The United States is a Clown Named Big Head

This is what I looked like on actual Chuseok Day. Renae and I went to the amusement park in Seoul called Lotte World because it would be less crowded on the family gathering oriented holiday. There were still some lines, but from what I hear they were not comparable to the unbearable waits on some busier dates.

They rock Oktoberfest in Korea depending on where you are.


It is 'the thing' at Lotte World to where ears on your head. We didn't go on one of the only rides we waited in line for because we had an appointment time set up for another roller coaster before we got to ride. The other roller coaster was way cooler; "The French Revolution!" It was indoors and we did a loop over and around people on a walkway.

I took a picture of the picture the camera took of me on the coaster. This is, of course, strictly prohibited, but I pleaded ignorance and got a two photos off before they stopped me. This picture is slightly better than the last. I am still messing around with the camera a lot. The bitch is, sometimes, there's no time to adjust settings.

This is about 1/3 of the amusement park. It is muti-leveled inside and there is a large island outside.

They have a magic castle too.


Again, not a great picture, but I was on an escalator and didn't want to go all the way back up and down again. They have countries from around the world represented with their flags and a cartoon character. The United States is a clown named Big Head. All the other countries were pretty dignified in comparison; the Big Head stands alone.

I spent the last hour of my time at Lotte World at a crane game trying to win a stuffed animal. The crane games suck here but I thought I might get lucky. Well on Renae's go at it, the machine malfunctioned and gave us infinite turns. We tried every animal in the cage. One was moving so we tried to edge it towards the hole. We did this for about an hour, then it was time for Lotte World to close and we were very hungry. I have never been so frustrated in my life. I know that I have not learned my lesson and still will try at these impossible crane games until a miracle happens. I will keep you posted...



We had off the day after Chuseok also. It was a Wednesday that felt like 3 Sundays combined. Winding down from a looooong weekend, Renae and I went out for a relaxing day and ended our Chuseok at a jazz club called Once in a Blue Moon. It was the perfect ending for the busy break.

This was in a really high class area. I saw some street art outside of an Armani store. There are a lot of designer stores and high class automobile retailers there. I am not sure if it is an advertisement or a satire but the stencil has a registered "r" on it:



Also in the area was the world's largest tribute to something a few of us at Rutgers invented known as the "1-up." I post these pictures for their pleasure.


Also I found a place to invest all the money I make while I am here:

With a name like that, how could I go wrong? Maybe one day, just for fun...



Updates on other things since then:


Mad for Garlic is a restaurant that has nothing but amazing garlic dishes! Everything was so good. Also the walls are decorated in garlic. There was even a wreath of garlic!

...and ice in their toilets??!



Blue lights are serious.


A creepy outside of a restaurant:




In this version of dodge ball, apparently the opposing team gets to have some people surrounding the other team! Awesome!

When I rule the world this will be the flag:

The Earth will be called Crazy Pepper and everyone will eat awesome spicy food.



A mega crowded hip-hop club.

A not-so-crowded hip-hop club next door to the crowded one.



This picture is from Renae's window. A woman dries peppers on her roof. When I walk down the street there are people who just lay them out on the side of the road. I wouldn't know what to do with so many. Some people do; there is an amazing condiment here: red pepper paste. I love it. I can't get enough of it. It is my wildest flavonoid's dreams come true.

I am gonna go get me some of that pepper paste. Next time I will update all of you on the international drum festival they had here a couple of weeks ago and more!