Roboseyo graciously allowed the Lady in Red and I to host February's 2S2 event - something I'm proud to say went ahead very well. Our first stop was The Swing for a beginner's lesson in swing dancing - something that might come in very handy later.

Before long, the ten of us made our way to A Twosome Place - where every 2S2 meets - for some excellent coffee and conversation.

The first major highlight was 마나님 - an excellent restaurant in Samcheong-dong known for its fermented food.



OK, so the 싸실보쌈 wasn't fermented, but most of the side dishes were:



Next stop: the Ice Gallery just down the road.



It's comprised of both an ice gallery to walk through and a room for ice carving. The ice gallery is best visited first:



You can walk through the area fairly quickly, but take advantage of everything there is to see:



Slide! Slide! Slide!



A few carved scenes showed a more traditional view of Korea, albeit one made of ice.

Next stop - ice carving:



Before letting loose with the chisels, however, a friendly guide shows us how to carve this big ice cube into a mug or a wine glass. Even though she demonstrated the process in a mere three minutes, we took a bit longer to carve our creations.



Once finished, the staff rinsed our mugs / cups off, poured in some orange soda, and handed out the straws. If you're so inclined you can get your creation packaged up to take home with you, or just leave it on the counter and say thanks.

Our last stop was returning to The Swing (near Sinsa station) for some swing dancing. Although attendance was a bit lighter than normal due to the holidays, everyone that went ended up having fun.

Next month's 2S2 will be under Rob's hand again - save March 13th on your calendar.

© Chris Backe - 2010

This post was originally published on my blog, Chris in South Korea. If you are reading this on another website and there is no linkback or credit given, you are reading an UNAUTHORIZED FEED.

The Chosun Ilbo is showing Paris Hilton resplendent in hanbok, navigating chopstick use and posing with Korean stars. I have to admit, as much as the thought baffles me the woman is rocking the hell out of that hanbok. Fail for the article: the second time 'hanbok' is mentioned it's misspelled as "handbook."

...I never ever thought I'd blog about Paris Hilton, let alone in a positive light but there you go. There is a first for everything.

Foreigners are used to paying more than the locals when they travel. It's a fact of life when it comes to buying knickknacks, taxis and eating out. However, should it be the same for medical services? Today's Korea Times wrote an article about the fact that major medical hospitals are overcharging foreigners for their services. Read this disturbing tidbit:

However, the majority of hospitals claim that foreigners are not subject to the Medical Law. And if their argument is correct, foreigners cannot be protected from malpractice and other legal risks.

Expert say that two-tier pricing may also violate the Fair Trade Law, which stipulates that unfair or discriminatory deals can be punished by a fine of up to 2 percent of the gross sales.

The article mainly focuses on two implications: how this will affect the budding medical tourism economy and how this system will encourage hospitals to develop better care for the rich at the price of social welfare/access for the poor and middle class. The line about the legal implications for medical malpractice is particularly disturbing. How can Korea hope to attract high class medical tourists if it doesn't adhere to OECD level regulations protecting their investment in their body?

Now, I agree that hospitals running international clinics who have higher costs involved with getting multilingual receptionists, translators and doctors should be allowed to charge a little extra. However, this article talks about hospital care treating foreigners as a whole, insured or not, international clinics or not. Here is an implication that the article doesn't touch upon: what about affordable care for people on working visas? Why should we be subject to the tourist prices when in fact we are contributing members of society?


And for your daily Alex is a spaz update: last night I burned my thumb on my bibimbap bowl when trying to move my water glass out of the way. I now have an extremely attractive blister on the knuckle of my thumb. Go me!