As most of you will know by now, I have a visitor. Grant has come all the way from South Africa to spend a month with me in Korea, and I couldn't be more excited. Of course, a month is a long time, and I now need to find cunning ways to entertain him. He has already been here for two weeks, and this is what we have done so far:

1. Explored Seoul.
   When I first imagined our exploration of Seoul, I pictured us strolling through the palace gardens and taking boat rides on the Han river. What this ended up being was a couple of trips to Itaewon and one to Yongsan. Not quite what I pictured, but a good time nonetheless.
   
2. Explored Cheongju.
   I may live in the city, but I am no expert on things to do in Cheongju. Thus far we have wandered aimlessly around Shinae, partied in Chungdae and taken a drive through the city. I have also shown him aroud my dong, but since there isn't too much to see, it wasn't particularly entertaining.
   
3. Explored Korean cuisine.
   The first week that Grant spent here involved a variety of foods, not many of which were Korean - Japanese, pub food and Taco Bell in Seoul; fried chicken and pizza in Shinae; a whole lot of different Mexican delicacies like quesidillas, burritos and tacos and so forth. But we did try some Korean food, a lot of which Grant seemed to enjoy. While the gimbap failed in comparisson to sushi, the shabu shabu was a definite win! Galbi was also given a thumbs up while samgyeopsal was said to be "quite bland". Loads of lotus-inspired Korean food was also tasted this weekend, including lotus steamed rice with some form of pork and a whole bunch of sidedishes, and was met with indifference - it wasn't amazing, but it wasn't bad. But the best find had to be the kalmegi place that we discovered last night around the corner (literally - it took less than two minutes to walk there) from my house. The meal involved kalmegi, of course, which is my favourite of the pork cuts, mandu, salad doused in sweetish soy sauce, mixed vegetables covered in something that resembles but isn't quite mayonaisse, kimchi (what Korean meal is complete without it), the leaves that look like they come from a mulberry tree, garlic, the spiciest soup in the entire world and some funny pancake type thing that was a lot thicker than the Korean pancake that I am used to, but was delicious regardless. All in all, the meal was a definite win and I will be going there a lot more often now that I know about it!
   
4. Explored the Lotus Festival.
   The weekend that just passed was spent in Muan looking at pretty flowers and leaves and making and tasting a number of different lotus-infused foods and drinks, including lotus-steamed rice and onion kimchi (both of which we made), lotus flower and lotus leaf tea (we both preferred the leaf tea) and lotus beer (which we had different views on. Beer. Yeuch.) We also went on a boat ride on a canal between the flowers, and I paddled for awhile. Go me! All in all, it was really pretty and lots of fun. Above are some photos to prove it.


5. Explored the notion of a beach party.
   When we got on the Adventure Korea bus on Saturday morning at the ridiculous hour of 7:30 (in the pouring rain, I feel the need to add) we were told that Saturday night would be spent in a hotel that had a swimming pool and its own secluded beach. A bonfire was to be built, marshmallows would be provided, and a party would be in full swing that night. Or so we were told. First of all, the "hotel" wasn't much of a hotel. It was a minbuk (I think this is how it is spelled) with a minimum of five people sharing a room, lying on thin mats on the floors, all of which were covered in bugs. I wasn't too impressed. Sure, it had a swimming pool, but the pool only came up to my stomach. There was a beach, but it was hardly secluded - you couldn't see the ends of it - and it looked rather a lot like the mud beach that I visited two weeks ago. Hardly the kind of beach that you want to throw a party on. They made a bonfire, but it collapsed within seconds. Once the marshmallows were finished, we all headed back to the poolside for a couple of drinks and then made our way upstairs to finish the party there. It didn't last long, and we were asleep a little before midnight. Beach party? I say not.
   
6. Rearranged my room.
   For those of you who know me well, you will know that I like change rather a lot. I hate stagnancy, and one of the things that I tend to do to avoid it is to move my room around. A lot. Since arriving here, I have not been able to do that because my bed is just too heavy. So now that I have a big man around, I got him to help me move my room, and it is absolutely perfect now. Of course, I will probably want to change it again in a couple of months, but at least now I have the light switch by my bed, which will mean opportunities to read before sleep. Hooray!
   
7. Met my friends.
   If you are wondering why this is at the bottom of the list, it is because it is an ongoing process. Grant has now met a number of the people that I tell him about all the time, but there are still a couple that he has yet to meet. But at least now he will have a picture in his head of the people I talk about, and maybe next time I mention Geri or Neil or Shaina or Jess or Amy or Kate, he will have a picture in his head of the people I am talking about and won't have to ask "Who?"

1. Meeting my friends.
   As I said, it is an ongoing process. The more often we go out, the more people he will meet.
   
2. Exploring Cheongju.
   I still want to take him to Sandang-samsong. Since I haven't done the hike myself, I thought that it would be quite a nice thing to do together. I also still want to take him to see the flagpole (oh, the excitement, I know!) and explore the outlying areas such as Ochang, which might be on the cards for this weekend. We shall see.
   
3. Exploring Korean food.
   He has tried a bit of Korean food, but we must find more to try! Now that I have someone to go exploring with, I think we are going to try a number of the restaurants in my area which I have been too scared to venture into on my own.
   
4. Exploring Busan or Island Hopping.
   While we intend to spend this upcoming weekend in Cheongju or the outlying areas, the weekend after that will be spent either wandering around Busan and taking in the sights and sounds there, including at least one temple and possibly a boat ride, or going island hopping on the isles just off Incheon with the girls that we shared a room with last weekend. We are still in two minds about which we should do, since neither of us want to spend too much money and both sound equally appealing.