Final Post

There will be some reflections on my experience here. Let's start with the negative.

What I won't miss:
-Koreans who can't hold their liquor which includes most Koreans. Take blackoutkorea.com for instance. For a country that drinks so much (as much as Russians and Irish), they really don't know how to keep their shit together.

-The limited nightlife, the number of hot clubs here can cover half a block in the Meatpacking district. Also will not miss how said 'hot' clubs here always play house music. I am American, we don't do house music.

-The screaming to get waitstaff attention. Convenient as a diner yes, but seems a tad barbaric to be screaming for someone to get your water.

-The crowds everywhere. Parks to see foliage-packed. Beaches during summer-packed. Caribbean bay/lotte world/Everland-packed. Korea needs more stuff or less people.

-Fashion. Yes, I miss shopping in Seoul. Do I miss the outfits that Koreans put together? In a word, no.

-Fake bags. Your shoes are from Dongdaemun and your shirt is from the bus terminal, we all know your Louis ain't real.

-People not knowing how to
1) stand to the right, walk to the left despite the line of paint dividing the sides on escalators. They just don't get it.
2) hold open doors, not really considered rude here to slam a door in someones face behind you
3) let people out of the subway before you get in. Do they not realize how inefficient this is?
4) move into the subway cars when you see 100 people trying to get into said subway car.

-Kimbap. I never want to eat kimbap again. I never really loved kimbap. Growing up I just thought of it as poor man's sushi. In Seoul, I ate it every other day because Kimbap Heaven is the McDonald's of Korean food and I just had no time to eat anything else between class. I am not touching kimbap for another 3 years.

What I will miss:
-GT Black Bean Soymilk. They sell it in the states, but I will miss drinking 2 a day and being able to buy them everywhere. Also, warm GT Black bean soymilk in the winter=heaven. I was really hooked on this stuff.

-Manners (besides ignorance mentioned in thethe 'What I won't Miss' section). People are well mannered here and very polite. It's just the way it is.

-The bus. The bus system is amazing. I havent taken the subway in 3 months. The bus will take you anywhere and everywhere for 90 cents. Extremely thorough and comes much quicker than the subway.
*Not that the subway is bad. The subway is extremely clean however the system is flawed. You really take the NYC street grid for granted. The Korean subway sucks in that you always required a transfer. Really they need a line that connects Gangnam, Sinchon, Hongdae, Sinsa, and Apgujeong. Because really, no other neighborhoods mater.

-The bus+Manners=Bus drivers yelling to the exit in the back 'goodbye and have a nice day'. This is priceless, this does not happen in NY. If I get a hello, that is a big deal and worthy of NYTimes Metro Diaries.

-Constant reminders of my grandma.
My grandma passed away when I was 16. I know it's not suppose to be a big deal since that is what grandparents do-they die when you are young. But I took it particularly hard and it was a big turning point in my life because up until that point I saw my grandmother more than anyone else in my family. My parents and grandfather worked at the dry cleaners and it was just me and the granny all day, everyday.
It took me many years to get over it, and living on my own in NYC, I was getting good at not thinking about her all the time. It was a new city where I didn't have any memories of her.
When I moved here I was surprised at how many things reminded me of her. When I saw rock candy at Insadong, I remembered her bribing me with it and it being the reason why all my baby teeth rotted (I was that cute kid with all black teeth because I was spoiled literally rotten). I once cried over a bowl of knife noodles eating dinner alone because I remembered my grandma's knife noodles. Hers was so superior to the bowl in front of me. It hit home that I would never get to eat her version again. I will miss these moments of thinking of her at unexpected times.

-Shopping. The shopping is unbelievable here. End of story.

-The food. The food is unbelivable here. End of story. And cheap.
Notables: Duck BBQ and ChoonChun Chicken BBQ

-Proust moments:
When I tried a watermelon ice cream bar, I thought it was new to me until I bit into it and had a Proustian moment where it instantly took me back to my childhood. Memories of playing near the Han River and biking around my apt complex flooded my brain.

-NB. Listening to BigBang and Biggie hits in one venue sounds like a great friday night.

-Karoake/norebang for super cheap 24 hours a day.

-7-11. Even though my bougie friends would call this a 'commoner' activity, I am a commoner so I will miss eating cup ramen and drinking Cass outside a 7-11.

If I can sum up my entire experience, I could say my experience in Seoul has been as a happy outsider. I thought I would move to Korea and feel like I belonged because I would be surrounded by people who looked like me. Growing up as a minority American, you never really feel like you belong in your own home. I realized in Korea, as a gyopo, I am more of an outsider in my motherland than I am in my adopted home. I did look different by the way I dressed. I could not speak the language even though I should. My tolerance for spicy food is not as high as previously thought (no really, try the bibimnengmyun in Seoul and regardless how many times you had it in Flushing, you prob will in fact, die). But that is the beauty of being Asian American. You don't really fit in anywhere. And you learn to come to terms with it. And one day you realize maybe that's OK.

Gangnam Media Pole Picture

Media Poles are these huge poles around town that you can take pictures, send emails, chck the internet, find stuff to do around you, check sports scores, all types of stuff. It's cool.

This was Me and Brian at Gangnam over the summer.

I can't wait to see this boy in 2 weeks. We gonna tear up LA like we did to Seoul.

Watch out Cali!

Seoul Girls

Fat Girl's Dream

Took an epic nap today. That in if itself is very fat girl because prior to coming here I had this fatist view that naps are for only allowed for overweight people.

I had a dream that I was at a work New Years eve dinner party. We go into the room and it's this amazing buffet of Korean food. I am so pissed (this is the point in the dream when I knew it was not real life because if you give a workplace environment free food, all coworkers are happy, it's just the free food rule) because I am so over Korean food at this point.

I walk around to see what else is available.
This is when the dream becomes like a horrifying nightmare.

I see a roomful of people I do not know eating juicy, cheeseburgers. I ask where they got these cheeseburgers. They're idiots and can't tell me. So i wander into 4 different rooms before finding the cheeseburger room. But to my horror the cheeseburgers are done, just the empty plates and half buns hanging around. Noooooooooooooooo!!!!

I'm in the cheeseburger room and the cleaning ajumma is also there cleaning up the remnants of the burger fest and we beg her to ask the kitchen ajumma if any burgers are left and if so to bring us some. She says she will. As she asks, we are on the prowl still and go into another room where there is teriyaki. This is OK but we decide to explore more since teriyaki is still rice based.

We go to the room net door and there are...................TACOS!!!!

We are elated. I wake up. I shower, go to Itaewon and eat Taco Bell. The dream was just so vivid, I woke up with a wicked taco craving. Even if it was fake beef tacos.



This either tells me I have a fat girl living inside me because I have dreams about food or that I really, really need a cheeseburger. So excited to go to Father's Office when I make it to Brian in La.

Ode to My Korean Boyfriend

My Korean BF is not coming in December.

Dearest Brian, I will miss:
-drinking soju outside Gangnam station exit #7 in front of Smoothie King
-going to Apgujeong, Cafe Mu in Itaewon, W Hotel bar in Walker Hill, and NB in Gangnam in ONE night
-ending the night with shooting games and giving away the one prize to the 7-11 guy
-ordering soondae at the pojangmacha and then getting really pissed bc it's gross
- endless jokes about our coworkers (you know gurl)
- ignoring white people that we blatantly work with when you see them at NB/the street/anywhere because you have uncanny 'block caucasian' vision
-$15 coffees
-people watching at coffeesmith
-being tour guides
-booby boobying
-Louis snaps

Love ya bitch.

Just because

I like this picture. Walking to 10 Corsa Como after brunch.

My boyfriend

Brian and I finally got asked today in public if we were dating. You may remember Brian from my previous blog posts, he is my coworker aka bestie aka only friend I like hanging out with in Seoul. Next time I get asked I am just going to go with it.

The hubby and me at Between in Itaewon. Between is fun and they have a very good looking crowd. I ordered a Grey Goose and tonic and the waitress thought Grey Goose was gin. Bless her heart!

Cafe T

Cafe T in 청담. Recommended.


Good ambiance.



Hot dog in a pancake. The pancake was good, the hot dog was good, the mayo and salad in the whole concoction not so much. Dissected and eaten separately it was tasty.

Soba salad. The dressing was spot on. I am going to crave this all the time now. Especially when I get back to NY.

The blueberry french toast was A++ The bread was soo soft and moist with good cinnamon flavor.

Brian makes me laugh.

Cafe Bar in 청담

Cheongdam is an area in Gangnam near Apkujeong. It has trendy restaurants and bars. Somehow I blacked out after this picture was taken. No bueno.

They called this a creme brulee. It had no creme nor bruleeing of any creme product.