Seoul part 2

As I mentioned before, there are millions of people in Seoul. Apparently, they all went to the Seoul International Festival. This pic is from the subway, all of us smooshed in trying to get out. I think we went up three flights of stairs and through hallways like this. It was hot and pretty awful. When we finally got outside, the scene was insane. There had to be millions of people at this park to watch the fireworks. And Koreans aren't very polite when they try to get past you, they basically shove you. They'll shove you with their elbows, shoulders, knees, butts, hips, anything that will move you out of the way.


I did get a chance to try out the camera for night scenes. Here are a couple pics I took, I'm so thrilled with the way they turned out! The fireworks were a big deal and lasted at least an hour. They were pretty spectacular. These pictures were taken on a bridge.


































I will be visiting Seoul again, it's about a 5 hour bus ride and just a Saturday and Sunday to visit isn't enough time. I really want to spend more time exploring the city and all it's charms.

Seoul part 1

Last weekend, my friends and I visited the capital city of Seoul. I'm in love. Seoul is huge, but clean and beautiful and a perfect mix of old and new. The king's palace stands at the end of a street lined with 30 story buildings. There's rich culture in the city everywhere you turn.
However, there are millions and millions of people! A woman stopped me on the street and proceeded to rub my arms vigorously, then she touched my chest and motioned to my face. I assumed she was concerned about my freckles being some sort of horrible disease I was unaware of, but we think she was telling me to cover up. It was a strange experience!


This is the entrance to the king's palace, we didn't go inside.













Guards for the palace.












View of the palace from the busy city street.

Today is Saturday

Today I went to the Korean dentist. On the walk there, two older Koreans stopped to say "Hello" in English, which was impressive considering their age. The man shook my hand and the woman said, "Welcome to Korea!" I don't often get older people acknowledging me other than to stare blankly at me, it's usually the children that talk to me on the street. The dentist charged me only $15 for a cleaning, what a deal! Right before the woman started cleaning, she put this paper towel with just a nose/mouth hole on my face. It was quite strange. Perhaps the Koreans don't like looking into your eyes as they clean your teeth. If I was claustrophobic I think I would have had a big problem with it. I really couldn't see anything! On the elevator leaving the dentist, a woman reached over and started fixing my collar! That would never happen in the US. She acted like it was totally normal to touch a complete stranger, let alone a foreigner! Oh Korea.
Megan gets married in one week! I'm so sad I can't be there, but I think we will set up Skype so I can say hello at the reception.
School is going well this semester, I'm definitely into the swing of things here.