So to start with where we left off from the last blog, on Thursday, Ali and I decided we would go see the Korea-Argentina soccer game. As you may recall, we watched the first game against Greece in the logical choice of a Mexican themed restaurant. This time, however, we had no definite plans and headed out to find a bar-like place. We've been lucky here that the games have been at 8:30pm; the other times for the games are at 11pm and 3:30 in the morning. Ali and I took awhile to find a place. Everyone in town it seems goes out to watch the game at a restaurant or bar. It's funny walking down the street and just seeing every single building with the game on. It's an intense atmosphere. We finally ended up at a table outside of a restaurant on the sidewalk. They had set up TV's outside so it was a good location. Thinking I could order chicken, we were told that our table actually belonged to the seafood restaurant next door. We had to order something, and unable to get anywhere with our limited Korean and the waiter's limited English, I ended up pointing at another table just to say we'll have what they're having. Well, I guess I should have known better than to point to what a family of 4 was eating because we got a massive tray of seafood. Correction: Ali is a vegetarian so I got a massive tray of seafood and I've never been much of a fan. Well, it had clams, mussels, oysters and every other aquatic creature. We had to cook it at our table, but our waiter showed us mercy and cooked it for awhile to show us how to do it. In between eating half of the Yellow Sea's population, it was an okay game. Korea lost 4-1 but the fans were still cheering up until Argentina's 4th goal. Korea's not out yet, as they still have a good shot to advance. The next (and possibly last) game is a 3:30am one though and I doubt we'll end up at any restaurants for that one.
Ali showing her Korea spirit.
Me with my massive tray of shells
This weekend we went to an island off of Incheon call Muui-Do. It was a friend of Ali's idea since she's been in Korea for almost a year and knows the spots. I haven't been to a beach here yet so I was looking forward to it. It was quite a trek to get there, but very affordable. We took a bus to Incheon airport, which was where we landed, so it was a bit of a trip down memory lane. Then a bus to the port. Then a ferry to the island. And finally, another bus to the beach.
The beach was nice. We rented these tiny beach huts that could fit 4 people comfortably... so we decided to fit 5. Our group was of about 15 and three huts seemed do-able at the time. The huts were literally one empty room about 8x8. They provided blankets and pillows but you slept on the floor from wall-to-wall. I don't mind small spaces so I had no problem with it. We spent Saturday just relaxing on the beach, kicking a ball around and just exploring. I couldn't believe how low the tide was. During the day, it was a 20 minute walk to reach even ankle-deep water, but later at night it was right near the huts. It was easy to forget we were in Korea because there were lots of foreigners there. We ended up joining one of the groups that night and having a bonfire on the beach. Then we finished the night by being cramped together with 5 other people while we slept.
Our friends at low tide
All of us on the ferry over to Muuido
Dave waking up inside the beach hut.We left Sunday afternoon after some more lazing around on the beach. Ali needed some new shoes so we checked out a section of Uijeongbu we'd never been to before and were surprised to find a large shopping area with Nike, Puma, and Adidas outlets. There was even a Pizza Hut and Burger king, which is good to know about whenever I may be missing bad habits. It was quite a quest to find Ali shoes, as Korean women have tiny feet that are usually a maximum of size seven. Even my shoe size is a little difficult to find.
Anyway, it was a good weekend overall. I was glad to finally see another area of Korea. School seems like it's beginning to wind down for this semester as there's only a month to go. Not sure what we're doing next weekend, but I'm sure we'll find something interesting.
Miss you all,
Ali and Jesse
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