Socializing Saturday

Today was a pretty good day. Busy and full.

I started out heading to Hongdae area (same as last weekend) to do a promotional "photo shoot" for GOAL--more on that later. I left a little early so I could find it and wander around a bit before stopping by the cafe where it was taking place. I had looked up a cafe/restaurant, but when I looked at the menu it wasn't really quite what I was in the mood for. As I was wandering, I realized I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted to eat. I found a Mexican restaurant called Dos Tacos and ended up going there for a beef burrito. It was good-a bit spicy but nice to have Mexican food. Then I went to this yogurt shop for dessert. It's a cool concept (I did see this while I was in LA in January)--you take as much yogurt and toppings as you want, and then it gets weighed and based on the weight is how much you pay.

After dessert, I went to the cafe--I stopped at a few hair salons to check out prices of haircuts but still waited on making a decision. It was nice meeting some other adoptees again. I'm not exactly sure what they are doing with the pictures, but they wanted us to write our name, where we're from and what we are doing in Korea. Then we went outside the cafe to have our picture taken. I sat and chatted for a bit before heading out.

I went to the Catholic Martyr's Museum. It was interesting--I'm always so ...for lack of a better word, amazed with the cruel and horrible things people can do to other people because of their differences--or different beliefs. There was a nice park with a stations of the cross and other statues so I walked around there for a little.

Then I hopped the subway to the Express Bus Terminal to shop. I walked around there for an hour or so. Again, I can't believe how little I like shopping these days. I just want all the crowds to disappear. I also don't like how the shop keepers hover over you as you are looking at their merchandise. And by hover I mean literally standing right next to you and moving along with you as you go through the store.

Then I walked to find dinner. I had looked up a burger place, but once I got there I didn't really see anything on the menu I had to have. I had remembered seeing another burger place, but thought it was closer than it was-I ended up walking back a whole subway station to find it. There too, nothing looked that great to me. So I walked back again and wandered the area.

My friend Maite (the Swiss adoptee) is leaving to return to Switzerland and had a going away party. So, after wandering, I went to a coffee shop and waited for my friend Mark to meet me. He has a smartphone and could get maps/direction to the cafe where Maite's party was being held. Her party was a lot of fun. There were probably a good 20 people mingling in the small cafe. It was neat to see all the different people she knew and had befriended during her stay in Korea. I enjoyed talking with the many other adoptees there. Mark had not really experienced networking within the adoptee community, so it was a really cool for him. I invited him to play soccer with me since that is with adoptees so he might join tomorrow. He has also 'adopted' me as his little sister. Ah, yes, as a reminder Mark is also an adoptee from Troy, Michigan.

This little sweet face is the mascot of a restaurant I passed

Dos Taco's Menu

My beef burrito

Yummy yogurt and toppings!!!!

Info about the Catholic Martyr's Memorial

Mary

Through the trees you can notice the domed building; that is the National Assembly Building--essentially Korea's "Capitol Hill"

More vibrant colors and you can see some of the stations on the right

Korea's first priest--he was only a priest for less than a year before he was sentenced to death at age 25