Hotel Hilversum Suwon

... ll make sure to take lots of pictures for proof!

November 31: Instead of making a new entry, I decided to add to this one. Its 2 weeks until the race and I'm doing well! Today I finished off a 30 mile week by running 12 miles and last week I ran 25! My body is worn out, but the good news is that now I get to taper down until the race. Next week will only be 22 miles and the week after I'll be running 8 miles during the ...

With a few more free days before Ania started uni we decided to get out of the city and do a little exploring. Both feeling a bit under the weather we decided not to venture too far, and decided on the Korean Folk Village, just outside of Suwon. We bought our tickets near Suwon station and jumped onto a free shuttle bus, and before long I got the feeling that we wouldn't be leaving the city at all. Sure enough, still surrounded ...

... million people, there really didn’t seem much to it. Apart from an impressive 18th century fortress and palace, the city was basically a giant village of tower blocks. There was very little in the way of a city centre and it immediately felt like there was almost nothing to see or do.

After a couple of days to get over the jetlag we found the energy to visit the aforementioned fortress. Hwaseong was the original wall surrounding Suwon, 4.5km long and ...

... sick this past weekend. I had to go back to the doctor to get antibiotics. That is the second time in three months that I have been sick enough to visit a doctor, which is more doctor's visits than I had in the past four years in the States! I must say though, the medical care here is fantastic! I had checked in at the doctor's office, had my exam, and left the pharmacy with my prescription all within 25 minutes! Plus, the total for the visit and the ...

... to Koreans so I thought it would help break the ice. But when the conceited fellow, who could qualify as a poster boy for xenophobia, began firing questions at me in a gruff manner, I realized that the fear and loathing for strangers is very much alive in that part of the world, at least at the immigration counter.

Perhaps my Japanese features had something to do with the desk jockey's icy demeanor, I facetiously thought later ...

... there is a huge section for books in English. Apparently the spring always brings a ton of rain and I think this bookstore will be a great place to spend those days! Koreans LOVE coffee! There are coffee shops everywhere! Korean coffee shops as well as Western franchises...Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Holly's Coffee, Jo Bean Coffee.......So coffee is everywhere, which I find to be a huge comfort, and the names are pronounced in English ...

... booze never ends and the block stays hot with Asians 24 hours a day. Like to put it in perspective, in the US you'd never see a group of Japanese guys on some random street corner clownin on Americans laughin their faces off smackin 40s of booze for 10 hours straight. Koreans are nutty as ****. My boy tells me the other day hes at the gym takin a shower ,when an old Korean man begins to wash his back. A bit startled he turns around like "uhhh what the ...

Sejong Skyview #503 23-1 Jungja-dong Jangan-gu, Suwon, Kyunggi-do 440-300 S.Korea - this is my new address. I will be sending out some letters and editing this entry later... EDIT: Today I spilt 'Frosties' all over my kitchen floor. And nobody told me to pick them up. It was bliss. I have an apartment the size of our Penryn living room and it is full of cupboards. It looks quite empty because it is ALL MINE. It looks neutral at the moment but I'm buying ...

... interesting to watch and his knack of wandering offside reminded me of the bygone days when I would lapse into fits of apoplectic rage at Gerry Creaney from the Celtic End. However, Diouf's propensity for gaining favourable refereeing decisions seems to hail from the other end of Glasgow and a theatrical tumble led to Senegal's opener from the penalty spot. The Africans main strength is lightning counter attacks and two futher superb raids looked to have put the game ...

... see the shrine. Beyond Jongmyo Shrine, Changgyeonggung palace was located. Unfortunately, I was asked to get out soon at the closing time.

I also visited Gyeongbok palace, but I was getting tired of Korean old buildings. Just at that time, I happened to see a ceremony in the square. I was lucky to see the traditional ceremony there. In addition, I got another luck. Just inside of the palace, there was a tourist information office with a ...