, seem like a less attractive option. So, we ended up at a nearby bar, Moon Yang, and had a very quiet, relaxed evening of chilling and chatting, which is more interesting if you're hanging out with new Korean friends, especially if they have traeveled / lived / studied in the States, which these girls had. Anyway, it wasn't quite the evening that we had set out for, but it was good nonetheless.
But back to today - and the rain. One benefit of my enforced indoor status is that I've been exploring YouTube - I know, everyone else was into this months ago, but I'm really just testing the waters now. So far, this short is my favorite, especially because of the main character's name:
posted by swimmerpie3331 at
9:29 PM
1 Comments:
Man, I am jealous. I wish I was in Yonsei with all those girls. I am stuck here in this sausage fest. Help!!! Can't take it anymore. I need Yonsei, Yonsei, Yonsei (Yonsei == women)
Shoot, and I have to hit all these places by myself. We'll see how this weekend goes.
By
King James CC 05, at 6:56 AM
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