South Korea Trip, August 10

Good morning Gangnam!  The forecast for today calls for rain in the morning and some sunshine in the afternoon.  The temperature today is a high of 27°C (81°F).

I am looking forward to this streak of rainy weather to end.

Today's Agenda

I am up early this morning because I have plans!  I have hired a tutor to help me to learn the language more quickly.  I will be meeting her at a nearby metro station to study for a couple of hours.  Then I will go on adventures despite the rain.

• Meet my Korean tutor at Gangnam Station
• Visit Old Banana Company
• See what's special about the Grand Children's Park
• Eat at "어린이대공원맛집" (inspiration)
• Write LEGGO News Article about TRI.BE's Album

Today's Experiences

I almost did everything on my list today!  Unfortunately, I am tired and have not written the LEGGO News article about the new songs that ELLY produced yet.  I will do that tomorrow.  I had a full day already.

Korean Tutor

I went to Starbucks this morning, my chosen place to meet my Korean tutor.  Side note: the Starbucks here is much better than it is in the USA!

My tutor arrived on time and met me.  Her name is 희서 (Hweeseo).  She is in college for international studies.  She will be teaching me Korean for two hours a day every weekday this week.

After being in South Korea for a week, I've realized that a few of my phrases need polished, and it would be good to learn more useful phrases.  I brought this up to my friend 다인 (Da-in), and she found me a tutor.

In addition to improving my Korean language skills, 희서 is also helping me to understand some of the social niceties.  For example, she explained when to wait to be seated versus taking your own seat at a restaurant.

Visit Old Banana Company

After returning from my Korean studies and getting cleaned up, I went to visit the old Banana headquarters.  Banana Entertainment is the company that managed EXID until mid-2019.  Because it is no longer their company, I felt like it wouldn't be intrusive to go visit it.

Interestingly, the address that Banana listed on their website is a golf cart parts shop.  Banana has a history of doing silly things, so I'm not surprised.  Thankfully, I have a friend that knows their correct address.

It's just another building.  I'm glad that I visited the place, but it didn't interest me as much as I thought that it would.  However, there was a very pretty park just a block away.

The park extended farther than where I explored.  I think that the trail goes all the way to Namsan Tower.  That is on top of a mountain, and I didn't feel like climbing a mountain today, so I did not explore the entire park.

Grand Children's Park

On my way to dinner, I glimpsed the Grand Children's Park.  I don't know if there anything significant about it, but I'm curious about why it comes up so often near my destinations.  The entrance looks nice, so maybe I can find a website with more information later.

VENEZ Trip 2

My goal was to eat at "어린이대공원맛집", but my Korean language skills failed me, and the restaurant that I wanted to go to was actually VENEZ -- again!  It seems that this is one of Hyelin's favorite restaurants, because this is the second post about it that I followed to the place.

The food this time was even more amazing than the first time!

It's very cool how careful, methodical, and precise the cooks are.  The wine is measured on a scale, each mint leaf is examined under a light, and it took them a full three minutes to scoop out the icecream in the exact way that they wanted to.  I am very impressed with how much attention to detail they have.

I think that VENEZ is my favorite restaurant here so far too.  I can see why Hyelin likes it so much.