Airpark Hotel Incheon

One of my Planning professors always said the best way to get to know a<br>city is to walk its streets. If that's the case, Incheon and I should<br>be good friends by now. Yesterday morning I left my apartment with no<br>particular destination in mind. I wandered past the nearby open market,<br>past my school, down wide arterial roads and up narrow, sloping side<br>streets, on quiet paths and bustling sidewalks, past temples and ...

... completely surrounded by a saturation of Buddhist countries, would be the perfect place to enhance my understanding. <br><br>Well, it wasn't until after I got here that Iearned Korea's population is primarily Christian. Regardless, my exerience at the Lotus Lantern International Meditation Center gave me a nice taste of life as a monk and a better perception of Buddhism as a whole. <br><br>The rules at a temple are no where as strict as I had envisioned. Well, at least not ...

... money, which was surprisingly dirty, but it was really nice all the same. Later on we were given the customs papers, and he was having trouble so I did his for him. He was very thankful.<br><br>On this trip, it's been like playing a whole heap of charades for a month. It's been fun, but I'm looking forward to getting back to Australia where you don't need to act out your sentences :P

... taking at certain points, no even standing up in the bus at certain points. Learned a bit of history about occupation of the Korean peninsula and the Korean war. South Korea never signed the armistice in the Korean war. The countries that signed are the USA, China, and North Korea. That being the case, the DMZ on the south side is officially managed by the United Nations Command, of ...

... of space everywhere. The guy next to me pointed out this amazing bridge which goes from Incheon to the mainland and spans across 5kms of ocean!! So I've been here for 18 hours and it's pretty cool. There are heaps of people here like me for a layover. You can tell who we are because we're all wondering around the hotel looking lost and looking for the restaurant for dinner! At dinner yesterday I met a Swedish born New ...

... doesn't like lookin at your beer, anyway back on track, so he keeps lookin at me and finally he stops. Kahlid: "Dude I know exactly what your thinkin, just do it". I'm still quiet at this point, for like 10 minutes, I'm not even that quiet when I sleep. So, Finally I'm like you know what...I'm gonna go, I'm gonna do it. Whats that website? So he gives me the info, btw the company is ...

... sounds to a Westerner. Another thing that bothers me is their use of the middle finger. In Korea, it's not offensive- it's just another finger. There's another hand gesture they use to convey obscenity (and no, I am not going to tell you what it is). Some of the students know that it's offensive to Americans and point with their middle fingers on purpose, just to get me to yell at them. Others truly don't know, and think I ...

A major bonus of living in Nowon is that I am just three subway stops away from the mountains - in fact, I can literally see them from my apartment window! The great thing about winter here is that it is clear blue sky every day - ok it is very clod, but it simply never rains, so you are always going to get good views from the hikes. Again I like hiking on my own as it gives me a chance to clear my thoughts, and I usually feel refreshed afterwards. It soon became clear that hiking ...

A toque is a wonderful thing. They come in all shapes, colours, and sizes. One might find a toque that they like. The toque might look great and fit even better. A toque can make you feel warm when you are cold. They might make you feel great by the way they sit on your body. Some people if they're careful might have a toque that they keep for a while. Some people if they're extra careful might keep a toque for a life time and those that know how to ...

... to wait for a domestic flight. Leaving that area and heading to the domestic flight gates, it hit me how empty the place was. It was like something from the Stephen King novel "The Langoliers"; stepping off of a plane only to discover that everyone had either died or disappeared. I considered shouting out "Hello!" but the thought of being greeted by only the slightest of echoes in the big empty airport didn't have much appeal and I felt no ...