It was such a high buying lightbulbs. I just got home from school via walking with the science teacher (yes, no more heart-wrenching, panic attack morning bus rides for me) and having received my settlement money, my stomach was full of freshly made stir fry. Plus, my "kitchen" is now the brightest part of my apartment.
This past weekend was chill but a lot of fun. I met some of the other expats at the local "foreigner" bar on Friday. Turns out there's a small community of about thirty of us in Icheon. It's nice to know there are English-speaking friends around. And there was talk of having a barbeque one of these weekends, which I am ALL ABOUT.
It's a mixed group of people; there's a strong Wisconsin presence woooo (which is how I got introduced -- thanks, Jessica!) as well as people from South Africa, California, and the UK. The guy from the UK, no lie, looks like Daniel Radcliffe's (aka Harry Potter's) twin. I've been crushing pretty hard on that accent. Since most of them (or all of them) have been in Icheon for a year and a half, it's been really helpful just hanging out with them and seeing how they order food and buy things (if you don't know what a food is called in Korean, just make the English word sound Korean: waffle cone = wah-pple cone). And hearing about their experiences has been hilarious.
The Ceramics Festival started this past weekend, and wow. I have found my happy place in Icheon. The Ceramics Village, or Ceramia, which is either part of Seolbong Park or right next to it, has grounds that are simple, playful, and elegant. Located "where the mountain and water meet," it's a really breathtaking area. The style, look, and feel of Ceramia does remind me a bit of my home in Wisconsin with ceramic sculptures and art pieces incorporated into the landscape and the numerous walking trails. It's a very honest and intuitive design. I like it a lot.
Complete with everything you could need, including convenience stores, several performance stages, a traditional tea house, The Modern Ceramics Museum, The Icheon City Museum, art studios (glassblowing, ceramics), and the biggests kilns I have ever seen (whole firing rooms), Ceramia truly is a kind of utopia.
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| Sitting amongst the ceramics |
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| Painted details |
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| A pottery mascot -- that little guy in the green was flipping out. He was running around the pot, laughing, screeching. Probably one of the funniest-cutest moments in Korea thus far. |
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| Food tents are more like food restaurants -- real classy, real nice. These woman are making some sort of Korean pancake (jeon). |
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| Kids lining up to have a go with the hammer at what I thought was rice |
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| Resting at the "top" of the hill, near the Modern Ceramics Museum |
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| Archive Room -- really fun design with the hanging books |
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| One of my favorite, though not unseen, exhibitions -- pop & advertising culture done in ceramics |
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