Vabien 2 Seoul

... their daily life. I also choose to live like a Korean- I sleep on the floor and eat on the floor and have a low table to eat at, etc. Typical Korean homes rarely have furniture- they sleep on blankets, which are folded up during the day. They eat sitting on the floor at a low table. They are usually just on the floor- whether it be sleeping, eating or just hanging out. Often the rooms are quite sparse, and I really like that. It's very zen.

I ...

... nice!  They had everything!  Even crab!  YUM!
We were then led on a tour of Yonsei University- the most elite university in South Korea.  Some parts of the school had an old history, while other buildings had the most technically advanced things I had ever seen.
We were inside this building taking a break for half an hour and they provided us with this strange bars, sandwiches, and waters if we were hungry.  Although I was not hungry, it was really hot outside and I ...

There is a definite reason why I sometimes choose

Instead of beautiful women to talk to, men of old age

Sometimes love sets you up to loose

Instead I hope old men's wisdom makes me a sage

"The planet is my pillow, the universe my bed, and the covers on a cold winter night are the people I meet."

There is a reason why I must believe that the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea will never launch a nuclear missile at the Republic of Korea ...

... a far cry from the concrete views I've yet to get used to. Surrounded on all sides by mountains, trees as far as the eye could see, farms and fields scattered in between- I love rural areas! And the people are so much kinder, guess that's true almost everywhere.
My final destination was Woljeongsa temple. Although in a remote setting, it was huge and there were many people there- not quite the serenity I was imagining, but it would suffice. I was ...

... tiring also. After getting up late and having breakfast on the walk over to Chongmyo Shrine, we met up with our free english speaking guid provided by the korean tourism board. (yes i am no longer using proper capitalization, that is how tired i am). anyway, went to the shrine and met the guide there. he turned out to be a retired history professor and gave us a very good history lesson about not only the shrine but other things as well. Saw an rehersal of a celebration of a king's ...

... hemisphere.

d. A Buddhist temple stay- wierd but neat experience. Got to spend two whole days living just like the monks do- slow silence. This was VERY DIFFICULT for me. We wore monk garb (very comfy pajama like clothes and luppers (rubber shoes). We chanted, bowed (at least 500 times), ate vegetarian, super healthy food, rang a big buddhist gong, and met Eric-teacher... a new friend ...

... ourselves on a bus to go to Mr. Kim's childhood friend's bar. The soju flowed madly mixed with beer. We drank on into the night and it was an all around good time. The next day Megan had organized a foreigner night at Beer World where a conglomerate of teachers from Canada, the US, and England swilled brews and chatted. We then went to the noribong and belted out some tunes. I went home around 3am to wake for a 12pm hike up a ...

... meal), kimchi (Seoul has an entire museum dedicated to the wonder that is kimchi!!!), ....umm, I thought of other things today too, but now I cant remember! I can't find napkins. I think people just use towels. No one in Korea wears sunglasses. You can always tell a foreigner from a mile away because he/she will be wearing sunglasses. I have started braving the sunlight so I fit in a smidge.....let's see how long it lasts! Face/skin care shops are ...

... to protest for the Koreans. Whilst we couldn't understand the many signs and banners it turns out that most of the protests were directed at the President and whilst it was peaceful and there was just a lot of drumming and chanting it was kind of scary given the police presence. We were drawn further into the crowd and out of nowhere we were stuck behind what had to be the Korean National Basketball team because I've ...

... spa and she kept saying shower, shower, and pointing to the big bathing room which was full of naked Korean women. We decided to embrace the culture, so after purchasing our lockers, we slipped off the skivies and joined the others. Jessica was riddiculed by an old Korean woman for keeping her towel on, but by the end of our dip we were both strutting our stuff proudly. It was actually an incredibly relaxing experience ...