22-in-Seoul

We all know that day. The one where you wake up, but your bed sheets seem to have been glued to your very skin and have trapped you in their grasp. Yeah, that was Sunday for me. But alas, I could not stay inside forever. Not on such a beautiful, spring-weathered day.So I invited Dave over for breakfast, and we munched on homemade oatmeal before crossing the street to Twosome Place Cafe. My oat endeavors did not end with my breakfast, as I ordered an oat milk latte for my morning cup of Joe. Dave, who had just poked fun at me for ordering something with more oat milk than coffee, proceeded to order a vanilla milk shake... which mind you has zero coffee in it. After being appropriately caffeinated, Dave and I took a walk one station down to the 이대 (Ewha University) area. Open from around noon to 9 pm, 이대 Fashion Street is well known for its many inexpensive clothing stores, especially in female clothing since 이대 is a women's university. Of course they have the usual line up of m...

I spent Saturday morning cozied up in my pjs and watching the new Titans series on Netflix. I munched on some banana french toast and coffee (yes it did come from Giant-Americano-in-a-Bag: "Big boy-cano"?) while doodling some character designs for unfinished cartoon and video game aspirations. I received a message from Dave, stating that he would be meeting a few friends for dinner and to go clubbing afterwards. I jumped on the chance, asking to join. Of course, he promptly agreed and invited me to meet him for a cup of coffee at the renowned.... Turrisbabel. Turrisbabel is renowned for a number of reasons: It is open 24-hours It is in the middle of Hongdae, so its easy access to anyone who needs a break from the clubs while the subways are closed They have a bathroom outside of the main cafe, so anyone could use it without being caught Unfortunately the bathroom has a pad-lock.... the code is 1358, you're welcome. The drink list is extensive and actually quite u...

Friday was a bit of a wash. It started on a pretty average note, and my boss decided to surprise me with one more student. The only issue here is that this student is a HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT. I teach three age groups: Elementary, Middle school, and Adults. Why? Because high school students have to take career dependent exams. In smaller countries, the job field is even more competitive and having a college education is dire for business and other high-end pursuits. So when it comes to being a teacher for that... I DO NOT NEED THAT KIND OF PRESSURE. But alas, I know Jenny (my boss), had only my best interest in mind and figured she was helping by adding on a little more income. In the long run, yes. Thank you, Jenny. But there was one more issue. 민석 (Minseok) can NOT speak or understand any English. So its like trying to talk to a dog. And I feel awful because I only want to help the poor kid. After work, exhausted, I sauntered home. I stopped into Paik's coffee for one of thei...

Thursday morning began with confusion and loud shuffling. Caillean was out the door by the time the first subway made its way from 신촌(Sinchon) station in order to catch her 9:30 am flight out of 인천 (Incheon). Unable to fall back asleep, I played on my phone for a bit while staying updated with her as she made her way to the airport. With two rollers, a duffle bag, and a carry-on, it was no easy task for just one girl to make on her own. After an hour of travel, she finally made it to the 인천 airport, noting that her flight time had been changed... to much MUCH later... Or had it? I then received a rather alarming message from my close friend. I was in high key panic mode for the poor Caillean. Gimpo was nearly an hour away and she wasn't holding enough cash to take a taxi. So with few other options, she attempted the near impossible.  She and the three suit cases made the challenging trek between airports during the city's morning rush hour. If you've never seen a pac...

Caillean and I met under some pretty bizarre circumstances. Not bizarre in like, we met in the middle of a raging tornado and helped each other escape the claws of a shark apocalypse. But in the kind of way that make you say "Wow! What are the odds?" When I first moved to Korea in September of 2017, I was completely alone at the ripe age of 18, only knowing three people in Seoul. The first was my boyfriend, who lived one city over in 하남. His name was 기현. Before I knew him, I had become friends with a boy named 윤도 (Yundo). 윤도 had essentially become a big brother to me, and was my best friend in Seoul. The third was a high school student named 민지 (Minji), but she lived far away from Seoul near the border of North Korea. As 윤도 and I tended to spend a lot of time together because of his close proximity and only responsibility being his part time job, 기현 quickly grew jealous, and demanded that I discontinue my friendship with him. Me, being the naive and dependent freshly grad...

After work Tuesday morning, I met Ava and Caillean in the middle of 홍대 at King's Crossing. Market with a large 9 3/4 extending from the building, the white brick building is decorated as close to the magical world of Harry Potter as you can get... without infringing on any copyrights. The place was essentially a photography playground, with 5 levels of varying atmospheres to choose from. The cafe has gained so much notoriety that visitors must line up outside before being allowed to enter. While waiting, you can take pictures outside of the intricately decorated windows, or with the luggage cart that seems to be stuck in time as it goes through the brick siding of the cafe. Once inside, we order our drinks, which acts as the entry fee. Most of the drinks are pretty basic for a cafe, including lattes, mochas, and caramel macchiatos, with the addition of regular or sweet non-alcoholic butter beer. They also offer a fair amount of bakery items, including Wizard's Cake, which i...

Seoul isn't all fun and games... Okay, yes it is. But it being Monday meant I still had to wake up and head to work. I began teaching a new student that day, and received so much popularity that I enrolled two more. Feeling quite proud of myself, I celebrated by stopping by A Twosome Place to finally try their Oat Latte. Starbucks used to carry an Oatmeal Latte, which was my all time favorite until it was discontinued in winter of 2017. I'm pleased to say that the Twosome Place version is just as delicious! Just missing the oatmeal toppings.  Next door to the cafe, a poof of steam caught my eye. Through the cloud, I could just make out the words   계란빵. Tears welled up in my eyes, I was unsure if it was due to the cold wind or my sheer joy in finding an open egg bread stand so near my home. Without a moment to lose, I sidled up to the stand. I was ecstatic to see that it was only 1,000 원... and the yolk looked runny... IT WAS THE BEST 계란빵 THAT HAS EVER ENTERED MY BI...