Life This Week in South Korea: October 26-November 1

Monday, October 26

I was so exhausted and peopled-out from the weekend trip, barely sleeping in the shared room/bed Saturday night, and being up much of last night with leg cramps from the long bus ride, I just gave myself the day off. I stayed in bed, finished a book I’ve been reading that really deserved my full attention and some real time…napped…finally got up around 7pm and got dressed to go down the hall and pick up delivery food.

Retirement is good.

Tuesday, October 27

Today I spent most of the day fighting with technology. I was prepared to make it into the nearby coworking space (I counted, it is literally 38 seconds away) or go down fighting. So I fought with getting an esim for a Korean phone number. I fought with my Korean bank and the coworking space app cuz even though I now had a Korean phone number I still did not have a residence registration number…then the coworking space person spent almost an hour helping me get in without having to use any verification, I was able to transfer payment to their bank for 50 hours (about a month’s worth I guess) and she baby-weasel-dealed me into the app so I could select a seat and time I wanted to go, which conjures up the QR code I use to log in at the door to the cafe…and Guess Where I Am Right Now???

 Wednesday, October 28

Today was one of those I’m So Happy To Be Alive days (something you’ll rarely hear me say)…but the weather was perfect, I got into an exhibit I was unable to register for beforehand (cuz Korea) and I really enjoyed it…then, in spite of my own No Soup Type Eating in Public rule I went to a Japanese ramen place for the yuzu (citrus) ramen I’ve been wanting to go to for years and it was delicious AND I didn’t spill any (of course, I did ask for a bib/apron before eating – it’s common for restaurants here to have themfor patrons). I did want to continue onto a cafe I’d seen online but the transportation piece was getting complicated and my back knee hips had had enough by then so I caved and got an Uber to take me home. Got home took many many Tylenol and just relaxed all evening, reading and scrolling.

I’m working on a separate post about the exhibit, so…

Thursday, October 29

Feeling a little exhausted after yesterday – days like that are good but my body pays a price – so I stayed close to home, had a McDonalds breakfast and went to the 38-second-away coworking space (which is Really Nice). It sort of rained a bit on and off so it was good to stay close to home.

I had a lot of trash/recyling to sort and get rid of but I got through it. It’s really…challenging. There’s the official rules on the official government websites. Then there’s the rules on the rule sheet at the goshiwon. Then there’s the actual receptacles, whose contents/titles don’t always seem to match up with either of the above. And cameras on you and stern warnings about incorrect trash/recycling sorting. So it all tends to pile up in my room out of fear of doing it wrong and getting kicked to the curb 🙁

Friday, October 30

Got up and headed out bright and early to a photography exhibit of works of a street portrait photographer on Instagram named Bleg (@itsbleg). I’ve followed his account for many years. He’s from Belgium but I’ve seen him work mostly in Korea. He approaches people on the street who in some way catch his eye – their style, appearance, just an indefinable something. He’s very polite about asking if he can photograph them, explaining that his Meta glasses are even capturing this initial connection. His portraits are lovely, really, especially considering that they’re composed very quickly on busy streets with people walking around them and traffic going by. But that’s part of it – he captures the Korean-ness of the scene as well as just the people.

This was his first exhibit and it was small but nicely done. Some pictures I’d seen on his Instagram account and some were new to me, but all were beautifully blown up and framed. Some had QR codes so you could listen to the street interviews that accompanied the photographs.

I only found out later that he would be there in the evening to sign his photo-zine that was for sale at the exhibit 🙁 but I also saw that he’s going to be at some events this week over the course of  the exhibit and two interest me, a photography talk, and “how to take photographs of strangers,” which I would really like. I’ll see if I can go back (like I’m not the boss of my own time ha ha).

The studio was the basement space of a nice, clean-lined cafe above, and I sat outside in the refreshing morning air with a caramel filled muffin and a delicious plum-ade. Korea does the best fruit-ades.

Then it was time to go back to Eyeglass Land to pick-up Eyeglass Iteration #3 with fingers crossed. And I’ll say they’re the best of all the attempts, but “best” is a relative term. They’re at least good enough that I can retire the two cheap magnifying glasses I’ve been swapping back and forth between since the summer. And for now, I guess this is as good as it gets. But I’m not giving up yet and when I return to the states in July I’ll continue the search for A Better Solution.

While overall I’m doing well with navigation since I’ve been here, there are still a couple spots that confuse me…and the area around the optical store is one of them. I headed out in one direction, then turned around and headed the other way…I just don’t have a good sense of direction here. Anyway, I finally gave up on going to my last intended destination for the day and headed home, exhausted!

Saturday, October 31

Happy Halloween, blog peeps! Halloween isn’t really a big thing here. Seoul is not really conducive to trick-or-treating since it’s mainly apartment living. It’s more of a party/clubbing type of holiday.

I got up super early to go to the spot I’d intended to go to yesterday…which was Olympic Park, built in the 80s to house the 1988 Olympics. It’s been preserved and redesigned to act as a park for the community, with running/walking paths, gardens, concert stadiums, etc. I’d seen on Instagram that some spots were already fall foliaging nicely, so off I went.

I had one particular spot in mind and was able to find it…then got a text from a friend back home which prompted me to call her, found an empty bench and talked to her for two hours! It was a good catchup, and a beautiful morning to sit and watch families out with dogs in strollers, run clubs, older couples strolling arm-in-arm, and even a few young kids dressed in costumes. I saw several tiny Marios, a few fairy princesses, and a Mom-sized alligator.

And that was enough of an outing. I went back home, had some lunch, and headed back out to the coworking space, where I’ve been for about three hours. I’m glad I kept trying for this one cuz I really enjoy being here.

Sunday, November 1

Wow. NOVEMBER. Only two more months left in Korea 🙁

It was a chilly rainy day so I gave myself (my knees and hip and back) a day off and we just stayed in and read napped and scrolled. It was glorious.

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