saneng-il ch'uk'a haeyo!

saneng-il ch'uk'a haeyo, appa!

or as they say in english HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!
i hope you have a great day. i wanted to let you know that i'm thinking about you and sending birthday wishes your way.

yesterday i was taking the train to gangnam to meet a friend for a drink. as i sat there looking around at all the people heading home from work i realized, "i'm in korea!" now, i know i've been here for 5 months already but some days it just really hits you. as i sat there with headphones on i watched several people have phone conversations. with my music blasting i imagined these folks talking in english and made up my own conversation in my head. this is what i do as i ride the train. the world i create for them is by far probably a lot more interesting that what they are actually saying. unlike being on muni where you can easedrop on others one really can't here. sometimes its an odd feeling being so out of the loop. the one cool thing i realized by meeting people in other areas is that it expands what i know about korea. before gangnam was just another stop on the subway. i would have never gone there but now after seeing it, its like a whole other world. there were tons of young people flooding the streets. it almost felt as if i was in downtown san francisco. minus all the english speakers. we went to this european pub which again was another experience. here in ansan, especially new ansan town, the bars/pubs are seldom packed. this place was completely the opposite. there were people everywhere. it was being at a happy hour back home. as i observed the people around me i imagined they had all just gotten off work and were there bitching about their day. the pub itself was quite charming. it was modeled after a pub in prague and if you took away all the koreans one would actually think they were in prague. it had that dark eastern european feel to it. the ceiling had these wagon wheel-esque candle holders, their were puppets like on would see in prague, and the tables were dark wood. there were big copper breweries so i assumed they brewed the beer there. we sat and had a glass of dark beer and some cheese sticks. they were the best cheese sticks i ever had. i thought i'd died and gone to deep fried heaven. i can't wait to go back. which i'm sure i will because i want to check out some of the shops in the area. it seemed very hip.

last night was also the full moon. there is a custom here in korean for people to eat walnuts and peanuts. the cracking of the shells and the eating of the nuts is to prevent misfortune in the future year. this is definitely one custom i'll be bringing back with me. be prepared for ethan's full moon nut fest when i return. i know you all are very excited about that.

be well…

p.s. can i say that i can't wait for winter to be over. will it ever end!