I waited three hours at a metro station in Seoul for my friend to start the weekend. On the back end, I missed the last bus back from Daejeon and had to take an expensive taxi. But everything in between was great.
Pam and I were meant to meet at 1pm to go to the world's busiest national park. It's so busy because it's so close to Seoul. In fact, you can take the metro to it. That's where we met. I was one hour early, Pam was two hours late, and we both agreed that we need cell phones.(She was sick so she got out of jail free.)
There was a steady flow of hikers going from the metro so we just had to follow the crowds. We followed one group who took us into a side entrance, though we didn't know it at the time. This led through some great scenery and up a mountain with bare granite faces. There were enough people to show us the way and to give us the occasional hand up, but not enough to make it crowded. The sky was blue for the first part and it was gorgeous. We seemed miles away from Seoul. Towards the top we had to climb cables that had been ground into the rock - a bit scary but tons of fun.
On the way back to Pam's we stopped in central Seoul to visit Korea's tallest building, the 63 building. But the observation deck was closed and the buffet restaurant was $40. We did however, run in and drool on the food. There was an IMAX theater though and we saw a great one about elephants in Kenya with lots of rising shots that Pam (the photographer and artist) loved. Afterwards it was bbq and beer and a late subway ride. The subway ride was funny because we got to see lots of dates ending - the boy putting the girl on the train, a small wave, and then the girl is on her cell phone within seconds telling her girlfriends how it all went.
In my student conversation class (which consists of 3 middle schoolers who don't like conversing) we stumbled onto the topic of Japan. The boy, whose English is yes, no, and nodding his head, started talking. "I hate Japan," is what he said. I played devil's advocate and got him to speak more and more. They all hate the history of Japanese invasions. Fair enough, though they didn't care that nobody alive today took part in those. They also hated that the Japanese have stolen their food. What was their response when I asked them about hamburgers, pizza, and even RICE? "I hate Japan."
I've spent far too much money and still have another week until I get paid. So it's just like college again and I'll be eating ramen all week.
Amazing English of the week comes from a sixth grader. The question was "What do koalas eat?" The answer: "Koalas eat eucalyptus trees." No book, no help, no nothing. Amazing.
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