Youngbin Hotel Seoul

... means shopping district. I keep going out thinking I am going to a mall or some other more organized place. This was more true of the Electronic market, there were large shopping malls, with shops, but there were also pedestrian streets with stalls. I didn't do any really shopping at the electronics market, my Korean would have to be much better than it is to ask the appropriate questions, I was more of just a sight ...

... whatsoever. We didn't know what to do and just stood there hoping someone would come to help us. We were very surprised when the machine opened from the back and this guy pops up to say something in Korean, we didn't understand of course, but then after a few button presses he says "OK now" and it worked again. So we managed to get our tickets and forgetting that we were going to get tickets, we spent most of the money we had on us.
Seoul, Korea Rep. teamrocket8

... sit down and close your eyes. Works every time (well the last 2 flights anyways).

The seats are pretty comfy and not very cramped which is good for a 13 hour Trans-Pacific flight. My seat is right near 2 bathrooms and the flight attendant station. They are kind enough to refill my water bottle whenever I ask. The flight gets underway and I decide that I am going to try to sleep, a feat which I have yet to be successful at. So, thinking ahead as a good ...

... through clenched smiles, "are those?...no, they can't be!...i think they are!" i, of course, spent the rest of the evening sneaking glances at them and eavesdropping (not so subtlety, may i add). d's back was to them so i'd do a play-by-play of everything that was going on. we weren't completely convinced that they really were modern-day geishas. i mean, maybe they just decided to wear ...

... a cable.  Once we got to the top, the views of Seoul- although very hazy- were incredible.  My favorite thing up there was this really long fence, that had hundreds of thousands of locks decorated all over it.  It is a special place where couples come and attach two locks together on the fence with a plastic heart that says something.  It is said that when you do this, your relationship will last forever.  It was a fabulous place to get cool photos of the various locks.  There was ...

... English tour was at 11:30. About 2hours away. I took what photos I could and headed off in the direction which I believed would get me to subway line 1. I past a few interesting sights including a fish store with giant aquariums out front with live fish trying to organize an escape. One was relentlessly bashing its head against the metal grate resting on top. I don’t think the fish were going anywhere.

At the end of the street I got ...

... wanted to take us to the Korean Fold Village yesterday, but yours truly just wanted to curl up and die. Since today I was back to a 100% we all took a trip to the village with the family. It was an awesome experience to see how Koreans use to live not so long ago. There was everything from professional horseback riders/warriors, tightrope entertainers ...

... cleansing, new beginnings. It is a time to shed the old and begin anew. Thank goodness for new beginnings! A few things about food- everyone always wants to know what I eat. I've grown to love Korean food! For breakfast I usually just eat some fruit or a croissant- stuff I would eat at home. Koreans eat the same food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. For lunch we have an amazing cook at our school that actually used to have her own ...

... comfort. Anyway, I will finally be paid for the first time on Feb. 10 and then I can join a gym. In the mean time, I am trying it live modestly off the savings I brought over with me. I am doing pretty well actually. I still have this nasty cold! I am convinced it is from all the pollution around here. Everyone I have spoke with said they all got sick after a few weeks. I guess it is our body reacting to the filthy air. I am actually really glad I ...

... We of course took the opportunity to throw snowballs at each other and got some strange looks from the locals who obviously don't get very excited by snow. We also took the opportunity to visit Lotteworld - the world's largest indoor amusement park (it seems all the children in Seoul also thought yesterday would be a great day to visit the park as well and there were very looonnng lines for the rides) although we did make it on ...