Installment 2: So-ju...So drunk?!? and shopaholics

Installment 2: So-ju...So drunk?!? and shopaholics

Hello All,

Sorry for the lateness! Today we moved to Beewon Guesthouse at Anguk station...this is the account of yesterday's events

Late Start, Unwanted Affection
We started a little later than expected, but we made it up in the end by coming home late. Janelle stayed overnight with us b/c we drank more in our room. Jos and I got up pretty early and tried to get on the internet. I was having trouble sending out the first installment b/c of some of the email addresses...oh well. Got chatted up by Kent...the guy who teaches in China and well...he's a loner...and sooo wanting to get to know Janelle better hahahahaha

When we got ready to go, Janelle was gonna head home and we were going to go to Mt. Namsan and the Seoul Tower. Unfortunately when we were leaving, out comes Kent with the nastiest, greasy mullet. He was kind of hinting that he had no plans, but we didn't take the bait. He was going down the same way as Janelle, who really didn't want to run into him. He waited around the corner for a while, while we were talking but then he finally left. We walked down with Janelle and decided to shop at Myeongdong instead.

Broken Budgets?
HAHAHHAA...we totally went crazy shopping yesterday. At first Jos seemed disheartened b/c she is tall and we are "endowed", unlike many Korean women. We ate at the yummy dumpling place Des and I almost died at ahhaha from overeating. Then we went around shopping. There was a place Jos had peeked in and thought it could be dangerous..(as in she likes the style, but not sure if she could fit into anything) There was a saleswoman who fell in love with Jos..she took her by the arm and went around the store choosing clothes for her. She took me around too and we were able to find a lot of clothes. Jos dropped the big cash-o's there. Even while I was buying my clothes the saleswoman was trying to show her more clothes and if I didn't like what she was suggesting to Jos, she'd nudge and sometimes playfully strangle me ahhahaha. She said we were beautiful and she loved us.

We went through a lot of stores and didn't even finish it all, b/c we didn't want to majorly break our budgets. We dropped off all of our shopping at Namsan Guesthouse and then Jos went to use the internet and I went back to the underground shopping mall to see if my acquaintance from last year still owned his music store down there. Song was still there and he remembered me too! He gave me discounts and free posters..what a nice guy!!

I told him I would wait for Jos in his store and he brought out a seat for me. :) In the end, Jos didn't come at the expected time so I went back to Namsan. I talked to Robin for a bit. He is the manager at Namsan. Because of the confusion yesterday, he didn't charge me for Janelle staying over with us. He asked the other guy working to drive us to Dongdaemun.

Dongdaemun: Hats Are The Rage
Jos and I went crazy in the malls, buying nice clothes and hats. I got three, Jos bought ten?!?!? The lady just kept choosing these really nice hats. So helpful. Actually, sometimes we notice that some of the shopkeepers will not really pay attention to who is looking around and they are busy talking to friends in person or on the phone...but those who are nice, are supernice. Oh, they are really into cameos here. Frilly dress shirts with cameos. I really like the style, but so far haven't seen a shirt like that at a good price..they are around 30 dollars or more. Ahhh Jos is also buying scarves and the shop owner who helped her helped me too. He talked to me in Korean and I said "aratso" which means I understand, but he said that because he is my "oppa" (b/c he is older..that means older brother) that I should use "aratsoyo"...*embarassed* oops... I apologized and he was just teasing. I've been giving people my Laura Secord candies, so I gave him one and his co-worker too.

I think we hit three different malls there....spending spending spending

I'll Have the Raspberry Wine
Meeting Janelle for dinner proved to be a mission. Firstly we couldn't find our way around the underground shopping centre at Dongdaemun station to where she was...took us forever and asking people for directions. When we finally met her we ate a restaurant that had regular dining and also the type where you sit on the floor. We sat in the chairs. I ordered braised beef soup, Jos had bosam (pork lettuce rolls) and Janelle ordered raspberry wine. She ordered it from a young man who worked there. He couldn't understand what we were saying so I pointed it out to him. He told us it was 5 dollars. When we got the bill it was in Korean and we couldn't understand why it was more than we expected. Another waiter came around and told us what each cost was for. It seems Janelle's raspberry wine was actually 15 dollars! ahahahahaha....so then she takes out her coin purse and starts giving them all of her change ahahahahhaa. We were shocked and appalled and we made sure to drink every lost drop!!

Concert by the Water
Janelle went home and Jos and I went to walk by the water and watched a bit of a concert. Then we went shopping at Dottam (sp?) and there was a "LOVE SALE" so discounts on everything and they had wonderful fashion, but we were starting to get tired. Mind you, neither of us have jet lag at all. We decided to head back, b/c we always get to look forward to the hill back home. On our way back we ran into Song closing his shop. I introduced them and he asked us to wait for him. Apparently he lives near Namsan. So we waited and dropped by a convenience store...he paid for our drinks and jos' onigiri (rice ball).

Jos was talking about how she wanted to eat ramyeon. Song suggested we meet at 12a.m. and he'd invite us over to eat ramyeon with his friends. How could we say no?

So-ju..so drunk
Part of me was a tiny bit nervous. Song is a really nice person, but we don't know each other that well, but when we went into the place, it was such a nice atmosphere and his friends were great. We met Jin, Grace, Tesu (sp?) and another guy. We tried two different ramyeons...remember to cook it with egg..tastes so much better! We also drank a lot of soju. They were impressed that Jos could drink three bottles by herself. We talked about differences b/w our countries, our occupations (they are in film and are artists too) and type of guys/girls, etc. My glass never emptied and at some point I realized that I was drunk.

When we were getting ready to leave I stood up and WHAM..i totally felt it. They were all just laughing. I didn't fall, but I kept apologizing. I don't like being drunk in front of people, but we had so much fun. Song and Jin walked us to Namsan...Song was guiding me up the hill, b/c I wasn't walking straight. I could walk straight if I focused, but if I wasn't concentrating on it...I was walking crookedly. I was also talking to Song in Japanese. ahahah. He can speak a little as well.

Went to sleep and now I must go off for more adventures...this may the longest novel yet. Please excuse grammar and spelling mistakes, I'm in a rush :D *hugs to those who made it to the end!!*

Soberly Yours,

Sam
P.S. I have two giant mosquito bites..one on my finger and the other on my arm...booo...darn those mosquitoes
p.p.s. Please print/forward to my page buddies....chris still hasn't sent me their email addresses!