2 January 2008
Hard to believe 2008 is already here. Course I bet I'll be saying that every year, one day it may even be...'I can't believe it's 2084!' Living to be 100 isn't all it's cracked up to be from what I hear though, so we'll see.
Saturday I actually went skiing here. The 'slops' were similar to the treacherous terrain of Minnesota. I went with Rachel who has never skied before, so I helped her out on the bunny slope while the guys killed themselves on the steeper slopes (we had to rescue one from the first aid tent). Rachel and I had a true day of skiing, did a couple runs, took a brake, did a couple more, more hot chocolate, couple more runs, then called it a day. We had a lot of fun though. All the snow was man made so it wasn't that great of skiing, but it was really nice to get out, and fun to see how the Korean's ski. And I must say that Mary Jane in Colorado has spoiled me because this was the first time in several years I've almost been run over by multiple snowboarders. The boarders here like to see just how close they can get to you without actually running over you, and I am not a fan.
New Years in Korea was interesting. I realized at 11:55 when all the lights turned off in the club I was at and the only light was candles stuck in dixie cups that being 14 hours in front of New York meant the ball was not going to drop anytime soon. But we still counted down (I think we were a couple minutes early, but who really cares) and we had sparkling wine (the cheap kind) and friends. We went to the grand re-opening of one of the restaurants on post after words where they were serving breakfast food. That was weird.
Later that day for my birthday a couple friends of mine and I went to Outback. I had the craving for a steak, but Korea's not really the best place for a craving like that. It was a very entertaining trip tough, one where when you tell it again you can't help but say 'no shit there we were' so...No shit, there we were, taking the subway down to a city closer to Seoul where there was an Outback. We were pretty sure there was an Outback just down the street from the subway station but since it was about 5 degrees we headed for the taxi stand.
After attempting to ask 5 different cab drivers if they knew were Outback (saying it of course with our best Korean accent) and they all shook their heads at us we started walking. But it was so cold that we stopped at another taxi driver who gave us the nod, not only the 'yes I understand English' but also the 'I know where Outback is!' So we jump in the cab excited to be out of the could and go cruising down the streets. And we were cruising a lot further than we though, but after a couple minutes, several illegal U-turns (in the States at least) and nervous looks between us all wondering if the taxi driver was taking us to the Outback in Seoul (a $50 cab ride vs. $2 on the subway) we finally arrive outside a huge (to us after a year in Korea) Outback.
So we push each other out of the cab, excited and hungry and rush up the stairs. We go to the bar and order drinks a little amused by the bar tender. He asked if we wanted virgin drinks by making and X with his hands or alcohol drinks by making a circle. Not really sure about the hand gesture translation, but it was funny. We got a 6 person table for the 4 of us. We're pretty sure they figured that as American's we needed more room. But we couldn't complain.
The bartender came and was very sorry but he was out of pina colada mix so we ordered strawberry dacaries instead. I only go into this much detail because when our drinks came that looked very much like blended strawberries, they tasted like pina colada's, so we figured the pina colada mix was in fact not out, just miss labeled. We ordered our food and while we waited two of the people in our group ate 4 loaves of the bread.
We didn't have to wait too long for three steaks to come off the grill. Big clue as to what happened next. Our steaks come out, one was asked Medium Well and when the waitress said Medium Rare, we sent it back. Mine looked raw still once you cut into it, so that one was sent back. And the third was very rare, so it too was sent back. We did get our sides in little bowls so that we didn't starve, so that was nice.
Two of the steaks came back out, this time with a different side than originally ordered, but the steaks were still pretty rare so they were sent back. Then after about what would be a normal time frame to cook a stake three brand new steaks came out, with yet a different side than we ordered, but luckily the steaks were cooked all the way through. It was pretty entertaining and we had the manager bringing out the plates and checking herself to make sure they were done.
Rachel told our waitress it was my birthday so they brought out a 'cake' with candles. It's a reusable cake made out of cardboard. It was pretty funny. And they sang Happy Birthday in English and made the other 3 sing along so that there were 7 total people singing in English. It was really funny, we were all laughing really hard. Then they brought out a wheel like in Wheel of Fortune. So I spun the wheel and won a shake - but on my next visit. I think they were out of ice cream anyways coz they made me spin again and I won a garden salad! How exciting, but when my waitress said I'd already had a salad they made me spin a third time (3 times really is a charm at this Outback). So I finally won a June Bug. I didn't know what exactly that was, some type of drink, so out comes a mug of neon green clear liquid. It looks interesting so I take a sip and what did it taste like?!?! A Pina Colada! who would have thought. So we had a good laugh about that.
On our way out of the restaurant our waitress brought us each a loaf of bread (since we had gone through so many at the beginning). Another good American laugh. We got in a cab - because it was even colder now - to head back to the subway. Our taxi driver decided to start petting the guy sitting in the front (Ken) seat and calling him 'old woman' in Korean. Then when Ken called him the same thing the taxi driver said 'shut your mouth' and started hitting Ken. Not hard, but it was hilarious because there are so many incidences here where Soldiers and locals will get drunk, refuse to pay the taxi, and assault the taxi driver, so we're constantly told not to get into a confrontation with the taxi drivers and one started one with us. So it was pretty funny.
We didn't run into too many more problems on the way home. It was one of the funnier birthdays I've had, the only disappointment was having to go to work the next morning - early in the bitter cold. But I have just under 2 weeks left, so I really can't complain.
Saturday I actually went skiing here. The 'slops' were similar to the treacherous terrain of Minnesota. I went with Rachel who has never skied before, so I helped her out on the bunny slope while the guys killed themselves on the steeper slopes (we had to rescue one from the first aid tent). Rachel and I had a true day of skiing, did a couple runs, took a brake, did a couple more, more hot chocolate, couple more runs, then called it a day. We had a lot of fun though. All the snow was man made so it wasn't that great of skiing, but it was really nice to get out, and fun to see how the Korean's ski. And I must say that Mary Jane in Colorado has spoiled me because this was the first time in several years I've almost been run over by multiple snowboarders. The boarders here like to see just how close they can get to you without actually running over you, and I am not a fan.
New Years in Korea was interesting. I realized at 11:55 when all the lights turned off in the club I was at and the only light was candles stuck in dixie cups that being 14 hours in front of New York meant the ball was not going to drop anytime soon. But we still counted down (I think we were a couple minutes early, but who really cares) and we had sparkling wine (the cheap kind) and friends. We went to the grand re-opening of one of the restaurants on post after words where they were serving breakfast food. That was weird.
Later that day for my birthday a couple friends of mine and I went to Outback. I had the craving for a steak, but Korea's not really the best place for a craving like that. It was a very entertaining trip tough, one where when you tell it again you can't help but say 'no shit there we were' so...No shit, there we were, taking the subway down to a city closer to Seoul where there was an Outback. We were pretty sure there was an Outback just down the street from the subway station but since it was about 5 degrees we headed for the taxi stand.
After attempting to ask 5 different cab drivers if they knew were Outback (saying it of course with our best Korean accent) and they all shook their heads at us we started walking. But it was so cold that we stopped at another taxi driver who gave us the nod, not only the 'yes I understand English' but also the 'I know where Outback is!' So we jump in the cab excited to be out of the could and go cruising down the streets. And we were cruising a lot further than we though, but after a couple minutes, several illegal U-turns (in the States at least) and nervous looks between us all wondering if the taxi driver was taking us to the Outback in Seoul (a $50 cab ride vs. $2 on the subway) we finally arrive outside a huge (to us after a year in Korea) Outback.
So we push each other out of the cab, excited and hungry and rush up the stairs. We go to the bar and order drinks a little amused by the bar tender. He asked if we wanted virgin drinks by making and X with his hands or alcohol drinks by making a circle. Not really sure about the hand gesture translation, but it was funny. We got a 6 person table for the 4 of us. We're pretty sure they figured that as American's we needed more room. But we couldn't complain.
The bartender came and was very sorry but he was out of pina colada mix so we ordered strawberry dacaries instead. I only go into this much detail because when our drinks came that looked very much like blended strawberries, they tasted like pina colada's, so we figured the pina colada mix was in fact not out, just miss labeled. We ordered our food and while we waited two of the people in our group ate 4 loaves of the bread.
We didn't have to wait too long for three steaks to come off the grill. Big clue as to what happened next. Our steaks come out, one was asked Medium Well and when the waitress said Medium Rare, we sent it back. Mine looked raw still once you cut into it, so that one was sent back. And the third was very rare, so it too was sent back. We did get our sides in little bowls so that we didn't starve, so that was nice.
Two of the steaks came back out, this time with a different side than originally ordered, but the steaks were still pretty rare so they were sent back. Then after about what would be a normal time frame to cook a stake three brand new steaks came out, with yet a different side than we ordered, but luckily the steaks were cooked all the way through. It was pretty entertaining and we had the manager bringing out the plates and checking herself to make sure they were done.
Rachel told our waitress it was my birthday so they brought out a 'cake' with candles. It's a reusable cake made out of cardboard. It was pretty funny. And they sang Happy Birthday in English and made the other 3 sing along so that there were 7 total people singing in English. It was really funny, we were all laughing really hard. Then they brought out a wheel like in Wheel of Fortune. So I spun the wheel and won a shake - but on my next visit. I think they were out of ice cream anyways coz they made me spin again and I won a garden salad! How exciting, but when my waitress said I'd already had a salad they made me spin a third time (3 times really is a charm at this Outback). So I finally won a June Bug. I didn't know what exactly that was, some type of drink, so out comes a mug of neon green clear liquid. It looks interesting so I take a sip and what did it taste like?!?! A Pina Colada! who would have thought. So we had a good laugh about that.
On our way out of the restaurant our waitress brought us each a loaf of bread (since we had gone through so many at the beginning). Another good American laugh. We got in a cab - because it was even colder now - to head back to the subway. Our taxi driver decided to start petting the guy sitting in the front (Ken) seat and calling him 'old woman' in Korean. Then when Ken called him the same thing the taxi driver said 'shut your mouth' and started hitting Ken. Not hard, but it was hilarious because there are so many incidences here where Soldiers and locals will get drunk, refuse to pay the taxi, and assault the taxi driver, so we're constantly told not to get into a confrontation with the taxi drivers and one started one with us. So it was pretty funny.
We didn't run into too many more problems on the way home. It was one of the funnier birthdays I've had, the only disappointment was having to go to work the next morning - early in the bitter cold. But I have just under 2 weeks left, so I really can't complain.
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