Wednesday, Thursday and Seoul weekend

Wednesday was a very relaxing day. We had Korean class and then a few of us went to lunch. Daniel did the ordering as always. We had a ton of food it was all very tasty. After lunch we headed back to campus for the economic lecture. It was educational learning about the chaebols that control the South Korean economy. Basically Kia, Samsung and Hyaudai keep Korea going. After we were dismissed from the lecture we got to meet 2 of the 3 students that will be coming to Lander in the fall. It was then time for a much needed nap. We all then had dinner in the cafeteria and went to town for donuts later on.

Thursday we went to a famous kings tomb and a folk village, there we made tie-died bandanas out of died from leaves and other natural things. But the highlight of the day was getting to go to the Lotte Giants Baseball game. It was many of the British student very first baseball game. I could not believe it. It was the first real American thing I have done in 3 weeks… baseball, fried chicken and beer. During the game a foul ball came towards our section. Ziv did not see the ball and it hit him in the head and bounced away. It was caught on camera and on tv. All of our buddies phones started ringing with people asking if he was ok. The Giants won. It was a really fun experience. During the 7^th inning orange plastic bags were passed out to the stands and we wore them on our heads like a balloon it was really crazy. We had to ride the subway for 40 minutes to get back to our bus stop and then get a taxi because buses had stopped running. It was a definite adventure being packed in a tight subway with tons of baseball fans.

Friday morning started way too early for us. We had to meet the bus a 7:10 to get to the sub way to make it to the train station in time for our 8:30 train. It was a miracle that everyone got there on time, or close to it, and we got on the train in time. We were divided up on the train so we could have the good seats that face one another. Lane, Jens, Rachel, SuJin, JiHyun, KangHoon, Daniel and I were all in the same car. We mainly all slept on the 2.5 hour ride to Seoul. When we got to Seoul we had lunch in the train station. We then all got to go to Lotte World and go ice skating. We all got the hang of it really quickly surprisingly. After having a little fun and acting like kids we went to the hostel we were staying at. I got lucky and got the room with the beds. All of the other rooms had mats on the floor. A few people did there own things while most of us bonded over chicken wings and more Korean food. Eating together is a very big thing in Korea. It is a bonding experience that seems to be treasured.

Saturday morning we started the day off by eating breakfast in Ms. Kim’s room. After getting everyone together we made our way to the British Council. They invited the UK students and we were lucky and got to tag along. A few of the UK students were interviewed by the council while we got to mingle and chat with other students. After the visit we met up with the Korean students and we to the famous palace. It was pouring down rain so the tour was very hard to enjoy but it was very pretty. We all have learned to enjoy the rain because the other option is blistering heat. After the palace visit we went to the Seoul Tower. There we rode a cable car to the top of a mountain that had an incredible view. But of course it rained to we had to take cover a few times so we wouldn’t get soaked. At his tower they have the tradition that couple put a lock on a fence. The picture are very artsy from it, I plan on printing some for my apartment. After we rode the cable car back down we went to a traditional restaurant and had a big feast. Saturday evening we all just hung out at the hostel. Ms. Kim, Noreen, Melissa, the boys and I went to Time Square, a huge mall, and got groceries for Sunday breakfast. After we got back a few of us sat around and played fun Korean games until 2 AM.

Sunday we went to the Korean War memorial. I loved it, I wish we could have had more time but we had to catch the train. The memorial was very nice. The train ride back was with the same group as going, thankfully. But this time around we played cards games and the games we learned the night before. We are all getting so close and making great memories. It is going to be so hard to leave these people in 2 weeks. But I know we will all get back together one day!!

Monday… we will be doing a temple stay. I hear it is very hard and grueling. So my next post will be very emotional I predict.