Everytime I get on the train and head to Suwon, my stomach is in knots and I'm just a mess inside. Suwon is where I had my surgery, and even when we go for a fun day trip, I always relive the whole hand thing in my head.
We went to Suwon to go see Hwaseong Fortress again and to do some Christmas shopping. (We are so behind. Liam and my mom are halfway done.. Everyone else has nada. Oops) Whenever we go to Suwon, we always have a strict agenda. Like a doctor's appointment or a trip to the Fortress; we never just hang out and walk around. So. That's what we did yesterday.
Got to the train station and went straight to the Food Hall. It's this giant food court type place in the train station. Only, Korean food courts are 100 times better than American food courts. They have things other than fast food chains! Like sushi bars, gourmet cupcakes and other sweets, and delicious "fast food". We weren't hungry, but we of course had to get a bubble tea.
We went to Suwon to go see Hwaseong Fortress again and to do some Christmas shopping. (We are so behind. Liam and my mom are halfway done.. Everyone else has nada. Oops) Whenever we go to Suwon, we always have a strict agenda. Like a doctor's appointment or a trip to the Fortress; we never just hang out and walk around. So. That's what we did yesterday.
Got to the train station and went straight to the Food Hall. It's this giant food court type place in the train station. Only, Korean food courts are 100 times better than American food courts. They have things other than fast food chains! Like sushi bars, gourmet cupcakes and other sweets, and delicious "fast food". We weren't hungry, but we of course had to get a bubble tea.
After getting our bubble tea fix, we went off to explore. Last time we went to Hwaseong, we took the bus. We walked there this time and it was so much more fun. We got to stop and look at more stuff, take pictures of things along the way, and we didn't have to squish onto an already over capacity bus.
It's still funny to me what you can find for sale on the streets. Here are some fish that were for sale (to eat of course). This was right after we saw an old man making and selling knives on the street.
We kept walking and just looking at everything. And then. We saw the most amazing thing so far in Korea....
No it wasn't a temple or a monument or anything like that.
It was... Wait for it...
GOODWILL. Oh my gosh. Goodwill is already amazing. But a KOREAN GOODWILL?! It was as if I'd died and gone to heaven. Of course I made Drew backtrack with me so we could cross the street and go in!
No it wasn't a temple or a monument or anything like that.
It was... Wait for it...
GOODWILL. Oh my gosh. Goodwill is already amazing. But a KOREAN GOODWILL?! It was as if I'd died and gone to heaven. Of course I made Drew backtrack with me so we could cross the street and go in!
It was a major disappointment inside. I thought for sure we would find awesome Christmas presents for Isabel and Liam, avid Goodwill shoppers ;), but no such luck. It was pretty crummy. We did buy some Cass beer mugs and a pitcher to make our own Soju Iced Tea at home and feel like we are at Think. Other than that, lamest Goodwill trip I've ever been on. Still I can't believe it exists in Korea. I will probably, absolutely go back.
After Goodwill, we kept walking and ended up on a street FULL of pet stores. There are pet stores all over Korea. I see them everywhere we go. They have all these precious little puppies in the window and it makes me want to skip down the street singing, "how much is the doggy in the windowwwwwww?" I always see the puppies while we zoom by on our scooter though, and I never get a close look. This time I told Drew we were going inside ONE pet shop and I got to look at ALL THE PUPPIES from the outside haha. And that's just what I did.
After Goodwill, we kept walking and ended up on a street FULL of pet stores. There are pet stores all over Korea. I see them everywhere we go. They have all these precious little puppies in the window and it makes me want to skip down the street singing, "how much is the doggy in the windowwwwwww?" I always see the puppies while we zoom by on our scooter though, and I never get a close look. This time I told Drew we were going inside ONE pet shop and I got to look at ALL THE PUPPIES from the outside haha. And that's just what I did.
I want all the Korean puppies. HOW DO THEY MAKE THEM SO TINY?! Ugh. If only I wasn't holding out for another German Shorthaired Pointer when we get to Virginia. Somehow, I think Rooney would prefer a brother his own size haha.
After the pet shops, and right before the Fortress, I found this lovely little doctor's office...
After the pet shops, and right before the Fortress, I found this lovely little doctor's office...
We walked around more. Saw the Paldalmun gate again. Got some fried peppers. (Omg heaven) And searched endlessly for Christmas presents. (To no avail) Then we ended up at a sushi bar and shared some.. not sushi.. seafood udon. (This is like the only thing I eat ever.) Drew got some sushi, but I still can't get myself to eat it. Raw fish. Ew.
And that was about it. We ended up finding one gift for Liam and the rest was stuff for ourselves! Oops. It was a fun day together. We don't get many of those, one a week to be exact, so it was very nice.
In other news. Here are a bunch of random pictures from the past week. They don't require much of an explanation, so here ya go.
These first ones are from our trip to Emart (Korean Target basically) last Tuesday.
In other news. Here are a bunch of random pictures from the past week. They don't require much of an explanation, so here ya go.
These first ones are from our trip to Emart (Korean Target basically) last Tuesday.
The next pictures are school / work related.
Here are some pictures of the adorable kittens I helped save. For any of you that don't know (so probably newer friends / Drew's family) I am completely 100% obsessed with animals. Since I can remember I have wanted to save every injured, stray, or baby animal EVER. No matter what kind. I caught ALL the baby turtles I could find when I was little. We had 2 or 3 baby Wood Ducks, a gosling, two baby humming birds... I remember holding a baby squirrel in a cup, baby rabbits, I probably even tried to save baby mice. I also tried to save every stray dog we found. There was a Golden Retriever, two beagles, tons of animals. I would have opened my own zoo if my parents would have let me. Nothing has changed since then. I still love all animals, and Korea is not the place to be a softie for strays. There are like 3 animals a day that I want to save; horses, cows, cats, dogs... a lizard! I have a problem, but I can't help it! I love animals! Who knows why I didn't go to school to work with them forever...?
Anyway.. these kitties were living in our garage. I had seen the momma cat tons of times, and the other night I had a dream she had kittens with her. Yesterday, before work, I let Rooney out to pee. He ran behind the garage to do his business, momma cat ran off, and I saw a little kitty head peaking over a pile of blankets in the garage. After work, I went back to look for it, but there were no kitties. Once it got dark, I checked again. TWO kitties! One ran away, but I was able to catch this little babe.
Anyway.. these kitties were living in our garage. I had seen the momma cat tons of times, and the other night I had a dream she had kittens with her. Yesterday, before work, I let Rooney out to pee. He ran behind the garage to do his business, momma cat ran off, and I saw a little kitty head peaking over a pile of blankets in the garage. After work, I went back to look for it, but there were no kitties. Once it got dark, I checked again. TWO kitties! One ran away, but I was able to catch this little babe.
Turns out, our neighbor Sara had found one of these kitties last night and brought it inside. She took kitty number 2 and reunited them.
When I took Rooney out one last time before bed, I was able to catch kitty number 3! Now they are all together, warm inside! Poor momma was watching me the whole time, but her babies will have much better lives! If I could catch her, I would try to get her a new home too! I actually cried last night because I felt bad for taking the kitties away from their momma. Ugh. I'm such a sucker.
And. Like most of my posts, let me end with a BUNCH of Rooney pictures.