Go Kyung Hee Lions! This is in the gym where we were taught Tae Kwon Do.
Here are a few of the TaLK coordinators who are constantly manning the desk to answer our questions, tell us where our next class is and make sure we sign back in to make curfew. They have been rebelling one by one against the yellow and purple Lakers jerseys, so it is hard to distinguish them any more from the rest of the group.
The first portion of the trail leading up and over to the cafeteria.
The girl's dormitory is the building in the middle. The guy's dorm is to the left and the majority of our classes are in the "multimedia building" to the far right.
Entrance to the school (taken from inside campus)
The spot to be :o). Beer Plus is directly across from campus. TomNToms is like Korean Starbucks.
My saving grace: GS 25. It's a convenience store located on the first floor of the girl's dorm that is open 24 hrs. I can get my lowfat milk, bananas, $1 kimbap rolls AND dried squid ( just kidding) whenever I want.
The clay track that I have been running!This past weekend, we decided to take another trip to Seoul to do some more exploring. We started the day off with a bang by grabbing some coffee at Dunkin Donuts. It's about $4 for a plain coffee (no, they will not add milk- go figure. So I am constantly steeling milks from the cafeteria). It's kind of crappy too because when they make a coffee, they fill the cup halfway with hot water and then the rest of the cup with regular drip coffee. I have no idea if this is to save money or if they believe the coffee is too strong. Luckily, Dunkin Donuts has about triple the caffeine of other coffees, so I still got a good buzz going.
After coffee, we packed out things and took an hour and a half long bus ride into Seoul. Everyone was hungry so after navigating the underground maze that is the subway station, we emerged into sweltering, blinding Seoul right in front of Lotte Mart- what would be the Kroger's/Target of America! Lo and behold, the first restaurant we saw was a Bennigans. We made a bee line for the menu, but were immediately discouraged when we found even the appetizers were $25-40 a pop. As much as I crave Western food right now, I couldn't bring myself to cough up so much money for a single meal. Instead we headed to the food court of Lotte ("low-tay") Mart and had....... SURPRISE! Korean food. When all else fails, I always order a dish called "bibimbap", which is rice with shredded vegetables in spicy chili paste with a fried egg. I was dreaming of grilled salmon over spinach but, alas, another day.
So, onward to Seoul Tower. In the middle of metropolitan Seoul, there is a mountain. At the mountain's peak, there is a relatively small tower (small simply because I've seen other towers such as the Eiffel tower and I have a spoiled American sense of grandeur). You can choose to either hike the mountain or you can take a cab. I was hoping to hike it, but on Sundays our curfew is 9p.m., so we had to take a cab to insure making it back in time. We hopped into a cab with Eunice translating to the cab driver and making sure we didn't get ripped off. Now here is the weird part: we get to the top of the mountain, to the entrance of Seoul Tower Park, and the driver is stopped by several guards. The driver pulls forward and opens his back windows where Shaina and I are seated. The guards look us over, then look at Eunice, hesitate, but ultimately let us pass. When we started driving again, Eunice explained that only foreigners are allowed to take a cab to the top of the tower, and that it's a sore spot for Korean natives who have to hike to the top. This favoritism towards tourists popped up again when we bought tickets to go up to the top of the tower. Foreigners get a 15% discount whereas Korean natives don't get squat.
Inside the tower, overlooking all of Seoul.
What better way to pay tribute to America than a Charlie's Angels stance? The room that we were in had the names of famous cities all over the world. While it looks like we had a clear day, the tour guide mentioned that during pristine weather conditions, you can actually see Pyongyang, North Korea (the capital city on the border).
I've noticed that I enjoy taking pictures of children. In this particular photo, this little boy was squealing and running up this very steep hill to his Dad. I wanted to post it simply because about 20 minutes later after we finished exploring the tower, I saw this same father with the little boy passed out in his arms :o)
New meaning to the term "blue-haired old lady". Whoa!After the tower, we decided that while we were in Seoul we would make a trip to Gyeonbok Palace. There are 5 palaces in Seoul, but this is the most famous by far. It was only about a 20 minute ride on the Subway, and we all had lost our enthusiasm after traipsing around in the sun for hours. However, our spirits picked up when we realized the Subway let off DIRECTLY at the Palace- no haggling with a cab driver necessary!
It was beautiful... and peaceful. The sun was setting, the cicadas were humming and there were monks chanting in the distance. It was the perfect ending to the day watching some seriously overweight koi splash around dozens of ponds, eating fistfuls of Korean sweet puffed corn and taking bajillions of pictures. Here are a few of the best.
We were grillin. Apparently, this is a statue of a turtle?
This little girl said hello to me!
Ok, humor me here: I thought this looked suspiciously like a marijuana leaf :o)
And to end on a funny note- this is a device that I have found in several public restrooms. When you push the button, a fake flushing sound plays. Great for shy bladders the world over!
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