Seokyo Seoul

... to the swine reference we'll see. Hey Kieran Seoul has its own special mist( For the rest of you the smog that covers Beijing thats what the chinese called it when we were there) I suppose it shouldn't surprise me because on a map they are pretty much in line so it probably comes from there as well as the Koreans are also into manufacturing in a big way. No wonder they only have only two clear days during the month of December. Next entry Gay Paree Yahoo!!!

... doing jumping jacks with my dozing grade one class in an attempt to wake them from a sleepy Wed. evening lesson on bats. I did one and a half before stopping and realizing my folly. I made them switch to running on the spot and pretending to be gazelles running from a cheetah. As well as the other side of life; that being the cheetah chasing the gazelle for food. Did you catch the gazelle I asked? Most did. The acupuncturist said swimming is OK but it looks like the ...

... I'm ok with that, Ming was not). In hindsight, he said that it was good that we didnt get one as he wont have a bad tour to ruin his image of tours ... geez. As usual, I took a while at each sign and Ming and Xian surged ahead. I was OK with that because I didn't want to keep them back. The palace was also meant to have a "secret" garden. Thinking it was
hidden away somewhere, it was actually open to the public now and at
Seoul, Korea Rep. teamrocket8

After a leisurely, lazy start I packed my rucksack with provisions, got my morning coffee on route to the station and headed towards the station at the end of the line, which took me to the foothills of some of the mountains cradling Seoul. After a bit of an intuitive stab at direction to get up the nearest mountain (um, try walking uphill?) I found the shingley path which lead through the pine forest and upwards, upwards,ever upwards...

(At this point I think it is ...

Map is not updating but we are south of Seoul.

Cultural Korea and Temples, Buddah, Large Lotus Blossoms and more

On Friday the 17th, we left Seoul for a trip to the southern part of S. Korea. On our way to Muju we stopped at the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress to tour the palace and have an archery experience. Fun. We were told that the "fortress was constructed as an act of filial devotion by Jeongjo, the 22nd king of ...

... North of here. (Basically very close considering the rest of the 1.4 million that show up every year who come from as far as Europe, etc…) This is their 10th annual event, I believe. They import this special therapeutic, cleansing mud (like tons and tons of it) and there is a 10-day festival where you just go crazy on the beach getting muddy. http://www.mudfestival.or.kr (At the top of this site, you can click the link to make the site ...

... maybe the shoppers stayed at home. I was just glad that the Stussy shop was open, otherwise it would have been reminiscent of the end of National Lampoon's Vacation! Andrew and Nigel both bought some t-shirts so they were content, but the highlight for me was seeing a King Kong figure on the side of a building...very bizarre! The original plan was to go to Hongdae at night and experience central Seoul's nightlife, but let's just say that Nigel was ...

... you can communicate with the kids, let alone can't. Today was good though. It helps when Sally is in the room. It seems to run smoother. Just another example of how a woman can calm things. It's getting warmer here and soon we'll have our 3 months of nice weather in the spring before the sopping wet furnace that this place becomes in the summer. Just another excuse to make it to the ocean when possible. I've been ...

... my Korean funds get tied up). Then, we FINALLY found one.....two blocks from our apartment!!! Go figure! Then we went to lunch. We picked a place that had a menu of pictures on the wall, so we sat down and I pointed to the picture of the soup I wanted and said "Juseyo....du"..........roughly translated that means "Give that to me....two of them". The Korean language doesn't have a word for please so the tone you use when speaking to ...

... Korea there would be little puddles of kimchi puke from people who had indulged in too much evil soju, staggered home and could not quite control their rebelling tummies. Whose tummy would not rebel at an onslaught of kimchi and soju?!

Anyway, Mum and I went to a restaurant where we ate lots of food and shared a bottle of soju. Mum accused me of exaggerating the evilness of soju. And after we finished the bottle, happily giggling away making stupid and irreverent remarks ...