It has been a long while since my last post, but here is a break down of what I've been up to.
As I mentioned in a previous post, I joined a music club. Among the roughly 30 members, there are 5 or 6 groups with mixed and matched members that perform a couple songs per group. I perform in 2 songs: Michael Jackson's "Beat It" and Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive." There are a few studios near campus where we go to practice about once per week, and the songs are coming along nicely.
I took a trip to Myeong-Dong to buy a new lens: Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6. I haggled the price on this second-hand lens to about $420. It wasn't the best deal in the world, but hey, I'm in Korea.
Check out that 10mm of awesome.
I can finally show you the ramyeon wall at my dorm's convenience store.
I took another trip to Namsan Tower for some night shots, but I wasn't very happy with the results. The smog over Seoul makes the shots overwhelmingly hazy. None-the-less, here is Namsan Tower lit up at night.
Saw this sticker on the subway door.
This past weekend, I went to Membership Training(MT) with my music club. MTs happen with every club and organization. I went on one before with the semiconductor school. In short, an MT consists of going away from the city and "camping" as a group for a night. The Korean idea of "camping" is pretty cushy compared to the camping I did as a child with my father and brother, but it is still fun in it's own rite. I will explain.
The first order of business is getting to a far-away place.
Upon arrival, we must decide who must cook, clean, etc.
A simple tournament decides this. We played a game that is basically a mixture of football(soccer) and volleyball/tennis with teams of 4 people.
The resident kitty was friendly.
Playing with my ND filter.
Time to cook the sam-gyeop-sal.
Sam-gyeop-sal (삼겹살) is basically grilled bacon. That's the best way I can describe it, and it is as delicious as it sounds.
An MT isn't an MT without soju and kimchi.
Oh and beer, alot of beer.
Cooking is a social endeavor.
And if you don't like the food, you can get the hell out.
Grilled garlic and ssamjang (쌈장): a perfect combination.
The food is eaten as it is prepared. Groups take turns cooking and eating, so there is never really a time where everyone sits down and eats together, and there is plenty of time to chat between waves of 삼겹살.
Below the bacon, potatoes cook at the bottom of the grill.
Good times had by everyone.
When the food is gone, we head inside for some games and drinking and drinking games.
Nails are painted.
Guitars are played.
We played some organized games before the alcohol came out. I had a good time with one game in particular, a mixture of charades and telephone. I was acting out names to Korean movies I had never seen, but my team's guesser knew what was going on, so I assume I did well.
Then the soju comes out, everyone gets drunk, and, ..... yeah....
Nothing like some hot ramyeon in the morning to soothe the drunken brain.
tl;dr: Membership Training (MT) consists of great food, friendly people, lots of alcohol, and good times. Would do it again.
Thanks for reading.
~잘가
