Capital Seoul

... 9/8/09:
Michael had class. Maritza took a cab to my apartment and we walked around discovering my area. First we went to eat at one of the restaurants in my area. There are restaurants EVERYWHERE you turn. One right next to the other, so at times it can become a difficult choice. We walked in and noticed that we had to take our shoes off before we entered. You just leave your shoes at the door and walk to a table barefooted where you are given a pillow seat to sit ...

... the time faster and took turns fanning each other with the map.  We knew, when we finally got to the roller-coaster, that we were going to wait one extra ride for the very first row!  The whole time in line I was so nervous I felt like I was going to pee my pants.  Then on the roller-coaster Kori and I were so excited!  Our chaperones were coincidently directly over top of us on a bridge waiting in line- perfect kodak moment.  We planned on keeping ...

Friday night we made our way into Seoul through the rain. We were
staying the night so we could catch a bus in the morning early and shop
at Dongdaemun market in the middle of the night. We had to be at our
hostel to check in by 10, which was beginning to look nearly impossible
as we got off the subway and realized we really didn't know which way
to go. The directions I had ended at the subway exit (my fault, not
the hostel's). We ...

If you've read the previous blog entry, then you know that I had are really rough day the first day I was back in Korea. I was planning on just finding another place to stay. Possibly a hotel. Definitely not a "love hotel" (they are where couples go to...well...just fill in the blank). I'm pretty familiar with Korea that I was sure that I could find something inexpensive. I have stayed in a few 고시완 (study ...

Voila notre dernière destination, la capitale sud coréenne qui ressemble a une grosse ville asiatique. Nous avons eu 4 journées chaudes et humides nous rendant parfois complètement mous. La ville en elle-même a quelques sites intéressants, mais faisant parti de la vie quotidienne plutôt que touristiques (ex : marchés, quartiers populaires...). 70% du territoire coréen est montagneux et Seoul n'échappe pas à la règle ; la ville est entourée de collines escarpées très ...

... a train and a sky lift that take you to different sections of the "park" to buy tickets for the various attractions. Oh yes, this park has attractions! The Contemporary Art Museum, a massive amusement park called Seoul Land, the botanical gardens, and.....a zoo!!!!! Let's not forget the cherry blossoms! They were absolutely beautiful! After about a million pictures of cherry blossoms, we bought sky lift tickets and went to the zoo ...

... the teacher's lounge getting talked to. Apparently she was in trouble because she left yesterday after her classes and the school couldn't find her. I guess they needed her to substitute for a class. So, yeah, we are not allowed to leave the school unless we have been here for 8 hours! Even if our classes are all finished! If we don't have any work to do, then we are supposed to ask for work (yeah, 'cause that will happen!) or just find something to do! What a ...

... advanced levels of English, and it's definitely the most important section of the academy. Quite why I was chosen to teach at this level is a mystery, particularly as a bigwig from Head Office, when giving our introductory orientation, declared that 'nokjiwon' teachers usually have at least two years experience! Hew and me looked at eachother in disbelief when she said that! In truth, I think that my Degree in English Language and Linguistics swung it as ...

... floor, but the good news is that I am in between the elevators, so i don't have neighbors beside me. I also have a "balcony" but i don't know if I'm allowed to go out on it or not. The door locks with a code, so I am the only one that knows how to get in and out and I never have to remember my key. Its so wierd not having any keys. When I got in, a gas "engineer" was there to hook up my ...

... watching the rehearsals and then almost froze to death at night watching the actual thing. I had my mind blown at that concert. They had different groups performing all kinds of music: classical, choral, gospel, old Korean folk, rock, pop, jazz, techno, acrobats, fireworks... you name it. The grannies in the audience stood up and sang along to the Hallelujah chorus. The youngsters shook their fists and yahooed along to the modern stuff whilst the grannies watched on in horror. But ...