Lotte City Hotel Seoul

... t know where it was. When I got there, Jeonga and the others were already there. Ming and Xian said that when they got there they thought that she was Jeonga but felt weird to approach a complete stranger in case it wasn't her, hehehe, I would've done the same.

She took us around Insadong and we had lunch in this really cool place hidden in an alleyway. We got to sit in a Korean style room and Jeonga did all the ordering for us. It was definitely the best ...

... NEW JERSEY!! I'd say 'small world' but that's too much of a cliche.

After the palace, Jonathan, Bea and I all went for coffee and beer (Jonathan is British) and talked about just about every subject known to man. Quick recap: Bea doesn't want to get "stuck" in Singapore once her money runs out, but really doesn't know what else she wants to do. She plays basketball in summer leagues and is quite good. She and I have been to a lot of the same places (Lao, Vietnam ...

... for Michael), sweet potato and cucumber salads were rounded off with a bowl of chocolate banana ice cream from Baskin Robbins, and a Starbucks cappuccino with blueberry scone - aah, the best of both worlds!

And now we are home from our Epic Adventure. The first day back is always exciting; seeing family again, sleeping in our own bed, brushing our teeth in tap water and filling a shopping cart with the bounty of Ontario late-summer produce. But then, thoughts of ...

... so I think we both realised that things wouldn't work out long term. It was a shame, but hopefully we can remain good friends because in some ways, we are very similar and share a common outlook on life...

I felt better as the weekend approached, although I was drained from the very early starts and the late nights preparing for class - it never stopped! I even had to stay up late on Friday night, marking twenty essays at an average of four per hour ...

... a day ceremonies and chant and do walking meditations and many formalities. It was interesting to learn more about Korean Buddhism, but to me it just seemed like a lot of distraction and it was too off-course for my liking. However, I did meet lovely people and it was wonderful to be in nature and in a spiritual community!

I've managed to iron things out with my current employer, after experiencing some frustrations. I also had my first ...

... the corner, I thought I would take this time to battle the crowds and take a dip into the water park.

We left the university around 10:30 and upon arriving and each destination ate a hearty lunch. My lunch surprisingly enough consisted of something akin to home fries and syrup, chicken, pork and soup. It was quite good.

Then we were off. But while the rides and amount of people were the same, dress ...

... which had a lot of sculptures and metal work. The best word to describe everything we saw was detailed and intricate. Again, you'll just have to see the pictures (or Google it), but the craftsmanship of everything here is breathtaking. As it is the beginning of the rainy season, when we saw clouds and started feeling raindrops, we knew that we needed to find cover. Coincidentally, there was a bar on the corner with $1 beers so we made a stop. The weather here is ...

... classes, ranging in ages 7-11 and with various abilities. They are really good though!!!! Kids are like sponges and can pick up on things so easily. In Korea, education is really important and they abide by a rigorous schedule. Children, beginning when they are 6 or 7, go to school from 9-3 and then have afterschool English classes, additional math and science classes, and possibly piano lessons or tae kwon do. They usually get home around 7pm ...

... Ha! Thank you so much for everything you sent over Mom!!!! For the New Year, the school gave each teacher a giant box of Korean pears! And when I say giant...I mean giant! There are twelve huge pears in that box! I hope they taste yummy! (By the way, my vocabulary is decreasing at a rapid pace!) Anyway, I thought that was so nice! One of my students (Stella) gave me a latte and a cute little New Years card. It was written in Korean so I had to have a friend ...

Good Morning World! Am I cheating if, ... I forgot to write about January 3rd, 2009, on January 3rd, 2009? Probably yes, so I'm being a bad boy now, as it's 306am KST/1306 EST. Oh well. Such is life and on it goes. A good easy Saturday was had by all here in Mok5. I am really getting to like this "Mok5" acronym that I've come up with. I also love my Sony laptop and this writing space. Very easy to type on/in. Gee ...