Hanging in Hongdae

Que the shirtless guy pounding soju to hand out some buckets and a pot for us to commence the wild Friday night of rhythms in the park. Realize that mixing soju and beer is a dangerously delicious way to enjoy such festivities and provide a late night show to the populace of my new favorite hangout. The backstreets of the Hongik University area are the spot to be if you like a) coffee, b) beautiful people c) amazing food and/or d) a great weekends.

Saturday involved coffee shop cruising with my brother, ultimately leading us to a kicking spot with a nice view and delicious cappuccinos, where we heard screaming as a zombie hoard stumbled by, frightening the local Korean populace. Fearing not for our lives, we managed communication with some of the undead and located their final resting place for the evening, which was pumping nineties dance music out of a big garage in a back alley, just down from my beloved park. This turned out not to be the final resting place of the night however, as our zombie friends took us on a circuitous path to another late night dance club, where we tasted tequila several times and enjoyed the company of our mostly hagwon teacher new friends. The English teaching in Korea is a very tempting possibility, several nights of sleeping on that decision are required.

Climbing Seoraksan has been cut from the plan, and been replaced by the relatively mild Bukhansan. It is on the edge of Seoul, as our legs are a little bit tired from many day-long walks around, combined with our reluctance to leave Seoul. The view of Seoul should be very nice, and another day of hanging in Hongdae is no difficult thing to ask of me.

Last night we took our tired legs to a Jjimjilbang, a 24hr Korean bathhouse/spa complex where you get segregated by gender, hang naked in public baths (of several different temperatures including one of tea), melt in a couple of saunas, then throw on some uniform pajamas to enter the unisex hangout section that includes a restaurant, massage (painful --but very good), an internet cafe, yoga room as well as mats and pillows where you can sleep comfortably on the floor. It was a very nice place to take tired legs.