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Life in Seoul
Quick disclaimer: This is not an official Fulbright Program site. The views expressed here are entirely the author's own and do not represent the views of the Fulbright Program, the U.S. Department of State, or any of its partner organizations.
So, I have mostly been spending my time trying to find all the things I need to live and research here. I had to resort to Gmarket (which is the Korean equivalent of ebay) for a few things like a britta filter. My biggest challenge was finding a flatbed scanner. This took going to the ridiculously huge electronics market in Yongsan, bargaining it down to a still high price, then giving up and going on gmarket to buy it for $20 less. The good thing about gmarket is that shipping within Korea is only $2.50 most of the time. The bad thing is you can't do returns after 7 days for electronics, so guess who was told that her scanner didn't have enough depth of field to do her research past the point where she could return it? *headdesk* I ended up buying the scanner in the US and getting my dad to ship it to me since it was 120% more expensive here (even on gmarket). So annoying.
Now the only thing left for me to find is a phone, and yes they are expensive too. *sigh* I'm also waiting for the Korean professor who supports me to get back from the field. She hates answering emails though so I might end up calling her when I get the phone.
I've been doing my own cooking here most days. Tofu is cheap so I make stirfrys with tofu, mushrooms, and eggplants. I also have been trying to recreate kitsune udon, but I accidentally bought spicy miso which gives the soup a rather odd taste. Oh well. I have been out to eat a few times though.
I went out with a bunch of other Fulbrighters on Sat to an all you can eat barbecue. It had lots of side dishes available but the whole point was you picked whatever you wanted from the 30 or so types of raw meat available then grilled it at your table before eating it with sauce and lettuce leaves. The only rule was to eat everything you took. So I have no idea how they stay open considering we paid $11 for the whole thing and ate several pounds of meat. After that, we went out drinking. The first bar we went to was full of smoke and the drinks sucked so I went outside to hang out until everyone left (and use my inhaler). (This was all in Hongdae btw). We then headed over to The Beastro where we had the rooftop to ourselves. We all ordered cocktails. I had the Good Thymes which was very good though I tried a sip of Pretty in Pink and I have to admit I like that one best. Gotta love carbonated lychee jelly in your drink.
Yesterday, all of us who were around the building got treated to lunch at a nearby posh restaurant called Mad For Garlic. Every dish, as you would expect, had tons of garlic in it. (The appetizer was hilariously called 'Dracula Killer'). I had the Garlic Snowing Pizza which was shrimp, white sauce, pineapple, deep fried slices of garlic and Parmesan cheese on a italian style pizza. Really delicious but I'd only recommend it to people who like Hawaiian pizzas and, you know, garlic. Out of the other dishes I tried, I really liked their spicy pumpkin pizza which was ground chicken, pumpkin, garlic, small chilli peppers and cheesy cream on a pizza.
I'm going out to eat at the cheap street near here in a bit. When I'm home in my apartment I'm working on scholarship applications.
So, I have mostly been spending my time trying to find all the things I need to live and research here. I had to resort to Gmarket (which is the Korean equivalent of ebay) for a few things like a britta filter. My biggest challenge was finding a flatbed scanner. This took going to the ridiculously huge electronics market in Yongsan, bargaining it down to a still high price, then giving up and going on gmarket to buy it for $20 less. The good thing about gmarket is that shipping within Korea is only $2.50 most of the time. The bad thing is you can't do returns after 7 days for electronics, so guess who was told that her scanner didn't have enough depth of field to do her research past the point where she could return it? *headdesk* I ended up buying the scanner in the US and getting my dad to ship it to me since it was 120% more expensive here (even on gmarket). So annoying.
Now the only thing left for me to find is a phone, and yes they are expensive too. *sigh* I'm also waiting for the Korean professor who supports me to get back from the field. She hates answering emails though so I might end up calling her when I get the phone.
I've been doing my own cooking here most days. Tofu is cheap so I make stirfrys with tofu, mushrooms, and eggplants. I also have been trying to recreate kitsune udon, but I accidentally bought spicy miso which gives the soup a rather odd taste. Oh well. I have been out to eat a few times though.
I went out with a bunch of other Fulbrighters on Sat to an all you can eat barbecue. It had lots of side dishes available but the whole point was you picked whatever you wanted from the 30 or so types of raw meat available then grilled it at your table before eating it with sauce and lettuce leaves. The only rule was to eat everything you took. So I have no idea how they stay open considering we paid $11 for the whole thing and ate several pounds of meat. After that, we went out drinking. The first bar we went to was full of smoke and the drinks sucked so I went outside to hang out until everyone left (and use my inhaler). (This was all in Hongdae btw). We then headed over to The Beastro where we had the rooftop to ourselves. We all ordered cocktails. I had the Good Thymes which was very good though I tried a sip of Pretty in Pink and I have to admit I like that one best. Gotta love carbonated lychee jelly in your drink.
Yesterday, all of us who were around the building got treated to lunch at a nearby posh restaurant called Mad For Garlic. Every dish, as you would expect, had tons of garlic in it. (The appetizer was hilariously called 'Dracula Killer'). I had the Garlic Snowing Pizza which was shrimp, white sauce, pineapple, deep fried slices of garlic and Parmesan cheese on a italian style pizza. Really delicious but I'd only recommend it to people who like Hawaiian pizzas and, you know, garlic. Out of the other dishes I tried, I really liked their spicy pumpkin pizza which was ground chicken, pumpkin, garlic, small chilli peppers and cheesy cream on a pizza.
I'm going out to eat at the cheap street near here in a bit. When I'm home in my apartment I'm working on scholarship applications.