At the advice of their relationship counselor, Heeseung and Igor went separate ways this weekend in an effort to restore their strained relationship. Igor went to a 4-star hotel and spa in Europe, while Heeseung chose the cheaper route and stayed in Korea, and ended up going to Nabae Island on a trip with students from different Korean universities.

Because of the exclusivity of the hotel and spa Igor went to, he's not permitted to reveal any details about his trip, so this entry will consist of Heeseung's trip, although Igor is sure it was considerably less impressive than his own.

Heeseung's trip began Thursday night in Sinchon, where Heeseung and her trip's five-member team met to gather some last minute supplies for their four-day, three-night trip. Post-Grand Mart, they met up with the rest of the 60-something people going on the trip and took a six hour bus, followed by a 1.5 hour boat ride (during which lots of Korean games that involved a lot of hitting as punishment for losing were played), and, finally, their arrival to Nabae Island, land of many mosquitoes. And old people. 

The small island is sparsely populated and has yet to be touched with the more recent advances in modern technology; the people on the island communicate en masse via loudspeaker. Yes, loudspeaker.

Heeseung stayed in a no-longer-in-use three-classroom schoolhouse with limited supplies of water and old-school, rural-style toilets. 

Filled with trepidation and determined not to use the bathroom for the duration of the trip, Heeseung (and the rest of the students) began Friday, their first day on the island, as soon as they touched ground with work, landscaping around the school and freshening it up. And it needed a lot of freshening up. Really, a lot. Although the work was long and the sun was hot, the day closed with a midnight walk along the sea and much bonding over several bottles of soju and much drunken singing.

The second day on Nabae consisted of an early morning (or so Heeseung was told; however, even after being removed from her sleeping bag, it was still several hours later before she could be considered actually awake), more work, a pig slaughtering (by far the freshest and hairiest pig meat Heeseung has ever had) and feast with the islanders (an announcement was made via loudspeaker for the people on the island to gather for the start of the feast), and more drunken revelry before falling asleep in the wee hours of the morning.

The third, and last, day on the island began miserably with yet another early morning (there's a trend here, you may notice, all involving a severe lack of sleep), last minute packing and cleaning, and then it was back to Seoul, although most of the members of the trip met for one last meal together before parting ways.

In all, this weekend can be considered a success: Heeseung saw a completely different Korea and met lots of Korean students (while communication was at times difficult, it was by no means impossible, and there are plans in the making to meet again soon), while Igor got the most divine mud bath and shell shine at the hotel and spa and is also soon to have new members in his posse, handpicked from Heeseung's new friends. And when Igor says members of his posse, he really means minions under his control. Just kidding. But not really.

Igor is out for the night (must get sufficient sleep according to his beauty regiment after all), so this is Heeseung clocking in for the night.

As usual, this post comes at a time when Heeseung should be doing homework and cannot concentrate and thus needs an outlet with which she can distract herself.

On second thought, because Igor is currently not around dictating this post to Heeseung, Heeseung believes it is suitable for her to talk in the first person for this post.

And thank god. I was going crazy writing down everything Igor was saying. I mean, really-- being told by a turtle what to do all the time? Not cool, my friends. Not cool. And to those of you who may have hinted that I was treating Igor poorly-- how little you know. He may look cute and small on the outside, but he's actually lethal. And he knows seven different kinds of martial arts.

Anyway, this post is just to mark a momentous occasion: My decision to use ALL KOREAN ALL THE TIME (on behalf of Igor, of course). Which is what I should have been doing anyway, but I looked around today and realized I was using English a lot more than I intended (ah, the cons of having American friends in a foreign city), so I'm making an effort to start using more Korean, no matter how weird it feels, no matter how closed in I feel, I will do it! I hope.

Aside from using Korean (or, you know, trying to) when talking to Christine, whom I live with, and my cousin, who understands English really well, I've taken additional steps to practice more Korean by switching both my facebook and my iPod into Korean. This was a brilliant move, or so I thought ... until I got an error on my iPod that I couldn't be bothered to read, so I just Xed out of it. Oh well, here's to hoping it wasn't important.

I also may have perhaps started watching Korean dramas, although I will never say! Although I know Eliot would be proud (but on second thought, maybe if he knew the kinds of dramas I am or am not currently watching, he would cease to be so proud).

Oh, but alas! Igor is stirring! Clearly, I was typing too loudly. And so I must end this here and steal away into the night before Igor discovers this post. 

However, if you're in the mood for some reading and this wonderful, fascinating blog is not enough for you, check this out. There are a lot of interesting stories there and the blog is maintained by a fellow Yalie. Igor is still asleep, but I know if he were here right now, dictating to me, he would be jealous his stories aren't as interesting as the one on the AIMS blog. But don't worry, Igor. You're special in your own green way.

(As an addendum to Igor's last post-- after visiting another club in Hongdae, it has been determined that not all clubs are strange; just some. Although cultural differences still exist aplenty. However, Igor did not go to this last club, either, and thus he must never know that his entourage went off without him -- again -- as we all suffered the consequences last time. I won't get too graphic here, but we'll just say there was a lot of hard labor and groveling involved.)

Igor has been very cranky lately because it has been raining. While the rain is a welcome change, it has made Korea no less humid. Or hot. Igor has been in a very terrible mood although he wishes for Heeseung to retract that statement now or else there will be dire consequences later.

Heeseung will pretend she didn't hear Igor and will now move onto what Igor has been doing for the past several days. Igor visited what is perhaps the finest kalguksu/kaljabi (a mix of kalguksu and sujabi) restaurant establishment in all of Korea. O.K., he actually doesn't know that for sure, but since Igor went there, it must be good. Igor has very good taste.

It's a hole-in-the-wall sort of place, as many Korean restaurants are, and a little grungy, as many Korean restaurants are, and during the working day around lunchtime, there's usually a long line. Igor approves.

Once Heeseung started school, Igor began eating around Sinchon, which is where the school is approximately located, accompanied by the rest of his entourage imported from Yale. They speak Korean for Heeseung when she fails to do her job properly. Igor doesn't even know why he hired Heeseung as his handler sometimes since she's basically useless.

(special guest appearances by members of the entourage: Will eating jjajjangmyun and Christine-- you'll be seeing more of her later)

Aside from being annoyed with the rain, heat, and humidity, Igor has been annoyed with Heeseung because he feels as though she has been neglecting her job with him and has instead been focusing too much on school, although she would like to remind him that she is taking Korean classes on his behalf and while she's sorry she's been getting know her classmates better (which is forcing her to use more Korean, but is taking time away from Igor), she would also like to remind Igor that that's bound to be an inevitable consequence of taking classes. Igor says regardless, it is unacceptable, as is the fact that Heeseung has been experiencing too much of Seoul without him. This is HIS trip, after all, and obviously going out and doing things without him, like watching movies (without him) and going out to eat (without him) and clubbing (without him) would be boring (without him).

Actually, Igor is really quite angry now that he remembers how his entourage snuck off to a club in Hongdae late Friday night after he fell asleep (the doctor prescribes 14 hours of sleep a night for maximum beautification and a healthy, shiny shell). After meeting up in Sinchon, the group went to a club and experienced a significant amount of culture shock at the electro club, which involved lots of awkward, solitary dancing confined to one's own personal bubble. After a few hours, the group, tired out, needed to refuel and grabbed some late-night ddukbokgi, labokgi, and ramen. Feeling refreshed, the entourage moved onto a noraebang until the wee hours of the morning where more than one person, Heeseung included, may have fallen asleep while others merrily sang their hearts out accompanied by tambourines, maracas, and air guitar. Actually, Heeseung must stop her description of this night now as Igor has grown quite livid as he recalls the humiliating experience of being excluded from such revelries, not that he wanted to go at all in the first place, but still.

In any case, Heeseung must cut the post off here so she can do her homework, which she has a lot of once again (apparently Sogang is sometimes known as Sogang High School for the copious amounts of homework it assigns). However, Igor has made Heeseung promise to update more faithfully, as his adoring fans implore him to (Christina, Patrick-- Igor's looking at you).

And so until then, Igor bids thee all adieu.

The past few days have been busy and hot, hot, hot. Igor had been spending his days sleeping in small patches of shade (that is, before the rain came), although now Heeseung no longer knows what Igor is up to because classes have started as of this past Monday and Igor likes to stay mysterious.

Igor may or may not be a little jetlagged still; he refuses to say to maintain his image as small, dark, and green. However, for his first week in Korea, at least, it has been revealed that Igor enjoys staying up at night and seeing the city, reserving the days sleeping. His late-night travels have shown Seoul to be a very bright city. There are no stars at night.

Igor has been very busy sleeping, eating, wandering, and no one knows what else, although, after being reminded that the purpose of this blog is to document his travels (and with the help of a small bribe), Igor has agreed to share some of his journeys after all. And so, seven plates of ddukbokgi later, Igor has revealed some more of his nightly wanderings, including:

• a quiet Buddhist temple, surrounded by the noise of the city and bright high-rise buildings
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• the last respects for former Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun during the national seven-day mourning period
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• and, no less intense, a noraebang, where Igor may or may not have sang "Sk8ter Boi", in addition to copious amounts of Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears.
  
  
  
  
  
  (special guests: Tiffany, John, and Will)

However, as it is, such journeys must come to an end (or at least, a temporary halt) with the beginning of classes, as Heeseung has become too busy to escort Igor places, and he finds walking on his own to be quite tedious. Currently, Heeseung is most involved not in any actual classwork, but deciding whether to take level 3 or level 4 Korean classes, so she may better aid Igor, of course. Level 3 is somewhat easy, although not so easy Heeseung can't learn anything from it, while level 4 is somewhat hard, which Heeseung forsees will require a very significant amount of self study to try and keep up with the others.

But more importantly, Igor has become unhappy with how the post has veered off topic and become about Heeseung and would like to remind Heeseung that it is all about him. Unfortunately, Heeseung must finish her homework which she was procrastinating on, and while the idea of saving the assignments for the train ride to school tomorrow is tempting, Heeseung feels like that would not be a good idea, and thus does not have time to rewrite this entry.