The Soho Residence Seoul

... and defnitely made sure I lost 10 lbs before I crossed the ocean. I was asked to introduce myself and speak slowly into the microphone and look at the camera. I got a bit nervous and definitely didn't speak slow enough or look at the camera. They caught me off guard with the broadcasting room. And you know who was holding the camera? It was a little 6th grader following my every move with the camera. lol.

My English classroom has been newly renovated. Everything is ...

... wrote them out on a piece of paper. Along with my plug in hand, I successfully procured an adaptor with no problems whatsoever. Huzzah! Who says you need to be able to speak the language to get by in a country? That being said however, I think I need to up the ante on the Korean I know because I feel like I can only last on a sweet smile along for so long...

Erica and I then sojourned into Seoul to visit Seoul Tower. We met this sweet old gentleman on the train ...

... When we got there, it was just before 7am, our meeting time. We realized quickly, when nobody else was there, we were at the wrong place. Since we didn't even have the phone number for the tour, I ran off to a PC bong to look them up. They told us if we could get to the bus terminal in 30 minutes they'd wait for us there. I jumped up in my excitement, ran down the stairs, found that the only way out was through the elevator at the 4th floor, ran back up ...

... I had to go to it!

After that, we walked around my old school - Yonsei University. I had taught there for most of the time I was in Korea. But when we stopped by the department I taught in (FLI), it seemed as if all of the teachers I knew had left. I left my contact information (see tomorrow's note for more on this), but I haven't gotten anyone saying "hey, let's meet up!".

Seoul, Korea Rep. christensenlow

... affect our stay here in Korea.

When we arrived into Seoul's massive Incheon Airport we had to take the underground people mover to the main terminal to get processed and exit the facility. Somehow the "obvious" city-airport limousine buses were missed by the 4 of us and staff suggested that we take the train into the city anyway. I was hardly going to protest so we took the A'REX express service to its current terminus at Gimpo Airport, from where the Seoul Subway carried us the ...

... though, it was all in the stare and the eye contact that was maintained for a second too long...  The girl I am to replace, Jeannie, seemed really cool and I'm bummed she's leaving.  She is from L.A. and possesses a really warm yet don't **** with me vibe. My location right now is convenient to the Nowon Metro Station but it looks like when I move into the apartment it's a bit more out of the way.  The apartment is however within a 5 minute ...

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The culture is experiencing diminishing respectful traditions for the elders. Back in the day peers were very much at a hierarchical rank. I often don’t see the traditional drink pouring for peers and the Koreans just talk as if it’ is more of an ancient tradition. When I go out with my co-workers I never pour drinks or turn my head to the side when ...

... huge, packed, sales people jumping out at you at every moment......I hated it! The rest of the mall is filled with typical mall stuff. Clothes, shoes, purses, beauty supplies, etc. There is also really large section dedicated to musical instruments. After the mall, we were so tired and hungry. We decided to stop and try a Korean soup restaurant on the corner by our subway stop. Well, it turned out to be ...

... being mindful as you pull up the ropes to the roof as junkies might throw their needles in the pile at the bottom as we worked at a site where they wallowed in the alleys as we watched from the sky. Robbie was a good friend and Kenny once joked that I was hired to be his therapist. I'll never forget the day Robbie said to both Garvin (a teammate from wrestling and our foreman) and I "you guys are the nicest guys I have ever met." As an angry guy Robbie ...

... although not quite as embarrassing as what happened to me) because I ended up in a restricted area at the back of the temple compound and was chased out by a monk who shook his head in an agitated manner and shouted "No no no!" quite vehemently.

On my return to Seoul, I stayed in a traditional style guesthouse. The house is over a century old, very beautiful, located between two of the biggest palaces in Seoul and a hop, skip and a jump away from Insadong which, after 3 ...