Artnouveau City Hotel Seoul

... the most fascinating was the replica of an ancient water clock, which supposedly tells the time quite accurately, and it was automated by the water, which flows through the clock and depending on the time would beat a drum or hit a gong, it was truly amazing, especially when it was invented in the ancient times.

After that, I went back in to Gyeongbokgung coz it was free. Oh my god, there were so many people, it was more like the ...

... booked to visit the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between North- and South Korea organised by the American organisation USO. It wasn't easy to find Camp Kim, the starting point of the tour. More by coincidence our taxi driver drove by the Camp and we signalled him to stop. The tour itself was joined by many Americans so that we filled two buses to the DMZ. It was interesting to see some of the sites and the specially arranged demilitarised zone itself ...

... trip to Muju was that they made everything from scratch. The grandmother harvested the rice she grew on her land and had the machinery to grind the rice into rice powder to make dak, which is Korean style rice cakes used in many dishes. The red chili sauce and powder that is used in so much of Korean cooking she made herself- from growing the red chilis to drying them in the sun, to crushing them into a powder. Same with the sesame oil they use. It ...

... literally had sweat dripping off of us.  The humidity and pollution makes it incredibly difficult to go for long runs, because you get short of breath so easily.  Hopefully we will get used to it soon!  But, when we were on our run we got to go through these back street alleys that were awesome- most were cobblestone and there were big delivery trucks driving like crazy on them.
When we got back to our apartment, we had breakfast with everyone and then got ready for the day ...

I had my camera at school the last few Fridays and decided to use it to make some videos. I did a one-on-one interview with my Blue Jay students. These kids came to me with blank stares every time I spoke to them back at the beginning of the school year. I swore I would never teach this age and level again back in Feb. But now I see real progress and each one of them puts a smile on my ...

... University.
His lecture noted that S. Korea is a capitalistic, representative democracy that has free voting and freedom. He wanted us to understand that the changes in the population are one of the keys to understanding modern S. Korea. It is in the top 10 in population size and is a powerful nation. The change is that its fertility rate has dropped drastically in a short period of time. Additionally the ratio of male to female is not balanced and ...

... the taxi driver had a big mercedes and used me as an excuse for full throttle. I was ill, with a bad cough and a sore throat, still some fever, and wondering at which airport they were goinh to quarantine me for swine flu.

Leaving from Paris, with a window seat, doing my favourite thing: looking at the ground and horizon from a plane. I realized I was siting next to the biggest turboprop I had ever seen on a plane, it was huge ...

... to species that have come...and gone. Not afraid of scientific fact as it is known to be the real truth as to how we have come to be. I have often envisioned another life after this one yet maybe I should realize that this is it, one life only, a life that should be lived as though there will be none other; a life that should be filled with love and kindness for all and the occasional beer with good friends. Thanks for reading

... witness a ceremony completely in Korean, with mandatory spontaneous applause coupled with permanent fake smiles on all my co-workers' faces, hoping to impress the big wigs. These scenarios definitely highlight the main differences between Korean culture and the West's. We feel aggrieved at having to give up our free time to attend unpaid (and unnecessary) events like the one above, whereas the Koreans just plod on and do anything they are ...

... hear it played on the tapes that come with the book. Sadly they are cassette tapes (yeah I know, I didn't think those still existed either), so I can't record and upload them to my webpage, but both Bill and Jessica are so nonchalant about it. They use the same tone of voice that you'd use when asking someone if they've ever visited London, or tried Ethiopian food. Keep looking here for future installments of Texbooks Say the Darndest Things