Young Dong Hotel Seoul

... rough for the ferry ride to the Island. I was happy not to have to go in rough seas, cause I get sea sick. So before we rode back to Seoul, we stopped at the Inchon Korean War Museum. They actually called and had them open it just for us. I had fun imagining how a call like that would go back in the states. Well, first of all you would have just got a machine saying the museum opens at 10:00.

Okay this is ...

... people, actually living life and going to the little market on the corner, rather than just waiting for your 1 year commitment to be over.

sorry for the long rant and unfunny post. i am in the aftermath of my housewife angst episode yesterday and needed some blog therapy. will send you pics of our apt separately...need to show them to my mom too and don't want her reading my blog. not that she would even know what a blog is...

... more developed than Suwon, and there were many more foreigners, 95% of whom I guessed were American. The city was also quite an attractive one as modern cities go, with mountains visible from in between the glittering skyscrapers, and temples found on many street corners. I'd had a taste, and new I'd be coming back again and again to explore further.

In fact, it was less than three days before I made my way back ...

... and nice that a bunch of siblings got together right before we had to return to the DMC Ville.
My H-S father picked us up from karaoke with my luggage and drove me back to the DMC Ville.  We said goodbyes and hugged.
I dropped my stuff off at my room and went straight down to the swimming pool.  I did laps for about 35 minutes and then came up to have dinner with friends and talk about our home stays.  Everybody's situation was completely different.  Although, I ...

... another young lady that summer. But it still was nice being able to chat with a number of beautiful women. Sadly, my Korean wasn't that great at that time.*

But let's get back to the real story for this trip. When I woke up that morning, a BIG breakfast was awaiting me. I'm used to eating maybe a bagel or a bowl of cereal. But the host mom insisted that I eat - bulgolgi (불고기), rice (밥), kimchi ...

... not actually get up and leave for the day until the ripe hour of 2:30pm! This meant trudging to the market for some food then subwaying it up to Gyeongbok-gung Palace.

The palace grounds are vast and we spent several hours walking and resting in the calm of the complex, slowly soaking up the Joeson Dynasty legacy. About an hour was spent at the adjoining Korean Folk Museum, which allowed me to learn about the construction of Korean writing characters and their sounds, as well as ...

... American" as they could and I brought burgers, hotdogs and buns. Everyone brought their own side dishes and we had a great barbecue at Misaree. After eating we played frisbee, tossed the baseball around, and then played a rigorous game of pick up soccer. We even got to call it soccer for once, since we were all American for a day! It was a great day and everyone was so great ...

... to dwell on, but I couldn't get over how reasonable the snack prices were at the zoo. In the states, a stupid bag of chips is $20!!! Well, here I bought a corn dog, pineapple slushy, and cotton candy all for a grand total of $5!!!! Yeah! By the end of the day, we were super exhausted. We spent 80 cents to take the train back to the subway. The day was awesome. Great weather, great park, great friends and of course..........cherry blossoms!

... of time! I need a cell phone!!!!!!!!!!! So...I am mad! Is probably irrational, but that is just the way I feel right now! At least today was pay day so I FINALLY have money in my bank account! And it was the kindergarten birthday today too! Every month the school has a giant birthday party for all the kindergarten birthdays in that month. There is always cake left over for the teachers to eat all day long. So, I have been "tasting" cakes for the past hour! Ha ...

... is a lot of emphasis on correcting grammar when marking the students' essays/other writing tasks. The early finish was definitely welcome on New Year's Eve, as it meant that we could have a proper night out to celebrate. Hew and me met up with most of the other teachers once they'd finished work, and we had a couple of beers in Jane's apartment - it is definitely the most spacious, but I wouldn't swap as it is directly above the subway station, and can be quite ...