Hwangeum Matiz!!! Ouch!!!

No this post isn't something about Germany, though now looking at the title my own first assumption would be that it is. There are so many quirky things about Korea, but the one that I really love is this interactive game that I now love to play with my boyfriend.

Walking together one day I saw one of those new stretched out looking buggies. You know... The ones that volkswagon decided to make to appeal more to men, because they felt their traditional looking ones were too hmmm... "girlie"?  Yeah. I sort of don't care for the new look. But anyways back to my story and reason for this post.

Stretched out Beetle. Horrible.

True buggy

Now there are virtually NO volkswagon beetles in Korea. In fact anything other than Hyundai, Kia, and the occasional Toyota, along with a variation of completely foreign vehicles which I cannot even name because even google doesn't hold the answers for when I search it, any American vehicle is a rare sight. So when I saw this stretched out ugly black buggy backing up in front of us, I instinctively threw my hand out and punched my boyfriend's arm "BLACK PUNCH BUGGY!!!!" Man it felt so good too. Haha.



But after I had my small moment of victory from winning at this old traditional but quirky American game of our own, I saw my boyfriend looking at me with the most puzzled look.  Always have to remind myself "Dorothy you're not in Kansas anymore." After I explained my reason for whipping my hand out at him and shouting like a mad woman in utter chaos after doing so, I sulked thinking it was something that we wouldn't be able to share in playing much, because of the lack of buggies in Korea, even horrible stretched out ones.

"Hey, we have something like that too." My eyes lit up to these words. He went on and explained to me that instead of a buggy, they have these vehicles called Matiz. They're these really tiny funky looking cars that look like they belong with the smart car family.... Almost. The game is played by hitting the other person (or people) your with ONLY when you see a Gold one. Upon seeing this vehicle and hitting the person, you say "Hwan-Geum Matiz" (황금 마팆) literal translation is "Golden Matiz".

Golden Matiz model 

Since being introduced to this game, it's become our favorite couple prank on each other. Sometimes we even hit each other saying "Hwangeum Matiz" and really there is no such thing. We do it just because. So for any future visits to Korea or if you are already here and want to keep the punch buggy  game alive, just make a small adjustment to your game and keep your eyes out for this funny looking little car.There's plenty of them. :D

Korean Motels- Hotels (Vlog #19)

With my hefty work days, my required 15 hours under the TALK program fill up pretty fast leaving me with four day weekends. You can imagine that I'd been to quiet a few motels as each weekend I've made strides to travel and explore this land. Okay.... So what...? You sleep in a lot of motels. Well the thing is that staying in a motel here is actually a rather different kind of experience than any motel stay back in the USA.

Here guests are accommodated with the whole standard bed, bathroom, television, and night stand... I've yet to find a bible. But what is beyond the standards is what left me to believe that my very first motel room was essentially already occupied. Hair brushes, lotions, full bars of soap, large shampoo and conditioner containers, bathroom shoes and the regular sized tube of toothpaste left within the room. Did the hotel master make a mistake?

Answer is: no.