1st week of vacation!!! Happy 5 months to me!!

In case you're not keeping track, Saturday marked my 5 month anniversary in Korea. Wow it does NOT feel like I've been here that long!!!

Yay!!! This was my first week of vacation and I spent it doing boring adult things like studying and going to the dentist.  Sarah was pretty sick this week, so I went over to her house to help her out a couple times. I didn't do much traveling because my friends still had camp, and it's no fun traveling alone! =

Also, side note, I went back to the dentist. Either he was playing me and the cavities were SUPER MINOR (though I had them confirmed at a different dentist) or I am truly my father's daughter, cause I got the fillings done with no novacaine. Which was scary at first, but I guess the dentist was pretty good cause it didn't hurt at all and didn't take long. I've amped up my dental hygiene routine so hopefully this doesn't happen again. 

I did still have a fun and fulfilling  first week of vacation. Here are some pictures!

New shirt (I don't normally post pics of everything
new that I buy, but I'm diggin this one)

 In Myeongdong, a major shopping center in Seoul, there is a tourism center where you can try on traditional Korean hanboks. The center is always crowded, but since I was on vacation, I went right when they opened, signed us up for a slot, and then spent 2 hours in Dunkin' Donuts studying Korean while waiting for my friends. It was totally worth the trip!

For reference, the type Sarah and I are wearing is a hanbok that would have been worn in the palace. Lauren is wearing a Giseng outfit, which is a korean entertainer, kinda like a geisha. 

SCANDALOUS 

 Sarah was sick all week, which was sad, cause Lauren and I went out to dinner with Young Ah, my crazy cool co teacher. We got delicious Korean bbq with soju, and then went to the Coffee Prince cafe, where we embarrassingly posed for photos.

Homeboy took our picture AND CUT OUT GONG YOO UGH

whatever. Still cute. Please note my new coat
cause it's preeeetty and Young Ah being AWESOME

On wednesday, all I did was study a bit and go to Korean class. Boring. Oh well.

Thursday, Lauren and I headed over to keep Sarah from going stir crazy and to bring her some mild foods (which, sadly, were still too much for her poor stomach :(  )

this doesn't look like much, but for $25, this is
enough food for about 2+ meals for 3 people
It includes ddeokbokki, kimbap, bibimbap (2)
mandu (2) soup, kimchi, sausages and
another 2 side dishes, and drinks

We watched Frozen, kpop videos, So Ji Sub movies and other things. I loved Frozen. HILARIOUS.

Friday was so exciting I had to look up what I did... study with Lauren and get coffee. Whoa crazy. Tho the Hotteok lady in hongdae is starting to recognize us, because we cannot control ourselves.

it's like a pancake filled with brown sugar, honey, and a couple
other things that make it DELICIOUS. Okay... now I'm seeing
where the teeth problems may have started...

Saturday I went with my neighbor Josh, to a meditation session, which was actually quite interesting and relaxing. Might look into it further. At night, I went out with friends to an "international socializing party" which of course turned into us being the only 5 white people and a bunch of Koreans. Always awkward, always a good time. 

Clearly I'm becoming a coffee addict (HOW DID I NOT KNOW THE DELICIOUSNESS OF CARAMEL MACCHIATOS which I am sure don't count as real coffee and are terrible for me and probably explain the cavities??) Whatever. Sarah was feeling well enough to venture out today (sunday), so we met up with our friend Janelle and hung out with a few friends. We realized that Janelle and I had never been to the Hello Kitty Cafe, and it had been a super long time since Sarah had been. So we headed over...

it's adorable

on the table

dessert boxes

adorable cakes

so cute!!!

sarah got chocolate and banana

our cute caramel waffles 

latte art

SO MUCH PINK. love it

The cafe was adorable and fun and relaxing. They were playing lots of music from K dramas and groups I recognized, and it was surprisingly reasonably priced (for Korean coffee that is... so it was reasonably priced for SUPER OVERPRICED COFFEE)

Since Sarah hadn't been out of her apartment since Monday when we went to Myeongdong, so we strolled around Hongdae for a bit and stopped in H&M cause they always have something amusing to look at. It did not disappoint.

that's a full set of star wars, pajamas maybe?

So, lots of local things planned for the next week of vacation, so hopefully next week will be a fun post as well. Some highlights of the next couple of weeks include Big Bang (OMGGGG), a trip to Jeju Island, and in less than 2 months, a trip to Daegu to see PHANTOM. 2014 is looking good.


LOVE TO YOU ALL!!!