Seoul Station Coffee Woman

in her station, ready to work

There is a woman who has a coffee stand near Exit 2 at Seoul Station. She is immediately across from the 1200/1300/1400/1500 bus stops. I observe her while I wait for the bus and every time I'm amazed at her level of commitment to her work. She is always in the same outfit, plaid cotton bottoms and a red shit, hair pulled back. She carries coffee (I'm guessing 600w) to waiting cab drivers, coffee cup perched on a clean plate.  I watch her scrub the plate down after each serving and the bench in her stand must be spotless; she scrubs it down, dedicated to amazing service and cleanliness. I haven't gained the courage to talk to her and I've never seen anyone except for cab drivers purchase one of her coffees. But she is there day in and day out and I wouldn't doubt that although her coffee is just hot water and and a coffee mix, that it's probably the best cup of mixed coffee you've ever tasted.

8.29.2010 Seoul Station, Exit 2

Red Peppers Everywhere!

About 10 days, I noticed a plethora of red peppers drying on the sidewalks/parking lots.

a small batch near my apartment complex

The coolest thing is being able to walk by every day and see the changes. I took this picture on August 9th and now they are splitting the peppers open to dry further. They give off a really wonderful smell and they look beautiful in the sunlight.

dried a bit and split open

almost finished

A Korean Birthday

First things first, Korean age is older than American age. So, technically, since January 1st of this year I've been 27 in Korean age. However, in American age I just had a birthday (which happened to fall on Friday the 13th this year and my kids loved that... I told them I turn into a monster and I'm pretty sure they believed me.)

A few of the birthday festivities, Korea-style:

At work, my boss bought a tteok cake from the new store on the first floor in our building. It was incredible! I love all things tteok and this was right up there with pizza rahbokki from Kimbap Heaven :)

this is essentially what the layers in my cake looked like... so light and fluffy with a hint of cinnamon

Here's a great blog with pictures of tteok desserts (scroll down almost to the bottom): HannahDays

Also, my students gave me some very thoughtful and creative gifts. They are such a giving group of kids. For example, one girl was so upset that she forgot, she ran downstairs to the convenience store and bought me a 3-pack of microwaveable rice! A hand-painted mirror, 10won coin, notebook, handmade pencil case were a few other goodies. A lot of thought and personal attention were put into the gifts and I'm so blessed to be around such a caring group of kids.

The fun didn't stop after work that night. We traveled into New Songdo to a bar/restaurant called "What's Davids?". It happened to be their 1-year anniversary so there were 'Happy Birthday' signs and balloons everywhere. I'd be lying if I said it didn't cross my mind for a split second that the decorations were for me. There were loads of foreigners and the live band was great!

chocolate and more chocolate cake... slight age-miscommunication but after a little work, the candles were accurate

Saturday night, we ventured into Seoul for a wonderful dinner/patio party near Sookmyung Women's University. That is a beautiful area with tons of little shops and restaurants and Hyochang Park right up the street. I've suffered a bit of a TOMS addiction recently and my friends played a lovely practical 'joke' on that. I won't go into details but there was a good awkward 4 minutes :)

It was a windy night but we figured it out!

Delicious brownie/cream cheese/candy bar cake made by Devin!

Penn State Alumni (Seoul Tower/Namsan in the background)

All in all, a great 26th birthday in the Republic of Korea. After 10 months of living here, I've been blessed with a great group of people I can call friends (and who are OK with me calling them that!) I was shown a lot of love and I'm forever grateful.

감사합니다 한국!

P.S. I'm also thankful for the cards and birthday packages I received... good to feel a lot of love from back home :)

Jisan Valley Rock Festival

Spent the beginnings of my summer vacation in Jisan Valley at the ski resort- Jisan Valley Rock Festival.

Spectacular weekend- great friends and music ~> Day 1 had Pet Shop Boys headlining the main stage and Day 2 had Corinne Bailey Rae & MUSE.

Day 1

Miller Genuine Draft 'Rock' Tent

The crew from TOMS Shoes, Inc

TOMS is a unique shoe company that combines business and philanthropy. Their motto is "One for One" - for each pair of shoes sold, they will donate a pair of shoes to a child in need. I'll say first hand that I'm a huge fan of the shoes; they are incredibly comfortable and really cute.  Plus, it's a feel-good purchase knowing you're doing a little something to help out.

Day 2

Corinne Bailey Rae - a joyful performance - she was amazing!!!

Corinne Bailey Rae was incredible. Her music is soulful and her performance was truly filled with joy. She was smiling and radiating so much positive energy. The whole crowd fell in love with her.

MUSE Jisan Valley, 8/1/2010