Buy Rose Market - Central Park

Buy Rose 

Central Park Dongtan

Directions:

It's right across from Central Park at the first intersection

The store will be on the side not facing Central Park. It's a small shop so you could probably miss it pretty easily.

This is the view from the Park side. So it's directly across from the park but still it's hidden from the front. So you just have to look closely. 

So I apologize I forgot to take a clear picture of the front of the shop! But this is what it looks like from the inside! ^^

As I said pretty small on the inside  but they have a decent assortment of cheeses! I bought some bacon here! The good American hickery smoked. YUM

They've got your chocolate needs covered as well. 

CAMPBELL'S SOUP! Needless to say I went to town on the tomato soup! Also they have a nice Japanese section. 

Here is the cracker/cookie section. Nice little variety good on.

CHEESE AND BUTTA ... and drinks

Beer!! The good kinds too! haaha blueee mooon~

Teas, jams, sauces oh my!

cookieeeess

Better view of the good stuff! Cheese, meats, sausage, butter! My mouth is watering!

This is what I bought! I spent so much he threw in some honey butter chips! haha He was super nice! 

Overall:

Not a bad place for foreign foods, even though you can find some of the things are home plus. This was a bit expensive but what foreign food isn't expensive here. It also sure beats going to Itaewon! 

I will definitely be back for other goodies! 

What's one thing you wish you could have at the foreign mart?

xoxo

J. Greene

Korean Dating Rituals

Hello all, 

I haven't posted in a while and a lot has happened! I went to America for 10 days for my summer vacation and I have a new boyfriend! I know before I posted a pretty grim and unpleasing post about dating in Korea, but I am here to tell you that there is indeed hope for foreigners! 

Korean dating is like a bad episode of legends of the hidden temple, you just cant all the get all the pieces together at the right time. They are either really hot with 0 personality or mildly good looking with perverted intentions.

I actually met my boyfriend at Ultra Music Festival Korea in the front row. I honestly didn't think anything of it as he asked to see my princess wand. After taking pictures and dancing around we traded kakao id's and I figured that was it. Weeks later we met up to do some local shopping in Hongdae and a lunch date turned into an all day affair. Now we've been together for a bit and things have been going really well. hehe

There are some things to get used to when dating a Korean man. 

1.  Anniversaries by the 100's. Every 100 days Korean couples celebrate! 100, 200, 300... and so on. It's a bit different but honestly I think it's kind of cute. Also friends will give you cheonwon or a 100 won coin as a way to say congrats.

2. Couple rings. My boyfriend and I are approaching our 100 day anniversary so he asked me about couple rings. I know this is an ultra Korean thing, but I like it. They are small reminders and tokens of cuteness. So friends and family I am not engaged we are just celebrating our relationship with rings! ^^

3. Getting stared at. People practically breaking their necks to get a good stare at the foreigner and her Korean man. I would be lying if I told you it doesn't bother me. I know I am not anywhere near Korean sized but the stares my boyfriend and I get are a little out of control. I'm not sure if other foreigner/korean couples have experienced this but IT'S RUDE! 

4. THE PARENTS (dun dun dunnnnnn)
part 1.
Sunday's at mom's house and you aint invited. 
My boyfriend's family live in Incheon and he's currently going to Hongik University. So he will leave my place early Sunday morning go and hang out with his family then go back go his dorms at night. But I have found that Korean parents keep a strong hold of their children. Like today, we were supposed to go to an exhibit today but his mother called and demanded he come home for lunch. He said okay sure so he left reluctantly. Just be prepared for the demands of a Korean family.

part 2.
You will not be meeting parents anytime soon.
I am not all about meeting parents but most of my exes have met and had a functioning relationship with my parents. My boyfriend has met my father via skype and my whole  family knows of him. His sister knows me as his friend from America and that's the extent. He lies to his parents about where he goes and who's he's with. I told him as long as he doesn't lie to me we're good. haha Korean's will not tell their parents about their significant other until it's time for marriage.

5. With the quickness. Korean's tend to jump in whole heartedly when it comes to relationships. No matter who your dating it takes off fast. I'll be honest I was scared and had to consult with my Korean love guru Karla. I'm glad I let my guard down and just let it happen. I'm the happiest I've been in a REALLY long time. 

All in all your girl never gives up and I'm glad I didn't. I've met a guy that I'm completely comfortable around. We watch adventure time, eat rice and kimchi, and occasionally burp in the name of love.

The moral of the story is never give up on love. It may find you in the strangest places....

xoxo

Bitten by the love bug

Dating in Korea

I have honestly did a lot of research before I left the states about dating and some of the positives and negatives that come with it. 

Well now that I have 5~6 months here under my belt and some "experiences" I believe I semi qualified to write about it. 

Through hours of tedious observations and personal experience with friends and their experiences, it seems that Korea handles foreign men much better than women. But let me explain my reasoning behind this.

Now this is just MY opinion and what I have observed so please take this as you may. 

A few friends know but I recently started dating a korean guy. Nice guy, english was pretty poor but he was nice on the eyes. We were going strong 1 month in then he started getting distant. Now I knew what was coming I just figured lets see what the reason is.... After I let him blame it on the Korean worth ethic of men I simply rolled my eyes and we kept talking. Then the talking stopped. I used my handy dandy Esther Unnie at school to help me see what his deal was and this is what I got back...

"Things will never work out for us because you are from America"

"We are culturally too different to understand one another"

This one really stung...

"I cannot marry you because you are a foreigner...."

Needless to say my feelings were hurt and but unfortunately there is truth to his reasoning. Sure it hurt and best believe I was pissed but now I kind of understand why. I am American sure thats obvious but the fact that there are so many foreigners especially women coming in and out of this country it's hard to maintain long lasting relationships. 

Now I'm not saying this means you wont find a good Korean man to take home to your parents, but I'm just saying it's a little more difficult considering our jobs, at a hogwon or a public school only last so long. Home sickness, life, and other opportunities pull you in different directions so you never know where you may end up. 

I have also observed that it seems culturally acceptable to have a "white guy" or foreigner boyfriend here. As I walked through Hongdae today (near Hongik University) They were out in numbers. White guys with Korean girls and I barely saw any Korean men with white girls. Actually I only saw 1 couple. Which to me, the odds seem a bit off. I have also heard from my other foreign friends that they do not like Korean men so that could also be the reason too but who knows. 

In closing, this has just been personal experience and observations and merely just my opinion. If you have any insight I'd love to hear it! I have not given up hope on my dream of one day having Mexican/Korean babies lulz. The dream is alive but I'm just more aware of what my come in the future. 

Much love to everyone 

xoxo

Greene.

Hongdae Foodie

So Saturday was pretty busy for me! But that doesn't mean I stayed in! Karla, Sarah and I definitely had a foodie/drinky kinda evening. 

Heading out of station 9 in Hongdae to start our night!

((San Antonio REPPIN'))

Gusto Tacos - Hongdae 

This was pretty delicious!

 Sure it's not exactly Tex-Mex but it still satisfied the tortilla craving. The handmade corn tortillas were delicious! This is carne asada and it was awesome having a good ole Dos XX. 

After this Sarah and I took down another tortilla each haha it was just too good to pass up! 

After that we walked up and down the strip because Sarah wanted to take us to this one place that has amazing pizza and subzero ice cream. 

I took a picture of this building just because it was visually interesting. Im not sure what it is but it's cool looking haha So after getting a little lost we finally found the pizza place!

Coyote Saloon - Hongdae

This is my white russian drink and we tore up some 4 cheese pizza. It was a little on the pricey side but there were 3 of us so we split it evenly so it didn't make it too bad. The restaurant was pretty cute it was up on the 2nd floor and made for some good people watching. 

After this it was time for my first Hongdae club experience.

Not going to lie I was a little nervous because I haven't been out out since I was in college so I figured this was going to be an experience haha 

We went to Papa Gorilla's near Cocoon and it was pretty fun. It's funny to see the girls dancing here because they dance with their hands its pretty cute.

The night was a lot of fun it was good to get out and blow off some steam from the week! 

Hope everyone had a great week end and I hope you enjoy your Sunday!

xoxo

Greene