Gwangju Vs. Gothenburg

The G-Town rivalry has begun. First, I guess I should inform you of the happenings in the last week. I left off on Monday morning where I spent a good portion of it sitting by the kitchen window, absorbing the beautiful natural sunlight, drinking coffee and internetting away. I suppose I will start off with one point for Gothenburg there, because in case you were unaware, I don't even have a kitchen you can sit in, let alone natural sunlight. Not that this amenity is exclusive to Sweden, but it definitely puts a damper on my current living situation.

After relaxing like that for a handful of hours we finally decided it was time to go to town and get our shop on. Or should I say, my shop on, since I was the one on a mission. Oh boy, it was love at first sight. The fashion in Gothenburg is obviously better than Minneapolis and definitely more diverse than Gwangju. Every store had a good variety of clothes and the crazier the better. Oh, and they also had MY SIZE! So, let's see, that's another two points for Gothenberg. Oh and sales galore, which I could give a point to Gothenburg for, but I'll let this one slide. Here's that lovely mall:

Next came lunch. I don't quite remember which lunch date this was, because there were two quite delicious ones. Both on lovely outdoor patios. OHHhh wait, I think that's another two points for Gothenburg. There is maybe one or two patio spots in Gwangju, neither are very cute nor as delicious. Anyways, on the first date we shared an amazingly tasty, huge and refreshing shrimp salad and a pasta. At the other, a Spanish restaurant, we shared a nice helping of pallela which made me want to literally die that day.

So, by the end of Monday I was already stuffed with an amazing meal and had purchased roughly 6 dresses, 2 pairs of shoes, 2 pairs of leggings, a sweater, and a cute hair bow. See below:

Tuesday was more relaxing, enjoying the day with some face masks and television shows (True Blood to be exact). We finally hit up the liquor store for some box wine and drank while we enjoyed these activities. By the time it was late evening we were off to meet up with Annie's friends and enjoy another night out on the town.

By Wednesday, more relaxing was due, and we headed down south to the rocky "beaches" for some sun bathing and sleeping. I should probably just stop and give Gothenburg another two points (sun bathing is acceptable and easily accessible).

What's the score now? I don't know, I'll figure that out later. I'm pretty sure that's all we did Wednesday, the days of nothingness seem to blend together. Also, if you're expecting any great sight seeing shots or cultural explorations of Gothenburg, you might as well quit reading now, or set your expectations low. I decided moments after landing that this vacation would be about me relaxing and shopping and drinking box wine with one of my best friends. Damn it was good too. But here's a few random shots of the city for you to enjoy:

Anyways, by Thursday we had an Art Show to go to. Annie's best friend in Sweden, Mailind, is an artist and had recently got a piece accepted at a gallery. There was a show/opening (I don't know what you call it?) and we were very excited to go. It was really cool and her piece was definitely one of the best. Another highlight of these events is unlimited free beer. Since all of us were on a budget we sat there for a few hours drinking, talking to some new people, and I eventually ended up meeting the gallery owner and Annie met some crazy old man.

Friday, was, you guessed it, more relaxing. I think we enjoyed some good pizza or something that I should give out points for. So, two more points for Gothenburg.

By Saturday we were able to leave the house again, and we went down to her friends house to cat sit and listen to records. This obviously was accompanied by wine and more good company and lasted well into the evening. One of Frederic's friends was having a clothing line release party not too far away so we decided to go there and show our support (without paying to get in). It was a crazy mix of people and it was really cool to see some good diversity again. Oh yeah, that's another point for Gothenburg.

Sunday, as you can imagine, was spent watching the first season of Mad Men, eating Pizza AND Indian Food, and sleeping all day. Damn life was good.

Monday, my final day, was sad. I got my last minute shopping in, sat in the park, met up with Annie's friends again and decided the most logical way to prepare for a flight that leaves at 6:00am Tuesday is to stay up all night drinking and crying. As you can imagine, the flight home was hell, but I'm here now, in one piece, and the all nighter was definitely worth it.

So. How many points does Gothenburg have? I counted 10, but I only skimmed. It's weird because I've spent the majority of this blog talking about how much I really love Korea and how great it is (and yes, some of its downfalls as well) but now after experiencing ANOTHER country, I'm starting to second guess. I think I may just be a bit Korea'd out after 7 months. Everything here is, well, so Korean. I'm also starting to see how little I've traveled and how much more there is out there that could interest me. Annie has been all over Europe (most of it anyways) and she says Sweden is the best, but she could be a bit biased. I don't know though, the architecture, the weather, the constant sunlight, the diversity, the English speaking abilities with cute Swedish accents, the clothes, the food, the awesome people I met. The list goes on. But I'll give Gwangju some credit too. I've met great friends here, I've lived very nicely for very little money, my job is good, and hell, what would I do without rice for lunch everyday?

I think it's fair to say the grass is always greener on the other side, especially if you're seeing that "other side" on a vacation. I hope to visit Sweden again, maybe even very soon. Tickets from Minneapolis are a third of what I paid to go from here. I really don't know what my plans are. I've pretty much secured a life in Korea for the next year and a half. I want to buckle down, see so much more of Asia, and hopefully return to Minneapolis with a plan that involves Europe after all of this. It's a good thing I named the blog Mobile Molly.