5/10

불금ㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁㅁ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That was the first thought that rounded my mind as I woke up Friday morning. 불금 (bool-koom | Burning Friday) Is one of my favorite Korean traditions. It basically means that you're going to eat a ton, probably drink, and spend all night with friends. It can be done in a variety of ways, whether you're enjoying an intimate evening with chicken and beer at 한강 (han gang | Han River) or running up and down the streets of 홍대 going from bar to club to 편의점 (pyeoneejeom | convenient store). 

My plans involved the former with the company of my dear boyfriend, 민규 (Mingyu). I began my morning with the intention of trying out my FAVORITE bakery's 녹차 (green tea) muffin. 

As I got to the door, I noticed a sign plastered on the window that stated that the espresso machine had finally pulled its last espresso shot, and that there were no coffee drinks for the day. Bummed, I settled to take my muffin to go. This poor bakery had seen a run of its luck. ): 

I cross the street to the nearest Starbucks, that I've become a much bigger fan of as it tends to be less busy and the workers are much more kind. I choose to give iced 두유 (dooyoo | soy milk) lattes a second try, and am much more pleased with this Starbucks' turn out.

 After work, I wonder across 신촌 (Sinchon) to find a new Juicy had been tucked in the corner near Taco Bell. Delighted, I stop by to witness the first Juicy with a fully stocked inventory, actually offering ALL of the menu items. Usually each location differs in which juices and combinations they are able to offer. 

I decide to try a strawberry, banana, yogurt thingy that I'd never tried before. 

I'm gonna be honest, it was not at all what I expected. The day was way too hot to be drinking mildly chilled yogurt. So I tossed it and settled for a strawberry banana juice from the gay unicorn cafe. 

I return home, where my AirBnb owner, 지훈 (Jihoon) is waiting at the kitchen table for his laundry to finish. I love my AirBnb owners but haven't really gotten to know them. All I'm sure of is that they vary in their abilities to speak English. Ironically, Jason can't speak any and 지훈 can understand a fair portion of the language. But I do my best to communicate with them anyways. 지훈 asks if I'm a student at 연세대학교 (Yonsei Daehakgyo | Yonsei University), the university down the street. I told him no but that I come to Korea usually to teach English. Although this time was more of a vacation since I lacked many students. I explained I had come originally to find a career as a singer, and gave him a bit of my training background from when I had first moved here. He was surprised, asking to hear my music. So I taught him how to use SoundCloud. I hadn't seen him that impressed since Caillean, Ava, and I built the 3D globe puzzle (that's still on display by the way). 

I lounged around for awhile until 민규 messaged me that he had finished work and suggested we go to 경의산 (Gyeongeesan) instead as 한강 would be full of people enjoying the first night of the weekend. I was honestly a little bummed out but agreed to meet him at 신촌역 (Sinchon station) outside Exit 8. As I walked down, I see the toned shoulders of my favorite swimmer stalking towards me. 민규 has a very distinct walk. He's so tall, and his shoulders are so wide, he looks like a bi peddle polar bear. 

Together we walk 경의산 park, talking about our work days and sipping on coffee from Sweet Roll.

I mention that I had neglected to eat lunch and we agree that dinner was in order. We go to Deeper, a restaurant located along 경의산 on the third and fourth floor. Well we sat on the fifth. A perched up deck where you could see all across the city. The ceiling and walls were snaked in vines and blushing roses. The second floor was almost entirely open, glass panes propped up to let in the beautiful spring evening.

We order the world's SMALLEST 떡볶이 (tteokbokki), that I deemed to be sweet at first. 민규 admits that the night before he had eaten 떡볶이, and that this seemed fairly subtle as the one from the previous night had nearly an entire bag of sugar in its soup-y mix. He also mentions that his boss had wanted the company to enjoy a dinner together... so in cultural respect he obliged and was obligated to keep up with them as they polished off 10 bottles of soju in a few short hours. I agreed that it was best if 민규 did not drink. As we wait for our food, we discuss the different assortment of beer that the place offered, before finally agreeing that all beer tastes the same. We then joked about the tasting notes of his sparkling water. Official 민규 Rating: You can taste the Himalaya.

I also thought their bathroom was particularly cool, but 민규 disagreed saying that the men's was average. So when I went a second time he handed me my phone and told me I needed to take a picture for my blog. But the truth? He just wanted to see if the girl's bathroom was actually better. 

Men's bathroom Official 민규 rating: This is trash room.

Women's bathroom Official 민규 rating: Women is like princess God.

Our 떡볶이 was small in portion but seemed to fill us both up. The 5th floor of Deeper was beginning to feel a bit chilly, so we summed up our bill and walked the rest of the way home together.

민규 gave me a peck on the lips (or like 10... we suck at goodbyes) and waved goodnight.

I swapped into pajamas and enjoyed my now Mosquito-free room.