I’m always discussing with friends or other bloggers how I want to make this interesting to read... but then I remember... who other than my friends and family is really going to check this out? I know I haven’t been taking the time to read any other blogs... I’m living life, not reading about it. So since Christmas, I received my first pay check, I bought a violin and a guitar, I’ve recorded a couple songs using garage band with a co-worker, and Jaime has come to visit me twice.
Getting a pay check was really nice after being a bit frugal for a couple weeks. Even though I don’t have to worry about putting gas in a car anymore, it’s surprising how much public transportation, food, an start-up fees for life can add up to. Thankfully, I don’t have to worry about rent every month. Just utilities, and my cellphone bill... (and food and all that jazz of course.) So I celebrated with the cash in my pocket when I went on a day excursion to a couple music shops. I went with Mike and Travis (Mike another teacher I work with, and Travis is one of my co-worker's significant other..) Anyway, my goal was to find a violin for a reasonable price... the one I have at home was about $600 and that was a steal, but I was hoping for something much cheaper... and then we walked into a store where I saw this:
Yes. fiddles hanging from the wall, just waiting to be played :-)
I pointed to one and made a 'bow on strings' motion to figure out whether I was allowed to play them or not and a man nodded at me while pointing to take it down. After spending a little time with tuning, I sawed away at the strings for a bit and was quite satisfied even to hear the tinny sound the "made in china" violin sang. Granted, it wasn't even close to the deep resonant tone my fiddle at home makes, but it would do. The man showed me his calculator: 150,000 won... which is roughly $150 in US dollars... case, rosin, bow, and fiddle. I was ecstatic. I swung my case around proudly while walking towards the door only to notice the guitars waving at me on the way out... so I went back the next day and bought a guitar for the same price as the violin: case, capo, extra pair of stings, and a strap. $150. again: ecstatic.
So currently I've been looking up the tabs to every song I've ever loved, and my fingers on my left hand are a bit raw :-) It's fabulous.
Before Jaime came to visit last weekend, I went out with my co-workers to a dance club called Maktum. You pay $15 at the door, you're given a beverage ticket, and you get to watch some super popular DJ do his "thang." Note: I've obviously never heard of any of these DJs... but the Koreans eat it up. It's entertaining just to people-watch. You notice quickly that everyone faces the DJ like it's a concert or something, so I like to shake things up occasionally and catch people off-guard by dancing "the wrong way." It's entertaining enough, but I prefer StarFace (a chill bar owned by a British man who makes a pretty mean fish n' chips.... his fries are simply fantastic.) Mike, Shannon, and I are regulars now (thanks to Shannon for finding this gem of a place back in May.) (see Shannon, Jaime, and I chillin' at the top of the page)
This past Sunday, Jaime and I went to the Aquarium here at Haeundae which was really nice actually. I'm not sure if I've ever been to an aquarium before, so I had a good time taking pictures and pointing at everything "look at that! Ooo! Look at that!... what IS that?" Here are a few of my favorites:
This guy was massive... and beautiful.
The Jellies doin' a little dance :-)
Now... You can't tell very well with the glare... but this dude has chicklet teeth. Cute, huh?
So that was my little adventure undah dah sea... a nice way to end the weekend. I'll try to post again soon (maybe in another month? haha... hopefully before then.)
