Part Deux

The above is how you say... Seuh-ta-buk-seuh-kuh-pee... in Korean.
These photos were from the Insadong market. It was a really busy street and of course lots of foreigners.

Buddha's Birthday (May 2, 2009)

Finally here are some of the pictures from Seoul. I believe that each of these lanterns had some kind of note attached to them. I am not sure if they are even notes, I will try to find out.

SEOUL

I have finally made it to Seoul. My first impressions left me a little dissappointed. I was expecting giant buildings, and to feel overwhelmed like in London. (I heard I was in the wrong part of the city!) But this was very different. We arrived in at 10 am so we did not see any of the city lights. We also came in on a day that was overcast.

Our goals of the trip were to basically shop and eat Western food, and that we did. That dang sub was good;)

Our first shopping area was in Myeoung-dong (sp?). It is a large university area. We found Forever 21 which is an American clothing store, and spent nearly 3 hours in there. It was 4 stories high, and we took over the change room twice! It was nice to be able to find some clothes, but not pants:(

We then travelled to Itaewon. Which is THE foreign area of the city. The american army base is near there, so we were overwhelmed with foreigners or waegooks (in korean speak). I have to say that I do not miss being included/ evasesdropping on english conversation, especially american GI ones! I was expecting more from the area but left disappointed. But we did have a fantastic Thai meal at 'Buddhas Belly'- it was so good.

That evening we hit up a temple. It was Buddha's Birthday (May 2) and the temples were an exciting place to be. There were thousands of lanterns hung everywhere. It was so pretty, and we went at night so the colors were awesome. It was so peaceful and calm.  I will post some pictures later.

The next day we went to Insa-Dong, which is a traditonal market. It was exactly what I was hoping for. It was so busy, but they had many things, and things that I have not been able to find in Busan. I found some really cool Korean masks, but couldn't decided which to get, so I will buy them next time we are there. 

To finish a hard days shopping we went for a pedicure. It was nice as our feet were black, smelly and sore. My girl worked so hard. At one point she had to take a minute and stretch her shoulders, she was filing so hard. I promptly apologized, and we all had a great laugh. I think I embaressed her, so I left her a tip. Unfortunately she really took to much off my heels because they kinda hurt when I walk. 

We came back to Busan, and thankfully I had another two days off to recover. May 5 was Childrens day, so no work- yippee!! That was the longest vacation I will have in Korea, its so sad. It was so hard to go back to work yesterday. 

Where are you from?

....from Russia? 

Thankfully it was a woman asking me this dreaded question. It happens that she it learning the language and was thinking she could practice. I was so relieved that she was female, because for foreign women this question is often a proposition, not an information kinda question. 

I need to get a t-shirt that says I am not Russian.