"Rock climbing" - just kidding, nothing as dramatic as that. The rock was quite small and we could have gone around, but chose this tiny bit of a challenge. On Chonggyesan in southern Seoul.  

The 4-year old I love the most: Katarina on May 29th

My sweet, sweet niece's 4th Birthday. Katarina on May 29th, with her mom and aunt, in the backyard of our family home. The cake is a real deal, a loving creation made from scratch by her mother and perhaps aunt - none of that huge store-bought margarine and sugar brick, thank you very much. My sister-in-law has a knack for making wonderful pastries, cookies, cakes... Can't wait to savour all of that in just a short time. Biljana, dolazim, vadi pregacu iz coska i zasuci rukave.

The lady who graciously allows me to illustrate my blog entries with her photographs: Clare, sipping "gong-mul", the broth in which fishcakes are boiled, at about 4:00 a.m. Until quite recently she couldn't stand either odaeng or gong-mul. Unlike me, she looks quite nice in this blue light.

After the HIking/True Korea party Chang-dae drove a few of us home. It was about 4:00 a.m. We got hungry so we stopped to have a bite to eat. After I rejected liver/sundae/pig knuckles we came to this place: An Odaeng (fishcakes) Bar. This is street food moving up in the world and changing. They even have odaeng stuffed with cheese - how Korean is this? This pretty girl, Rachel, is a member of Chang-dae's 'other' club "True Korea."  

Waiting for my odaeng to cook. Clare is on a mission to take a great photo of me. All I can say: keep trying, babe, this ain't it, at least not in my eyes.  

...and a truly disturbing "my face is going south" one. I know, I know, this is how I look (on ocassion), but it's still hard to swallow. According to Clare, I'm mixing the wassabee into my soya sauce.

Changdae and his stick.  

Partying Balkan style: the big, biggest, most biggest night out

The night after Chang-dae's party Clare and I didn't go to Deokjeok-do. Instead, we met for dinner on the beautiful patio belonging to the Nashville Bar and Grill. After burgers and a couple of beers, we moved to La Cigalle for some wine/cognac and Creme Brule. Little did we know at this point that we would end up at the Hollywood bar and party until dawn with some handsome soccer players from all over the Balkans (and their wives, unfortunately.). When we walked into the bar, Serbian music was blasting. Clare went over to a table to ask for a light, got into chatting; turned out that the guys at the table and I were of the "iste gore list" (leaves from the same mountain). I walked over, chatted with them, came back to Clare, and then Nenad, a Serb-Canadian I met about two years ago in Bucheon recognized me and came to say hello; before we knew what was happening Clare and I joined this multi-Balkaniada party at the bar. Lot of merriment ensued, complete with shattering of glass, hands clapping, hips swaying, and the like. It was like a scene from a Kusturica movie...

In the midst of Seoul, Serbian "turbo folk" and Bosnian "Khomeini wave" cepa li cepa. Not believing my ears, I called my brother in Canada and let him listen to these familiar sounds that we used to detest and now are so happy to hear, for nostalgic reasons.

Clare loved the music and started belly-dancing with a most seductive expression on her face.  

...looking quite Sherezadaesque, eh?  

A host of transplanted Balkan Boys who play soccer professionally in Korea. Of course, we got to know one another. From the left: Mato, Jasenko, I, the Dubrovnik guy, the Split guy.

The blondie in the green shirt is also a soccer player (with an equally blonde Pamela Anderson look-alike wife not shown here), but I didn't really talk to him, so I don't know where he's from.

The Soccer Wives Club (including 'Pamela') . I got to chat a lot with the pretty girl with straight black hair, Sanja from Rijeka.

Mato from Orasje (Bosnia or Croatia, I'm not sure?!), a player for Samsung and I, singing god knows what, perhaps: "Hey Branka, Branka,Branka..."  

From the left: Boban (Slobodan), an engineer from Belgrade working in Korea for more than 10 years; Nenad, a student and teacher from Belgrade, a fellow Balcanadian; Jasenko from Tuzla, Bosnia, a soccer player for Hansung; the handsome whasisname guy from Split

The party in full swing...  

"Morali su nas iznijeti na metli" - Clare captured this moment of despair on the side of a bartender. He just wanted to get rid of us and go home nd we just wanted to party. The only guests: the Balkan soccer players, one Cronadian, one Korean, one South African and one Irishman.  

The aftermath of a "Balkan Party" - a floor covered in broken glasses and beer bottles that stubbornly refused to be smashed.  

Moon-hi, Jonathan and I at 6:00 a.m. in Itaewon. We look much better than we feel, trust me.... 

After a crazy night of drinking in Itaewon nothing cures the drunkeness better than a hearty breakfast at the "Don Valley Korean Grill" that's open 24/7. Jonathan (from Northern Ireland) and his Korean friend Moon-hi chose samgyetang (chicken-ginseng soup)...The latter studies medicine at the Seoul National University (Korea's No. 1), specializing in plastic surgery. A few days ago he was disecting a human brain. "Disgusting!", is his only comment on the experience.

...while Clare and I had some kind of clear beef soup. As long as I was chewing I was fine; the second I stopped I felt drunk... 

The Day After

Not having any energy left for big organizing (this was a weekend of failed plans but great substitutes), Clare, Andrea, Penny and I met for a long walk by the river. We thought fresh air would do us a world of good. Shown here (through Clare's eyes, of course): Biking ajoshis and eating ajummas ( Andrea and I stuffing our faces with kimbop while Penny watches)

Clare's artsy eye: a huge flower and tiny figures of her friends in the background.  

Andrea and her riding buddy, a visored ajumma. These exercise machines are newly placed along the river walk. Getting off them feels like getting off a roller-coaster - legs are quite wobbly and the head is slightly spinning, at least mine did.