Day 3 – Emily teaches and we shop

We had to get up and out the door early today because we were headed to Emily’s school to be a part of her last day at camp! Em came all the way over to our hotel to meet us and take us back to her school (which is right across from where she lives!) So sweet of her to go out of her way for us. After a brief stop at her apartment, we arrived to school early, and Emily and I started working on making a cake. 

The subject of her summer camp this year was Cooking, and she wanted to give the kids an American cake at the end of the camp. We got the cake in the oven as camp was starting, and I made the frosting throughout the morning.

Once camp started, we all sat in the back of the classroom and watched her be Ms. Emily Teacher. It was wonderful! She worked with the kids on different cakes they could make (some were very silly) and then had them create their own cake. Some were pretty good like Jelly Cake, but some were very silly like Poison Cake and Thor Cake. After the kids presented their drawings, they took off for a break and Em frosted the cake and got it ready to go! I had fun with some of the girls drawing on the chalk board while the boys gathered around Pete and Andy trading Pokemon!

After we all ate the cake, the kids were allowed to ask us questions. They seemed to be focused mostly on Peter looking like Spiderman, and Andy’s beard. Some of the questions were quite funny. After Q&A time, Emily said that we could each play Uno with a group of four kids.

The entire classroom erupted with “I WANT SPIDERMAN!” It was HILARIOUS! Emily ended up having us rotate so that everyone got time with Spiderman.

The kids then cleaned up (yes, they have their own brooms and have to clean the classroom every day!) then we took a group photo and had to say goodbye to the kids. Emily took us on a tour of the rest of the school (their heating and a/c are under construction so everything is a big messy) and then we headed back to her apartment. We hung out there for a little bit regrouping before we headed off to Hongdae!

Emily's English classroom currently under construction

Where they make lunch

Emily's Desk!

Chillin' in her apartment (literally)

 

Hongdae is a very cool, chic place for the University kids to hang out in. The first stop was a late lunch (we were starving!) We had Chicken Galbi which was chicken, cabbage, sweet potato rice cake, cheese filled rice cake and green onions sautéed in a large pan, then cheese was poured around the outside. You grabbed the sautéed items and dipped them in the cheese. It was DELICIOUS!

After lunch we walked around and looked at the shops and saw a very talented street performer (this is where they hope to be noticed by someone in the industry), then headed over to a DOG CAFÉ! What a crazy, fun place.

Dogs everywhere. And they were all so sweet. They keep the place pretty clean, too. And you have to buy a drink when you’re there. We had vanilla lattes, chocolate lattes and green tea. It was a fun way to spend an hour while it poured outside!

After the dog café, we went to a place called Troubadours. As Emily put it “It’s a great place to find random English words on T-shirts.” It did not disappoint.

We ended up making a few purchases there. Then headed over to the Kakao store. They have made a store out of the Kakao emojis which is THREE STORIES TALL!! We purchased a few cute things, including a “Ryan” charging brick for Steve since he forgot his. I giggle at thinking how cute his charging brick will be when he heads of to Singapore for work!

After all the shopping, we caught a bus to Insadong. It’s an adorable area with the older, smaller houses turned into a long winding shopping and dining area. We went to one of Emily’s favorite café’s initially for drinks, but then just decided to stay for dinner. They served Thai food…like REAL Thai food! It was quite spicy, but beautifully prepared and presented.

We walked a bit through the Insadong area before heading back towards the hotel. Pete, Em and Andy went over to play a game at the PC Bong which is a gaming café and where Emily hangs out to play with the boys online all the time. And it’s right around the corner from our hotel! But then Em had to get home to pack and the boys came back after one game, because it’s late and our train is early-ish tomorrow!