Sweet Potato Seoul

Okay, I haven't posted in awhile. First, it was because my camera battery died, and I forgot to bring my charger with me to Sweden. Ha! Then I just didn't feel like it. So there.
Today is the very last day of the year! So I should do like, one of those year in review things. Um, let's see, I moved to Korea, I read 90 books, and I actually quit a job by giving a truthful reason, instead of lying and saying I had a heart condition. Yay me! 2006 ruled!
Yesterday, Johan & I hung out on Love Avenue. It was very romantic, indeed. And that's all I have to say about that ("Forrest Gump" was on tv like once a day in Sweden, and we've both started to talk a bit more gumpy than usual. We just went to the store, and I was like, "Ruuuuuuun, Jo-han, RUUUUUNNN!" and Johan has taken to calling me Captain Dan. Which is weird. But speaking in southern accents is fairly amusing).

Before we went to Love Avenue, we ate this pizza that had mashed sweet potatoes instead of normal sauce. It was just crust, sweet potato, and cheese.

Koreans eat a lot of sweet potatoes. Especially with pizza (well, a relatively large amount. Since most Westerners eat no sweet potatoes with pizza. So eating any amount at all would be a large amount. Relatively.). Tonight I made black bean and sweet potato burritos. In Korea, they also have sweet potato sallad, and, as I wrote in an earlier post, roasted sweet potatoes. & this gross sweet potato candy we ate one time. In Japan we had sweet potato ice cream (See? I sound like that Bubba fellow. Way too much "Forrest Gump." I'm not even going to write about the borderline-mentally handicapped guy I seduced a few days ago... because my mom reads this blog, for gosh sakes!).

It looks as though I REALLY enjoyed the sweet potato ice cream. I don't remember it being so good I needed to devour it in like two bites, but pictures don't lie, do they? No they don't- Johan really is as goofy as he looks in the first picture. & I swear that was the best one of the three I took of him then!!

Christmas in the Air

This is the strange plastic Christmas tree in Bantorget in Lund:

We can compare it to the more-traditional tree in Stortorget in Malmö:

What can we conclude from this comparison? I'm not sure.
I went to Lund yesterday to meet my friend Niklas for dinner and do some shopping. Here's me entertaining myself whilst waiting for him:

The most exciting part of my day was that I bought a pair of black pants and a black shirt from H&M, and THEY DIDN'T CHARGE ME FOR THE SHIRT!!! This is the second time something like this has happened to me. The first time, like two years ago, I bought a yellow t-shirt and a yellow sweatshirt from Old Navy, and they didn't charge me for the t-shirt. So in the future, I only buy one color of clothes at the same time. Sure, I'm probably going to burn in the fires of heck (yes, heck. It's not like I'm a murderer or something.), but hey! Free shirt!! Wooooo!

I Know What You Ate Last Night...

Last night, I made this for dinner:

Veggie burgers, potato/sweet potato/carrots made in the oven, and macaroni & cheese (although I modified the recipe quite a bit, due to the fact that I don't like spices, and I don't believe in measuring). It was fabulously delicious. "This is the second time you've posted your dinner here lately. You're such a braggart, and is this going to be a food blog now or what?!" you say. Um, whatever, look at these:

"Those tomatoes look rotten," you say. That's because they're not even tomatoes, Ignoramus! They're kumatoes! That's right, the all-natural vegetable, grown by traditional secrets, easily distinguished by their unusual color and the fullness of their flavor! They do taste eerily similar to tomatoes, though. & maybe they're an aphrodisiac?? I didn't notice anything, but I'll ask Johan & Stoffer.

Hockey!

Don't you hate it when you order a vegetarian meal on the airplane, but you aren't really a vegetarian, you're just really picky, and then the normal meal seems way better? Yeah, me too. Look what they wanted me to eat on the plane on Saturday:

What is it, you ask? It looks so green, yet very spongy, like some sort of radioactive muffins, you say? Yes. It's green eggy thing. Like a frittata or something (uh.. if "frittata" means like an omelet mixed with a bit of flour to make it thicker & more cake-like). It didn't taste green at all, in fact. & to be honest, I kind of like food that is a surprising color, so everything turned out alright.
In other news, Johan & I went to a hockey game for the first time ever last night, since Stoffer got us in for free. Yay, free!


It was the Malmö Red Hawks vs. the Frölunda... somethings. I don't know what they were. Well I do know they were winners, anyhow. Malmö lost. Probably because Johan & I only stayed for the first period, so they got sad and lost the will to win. Sorry Malmö! The hotdogs just can't compare to Costco hotdogs. Like 3x the price, smaller with no onions, and no free drink! It's just silly!


Here's Frölunda after scoring a goal:

Awww, they look so happy!

No Seoul

Today I came to Sweden. Well, I started yesterday, but I got here today. "Oh, that's because of those wacky time zone thingies, right?" you say.
No, no it's not.
It's because of the wacky French. I was supposed to get to Sweden last night, but... well, let's start at the very beginning. Friday night, I went to this acoustic music competition thing in Itaewon. My friend Kane was competing, so I went to cheer him on.

But I guess I didn't cheer hard enough, because he only got honorable mention. Although he was clearly the best. Even I knew that, and he was the only one I listened to! He even played the harmonica! At the same time as the guitar! Two instruments at once! All the other lame-azoids only played one. He was totally robbed.
Anyhow, because I went to see him, I spent the night at my friend Nari's, so I didn't have to take a long cab ride back to Suwon. Then on Saturday morning, there was a whole debacle because I lost my wallet, which I only discovered after she dropped me off to take the bus to the airport! So Nari had to come back, and we had to find the stupid wallet, and she was late to work. & that really set the tone for the whole trip.
I got to the airport, and when I checked in my bag (oh! The handle of which broke the night before! THAT actually set the tone for the whole trip!), they put an "elite" tag on it. So I was totally jazzed, thinking that they'd bump me up to business class. Which they totally DIDN'T!!! The bastards! They can't put an elite tag on my bag, and then not treat me elitely!! It's just so wrong, on so many levels. THAT really cemented the tone for the whole trip.
So, of course my flight from Korea was delayed, and of course I only had an hour to begin with to get my connecting flight in Paris. So when we got to the airport, I told the flight attendent I was going to miss my flight, but she claimed there was nothing she could do. Which, if nothing else, definitely set the tone for the whole trip. So I went to the help desk when I got off the plane, and told them that I wasn't going to make my connection. & the lady said, "Hmmm. Well, you should try, because there aren't any more flights out tonight." Which is exactly why she should have helped me!! What happened to them driving you to the gate in a golf cart?! Doesn't anyone do that anymore?? After a mad dash through the airport, pushing my way to the front of the immigration line, I got to my terminal to find that boarding was closed, and I missed my flight. So I got to spend the night in Paris, which sounds way cooler than it actually is. I wasn't actually in Paris, I was at a crappy 1980s-decorated hotel near the airport. I'm totally calling them freedom fries from now on, because I'm angry at the French. Golf carts! Drive late people to their gate! Try it- you'll like it!
& the hotel room had no clocks in the room! So I couldn't sleep all night, because I had no idea what time it was, and I was totally paranoid that I was going to oversleep because my wake-up call wasn't going to work. But it did, and I caught my plane to Copenhagen.

& THEN, to just really emphasize and reaffirm the tone of the whole trip, my flight was delayed, and I didn't make it home in time to go to the Swedish Smorgasbord that Johan's parents were taking us to!! Johan went without me!
& it didn't matter that I had actually found my wallet on Saturday, because I had no way to actually get Swedish money. My American bank account is empty, I forgot my Swedish bank card in Korea, and my Korean bank card only works in Korea! I'm too darn international for my own good. & the stupid airport money exchange wouldn't change Korean money (which was pretty indicitive of the tone of the whole trip)! I went to another exchange place at the train station, and they could do it. Which seems counterintuitive, because I'm guessing more Korean people are flying to Scandinavia than taking a train here. In any case, I got enough money to pay for a taxi home (but just barely, because they're freakin' expensive! Korea definitely wins in the "Cheap Taxies" category). Only to be locked out of the apartment building. Temporarily, thank goodness, because then Stoffer, the guy who rents our apartment while we're in Korea, came fortuitously along & let me in. So here I am. The apartment is beautiful though, & I missed it. I forgot what a skilled interior decorator I am.


Views from the airplane window are pretty much my favorite thing to take pictures of.

Losing my Seoul

Johan just left to go to the airport. He's going to Sweden for a few weeks. So am I, for that matter, but I'm not leaving until tomorrow!! How will I survive, all alone (except for our roommate, Rasmus)??!! I'm so alone, alone, alone... The silence is really starting to get to me. It pulsates like a large bongo drum. The walls are closing in, closer and closer, and the oxygen levels are getting low. It's been forever since I've even seen another human being. I thought I saw some movement out the window, but it was only one of those black floater spots on my eye. I've named him Harold, anyway, and he is now my closest- and only- friend. My vocal cords have begun to atrophy from not speaking, and I can only force out a strangled gurgle. My hair has reverted to it's wild state, and I've abandoned clothes, since they're a painful reminder of the civilization that I've left behind.
Here is a picture of me & Johan from happier, shinier times:

& one from the bad, deformed times:


Uh, in other news, I'm going to this music competition thing tonight in Ittaewon. My friend Kane is in the finals! Woooooo! Good luck, Kane (not that you know about this blog & are going to read my encouragement... but I'm sending positive vibes your way)!

Seoul Food

What do you eat every day, Morgan?
Well, I'm glad you asked that question. Last night, I had a big salad, an eggplant parmesan-esque thing, ravioli with herb parmesan, and freshly squeezed carrot-cucumber-ginger juice (which is one of the most disgusting things I've ever drank. I don't recommend it).

Do you eat such fancy food every night?
Uh... yes, and for lunch and breakfast, too.
Really?
No.

Also, yesterday as I was walking to the phone repair place because my stupid phone broke again, this woman tapped me on the shoulder and gave me a potato and walked away. It was a roasted sweet potato, and it was delicious. About halfway through, I was like, "Stranger Danger! What?" I remembered I'm not supposed to take food from strangers! Duh! My bad. But free food, how can I pass that up?!
Me and my potato:

Random because I don't have anything to say today

This time, you're here. Next time, you might be over there. Very deep.


Shoes I really want from Apgujeong. If only I wasn't morally opposed to high heels...

Art & Seoul

I went to Insadong on Saturday to do some Christmas shopping with Mike and Angela. I bought mittens for myself, because, apparently, I come first. & I couldn't find anything that anyone I should get presents for would like. But my mittens are super-cute.
There was traditional dancing,

Blah, blah, blah, who cares, but then there was this rad Andy Warhol exhibit in this shopping center place. Or an Andy Warhol-inspired exhibit, perhaps? Because isn't he dead?? Anyhoo, it was pretty awesome.

Apparently it's kimchi season, and people everywhere are making kilos of the stuff at home. You can eat it right away, but I hear, like most everything, it's best when it ferments for 6 months first. There was even a windowful of cabbage at the art exhibit, ready to be transformed into special artsy-fartsy kimchi, maybe? Korea is Kimchi Krazy!!

After I left the exhibit, everything was Andy Warholish for me! People were multicolored and multiple (like there was more than one of the same person... get it?), there were umbrellas hanging over everything, cabbage everywhere... I thought I was going crazy! It turns out I was saner than ever! I took what I thought was a normal picture or Mike, and look!! Totally Warholified!

The Seoul of Science (redux)

Whoops, I accidentally deleted this old post, I guess. So I'm just re-putting it up. It's retro!

I know I've been updating with old stuff lately. I have nothing exciting to write about at this moment, but I'm trying to write more often, because I'm pretty sure that soon I'll get offered a book deal, and/or I'll be able to live off the income I make from the blog. So instead of just lying about how fabulous my life is right now, I'll tell you just how fabulous it was last month. Although, to be honest, I am unemployed right now, so I get to sit home, watch tv, and eat bonbons all day, so it IS pretty fabulous. But maybe not what you want to read about in a blog.
Last month, the same day we went to Bennigan's, we went to the Science Museum near Hyehwa. We were a bit hungover (okay, really just Johan was. I was going to say I was, for solidarity's sake, but I changed my mind), but the greasy Monte Cristo sopped all the alcohol leftovers right up, and we were good to go (how come nobody ever says "good to go" anymore??).
Coincidentally, we had Bennigan's again today for lunch, and I again ordered the Monte Cristo. It made me feel absolutely disgusting afterwards. It was way too heavy and fatty. Blah. I vowed never to eat it again. But now, the memory of leadenness is fading, and the leftovers are calling to me from the fridge...
ANYHOW. Back to the Science Museum. The first floor had all the interactive experiments to get kids interested in science. Johan and I tried most of them, but as the explanations were only in Korean, we didn't know what we were doing or what was supposed to happen most of the time.
Nuclear Fission, or just a funny mirror?? We may never know.

The other floors were filled with stuffed animals (like the taxidermied type, not the Care Bears type). Everything was kind of worn down, and looked like it hadn't been updated since 1976. But I still liked it. Johan was less enthusiastic, as I recall. There was also a part of the museum about the human body, and a really small part with stuff made out of those Lego Connex things, and like 3 terrariums with spiders. It was kind of eclectic, but nice for a hungover, rainy Sunday. Until Johan climbed into the fish display and tried to swim.

It didn't end well.

Seoul-alicious

Sometime in October (it's kinda my thing now to write about stuff that happened a long time ago, eh?), we (meaning me, Rasmus, Natasha, Johan, and Paul) went to this place in Apkujong called The Blue Moon Club. It's a bar with live jazz music. It was fun, and I don't like jazz music much. We were on the second floor, overlooking the stage. Which was cool, because we could spit right on the musicians' heads. Man, it was awesome.
We ordered fun drinks. & then we went home. But not before Johan did some crazy trick with a match.

See?! The match is in his nose? Then it's in his mouth! It's completely outrageous!
Oh, and here's me & Paul doing some awesome modern interpretive dancing to the music. I think we really captured the spirit of things: