***
As you've probably gathered I have, or had in 2013, a few friends who taught English in Korea. One of them lives and teaches in Cheongju which is a couple of hours bus ride from Seoul. I think, from memory. It's not close.
I was planning just to make a day trip of it because it was a weekday and I didn't want him to have to put up with me when he had work the next day but he didn't he mind so overnight trip!
To get to Cheongju required catching the train to the bus terminal in Seoul then a bus from Seoul to Cheongju. It cost 8, 800 won which is about maybe 10 bucks for an over 100 kilometre trip.
But first, breakfast! Or lunch. It was midday when I got to the bus terminal.
You can't by the photo but that is pretty awesome soup on a cold day.
My ticket to ride.
I arrived at Cheongju at 3:30pm. Caught a taxi to his school. I told the taxi driver in Korean where I wanted to go but he tried to talk to me and I had no idea what was going on. He got me there and helpfully pointed out where the school was.
The view of the school's playground from my friend's classroom.
This is the rewards chart my friend made for his classes. Designed like didgeridoos.
The school. Seriously, out of KDrama. (Well, I suppose obviously, this is what schools look like in Korea.)
Before we went out for dinner, my friend had to take his cat to the vet. What a nice looking place.
And of course there's a Starbucks.
A sweet potato vendor.
It took until Day 7 of the trip to have Korean BBQ in Korea. My other friends after a year and bit in Korea were sick of Korean food. But not this guy!
Also, how good is it to have meat at Korean BBQ that is not frozen. So good.
What I also liked about this BBQ place, which is apparently common in Korean, is they have complementary Febreze you can use so your clothes don't stink. That kind of thoughtfulness was awesome.
My friend then took me to a batting range in which I failed to hit any balls.
Afterwards we went to this pretty cool cafe (I guess you would call it that?) where they had random snacks and hookah. I was later informed that shisa is apparently like having hundreds of cigarettes, which is a shame because I liked it. But I care about my lungs and health and so never again, which is a shame because it was nice.
Dropped by a convenience store to pick up snacks and drinks. All that leftover, discounted Pocky after Pocky day (11 November). Pocky Day is sort of like Valentine's Day for whatever reason.
Then dropped by an arcade to take sticker photos and do karaoke in a tiny little booth, which was awesome. We so should have these. One person karaoke wouldn't feel so bad in a room like this.
Then walked back to friend's place while drinking beer. Oh, if we could only drink in the streets here.
One thing that surprised me that despite Cheongju being a relatively small town there was so much to do. Sydney, get your shizz together. There is nothing to do in my area at night. Like, nothing. Not even vending machines if I was peckish at some random time of night.
To Be Continued!
No comments:
Post a Comment