Screen Golf

Last week we went screen golfing! This is hard core virtual golf. They give you sets of clubs and you get to pick your course and level (easy, normal, hard). You can also drink and some places you can eat.

Screen golfing is super popular in Korea. There aren't many golf courses in Korea because they just don't have the space. And those courses that do exist are very expensive to get into.
South Korean Golf Courses
In fact, at least one of the courses I looked at had a maximum handicap to play. So terrible players like Shannon and I could never get in. There is an abundance of driving ranges and screen golf though.

For a mere 12,000W you can play 18 holes of screen golf.

Here's a short video of Shannon finishing a hole of screen golf. By finishing I mean this is his last stroke before he makes double par and the game kicks him out.


WARNING! I say F*c% at the 9second mark. Not safe for work or kiddies unless you have the volume turned down or you skip that part.

Poor Shannon, Doug and I were making fun of him. But I chose this video because it shows how cool the setup is. Shannon's got a real club, he presses a button to have it set up the ball for him. It's got cameras and sensors so it knows which way the ball went. It really runs into the tree that's in Shannon's way. And it penalizes him if he goes out of bounds (which is how Shannon had gotten to the double par at this point).



If you're interested in more information about Korean golf, these articles are pretty interesting. (Though I'm sure not as entertaining as us mocking Shannon.)

Virtual Reality Golf in Korea
Korea's mixture of golf and culture truly a world apart.
Korean Golf Association

I stumbled across these articles while looking at South Korea information.... Bizarre...
North Korea to Hold Golf Contest - April 30th
And then in conclusion:
Review and Pics
4 Days ago....

Would I go Screen Golfing again? Probably, but I like the real thing a lot better. Too bad I don't meet that Max Handicap by any means. :D

A Typical Korean Lunch (4/12/11)

At least at the little place down the street.

All the little side dishes are very typical. Kimchi is served with everything. I decided I don't like Kimchi (I can eat it if I have to without gagging, but if I have a choice I won't), but strangely enough I love Kimchi soup.

Everything is spicy. Even the stuff Koreans say is not spicy is a little spicy. I'm pretty sure Laura Dierks would die over here. :)

I tried everything at this setting. I really really liked the Bean Paste soup, until Shannon made a joke about being careful not to accidentally eat a fish head (up until this point I hadn't realized there were fish heads in my soup) I immediately imagined doing just that and my stomach flipped. This was after two full bowls of soup. Shannon laughingly showed me that I couldn't "accidentally" eat a fish head, they're too big. That calmed me down and I'd happily eat it again.... just the idea of accidentally crunching on a little fish head gave me the willies.

I've actually knowingly and willingly ate entire little fish (see the dried fish in sauce side dish), I didn't like them, but I did it!

Koreans get really excited about how "fresh" a meal is, so everything has very strong flavors one way or another. The fish tastes very fishy. The greens taste very green. Etc.

This meal, despite all the stuff that sounds bad about it, was really good, I was hungry and made Shannon sit there while I ate a ton. I especially liked the Sombop which you wrap, with rice and other toppings, in the fresh leaves, seaweed or pickled cabbage. Yum!

All this (Cokes included) cost us about 14,000W (about $14)

Food aside, we're sitting cross-legged on the floor. (My legs typically go numb after about 20 minutes of this and I have to change positions, but native Koreans can stay this way forever I'm pretty sure). We're also not wearing shoes, having taken those off in the entry way with everyone else. For silverware we have chopsticks and spoons. That's a big burner in the middle of the table, it can either keep your food warm or cook your food there in front of you, depending on what you order. 

We order bottles (glass) of coke with every meal, the only other thing to drink is rice/starch tea. 

We ordered Sombop and Bean Paste Soup.

This is a very local/rural place and we get stared at a lot when we go in here. Silly Mi-guks(americans)! There is no menu (as far as I can tell), you just have to know what you're ordering. 

Every meal is still an adventure to me. We have some fast food in the apartment (frozen pizzas, etc), but I still haven't gone real grocery shopping. So the current challenge is trying to figure out menus if there's no pictures and keeping ourselves from tipping (which is considered rude).

PS. Eventually I'm going to get to all those other topics I swear!

Winterization

A lot of people say you can winterize your own home, after seeing what it would have taken to do it ourselves, I'm glad we didn't. If I'm satisfied by the service will be determined if I have no leaks in a couple years when we return.

Before we began winterization though, West View water came out to shut off our water service. They turned off the water inside the house, removed our meter, and shut off the water at the street. Also, the serviceman took the time to explain how the plumbers would need to drain the water between the house and the street.

Then Roto Rooter came to winterize our house. We got John and Pete who are brothers and have obviously been doing this (plumbing) for a long time.

Here's what they did to winterize:

1. Drained all our Radiators and left them open (they'll need to be closed when we come back)
2. Drained all our pipes by turning on all faucets and running them till dry.
3. Drained our Hot Water Tank
4. Drained the boiler and the expansion tank
5. Put RV antifreeze in all the toilets and in all the sinks/tubs. Anything with a water trap.
6. Drained the line from the street.

This all took about 2.5 hours and cost us $357.68.

Shannon thinks I was overcharged because I am a woman alone. I have no idea if that's true or not since no one ever says how much things cost I have nothing to compare it to.

John and Pete were courteous and clean. They walked me through the house after to make sure they had gotten everything.

One odd thing: John pulled me aside to tell me he had heard there are copper thieves in the area. Like as in stealing my pipes?? That seems unlikely to me, I don't think there's enough copper in my pipes to tempt anyone to try to get past the security system. Nonetheless, when I talk to the police today to let them know our house will be vacant I will tell them that John mentioned this. If John didn't seem pretty disabled I would suspect him of potential copper theft if only because he seemed to think it would be worth it to break in to get my pipes....

When we get back to the states in a couple of years, I'll edit this post to let you know if I was completely satisfied (as in there are no leaks!)

The boiler being drained!