Bigge

Well, it was an eventful weekend to say the least. 

MR and I survived an office fire, blowfish tail soju, North Korea, and enough kimchi to feed a small village and entirely burn away any stomach lining.

So we’ll start with Friday.  At about 11 MC, went from speaking aggressively in Korean on the phone to a quick hang up and looked at me and said “The third floor is on fire, we need to leave the building”.  I reacted normally by laughing.  But the other consultant got up and opened our roof door on the 5^th floor and smoke billowed in.  What the…. We all got up and walked out towards the stair well.  There is a wall of black smoke against the east facing windows.  So MR and I press our faces against the glass to try and see out, like children watching the first snow fall.  “Burn” we mummer while excited visions of an early work departure dance in our heads as we snap pictures on our phones.  Quickly we are pulled back to reality.  MC – “I think we need to evacuate the building, you should take your purse”.   MR and I giggle excitedly as we gather our personal belongings and laptops, intentionally leaving the power cords to hopefully burn.

All 5 floors evacuated out the front stair well and stand outside along the street.  MR and I excitedly take photos until JW cautiously approaches us and asks us to please stop.  I guess having your Corporate Auditors at the office when it’s burning is less than desirable.  Slowly, the smoke reduces as one of the employees battled the fire using up 5 fire extinguishers.  Then the fire trucks arrived, with the ambulance, and police.  Cutting off the tiny little street and causing more attention to gather around the building.  Quickly the hope of flames shooting through the roof ended and MR and I realize the building is still standing.

In hopes to avert our attention, JW took us to lunch on the North side of Seoul.  By this point the lack of sleep, minimal breakfast, strange foods, and bottles of wine at dinner have finally caught up to me.  Sitting in the tiny little car, going up and down windy little roads, with crazy (insert stereo type here) drivers everywhere, and no fresh air nauseous begins to claim my body.  After about an hour we finally arrive at the restaurant, which looks like a shack constructed in 1970 out of reclaimed pieces.  I excuse myself to the bathroom where my head touches the ceiling.  I gather myself, don’t wash my hands (there was no sink), and head out for my serving of chicken soup. 

The restaurant served only one item tradition Korean style spicy soup.  The soup is cooked out on a wood burning stove in a giant cast iron pot.  Each pot gets it’s own whole chicken which has been loving chopped into chucks (bones included!) and mixed with potatoes and a hot pepper broth.  We sit barefoot Indian style and hack away at our food while the aroma of kimchi permeates our being. Through out lunch, MR and I ask about the office, hoping that it will be closed for the day.  To kill more time, JW takes us to a traditional Korean dessert place and orders on our behalf.  I am beyond feeling like crap and MR is full because he had to eat the majority of my portion of the bony chicken because I threw in my chopsticks early.  Again barefoot and Indian style, we share dessert - red bean pudding.  Red bean is one of my least favorite things and one of MR’s favorite.  My spirit whimpered inside as I grabbed my spoon and take a big scoop.  Despite my disdain for the taste, I try to eat my whole portion because I figure beans are neutral and really can’t hurt my stomach like everything else has. While at dessert, we learn the office is back to normal and we can go back to work.  MR and I fight back tears and the desire to jump in front of the tour bus as we head back to the office.

Stoves

 

 

 

In order to make up for the lost time, we stayed until almost 7 on Friday.  They offered to take us out for the evening but I assured them that I had a very important date with my bed.  MR on the other hand, being the extroverted socialite that he is, had friends in Seoul and made plans with them.  So we walked back to the hotel, finally found an ATM, and went our separate ways for the night.

I immediately set myself in bed and consumed french fries and mushroom soup while watching CSI something reruns.  The introvert inside me beamed for it was the first time all week I had been able to just be.  Although, after a few minutes in my head I realized being alone with your thoughts and french fries in bed on a Friday night is probably a sign of depression.  I thoughtfully pondered the invitation to join MR with my eyes closed and under the covers.  I woke up at 6am, opportunity lost.

MR had the opposite Friday night.  Since he doesn’t have a blog I’ve decide to recap his night for all curious minds.  He left at 10 and returned somewhere around 4.  His night included JJ Bar, Hongdae, Ho bar, taco bell, shots, soju, and midgets with drums.  He can neither confirm nor deny the aforementioned activities but I can assure you he had fun.  

We had a leisurely start on Saturday, leaving the hotel at noon to grab breakfast Japanese style – udon and pork katsu to remind us of the happy days in Tokyo.  Afterwards, we walked around the Coex shopping mall and found a rad shop full of unique items.  MR scored a shirt and I scored a back pack.  After some more wandering, we decided to go to Insadong and see the historical part of Korea.  We spent an hour at an intersection.  I kid, but it was literally the longest light ever.  There we found street vendors and learned that I am a 255 in Korean shoes.  The shoes here are phenomenal and it was no surprise to learn that 255 is considered bigge (yes, it’s pronounced big e) size and is rarely carried.  If towering over people didn’t make me feel large, being told no no 255 too big. no have. 250 is biggest size over and over again really drove the fact home.   

While in Insadong, MR and I made a fascinating discovery, an ice cream cone that has cone with every bite.  It was awesome and worth the 3 dollars, however, you did have to be aware of how you held and consumed said ice cream cone.

We headed back to the hotel at 5 and got ready for our 610 pick up for dinner with the management group.   Upon my arrival back at the hotel, I was greeted with this -

 Nothing like a surprise drop off using information pieced together during casual conversation.  As MR said – like a boss.  I tip my hat to said boss and recommend gentlemen follow suit when interested in a lady – international flower delivery, truly impressive