Another great day, another early morning

I just can't seem to get on Korea time as I wake up early every morning. I had the best day of my trip so far yesterday and it went very late-to about 1:30 a.m. However, despite riding the subway around Seoul, shopping and hitting up some bars and restaurants late at night, I manged only to sleep until 5 a.m.

Yesterday will definitely be a day that stands out in my memory. I met with my former student Suki who has been living in Australia for three years but just arrived home for a visit this week. Then she will be moving to Paris to be with her French husband who she met Down Under. We had such a wonderful day catching up and shopping. We had two great meals and a snack together. (I'd post pictures, but I am unable to at the moment.)

At night we met Bruce for a seafood barbecue and beer. I was so extremely happy to see them both as they are some of the best friends I have ever met.

Today will be more shopping indoors in the morning and then hopefully sight seeing around Seoul in the afternoon and evening with Suki. We will again meet Bruce near his work for dinner. Unfortunately it has rained all day for the first three days of my trip. The rain has really hindered what I have been able to do. It's especially difficult because not only has it been rainy and at times very windy, it has also been only about upper 40s or 50 during the day. I did not pack enough warm clothes for this trip and will probably have to pick up a few more today. The sun is supposed to make a showing starting today. I really hope it does so I can see more of this country before I leave and can take more pictures to show you all back home.

There are so many great and silly things to take pictures of. Last night, Suki and I went to dinner at the "Miller" bar. The whole decor was Miller beer and Milwaukee's best. They did have Miller on tap, which was rather impressive for a country that has only three or four poor-quality beers. The bar was also across the street from a restaurant called the Sea Bank and it had the colors and similar logo to Citi Bank.

I realize now that it was foolish to feel so nervous about my visit to Korea because I have been having a wonderful time and feel like I am really getting immersed in the culture again. I fear that I am going to be bored when I return to Waukesha. At least it will be summer when there is so much to do and see, but even that pales in comparison to the constant throng of people to watch, the thousands of businesses crammed into a small area and huge subway system connecting a massive city of many neighborhoods. I can certainly hope that next time my separation from South Korea will not be as long as 3.5 years.

Rain, rain go away

The good news is I've gotten my lights to work.
The bad news is I am trapped inside because of the rain and waiting to hear if my dinner plans are going to fall through. If they do fall through, I have a back up plan of going to see Kick Ass at the theatre. I tried to call out on my motel phone, but failed to be able to call cell phones. I would like to know what I am doing tonight so I can get moving. I am prepared to brave the rain to go buy an umbrella and to get some dinner. I didn't fly all the way to Korea to be trapped in my hotel room.

I really realized today how much our society runs on phones. I am fairly easy to reach by e-mail, but it seems that all of my Korean friends want me to call them even though I said I would not have access to a phone while I am here. (sigh)

The first half of my day went really well. I was able to revisit some of the places I used to go to a lot when I lived here. Not that much has changed, but some stores have switched locations or gone out of business. I went to my former school and it looked good. I even ate my favorite Korean dish for lunch: cham chi kimbap (tuna kimbap, made of rice, egg, spam, mayo, runa, sesame seeds, pickled radish and all rolled and wrapped in dried seaweed).

I came back to my room this afternoon to take a nap, but was unsuccessful. It's been nice just relaxing. Flying and then navigating around a place that is so different from your normal routine takes a lot of energy. I was suprised by how much it felt right to be here in Bucheon again, but also how hard it was to communicate.