Hello NORTH KOREA

helllllloooooo
this week went by really really fast!!!!
so let me recap it.

monday. mere and my last day in chungju, we go to lunch with erin and isaac and then we set out to go to Little Prince, a coffee shop that isaac and erin raved about. so we get a taxi and the guy firt takes us to Lotte Mart, apparently getting confused, and then calls the coffee shop, drives around for what seems like an hour, and heads out a dirty dusty road that obviously does not have a coffee shop on it.

oh but wait. it does. a beautiful modern coffee shop. that is completely empty of other guest. no kidding because its in the boonies right. it was very pretty, and very creepy at first. some guy ran to our taxi and carried our bags. it was obviously very awkward because we were the only ones on this huge property. he sits us down, gives us a menu, makes our drinks, and comes and talks to us in his cute broken english. and then he sits down next to us. his name is Legend. he pronounces it Regend. it was funny. then he drives us to the bus station. talk about service!!

tuesday we go shopping, again. after cody gets off work we go to Choenon. we get coffee and "dr. fish" where you stick your feet in this bathtub full of disgusting little fish and they eat all the dead skin...its really scary and gross, but pretty cool too. mere didn't really do it cuz she was so scared.

wednesday we go shopping, again again. grr...the clothes are just so cute!!! then cody and brad make me pork cutlets for my last night, i pack and go to bed.

thursday. we wake up at 6:15 to catch the bus at 7. we arrive in Seoul at 8, and get on the subway line. it was verrryyy confusing. then we are supposed to get off exit seven and see the Lotte Hotel. Exit 7...no hotel. we walk around for a minute, but its 920 by this time and we have to be there for the tour at 930. we ask, Lotte Hotel is a block away. but there is NOWAY to cross traffic. so we got a taxi. for a block. pretty ridiculous.

so we're starving right, we check in to the tour and it leaves at 950 sharp. sharp. so we have 20 minutes to find food in Seoul and be back in our seats. at 945 we finally found a Krispy Kreme, and the other end of the hotel. we are literally SPRINTING to catch the bus..but our tummys were satisfied.

so we go to the DMZ and it was SOOOOOOO cool. i mean really really cool. we have pictures of north koreans and we were taking them, and they were spying on us, and we got to see where they sit and talk rationally. this area is "neutral" but not really. there were a ton of rules like no ripped jeans, because the north koreans would use that as propaganda that south koreans are poor. and tennis shoes in case it get dangerous so people can run. there are also land mines all over so we can't leave the group. it wasn't as dangerous as it sounds though. just pretty cool.

so now i'm back, in the hostel. mere and i ate at pizza hut and now we're going to the seoul tower. i'm leaving for home tomorrow, so i'll see you all soon!!!!!

the weekend....in pictures

sooo, these pictures kinda are not the way i wanted them to be because i'm not very good at this but on saturday erin, mere and i went shopping. the fashion here is SO stinkin' cute, (you guys would all love it too) and relatively inexpensive, so it was a LOT of fun. then we met about 20 other meguks (american foreigners) and we drove for about 40 minutes to this tiny little town and they fed us traditional food (yum;) and we made arts and crafts, had tea, and watched a traditional concert

sunday we watched a 3 on 3 bball tournament all day. 3 balls Deep, our team, actually won the whole tournament. i kept score because korean girls aren't very good at it. it was a really fun day!

Thursday:

10 AM: go to korean hip hop.  three tall white girls are NOT good at korean hip hop.  we were a hundred steps behind and sweating and bouncing like idiots.  but  all the korean girls loved us anyways.  even though we disgraced their dance.

12 PM: went and ate Bimimbop.  Its rice and veggies with a frying egg on it.  it was okay... 

2 PM: then we went to the lake.  have i already talked about this?  mere and i fell asleep on the ferry.  hehe.

4 PM: mere and i took a nap.  for 3 hours

7 PM: raided erin and isaac's food cupboards 

8 PM: Erin and her director came and picked us up to go to Club 86 with her friends Woomi and Mary.  The two older korean guys bought us a BUNCH of beer.  i was getting soooo soooo tired.  the guys bought me coffee to keep me up.  then we went to NORABOMB...oh my gosh.  Karoke, korean style.  its in a private room with just your friends.  it was SOOOOOO fun.  i even did it.

3 AM:  went back home, tried to finish a movie, and passed out.

FRIDAY.

11 AM: went to a TRADITIONAL market, where they were selling a bunch of foods and other random Korean things i'm sure are useful to Koreans.  The market went oooonnn forever.  There was a stand with puppies and kittens and rabbits, it was that saddest thing i've ever seen...i wanted to buy them all and set them free.  

12 PM: lunch downtown with Ashley and Mary.  

2 PM:Then Mere and I got a taxi to Jung ANG ta.  the taxi driver taught us how to say it.  he was really funny.  he liked us a lot.  so we went to this park with these museums and statues and we sat by the lake and that was nice.  then we called our taxi driver to come pick us up.

4 PM: Nap.  Quickly.  Dinner near Isaac's school, with just Erin and Mere and I.  It was really nice to have time to talk just the 3 of us.

8PM:  Visit Isaacteacher's classroom.  they asked us questions it was really fun

10:30 PM: went out. very fun. very tired.  to JAZZ... amazing bar.  very cute.  i'm done now. 

 

chungju ju...like choo choo

here's a quick little post.  so yesterday mere and i came to chungju.  there was a little confusion in the train station because there is a cheongju and we didn't want to go there.....

so erin met us at the bus station and we went to her school and then went to this really great food place. we were the only ones there and the workers were VERY nice to us.  maybe cuz we were three american girls.  who knows.

then we went back to erin and isaacs apartment til they were done with work and isaac took us downtown for kiwi soju.  TASTY..

today we went to the chungju lake.  very very pretty.  mere and i both fell asleep on the ferry.  kind of embarrassing.  so we went home and took a llooooonnnnggg nap.  now we're making tea and toast.  wanna join?

whats train in korean?

hehehe. i love and hate korea all at once. its fun but i miss America. i've been trying new foods so thats good!!!!!!!!!!!!!! kimchi, and other things.

on monday we went to eat lunch at cody's school and it was really really difficult for me. there was a seaweed soup, red bean rice, eggs with shrimp, raw potatoes, and a really good salad. i ate everything..and there was nothing to drink to wash it down. i felt like i was on survivor.

after lunch mere and i went shopping in downtown anseong. it was really difficult because i hadn't changed my money over yet and we realized that NOWHERE in anseong accepts my debit card. after three banks, i just changed my american money and that was that. we went to the CUTEST store and i could have spent a lot a lot of money getting clothes. they are SOOOO my style..i love it. i refrained and got a dress shirt and a sweatshirt. i think i might go back though. that night we took a 2 hour nap (shopping does that for me ) then we ate some bogili (sp?) and went out for Brad's birthday..it was so good.

tuesday mere and i went to Suwon to the Folk Village. It was pretty fun. we watched three traditional Korean shows. One tightrope, one drum brigade, and one horse show. the horse one was my favorite. i'll post pics as sooon as the get off mere's camera.

we got home at like 7 and went out to dinner for brad's birthday again. dinner was good, traditional meat and rice, my favorite!!!!

today we're going to Chungju. i'll let you know how that goes!!

peace out. homes.