Ramada Seoul Hotel

... and at certain points it looked like an olden day break dancing. Some of the farmers had this ribbon on their hat and they were able to make them swirl around like the olympic gymnasts just by flicking their head. Judging by the patterns they made, the dancers were quite in sync. After that, we went to see a Horseback Riding show. I wasn't too interested in that at first given that horses and I don't exactly get along, but I have to ...

... then got a big pair of scissors and cut the snakes head off in front of us (we videoed it and you will see that the snake clearly did not like this! - can't think why!?!) And drained its blood into some rice wine (tastes like tequila), which Adil took a sip from later!!!

They cooked the snake and brought it out with the other (thankfully normal) dishes. We both tried the snake and it tastes like chicken (like everything) - apart from the skin which ...

... home- it is soo good!!  My home-stay mom does not work, but my dad works for an electronic company- he used to work for Samsung, but he didn't like working so much and so hard all the time.  He spends most of the year in China, but he visits every month.  Right now, in the summer, I think he stays in Korea the whole time.  The whole family speaks pretty good English, but they have never been to the US before.  They want to come- I told them they can come stay with ...

... winning prizes in a gym full of rock solid competitive speakers. After that we had gym and then I sought out Sally for directions to a doctor for some drugs. She wrote me a note and I was of at the end of the day. I showed a cabbie the note and he took me to a building not to far from CIS. I had to search around a bit but soon found that the office was closed. A kind dental assistant wrote me directions to another clinic. There I waited 15 minutes to see a ...

... she could ask how to get to the church and we wouldn't have to walk around in a monsoon trying to find the entrance. The first woman we asked was also going there so she took us too. We had to stand in the doorway for a bit while the other mass finished. Also they have a plastic bag that you put your umbrella in so as not to get the ground wet. Pretty smart in my opinion.

We got inside and picked a seat toward the front. The cathedral was beautiful and old ...

... most streets don't have names, but there are lots of maps throughout the city just in case people like us get lost. We spotted some famous korean people and I took picture with my camera, but I can't see the format on this computer so we'll have to wait until we get back home.
Then we made a trip up to the Namsan Seoul Tower to take some night photos of the city which was georgous. That was a long long hike up the face ...

... scavengers. They gnaw their way through New York, London, and Tokyo, digesting spilled larder, ghost supermarkets, and human corpses, and turning them into new generations or rats and mice, whose racing populations explode out of the cities and into the countryside. When all the relics of human profligacy are eaten, populations crash again, and the rodents turn on each other, and on the cockroaches scavenging with ...

... fruit sweets that had my name on the sticks...how cute is that? She'd also bought a chocolate cake and a dangly bear to hang from my mobile phone, that had my birthday on it... It was nice getting to know her a bit better, and we enjoyed watching "The Pursuit of Happiness" together in my new, comfortable cinema room! My apartment is definitely getting a more homely feel to it now, which is a good job if I'm going to be entertaining on a more regular basis...

... this is extra embarrassing cause I've been a US citizen for my entire life. I think what I like most about this conversation is that Nari casually suggests we all jet out to South Dakota on Friday for an afternoon field trip. And Mr. Gore completely agrees. Must be one of those rich magnet schools... --- NEW! AND NEW FAVORITE! Again, this is in the same book as America is where the Mexicans Live and the Four Presidents Rock Wall ...

... not a germaphobe, but it kind of freaked me out in a big way. Oh well, I am still kicking and feeling well, so I must not have any extreme viruses or anything. After the temple we went to this gigantic underground shopping mall. It was a very tiring experience. And it really was very similar to American shopping malls. We ate lunch at Kraze Burger which is a Korean Burger chain. No msg, no preservatives, no microwaves, just good ...