fireworks and relaxation

We have had a pretty relaxing and altogether chilled-out weekend. We did a lot of walking though. On Friday night, Richy and I went out to dinner at Bennigan's in Nowon, hoping to find a club sandwich. Instead we found what might possibly be the most unhealthy "sandwich" on the face of the planet: deep fried Monte Cristo with processed cheese. Even our combined eating powers couldn't finish it. That was definitely the most calories we've consumed in a meal since being in Korea. The salad bar was good though, and after dinner we serendipitously came across Nowon's International Street Performance Festival and watched an interesting magic show which had a plot much like that of a Korean soap opera.

The next day, Saturday, we met our new friend from the Netherlands, Nora, in Itaewon, so we could show her one of the few English language bookstores in Korea that actually sells used (and thus, affordable) books. She was a bit late though (after taking the wrong bus in the wrong direction) and so we spent sometime in a cafe, on the balcony, sipping drinks and people watching in the absolute most diverse area in all of Korea. It's quite interesting how you can tell the difference between those "Westerners" that are here with the military and those who are here as English teachers. After Nora showed up we spent some time in the book store and bought some books. Then with time to kill, we wandered around Itaewon a little more, parted ways with Nora, and moved toward Mapo Station to see about finding a place to observe the Seoul International Fireworks Festival. After walking several kilometers to find our way to the waterfront, Richy and I decided to split up so he could stake out a position in the rapidly filling riverside park and I could go find some picnic food and meet our friends Tom and Lindsey. Our tentative picnic plan was to get some cheese, baguettes, beverages, and a roasted chicken from a roadside vendor to make some sandwiches. Unfortunately Mapo seems not to be the neighborhood for chicken. After crisscrossing the area for more than an hour, I couldn't even find a fried chicken restaurant, whereas in the rest of the city you can usually find a roast chicken vendor every few blocks. On top of that, Tom and Lindsey were more than 30 minutes late, so I wandered back to find Richy only with rolls, cheese, beverages, and sore legs to show for my efforts. Eventually Tom and Lindsey found us, and although we ended up waiting more than three hours for the fireworks, the show was spectacular, the company was good and the wine Tom and Lindsey brought tasted great with the cheese and bread.

My favorite part was the finale when the fireworks literally filled the sky with gold glitter. It was also amazing how well the sound of the explosions carried over the water, literally shaking us with each burst. After watching each of the three fireworks shows (one for Japan, the US, and Korea), we joined a mass exodus of hundreds of thousands (possibly more than a million) Seoulites returning to various parts of the city. Getting on the subway at that point was out of the question, so we walked toward Tom and Lindsey's place near Sinchon and enjoyed a dinner of chicken and pickled radish at a little hole in the wall restaurant where the waitress oddly refused to give us more than two glasses of water for the four of us to share. All in all, it was quite an enjoyable weekend.

by Katie