I'm Meeeeelting

Okay i'm not sure how much I previously wrote about Korean summer - or the lack there of.  I was seriously skeptical about how terrible the summer really was going to be. My kids kept talking about it like the plague was coming, but I had my doubts.  Well about two weeks ago death rolled into town.  One day of torrential downpour and the next day you didn't want to leave your house, and it's continued that way ever since.  It may sound like I'm complaining, but i'm not - it's more for your entertainment.  I mean yea, it's freaking hot, but like i've said before I would much rather this heat then sitting in my apartment shivering.  One problem with the heat is that it slows you down - both physically and mentally.  My brain is moving at the speed of mush which causes problems when I realize it's friday and I've made no attempt at plans for the weekend.

Last weekend Sara saved me from boredom and invited me along to Gyoengju to visit our friends (namely Amanda and Ryan).  Nothing special going on but I realized (that day) there doesn't always need to be a reason or festival for me to travel to a town.  Yeah, I had been there before (twice) but I had friends to visit and I love the town.

 Friday night our friend Stu hosted a BBQ on his roof and then we made our way DT to a few bars.  Nothing special but quality time spent with some fun people and good friends.  Oh, we did waste a good chunk of time standing outside playing games. There are random 'crane' type games all over the streets of Korea, I myself have never been sucked in but the boys couldn't seem to get enough of them. Amanda was nice enough to host Sara and I for the weekend so we made our way back to her place to pass out.

Saturday came and the only thing we could think about was how hungry we were (didn't help that Amanda's stomach was talking - to all of us).  We made our way downtown and decided on Korean food for lunch, we were all craving rice - is that weird? Maybe it's the fact that I haven't had school lunch for the past two weeks so i've been lacking.  After lunch the next stop was Daiso (Korean dollar store) and then coffee.  I'm happy to say I found my new favorite coffee shop - down side is that it's all the way in Gyeonju, hmm might be a problem (and they're closed on Sundays-lame).  What was so cool you ask? They had puzzles!  We spent enough time there to complete two puzzles as well as time to sit and chat, upon which we remembered our plans to visit the cat cafe.  Yeah you heard me.

So, from one coffee shop to another we made our way back to the bar area? (not sure on my Gyeongju neighborhoods) and entered an alternate reality.  If you know me you also know that I don't like cats, but there I was, sitting drinking a coffee surrounded by them.  I guess they were kind of cute, but if I could've had a dog or puppy to play with instead I would've swapped in a heartbeat.  These things are all over Korea though, you pay 7,000 or 8,000 won (drink included) and can hang out with their cats. Hmm, not sure i'll be going back anytime soon but it was worth the experience.

It seems that Amanda, Sara and I are always after a good cafe adventure when in Gyenonju together. The first time I visited it was the awesome cafe with racist dogs and astronaut lights, now puzzles and cats - I can't wait to see what's next. 

That night we had a first in Korea - mexican night! We recently discovered that Homplus-uh carries a variety of mexican products.  Ryan (hailing from Texas) and the rest of us had been feeling quite deprived from the delicacies of mexican food so we decided to take it upon ourself and whip something up.  We went with chicken quesadillas and home made guacamole, success!!  The rest of the night we took it easy and watched the olympics - not quite the same as being back home.  Here you get the choice of Judo, Archery, Shooting, Judo, Fencing, maybe some handball oh and swimming, but only if Park Taewon is in the event.  Either way it was a good time and thankfully since then I discovered a website where I can check out the US version - just in time to catch the women's gymnastics dominate!

Well once again the weekend is upon me and my plans are a bit up in the air.  As I sit here in an airconditioned cafe i'm hoping something will magically materialize, guess you'll have to check back to find out. ***Delay in the post due to my pictures being stuck on my camera - I did make it to Ulsan this weekend, there'll be a post about it so go read that** Although it might be a while, in less than a week i'll be in the midst of my Taiwan tour, here's to hoping all goes well!