Christmas in The Gu

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Wes stopping for a fish stick (less fish, more like juicy gluten to all those Sevvies in the know) and some tteok poki at a street vendor.

Yo dudes.
It's hard to believe it's a week until Christmas! Especially when we're not dying from the muggy weather that a Brisbane Christmas usually delivers. Even Innisfail weather is feeling appealing right about now (ha!). Today is a max of -9. The wind is raging.

Korean life is bubbling along ok. A bit too routine, really. Although I definitely think we've come to a decision that Korea is bog-o compared to home. Oh Hoju, how we miss you! Wes actually said today, "sometimes Incheon makes Ipswich look like heaven". And he's right (big heads-up to The Switch, with special mention to Cactus Espresso, best coffee in town).

We're spending the entire weekend in The Gu (formally known as Yeonsu-Gu) 'cos we have our work Christmas party tonight so it kind of rules out any day trips to Seoul. Plus, it's too bloody cold.

We just got back from a visit to the wholesale fruit and vegie markets, which are quite good value considering fresh food is so ridiculously expensive here. But even their variety of vegies are very different - a lot of different root and leafy vegetables in the cabbage family, to make all that smelly kimchi.

Chilling, quite literally, at Hongdae, a very popular night life area near one of the universities in Seoul. At night a lot of the uni students set up market stalls with some more alternative clothes and accessories - quite refreshing, considering Koreans aren't big on variety. Every shop sells the same tops, the same pairs of crap shoes. That night we also sampled the Korean equivalent to Sizzlers. Goodness me. It was disgusting. Every table had a little galbi stove and people would pile up plates of raw meat. It was really the worst thing I've ever experienced...my stomach thought so too.

A bit of exciting news this week. First, that our cupboard is stocked with Australian treats after a Christmas package from home - go fam! (think Mint Slice biccies, tim tams, Robert Timms coffee bags, tubes of vegemite and clinkers...divine).
Second, that we got tickets to Bangkok and will be having a week's holiday in Pattaya, south of Bangkok, in the first week of January. We are so chuffed!

We only found out our holiday date a week ago (*boo hiss to Korean disorganisation*), so it was a mad scramble to find flights that weren't totally overpriced and booked out. So it was the best we could do. Other teachers at our school are going to Taiwan, so I think we got the better deal.

Hot weather, beautiful beaches and Thai food...yum!

Us in two weeks time...hot days, pineapple frappes and fresh coconuts on the beach...sublime...

So Merry Christmas to everybody back home!

Soak up the weather and don't forget to drop us an email at clmoyle@hotmail.com or wesjm@hotmail.com

PS. This was written on Saturday but for some reason I can't change the American date and time at the top. America really is starting to rule the world, isn't it?

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My growing list of What I Miss From Home

• Good coffee with thick froth.
• Saturday morning sleep-ins followed by a visit to The Valley markets and a yummo breakfast with a cloudy cappucino and banana bread.
• Quality shopping where you can actually try on the clothes before you buy them
• Browsing the boutiques at Paddington in Brissie
• Walks by the lake at Balcolyn
• Devouring every Sunday newspaper available
• Hot beaches
• Dense, seedy bread
• Sunday barbecue lunches
• Toilets with good plumbing (ie. it's ok to flush the toilet paper.)
• Mint Slice biscuits
• Clinkers

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