Bau House: Dog Cafe

If I wasn't so busy trying to take advantage of my weekend trips, I would get myself a dog in a heartbeat. I have a dog back in America and I miss him so much. Sometimes I have an urge to go and get a dog, but I end up stopping myself by planning a trip.

In order to suppress my appetite of dogs (haha), I like to visit dog cafes.

There are a few dog and cat cafes all around Seoul. Since I'm allergic to cats, I decided to check out the Bauhaus dog cafe next to Hapjeong station (between exit #3 and #4). If you want to visit, please be aware that this same cafe used to be in the Hongdae area, but has moved to this location.

The cafe is divided into two areas: one for bigger dogs and the other for the smaller. There are all kinds of breeds of dogs in this cafe, including huskies and dalmatians. These dogs are so beautiful, but almost seemed out of place, since you see most Koreans owning small house dogs. I'm not sure how these dogs are brought here, but they seemed happy for the most part. All the guests are obviously dog lovers so these dogs were getting enough love and attention.

Some people bring their own dogs to this cafe, since it's a good way for them to play around with others of their kind. You can buy treats for them or even bring a toy for them to play with.

One thing that may throw you off guard when you first enter the cafe is the smell. You do get used to it after a while, but it might be a blow to a non-dog owner's nose. Yes, there will be accidents everywhere, but do not worry. You got workers all over the place constantly scooping and cleaning up the lovely presents left behind by our furry friends.

There is an entrance fee for this cafe, but it's also free if you buy a drink, which are pretty decently priced. I think this is pretty cool place for all dog-lovers to check out.

This is also a great way to spend a rainy day in Seoul.

Summer Intensives

During every summer and winter break for students in Korea, academies of all types like to offer intensive classes. These classes are a way for the students to get ahead, catch up, or even to try out different academies without a long term commitment. As a foreigner, I sympathize for these kids since they are in academies literally all day everyday after school. Going to these academies double time during their vacation is probably the last thing they would ever want. However, as a post-grad trying to pay back loans, this is a great way for me to earn some extra cash for the month.

The downside of intensives is that most of the classes begin at 10:00AM. That may not sound bad to any one who works a regular job for a living, but it's horrible for someone who's pretty much a vampire. As a Chungdahm teacher, sometimes I feel like one. The only daylight I see is on my walk to school. Otherwise, I spend most of my waking hours indoors or at night. Going along with that, I remember my past three intensives waking up in the middle of the night because of nightmares of being late or missing intensives.

The upside to this is not only the extra pay, as mentioned above, but also that it only lasts a month. Since some intensive classes are up to three times a week, it's surprising how big the next paycheck comes out to be!

This summer, I'm teaching an extensive reading workshop for the lowest level. We read short stories together and check reading comprehension. Although it can be tough early in the morning, it's a more personal way to get to know and teach the students than a normal class. Since most of these intensive classes tend to be smaller than the regular 4PM to 10PM classes that last 13 weeks, I feel like I can connect with these students in a much more personal level in three hours a day for three times a week for a month.

Teaching intensives is not mandatory, but it's a great way for me to save some extra money for my last few months left in Korea.

What will you do this summer?

Trash in Korea

Throwing away trash back in Georgia is an easy job. All you have to do is put all the trash in one of those over sized black or white trash bags, take it out to your driveway, and dump it in those giant plastic bins (separating cans, plastic, and glass, of course). 

One of the most confusing and hardest things to grasp for me in Korea was throwing away trash. Everything seems pretty organized in the picture above, as all the different types of trash are clearly labeled and separated.

What I didn't know was that each city in Korea has a designated trash bag that you have to buy separately. On top of that, you have to be careful what you put into those bags. Because Korea does not have a food disposal in the sink, the scraps of food have to be put away in another designated food bag. As much as I appreciate the effort of separating the recyclables in Korea, it can become quite costly. The plastic bags in my city are being sold as high as 500WON per bag!

My housemate and I tried to sneak our trash in some random plastic bags and got yelled at by the trash man. He was so furious and was yelling at us pointing his finger in every way possible! Although we have learned our lesson since and are trying very hard to follow the rules out here, it makes me wonder why the man got so angry at us for throwing away our trash in the right place when there is trash overflowing and everywhere in the streets.

One thing I do like about any residential trash area in Korea are the donation boxes. Instead of having to go to a local goodwill with boxes full of old clothing, I can just go to the basement floor of my apartment and dump everything in these green boxes. I believe the items in these boxes are collected weekly and do go to a local charity.

Mudfest: The good, the bad, the dirty

Mudfest, one of the most famous summer events in Korea, is an attraction to both Koreans and foreigners. Held annually over the span of two weekends, this festival of mud is a must-see if you're visiting Korea in the summer. It is held in the city of Boryeong (or Daechon), and it is about two and half hours by train south of Seoul. The city is known for the natural mud flats. According to my friend Wikipedia, this festival was founded to promote cosmetic products made with the mud, since it's said to be full of minerals. I haven't seen much of a change in my skin after playing in the mud, but it was another excuse to play around in it.

The good:

When I think of mud, I think brown, dirt and water. However, the mud here was gray with a very milky and smooth consistency. There was also colored mud (obviously not natural), which looks pretty awesome all over the body. They have areas where you can paint the mud onto yourself and inflatable slides that cover you in mud as you work your way through them. The event is actually held at the beach and not the mud flats, which is pretty convenient when you want to wash off the mud.

Another awesome thing about this event is all the performances they have throughout the day. They had a stage set up for singing, rapping, and even belly dancing!

One thing that I love about going to Daechon is the clam barbeque. Someone told me that the east coast of Korea is known for the sashimi style fish, while the west coast is known for the clams. As you can see in the picture, there is a variety of clams laid out to grill. Some people get grossed out by the fresh seafood, but the taste is awesome once it's cooked.

The bad: 

Unfortunately, since monsoon season is here, the beach was pretty gloomy on both days. It pretty much rained all day on Saturday and no sun on Sunday.

One thing foreigners have to be aware of is the crazy amount of Korean paparazzi lurking around the area. Ok, so they're not really paparazzi. I've noticed that older Koreans have a photography hobby  and you'll see many of them with massive cameras with all kinds of gadgets attached to them. I think one of their favorite things to photograph is foreigners NOT at their normal state. I've seen some foreigners even being dragged and harassed by them just to get a picture. If you look closely at the picture above, you'll see a group of Korean photographers only paying attention to the crowd and snapping away. This is not even close to how many more of them there were.

The dirty:

I like to think of mudfest as a post-college spring break. Since alcohol is allowed everywhere in Korea, you'll find a lot of drunk people here. It actually got pretty annoying hearing and looking at the inebriated crowd of mostly foreigners at the beach. Not that I'm not a foreigner myself, but maybe that's why some Koreans have a reserved judgement on us.

Aside from the drunken madness, the picture above is a shot of mud being fired into the air and splattered onto a crowd of people at the beach. I only say dirty because after all, it is a festival where people cover themselves in mud!

R16 Korea: World BBoy Masters Championship

I'm not a dancer nor do I ever aspire to be one. However, I do love the art of dancing. Movies like Step Up and You Got Served are my guilty pleasures, but being able to see an actual dance competition in real life was such an awesome experience.

R16 Championships are held in various countries, hosting what's supposed to be 16 bboy crews from all over the world. This past weekend, it was held in Korea.

The competition was a three day event, each night hosting a different show. However, this competition was not limited to just dance. Graffiti artists were also able to show off their skills as well as few singer performances scattered throughout. 

The graffiti isn't too visible in this picture, but from what you can see, they were all drawn on the spot. 

I went to the last show on the last day of the event for the bboy crew and battle competition. Korea won the bboy crew competition (I think Belgium should have won) and Massive Monkeez from America won the battle competition.

Overall, it was an exciting event and it was really cool to see bboy crews from countries like Kazakhstan, Finland, Belgium, and many more competing in Seoul. Check out this video that I recorded of Massive Monkeez (USA) performing!

Country-hopping for the weekend

Although I still have an endless number of places I want to go to in Korea, I decided that I needed a change of scenery for the weekend. Since Japan and Korea are so close to each other, my friends and I were able to find round trip tickets for about $300US. I'd say that's a sweet deal considering that you're going to a different country and I remember paying more than that for my trip to NY from Georgia!

And so our destination to Tokyo began. We had no real plans and not much knowledge of the culture we were about to face. We were able to find a lot of similarities as well as differences of Japan and Korea.

 I'd say one of the best things about Japan was the food. Of course I had to eat the sushi and of course I had to have some original Japanese ramen. In order to save some money from getting a hostel, my friends and I ended up staying the night at the airport and then making our way to the world famous Tsukiji Fish Market. Although we missed the auction, we were able to try THE BEST sushi we have ever had. Fresh from the market, the raw fish just melted in my mouth. It was worth the hour and a half wait in line.

Although there are plenty of ramen places in Korea, it's just not the same. There's something about actually eating the food in its country of origin that makes it taste ten times better.

 Throughout the day and a half we were in Japan, I'd say we did an awesome job checking out what Japan has to offer. My friends and I were able to compare areas of Japan and Korea. Just like Itaewon, nightlife for foreigners, Japan has Roppongi. Just like Yongsan, electronic area, Japan has Akihabara. Harajuku reminded me of Myeongdong as a shopping destination. The main difference, however, is the currency. The Japanese YEN is very valuable. The one thing that made it hard for me to save money on this trip was the fact that the money was printed in 10000 and 1000 in bills and 500 and 100 in coins. Those numbers in Korean WON are not much at all. However, in Japanese YEN, 10000 is just over $100US. As far as 10000WON, that's just under $10US!

Overall, I had a great time visiting Tokyo for the weekend. It's awesome to know that I can hop from country to country in Asia for a low cost and be able to experience the different cultures.